The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) collects institution-level data from postsecondary institutions in the United States (50 states and the District of Columbia) and other U.S. jurisdictions. This report describes the universe, methods, and editing procedures used in the 2014-15 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System…

We posed the question of what services an academic library can best provide to support the NIH Public Access Policy. We approached the answer to this question through education, collaboration, and tool-building. As a result, over the last four years we have engaged over 1,500 participants in discussions of public access to research results, forged…

The University of West Georgia's Ingram Library has offered a fifteen-week two-hour credit course since 1998. In a longitudinal study covering twelve years, the library analyzed the progression and graduation rates of more than fifteen thousand students. Students who took the class during their undergraduate career were found to graduate at much…

Between 2007 and 2010, three types of semester research projects were assigned in BIO 140 Humans and Their Environment, a nonmajors introductory course at Salve Regina University. Specific environmental impact-type assessments were used to foster scientific inquiry and achieve higher scientific literacy. Quantitative and qualitative measurements…

Academic libraries have always been deeply associated with their collections, but the nature of those collections has changed radically as we have entered the digital age. As libraries continue to evolve, they will focus strongly on special collections while adopting a goal of providing access to as much other content as possible. The collection…

In the age of self-checkout machines and entire television networks devoted to do-it-yourself home improvement projects, the DIY ethic seems to be around to stay. The desire to be self-sufficient and use one's time more efficiently is hard to pass up, especially for busy academic librarians. This column is devoted to resources that not only…

This case study offers an alternative use of LibGuides beyond its intended purpose to offer course and subject guides. LibGuides have become an integral part of the virtual instruction landscape at Colorado State University (CSU) Libraries. We discovered that the LibGuides platform can also be effectively harnessed to provide support for…

Some librarians embrace discovery tools while others refuse to use them. This lack of consensus can have consequences for student learning when there is inconsistent use, especially in large-scale instruction programs. The authors surveyed academic librarians whose institutions have a discovery tool and who teach information literacy classes in…

Information literacy (IL) is a necessary skill crucial for effective functioning in today's knowledge society. This study seeks to explore Israeli librarians' perspectives toward major components of information literacy. Do librarians find there is a need to redefine the concept? Who do they think should teach it? How do they think Web 2.0…

The study provides an analysis of U.S. academic library spending, staffing and utilization trends from data collected during the period between 1998 and 2008. Data used in this study are part of the NCES biennial survey of approximately 3,700 degree-granting postsecondary institutions. Confirming previous studies, there has been an order of…

In September 2009, the University of Iowa Libraries embarked on an experiment with patron-driven acquisition (PDA) of e-books with ebrary and YBP. An e-book-only PDA plan was initiated, entirely unmediated and with instantaneous access to the content. MARC records were loaded for each title, determined by our YBP approval profile and other…

The purpose of this article is to explore location-based questions as a weakness of virtual reference consortia and discuss how to mitigate related issues. Content analysis of how both local and non-local academic librarians responded to location-based questions provides insight into considerations academic libraries must make when participating…

This study examines the availability of entry level positions in academic libraries to better illuminate the status of the job market for current students and recent graduates of Library & Information Science programs. Over a twelve month period from 2010-2011, 1385 job advertisements were collected, with content analysis methods used to evaluate…

As free and low-cost Web analytics tools become more sophisticated, libraries' approach to user analysis can become more nuanced and precise. Tracking appropriate metrics with a well-formulated analytics program can inform design decisions, demonstrate the degree to which those decisions have succeeded, and thereby inform the next iteration in the…

It is no secret that collegiality matters in academe regardless of the size and type of institution. When it comes to promotion, reappointment and tenure, the invocation of collegiality occurs. This paper aims to examine the perception and issues surrounding collegiality in the academic library setting. The data, based on the survey results of the…