This case study explores services academic libraries provide to students with disabilities and the impact these can have on the success and experience of these students. The study focuses on staff training and outreach programming. The authors examine the academic library literature surrounding these topics, provide examples of programming…

This article outlines the involvement of the Bodleian Libraries at the University of Oxford in developing new services for research data management. It offers reflections on what such additional support means for academic librarians, specifically considering support offered by subject consultants and a series of research data management (RDM)…

Libraries before the 21st century carried out daily routine library task such as cataloguing and classification, acquisition, reference services etc using manual procedures only but the advent of Information Technology as transformed these routine task that libraries can now automate their activities by deploying the use of library software in…

The desire of academic institutions to link up to the virtual repository is a global phenomenon. Traditional scholarly publication through established journals characterized by peer review is being challenged by less formal net-based communication that links scholars essentially instantaneously. The contention is that universities need to preserve…

To more fully support PhD students, librarians must be mindful of and responsive to changing dissertation requirements. Based on input obtained through an online questionnaire from directors of chemistry, political science, and English doctoral programs and from details on department websites, this paper examines what alternate forms of…

A solid professional performance on the part of academic librarians at present calls for adequate knowledge about copyright law, not only for the development of their own tasks without infringing the law, but also to guide and provide pertinent advice for library users (faculty and students). This paper presents the results of an online survey of…

The 1961 Copyright Office study on renewals, authored by Barbara Ringer, has cast an outsized influence on discussions of the U.S. 1923-1963 public domain. As more concrete data emerge from initiatives such as the large-scale determination process in the Copyright Review Management System (CRMS) project, questions are raised about the reliability…

This study establishes baseline information about the ways library publishing services integrate user studies of their readers, as well as common barriers to doing so. The Library Publishing Coalition defines library publishing as "the set of activities led by college and university libraries to support the creation, dissemination, and…

As the costs of scholarly and educational publications skyrocket, open educational resources (OER) are becoming an important way to provide content and enhance the teaching and learning experience. Librarians have a key role to play in developing, advocating, and managing OER. For many librarians, however, championing OERs means adding an…

Based on in-person, task-based usability testing and interviews, the authors' library Web site was recently overhauled in order to improve user experience. This led to the authors' interest in additional usability testing methods and test environments that would most closely fit their library's goals and situation. The appeal of card sorting…

Libraries, long the heart of academic life, nonetheless have been perceived as a passive space for physical resources and quiet study. Changes in the dissemination of information, as well as teaching and learning methods that focus on high-impact practices, have driven library staff to reimagine the physical buildings of libraries. To meet the new…

This paper, somewhat an incomplete historical overview and personal perspective, outlines a number of key challenges and opportunities in relation to future directions and developments in information literacy (IL) as a field of research and professional practice. It gives attention to significant foundational (selective) scholarship in the field,…

In this personal exploration of information literacy (IL) instruction at one institution, I look back at three decades of my involvement with pedagogy and how our local practices have reflected national conversations about the field. Anxiety about the identity and purpose of academic libraries in higher education has shaped the ways we have…

The rapid evolution of the Internet, technological innovation and increased flow of information (information overload) has modernized academic libraries and it is difficult to keep up with the virtual delivery of scholarly information. It is to be relevant within this digital economy ecosystem, improvement as change is vital. The purpose of this…

For many first-generation college students, traditional academic culture and structures can create barriers to their engagement on campus and academic success. To ensure that academic libraries are not also presenting unnecessary challenges to these students, first-generation needs and expectations should be important considerations in library…