This paper details the results of a mixed-methods study of first-year and upper-division students' information literacy (IL) competencies. The study used a rubric and a survey, seeking to answer two research questions: (1) Is there a correlation between National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) IL survey responses and IL rubric scores? (2) Are…

Governments around the world propose to improve urban life by creating smart cities filled with sensors and other digital technologies that would collect large amounts of data about citizens and their activities. Ideally, smart cities would use the information they gather to enhance the urban environment and improve the quality of life of their…

The outlook for the future of colleges and universities is uncertain. Financial stresses, changing student populations, and rapidly developing technologies all pose significant challenges to the nation's colleges and universities. In "Academia Next," futurist and higher education expert Bryan Alexander addresses these evolving trends to…

The Community College Academic and Student Support Ecosystems (CCASSE) project examines how academic and student support services at not-for-profit associate-degree granting colleges are organized, funded, and staffed, and how these services can most effectively advance student success. In spring 2019, Ithaka S+R surveyed 249 chief academic and…

Evidence-based practice (EBP), like information literacy, is concerned with an individual's knowledge, skills, and attitudes relating to using information. EBP is now a professional competency in fields as diverse as social work, nursing and allied health fields, and public policy. A comparison of the Association of College and Research Libraries'…

Young scholars readily encounter creative characters in both literature and in life who stimulate questioning, problem solving, communicating, and pursuing interests and personal growth. By fueling students' creativity, school librarians demonstrate respect for the unique individuals they are now and honor them for the people they are…

Creativity is about openness and connection, it signals the chance to get ideas, share ideas, and try new things or put together old things in new ways. Libraries have always had the potential to source and support creative activities. Public library events and opportunities bring together people, ideas, and stuff (whether fabric, paint, wood,…

Information literacy instruction presents a difficult balance between quantity and quality, particularly for large-scale general education courses. This paper discusses the overhaul of the freshman composition instruction program at the University of Maryland Libraries, focusing on the transition from survey assessments to a student-centered and…

Makerspaces supply a venue for students to construct a variety of real-world products at the collegiate level using science and technology standards. The maker movement is sweeping the science learning community by storm in the library setting with remarkable success. The maker movement provides an opportunity to transform the library into a…

The majority of articles on mentoring in the library and information science field address career development by emphasizing the orientation process for new librarians and building the requisite skills for a specific job. Few articles deal with the psychological and social challenges that many early-career and minority librarians face, which can…

This study explores the idea of creating a knowledge base from shared online accounts to use in training librarians who perform distance reference services. Through a survey, follow-up interviews and a case study, the investigators explored current and potential use of shared online accounts as training tools. This study revealed that the…

This study investigates the relationship between School Library and Students' achievement on a population sample of 9896 Schools. Many international researches confirmed the importance of the School Library for the Students learning. Recently the IEA PIRLS survey has revealed a positive relationship between the Reading comprehension performance…

This article summarizes the author's evolution as a writing instructor toward a career as a librarian teaching information literacy and finally as a scholar and researcher studying information literacy as an academic subject. Changes in writing pedagogy are explored as they relate to changes in the author's instructional practices and how they…

This article provides a collection of annotated citations for online resources of interest to school librarians; the focus is on copyright law, related information, and guidelines. The citations are organized by themes based on common issues. Copyright protects originally created works, including movies, recorded music performances, novels,…

This paper describes the automated copyright clearance process for electronic reserves materials by the electronic reserves staff at the Information and Library Services (ILS), at the University of Maryland University College (UMUC). Besides the standard practice to handle and post required course readings in digital format for UMUC's distance…