This article explores how self-identified lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) students use the library located within a culture center on campus serving LGBTQ students, compared to the ways those students use the main campus library. In particular, this study asks how LGBTQ students' needs of library collections may…

Educational research is increasingly paying attention to students' out-of-class learning. Students' out-of-class learning is linked to improved class performance and constitutes an important part of learner development. Prior research has argued that learning-resources provision should encourage students' autonomous learning both in and out of the…

Patent and Trademark Resource Centers are located in libraries throughout the U.S., with 43 being in academic libraries. With the importance of incorporating a knowledge of intellectual property (IP) and patent research in university curricula nationwide, this study developed and evaluated a partnership program to increase the understanding of IP…

This article discusses the UK higher education environment and how increasing student expectations have led to students engaging with their academic institutions as partners. The differences between consumerist and partnership models of engagement are discussed and the article includes a UK-based case study which illustrates how effective student…

Although still a relatively new technology with less than 10 years of history, YouTube's extensive reach and integration in mainstream society as well as lifelong learning habits of online users cannot be understated. This article examines how the YouTube collection at the University of British Columbia Library's Irving K. Barber Learning Centre…

What makes a successful informal learning space is a topic in need of further research. The body of discourse on informal space design is drawn from learning theory, placemaking, and architecture, with a need for understanding of the synergy between the three. Findings from a longitudinal, quantitative, and qualitative study at Sheffield Hallam…

This report presents tabulations for the 2006 Academic Libraries Survey (ALS) conducted by the United States Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), within the Institute of Education Sciences. An academic library is defined as an entity in a postsecondary institution that provides all of the following: An…

The newly-built library at Ireland's Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) is innovative in design, responds to environmental conditions and identifies the campus with its location. The library is part of the Learning Resource Centre recently constructed to meet the institute's objective for a new landmark frontage. This article presents the…

This article presents the results of a survey designed to assess students' experiences with media resources as a means to better understanding academic media center student patron needs and as a first step towards assessing student levels of media literacy, an important but often overlooked component of information literacy. Results indicate a…