The Southeast Florida Library and Information Network (SEFLIN) has presented the Sun Seeker Leadership Institute biennially since 1997. SEFLIN, a multitype library consortium headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, was one of the first groups to sponsor a library leadership institute held as a monthly series of events over the period of a year. One…

While the traditional uses of InterLibrary Loan (ILL) can be cumbersome, much of the work is now done electronically. Google and WorldCat can tell patrons which libraries in their areas owns the the titles they want, but they cannot always tell patrons whether there is a copy on the shelf available for loan. Several ILS vendors and OCLC are…

In August 2007, an $11.2 million proposal for a shared statewide high-density storage facility was submitted to the Board of Governors, the governing body of the State University System in Florida. The project was subsequently approved at a slightly lower level and funding was delayed until 2010/2011. The experiences of coordinating data…

Ask Here PA is Pennsylvania's new statewide live chat reference and information service. This article discusses the key strategies utilized by Ask Here PA administrators to recruit participating libraries to contribute staff time to the service, the importance of centralized staff training, the main aspects of staff training, and activating the…

Libraries need to weigh the benefits, usage, and cost-effectiveness of owning collections against seeking alternatives to deliver the information needed by customers. The University of Arizona Library investigated different approaches for meeting the research needs of East Asian Studies faculty and students under great pressure of physical space…

Successful models of statewide library consortia are evident in many locations. Academic libraries in independent institutions of higher education in Mississippi must seek alternate affiliations since they do not participate in the MAGNOLIA consortium for public institutions. What does the future hold, especially for database licensing for…

This article presents the staff perspective on the advantages of collaboration between a library cooperative in Southeast Florida and one of its member libraries. Collaborative relationships between library cooperatives and member libraries exist primarily to benefit library patrons and community users. Important relationships between cooperatives…

This paper provides background and practical suggestions for creating and nurturing community partnerships.

As academic libraries renovate or build new spaces that provide services to users, they should consider opportunities to collaborate with other units on campus to develop collaborative services in the new space. These collaborative spaces, such as information commons, teaching and learning centers, and multi-media studios, offer advantages such as…

Assessment efforts document the academic library's contributions toward student success and institutional outcomes. Use of an Assessment Cycle at Pierce College Library enhances outcomes-based education and facilitates the library's role in the institutional assessment plan. Three examples of the Cycle are used to illustrate its application in…

Building joint-use libraries to foster new types of learning and collaboration is a growing phenomenon that is of great interest to academic library planners around the world. Noteworthy among these efforts, the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library in San Jose, California, is a collaboration of a metropolitan university library and a major public…

Over the past six years, the University of Utah libraries have developed an extensive international presence through digital resource sharing. Services include instruction, electronic document delivery, shared catalogs, and full-text databases. This paper will describe the process of establishing, extending, and improving these services through…

Campus teaching centers dedicated to improving instruction are commonplace today in academe. This article presents ways in which libraries and teaching centers have developed partnerships and identifies benefits for both entities. Specific examples are drawn from the authors' two institutions, including a review of the ways that relationships were…

Describes beginnings, objectives, services and future developments of OhioLINK, the network for over 50 Ohio colleges and universities. Discusses the funding crisis and proposed solution; OhioLINK features (Central Catalog, inter-institutional patron online borrowing, core databases, document delivery, Internet connection, electronic journals, and…