Student employees are essential to academic libraries on college and university campuses. The employment programme at this mid-sized university library intentionally seeks to engage students in work that not only benefits the library, but also provides students the opportunity to learn and hone skills that can contribute to academic and…

Birmingham City University's Library and Learning Resources' strategic aim is to improve student satisfaction. A key element is the achievement of the Customer Excellence Standard. An important component of the standard is the mapping of services to improve quality. Library and Learning Resources has developed a methodology to map these…

We describe a three-week intensive and innovative faculty development program, necessitated by the 2020 pandemic, which was designed as a deliberative and purposeful initiative to help instructors make the rapid transition to remote teaching. The program, referred to as the Practicum on the Foundations of Teaching Online, was created as a…

Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) programs have been recognized as one of the most effective channels through which theses and dissertations can be made available to academic communities and beyond. ETD program management, however, needs to be aware of the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) throughout the process of design and development of…

Purposeful assessment of space for the understanding and improvement of the academic library is a relatively new area of inquiry. This essay offers a framework to consider different factors affecting such an assessment and insights for undertaking a meaningful inquiry about the relationship of space to an academic library's evolving purpose as…

During spring quarter 2008, the Western Washington University (WWU) Libraries established an interactive bloglike environment called "14 Days to Have Your Say" with the intention of gathering new ideas and feedback about the libraries from the university community. The environment was developed as a fairly simple Drupal site. The project…

Reports on a study to estimate the proportion of the University of Michigan's library collection needing preservation efforts and describes the rating scale used. (FM)

Discusses the nature of locally based research, demonstrates its relevance to the concerns of school library media specialists, and outlines the phases and steps involved in conducting locally based research. Resources for, and benefits of, locally based research are also discussed. A 15-item reference list is included. (JL)

The Islamic Republic of Iran's parliament, the Majlis, passed in 1990 a law setting out the functions of its national library. In 2005, the inauguration of the first stage of the new national library building was celebrated as a major national cultural and architectural achievement. This article looks at the origins and evolution of the National…

Examines the basic components of research as they apply to the school library media field. Problems involved in conducting research, synthesizing and evaluating research efforts, and disseminating research results are discussed. A checklist and bibliography of research reviews in the school library field and a 42-item reference list are included.…

In June 2004, fourteen students graduated from the first completely online degree program at The Ohio State University--the Non-Traditional PharmD (Doctor of Pharmacy) program. The program was implemented as a response to the American Council on Pharmaceutical Education requiring this degree for entry into pharmacy practice. This article reports…

Evaluation of changes in a human genetics course for medical students at the University of Illinois, which incorporated clerkship features including case studies, small group work, and library research, found significant gains in student achievement and favorable assessments by students and faculty. (Author/DB)

Describes a program developed to expose college chemistry students to some of the more modern information retrieval tools, as computerized online databases. Following classroom lectures and discussions, students individually develop a search statement relevant to their own research needs and run it in the Chemical Abstracts files. (BT)

Suggesting a diamond as a visual metaphor for upcoming research in school library media, this article discusses four questions that would occupy the corners. Questions examine contributions of library media programs to student achievement; roles of the library media specialist in today's schools; how students use electronic information resources…

The MIT Libraries enthusiastically implemented real-time online reference service in September 2001. After 15 months, Ask Us!--Live was suspended due to ongoing software problems. This article describes the four-part assessment of the service with recommendations for the future. (Contains 6 figures and 21 notes.)