Academic libraries are fundamental in promoting equitable access to education but are often overlooked and underfunded. The COVID-19 pandemic amplified these inequities. This study investigates how 39 library deans and directors perceived decision-making by university administration during COVID-19's onset. Open-ended survey questions were sent to…

In the current environment for higher education, it has become critical for all of the departments and colleges within a university to become more aware of their place in the overall mission of the university. This is especially true of the academic library, which had relied upon a reputation as the "heart" of an academic institution for…

Since the earliest days of the profession, academic librarians have attempted to reconcile their status within the academy. This project takes a new approach to this effort by using Lee Bolman and Terrence Deal's "Four Frames" model to analyze the issues. To more closely examine the dynamics, tensions, and implications associated with…

This study examines perceptions of provosts from Canadian research-intensive universities regarding their institution's academic libraries. Interviews conducted with nine provosts explored how they perceive academic libraries in terms of alignment with institutional mission, how they envision the future of their libraries, and what they interpret…

Academic and library administrators are increasingly required to demonstrate efficiency in programs, services, and operations as well as effectiveness. An important component of efficiency measurement is identification of a relevant peer group against which to compare the administrative unit to determine relative efficiency. The two-fold purpose…

A functional analysis of the managerial, the innovatory and the policy-making processes in university libraries and an examination of how the views and interests of various groups affected by them might be best brought into play. (Author)

Examines trends contributing to a high attrition rate among academic library directors: (1) growth of enrollment; (2) changes in the university presidency; (3) proliferation in university management; (4) changes in the world of learning and research; (5) inflation; and (6) technology. Other pressures and possible solutions are also discussed. (10…

Professional literature on American higher education is vast and varied. Bibliographic items on college and university administration alone indicate that perhaps twenty thousand books, pamphlets, and magazine articles have appeared in print since 1950. Because the range and quality of the literature on university administration are so great, the…

A discussion of academic library management during retrenchment looks at a variety of issues, including staffing needs in the labor-intensive library environment, acquisitions budgeting, interlibrary cooperation (ownership vs. access to resources), entrepreneurship and strategic planning for problem solving, and use of total quality management…

This paper discusses the importance of an analytic planning model to academic libraries in the context of campus-wide planning and briefly describes two projects funded through the Council for the Advancement of Small Colleges (CASC) to develop appropriate management products. The first project focused on the development and testing of analytic…

Presents results of interviewing administrators, deans, and unit heads of budget departments of 20 public universities to determine each university's micropolitical budget strategy. Six propositions relating to budget strategies were identified; each is described with a summary of findings and a discussion of its relevance for library…

This report documents the procedures and problems encountered during the evaluation of Western Illinois University's library by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) and proposes recommendations for future evaluations of university libraries. Basic problems with the NCATE evaluation involved: (1) an unqualified…

Because 30 Australian colleges of advanced education, principally teacher training institutions, were scheduled to be amalgamated in 1982, a study was undertaken to determine the problems likely to face librarians at these institutions and to produce guidelines on amalgamation and running multi-site operations for both college administrators and…

College librarians do not always find the characteristics they wish their teaching and administrative colleagues to have: a genuine understanding of the library's mission in higher education; a clearer recognition of the professional librarian's craft and acceptance as a peer; and a reliable flow of communication and consultation. (Author/MSE)

A Task Force of 21 people representing faculty, department chairmen, and administrators at Amarillo College (AC) was organized into committees to investigate the use of the computer at AC and future data processing needs in areas of instructional support, administrative support, and equipment and software selection. Compared to computer…