This paper introduces a Patron Counting and Analysis (PCA) system that leverages Wi-Fi-connection data to monitor space utilization and analyze visitor patterns in academic libraries. The PCA system offers real-time crowding information to the public and a comprehensive visitor analysis dashboard for library administrators. The system's…

The efficient curation of usage statistics for electronic collections has remained problematic for librarians. Many libraries employ multiple tools and manual processes in order to consolidate and examine usage data. In 2018, the Electronic Resources unit at The University of Alabama Libraries began using LastPass to store vendor contact…

During the spring 2017 semester, the staff at the Boston University School of Theology Library launched a space assessment project aimed at identifying underutilized and inefficiently used sections of the library to better meet the needs of users. Unsatisfied with patron count metrics like "total patron count" and "capacity…

This article uses the case study of developing a collaborative "out-of-hours" virtual enquiry service by members of the Northern Collaboration Group of academic libraries in the north of England to explore the importance of communication and collaboration between academic library services in enhancing student learning. Set within the…

OCLC Research is one of the world's leading centers devoted exclusively to the challenges facing libraries and archives in a rapidly changing information technology environment. The mission of OCLC is to expand knowledge that advances OCLC's public purposes of advancing libraries and librarianship. The goal is to help libraries plan with…

Academic libraries have reported long-term declines in circulation, reference transactions, reserves, and in-house library materials usage. Increasingly, libraries are perceived as being less critical to the academic enterprise. Are these trends irreversible? Perhaps public libraries and some innovative academic libraries can provide us with some…

What began with a few libraries' early application of ethnographic methods to learn more about user behaviors and needs has grown to become a significant body of work done across many institutions using a broad range of methods. User-centered investigations are increasingly influential in discussions about the shape and future of the research…

The North Carolina State University Libraries has long recognized the financial burden textbook costs place on students. By crosswalking information on use of our textbook collection with textbook cost and course enrollment data, we have begun to map the environment for textbook use at the university and identified opportunities for faculty…

Libraries, long the heart of academic life, nonetheless have been perceived as a passive space for physical resources and quiet study. Changes in the dissemination of information, as well as teaching and learning methods that focus on high-impact practices, have driven library staff to reimagine the physical buildings of libraries. To meet the new…

Jill Powell, engineering librarian from Cornell University, visited the library at NASA Goddard in Greenbelt, Maryland in July 2013, interviewing library staff and selected NASA scientists. She studied the library's digital projects, publications, services, and operations. She also interviewed several NASA scientists on information-seeking…

Fueled by the pressing need for electronic resource usage statistics, librarians are finding themselves being thrust into the role of hunter-gatherer. This article discusses the work done at University Library at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis to provide usage statistics for all its paid subscriptions for a 3-year period. The…

Public services librarians are often in the position of training patrons how to use technology. They adopt new technologies such as discovery layers, link resolvers, subject guides, virtual reference services, OPACs, content management systems, and institutional repositories to provide access to materials and facilitate collaboration, but…

As free and low-cost Web analytics tools become more sophisticated, libraries' approach to user analysis can become more nuanced and precise. Tracking appropriate metrics with a well-formulated analytics program can inform design decisions, demonstrate the degree to which those decisions have succeeded, and thereby inform the next iteration in the…

Barcode scanning has become more than just fun. Now libraries and businesses are leveraging barcode technology as an innovative tool to market their products and ideas. Developed and popularized in Japan, these Quick Response (QR) or two-dimensional barcodes allow marketers to provide interactive content in an otherwise static environment. In this…

"Research Library Issues" ("RLI") is a quarterly report from ARL (Association of Research Libraries), CNI (Coalition of Networked Information), and SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition). This issue includes the following articles: (1) Rebalancing the Investment in Collections (H. Thomas Hickerson); (2)…