Circulation is the library's tireless foot soldier: it serves as the front gate to the library's services and resources. This service point is where most patrons enter and leave; and experience their first and last impressions--impressions that linger. In an age when academic libraries are facing meager budgets and declining usage statistics, this…

The mere fact that a library service is being used does not mean that the service makes a difference or has a positive impact on the user. This has significant implications for Special Library and Information Services (SL&IS) that have to constantly prove that they add value. Because of the difficulty of measuring impact effectively, the…

In the last few years, technology-savvy librarians have begun turning their attention to a host of new tools to connect with their users and colleagues. The umbrella term for these new technologies--Web 2.0--began gaining traction in 2004. Many librarians were quick to embrace the new wave of technology. Early adopting libraries used blogs to…

Information Literacy (IL) competencies are defined as "the ability to locate, evaluate, and use information effectively" and are considered essential for students in their academic lives and future careers (ALA, 1989). IL plays an important role in developing critical thinking and problem solving skills, and improving academic…

This research was conducted to investigate the relationships between conceptions and practice of information literacy in academic libraries. To create a structure for the investigation, the research adopted the framework of Argyris and Schon (1974) in which professional practice is examined via theories of action, namely espoused theories and…

Over the past decade and a half, free access to computers and the Internet in U.S. public libraries evolved from a rare commodity into a core service. Now, people from all walks of life rely on this service every day to look for jobs, find health care, and read the latest news. As the nation struggled through a historic recession, nearly one-third…

Some of the author's most valuable experiences as a library media specialist (LMS) were not in a school library. Rather, they were on the streets of Chicago, in community gardens, and on the rooftops of buildings in Humboldt Park, where she was hired by the University of Illinois Community Informatics Initiative as a graduate assistant and LMS in…

In commemoration of the Librarian of the Year Award's 20th anniversary, this article presents brief vignettes on all 19 of the title holders. When "Library Journal" named them Librarians of the Year, these inimitable 19 (for the 20th, Norma Blake, see EJ788676) had singled themselves out as risk takers, visionaries, bulldogs, pragmatists,…

Although self-checkout technology has been around for about 15 years, cashiers have not yet needed to worry about being rendered obsolete. Many stores have added self-checkout, but a clerk still has to be stationed in the area to help with problems. While self-check technology has improved immensely over the years, it still has not caught on to…

In 2007, "Library Journal" and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation named Hanover's Howe Library one of four "Best Small Libraries in America." Hanover is an affluent community with a long history of support for the public library. In fact, the town's taxpayers support two: Howe and Etna Library, a small, independent institution in the village of…

"Urban Teens in the Library" is the perfect solution for the concerns and uncertainty many librarians face when supporting this group of patrons and students. From a team of experts who have researched the information habits and preferences of urban teens to build better and more effective school and public library programs, this book will show…

This study examines patterns in how a group of fifth- and sixth-grade teachers evaluated and reported using different types of curriculum resources to support their teaching in relation to the mathematical concepts outlined in the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics. In particular, it explores the use of resources that were available to…

Research has shown that the care and education of infants and toddlers is an under-represented area in early childhood teacher education. This is also the case in Australia, meaning that pre-service teachers have few opportunities for learning about infants and toddlers and thus tend to have limited theoretical and practical knowledge about…

Due to evidence linking education and development, funding has been invested in interventions relevant to getting youth into school and keeping them there. This article reports on a systematic review of impact studies of these school enrollment interventions. Reports were identified through electronic searches of bibliographic databases and other…

Background: Increasingly clinical and health research awareness is a priority for health and medical research communities. Translational research, including the prevention and treatment of conditions, relies upon proper funding as well as public participation in research studies. This requires executing more effective communication strategies to…