This exploratory and qualitative study examined the appraisal practices of archivists in university special collections, including how archivists define appraisal, decide what to keep and discard, apply a collection policy in their decision process, and contend with problematic aspects of the practice. The first part of this study examined the…

First-generation college students (FGCS) are an increasingly significant population at institutions of higher education in the United States. While only one aspect of college student identity, first- generation students collectively enter higher education without parent(s) who have obtained, at minimum, a bachelor's degree. As such, FGCS tap into…

The academic library Learning Commons continues to be a prominent model for organizing co- located research and academic support services for students on college and university campuses. While numerous reports have highlighted the value of partnerships in providing these services, little research exists on the nature of collaboration between the…

The problem undertaken in this study was the impact of the COVID-19 on academic-library directors at small, private, liberal-arts institutions in Wisconsin. The purpose of this study was to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic closures on collection development and reference interviews. The participants were seven academic-library…

The purpose of this study was to plan for, design, and launch the initial development phase of an affordable course materials initiative within the library at one Texas private four-year university. More specifically, the focus of the study centered on providing interested, volunteering academic faculty with the tools, resources, and expertise…

The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the use of data for assessing library collection utilization, to explore what tools are available to help guide purchasing decisions, and to create a blueprint for applying percentage-based allocation formulas to community college library collection budgets. Because there is little literature on…

This study explored the experiences of Muslim Arabic-speaking women international students (MASWIS) using a qualitative design method. A phenomenological approach included face-to-face interviews with five MASWIS who live in Chicago and three focus groups with seven additional participants (two groups in person and one online.) The data was…

Academic libraries contribute to student engagement, student learning, and retention; therefore, the effects of improved library services for students may be positive and long lasting. However, despite successful application of organizational learning (OL), a strategic process for improvement, to enhance services in academic libraries, little is…

The academic library's contribution to the institutional mission and goals is something library administrators have been striving to communicate to administrators since 2010 when the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) released their report entitled "The Value of Academic Libraries." The purpose of this study was to…

As our society continues to evolve at an ever-increasing rate, our higher education institutions, and the services they provide, must keep pace with societal changes in order to ensure that those services stay current and relevant. This program evaluation examines one such service, the research consultation model in University Libraries at the…

The role and functions of an academic library have evolved drastically as the result of a new social, economic, and technological reality. Libraries are responding to these developments by changing focus from collection and storage of information to becoming active partners in students' educational journey. The learning commons model of service is…

As academic libraries evolve to affirm their place as key partners in research, teaching, and learning in university communities, the process of innovation is one of great importance in the intentional design of library services, resources, and staffing. This dissertation was a qualitative, exploratory research study in which the conceptual…

This dissertation analyzes how North Carolina State University's (NCSU) James B. Hunt Jr. Library extends the ways in which the information architectures of academic research libraries can function as a technology, as discourse, and as rhetoric. The starting point for the analysis is the libraries of antiquity, which functioned technologically as…

Research focused on first-generation college students has developed considerably in recent years, yet an area that remains relatively unexplored is students' perceptions of the academic library as place. Exploring such perceptions is important for deepening understanding of how the library, as a central academic resource on campus, can best serve…

The Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education ("the Framework") may serve to influence academic library praxes. A total of 138 academic librarian participants were randomly selected (32 deans and 106 non-deans) from public and private institutions. The institutions spanned across six accrediting regions recognized by the…