It has been almost 50 years since Robert Taylor published his classic 1968 article, "Question-Negotiation and Information Seeking in Libraries," in "College & Research Libraries"; yet much of what that article discussed is as fresh today as it was back then. It has been identified as a classic because it has enduring themes…

Few academic librarians ten or fifteen years ago would have believed that those days of flat-lined budgets and miniscule raises could ever seem a golden (or at least silver) age by comparison. It turns out that there is something even worse than uncertainty, however--the absolute certainty of budgetary constriction and unwise decisions.…

There's a lot of focus on the "Next Gen" librarians out there bringing a youth perspective that's supposed to shake things up and introducing new ideas and practices into a profession that sometimes moves forward at a glacial pace. But the ideas of the new generation do not invalidate the work done by those who came before. In fact, change in…

In this article, the author discusses his immediate concerns about working at Butler Library at Columbia University. He discusses the structure of the library system and voices his concerns about the structure. The structure is best described as a stratified pyramid. The librarians hired into the "upper base" are either specialists without an MLS…

Briefly reviews the history of faculty status in academic librarianship and provides suggestions revising standards 5 and 6 of the "Association of College and Research Libraries Standards for Faculty Status," which concern tenure, contracts, and promotion. Twenty-three sources are given. (EJS)

Advocates pursuit of service to the public rather than autonomy of practice as the proper professional goal of librarians. This article explores the tensions between professional attributes and the bureaucratic demands of the organizational environment. (Author/RAA)

Suggests that fundamental questions with broad policy implications and a perspective that approaches academic library from patron's point of view remain to be asked about library costs, collections and their use, library users, and both the academic setting itself and the people who work within it. Seventeen references are cited. (EJS)

Discussion of professional status of the college librarian includes a definition of "colleges," decline of status of college library in American Library Association and Association of College and Research Libraries, crisis in higher education and implications for colleges, bias against "small" in academic librarianship,…

Discusses faculty status for librarians and criteria for achieving tenure based on experiences at the University of Colorado Libraries at Boulder. Highlights include factors affecting librarians' ability to achieve tenure; and characteristics of librarianship as they relate to the faculty model, including cooperative practices and the hierarchical…

Argues that differing career aspirations among academic librarians may be addressed through a two-track system: one track for occupational librarians, who choose not to pursue higher career goals; and the second for professional librarians who continue to pursue their education and take on greater responsibilities. (EA)

This paper examines the current rate of change in university libraries and makes projections of future rates of change. Highlights include technological innovations, change models (particularly the Stages of Growth organizational change model), organization and administration of university libraries, and implications of change for librarianship.…

Discusses a paradigm for academic librarianship that requires greater sensitivity to and identification with needs of library users. Centrality of library academic community is questioned, noting insistence of librarians on independent status of library and failure of bibliographic instruction programs to make issue of critical thinking top…

Surveys available literature and offers suggestions for future study concerning the academic librarian's responsibility to demonstrate competence in research and publication. Publication in librarianship and other disciplines, role of professional education, relationship with other academic realms, and performance within the library are…

Discusses the processes shaping the professionalization of college and research librarianship within the framework of four sociological theories. It is suggested that structural changes within higher education and the information industry affect the legitimacy, status, and territory of librarians' work, and that professional growth cannot be…

The meanings of professional and academic as qualifiers of librarians are discussed, arguing that if librarians in academic institutions are to be accorded a status comparable with that of faculty, they must be prepared to be assessed by the comparable and traditional means, namely qualifications, research, and publications. (14 references)…