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Two librarians from the James E. Walker Library at Middle Tennessee State University describe the implementation of prepaid article access to ScienceDirect content. An overview of the initiative is provided along with adjustments that were made to the implementation. Also included is a description on how the use of various tools streamlined the user experience. The authors describe the challenges of determining the levels of mediation that worked for the library and its users. Although the program will be discontinued due to costs and limited customization options, useful information was gathered about article use indicating the need for scholarly resources and document delivery services. This article is based on the lightning talk, Streamlining User Experiences with ScienceDirect Prepaid Articles, presented at the 2022 North Carolina Serials Conference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With patience and perseverance, the readers' advisory (RA) relationship can form a long-term bond between patron and librarian and can also serve to unite library, literature, and the community. But what happens when something hampers the librarian's ability to bring patron and book together? The purposes of this survey of public librarians were to ascertain if readers' advisory librarians were coming into contact with patrons who spoke other languages, to compile best practices and resources librarians used or could use during these types of readers' advisory interactions, and to gain feedback directly from them regarding the interactions themselves. An electronic survey was distributed to public libraries in North Carolina in March 2014. Responding librarians listed over 29 different languages that they were aware of being spoken within their local libraries. Results also indicated that 8 out of 10 public librarians in North Carolina have encountered communication barriers during RA services, with just over 6 out of 10 of those encounters occurring because of the differences in languages spoken during the exchange. Although North Carolina librarians are resourceful individuals who rely on each other, skillfully employ learning strategies, and turn to technology to solve RA problems, results also indicate frustration at the lack of resources and support available to them in these situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the database TopoNC which is offered by Joyner Library of the East Carolina University (ECU) and it is the result of a collaborative effort by the library's maps and geographic information systems (GIS) coordinator and two of the library's Systems Department personnel in North Carolina. It aims to produce a database that would assist both users and librarians in locating correct quadrangle maps with ease and to provide an electronic version of what had long been a paper-based inventory of local holdings. It notes that for a better understanding of the importance of a searchable database such as TopoNC, a brief history of topographic maps and mapping in the U.S. is certainly useful.