After three years of collecting electronic resources of troubleshooting tickets in Springhare's LibAnswers at University of Houston Libraries, the author conducted an analysis of over 300 tickets. The type of problem was identified for each ticket and then categorized into a functional area using an existing categorization schema developed at…

Ryerson University has grown from a relatively small polytechnical institute to a large comprehensive university, with a focus on innovation. The Library has transformed itself over the last decade by closely aligning strategic planning with University planning; embracing the entrepreneurial culture in its physical expansion and collaborative…

The article written by three librarians who work in the Middle East, recount their experiences as library managers at academic institutions in Qatar, Afghanistan, and Iraq. While trying to provide services to the students and faculty of their academic institutions, they must also contend with security risks, such as kidnappings and bombings. They…

In 2016, Access Services staff attended a professional development course on process improvement offered at Kennesaw State University. Process improvement initiatives have been credited with devising more effective, streamlined practices by identifying and eliminating non-value-added work. The Head of Access Services adapted content from the…

This article investigates learning and teaching in library makerspace programs. Given the recent trend for libraries and makerspaces to define themselves in terms of learning, the findings of this article are particularly relevant to current initiatives. The article first reviews pedagogical theories which are referenced in literature connected…

Budget allocation decisions have become far more complex and difficult. One obvious reason is the shift from print to electronic purchases. This along with the lack of increased funding to sustain these collections has created a scenario in which all purchasing decisions need to be made with precise planning. This article examines the fund…

Since the invention of artificial light, people have been working, studying, and playing for longer hours than ever before. They are also sleeping less as a result. This article examines the impact of sleep deprivation on people generally, and specifically on college students. Students accrue a large sleep debt that impairs their ability to…

The Future Voices in Public Services column is a forum for students in graduate library and information science programs to discuss key issues they see in academic library public services, to envision what they feel librarians in public service have to offer to academia, to relate their visions for the profession, or to describe research that is…

This article examines the relationship between the standardized service quality survey LibQUAL+ and the rise of audit culture. Recent scholarship examining assessment and accountability systems and the ideological principles driving their implementation in higher education raises concerns about the impact these systems have on teaching, learning,…

Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a topic of interest among information technology innovators. As AI is refined, practical uses of the technology to improve the transfer of information are increasingly investigated, developed, and adopted in a variety of public environments, including in libraries. Given the relatively recent emergence…

The purpose of this study is to contribute to the establishment of metrics that can be used by libraries to analyze, anticipate, and plan for resource allocation for specialized print-based collections within an academic library. In the context of transactions associated with the circulation of library materials, that is checkouts, renewals, and…

Librarians have the potential to influence the university's representation of knowledge, making it important to understand the attitudes they bring to work each day. Results of this Q study indicate librarians may believe their profession's ethos of neutrality renders debate over social justice within the library moot. Only a small number of…

The clock and calendar regulate many library activities, but the seasonal and temporal dimensions of libraries are largely unexplored. Intrigued by observations of colleagues' temporal attitudes and behavior, the authors drew on the work of sociologist Eviatar Zerubavel to investigate the perceptions of time, schedules, and urgency among…

The academic library's contribution to the institutional mission and goals is something library administrators have been striving to communicate to administrators since 2010 when the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) released their report entitled "The Value of Academic Libraries." The purpose of this study was to…

As our society continues to evolve at an ever-increasing rate, our higher education institutions, and the services they provide, must keep pace with societal changes in order to ensure that those services stay current and relevant. This program evaluation examines one such service, the research consultation model in University Libraries at the…