This article addresses the development of electronic reserves within academic libraries. Libraries have been offering electronic reserve services on separate platforms since the 1990s (Austin, 2013). However, since the integration of campus-wide content management systems (CMSs), the need for a library reserves platform that is independent from an…

This case study presents the Liverpool experience of using social media as an academic library to enhance audience engagement and create a community of users. It looks at the development of social media in the library, focusing on the concerted effort to grow followers and develop a meaningful use of these tools. It considers the value of taking a…

This article outlines some of the opportunities and challenges of changing what the library "brand" means to academic and professional services staff in the rapidly changing environment of UK higher education, taking the University of Leicester as a case study. It makes a practitioner contribution to the growing body of evidence of how…

A growing trend at universities is to use digital badges (micro-credentialing) for capturing the "soft skills" students gain outside of the classroom. Libraries can use this opportunity to become campus leaders in digital badges, using the system to not only promote their information literacy activities but to coordinate workshop…

The University of Huddersfield presents a key case study of the transformation of its Archives Service, using the newly-developed Staff/Space/Collections dependency model for archives and the lessons of the UK's Customer Service Excellence (CSE) scheme in order to examine and illustrate service development. Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and…

Effective communication is one of the most important resources for successful outreach efforts. This article addresses the benefits that can emerge from successful communication as well as the negative effects that may stem from ineffective communication. A case study of Florida Gulf Coast University Archives, Special Collections, & Digital…

A case study demonstrating how an online narrative featuring the adventures of a cuddly toy penguin, Pablo Penguin (@uoppenguin on Twitter) has been introduced at the University of Portsmouth Library to build trust and engagement between university students and library services and facilities. Evidence for the benefits of anthropomorphic brand…

For the past several years academic libraries have been adopting discovery systems to provide a search experience that reflects user expectations and improves access to electronic resources. University of Houston Libraries has kept pace with this evolving trend by pursuing various discovery options; these include an open-source tool, a federated…

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…

Written as a case study, this article outlines Duke Law School Information Services' video digitization, preservation, and access initiative. This article begins with a discussion of the case study environment and the cross-departmental evaluation of in-house video production and processing workflows. The in-house preservation reformatting process…

The Saskatchewan Music Collection (SMC) is a local music collection held at the University of Saskatchewan. This case study examines a project to digitize and present this unique special collection in the online environment. The project aims to facilitate access to the collection, preserve the collection and promote scholarship and interest in the…

A well-established postgraduate researcher development program has existed at De Montfort University for many years. Library and Learning Services include modules on literature searching skills and critical appraisal. However, we recognized that researchers seemed to be disengaged with the services on offer. This concern informed a research…

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…

The purpose of this study was to understand the organizational level decision factors in technology adoption in the context of digital libraries. A qualitative case study approach was used to investigate the adoption of a specific technology, XML-based Web services, in digital libraries. Rogers' diffusion of innovations and Wenger's communities of…

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…