The Federal Government's recent Building the Education Revolution program resulted in, among other features, the creation of over 600 new school libraries in Queensland alone. This paper reports on a component of a research project carried out with students in six primary schools and one secondary school that benefitted from the program,…

Web-scale discovery systems are gaining momentum among academic libraries as libraries seek a means to provide their users with a one-stop searching experience. Illinois State University's Milner Library found itself in the unique position of having access to two distinct discovery products, EBSCO Discovery Service and Serials Solutions' Summon.…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether law students experienced library anxiety and, if so, which components contributed to that anxiety. The Multidimensional Library Anxiety Scale (MLAS) developed by Dr. Doris Van Kampen was used to assess library anxiety levels of law students. The MLAS is a 53 question Likert scale instrument that…

The expectations placed on library instruction programs by the Association of College and Research Libraries are high. Many universities also include information literacy competencies as learning objectives to be assessed at the institutional level. With those standards in mind, it is becoming increasingly difficult to adequately educate students…

Librarianship has experienced a few growing pains over the past several years as its relationship with technology matures into a productive partnership. Being overzealous to adopt new technology can sometimes lead to more setbacks than advances in the profession. However, a recent wave of research has been discussing the benefits of integrating…

Any organization must build a good reputation and image in order to "anchor" its relevance and indispensability in the minds of a wide variety of audiences. Many commercial organizations maximize opportunities to raise favourable awareness about what they do--and their techniques and approaches can be applied to libraries. Examples from…

If Google represents the first flicker of information technology, the development of additional tools has continued to enhance access to information but with the unfortunate downside of decreasing information literacy. Todd Gilman, librarian for literature in English at Yale University's Sterling Memorial Library, decries the resulting disconnect…

More than two decades of debate since the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) adopted the term information literacy have been marked by ongoing criticism of its associated definitions and standards. Some scholars and practitioners have argued for a critical information literacy, which applies the precepts of critical pedagogy to…

Nationwide education initiatives are underway in various parts of the world, including a push for national curricula in the U.S. and Australia. In Australia, school librarians have been invited guests to provide input into the integration of digital/information literacy across curriculum areas. Conversely, U.S., school librarians crashed the…

This paper explores the difference between "high standards" and a "high standard of standardness" of professional service provision in teacher-librarianship. That is to say, it explores the difference between a demonstrated deep commitment to 21st century learning ("high standards") and demonstrated compliance with a pre-determined checklist of…

Since the second century, libraries have been esteemed as keepers of the flame of knowledge and culture. At the stone Library of Celcus, constructed in Turkey in 1100 A.D., for example, 15,000 documents were kept safe from the elements and other destructive forces such as rodents. In places like Celcus, the knowledge of Greek philosophy, Roman…

Public libraries have traditionally provided key inputs to support lifelong learning. More recently, significant social and technological changes have challenged this sector to redefine their role in this field. For most public libraries in Europe this has meant continuing their role as providers of information and advice while increasing services…

Early in his career as an engineering librarian, the author saw plagiarism in completely black and white terms. However, digging into the scholarly literature, he finds ample evidence that there are other factors at work in student writing besides a lack of ethics or the intent to cheat. In this article, he briefly highlights some of these…

Educators have an imperative to help students not only get into college but also flourish when they arrive. The evidence is clear that many students are not prepared. Schools can and must do better than pretty good, and highly qualified school librarians, working in concert with all members of the learning community, can help ensure that students…

Some economists have called the current U.S. economic environment the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Many educators and parents believe it is more important than ever for students to master financial literacy skills. To become successful and responsible 21st century citizens, students need to graduate globally competitive for…