Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to report on bibliometric research on the activities and services offered by distance libraries that serve distance learning institutions. Design/methodology/approach: The analysis of scholarly communication has always been a valuable tool for researchers and policymakers in order to understand trends, gaps…

After three years of collecting electronic resources of troubleshooting tickets in Springhare's LibAnswers at University of Houston Libraries, the author conducted an analysis of over 300 tickets. The type of problem was identified for each ticket and then categorized into a functional area using an existing categorization schema developed at…

Outreach programs remain essential in fostering the use of library collections and services. A review of one hundred seventy-four papers on academic library outreach from 2008 to January 2019 highlighted the popularity of these programs during this period as well as the identification of five themes. These themes point to the importance of library…

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to provide a comprehensive literature review on the utilisation of intelligent agent technology in the library environment. Design/methodology/approach: Research papers since 1990 on the use of various intelligent agent technologies in libraries are divided into two main application areas: digital library…

For nearly two decades, librarians have been noting and writing about transformational change in collection development and subsequently predicting future directions for libraries in terms of building digital collections. This paradigm shift caused by the incorporation of more and more electronic resources into existing library collections and…

This article explores the questions to what extent educational research addresses library use in education and how the library can contribute to intercultural education. The focus is primarily on elementary education in Europe. Analysis of research publications was based on searches for peer-reviewed journals in international databases, literary…

"ARL" is the bimonthly report on research library issues and actions from ARL (Association of Research Libraries), CNI (Coalition of Networked Information), and SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition). "ARL" reports on current issues of interest to academic and research library administrators, staff and users; higher…

This paper discusses the concept of geolibraries and reviews related literature. Highlights include: the opportunity of geolibraries to elevate the work of both GI (Geographical Information) scientists and librarians; geolibraries' focus on digital information and metadata, as well as the distributed nature of the libraries and collections; the…

Five Grand Challenges are proposed for library research: (1) Library service: Could library services be made more meaningful? (2) Library theory: Who knew what when? (3) Library design: Have digital libraries been designed backwards? (4) Library values: How neutral can libraries be? (5) Library communities: How do communities differ? (AEF)

Describes computer networks that support scholarly research and explains the idea of a colibratory, i.e., a collaborative, distributed, experimental scholarly information network that is analogous to a traditional library. Information resources that could be available are discussed, technological considerations in networking are described, and…

Examines three essential questions and suggests areas for research in each: (1) How are digital resource users best served: What resources will they want? How will they want to use them? What services will most enhance use? (2) What elements are required for a coherent preservation strategy covering resources both digital and traditional? (3) What…

Discusses the role of libraries in providing access to data in electronic form. Types of data are described, including social data, scientific data, and humanities data; the definition of libraries and library services is considered; and acquisition of the skills needed to provide effective access is discussed. (20 references) (LRW)

Considers how research in collaborative technologies can inform research and development in library and information science. Topics include computer supported collaborative work; shared drawing; collaborative writing; MUDs; MOOs; workflow; World Wide Web; collaborative learning; computer mediated communication; ethnography; evaluation; remote…

Presents a summary of the history of academic library automation, and discusses some of the technological trends which are important to the development of an electronic library. Topics discussed include public services vs. technical services; cataloging and classification; serials control; computer networks; cooperative projects, including…

Discusses the need for new technologies and information delivery services in Greece, and describes current activities related to the support of Greek scientists and researchers. Highlights include data networks infrastructure; information centers; the National Documentation Center; library services, including electronic document delivery and…