Libraries are all about collecting data. When it comes to collection development and assessment of e-resources, collecting data on usage of resources aids in decision making regarding these resources and provides data-rich evidence to support the value for the user of these resources. However, the author asserts that libraries should take some…

I am grateful to the Editor for giving me excuse to delve into the fossil record. I confidently hope that my article was written before most of The Australian Library Journal's present readership was born. I am happy to stay with my pragmatic attempt at a definition of research as an intensified search undertaken with the hope of finding something…

Libraries are under pressure to prove their worth and may not have achieved this fully successfully. There is a resultant growing requirement for value and impact measurement in academic and research libraries. This essay reviews the natural history of library performance measurement and suggests that proof of worth will be measured by the…

Although in the late 1990s there was much discussion as to whether the idea of information literacy was necessary or had longevity, global interest in the phenomenon has increased rather than diminished. Information literacy standards have been developed and become widely accepted in educational systems. Research centres for information literacy…

Purposeful assessment of space for the understanding and improvement of the academic library is a relatively new area of inquiry. This essay offers a framework to consider different factors affecting such an assessment and insights for undertaking a meaningful inquiry about the relationship of space to an academic library's evolving purpose as…

The author recently asked his colleagues, "How can libraries determine the value in collecting, managing, preserving, and/or cataloging e-resources?" hoping to challenge readers to come up with some thoughtful opinions and useful tips. Not surprisingly, he received a handful of substantially different but uniformly provocative and creative…

John Palfrey is one busy guy, with an impressive gig. In 2008, he was named the Henry N. Ess III Professor of Law and Vice Dean for Library and Information Resources at Harvard Law School. And when he's not teaching courses on intellectual property and Internet law, there's a good chance he's overseeing the L school's research library. Palfrey,…

In answering the question "What is the next trend in usage statistics in libraries?" an eclectic group of respondents has presented an assortment of possibilities, suggestions, complaints and, of course, questions of their own. Undoubtedly, usage statistics collection, interpretation, and application are areas of growth and increasing complexity…

Although science has provided empirical evidence for centuries, it's only as recently as the 1940s that a scientific method called randomized controlled trials (RCT) emerged as a technique to test the efficacy of drugs and medical procedures. Since RCT is unique in that it can claim causality, it's considered the "gold standard" of research…

Addresses the relationship between practical librarianship and library research, and the role of library schools in narrowing the gap between the two. (FM)

Argues that librarians should make use of computer technology and available research to reexamine the premises of descriptive cataloging processes. Four references are appended. (LLS)

Speculates on possible avenues for research in the area of bibliographic control, considers questions in the field that need answering, and posits that future research needs to be supported by basic theoretical inquiry. Forty-eight references are cited. (FM)

Explores the ways in which research publications affect both the knowledge base of library science and real libraries and practitioners. (FM)

Discusses how authors choose the kind of journal to submit an article to and how they write different kinds of articles for different kinds of journals, explores the range of journals available, discusses the editor's functions and "refereeing," and describes the total publishing process, from manuscript receipt to journal issue. (Author)

Discusses the historical method in lexicography, the general characteristics of library terminology, and the current state of library lexicography. Presents a glossary which lists quotations supplementing the coverage of library-related vocabulary in the "Oxford English Dictionary" (OED) and the "Dictionary of Americanisms"…