This article identifies 13 cultural trends that libraries can turn into opportunites to reach patrons. These trends include: Twitter, online reputation management, value added content, mobile marketing, and emotional connection.

There has been a significant spike among school librarians in talk about the process of learning since the 2007 release of the "Standards for the 21st-Century Learner" by the American Association of School Librarians. How do children really learn best? The AASL Standards make it clear that 21st-century school librarianship is not just about…

The Association of Research Libraries' diversity initiatives, under the leadership of Duane Webster and member libraries, have had a visible and long-lasting influence on the makeup of academic librarianship. ARL's accomplishments and progress in advancing diversity comprise important milestones for librarianship and did not come without…

This article provides a historiographical analysis of major leadership and organizational development theories that have shaped our thinking about how we lead and administrate academic libraries. Drawing from behavioral, cognitive, systems, and complexity theories, this article discusses major theorists and research studies appearing over the past…

Libraries nationwide are in yet another phase of belt tightening. Without an understanding of the economic factors that influence library operations, however, controlling costs and performing cost-benefit analyses on services is difficult. This paper describes a project to develop a cost model for collaborative virtual reference services. This…

An online survey was sent to academic libraries and consortia with an integrated library system (ILS) migration project, based on review of press releases from major U.S. ILS vendors. This study takes a systematic approach to provide a snapshot of the academic ILS market and key factors affecting the outcome of an ILS migration project. It reveals…

This article reports on the implementation of a professional development program in emerging technologies for librarians at the University of Western Australia. Set up in 2008 to address a lack of pedagogically grounded training in this area, it has now graduated three cohorts. A qualitative analysis of participants' online contributions and…

Digital inclusion is the ability of individuals and groups to access and use information and communication technologies. Not all members of a community benefit equally, and some communities have been left out altogether. This paper is a guide for fostering digital inclusion throughout the United States so that everyone can take advantage of…

Volunteers are essential to a successful library program--and at a time when deep budget cuts are the norm, there are many libraries that depend on the help of dedicated volunteers, who do everything from shelving books to covering the phones. Whether these are friends, trustees, or community members, managing them effectively is the key to…

This study assessed students' satisfaction with Ramkhamhaeng University regional library services (RURLs) and the perceived quality of information retrieved from other information sources. In particular, this study investigated factors relating to regional students' selection of information sources to meet their information needs. The researcher…

This paper aims to investigate the current XML-related courses available in 96 LIS schools in South East Asia and Taiwan's 9 LIS schools. Also, this study investigates the linkage of library school graduates in Taiwan who took different levels of XML-related education (that is XML arranged as an individual course or XML arranged as a section unit…

Aim of the project: Curriculum development is a time-consuming process and often interminable. Pursuing the idea of creating a nationwide core curriculum is one opportunity to develop a curriculum in library and information science (LIS). It can be supposed that a project like this can be the initial point stimulating and encouraging the widest…

An investigation into preservice teachers' information evaluation skills at a large university suggests that formative assessment can improve student achievement. Preservice teachers were asked to apply information evaluation skills in the areas of currency, relevancy, authority, accuracy, and purpose. The study used quantitative methods to assess…

An e-book usage survey was sent through departmental mailing lists to the graduate students, scientists and faculty members of the Chemistry Department and Biology Department of Indiana University, Bloomington (IUB). Several faculty members, scientists and graduates students from the Chemistry Department and Biology Department were also contacted…

After one year of providing virtual reference service through an instant messaging (IM) service, Binghamton University (BU) Libraries, under the purview of its Digital Reference Committee (DRC), undertook a study of collected session transcripts. The goals of this work were to determine who was using the IM service and why; if staffing for the…