There are many instructional design theories to assist librarians in creating effective instructional modules for student learning. ADDIE is a generic instructional design model that has been in existence for more than 30 years and is known for its flexibility in application (Molenda, 2003). Using instructional design theories such as ADDIE helps…

This article describes the different stressors and anxieties facing new librarians. It also addresses the various ways that new librarians can cope with location, emotional, and work-related stressors. The article is broken into four different categories of stress; some stressors have been more explored than others. The research is based on an…

Some librarians embrace discovery tools while others refuse to use them. This lack of consensus can have consequences for student learning when there is inconsistent use, especially in large-scale instruction programs. The authors surveyed academic librarians whose institutions have a discovery tool and who teach information literacy classes in…

Information anxiety is a serious issue that has the potential to hinder the success of a large percentage of the population in both education and professional settings. It has become more prevalent as societies begin to focus more on the value of technology, multitasking, and instant information access. The majority of the population has felt, to…

On the Stony Brook University campus, there is literally a highway that divides the general academic side of the campus from the health sciences and hospital side. For more than 40 years, the Health Sciences Library and the University Libraries had been administered separately with different directors, budgets, staff, and organizational cultures.…

Ask any academic librarian if marketing their library and its services is an important task, and the answer will most likely be a resounding "yes!" Particularly in economically troubled times, librarians are increasingly called upon to promote their services and defend their library's worth. Since few academic libraries have in-house marketing…

The ability to navigate the vast ocean of available information and perform reference services in digital environments is an essential component of the job for most of today's reference librarians, especially those working in academic libraries. Reference librarians face a challenge: they must be highly skilled at searching for, locating, and…

In their Top Trends of 2012, the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) named data curation as one of the issues to watch in academic libraries in the near future (ACRL, 2012, p. 312). Data curation can be summarized as "the active and ongoing management of data through its life cycle of interest and usefulness to scholarship,…

Librarians who teach one-shot library instruction classes (one-time, one- to three-hour classes to students who are assumed to be novice researchers) are often torn between two pedagogic approaches: a "critical mass" pedagogy emphasizing a minimum amount of databases that must be introduced with little time for student searching, and a…

Academic reference services face great challenges as they cope with the pace of technological change, competition from other information service providers, and tight budgets. In fact, some critics suggest that reference services are no longer relevant or necessary as more information moves online. This study examines a nationwide survey that…

As academic librarians' professional and personal lives become busier and more varied, the need for tools to assist with accomplishing a myriad of tasks in a short time becomes even more necessary. Due to its ability to provide anytime and anywhere access to information, mobile technology offers a number of advantages for staying connected and…

It is a truth not yet universally acknowledged that a venture based on information must be in want of a librarian. Librarians offer expertise in organizing and managing information, clarifying and supporting people's information needs, and enhancing people's information literacy skills. There are innumerable endeavors today in education, health,…

Communities of practice offer reference librarians a conceptual model through which to develop and maintain general and subject specific knowledge. Reference librarians acquire general and subject-specific knowledge in many ways, sometimes independently and sometimes collaboratively. Applying the concept of the "community of practice" to reference…

The growing trends of tiered reference, roving librarians, and virtual reference offer academic libraries several options for providing the most effective reference service. Increased enrollment at community colleges has prompted a reconsideration of how librarians can balance reference, teaching, and faculty responsibilities. This article…

Wise and careful selection of materials remains among the most important and enduring duties of the librarian--and also among the most difficult. The author has found this to be especially true in a specialized-subject library, where traditional collection development methods do not always yield good results. While collection development practices…