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…

Purpose: Building on past studies of library privacy policies, this review looks at how privacy information is shared at universities and colleges in the state of Florida. Beyond the question of whether a library-specific privacy policy exists, this review evaluates what is covered in the policies -- whether topics such as how student data is…

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 article reports the results of a 2019 survey of academic librarians that investigated their attitudes, practices, and policies regarding open access (OA). This study asks if academic librarians write policies to ensure that they approach OA intentionally and systematically across all library services. The results indicate that, though…

This article summarizes the results of interviews with Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) service hub participants to determine whether and how standardized rights metadata is included in their digital collections. Providing accurate standardized rights metadata is crucial to communicating with patrons regarding how they can use objects in…

For more than 30 years, Peter Senge's theory of learning organizations has influenced the study of leadership and organizations. Researchers have studied various components of his framework: team cognition and mental models, team learning, shared vision, systems thinking, and personal mastery. But few articles have explored what it looks like in…

Accurate documentation is important in all library areas, especially as workflows change quickly to adapt to new technologies, policies, and practices. Many library faculty and staff use online tools and in 2019, the author conducted a survey to learn if and how colleagues use internal LibGuides to maintain accurate internal documentation. This…

The University of Oregon (UO) Libraries recently launched the campus's first ideation room, the Innovation, Design, Education, and Aspire (IDEA) Space. The IDEA Space differentiates from other creative spaces such as makerspaces, digital humanities labs, and media centres by its focus on the intellectual aspects of the design thinking process --…

In the spring of 2017, digital librarians and digital collection managers at member institutions of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) were surveyed on practices and policies surrounding takedown requests in openly accessible digital collections. The survey collected basic demographic information surrounding the digital repositories…

Noise in academic libraries has been a consistent concern of library staff and library users. This concern has intensified as libraries have emphasized their role in supporting student learning, including learning that occurs in a busy, collaborative environment. Studies of acceptable library noise levels have traditionally been conducted in areas…

This paper presents the results of focus groups conducted with student-parents at the University of Memphis. The objective of this study was to explore the research services and library spaces student-parents need to thrive in higher education settings. The results identify several ways in which academic librarians can support student-parents'…

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 paper presents the results of a survey of 110 ARL institutions regarding their copyright policies for providing electronic reserves. It compiles descriptive statistics on library practice as well as coding responses to reveal trends and shared practices. Finally, it presents conclusions about policy making, decision making and risk aversion…

University libraries have had to provide acceptable noise levels for many years and this pressure has not diminished in the twenty-first century. Library space has to be utilized to ensure noise levels are best managed. A study was undertaken across four university libraries in South Florida to determine how universities utilized their limited…

Signage represents more than directions or policies; it is informational, promotional, and sets the tone of the environment. To be effective, signage must be consistent, concise, and free of jargon and punitive language. An efficient assessment of signage should include a complete inventory of existing signage, including an analysis of the types…