This study presents curriculum mapping of noncore course offerings in political science curricula by an early-career librarian. It combines syllabi study and curriculum mapping methods to analyze the language of student learning objectives (SLOs) from course syllabi and to integrate SLOs with threshold concepts from the ACRL Framework for…

To address the growing problem of misinformation, librarians often focus on approaches tied to the frame "Authority Is Constructed and Contextual" from the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. The Framework, however, encompasses a much wider range of skills,…

This paper encourages educators in library and information science (LIS) to adopt the "creative deliverable," that is, an assignment that gives students the freedom to display their understanding of course material in an almost unrestricted range of alternative formats and genres, while retaining some key features of traditional…

How can an academic library most effectively participate and expand its contributions to program reviews at the institutional level? By becoming involved in undergraduate reviews, college and university libraries can articulate new and enhanced roles for themselves on campus. Academic libraries have always contributed to a variety of institutional…

We are moving toward a future in which digital practices are becoming more ubiquitous. Also, there is evidence to suggest that innovative digital practices are changing the face of 21st-century learning environments. Critical to 21st-century teaching and learning success is continued emphasis on learner preferences, shaped by innovative digital…

Rubric assessment of information literacy is an important tool for librarians seeking to show evidence of student learning. The authors, who collaborated on the Rubric Assessment of Informational Literacy Skills (RAILS) research project, draw from their shared experience to present practical recommendations for implementing rubric assessment in a…

This article reports on a study addressing the readability of content on academic libraries' Web sites, specifically content intended to improve users' information literacy skills. Results call for recognition of readability as an evaluative component of text in order to better meet the needs of diverse user populations. (Contains 8 tables.)

Academic libraries routinely struggle to afford access to expensive journals, and patrons may not be able to obtain every scholarly paper they need. Is Open Access (OA) the answer? In this ALA Editions Special Report, Crawford helps readers understand what OA is (and isn't), as he concisely: (1) Analyzes the factors that have brought libraries to…

Libraries, as authoritative custodians and providers of information, are facing a number of challenges as they are trying to adjust to the new information environment. Some challenges arise from major paradigm shifts in recent decades relating to the understanding of the nature of information processes and conceptions of authority. Engagement…

Northern Michigan University (NMU) is a public 4-year undergraduate institution of higher education with an enrollment of approximately 9,500 students. The university's Division of Academic Information Services encompasses both the staff of the library, which includes authors Clumpner and Burgmeier, and the instructional technology areas, where…

Interest in developing ways to assess information literacy has been growing for several years. Many librarians have developed their own tools to assess aspects of information literacy and have written articles to share their experiences. This article reviews the literature and offers readers a flavour of the methods being used for assessment:…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a library with useful information about selection criteria for an electronic resource assessment system and practical assistance on how to implement efficiently such a system. Design/methodology/approach: The paper is based on literature review, desk research, and implementation experience.…

A checklist evaluation on thirty-seven Women's Studies programs conducted using the individual institutions' online public access catalogs (OPACs) is presented. Although Women's Studies collections are very difficult to build, an evaluation of existing programs shows that collections, for the most part, have managed substantial coverage of the…

In anticipation of current and future mass digitization projects in which the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's Library will participate, the Library's Conservation Unit began to gather data on the "scannability" of our general book collections to anticipate potential effects on conservation and preservation work flows. The…

This paper explores the relationship between a peer-assessed reputation rating for each of the 247 doctoral universities and cross-institutional performance indicators for universities and their libraries. Using multiple regression, the variable of library expenditures, was the only consistently significant one using combinations of variables.…