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A survey concerning perceptions of academic librarians was conducted at a large, 4-year university with three populations: librarians, faculty, and undergraduate students. This paper presents results from the student population, with comparison to the librarian and faculty samples. The major research questions address perceptions about what librarians know (expertise and skills), what librarians do (role and duties), and what librarians are like (motivations and affective characteristics). Respondents showed a little more awareness of librarians' professional duties than in previous studies; however, librarians' duties related to organisation, reference, and teaching remained more hidden from view. And, many students still assume librarians do clerical work, and still underestimate librarians' salaries and required degrees. Most students still don't consult with librarians, as they do not believe librarians' help is needed by them—perhaps because they strongly associate librarians with books. Yet, students' value for librarians' expertise was high, and their value for librarians' knowledge and skill with resources rivalled that of faculty. Gaps among the three groups related to the definition of "research" seem important to address. The study also points to an ongoing need for research into specific populations of students, how prior experience affects college library use, and the potential for disciplinary differences among students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A survey concerning perceptions of academic librarians was conducted at a large, 4-year university with three populations: librarians, faculty, and undergraduate students. This paper presents results from the faculty population, with comparison to the librarian sample. The major research questions address perceptions about what librarians know (expertise and skills), what librarians do (role and duties), and what librarians are like (motivations and affective characteristics). Results showed faculty perceptions to be more in-line overall with librarians' perceptions of themselves than the literature might otherwise indicate, at least in domains where the faculty are actively engaged. Faculty also identified a role not explicitly mentioned on the survey: that of librarians as conduits between students and faculty. Gaps between librarian and faculty perceptions still exist relating to the extraordinary extent and diversity of librarian knowledge, skills, duties, and capacities, and with respect to the extent of librarians teaching. The study points to an ongoing need for marketing of library services and continued demonstration of library value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored differences in how undergraduate students of different genders and academic disciplines perceived academic librarians at a U.S. public university. No evidence indicated differences between students identifying as male or female, and few statistically significant differences were found among four Subject Areas (Arts, Humanities + Social Sciences, Business, Health + Education, and STEM). Our results have implications for local practice though they are not generalizable to other institutions. Despite a lack of significant findings, librarians should continue to explore ways to measure how students of different disciplines perceive academic libraries and/or librarians as valuable to their academic success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A survey concerning perceptions of academic librarians was conducted at a large, 4-year university with three populations: librarians, faculty, and undergraduate students. The high response rate and the use of an instrument based on previous studies offers the possibility of longitudinal comparison and the identification of relationships between groups within one environment. This article focuses specifically on academic librarian perceptions about what librarians know (expertise and skills), what librarians do (roles and duties), and what librarians are like (motivations and affective behaviors). Twenty librarians employed in James Madison University Libraries responded to an online survey (62.5% response rate); four follow-up interviews and card sorts were conducted later to provide context to the data. Results have implications for libraries specifically in the areas of outreach, instruction, management, and collaboration. Differences in the responses of liaison and nonliaison groups are not generalizable to the population, but patterns were found that suggest future research in this area should include examination of differences related to the type of librarianship or focus on specific aspects of librarianship. Subsequent articles will situate these findings with those from surveys of faculty and undergraduate students and discuss implications for practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A survey concerning perceptions of academic librarians was conducted at a large, 4-year university with three populations: librarians, faculty, and undergraduate students. The high response rate and the use of an instrument based on previous studies offers the possibility of longitudinal comparison and the identification of relationships between groups within perceptions of librarians. Subsequent papers will present results from the three surveys and offer analysis across the three groups. The literature review focussed on research studies of perceptions of librarians. Subsequent papers will present results from the three surveys and offer analysis across the three groups. The literature review focussed on research studies of U.S. and Canadian academic libraries since 2000 with relevance to these major research questions: perceptions about what librarians know (expertise and skills), what librarians do (role and duties), and what librarians are like (motivations and affective behaviours). Librarians' perceptions of themselves as critically important yet underappreciated seem to have persisted, perhaps because they are the only group to see the university-wide scope of their jobs, whereas, non-librarian faculty and students have a more limited views of the profession. In contrast to previous studies, recent literature suggests that course-integrated information literacy (IL) instruction has increased the visibility of librarians as educators to both faculty and students. The influence of popular media on students' perceptions seems less powerful, opening the door wider for library marketing and branding programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]