This review offers a critical analysis of the library and information science (LIS) literature on first-generation students (FGS) from the last 40 years. This literature demonstrates an interest in understanding the needs of FGS to serve them better, but it is often grounded in a deficit model of education that focuses on what first-generation…

Introduction: Uncertainty is understood as an important component of the information seeking process, but it has not been explored as a component of reference and information service. Method: Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to examine the practitioner perspective of reference and information service for eight academic research…

Public libraries are heavily affected by political and policy-making processes that shape the funding, activities, and roles of libraries in society, with the explosion of information policy decisions in the past two decades significantly increasing the responsibilities of libraries while also increasing limitations on their activities. Research…

These days it seems like school librarians are under attack, if not already an endangered species. After eight years of the No Child Left Behind Act--which, paradoxically, chipped away at many library positions--recent state and local budget shortfalls have led to rounds and rounds of layoffs for school librarians. While things are tough in the…

Twenty-three scholarly papers and eleven abstracts reflect the content of the seventh "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…

An attempt is made in this paper to characterize, and identify some of the basic issues in library research which require resolution. DeProspo's primary purpose is to suggest some of the reasons which lead to the conclusion that much of the research effort in librarianship, the objective of which has been to influence library policy, has been…

Discusses the importance of historical studies for librarians and how knowledge of the past contributes to the research base. Social science and historical perspectives on library research are considered; and hypothesis testing, the study of causality, and the history of information practices are examined. (Contains eight references.) (LRW)

This column assesses the state of library and information studies (LIS) research. Researchers and practitioners in various LIS fields address questions related to the research front and agenda for collection development; what the field needs to advance further; whether it needs a more sophisticated conceptual or theoretical framework; operational…

Professional affiliations of authors of articles in library and information science are reported, based on a random sample of articles indexed in "Social Science Citation Index." Faculty members at schools of library and information science authored over 23 percent of articles; academic librarians authored nearly one-third of the…

Discusses need for research in library and information science from perspective of an academic library director. The current state of information science research, areas where research might be undertaken, economics, library schools, librarians as managers, and the impact of new information technology on research are examined. (Six sources are…

This research project studied the perceived quality of the library and information science literature and asked questions regarding international librarianship. Additionally, it questioned what librarians read, how they choose their reading material, and how they use the literature for their decision making. The sample consisted of librarians from…

With the onset of the information explosion, the role of the special librarian began to change. While his service goals remained the same, new techniques had to be developed to cope with the flood of published literature. Both networking and information science represent predictable responses to this situation. Information science offers a new…

For well over a decade, the "graying" of the library profession has been the subject of much discussion. To examine this issue the Library Research Service (LRS) initiated the study, "Retirement, Retention, and Recruitment: The Future of Librarianship in Colorado." During the last quarter of 2003, 1,241 librarians,…

The question "What is the role for research in library and information science?" lies at the heart of an ongoing project sponsored by the Office of Library Programs in the U.S. Department of Education. The project, which was begun in 1986-87, is designed to identify researchable issues that could help libraries attain or maintain a leadership…

This paper represents the state of the art of research in library science on professional competencies for academic, public and special libraries since 1985. The seminal research study done on librarian competencies was conducted in 1983-86 by King Research. The goal of the study was to identify the type of skills and knowledge that information…