Libraries are changing. Although they still provide access to information, they also are tasked with teaching new users how to take advantage of available resources. They are expanding their role as community-wide help centers while continuing to be a place for reflection, sharing and learning. Shelves filled with rows upon rows of books no longer…

In 2010 the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) responded to rapid changes in school libraries by convening the "Wisconsin School Library Summit: Envisioning 21st Century Learners and School Library Media Programs." Summit participants discussed the future of school libraries in Wisconsin. During the summit, several…

Interest in supporting undergraduate research programs continues to grow within academic librarianship. This article presents how undergraduate research program coordinators perceive and value library support of their programs. Undergraduate research coordinators from a variety of institutions were surveyed on which elements of libraries and…

In an effort to provide better service to the University of Lethbridge satellite campus locations, a survey was done of instructors on the northern campuses regarding their knowledge and use of the University of Lethbridge Library services available to them. This was a follow-up to a survey conducted in 2011, at which time it was found that many…

As academic libraries struggle to remain relevant when technological advancements and electronic resources threaten to make them obsolete, libraries are learning to re-invent themselves by molding and adapting staff skills to cultivate innovative outreach programs. The Science Outreach Committee of the John D. MacArthur Campus library at Florida…

Detailed succession planning helps libraries pass information from one employee to the next. This is crucial in preparing for hiring, turnover, retirements, training of graduate teaching assistants in academic libraries, and other common situations. The authors of this article discuss succession planning for instruction programs in academic…

This study measures the return on investment (ROI) of the Syracuse University library. Faculty and students at Syracuse University were surveyed using contingent valuation methodology to measure their willingness to pay in time and money for the services of the academic library. Their travel time and use of the online library was measured to…

This study looks at undergraduate Hispanic students' interpretations and current perceptions of the academic library's purpose, usefulness and value. What are the reasons to use the library? What are the barriers to use? This study will examine academic libraries' move toward electronic library materials and what it means for Hispanic students.…

Distance librarians continually develop information literacy instruction in a variety of formats. Assessment, when it occurs, tends to be of the traditional multiple-choice variety and does not measure more complex skills. Authentic assessments offer the instruction librarian a way to re-think their instruction strategies and assessment of student…

In this article we examine the changing status of the course reader as an instructional technology in higher education. We assess the advantages of simply providing students bibliographic entries for assigned readings instead of readers, and we evaluate this alternative in regards to intellectual property and fair use issues focusing on…

Students are increasingly participating in online courses. This increased participation in online courses can result in students being more distant from their campuses, thus receiving a different kind of service from their institution. Along with this increase in participation in online courses is the increase in availability of information…

This paper looks at results from the 2009 Programme for International Student Assessment to examine the effects of school libraries on students' test performance, with specific focus on the average of students' family wealth in a school. The paper documents students' school library use and students' home possessions to indicate how school…

Penfield Library at the State University of New York at Oswego (SUNY Oswego) has a gallery exhibit space near the front entrance that is used to showcase student-faculty research and art class projects. This article features the library's outreach efforts to science faculty and students through research exhibitions. The library held an exhibition…

This article serves as a primer for assessment and evaluation design by describing the range of methods commonly employed in library settings. Quantitative methods, such as counting and benchmarking measures, are useful for investigating the internal operations of an access services department in order to identify workflow inefficiencies or…

Generating, collecting, and analyzing building usage statistics can greatly increase the ability of an access services unit to meet the changing dynamic of patron needs in an academic library. By analyzing three different data points, the Access Services Unit in Malpass Library at Western Illinois University was able to determine the most…