A century ago, a woman named Mary E. Hall convinced school leaders of the need for the professional school librarian--a librarian who cultivated a love of reading, academic achievement, and independent learning skills. After graduating from New York City's Pratt Institute Library School in 1895, Hall developed her vision for the high school…

Responding to the need for innovative LIS curriculum and pedagogy, grounded in both information and learning theory, this paper introduces the theory and practice of "informed learning" [3]. After explaining how informed learning originated within the LIS discipline we outline the principles and characteristics of informed learning. Then…

Public libraries are heavily affected by political and policy-making processes that shape the funding, activities, and roles of libraries in society, with the explosion of information policy decisions in the past two decades significantly increasing the responsibilities of libraries while also increasing limitations on their activities. Research…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to show that knowledge of the Machine-Readable Cataloguing (MARC) format is useful in all aspects of librarianship, not just for cataloguing, and how MARC knowledge can address indexing limitations of the online catalogue. Design/methodology/approach: The paper employs examples and scenarios to show the…

Mentorship is essential to the health of any institution; sharing knowledge and experience transforms managers into stronger leaders and helps less senior employees improve their job skills. Noted reference librarian and researcher Lee offers librarians at all levels both her experience and her ideas about establishing a formal mentoring process…

The Editor of "ALJ" has invited me to comment on my 2001 article "Losing the quality battle in Australian education for librarianship" (Harvey 2001). The article was prompted by a period I spent as a visiting professor in the Department of Information Studies at UCLA (the University of California Los Angeles) and was written while I was there.…

This study explores how factors relating to fully online Master of Library and Information Studies (MLIS) students' connectedness with peers and faculty may impact their professional identity development as library and information studies professionals. Participants include students enrolled in a fully online MLIS degree program in the…

The following is a brief overview regarding: the history and development of Student Affairs as it pertains to (a) preserving the history of a professional association, (b) value and benefits of a professional Student Affairs association, (c) establishing and assessing goals and (d) organizational development/change within a professional…

Introduction: The presentation seeks to investigate the facilitators and obstacles to convergence between library and information science theory and practice in an information disciplines context. The starting point consists of a review of "inward" and "outward" fragmentations existing in our discipline: between academia and…

Prior to retiring from full-time librarianship to concentrate on readers' advisory (RA) consulting, teaching, and book and media discussions, Ted Balcom, longtime administrator of the Villa Park Public Library (VPPL), Illinois, repeatedly demonstrated a particularly effective approach to shoring up essential library support. Balcom, 1996 winner of…

Librarians can--and should--be on the lookout for new and unique ways to improve their instructional skill sets and service. One out-of-the-box opportunity to consider is to study--by reading, watching, or participating in--improvisational theater. Improv games and theater are like life: performers who may or may not know each other are given…

The all-in-one "Reference reference" you've been waiting for, this invaluable book offers a concise introduction to reference sources and services for a variety of readers, from library staff members who are asked to work in the reference department to managers and others who wish to familiarize themselves with this important area of…

The present study explores LIS students' perceptions toward the assimilation of e-books in the library. The research was conducted during the summer semester of the 2010 academic year in Israel and 144 students participated in the research. The study used three questionnaires: a personal details questionnaire, students' perceptions towards e-books…

This study analyzes job advertisements to identify the contemporary development of academic reference librarianship in the United States. Results show that more job openings, higher educational backgrounds, more duties & responsibilities, and variety of titles were assigned to academic reference librarian positions from 1966 through 2009.…

In an era of exploding online enrollment and tight budgets, Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC) struggles to meet the needs of online students. CPCC librarians went one step towards solving that problem in 2009-2010 by launching an embedded librarian program. CPCC's program became so successful that it struggled to meet demand. In 2013, CPCC…