Based on e-mails gathered from listservs, a variety of sources are suggested for preparing for an upcoming accreditation: the previous accreditation report of one's home campus, published literature, the national library peer comparison tool as well as statistical sources, the U.S. Office of Postsecondary Education's website of accreditation…

Although much attention has been given to the process of teaching older patrons about new technologies, the following study shows that younger patrons often require instruction in older technologies to feel comfortable using information in those formats. A survey was conducted among 80 undergraduate and graduate students aged 18-30, at the…

Noise in a community college library can be part of the nature of the environment. It can also become a huge distraction for those who see the library as their sanctuary for quiet study and review of resources. This article describes the steps that should be taken by library staff in order to be proactive about noise and the library environment,…

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…

This study examines college libraries so as to determine whether or not they have successfully adapted to reforms at their colleges, based on Terry O'Banion's concept of the learning-college. Although numerous studies exist documenting the transformation of community colleges to the learning-college concept, few empirical studies have clarified…

Staffing, recruitment and retention, and staff development will become more challenging as resources shrink in community college libraries. Technical skills such as website development, systems maintenance, and the ability to support students and faculty using course management systems will become more specialized and may be found in staff other…

It has been over two years since Cy-Fair College Branch in Cypress, Texas, opened as a joint-use library for both a community college and a public library. Cy-Fair College is a brand new college and it partnered with Harris County to create a library for both the college community and the public. Two of the founding librarians reflect on what went…

John Gardner, of the National Resource Center for The First Year Experience and Students in Transition, addressed academic librarians at the ACRL meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina, in April 2003, urging librarians to become more actively involved in First Year Experience courses. Susan J. C. Bissett responds in this article, citing the…

Faculty/librarian collaboration is a topic that receives almost as much coverage in the library literature as information literacy. It is probably safe to say that information literacy efforts cannot succeed without positive collaboration between classroom faculty and librarians. The most common scenario for such collaboration is the library…

This paper describes efforts by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges and the State Academic Senate for California Community Colleges to implement a state-mandated information literacy graduation requirement. Starting in 1996, there were comprehensive studies and state-wide hearings, leading up to an expected implementation…

One hundred fourteen community college libraries in the United States and Canada are surveyed for the organization of electronic resources within their home page and their cataloguing practice. The majority provide access to databases, ready reference, and their own catalogue both on their home page and within their web site. They do not usually…

The decision to build a new or renovate an existing community college library has been triggered by one or more of these problems: collection growth, increased student population, or new technologies. Increasingly, the perception of diminished use is triggering reconfiguration of library space. This article discusses implications, case studies,…

The purpose of this study was to pilot a survey meant to learn about shared governance opportunities of Information Professionals within a library or learning resources environment in a community college setting. Participants were Chief Academic Officers (CAOs) from each of the 19 community colleges in Alabama. The ten-question survey instrument…

At reference desks across the nation, statistics in traditional reference service have been declining in most categories while requests for individual instruction and training in electronic research are showing a dramatic increase. Library technology has created a change in the activity at reference and information desks along with a need for more…

This article discusses the development of a community college online information literacy course to match the general education guidelines for the California State University System, and describes blending information literacy skills into the core GE requirements for equipping students to become lifelong learners while gaining an understanding of…