How can we best train student employees for public service roles? At UC Berkeley, as in many academic libraries, a student employee is the first person that a user will see when entering the library; they are the "face of the library." A positive interaction will set a positive tone for the user's library experience, while a negative…

After a short introduction of the LIS landscape in Austria, the development of LIS education for academic librarians will be discussed. Until 2004 library education in Austria consisted mainly of vocational training to which only university graduates and eventually high-school graduates were admitted. In the nineteen-nineties, with Austria joining…

This case study discusses the implementation of formal organizational learning activities at the Richard G. Trefry Library, which serves the American Public University System, an accredited, for-profit, asynchronous institution of higher education. Discussed are the challenges and solutions throughout the implementation processes along with the…

Since the late 1970s, the access services librarian or equivalent position has become commonplace in academic libraries, and degreed professionals have been sought for these positions since the beginning. In 2009, David McCaslin, California Institute of Technology, examined the place of access services in American Library Association-accredited…

Academic libraries in Japan are well resourced by international standards, and support Japan's internationally recognized research capability well, but there are also ways in which they reflect Japan's strong bureaucratic culture. Recent changes to the status of national university libraries have seen a new interest in customer service, and…

As the importance of information literacy has gained increased recognition, so too have academic library professionals intensified their efforts to champion, activate, and advance these capabilities in others. To date, however, little attention has focused on advancing these essential competencies amongst practitioner advocates. This paper helps…

Academic libraries now hire an increasing number of individuals to fill professional librarian positions who do not have the master's degree in library science. Academic libraries are also creating a wide range of new professional assignments that demand diverse educational backgrounds. Additionally, responsibilities formerly carried out by…

Reports on research that focused on competence and performance of reference libraries in academic libraries in Nigeria. Includes recommendations for improving competence and performance, including the reference process; staffing and other resources; education for reference librarians; knowledge of modern technology; and emotional stability and…

These proceedings of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) meeting on the education of research library personnel contain the following papers: The Conant Report and Its Implications for Academic and Research Libraries, by Ralph W. Conant; Library Education--State-of-the-Art, by Robert O. Stueart; Professional Education and Training--A New…

This article examines the relevance of training and skills development to modern librarianship in the first generation universities in Nigeria. The developments noticed in this sector in the universities within the past decade made it imperative to have new workers with new skills to adopt to the many changes that have taken place that are likely…

This report explores the current status of preservation education in library schools, the projected requirements for the next decade, and the ways in which preservation education may be strengthened. It is argued that preservation has changed dramatically with the emergence of nonprint media, and the question is raised whether the library school…

Reports findings of a survey of 48 undergraduate students regarding their perceptions of academic librarians and discusses ideas for addressing existing misconceptions. Highlights include perceptions concerning librarians' education; librarians' skills, knowledge, and expertise; librarians versus clerical workers; and librarians' attitudes toward…

Discussion of faculty status for academic librarians focuses on the reasons for and the impact of recent library school closings. Topics addressed include professional identity; the service functions of librarians versus teaching, research, and publication requirements of traditional tenure; accountability to the larger institution; and staffing…

A content analysis of 220 job advertisements that appeared in "College & Research Libraries News" between 1973 and 1998 demonstrates that by 1998, all academic library jobs routinely included computer technologies, that instruction had become an integral part of reference work, and that behavioral skills, especially oral and written communication…

Part of a series of needs assessment studies conducted at the Kent State School of Library Science, this study reports the results of a survey concerning library employment opportunities in Ohio for individuals with graduate degrees in library science. The three main objectives of the study were: (1) to estimate the number of professional and…