In Fall 2014 the University of Maryland Libraries launched a textbook reserves program to help relieve the burden of high textbook costs on students. Although its initial performance was lackluster, workflow refinements and expanded promotion greatly improved usage, resulting in a tenfold increase in circulation and expansion of the program. This…

Studies about diversity initiatives in academic libraries have primarily focused on large research libraries. But what kinds of diversity work occur at smaller libraries? This study examines the status of diversity initiatives, especially those aimed at students, at national liberal arts college libraries. Results from a survey of library…

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…

Some university academic departments contend that they do not receive a fair share of approval-plan books. The study attempts to measure the proportion of books for each departmental subject in general publishing and to compare those ratios to their proportion in approval plan receipts. It also sought to determine whether, and to what extent, book…

Results of performance evaluation of vendor supplying library materials to Knox College Library indicate that, despite vendor's claims for comprehensiveness of stock, only 40-50 percent of orders could be filled from stock, and performance with regard to both subjects and publishers varied as much as 50 percent. Nine references are cited. (EJS)

LIBRARIES OF ALL VIRGINIA INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION WERE INCLUDED IN THIS STUDY. QUESTIONNAIRES AND OBSERVATION WERE USED TO GATHER DATA ABOUT BUILDINGS AND COLLECTIONS, ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT, INTERLIBRARY COOPERATION, EXPENDITURES, AND PERSONNEL. AMONG THE 2-YEAR COLLEGES, (1) EXCEPT FOR THOSE WITH VERY SMALL ENROLLMENTS, CAPACITY…

The librarians of the library/learning center at University of Wisconsin Parkside provide a description of their bibliographic instruction program. Instructional objectives are outlined in accordance with the needs of students, faculty, community, those with special needs, and staff. These objectives cover such areas as location of materials and…

This paper attempts to provide a contextual study of CILA--Centro Interamericano de Libros Academicos--a new scheme for the distribution of scholarly books in the Americas. Because of the scheme's peculiar relevance to the needs of Canadian academic libraries, the status of Latin American studies and relevant library collections in Canada are…

When evaluating colleges, prospective college students with learning disabilities should examine the college library and its services. This article offers guidelines for evaluating library services and programs for the learning-disabled population, focusing on provision of recorded textbooks and lectures, special equipment, a resource advocate for…

A result of close cooperation between librarians at the Undergraduate Library and the English faculty, the program described in this report involves the integration of library instruction with freshmen English courses at the University of Texas at Austin. The formulation of goals for this program, through which over 5,000 students each year are…