This article reports on "LJ"'s annual book-buying survey of public libraries in which circulation took the biggest leap recorded since the survey was launched in 1999. This year's whopping 5.16 percent increase overall suggests just how many people are saving pennies by borrowing materials instead of buying them. In fact, libraries are being…

The purpose of this study was to investigate where students turn for course-related assignments, whether an ordered pattern could be described in terms of which sources students turn to and how students evaluated the information they chose to use. Data were drawn from open-ended questionnaires (n = 282). Semantic network analysis was conducted…

Four librarians from Irish university libraries completed the U.K. Future Leaders Programme (FLP) in 2010. In this article they recount their experience and assess the effect of the programme on their professional practice and the value for their institutions. The programme is explored in the context of the Irish higher education environment,…

This article features the University of Liverpool's arts and humanities library, which applies a new search tool to improve the user experience. In nearly every way imaginable, the Sydney Jones Library and the Harold Cohen Library--the university's two libraries that serve science, engineering, and medical students--support the lives of their…

Singapore is now one of the fastest aging societies in the world. By 2030 those over 65 years old are expected to number 1.41m strong, 26.8 percent of the country's entire population. Given these numbers, it is not surprising that aging is a key concern in Singapore. This article reports on a qualitative study of 32 individuals over the age of 55…

Twenty scholarly papers and fifteen abstracts comprise the content of the sixteenth annual Brick and Click Libraries Conference, held annually at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Missouri. The proceedings, authored by academic librarians and presented at the symposium, portray the contemporary and future face of librarianship. The…

ICT made real magic and drastic changes in all service sectors along with higher education and library practices and services. The academic environment is changing from formal education to distance and online learning mode because of ICT. Web technology and mobile technology has made great impact on education sector. The role of Open Access,…

Whether a library's reference collection is large or small, it needs constant attention. Singer's book offers information and insight on best practices for reference collection management, no matter the size, and shows why managing without a plan is a recipe for clutter and confusion. In this very practical guide, reference librarians will learn:…

"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 special issue presents a report released by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Joint Task…

This case explores various entrepreneurial initiatives introduced by Dr. Ron Dow, dean of libraries, at a private, research-extensive institution in the northeastern United States. The case serves as an example of how entrepreneurial ideas can be applied within educational contexts, specifically, the academic support context of the university…

Eighteen scholarly papers and fifteen abstracts comprise the content of the seventeenth annual Brick and Click Libraries Conference, held annually at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Missouri. The proceedings, authored by academic librarians and presented at the symposium, portray the contemporary and future face of librarianship.…

A statistical analysis of responses to a LibQUAL+™ survey at the University of Colorado at Boulder (UCB) was conducted to investigate factors related to patrons' satisfaction with electronic collections. It was found that a respondent's discipline was not related to his or her satisfaction with the Libraries' electronic collection, nor was the…

E-books have been around for more than 10 years but are still a relatively new phenomenon to many librarians and publishers. With the introduction of e-book readers, the e-book has become mainstream, with recent triple-digit annual increases in sales. But what place do they have in the library? In this volume, Sue Polanka brings together a variety…

Western Illinois University Libraries has cut online serials subscriptions in the past 2 years. The librarians were guided by the statistics for downloads provided by the publishers of the journals. However, questions were raised by both professors and librarians regarding the exact meaning of the statistics. This caused the electronic resources…

Reviews the historical context of core journal lists, current uses in collection assessment, and existing methodologies for creating lists. Outlines two next generation core list projects developing new methodologies and integrating novel information/data sources to improve precision: a national-level core psychology list and the other a local…