Although scholarship has addressed issues around serving international students in U.S. and Canadian libraries, reports on how Chinese graduate students use information in Chinese universities, especially for a particular discipline, are rare. In this study, the author interviewed 15 graduate students and researchers in a top-ranked chemistry…

School library websites enhance and explain the services provided by the library. Most schools have a library website. Jurkowski (2004) reviewed thirty-four school library websites and ranked the most common features: website links, databases, policies, Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC), and websites by subject. These features give patrons a…

Discusses the impact of digital technology on copyright issues. Topics include the balance between copyright holders and users; pending amendments to the Copyright Act; legislation relating to databases; copyright regulations and reports; court cases; and future possibilities that special librarians should be aware of. (LRW)

Jacksonville State University's (JSU) Houston Cole (HCL) Library has always provided access to required course readings through a reserve circulation system. Prior to 2002, this services was "print based," requiring students to photocopy materials held physically at the reserve desk in the library. In 2002, the library integrated the…

Discusses document delivery and resource sharing and their effects on traditional interlibrary loan services. The issue of ownership of versus access to information is considered; alternative sources for document delivery are described, including commercial suppliers, fee-based information suppliers, and full-text databases; and evaluation…

Librarians cannot distribute their collections electronically until the problems of intellectual property and free-and-equal access are resolved. Libraries must overcome restrictions of "virtual libraries" thereby making copyrighted texts freely available. Libraries must be promoted as places where readers freely consult both copyrighted…

Describes considerations involved in implementing an electronic current awareness service in academic and research organizations, including user needs; personal bibliographic software; data sources, including floppy disk databases, CD-ROM, online databases, and library catalogs; staffing; fees; promotion; search profiles; and recordkeeping.…

The Visual Image User Study (VIUS), an extensive needs assessment project at Penn State University, describes academic users of pictures and their perceptions. These findings outline the potential market for digital images and list the likely determinates of whether or not a system will be used. They also explain some key user requirements for…

The possibility of producing journal articles in electronic form is creating a revolution in scholarly communication. A number of research libraries are investigating or offering local and remote access to electronic journals. Because Internet access to a journal may not be available at the time of need, a prime collection development issue is the…

Describes library services available to distance learners at the Rochester Institute of Technology's library. Highlights include courseware products; subject specialists; electronic course reserves; interlibrary loan; research databases; online library instruction, including online guides, streamed instruction, and computer based training for…

The Brick & Click Libraries Symposium is a one-day conference that focuses on providing library resources and services for students who are either on-campus learners or off-campus learners. It is sponsored by Northwest Missouri State University in order to offer academic librarians a forum for sharing practical information. The subjects and…

These proceedings document the fifth year of the "Brick and Click Libraries Symposium", held annually at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Missouri. Thirty five peer-reviewed papers and abstracts, written by academic librarians, and presented at the symposium are included in this volume. Many of the entries have…