This paper describes the creation of a poster for the poster session that was part of the ACRL Science and Technology Section program "Federal Friends: Creating Greater Access to and Support for Science and Technology Information," at the American Library Association Annual Conference in June 2010. Details about the making of the poster up to and…

No matter how cutting edge (and nicely funded) one's library is, there is always something cooler and more efficient on the horizon. Granted, not all new technology may be necessary in the library. But chances are one is going to want to get something--RFID (radio frequency identification), text reference, downloadable content, gaming,…

This project was originally defined to explore the potential for ARL libraries to provide support to small, print-only publishers in order to ensure long-term digital access to their content. Research library publishing programs vary widely, from posting PDFs in an institutional repository to full-fledged publishing operations. During the life of…

Recent years have seen an explosion of the number of institutions involved in or beginning to think about web archiving. Many National Digital Stewardship Alliance (NDSA) members, as well as other universities, historical societies, and state and local governments, have recognized the need for and importance of preserving a variety of web content…

This essay challenges traditional assumptions about the small-town American public library and the roles it has played in its community. Conventional thinking and professional rhetoric grounded on a "user in the life of the library" perspective identifies the public library as a neutral agency "essential to democracy" that…

Librarians should think of Yelp (yelp.com) as a kind of giant suggestion box hanging on the wall of the Internet. This web-based review service describes itself as "an online urban city guide that helps people find cool places to eat, shop, drink, relax and play, based on the informed opinions of a vibrant and active community of locals in the…

In March 2010, the first floor of the main library at The Florida State University was renovated as a learning commons. With this change in design, all tutoring that existed throughout the library was moved into the commons. The crown jewel of these programs is the library's in-house, late-night peer tutoring program that has seen incredible…

This paper applied Grey Relational Analysis (GRA) to Quality Function Deployment (QFD) to identify service improvement techniques for an academic library. First, reader needs and their importance, and satisfaction degrees were examined via questionnaires. Second, the service improvement techniques for satisfying the reader needs were developed by…

Student and faculty frustrations with traditional higher education textbook models continue to escalate. These frustrations present an opportunity for academic libraries to forge partnerships with teaching faculty and vendors to repurpose existing library resources. Library and teaching faculty at Southern New Hampshire University collaborated to…

This paper reviews a selection of literature pertaining to the subject of censorship in modern libraries. It interrogates the literature in terms of the ethical debates informing much of the contemporary academic writing on this subject. A multi-pronged approach to the subject is adopted. The review includes evaluations of the relevant aspects of…

Purpose: The paper aims to provide an overall methodology and case study for the innovation and extension of a digital library, especially the service system. Design/methodology/approach: Based on the three-dimensional structure theory of the information service industry, this paper combines a comprehensive analysis with the practical experiences…

It's no surprise that libraries in "LJ"'s annual budget survey reported an overall downward trend, with the expected decline in total budgets some 2.6% and the change in materials budgets 3.5%. Per capita funding is nudging down after years of steady if sometimes modest increases, with a projected decline of 1.6% in FY10. After all, the country…

Librarians face many challenges when dealing with issues of privacy within the mediated space of social networking sites. Conceptually, social networking sites differ from libraries on privacy as a value. Research about Generation Y students, the primary clientele of undergraduate libraries, can inform librarians' relationship to this important…

This paper presents a large scale study of online MLIS students (n = 910), who completed at least one online course and were enrolled in 36 of the 58 ALA-accredited MLIS programs in Canada and the United States. The results indicate that the typical student is female, White, lives in an urban setting, and is in her mid-30s. Online students were…

Background: Numerous studies have investigated the relationships between various student, home and contextual factors and reading achievement. However, the relationship between such factors and reading attitudes has been investigated far less, despite the fact that theoretical frameworks of large-scale assessments and school effectiveness research…