This paper examines the impact of process mapping on the management of change in an academic library in a UK higher education institution. Book ordering has been highlighted by a group of subject librarians as being time-consuming and inefficient, detracting from their ability to respond to new challenges and opportunities. An action research…

Nearly all academic librarians agree that academic libraries have to change in order to respond successfully to the new realities of the higher education environment, rapidly developing information and telecommunications technologies, and the crisis in scholarly communications. But there is little agreement on what must change, how the changes…

As access services emerges as a discrete discipline within the field of librarianship, opportunities for access services librarians to meet and discuss the issues facing today's libraries continue to grow. One annual meeting that has attracted less attention over the years is the Ivies + Access Services Symposium. Held at various member…

The intent of this study was to aid academic librarians in examining their perceptions of the future of higher education, engaging disciplinary faculty members to understand their views, and determining actions to take to shape the future. In this mixed methods study, scenarios about the future of higher education served as the basis for…

Womens' studies librarians' view that women should be represented at the center of library collections and services generates conflict in the United States academic library. An examination of the development of a women's studies research library in the Rutgers University Libraries System between 1970 and the mid-1990s reveals the bibliographic and…

This issue contains nine articles written by Indiana librarians involved in bibliographic instruction: (1) "Information Management Education--Beyond BI (Bibliographic Instruction)" (Gillian S. Gremmels); (2) "Dealing with the New Technology: An Instructional Primer" (Patrick Max); (3) "Librarian/Teacher Partnerships for…

Describes issues raised during a major reorganization and consolidation of reference services at Oregon State University. Attitudes of reference librarians and library administrators are reported, steps involved in the reorganization are outlined, and reactions from faculty are discussed with emphasis on the need for cooperation between librarians…

Reviews the literature on academic library reference service, and examines changes in the traditional reference desk model. Based on the review from the perspectives of managers, librarians, and users, new research directions are proposed in which users' information-search processes and librarians' intervention in reference service are integrated.…

This article presents an overview of a research project that was designed as a way to understand the role of Australian academic librarians in internationalising library, university, and higher education practice. In an attempt to discover what it is that librarians actually do, a survey of university librarians was undertaken to find how they…

As the academic library plays the roles of intermediary and adjudicator of collection purchases and cancellations, faculty involvement in library resource decisions is not only commonplace, but essential to making such decisions. Faculty involvement in cancellation projects is often enhanced by a thorough explanation of the depth of financial…

Even though endorsements of written collection development policies abound in the professional literature, many academic libraries do not have them in place. Interviews with several Louisiana librarians reveal possible reasons for that disparity. Instead of spending time devising policies that quickly become inflexible and outdated, bibliographers…

Recently the Peru State College Library (Nebraska) had an opportunity to use a special acquisitions grant to study the effects of removing librarian bias in one area of its collection. This study considers the use of the items selected for this grant by humanities faculty and compares their use with other items selected by both librarians and…

A survey of curriculum centers in Illinois academic institutions found that a wide range of library services were offered to education faculty, staff, and students and that librarians were committed to the education community and the larger university. (EA)

Reports on the book-buying trends and predilections of libraries at two-year colleges, four-year colleges, universities, and large research institutions. Four tables and figures show findings for purchasing power of academic libraries; areas academic librarians believe need more titles; most-bought book categories; and sources used to make…

This report summarizes data from surveys of users at the Georgia College library from 1989 to 1992. Results in the following areas are presented for each fiscal year (i.e., 1990, 1991, and 1992): (1) affiliation with the college and academic major; (2) status (i.e., faculty, staff, student class); (3) whether the library visit was in support of…