On May 9, 2003 Christine Borne launched the electronic discussion group NEXGENLIB-L. Her aim was to involve colleagues around her age professionally, a group usually unheard in the professional literature and discussions. The list quickly burned up with complaints about library school and work places, frustration about poor pay and student loans,…

The authors adapted Web usability techniques to assess student awareness of their library's Web site. Students performed search tasks using a Web browser. Approaches were categorized according to a student's preference for, and success with, the library's Web resources. Forty-five percent of the students utilized the library's Web site as first…

This study examines sixty academic libraries' Web sites and finds that 80 percent of them do not have a technical services' homepage. Data reveal that institution's status might be a factor in whether a library has such a page. Further content analysis suggests there is an appropriate and useful public service role that technical services…

This paper presents interviews with Barbara Bonham, a Senior Researcher at the National Center for Developmental Education and a member of the faculty at the Kellogg Institute, Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina and Melanie Chu, the Outreach Librarian at Cal State San Marcos in San Marcos, California. In these interviews they…

Florida's Ask a Librarian service (http://www.askalibrarian.org) brings virtual reference to users at their moment of need via the Internet. Ask a Librarian is a growing service with 76 participating libraries including public, school, four-year, and community college libraries. The following article describes how Ask a Librarian was developed…

All of us, regardless of experience or achievement, need an occasional reaffirmation of our core knowledge and beliefs. This un-embellished narrative of a real-life reference interview reinforces the importance of persistent but polite attentiveness to the unexpressed needs of library users and, it is hoped, serves as an inspirational reminder not…

MSU Libraries has a commitment to serving its students and faculty both on campus and off the main campus. This paper is a case study that outlines the specific efforts designed to address the library and information needs of the students at the Mississippi State University-Meridian Branch, with particular emphasis on the use of existing distance…

Strategic planning provides a useful structure for creating and implementing library web sites. The planned integration of a library's web site into its mission and objectives ensures that the library's community of users will consider the web site one of the most important information tools the library offers.

This article presents the results of a 2003 undergraduate library user survey as a case study of Generation Y. Survey data support four main traits attributed to Generation Y, which are discussed within the context of library use and satisfaction. Implications for future directions in academic library services based on the new ways Generation Y…

Traditional story times begin with "The author of this book is..." and "The illustrator of this book is...". Although library media specialists emphasize the role of an author and an illustrator in creating a book, students often have difficulty making the connection between the name and a real person. Learning involves making connections and…

This article presents a plan of having a new facility for the library of Valparaiso University. The authors, as dean of library services and assistant university librarian for access services at Valpo, discuss their plan of building a Center for Library and Information Resources that would house more books while also providing computing centers,…

In the early 1990s, Northern Michigan University started distributing laptop computers to its faculty and students. Soon, a taste for technology developed and the university community craved more. Having tempted their taste buds, they quickly found that patrons were no longer satisfied with traveling to the library and asked that they bring…

This report marks the second release of library statistics data from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). It contains data on state library agencies in the 50 states and the District of Columbia for state fiscal year (FY) 2007. The data were collected through the State Library Agencies (StLA) Survey, the product of a cooperative…

The purpose of this study was to develop a valid and reliable survey instrument to be used by librarians and other educational leaders to measure implementation of a school's information literacy program. The goal was to create an instrument that would consider implementation of a library-centered program within the context and culture of the…

The library at the University of Alaska Fairbanks offers a unique equipment lending program through its Circulation Desk. The program features a wide array of equipment types, generous circulation policies, and unrestricted borrowing, enabling students, staff, and faculty to experiment with the latest in audio, video, and computer technologies,…