Academic and research libraries have been increasing their efforts for a number of years to demonstrate their contributions to student learning outcomes in support of the institutional educational mission. Whether through one-shot instruction or credited classes, libraries invest a great deal of time and effort in instructional programs. A key…

Many educators may view use of Open Educational Resources (OERs) as a new trend that has emerged in various school districts, especially those OERs that are (Common Core State Standards) CCSS-aligned. However, OERs certainly aren't new to education. Many educators have been using these types of materials since the late 1990s (Godwin 2016).…

Five years ago the Association of College and Research Libraries published "The Value of Academic Libraries" report, spurring academic libraries to action concerning assessment. Communicating library value is especially important when reaching distance learning populations outside the walls of the library. By employing marketing and…

When thinking of collaborating with campus partners on activities to increase the retention of students in science majors, who comes to mind? Usually other academic departments--but are science librarians included? Academic librarians are charged with supporting retention on university and college campuses. However, what exactly can science…

Many universities have implemented faculty profile systems that capture faculty and researchers' scholarly outputs and activities. These systems usually include public profiles and tools to help find collaborators or experts. They may be used to create reports for faculty annual reviews or for promotion and tenure, or to assist faculty with…

In the United States, the occupation of law librarianship has existed longer than the American Library Association, and law librarians have their own professional organization that is now more than 100 years old. Throughout this history, however, the related issues of degree requirements and education standards for law librarians have been…

Veterans are a unique population that can be found in libraries across the United States. Libraries of all types are developing new approaches to the veterans in their patron populations in the wake of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This study identifies several common strategies that libraries, especially public and academic libraries, are…

Reading engagement influences students' literacy attainment. School library professionals provide resources, environments and guidance to promote reading for pleasure, but little is known about how this role is currently supported or challenged. Drawing on mixed methods survey responses from 971 school library professionals from 63 countries,…

At the 2024 ALA conference, the authors presented their exploration of the internet access challenges faced by graduate students at a STEM university in Ghana. This research highlighted how unreliable, expensive, and intermittent internet affects academic life, particularly for students off-campus. Despite the university's solid on-campus…

Clinical simulation is recognised as an authentic approach that relies on practice through simulations of real situations. The development of scenarios for evidence-based simulations is an important stage in planning simulations. Yet, in teacher education there is a paucity of research on the subject of simulation scenarios. The goal of the…

This paper reports the findings of a survey administered to a large academic university student population, assessing students' self-reported motivations, difficulties, and methods used in finding and using financial information. Results discussed include information types and sources students consult for financial information. The survey also…

This research explores faculty management of the tensions between academia and practice. Using a mixed methods design, it consists of three separate studies with a focus on Library and Information Science (LIS) faculty. Using an exploratory sequential design, the studies are intended to identify the ways faculty connect with practitioners, to…

The study analyzes how chat reference providers refer patrons to subject specialists in 467 interactions from two years at a university library. Qualitative analysis showed variation in how referrals are presented: as an option versus a recommendation, putting follow-up in the hands of patrons versus librarians, and apologizing versus promoting…

This study examines levels of library anxiety in 30 adult learners before and after completing a two-credit hybrid information literacy course. A modified version of the Multidimensional Library Anxiety Scale was administered at the beginning and end of the course to compare levels of library anxiety. An analysis of the data revealed that the…

How do we define a high-quality school librarian? Decades of educational researchers have attempted to link teacher characteristics--such as how teachers are prepared, which credentials they carry, and years of experience--to student outcomes. These researchers have contended that individual educator attributes may have a direct effect on what and…