As access services emerges as a discrete discipline within the field of librarianship, opportunities for access services librarians to meet and discuss the issues facing today's libraries continue to grow. One annual meeting that has attracted less attention over the years is the Ivies + Access Services Symposium. Held at various member…

Prison libraries have traditionally fulfilled many purposes for their incarcerated patrons, and these libraries often carry a diverse collection to serve varied patron needs. However, during the trial of Steven Hayes for the Petit family murders, the prosecution questioned the collection development policies of the institutions where Hayes had…

The purpose of this study was to explore the adaptive measures that academic libraries perform when implementing and operating a 24-hour schedule. Five in-depth interviews were conducted with current managerial-level librarians at 24-hour academic libraries. The exploratory interviews revealed similar measures for security, budgeting, employee…

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 purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which three academic libraries in the Southeastern United States could be considered diverse. This was a multi-site, mixed methods study. It examined the climate and culture of the libraries, which was assessed through two methods; the first, through survey responses from full-time faculty…

Declining reference statistics, diminishing human resources, and the desire to be more proactive and embedded in academic departments, prompted the University of South Florida Library to create a taskforce for re-envisioning reference services. The taskforce was charged with examining the staffing patterns at the desk and developing…

A survey on the role of academic library committees showed that not all libraries use committees in significant roles; committees do not guarantee librarians a significant voice; librarians were positive about policy-related committees and negative about fact-finding and information-gathering committees; and smaller libraries used committees more…

Investigates the effects of participatory management techniques advocated by the Public Library Association through a study of long-range planning at four public libraries that focused on staff members' views of the planning process, types and levels of staff participation, and attitudes about the effectiveness and consequences of the planning…

Literature analysis indicates that surveys are not widely used in the planning process for academic libraries because of difficulties with design of user studies, translation of survey results into management decisions, and acceptance of survey data by librarians. Trends such as competition from private information sources will force a change in…

The shift in policy from market driven behaviour towards a more cooperative tertiary sector is having an effect on New Zealand academic libraries and their relationships. Despite this, there has been no investigation of collaboration specifically targeting New Zealand tertiary libraries. This research project examine the state of collaboration…

The 28 essays in this collection provide an overview of research in library/information science (LIS), present a practical context of such research, and consider related issues and concerns. The essays are: (1) "The Elusive Nature of Research in LIS" (Peter Hernon); (2) "Guides to Conducting Research in Library and Information Science" (Ronald R.…

This manuscript reports a study of the secondary-school library. The library, it is claimed, exists first to improve the curriculum, and second, to encourage reading as a leisure-time occupation. The purposes of this investigation are: (1) to list and describe activities and devices used in outstanding secondary-school libraries; (2) to present…