The subject specialist librarian can perform a number of important services: establishing contact with user groups; selection of materials and collection development; instruction in library use; provision of current awareness, reference, and bibliographic services; serving as a library "ombudsman" for users; and bringing user…

Discusses a paradigm for academic librarianship that requires greater sensitivity to and identification with needs of library users. Centrality of library academic community is questioned, noting insistence of librarians on independent status of library and failure of bibliographic instruction programs to make issue of critical thinking top…

Analyzes definitions of information literacy by reviewing library and information science literature of the 1970s and 1980s. The response of the information profession to the expanding range of skills and knowledge required for information literacy is noted. Three main trends in information literacy from the literature of the early 1990s are…

Links the origin, decline, and renaissance of bibliographic instruction to the increasing specialization and democratization of education and reviews the history of the academic library and the role of the academic librarian in American higher education. The value of concept-oriented bibliographic instruction is stressed. Included are 18…

Posits a positive association between an academic department's publishing output and (1) whether its coursework requires library use; (2) how frequently its faculty require their classes to take library tours; (3) its faculty's belief that library tours contribute to students' developing useful library skills; and (4) students' ability to use the…

Describes difficulties experienced by librarians in trying to communicate with students for whom English is not the native language. The discussion covers strategies to improve communication, including the use of analogy, universal humor, hands on experience, and integrated programs involving English as a second language and library personnel. (10…

This survey of 288 academic, public, and special librarians in Canada examined attitudes toward the role of bibliographic instruction in reference service. Results indicated that academic librarians stress instruction, special librarians stress information delivery, and public librarians fall between the two positions. It was found that…

The administrator of the library of the future will be concerned with costs of new services, while the scholar will see a knowledge explosion within his or her own lifetime. Librarians must help scholars stay informed of new developments in their respective disciplines and teach them new techniques to access materials. (CDD)

This essay suggests that conversation, crucial for human life in society and intrinsic to nature of libraries, may be the appropriate model for providing guidance, means, and context for change in academic librarianship. The business model, missions and goals, collection development, bibliographic instruction, and organizational considerations are…

Discusses the role of the community college library and the extent to which colleges support effective library instruction programs. A study that examined the relationship between academic success and student use of library materials is described and recommendations for developing course integrated library instruction are presented. (23 notes with…