"Research Library Issues" ("RLI") is a bimonthly report from ARL (Association of Research Libraries), CNI (Coalition of Networked Information), and SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition). This special issue includes the following articles: (1) Themes within the ARL Strategic Plan 2010-2012 (Charles B. Lowry); (2) ARL…

One of the most exciting developments to occur within the library profession in recent years has been the re-evaluation of library's role in resource discovery in the web environment. This has involved recognition of short-comings of online library catalogues, a re-affirmation of the importance of metadata and a new focus on the wealth of…

The need for information literacy continues to increase as colleges and universities begin to globalize their curricula and include global readiness in institutional missions. This article reports pretest and posttest data collected during a librarian-faculty collaboration to determine the effect of information literacy instruction on students…

Turning students into lifelong learners is not easily accomplished. How do school librarians ensure that students have a zeal for learning? How do they encourage, cajole, or entice students to want to learn? The answer lies in empowering students with the skills they need to enjoy researching as well as reading for information and pleasure. This…

The 20th century information explosion provided widespread technological innovation and ease of access to information, and due to the 21st century emphasis on digital collections and electronic resources, libraries around the world are facing an uncertain future. This naturally causes librarians to re-evaluate their professional role, but perhaps…

The study reported in this paper is part of a larger program of studies designed to review and renew the curricula of Library and Information Science (LIS) and the broader Information Management (IM) courses. This paper analysed job advertisements as readily accessible indicators of the knowledge, skills, and competencies required of IPs by…

This paper in the form of story discusses a college student's information search process. In this story we see Kuhlthau's information search process: initiation, selection, exploration, formulation, collection, and presentation. Katie is a student who goes in search of information for her class research paper. Katie's class readings, her interest…

There has been a significant spike among school librarians in talk about the process of learning since the 2007 release of the "Standards for the 21st-Century Learner" by the American Association of School Librarians. How do children really learn best? The AASL Standards make it clear that 21st-century school librarianship is not just about…

Libraries have traditionally tended to be one of the few institutionally provided public resources for local residents in poor, urban, neighborhoods. This paper presents findings from the exploratory phase of an ongoing research project which examines, through participant observation, the "value" of a public library in a poor urban neighborhood.…

Librarians promote student learning through technology, literacy, and collaboration with teachers. Each element provides ample opportunities to offer leadership and to learn as a member of the learning community. The librarian demonstrates leadership within the professional learning community (PLC) by providing professional development for…

In commemoration of the Librarian of the Year Award's 20th anniversary, this article presents brief vignettes on all 19 of the title holders. When "Library Journal" named them Librarians of the Year, these inimitable 19 (for the 20th, Norma Blake, see EJ788676) had singled themselves out as risk takers, visionaries, bulldogs, pragmatists,…

In this article, the author describes the Ogre Awards, an ambitious storytelling event she developed for The Harker School during the 1996-1997 school year. Although it has evolved over these twelve years, the concept of the event is as follows: three of the four homeroom classes (averaging twenty-two students each) perform a segment of a…

More than two decades of debate since the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) adopted the term information literacy have been marked by ongoing criticism of its associated definitions and standards. Some scholars and practitioners have argued for a critical information literacy, which applies the precepts of critical pedagogy to…

This paper provides a means of quickly ascertaining the relative health of smaller academic libraries by presenting a top ten list of vitality indicators. The list is based on an observational convenience sampling of thirty smaller academic libraries across the United States. The indicators making the list were those which appeared most often in…

In Information Studies literature there is debate about the future of the "subject librarian" as the increasing sophistication of electronic search devices leaves readers progressively more capable of seeking and interpreting information independently. As a case study, however, this essay will look at one such library professional, the…