We explored the motivations of 588 university library patrons who chose to either have the library retain their checkout histories or not. We also examined associations between checkout history choice and both general data privacy concerns, and campus role. Over 90% opted to retain their histories. This group, compared to the no-retain group, had…

Seeking to better understand the longitudinal association between online usage of library-licensed content and short- and long-term student performance, we linked EZproxy logs to institutional university data to study how library usage impacts semester and cumulative GPAs. Panel linear mixed effects regression models indicate online library usage…

This paper describes a project undertaken at Grand Valley State University in which a co-creative model was used to develop a rubric for assessing student learning in library instruction. It outlines the design process as well as the training and support provided throughout implementation. It concludes with the authors' reflections on the…

Lack of funding, equipment, and expertise tops the list of reasons standing in the way of many smaller cultural heritage organizations digitizing their archival collections. Expanding on existing relationships with regional public libraries and museums, a pilot project was developed to address these reasons, partnering a university library's…

The Distance Library Services Conference was founded in 1982 by the librarians of the Off-Campus Library Services department at Central Michigan University. From its inception through its 18th conference in 2018, Central Michigan University planned and administered this conference for the benefit of librarians serving distance learners and faculty…

The main purposes of this study are to determine the extent to which the James White Library at Andrews University serves the information needs of graduate students enrolled in distance learning programs and to examine their information-seeking behavior to ascertain how they access material for their online courses. A 14-part questionnaire was…

This article explores academic libraries that have gone beyond using the traditional survey or focus group methods of soliciting student input, specific to library design projects. The goal for each library was to engage students in space design projects in innovative and hands-on ways that would maximise the potential for gaining their design…

Inspired by the 2017 Big Ten Academic Alliance Library Conference's collective collection theme, the authors undertook a study to better understand the consortium's resource-sharing needs for Spanish and Portuguese materials published in Latin America. The authors employed multiple technologies to expedite gathering, reconciling, and analyzing…

Many librarians work in public libraries to make a difference for children, families, and communities and identify family and community engagement as a cornerstone of their responsibilities. For librarians to be successful they must be afforded strong foundations in family and community engagement that begin early in their preparation. Yet little…

Library public services staff have primarily focused on providing services through interactions with their users. Although service quality and customer satisfaction are important in the delivery of these services, the emphasis and nature of the work have often been influenced by a library-centric philosophy rather than a user-centric philosophy.…

This issue of "Research Library Issues" ("RLI") highlights the value of professional failure. The idea to explore this theme emerged from conversations with the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Innovation Lab Advisory Group earlier this year. It is the hope this issue highlights the value of failure--both its necessary…

Finals week activities have become increasingly popular in academic libraries in the last few years, but what is a library to do when it is not allowed to have therapy dogs? This column examines a progression of increasingly popular activities at Michigan State University Libraries. Included is an assessment of what makes them popular, our…

This article examines the structural disparities between the archives at the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) and Michigan State University (MSU). While Nigerian archivists work to preserve their institutions' local content, they must contend with cultural and infrastructural constraints foreign to their American counterparts. To elucidate these…

Are services that were once intended to be exclusively available to the distance learning population now typically available for all users in a university community? This article seeks to investigate this question using two different methods. First, an unobtrusive study of 100 library Websites was conducted to determine whether these libraries…

The Michigan State University (MSU) Libraries' Website has a case of TMI: too much information organized by librarians for librarians. Finding relevant information about various library services, including the 24/7 Distance Learning Support Line, and access points to scholarly resources is often cumbersome, and given the limited time and staffing…