OCLC Research is one of the world's leading centers devoted exclusively to the challenges facing libraries and archives in a rapidly changing information technology environment. The mission of OCLC is to expand knowledge that advances OCLC's public purposes of advancing libraries and librarianship. The goal is to help libraries plan with…

This is the story of six books looted by Nazis from the Jewish Religious Community Library in Prague (JRCLP) that were discovered recently in the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Library. No scholarly literature describing similar experiences of North American academic libraries was found, nor were any professional guidelines for…

This article introduces some of the digital projects currently in development at the National Library of Wales as part of its Research Program in Digital Collections. These projects include the digital representation of the Library's Kyffin Willams art collection, musical collections, and probate collection, and of materials collected by the…

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…

The Quality Matters™ (QM) Program is utilized by over 700 colleges and universities to ensure that online course design meets standards imperative to student success in a Web-based classroom. Although a faculty-driven peer-review process, QM provides assessment from a student perspective, thereby identifying opportunities for improvement that may…

This article discusses an assessment and deselection project of the modern print book collections in the John Paul II Library, National University of Ireland Maynooth. Following a contextual introduction and literature review, the article outlines the methodology, presents and discusses the results, and concludes with lessons learned. Although…

It was early March 2008, and the author was only a few months from finishing her third year as an elementary school librarian. During the morning recess the school library was humming with the sounds of students. Suddenly, three students rushed in asking the author to help them find a silent-reading book for class. Looking at the clock and seeing…

Respondents to "Library Journal's" ("LJ") annual book buying survey of public libraries nationwide reported that adult book budgets were down eight percent overall, the largest plunge recorded since the survey began in 1998. What's more, for the first time ever, cuts were reported for every region of the country and every size of population…

This paper will look at the services presently offered to distance students by libraries within the categories of professional staff, access to resources, reference assistance, and library user instruction. It will then offer the argument that these services could be improved by developing embedded librarians within online academic courses as a…

This article addresses concerns raised by members of the local Muslim community regarding copies of the Qur'an in the circulating collections at Milner Library, Illinois State University. The librarians conducted an analysis of the collection of holy books and investigated the rules and traditions of the Islamic faith that govern the care and…

Preservation and conservation of library materials is an important aspect of library and information management. Their importance and necessity are more paramount in countries where resources are limited and libraries need to balance them with the needs of an ever increasing number of students hoping to use them. This article reports on the…

Developing collection-level surveys to expose hidden collections in special collections and archives departments within ARL libraries has received a great deal of scholarly attention in the recent years. Numerous standards have been explored, and each has its strengths and weaknesses. This paper summarizes some of the major initiatives in…

This paper discusses the author's experience directing the Purple Mountain Observatory Library, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in Nanjing, China. Routine collection development, management and preservation issues are described, and the unique challenges and opportunities involved in operating a remote observatory library are highlighted.

Research libraries have long invested in approval plan services, which offer an economical way to acquire scholarly and scientific publications. Traditional approval plans have evolved and now enable libraries to expand their e-book offerings to better serve researchers. Publishers offer a myriad of e-book purchasing options. These range from…

This paper looks at the challenges that libraries in Africa face in responding to massification of higher education by discussing the University of Zambia library's response in library and information resources provision. As a result of massification of higher education, libraries have been forced not only to employ new and different strategies to…