Librarians play a key role in the understanding, retrieval, and assessment of gray literature (also spelled "grey literature") as it pertains to evidence-based clinical practice, particularly nursing. With the rise of evidence-based research and curriculum-specific requirements in advanced nursing programs, gray literature instruction…

We spend hours teaching students where to go to find resources, but how do students really use those scholarly resources--and other resources--in their papers? Inspired by the Citation Project, University of Richmond liaison librarians examined First-Year Seminar papers to see what types of sources students used in their writing, how they…

In the age of self-checkout machines and entire television networks devoted to do-it-yourself home improvement projects, the DIY ethic seems to be around to stay. The desire to be self-sufficient and use one's time more efficiently is hard to pass up, especially for busy academic librarians. This column is devoted to resources that not only…

Ask any academic librarian if marketing their library and its services is an important task, and the answer will most likely be a resounding "yes!" Particularly in economically troubled times, librarians are increasingly called upon to promote their services and defend their library's worth. Since few academic libraries have in-house marketing…

As academic librarians' professional and personal lives become busier and more varied, the need for tools to assist with accomplishing a myriad of tasks in a short time becomes even more necessary. Due to its ability to provide anytime and anywhere access to information, mobile technology offers a number of advantages for staying connected and…

In their Top Trends of 2012, the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) named data curation as one of the issues to watch in academic libraries in the near future (ACRL, 2012, p. 312). Data curation can be summarized as "the active and ongoing management of data through its life cycle of interest and usefulness to scholarship,…

A longitudinal study at the TUT (Tshwane University of Technology) used citation analysis to analyze the reference lists of 480 Master's and Doctoral (M and D) theses and dissertations submitted at TUT between 2004 and 2007. The purpose was to determine what types of information sources M and D students at TUT use most, how the patterns of use…

Abortion is a highly-charged, emotional topic which often appears in the news, particularly during the confirmation process for a Supreme Court nominee. Community College students continue to ask reference librarians for print resources dealing with this controversial issue. Often we turn to the reliable series "Current Controversies," "At Issue,"…

Purpose: The paper aims to provide an overall methodology and case study for the innovation and extension of a digital library, especially the service system. Design/methodology/approach: Based on the three-dimensional structure theory of the information service industry, this paper combines a comprehensive analysis with the practical experiences…

From popular movies to New York Times bestsellers, organic food is widely acknowledged to be of growing importance. Many community college students are asking: How is organic food different from everything else in the grocery store? What impact does farming have on the environment? How safe is our food? A survey of reference works introduces…

Paul Ricoeur's narrative theory, when combined with the social theory of Pierre Bourdieu, fosters a fresh perspective on the debate about the language of business and its influence in librarianship. It is suggested that narratives about readers hold promise because they capture the active nature of reading. (Author)

Information needs of the business community vary depending on size and type of business, competitive environment, state and local support, managerial expertise, and other factors. Discussion includes ways libraries meet these diverse needs, including the offering of fee-based information services. (Author/AEF)

An information services organization based on individual constituent groups, instead of defined physical collections and technologies, encourages a broader, more effective, and innovative use of varying information and technology services for academic libraries. Such a model also provides more focused and clearly defined positions and procedures…

The purpose of this paper is to show the growing use of the World Wide Web to answer questions in the public library from the perspective of a librarian at the Parsippany Public Library in Morris County, New Jersey. Discussion includes the following: information on Parsippany and Morris County; a brief history of the World Wide Web; uses of a…

The paper begins with an introduction defining the term "information literacy" and goes on to analyze the need for information literacy education in China. It also presents a detailed description with examples of how China's public libraries are cultivating citizens' information literacy. The experiences prove that the public library is…