In the United States, individual states have different means of determining and distributing funding. This influences library service and access to information particularly as it pertains to critical Internet access. Funding and service trends have changed, especially as it relates to public libraries, with some modifications working to their…

This article reports the results of a survey that targeted reference and instruction librarians who work at libraries that are members of the Asso- ciation of Research Libraries (ARL). Respondents were asked to indicate whether or not they teach students to use the one-box tool, and why or why not. Based on the responses of the 352 librarians who…

Are librarians preoccupied with the future? There are countless books, articles, blog posts, webinars, and conference presentations filled with speculation about what libraries will become. This is understandable with the emergence of new roles for libraries and librarians as we determine our identity across the digital landscape. This essay…

The library is a unique space in schools and in students' lives--a place to pursue both academic and personal interests, a place to meet and work with peers, but also a place to find quiet and a space for reflection. As Jake Carson and Ruth Kneale have noted, "Through embedded librarianship, librarians move from a supporting role into…

Ray Palin, librarian at Sunapee Middle High School in Sunapee, New Hampshire describes what it takes to make the school library a space for those looking for "peace and quiet." Palin begins this article by noting that much has been written about the advantages associated with the learning commons model of library design, however less has…

A literacy festival is one of the most effective ways to promote reading and fosters the idea that books make a difference, especially to under-supported students. This paper is based on a research study that focused on how a university literacy festival supported engagement and increased reading attitudes and habits for students of Title I…

This brief paper describes how additional learning resources can be developed at a module level within higher education. The context to further meet the requirements of a rapidly changing environment within the higher education context and to meet different trends and challenges such as employers' expectations and challenges facing graduates to…

This study examined the role of relevance determinations within the context of undergraduates' multiple text reading and writing. In this study, undergraduate students were randomly assigned to one of two experimental conditions (i.e., to compose a research report about either the causes of or the solutions to the urban housing crisis), using a…

Open educational resources (OER) and digital education (DE) have shown the ability to improve teaching and learning possibilities, particularly in light of unpredictably occurring events. Especially the COVID-19 pandemic revealed that universities were experiencing technological, socio-psychological, and didactic issues. In order to promote,…

This article takes a broad view of the evolution of collecting behaviors in a network environment and suggests some future directions based on various simple models. The authors look at the changing dynamics of print collections, at the greater engagement with research and learning behaviors, and at trends in scholarly communication. The goal is…

This study analyzed digital item metadata and keywords from Internet search engines to learn what metadata elements actually facilitate discovery of digital collections through Internet keyword searching and how significantly each metadata element affects the discovery of items in a digital repository. The study found that keywords from Internet…

This article explores whether technical communicator is a useful model for electronic resources (ER) librarians. The fields of ER librarianship and technical communication (TC) originated and continue to develop in relation to evolving technologies. A review of the literature reveals four common themes for ER librarianship and TC. While the…

This study used the Delphi method to engage expert practitioners on the topic of threshold concepts--core ideas and processes in a discipline that students need to grasp in order to progress in their learning, but that are often unspoken or unrecognized by expert practitioners--for information literacy. A panel of experts considered two questions:…

The University of North Texas Libraries provide extensive online access to academic journals through major vendor databases. As illustrated by interlibrary loan borrowing requests for items held in our databases, patrons often have difficulty navigating the available resources. In this study, the Interlibrary Loan staff used data gathered from the…

Opportunities to utilize 3D printing in the K-12 classroom are growing every day. This paper describes the process of implementing a 3D printing service in the Education Library of The University of Florida, Gainesville, a large, doctoral-degree granting, research university. Included are examples of lesson plans featuring 3D printing, creation of…