This paper reports the results from a quantitative study examining the strength of linear relationships between Laurentian University students and faculty members and the J. N. Desmarais Library's reference and monograph e-book collections. The number of full-text items accessed, searches performed, and undergraduate, graduate, and faculty…

One of the hottest terms among public librarians today is "content creation," which involves stuff that library patrons make instead of simply use in a library context. Videos, music, fiction, paintings, 3D printed materials, websites--all these are made in public libraries, and will increase in popularity as more libraries shift from purveyors of…

Aligning with current difficult economic times, this book helps libraries assist users entering or already involved in the small business community. Authors Weiss, Serlis-McPhillips, and Malafi are public librarians who have incorporated small business services within their library. In their book they point the way to addressing the needs of job…

Purpose: The "advanced loans" module of the relatively new library software, ABCD, is an addition to the normal loans module and it offers a "generic transaction decision-making engine" functionality. The module requires extra installation effort and parameterisation, so this article aims to explain to the many potentially interested libraries,…

While libraries offer next generation public services such as mobile access and e-books, these services are often neither home-grown nor sustainable. Libraries have a history of lending and services built on a simple model: they purchase an item and then provide it to the community. Unfortunately, the latest generation of services offered by…

The paper examines trends and issues in digital education programmes globally, drawing examples of developmental growth of Library Information Science (LIS), schools and digital education courses in North America, Britain, and Southern Asia, the slow growth of LIS schools and digital education in Nigeria and some countries in Africa and India. The…

This study assesses and compares the quality of sources found by undergraduate students when doing research using both Google and a library (federated) search tool. Thirty undergraduates were asked to find four sources (one book, two articles, and one additional source of their choosing) related to a selected research topic. Students used both…

The primary objective of the study was to describe the number, types and titles, requested qualifications and skills, salary information, and locations of positions advertised in 2011 on the ALA JobLIST and ARL Job Announcements websites and in the print version of the Chronicle of Higher Education for purposes of determining the current state of…

A primary role of any e-resources librarian or staff is troubleshooting electronic resources (e-resources). While much progress has been made in many areas of e-resources management (ERM) to understand the ERM lifecycle and to manage workflows, troubleshooting access remains a challenge. This collaborative study is the result of the well-received…

This study examines perceptions of provosts from Canadian research-intensive universities regarding their institution's academic libraries. Interviews conducted with nine provosts explored how they perceive academic libraries in terms of alignment with institutional mission, how they envision the future of their libraries, and what they interpret…

"Research Library Issues" ("RLI") focuses on current and emerging topics that are strategically important to research libraries. The articles explore issues, share information, pose critical questions, and provide examples. This issue includes the following articles: (1) Special Issue on Copyright (Prudence S. Adler); (2) Fair…

This study investigates the benefits of a community blogging platform for students in an online LIS program. Using a web survey and descriptive content analysis methods, this paper empirically addresses how student blogging communities can be effectively foster connections amongst instructors and students, and enhance perceptions of learning…

The majority of Americans think local libraries serve the educational needs of their communities and families pretty well and library users often outpace others in learning activities. But many do not know about key education services libraries provide. This report provides statistics on library usage and presents key education services provided…

Advances in technology, changes in demographics, and the increasingly global nature of the economy indicate that many jobs lost during the recent global recession will not be returning. Regardless of their major field of study, college students would benefit greatly from becoming more entrepreneurial in their thinking, yet opportunities for…

In this essay, we embrace a vision of the future of academic libraries where librarians confront and creatively address the lack of racial and ethnic diversity within our profession and actively pursue a social justice agenda within our libraries and in the communities we serve. This future requires that we acknowledge that many of our current…