In recent years, the opportunities for academic libraries to engage as a partner in digital initiatives in academia have expanded significantly. The traditional focus on digitization, preservation, and dissemination of collections has developed and shifted considerably, bringing new strategies for adequately serving the changed academic needs, as…

Academic librarians face multiple barriers in conducting the research that is expected in their work, yet they still manage to successfully complete it. This study aimed to identify the factors that contribute to their success. Through an online survey sent via email to a random sample of academic librarians in the United States, we gathered and…

Exhibits offer insight into what an organization values while providing patrons the opportunity to be challenged and engaged. This paper explores ways exhibits policies can be crafted to move exhibits beyond the walls and cases to create a space for community discussion that promote growth and understanding by providing space for discussions,…

High school students' transition to college-level research is often discussed among school library and media specialists and academic librarians. The authors conducted a survey to gather data about the academic library's role in the adjustment to college, with the intention to identify compelling or recurring themes and share the results in…

This installment of "Reports from the Field" demonstrates how the building of community-based digital archives in academic libraries can support campus diversity initiatives and spur greater engagement with community concerns. As college campuses rapidly become more diverse along racial and ethnic lines, social issues concerning race and…

Typically, when a community's historical materials encounter a large academic library's archives, the engagement is transactional: they sign forms, they hand over their archives, and we assure them that their materials will be valued by researchers. These procedures make assumptions about comfort with gift agreements (what if communities seek…

With the Poetry Center at San Francisco State University, the author has begun to build an open-access digital repository for poetry chapbooks. The repository is essentially a chapbook exchange: a place for poets to share their current works. Users are invited to share their chapbooks via upload and as such gain access to the chapbook repository.…

The Authors@UF program series emerged to showcase the scholarship and creativity of faculty, creating an intellectual forum within the academic library, and providing informal, extra-curriculum, academic engagement between students and faculty outside the classroom. This article identifies steps to launch an author program, and considerations in…

The purpose of this study was to describe the methods--including practices, policies, and roles--used by public and academic library staff in a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Racial and Ethnic Approach to Community Health (REACH) intervention that proved successful in reducing or eliminating several diabetes-related health…

Twenty-six scholarly papers and ten abstracts comprise the content of the thirteenth annual Brick and Click Libraries Symposium, held annually at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Missouri. The proceedings, authored by academic librarians and presented at the symposium, portray the contemporary and future face of librarianship. The…

Collection development librarians have long struggled to meet user demands for new titles. Too often, required resources are not purchased, whereas some purchased resources do not circulate. E-books selected through patron-driven plans are a solution but present new challenges for both selectors and catalogers. Radical changes to traditional…

This paper details community engagement activity of an academic library coordinated within a broader university strategic plan. The Anderson Library at Indiana University Northwest (IU-Northwest) supports a service called the Northwest Indiana Center for Data and Analysis. Created in 1996 with funding made available from the Indiana University…

Reflects on the potency of libraries as community assets during the past 2000 years. Traces the preservation of knowledge in ancient libraries. Addresses ecclesiastical library development and the relatively recent rise of public and academic libraries; identifies their connections with their communities, and the relevance for today. Describes…

This paper describes a unique library fund raiser at California State University (Northridge). "A Trial for the Books" was a dog agility trial held on April 26-27, 1996 as a benefit for the university's Oviatt Library. The event was hosted by West Valley DogSports, a community group. The event raised approximately $2,500 for the…

Traditional models of library service and their applicability to the Spanish-speaking community, a rapidly growing group not generally considered by policy makers, planners, and decision makers of the library profession, are examined. Topics include: discussion of terms describing Hispanic-origin people; size of Spanish-origin population;…