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In 2007, a web-based survey of book conservation practices was conducted to document standard-practice, moderate-use, and low-use book conservation treatments for general and special collections in research libraries in the United States. This paper reports on the findings of a ten-year follow-up survey conducted in 2017 to determine whether and how book conservation treatment practices have changed over the last ten years. Overall, the data indicate that while general collections treatment practices have remained consistent, special collections practices continue to evolve, with many treatments newly qualifying as standard practice in the special collections context since 2007. The data also suggest areas of further research, including how demographic factors may correlate with particular treatment practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper details the results of a mixed-methods study of first-year and upper-division students' information literacy (IL) competencies. The study used a rubric and a survey, seeking to answer two research questions: 1) Is there a correlation between National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) IL survey responses and IL rubric scores? 2) Are there any indicators that correlate to improved IL performance in first-year students? Results demonstrated that first-year students reported greater engagement with IL and also indicated that instructors placed greater emphasis on IL competencies than students in upper-division courses. They also show a statistically significant impact on first-year students' rubric scores when a librarian is in the class. This finding held even when controlling for other variables. Results provide an evidence-based foundation to spur conversations with faculty and university administration on the value of IL and the role of librarians in undergraduate student success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many academic libraries collect art exhibition catalogues and juvenile books to support the curriculum, but academic library review sources and book vendors have limited coverage of these niche areas. For more than a decade, Wichita State University has used purchase plans from Worldwide Art Books and Junior Library Guild to acquire print books. This paper discusses the assessment of both plans, how experience with this assessment has influenced development of an assessment plan, and reasons other libraries may want to assess their own niche collecting plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1986, Constance Mellon found that 75 to 85 percent of undergraduate students experienced library anxiety as well as shame about their anxiety. Fifteen years earlier, Helen Block Lewis began her groundbreaking research in shame theory. This paper explores the affective components of library anxiety using the pioneering research of Constance Mellon, Helen Block Lewis, and others. Two issues are discussed: 1) how unacknowledged, recursive shame or “shame about shame” creates painful, emotional states such as library anxiety; and 2) how to recognize and neutralize unacknowledged shame in library service interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2001, the William Madison Randall Library at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington found itself with a substantial collection of art, acquired over time through gifts and purchases to augment existing collections of faculty scholarship and regional materials. What had been tracked in a simple administrative database had become a collection deserving improved access. This paper outlines the acquisition, cataloging, and access issues that shaped the evolution of the art works from their status first as decoration on the library walls, then as fully cataloged library materials in the online catalog, then as digitized images available in a searchable Web tour. Explored are the reasons behind the collection development push and the methods of acquisition, how and why the collection outgrew its original inventory database, and why the university librarian turned to catalog librarians for solutions to improve access by utilizing and linking data existing in separate databases. The paper offers implications and lessons learned that could assist other libraries that may face such a challenge, as well as a literature review of the issues faced in art documentation. Randall Library's experience illustrates how a decision to invest in cataloging an unusual medium can go beyond the basics of author and subject access to create an unusually valuable foundation for promotional, curricular, and Web-based ventures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an analysis of e-book usage in one interdisciplinary research collection, for library and information science (LIS), at a large research institution. Drawing from the social sciences, humanities, and computer science, LIS exemplifies the challenge of analyzing use of interdisciplinary collections that cut across Library of Congress (LC) class ranges normally used to analyze disciplinary differences in the existing literature. The analysis also explores use factors beyond LC class that usage studies rarely examine, including genre and audience level, and changes in use over time across categories. This study contributes both to understanding the usage of LIS e-books as an exemplary interdisciplinary collection and to developing options for analyses of e-book collections that maximize the utility of usage reports despite their challenges. As e-book collections mature and the utility of comparing used versus unused titles wanes, such strategies will become necessary to make more nuanced decisions for e-book collections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An editorial is presented on authorship norms across disciplines in academic libraries. Topics discussed include importance of authorship in librarianship; list of several authorship guidelines developed by editorial groups like American Bar Association, American Chemical Society, and American Mathematical Society; and views on ethical issues in authorship practices.

Academic libraries supporting education and library science programs collect youth literature to support courses that teach students to evaluate and use books with children and teenagers. Although children's and young adult literature with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) content is often controversial, this literature is being discussed in both the education and library literature. This paper discusses the literature on LGBTQ youth literature, explores the extent to which academic libraries supporting education and library science programs collect recently published LGBTQ youth literature, and concludes that academic librarians responsible for youth collections should evaluate their LGBTQ holdings to ensure that they are meeting the needs of future teachers and educators for access to these books. The paper offers suggestions for assessing collections, locating LGBTQ youth titles, and updating selection procedures to build a more inclusive collection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper sets out several challenges for libraries and collection development librarians as they seek to remain relevant in a rapidly changing environment. These include changes in ease of information access, increasing interest in unmediated access, ubiquity of similar (even identical collections), and the need to develop unique collections that meet local needs and interests and to develop and promote tools that enhance the use of these collections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a personal overview of the development of collection development and management as a specialization within the practice of librarianship. It gives particular attention to the activities among academic librarians and in academic libraries in the 1960s and 1970s that led to the creation of special interest groups within the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates 1,666 citations to Internet resources from 529 freshman English composition papers from two different years, 1999 and 2004. Web citations are examined in relation to traditional print resources, by type and domain, and with special attention to their persistence through time. After 7 months from submission of the papers for the 1999 sample, 38 percent of the links led to the document cited. After 12 months for the 2004 sample, 45 percent of the links accessed the document. A resubmission of the 1999 citations after 7 years reduced the number of successful links to 9 percent. The instability of Web citations in undergraduate student papers is discussed in the larger context of citation structure, with implications for future scholarship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In fall 2002, the University of Tennessee Preservation Office conducted a condition survey of circulating materials in the school's John C. Hodges main library. The objective of the collection condition survey was to evaluate the physical condition of the collection and the effect of human and environmental factors in order to develop a long-range preservation plan. The project used a random sampling method, and a database and online survey form created with SPSS software. The results of the survey contribute an understanding of the national preservation picture. Locally, the results indicate action should be taken in several areas, including environmental conditions, staff and patron education, and reformatting. Other libraries in the early stages of establishing a preservation program can employ the techniques used in Hodges Library to develop their own preservation plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a mixed-methods study of the methods and maturity of user experience (UX) practice in academic libraries. The authors apply qualitative content analysis and quantitative statistical analysis to a research dataset derived from a survey of UX practitioners. Results reveal the type and extent of UX methods currently in use by practitioners in academic libraries. Themes extracted from the survey responses also reveal a set of factors that influence the development of UX maturity. Analysis and discussion focus on organizational characteristics that influence UX methods and maturity. The authors conclude by offering a library-focused maturity scale with recommended practices for advancing UX maturity in academic libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to understand the viewpoints and attitudes of researchers at Louisiana State University toward the new public search interface from SirsiDynix, Enterprise. Fifteen university constituents participated in user studies to provide feedback while completing common research tasks. Particularly of interest to the librarian observers were identifying and characterizing where problems were expressed by the participants as they utilized the new interface. This study was approached within the framework of the cognitive load theory and user experience (UX). Problems that were discovered are discussed along with remedies, in addition to areas for further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on assessments of learning in libraries. The authors discuss an approach to library learning assessment used at the Auraria Library at the University of Colorado in Denver, Colorado, which allows librarians to improve the quality of assessment and instruction tools by studying the components of learning. They emphasize the use of three assessment tools, including pretest and posttest sets, posttests, and activities, and address the strengths and weaknesses associated with each tool. Topics include the role of knowledge, skills, and attitudes in learning, and the formats of assessment tools.

Recent ACRL guidelines and standards urge academic librarians to compare selected input and output measures with peer institutions for assessment. This paper provides an example of such a comparison, using a freely available statistical tool from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Applying the NCES data tool to liberal arts colleges chosen by U.S. News and World Report (USN&WR) as the ‘Best Liberal Arts Colleges’ provides one strategy for choosing financial benchmarks to target, as well as staffing and output measures for comparison. Using liberal arts colleges ranked in the top third by USN&WR, about $2,000/FTE would be the 2004 reported amount that the ‘best’ colleges spent on library resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the contribution of the Library of Congress (LC) catalog cards to libraries in the U.S. LC for over 50 years, has been the major cataloging agency for the U.S., of which it had already sold a total of over 500 million cards to serve catalog library collections all over the world. LC has considered it a great service to librarianship with its goal of maintaining bibliographical control over the increasing amounts of published materials. One of the problem of LC in the U.S. is how they can widen coverage so that all of the titles received in other American libraries will be cataloged. A survey was conducted which shows that the orders sent to LC represent an average of 82.2 percent of the total needs of the ten libraries.

The transformational agents that have produced dramatic changes in academic libraries in recent years will continue to influence those libraries over the next decade, but it should not be assumed that the academic library of 2013 will represent a natural progression from the library of today. Rather, the academic library of the future will be marked by unanticipated "punctuations" that will be just as surprising and unexpected as have been so many of the influences that have shaped the contemporary library. This paper suggests that "wild cards" will be introduced into the evolutionary growth of the academic library, some perhaps harmful, but more likely enabling libraries to provide even richer information resources and better services than they do today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Universities are pursuing learning analytics practices to improve returns from their investments, develop behavioral and academic interventions to improve student success, and address political and financial pressures. Academic libraries are additionally undertaking learning analytics to demonstrate value to stakeholders, assess learning gains from instruction, and analyze student-library usage, et cetera. The adoption of these techniques leads to many professional ethics issues and practical concerns related to privacy. In this narrative literature review, we provide a foundational background in the field of learning analytics, library adoption of these practices, and identify ethical and practical privacy issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Libraries are increasingly searching for and employing librarians with significant technology skill sets. This article reports on a study conducted to determine how well prepared librarians are for their positions in academic libraries, how they acquired their skills and how difficult they are to hire and retain. The examination entails a close look at ALA-accredited LIS program technology course offerings and dovetails a dual survey designed to capture experiences and perspectives from practitioners, both library administrators and librarians who have significant technology roles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study surveyed the current state of knowledge about, and application or use of, Resource Description and Access (RDA) among American public library catalogers. In 2017, an online survey request was e-mailed to four thousand libraries for the person or persons most responsible for cataloging to complete the questionnaire. More than three hundred libraries responded. The data expose serious concerns with RDA adoption within the public library sector. While a majority of catalogers know about RDA, their working knowledge about it differs substantially depending on whether they work in rural or urban library settings. Regardless, 22 percent of respondants still had not heard of the RDA standard until completing this survey. While further training and educational opportunities (along with funds) for catalogers nationwide would help minimize this disparity, LIS schools also can play a role by educating more thoroughly the next generations of catalogers in this newer descriptive standard. Coming on the brink of a shift in the theoretical framework of the RDA standard, from the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) model to the IFLA Library Reference Model (LRM), public library catalogers risk falling even farther behind in their knowledge and compitency with the RDA standard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academic libraries use two common methods to reach first-year students: outreach activities and library instruction. The purpose of this study was to discover if curriculum mapping techniques commonly used in library instruction could be applied to outreach to explore the synergies and differences between programs. The project demonstrated that mapping was an effective tool for gaining insight into interrelated outcomes, resource allocation, consistency of library messaging, and students reached by each program. Curriculum mapping proved a useful method for creating strategic and intentional instruction and outreach programs that complement rather than compete with each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decade, evidence from disciplines ranging from biology to economics has suggested that many scientific studies may not be reproducible. This has led to declarations in both the scientific and lay press that science is experiencing a "reproducibility crisis" and that this crisis has consequences for the extent to which students, faculty, and the public at large can trust research. Faculty build on these results with their own research, and students and the public use these results for everything from patient care to public policy. To build a model for how academic libraries can support reproducible research, the authors conducted a review of major guidelines from funders, publishers, and professional societies. Specific recommendations were extracted from guidelines and compared with existing academic library services and librarian expertise. The authors believe this review shows that many of the recommendations for improving reproducibility are core areas of academic librarianship, including data management, scholarly communication, and methodological support for systematic reviews and data-intensive research. By increasing our knowledge of disciplinary, journal, funder, and society perspectives on reproducibility, and reframing existing librarian expertise and services, academic librarians will be well positioned to be leaders in supporting reproducible research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the volume of academic library value research has continued to increase, the resulting literature has grown complex and sprawling. This article takes stock of this body of work, using a review of the published research literature and an analysis of its organization and structure. This investigation reveals that the research on library value follows a "levels of analysis" framework, with three types of studies--small group, single institution, and multi-institution--comprising the major dimensions. We discuss the strengths and weaknesses of studies at each level and propose a multilevel framework designed to improve the practical utility and scholarly rigor of academic library value assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of digital technologies, various disruptive innovations have emerged that are gradually replacing academic libraries in the information-seeking process. As academic libraries become less relevant to their users, it is imperative that they develop strategies to respond to disruption. We highlight the fact that the service mission of academic libraries is in alignment with service innovation and propose that academic libraries respond to disruption by accelerating service innovation. Applying the Resources-Processes-Values framework, we recommend that, to facilitate service innovation, high-level administrators become innovation leaders, foster an innovation-supportive culture, tie performance evaluations and rewards to innovation outcomes, and create dedicated innovation teams with high levels of decision-making autonomy. We also recommend that academic libraries involve their users and build partnerships with other libraries and with commercial communities to bring about service innovation necessary to respond to disruption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author reflects on the future of academic libraries as digital technology becomes more prevalent, focusing on what can learned from scholarly inquiry. He suggests that libraries are preparing for an era of innovation based on research and development and collective strategies. Details are included on conferences on library sciences held by organizations such as the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS), American Library Association (ALA), and the Association of Research Libraries (ARL)

This article presents the results of a study in which seventeen college students who use public libraries for their college assignments were interviewed about their reasons for using public libraries rather than academic libraries. Five factors emerged from the students' responses: personal convenience, materials, ease of use and familiarity, staff, and subjective appeal. Many of the students interviewed mentioned children, jobs, and other responsibilities, indicating that students who use public libraries might tend to be nontraditional students. Library anxiety also was identified as a possible contributing factor to students' choice of library. The implications of this study for further research in the area are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Employment-related resources have always been a vital part of the reference collection in academic and public libraries. To assist job seekers, the Web is now presenting free and interesting opportunities for collecting cost-of-living data. However, librarians need to be advised of their relevance and reliability. This article looks at four well-known salary and/or cost-of-living calculator commercial Web sites: Homestore.com, Monstermoving.com, BestPlaces.net, and Salary.com. The Web sites are compared in terms of value-added content. By presenting the potential salary differences of a hypothetical relocation from one U.S city to twenty-six other U.S. cities, this study identifies the anomalies found when using these calculators. The implication is that librarians should be more thorough in comparing free Web sites before linking them to their Web pages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses how Brandeis University solved their problem on uncataloged books donated by numerous friends. The Library has accumulated several books from gifts and from purchases of which had already reached over 100,000 volumes in seven years. With such a small workforce, they were able to catalog 1,200 books per month, plus a total of 1,600 records and microcards. They used every possible tool just to respond to the demand for a big daily output and yet meet large cataloging standards for a university library. They do it by stamping the book received with an accession number and with the Brandeis University Library stamp on the edges which is then pasted with book pocket and book plates. With such process, problems were reduced.