In the future, what role will the academic research library play in achieving the mission of higher education? This essay describes seven strategies that academic research libraries can adopt to become future-present libraries--libraries that foster what Douglas Thomas and John Seely Brown have called "a new culture of learning." Written…

In 2008, University of California, Irvine (UCI) Libraries launched their first Find Science Information online tutorial. It was an innovative web-based tool, containing not only informative content but also interactive activities, embedded hyperlinked resources, and reflective quizzes, all designed primarily to educate undergraduate science…

On June 15-16, 2010, California State Librarian Stacey A. Aldrich, initiated a strategic planning summit in Sacramento, California. The purpose of the summit was to build the future pathways for the California State Library (CSL)--one of California's oldest cultural institutions. This was accomplished by developing a CSL strategic plan (values,…

The impacts of technology upon traditional library resources are sometimes unexpected. The library at California's University of the Pacific discovered that usage of print materials was dwindling, even though the addition of a 50-station "Information Commons" had bolstered overall library use. At first it was anticipated that the…

California's public libraries face a decade of challenges, a decade in which the majority of Californians will become regular and adept users of electronic information resources, the majority of Californians will have many and varied ethnic backgrounds, a growing proportion of young people will live in homes where English is not the primary…

The UCLA Library has had a long-standing commitment to the attributes espoused by the teaching library model outlined in the seminal essay by Stoffle, Guskin and Boisse, "Teaching, Research, and Service: The Academic Library's Role" (1984). Information literacy was identified as a goal in the Library's strategic plan in late 2001. This…

The recent passage of legislation in California requiring local education agencies to establish performance based education programs will increase the role and responsibilities of school librarians and media specialists. The legislation will result in giving librarians, through the goals established by the school district, specific objectives in…

Library leaders promote reconsideration of organisational purposes, processes, and relationships at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California, USA. Systems thinking, fortified by information literacy, informs workplace changes that provide learning experiences transferable to better alignment of library outcomes with…

The forces influencing or reflecting change in California's community colleges are discussed in this paper in the context of the crisis of identity facing these institutions. First, factors contributing to the rapid expansion of community college education in California are outlined, and the consequences of that growth are examined. Next, the…