Professional development programs have been established in many academic libraries to support the research and scholarly activities of librarians. Continuous assessment can contribute to the sustainability and effectiveness of these programs. This study describes how measures of need, participation, satisfaction, and impact were employed to assess…

The contract-review and approval process for purchasing and renewing electronic resources at the University of Tennessee had become cumbersome to campus libraries. To streamline existing procedures, the campus libraries, the Office of Contracts Administration, and the Purchasing Department collaborated to find a solution that restored a measure of…

Strategic communication is not solely the remit of library managers and directors, but is the product of internal culture and engagement with the organization's brand. Libraries need to communicate strategically, in order to demonstrate to individuals across the organization that their message is on point, and that they understand, are committed…

This paper examines the extent to which public librarians are successfully prepared to engage the community in digital literacy and inclusion. A qualitative, multiple case study research design was chosen, using an analysis of policy documents and existing training programs offered by the libraries together with semi-structured interviews with…

Patron-Driven Acquisitions (PDA) is a new model used for e-book acquisition by academic libraries. A key component of this model is to make records of ebooks available in a library catalog and let actual patron usage decide whether or not an item is purchased. However, there has been a lack of research examining the role of the library catalog as…

This article describes a qualitative mixed-method study of students' perceptions of place and space in an academic library. The approach is informed by Scott Bennett's model of library design, which posits a shift from a "book-centered" to a technology supported "learning centered" paradigm of library space. Two surveys…

For the Spring 2015 semester of the Public Library Management course, students were given digital badges along with grades for their coursework. For each topic's corresponding assignment, students received a traditional grade and those achieving at least an A- received a digital badge that represented the skill or knowledge demonstrated. By using…

University libraries have had to provide acceptable noise levels for many years and this pressure has not diminished in the twenty-first century. Library space has to be utilized to ensure noise levels are best managed. A study was undertaken across four university libraries in South Florida to determine how universities utilized their limited…

Introduction: This study explores the extent to which an institutional repository makes papers available and accessible on the open Web by using 170 journal articles housed in DigiNole Commons, the institutional repository at Florida State University. Method: To analyse the repository's impact on availability and accessibility, we conducted…

University College Dublin became the first library in the Republic of Ireland to trial patron-driven acquisition (PDA) as a collection development tool in 2013. A total of 42% of UCD Library's book budget was allocated to the project, which included both electronic and print books. This article describes the twelve month project from the tender…

In response to a charge from the library administration, the Circulation Committee of the Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University designed and implemented a thorough assessment of circulation policies. Using multiple assessment methods including surveys, focus groups, and statistical analysis, the committee determined that the…

Purpose: This article aims to present experiences and the lessons learned from the University of Botswana (UB) library automation project. The implications of the project for similar libraries planning automation in sub Saharan Africa and beyond are adduced. Design/methodology/approach: The article is a case study of library automation at the…

The J. D. Williams Library at the University of Mississippi launched a pilot program during the 2010 National Novel Writing Month, hosting related events to determine community demand and how such efforts could be quantified. Using participant-submitted word counts and the event's own tools, researchers were able to ascertain that such events had…

This article establishes the level of skills and experience in preservation and conservation management using a case study methodological approach conducted in the 3 university libraries at the University of Zambia. The findings revealed that 20 (57%) of the library staff had not received formal training in preservation and conservation of library…

As library collections increasingly become digital, libraries are faced with many challenges regarding the acquisition and management of electronic resources. Some of these challenges include copyright and fair use, the first-sale doctrine, licensing versus ownership, digital preservation, long-term archiving, and, most important, the issue of…