Four years ago, teacher staffing at the author's grade 6-8 middle school was reorganized so that the library could be open and staffed with a teacher-librarian for the entire school day. However, this required that the library program be part of the delivery of preparation time for the staff with some classes time-tabled with one 50-minute period…

This study explores whether disconfirmation theory can explain satisfaction formation processes in library users. Both library users' needs and expectations are investigated as disconfirmation standards. Overall library user satisfaction is predicted to be a function of two independent sources--satisfaction with the information product received…

Librarians are frequently consulted about proper citation formats and support the use of PC-based personal bibliographic citation management programs, such as EndNote, often used by faculty and graduate students. Recently, free or inexpensive Web-based tools have been developed that create citations and format bibliographies. An analysis of…

Spyware is the general term that describes a collection of technologies that help external parties in "gathering information about a person or organization without their knowledge." In addition to the minor annoyances spyware generates, such as redirected pages, redirected searches, and pop-up ads, a spyware infection can have more malicious…

This article describes the techniques of applying a goal-setting program to an online tutorial on cataloging the title field. Training staff to catalog presents many challenges to librarians in management positions. The task, while necessary, is sometimes considered tedious. In addition, researchers report an extremely high learner dropout rate…

Hurricane Ivan struck the Gulf Coast of Florida on September 16, 2004, destroying waterfront homes, and damaging properties for miles. Pensacola Junior College (PJC), a two-year college with three campuses and a student population of approximately 26,000, was hit hard. In the Pensacola Campus Learning Resources Center (LRC), water and mold ruined…

The need for information literacy in the curriculum has been recognized in several educational and workforce standards. These standards present a prescribed view of information literacy that emphasizes the economic need but undervalues the social nature of information and the experience students possess as information users. Theorists and…

Union catalogues have had an important place in libraries for many years. Their use has been little investigated. Recent interest in the relative merits of physical and virtual union catalogues and a recent collaborative project between a physical and several virtual union catalogues in the United Kingdom led to the opportunity to study how users…

Imagine the opportunity to design a college from scratch. Structures for collaborative learning and student engagement could take any form. The vision could embody the community's expectations, and the classrooms could contain flexible furniture, multimedia stations, and floor-to-ceiling white boards. The library could also accommodate learning…

Learning with existing web-based resources has become popular and important, for example, in cases where there are diverse learning resources dealing with the same learning topic. However, many resources do not have a clear description of their characteristics, which makes it difficult for learners to select appropriate resources. This article…

"Third places" or public and informal gathering places have declined over the years. Third places, which are "neutral ground" where people gather to discuss, interact, and enjoy the company of those they know, are important for the health of communities. It's a known fact that teens have a strong need to socialize, and their third-space options…

Public will--which effectively positions libraries as the critical educational, social, cultural, and recreational resource they so clearly are--goes beyond better promotion, clearer communication, or more partnerships to infect the people in a community with the bug to act on their notion that libraries are good and to turn belief into action.…

This article analyzes a multicultural library exhibit presenting the Palestinian/Israeli conflict as a site of contested representation. Qualitative methodology is used to interrogate the exhibit and its audience reception. Drawing on insights from critical pedagogy, implications for libraries arising from this case study are given and suggestions…

This paper presents the preliminary findings from the University of Northern British Columbia's e-portfolio project, entitled the Digital Record of Student Success (DRSS). The e-portfolio requires that the Education Program students provide artifacts of their learning related to the British Columbia College of Teachers' 13 standards for…

This report shares the findings from a nineteen-month study of The Big Read, an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts, in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest, designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. Piloted in early 2006 and launched nationwide later that year, The Big…