Research libraries are expected to provide and preserve collections in support of their institutions' research and teaching priorities and to support long-term access to cultural, historical, and scientific works. In today's polarized political environment, both libraries and universities have been at the heart of controversy. In this project, the…

The American Library Association (ALA) reported an "unprecedented" number of book challenges in 2022 (ALA, 2022b), resulting in nationwide media coverage and increased awareness of censorship attempts. However, these numbers represent only censorship attempts from external entities, such as parents and the general public; some librarians…

Profound changes due to Open-Access (OA) publications lead to organizational changes in universities and libraries. This study examines Israeli librarians' perceptions regarding their role and the academic library's role in promoting OA-publications, including the barriers, challenges, needs, and requirements necessary to promote OA publishing.…

This study compares library web usability practices in 2007 and 2020 at academic libraries that are institutional members of the Association of Research Libraries. The authors performed chi-square and t-tests to determine whether there were differences in establishing policies/standards/guidelines (PSGs), conducting usability tests, and providing…

This paper examines the impact of process mapping on the management of change in an academic library in a UK higher education institution. Book ordering has been highlighted by a group of subject librarians as being time-consuming and inefficient, detracting from their ability to respond to new challenges and opportunities. An action research…

In summer 2017, the University of Birmingham reconfigured from a subject librarian model of academic library support to a functional or task-based model, including the creation of a dedicated Engagement Team. Using case studies from the new team, an internal survey of staff across the University alongside a survey of librarians from other…

During the last few years, many academic libraries have accepted the challenge of helping their users locate and acquire the numeric data they need. To meet their users' ever-increasing need for data, librarians are purchasing data sets one at a time ("small data"). This service, though important to our users, raises many issues in the…

This article deals with the management of noise in an academic library by outlining an evidence-based approach taken over seven years by the University of Limerick in the Republic of Ireland. The objective of this study was to measure the impact on library users of noise management interventions implemented from 2007 to 2014 through retrospective…

This article is a study of the policies that govern the use of the university library by external users at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) and 12 peer institutions used by IUPUI for comparative purposes. A search of each institution's Web site was conducted as well as interviews with circulation librarians and managers.…

This research investigated the importance of user-library trust in ensuring vital freedom of inquiry in academic libraries, exploring its strength through comparison with attitudes towards the National Identity Card Scheme (NICS) within the various libraries of a large UK university. An online survey of students and interviews with librarians…

Discussion of young adult library services focuses on the results of a survey of New Jersey public libraries. Highlights include job titles; population served; job responsibilities; young adult services; young adult staff; policy of information provision; young adult research preferences; and recommendations for future research. (LRW)

Gives a historical explanation of library confidentiality policies and procedures and reviews notable invasions of patron privacy through use of library records by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service. Also reports on a study that examined patron confidentiality policies in Texas academic library reference…

Formulas from the "Standards for College Libraries" were used to compare the recommended collection size and number of professional librarians with the actual size of the collections and number of librarians for a random sample of Baccalaureate I and II colleges. Results revealed that significant numbers are not meeting the "Standards" in these…

Staff members of the Weber County Library System in Utah were studied in a research project to determine the effect on staff knowledge of library policies and procedures of (1) an employee handbook and (2) the handbook supplemented by a formal orientation procedure. Data were obtained from three randomly selected groups of library staff members in…

This SPEC (Systems and Procedures Exchange Center) Kit reports results of a survey of ARL (Association of Research Libraries) that examined post-tenure review of librarians throughout higher education in North America. The purpose of the survey was to identify which institutions apply post-tenure or post-continuing appointment review to library…