The automation of a library that basically aims at improving the management of the library's resources and increasing access to these same resources by users has caught on so well in the western world that virtually all academic libraries in that part of the world have automated most of their services. In Africa, however, several challenges are…

2012 was a year of rapid change for education with the advent of MOOCs--Massive Open Online Courses--available for the world to use to learn for free. But what does this mean for the role of the librarian? How has the landscape in education changed, and what are the issues and challenges that librarians now face? This article reviews the position…

This article is based on quantitative and qualitative research examining humanities scholars' understandings of the advantages and disadvantages of print versus electronic information resources. It explores how humanities' faculty members at Florida State University (FSU) use print and electronic resources, as well as how they perceive these…

The moving image plays a significant role in teaching and learning; faculty in a variety of disciplines consider it a crucial component of their coursework. Yet little has been written about how faculty identify, obtain, and use these resources and what role the library plays. This study, which engaged teaching faculty in a dialogue with library…

A well-established postgraduate researcher development program has existed at De Montfort University for many years. Library and Learning Services include modules on literature searching skills and critical appraisal. However, we recognized that researchers seemed to be disengaged with the services on offer. This concern informed a research…

Academic librarianship is a profession in the midst of change. Embedded within multiple social spheres, academic librarians are adapting to changes in higher education, the sociotechnical environment of information, and the system of professions. This research investigates the ways in which academic librarians publicly present the ways in which…

The academic library has experienced overall growth and decline based on demographics, technology, and convenience, yet several problems face academic libraries today including: (a) perceived relevance, (b) market share, and (c) competition. The purpose of this study was to explore marketing activities and library usage in HBCU libraries. The…

This study explores possible futures for university-based library publishing services (LPS) and uses scenario planning as its research method. The study posits that the major force in developing LPS is the level of funding from the host university, with the most uncertain factor being whether faculty will adopt LPS. The study participants…

Libraries have incorporated all kinds of emerging or recently emerged technologies such as social media, mobile apps, e-books, and tablets into their services with differing levels of resource commitment and with vastly different timescales. Some libraries adopt a measured, policy-driven approach, spending a year or more on research, assessment,…

The article examines some of the non-routine challenges that an academic library director can expect to deal with during his or her career. Each challenge is discussed in a paragraph or two, beginning by characterizing the challenge as an animal that serves as a metaphor for unusual but nonetheless important conditions that can, sooner or later,…

Recent scholarship challenges the celebratory discourse surrounding Web 2.0. This paper engages with this scholarship to examine critically the implications of academic libraries' presence within commercially owned social media spaces. It considers the apparent contradiction between work to promote the principles of open access and the idea of the…

This paper describes our vision for the new UTS Library opening in 2016/17. Preparations are currently focussed on implementing enabling technologies which will move up to 80% of the print collection to an automated storage and retrieval system. This will allow the physical library to shift from a space dominated by book storage to a vibrant space…

Three surveys from the College and University Library Division (CULD) of the Arkansas Library Association (ArLA) from the past six years representing forty-four academic institutions were studied to determine the number of students per librarian on campus, salary, faculty status, contract-length, and maternity/paternity leave for librarians.…

Developing collection-level surveys to expose hidden collections in special collections and archives departments within ARL libraries has received a great deal of scholarly attention in the recent years. Numerous standards have been explored, and each has its strengths and weaknesses. This paper summarizes some of the major initiatives in…

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…