A growing number of studies have reported that using open educational resources benefits students, but few studies have investigated academic impacts of adopting library-sourced eBooks as the course textbook. This mixed-methods study utilizes the Open Education Group's COUP Framework (Cost, Outcomes, Usage, Perceptions), which has previously been…

Professional development programs have been established in many academic libraries to support the research and scholarly activities of librarians. Continuous assessment can contribute to the sustainability and effectiveness of these programs. This study describes how measures of need, participation, satisfaction, and impact were employed to assess…

The Research and Teaching Fellowship (RTF) of the University of Maryland Libraries in College Park is a three-semester teacher training program for students seeking a master's of library and information science (MLIS) degree. This article provides details of the program's content, organization, administration, and assessment. It also includes…

The joint-use library is a place where people of all ages, interests, and income levels can find items of interest at no personal cost. The mission of A. H. Meadows Public and High School Library in Midlothian, Texas, is to offer what other public libraries provide: educational and entertainment resources to a community. Yet, the staff also wants…

Four librarians from Irish university libraries completed the U.K. Future Leaders Programme (FLP) in 2010. In this article they recount their experience and assess the effect of the programme on their professional practice and the value for their institutions. The programme is explored in the context of the Irish higher education environment,…

This paper reports the progress made by the Illinois State Library for 2008-2011. The library's achievements are presented according to the following goals: (1) Promote the use of technology to improve library services; (2) Provide leadership to the Illinois Library community to enhance library service; (3) Increase access to library services for…

Explains that library reference personnel usually need to be increased as library instruction flourishes, that staff should be carefully evaluated in order to detect incompetencies, and that all library staff should be recognized for their contributions in order to maximize the effectiveness of the program. (CWM)

Describes seven "habits" for effective school library media specialists: (1) Be proactive; (2) Begin with the end in mind; (3) Put first things first; (4) Think win/win; (5) Seek first to understand, then to be understood; (6) Synergize (get students, teachers, administrators, community members to work cooperatively); and (7) Sharpen the saw (take…

This book brings together relevant doctoral research related to the instructional effectiveness of the elementary and secondary school librarian and school library. The research is distilled from supervised research studies conducted at North American universities. In the opening section, the book describes what works, based on findings about…