Electronic resource access troubleshooting is familiar work in most libraries. The added complexity introduced when a library implements a web-scale discovery service, however, creates a strong need for well-organized, rigorous training to enable troubleshooting staff to provide the best service possible. This article outlines strategies, tools,…

An entrepreneurial librarian takes the embedded librarian concept one step further at a completely on-line university and markets the virtual library to students, faculty and administration rather than wait for customers to come to the library. York and Vance (2009) make the observation that "one obstacle to marketing an embedded librarian…

In 2012, more than a decade after the original Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education (hereafter the Standards) were institutionalized as the goal of academic library instruction, the Information Literacy Competency Standards Review Task Force convened by ACRL recommended…

After a needs assessment exposed that even daily library users were unaware of the best resources, tools, and services, the Rider University Libraries switched gears from a focus on the creation of long step-by-step tutorials, to the creation of short promotional videos for all users, with attention on the needs of distance learners. This project…

"Sense of place" no longer applies only to the physical library. All students are distance learners to one extent or another, and all distance services must be considered as a single virtual learning commons. Librarians at Bucks County (PA) Community College implement and integrate current teaching, learning, virtual reference, and mobile access…

In recent years public libraries have experimented with user-generated or community-contributed content through the interactive tools of Web 2.0. For some commentators this not just establishes a new relationship between libraries and their publics, but signals the end of information hegemony and an "expert paradigm". Such claims need to…

This paper will look at the services presently offered to distance students by libraries within the categories of professional staff, access to resources, reference assistance, and library user instruction. It will then offer the argument that these services could be improved by developing embedded librarians within online academic courses as a…

The nature of learning in a public library is relevant to what place e-learning and social networking technologies might have there. That a public library aims to provide something for everyone is also important. Alice Springs Public Library (ASPL) is a place of learning; it is also a crowded and composite space. The use ASPL could make of the…

This paper looks at the challenges that libraries in Africa face in responding to massification of higher education by discussing the University of Zambia library's response in library and information resources provision. As a result of massification of higher education, libraries have been forced not only to employ new and different strategies to…

The complexity of the information environment, and more uncontrolled distribution and access, lead to new issues for users. Reference services, with a stronger instructional role, must become more proactive in providing a fully developed repertoire of services responsive to the multifaceted queries facing librarians today. (Contains 31…

Discussion of the evolving role of the school library media specialist focuses on a model of the teaching role in the development of a critical thinking curriculum. Topics addressed include literacy redefined; restructuring media programs; collection development and information access; staffing changes; and intervention and evaluation strategies.…

The mission of today's school library media center is to help prepare students to enter the information age of the 21st century. To carry out this mission, library media specialists, administrators, and teachers must ensure that students can effectively locate, access, interpret, evaluate, and communicate information. The school library media…