How do you make art history and art museum library research exciting and relevant to an undergraduate studio art student? And, how can an innovative learning experiment lay the groundwork for future utilization of the acquired course knowledge and the art museum library resources? One answer, as we discovered, lies in creatively utilizing a…

This report suggests that Shiyali Ramamrita Ranganathan's "Five Laws of Library Science" can be reordered and reinterpreted to reflect today's library resources and services, as well as the behaviors that people demonstrate when engaging with them. Although authors Senior Research Scientist Lynn Silipigni Connaway and Associate Research…

Seekers of information in libraries either go through a librarian intermediary or they help themselves. When they go through librarians they must develop their questions through four levels of need, referred to here as the visceral, conscious, formalized, and compromised needs. In his pre-search interview with an information-seeker the reference…

Librarians have long struggled to find user-friendly mediums to provide meaningful information to patrons using bibliographies, pathfinders, and subject guides with varying degrees of success. Content management systems, such as Springshare's LibGuides, have recently been developed to facilitate the creation of online subject guides. Special…

In summer 2008, a small group of Santa Clara University librarians were charged with exploring ways of making online library research guides more user friendly and interactive. In order to know how to enhance our guides, we first asked the question, "What makes a research guide useful?" What follows is a detailed process of discovery.…

This article provides a brief history of the development of library subject guides (often referred to as pathfinders) from the late 1800s to the present. During this period, subject guides have changed both their focus and format. The needs of academic institutions at the turn of the 20th century were very different than they are today, and…

Library pathfinders are a time-tested method of leading library users to important resources. However, paper-based pathfinders suffer from space limitations, and both paper-based and Web-based pathfinders require frequent updates to keep up with new library acquisitions. This article details a step-by-step method to create an online dynamic…

The authors implemented a survey of faculty attitudes toward library research instruction that is closely related to two previously published surveys. After reviewing their results, the authors raise questions about the significance of some of the results of all three surveys.

The digital age has freed information from the restrictive hierarchies of traditional cataloging methods, notably Dewey. Although libraries still deal with the challenge of physical books, online content is a different matter. Thanks to the unregulated, grassroots cataloging effort known as tagging, the Web presents a glorious chaos of…

This study explores student selection of service learning projects in lieu of traditional library research projects. One hundred fifty-four strategic management students completed surveys exploring their tolerance of ambiguity, time pressure, attitudes toward civic participation, self-efficacy toward service, political conservatism, and the role…

The Islamic Republic of Iran's parliament, the Majlis, passed in 1990 a law setting out the functions of its national library. In 2005, the inauguration of the first stage of the new national library building was celebrated as a major national cultural and architectural achievement. This article looks at the origins and evolution of the National…

As players in the delivery of services and online information, libraries are in the best position to use staff expertise and the technology they have developed to foster community awareness of social, professional and commercial interactions on the internet. Historically, libraries have been progressive institutions, undertaking constant…

The annual "Florida Library Directory with Statistics" is intended to be a tool for library staff to present vital statistical information on budgets, collections, and services to local, state, and national policymakers. As with previous editions, this 2001 edition includes the names, addresses, telephone numbers, and other information…

The two issues of the journal "Rural Libraries" for 1990 contain a total of seven articles. "Cooperation and Rural Libraries," by Jackie Schmitt, reports on a nationwide survey of 119 rural libraries' participation in intrastate library cooperatives. "Rural Public Library Service to Native Americans," by Susan…

In this report of the Council's fourteenth year, a sum of $1,722,375 was appropriated for the support of 29 new projects and work was continued or completed on a good many more. It has become increasingly evident that the average library will never be able to "go it alone" in some aspects of the new technology--automation, for example.…