Since the late 1970s, the access services librarian or equivalent position has become commonplace in academic libraries, and degreed professionals have been sought for these positions since the beginning. In 2009, David McCaslin, California Institute of Technology, examined the place of access services in American Library Association-accredited…

The digital humanities (DH) are attracting considerable attention and funding at the same time that this nascent field is striving for an identity. Some research libraries are making significant investments by creating digital humanities centers. However, questions about whether such investments are warranted persist across the cultural heritage…

This kit, containing organization charts for 15 member libraries of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), is a revised and updated version of a 1973 kit. In addition to charts of the total organization, many institutions have supplied charts for specific departments such as circulation, acquisitions, catalog, business, and technical…

This article presents an interview with Karen Glover of Georgia Tech, a key person behind the planning of the Access Services Conference held last fall, and now going into its second year. Glover started working in libraries as a part-time library assistant at her local public library during her high school years. She later became a Circulation…

This kit is based on a review of the organization charts of 86 member libraries of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) gathered in spring 1986, compared with two earlier sets of charts published in 1973 and 1977, and contains charts of 61 of the libraries. Nearly one-fourth of the charts studied are under revision, indicating that changes…

This collection of tenure policies in academic and research libraries contains: "Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure Adopted by the American Association of University Professors", including the "Model Statement of Criteria and Procedures for Appointment, Promotion in Academic Rank, and Tenure for College and University…

In response to Association of Research Libraries (ARL) members' increased interest in the enhancement of manpower resources by greater utilization of paraprofessionals, ARL conducted a survey investigating various aspects of paraprofessional employment in the academic library. For the purposes of the survey, paraprofessional positions were defined…

This kit on planning systems updates a 1974 Management Studies Office Systems and Procedures Exchange Center (SPEC) kit in which developments in planning activities among Association of Research Libraries (ARL) were reviewed. At the time of the original study, in 1972, planning techniques and systems were a subject of much interest because rising…

This kit contains a collection of representative documents on performance review procedures in academic and research libraries. Multiple documents from the Pennsylvania State University Libraries include a management guide to performance evaluation, a memo on performance evaluation from the librarian, and forms and instructions for use of both the…

The library environment has drastically changed since 1992 when Bostick's Library Anxiety Scale was developed. This project aimed to develop a scale specifically for undergraduate students. A three-stage study was conducted, using students of Kuwait University. A variety of statistical measures, including factor analysis, were used to process the…

Program presentations on issues related to staffing considerations in research libraries and business meeting minutes are combined in this report from the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). Under the program title, "Organizational Futures: Staffing Research Libraries in the 1990's," a report by the Task Force on Research Library Staffing…

This Systems and Procedures Exchange Center (SPEC) kit contains a collection of representative documents on performance review procedures in academic and research libraries. The kit comprises: (1) performance appraisal forms from the Stanford University Libraries; (2) a rating scale evaluation form and an essay evaluation form for professional…

While there is general agreement regarding the educational and cultural advantages of exhibits, research and academic libraries often adapt the operating guidelines and procedures of exhibit planning and installation from museums and other non-library institutions. To discover procedures and policies developed specifically for research libraries…

This report summarizes research undertaken at the Sterling C. Evans Library, Texas A & M University to assess the impact that end user information retrieval systems may have on library staff and users. Two systems, BRS/After Dark and Search Helper, were made available in the library for end user searching at no cost. A total of 260 users…

The purpose of this study is to provide data for making decisions on whether to buy or borrow research materials and whether to use fee-based suppliers or interlibrary loan for obtaining photocopied materials. The study is based on 1991 information collected in a survey of 76 U.S. and Canadian research libraries. The cost per transaction is broken…