Despite comics' popularity and cultural significance in Italy, its integration into Italian libraries has been slow, problematic, and uneven. This is reflected in the scarcity of academic research on the topic, which demands further in-depth exploration. In the context of Italian libraries, characterized by chronic underfunding and staffing…

Book censorship efforts in the USA have become increasingly concerning for champions of freedom of expression and civil liberties. The movement to ban books is seemingly driven by a desire to curtail adolescents' access to information about sexuality and gender diversity. This paper details the findings of a content analysis of the American…

Shared print programs are helping their member libraries right-size their collections. As they do, there are concerns about the adverse impact of bibliographic inaccuracies. This paper studies bibliographic record inaccuracies and the resulting frequency of mismatches between an item owned and the record representing ownership. Through analysis of…

This research report, produced for National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa (National Library), focused on a Putoi Rito Communities of Readers project carried out in Dargaville in 2023-24. Putoi Rito is a National Library initiative that works with communities to design, develop, and deliver support for reading engagement…

Can a floating collection thrive in a large multicampus academic research library? Floating collections have been successful in public libraries for some time, but it is uncommon for academic libraries and unheard of for a large academic library system. This article will discuss the investigation into the feasibility of a floating collection at…

Although cited reference studies are common in the library and information science literature, they are rarely performed in nonacademic institutions or in the atmospheric and oceanic sciences. In this paper, we analyze more than 400,000 cited references made by authors affiliated with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration between…

Revealing hidden assets stewarded by research institutions so they can be made available for research and learning locally and globally is a prime opportunity for libraries to create and deliver new value. "Making Archival and Special Collections More Accessible" collects important work OCLC Research has done to help achieve the…

This article presents results from an IMLS-funded project to evaluate the current state of collections in Florida's libraries, archives, and museums, current practices to preserve and conserve these collections, and perceived needs to maintain and improve these collections for future generations. The survey, modeled after the Heritage Health Index…

Last fall, Information Today, Inc.'s research division, Unisphere Research, conducted a survey of more than 1,200 public, academic, government, and special librarians with budget authority in North America. The study determined that after a couple of devastating years, most libraries are projecting budget stabilization in 2011. Naturally,…

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…

How can libraries best assess and improve user space, even if they are not in a position to undertake new construction or a major renovation? Staff at New Mexico State University used a variety of ethnographic methods to learn how our spaces were being used as well as what our users considered to be ideal library space. Our findings helped us make…

Surveys of academic staff in Australia, Finland, and the United States from 2004-2007 reveal reading patterns of e-articles by academics that can be used to measure the purpose and value of e-reading and to demonstrate the value of library-provided electronic journal collections. Results can also be used to compare differences across subject…

For over a half a century, State Library Administrative Agencies (SLAAs) have played a key role in the development and delivery of library services in the United States. While the organization and responsibilities of these agencies vary from state to state, they have two things in common: state-level planning for library services and…

The paper presents findings from 560 interviews with undergraduates on 10 campuses distributed across the US, as part of Project Information Literacy (PIL). Overall, the findings suggest that students use a "less is more" approach to manage and control all of the IT devices and information systems available to them while they are in the…

Background: Although education in Africa is expanding, little is being done to support learners' literacy outside the school. Rural people have little access to books and so cannot develop their reading skills. Purpose of Study: The project described here has both an educational and a research purpose: to complement formal schooling by making…