This case study explores student and lecturer views of reading lists at Loughborough University. Taking the qualitative data from two surveys previously undertaken at the institution, it uses the grounded theory approach to identify key issues regarding the purpose, importance, visibility, content, currency, and length of reading lists, as well as…

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…

The purpose of this article is to share findings from a qualitative study showing the positive influences the local public library and the school library had on the personal and academic lives of 18 low-income English language learners of Mexican descent while they were adjusting to the numerous demands of school in the US. For these students, the…

As the international student population continues to grow, librarians must adjust their instruction to meet the needs of students who are adapting to a new country, culture, and language. This study assesses first-year international students as they engage in the research process through the completion of concept maps that precede database…

In 2018, after a failed search for the Executive Director of the American Library Association (ALA), ALA members put forth a ballot initiative to determine whether the educational requirements for the position should be modified, in part, to expand the potential applicant pool. With this research, the authors examined if current ARL administrators…

Following the examples of SCOAP3, in which libraries fund open access, and eLife, in which funding agencies have begun to directly fund open access scholarly publishing, this study presents an analysis of how creatively combining these two models might provide a means to move toward universal open access (without APCs). This study calculates the…

This article discusses commuter students' experiences with the academic library, drawn from a qualitative study at the City University of New York. Undergraduates at six community and baccalaureate colleges were interviewed to explore how they fit schoolwork into their days, and the challenges and opportunities they encountered. Students…

This article presents a qualitative evaluation methodology of academic departments for library organizational learning and library enhancement planning. This evaluation used campus units' academic program review reports as a data source and employed collaborative content analysis by library liaisons to extract departmental strengths, weaknesses,…

This is a study of the treatment of library patron privacy in licenses for electronic journals in academic libraries. We begin by distinguishing four facets of privacy and intellectual freedom based on the LIS and philosophical literature. Next, we perform a content analysis of 42 license agreements for electronic journals, focusing on terms for…

This citation analysis examines the use of Spanish- and Portuguese-language books and articles in PhD dissertations on Latin America at the University of New Mexico between 2000 and 2009. Two sets of data are presented: The first identifies the use of Spanish- and Portuguese-language books and articles across 17 academic departments; and the…

The purpose of this study was to understand the organizational level decision factors in technology adoption in the context of digital libraries. A qualitative case study approach was used to investigate the adoption of a specific technology, XML-based Web services, in digital libraries. Rogers' diffusion of innovations and Wenger's communities of…

We discuss an educational development approach to embedding academic literacies instruction within disciplinary curricula. This developmental, embedded approach contrasts with the generic, extra-curricular, study-skills approach adopted in many universities. Learning Commons partners at York University, including librarians, writing instructors,…

In Fall 2011, staff at the University of Minnesota Libraries-Twin Cities undertook a project to measure how often, and in what ways, students used the Libraries' services. Partnering with the University's Office of Institutional Research, the team investigated ways to match library service usage to individual accounts while retaining patron…

Digital badging has seen widespread adoption within the US higher education sector with continued growth predicted. Might digital badging present an underrealized opportunity for libraries seeking new vehicles through which to deliver information literacy instructional content? This paper offers an analysis of badging in higher education and…