Faculty status, tenure, and professional identity have been long-lasting issues for academic librarians for nearly forty years, yet there is little agreement on the benefits of faculty status. This paper examines faculty status and tenure for academic librarians and presents the results of a survey inquiry into professional identity, current and…

This article explores the closing of the Howard Ross Library of Management at McGill University, Montreal, Canada. We hypothesized that closing a branch library would result in a decline in the use of library services. We measured library service using circulation statistics, library instruction workshop statistics, and data from the online survey…

An explosion in access to electronic databases and digital information is changing the way we view source citation. While the original purpose of referencing--showing the reader exactly where the author got his or her input--is clearly more important than ever, citation is increasingly taking on other roles, ones that have little to do with good…

Current users of academic libraries are avid readers of graphic novels. These thought-provoking materials are used for leisure reading, in instruction, and for research purposes. Libraries need to take care in providing access to these resources. This study analyzed the cataloging practices and social tagging of a specific list of graphic novel…

This paper reports on the findings of an observational study of information literacy instruction in a college writing course. Using a sociocultural approach, the study explores how classroom discourse can influence the ways in which students conceive of information literacy and the process of research and writing. We found that a discourse that…

Students today perform research in a disintermediated environment, which often allows them to struggle directly with the process of selecting research tools and choosing scholarly sources. The authors conducted a qualitative study with twenty students, using structured observations to ascertain the processes students use to select databases and…

Libraries are actively seeking to identify and respond to the data management and curation needs of researchers. One important perspective often overlooked in acquiring an understanding is that of graduate students. This case study used the Data Curation Profile Toolkit to interview six graduate students working for agronomy researchers at the…

The changing research and information environment requires a reexamination of library support for research. This study considers research-related attitudes and practices to identify elements indicating readiness or resistance to expanding the library's role in research support. A survey of faculty conducted at the University of Nevada Las…

Digital technology has irrevocably altered the nature of the archive. Drawing on materialist critiques and the evolving field of media archaeology, this essay explores new strategies for understanding the implications of computer networks in libraries. Although a significant portion of the contemporary literature within Library and Information…

Affective learning relates to students' attitudes, emotions, and feelings. This study focuses on measuring affective learning during library instruction by using a student response system. Participants were undergraduate students who received course-related library instruction for a research assignment. Students rated their confidence levels…

This article examines authorship of LIS literature in the context of practitioner and non-practitioner production of published research. For this study, 4,827 peer-reviewed articles from twenty LIS journals published between 1956 and 2011 were examined to determine the percentage of articles written by practitioners. The study identified a…

Assessment in United States higher education has become very important in recent years. Virtually all colleges and universities are now striving to prove through empirical evidence that they are committed to improving student learning. Created in late 2005, the US Department of Education's Commission on the Future of Higher Education was charged…

Little is known about the intellectual journey of advanced undergraduates engaged in the research process. Moreover, few studies of this population of library users include students' personal essays as a point of analysis in their scholarly pursuits. To gain insights into the research trajectory of apprentice researchers at the University of…

Visual literacy is essential for 21st century learners. Across the higher education curriculum, students are being asked to use and produce images and visual media in their academic work, and they must be prepared to do so. The Association of College and Research Libraries has published the "Visual Literacy Competency Standards for Higher…

Academic libraries, like other university departments, are being asked to demonstrate their value to the institution. This study discusses the impact library usage has on the retention and academic success of first-time, first-year undergraduate students at a large, public research university. Usage statistics were gathered at the University of…