Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are post-secondary institutions which, at one time, were considered to be particularly affected by the digital divide. Research study results have suggested the need for HBCUs to continuously increase campus technology. Guided by four research questions, this study examines the current state of…

Developing collection-level surveys to expose hidden collections in special collections and archives departments within ARL libraries has received a great deal of scholarly attention in the recent years. Numerous standards have been explored, and each has its strengths and weaknesses. This paper summarizes some of the major initiatives in…

This study compares the overall spending trends and patterns of growth of Academic Libraries with Public Libraries, K-12 schools, higher education institutions, and hospitals in the period of 1998 to 2008. Academic Libraries, while showing a growth of 13% over inflation for the period, far underperformed the growth of the other public institutions…

This study explores the extent to which undergraduate and graduate students in China differ in their digital library use. Unlike the factors promoting digital library use, non-use factors, perceived influences, and degree of satisfaction are quite different between undergraduate and graduate students due to their differing emphases and…

Evidence is presented of the extent to which libraries from around the world are experiencing financial hardship as a result of the world-wide economic downturn. Comparative analyses are provides on the grounds of country, sector and size of institution. The article concentrates on the situation of UK and US university libraries and is based on…

Academic libraries are increasingly collecting e-books, but little research has investigated how students use e-books compared to print texts. This study used a prompted think-aloud method to gain an understanding of the information retrieval behavior of students in both formats. Qualitative analysis identified themes that will inform instruction…

The use of bibliographic management software and its internal search interfaces is now pervasive among researchers. This study compares the results between searches conducted in academic databases' search interfaces versus the EndNote search interface. The results show mixed search reliability, depending on the database and type of search…

Social tagging enables librarians to partner with users to provide enhanced subject access. This paper quantifies and compares LC subject headings from each of 31 different subject divisions with user tags from Amazon.com and LibraryThing assigned to the same titles. The intersection and integration of these schemas is described and evaluated.…

The LibQUAL+[TM] survey was used in 2006 to assess library service quality at the University of Notre Dame. While results showed that the Libraries were meeting users' expectations for service in most areas, a closer examination of the data revealed dissatisfaction from a subgroup of users in one particular dimension of library services. This…

This paper describes two studies, one a pilot and the second, an enhanced study, that compare problem-based learning and lecture-based learning in library instruction for first-year engineering students. Two distinct assessment strategies were used to provide empirical evidence that supports the use of problem-based learning as an effective…

This article presents a case study of how Oregon State University Libraries (OSUL) organized to accomplish digitization activities. Digitization activities are broken down into six major categories: management, copyright, digital imaging, metadata, hardware/software/web design, and selection. The OSUL departments responsible for tasks within each…

The disciplinary culture theory presumes that if a scholar has been familiar with self-archiving through an existing subject-based repository, this scholar will be more enthusiastic about contributing his/her research to an institutional repository than one who has not had the experience. To test the theory, this article examines self-archiving…

This study assesses the effect of clickers on retention of library instruction material. A comparison of quiz results of students who utilized clickers during instruction versus students who did not showed no gain in retention. Libraries are encouraged to consider pedagogical implications before applying novel technologies to instruction programs.…

This paper presents the findings of two surveys comparing the frequency and use of various digital and communication technologies by high school and college students. Differences between populations, implications for teaching, and questions for further study are explored. Results suggest high school teens may bring facility with newer technologies…

Google Scholar's coverage of the engineering literature is analyzed by comparing its contents with those of Compendex, the premier engineering database. Records retrieved from Compendex were searched in Google Scholar, and a decade by decade comparison was done from the 1950s through 2007. The results show that the percentage of records appearing…