Users across academic disciplines utilize different information sources based on the resource's usefulness and relevance. This study's findings show that users from arts and sciences disciplines are much more likely to utilize university library website resources and printed materials than business users who heavily rely on commercial websites.…

Although many recent studies have been conducted on the implementation and results of patron-driven acquisition (PDA) initiatives at academic libraries, very few have focused on whether, or how, patrons' selections vary from selection choices librarians would have made. This study compares titles selected by patrons during a PDA pilot program…

A desire for more functionality seemed to clash with the fiscal reality of limited funds, but after investigating alternatives, Mount Saint Mary College was able to provide its faculty and students with a more useful and function-rich electronic resource management through a move to a hosted open source service. (Contains 8 figures.)

This research is based on the Library Services for People with Disabilities Policy, which was approved by the American Library Association in 2001. The policy identified focus areas for libraries including library services, facilities, collections, and assistive technology. Library websites frequently convey this information to users. Our study…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to report on a study of the institutional repositories (IRs) in use in Indian universities and research institutes. Design/methodology/approach: Repositories in various institutions in India were accessed and described in a standardised way. Findings: The 20 repositories studied covered collections of diverse…

In the summer of 2012, the University of Arizona Libraries implemented an online training program to effectively train Access Services staff and student employees at a large academic research library. This article discusses the program, which was built using a course management system (D2L) and various e-Learning software applications (Articulate…

La Trobe University Library has embarked on an institution-wide project with the objective of enabling students to engage with scholarly and credible information from the first year. This initiative by the library is in response to La Trobe curriculum reform. In particular, it aligns information literacy with the inquiry/research graduate…

This study broadly examines factors impacting work-life experiences of library faculty of color within the framework of tenure policies and processes. An online survey was sent out to academic librarians of color to gauge perceptions of tenure and promotion policies and processes, professional activities and productivity, organizational climate…

Despite the old-fashioned view of the academic library as a static institution, libraries can and do change in response to the needs of users and stakeholders. Perhaps the most dramatic shift in services has been the transition from a purely physical to a combination physical/virtual or even virtual-only environment. This article examines how…

The J. D. Williams Library at the University of Mississippi launched a pilot program during the 2010 National Novel Writing Month, hosting related events to determine community demand and how such efforts could be quantified. Using participant-submitted word counts and the event's own tools, researchers were able to ascertain that such events had…

Nearly every commercial database that covers natural sciences and engineering offers some type of current awareness (CA) service that provides regular updates to users on current literature in a selected field of interest. Current awareness services include e-mail alerts, tables of contents, and RSS feeds. This study was designed to find out what…

This article discusses best practices for evaluating open source software for use in library projects, based on the authors' experience evaluating electronic publishing solutions. First, it presents a brief review of the literature, emphasizing the need to evaluate open source solutions carefully in order to minimize Total Cost of Ownership. Next,…

This article details an open card sort study administered to undergraduate students, graduate students, and librarians at the University of Colorado at Boulder in order to reveal perceptions of library research guides. The study identifies user group preferences for organization and content of research guides, as well as themes emerging from the…

Google Scholar is a free service that provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly works and to connect patrons with the resources libraries provide. The researchers in this study analyzed Google Scholar usage data from 2006 for three library tools at San Francisco State University: SFX link resolver, Web Access Management proxy server,…

"Sense of place" no longer applies only to the physical library. All students are distance learners to one extent or another, and all distance services must be considered as a single virtual learning commons. Librarians at Bucks County (PA) Community College implement and integrate current teaching, learning, virtual reference, and mobile access…