A critical component of strategic planning is creating a shared-awareness among library staff of the potential societal, political, economic and technological changes that will influence how future users will create and consume scholarly materials, what will be expected of library services, and how facilities will be used. The ACRL Futuring…

In 2009, after a year of planning and preparation, the second generation of Ohio Memory was launched. A collaborative effort of the Ohio Historical Society (OHS) and the State Library of Ohio, Ohio Memory is a repository for more than 75,000 digital items, including photographs, journals, and other manuscript materials, as well as print documents…

Despite the recent turmoil in the U.S. economy, most libraries that were tracked by "Library Journal" won their referenda at a rate just slightly lower than 2007. Nearly three-quarters of operating referenda passed. Building referenda under $10 million passed at a whopping 85%, with those over $10 million batting slightly better than…

Based on the findings of a recent three-year study by Dominican University's Graduate School of Library and Information Studies, the authors can confirm what many librarians have long suspected: students who take part in their local library's summer reading program significantly improve their reading skills. This article describes the results of…

In an effort to market the library as a more inviting, student-friendly place, librarians at the main library of Kent State University have piloted several new events to lure students into the building and keep them coming back. With the transition to more social events hosted by the university libraries, a number of questions arose among…

This article discusses the short- and long-term challenges of academic librarians in an increasingly hostile environment, and the ways in which these challenges reflect the broader struggles of faculty and professionals. What they are experiencing across the country--in the context of corporatization, the elimination of collective bargaining, and…

In recent decades the literature dealing with graduate students and library use, including bibliographic instruction, information-seeking behavior, and information literacy has grown. However, there still appears to be a lack of research and resources available on the information-seeking behavior skills of graduate education students, which can…

This study explores Web 2.0 technologies in an academic library through focus groups with undergraduates at Kent State University. Results reveal that students, despite being heavy users, are less sophisticated and expressive in their use of Web 2.0 than presumed. Students set clear boundaries between educational and social spaces on the Web, and…

In response to the rapid advances in information technology, greater pressure has been placed on academic libraries and teaching faculty to incorporate information literacy skills into the curriculum. Although these skills have been taught for decades, the principles and concepts of information literacy have taken on new urgency as they are…

This article describes a role for the academic library in the campus outcomes assessment process and reports on a study to determine the impact of the Ohio State University (OSU) Libraries' instructional program on several required general education courses. Although university curriculum documents prescribe research-related learning objectives…

Developed to promote excellence in Ohio's school libraries, this document is designed to: (1) provide a rationale for integration of the school library into the total education program; (2) delineate the dimensions of service of a dynamic K-12 library program; (3) identify essential components of an effective K-12 library program; (4) provide a…

Library media specialists need tools to help them manage the school library media program. The Internet includes a vast array of tools that a library media specialist might find useful. The websites and electronic resources included in this article are only a representative sample and future columns may explore additional tools. All the tools are…

This packet of materials was developed by the members of a joint task force of librarians from school, public, and college libraries in Ohio as a means of facilitating closer cooperation in defining library instructional goals and activities. It begins with a discussion of the need for such cooperation and suggested roles for classroom teachers…

As head of information technology at the Prior Health Sciences Library, Eric Schnell likes to improve products that don't fully meet his library's purposes. His first major software product, the award-winning Prospero Electronic Delivery Project, is a web-based document delivery system designed to complement Ariel[R] by converting documents to a…

What is the impact of an academic library consortium on the perceptions of library services experienced by users of the member institutions' libraries? What is the impact of an academic library consortium on the perceptions of library services experienced by users of the member institutions libraries? In 2002 and 2003, OhioLINK (Ohio's consortium…