Academic librarians have always played an important role in providing research services and research-skills development to faculty in higher education. But that role is evolving to include the academic librarian as a unique and necessary research partner, practitioner, and participant in collaborative, grant-funded research projects. This article…

A traditional mixed methods research model of citation analysis, a survey, and interviews was selected to determine if the Bruce T. Halle Library at Eastern Michigan University owned the content that faculty cited in their research, if the collection was being utilized, and what library services the faculty used. The combination of objective data…

The ways in which university quality assessments are developed reveal a great deal about value constructs surrounding higher education. Measures developed and consumed by external stakeholders, in particular, indicate which elements of academia are broadly perceived to be most reflective of quality. This paper examines the historical context of…

This journey-mapping pilot study was designed to determine whether journey mapping is an effective method to enhance the student experience of using the library by assessing our services from their point of view. Journey mapping plots a process or service to produce a visual representation of a library transaction--from the point at which the…

Research articles published by the "Community & Junior College Libraries" journal and the "College & Undergraduate Libraries" journal were analyzed to determine their domain. The discussion includes a comparison of past domain studies with the current research. The researchers found the majority of articles (52%) in the…

The 24-hour/5-days-per-week (24/5) model at Belk Library & Information Commons has experienced multiple changes since first implemented in 2006. First the library started small, then expanded, then reduced, and finally expanded again. This article tells the story of a library's 24/5 evolution within the assessment cycle framework, describes…

This case study describes the development, implementation, and assessment of a series of grants research workshops for graduate students, which were implemented to fill a gap in graduate student support. We assessed the workshops through a series of focus groups, and findings show overall satisfaction with the grants tools and workshop. However,…

This article discusses commuter students' experiences with the academic library, drawn from a qualitative study at the City University of New York. Undergraduates at six community and baccalaureate colleges were interviewed to explore how they fit schoolwork into their days, and the challenges and opportunities they encountered. Students…

University College Dublin became the first library in the Republic of Ireland to trial patron-driven acquisition (PDA) as a collection development tool in 2013. A total of 42% of UCD Library's book budget was allocated to the project, which included both electronic and print books. This article describes the twelve month project from the tender…

The research reported in this paper examined data related to the characteristics of interlibrary loan borrowers, the material borrowed, the question of cost and time it takes to acquire the material, and staff information and procedures. The variables were coded onto computer cards and then tabulated into frequency tables by the computer. There…

Future directions for the Office of University Library Management Studies include the development and extension of new applications of their Management Review and Analysis Program (MRAP). A management audit, which would telescope MRAP into a diagnostic tool for use by research libraries, and the Services Development Program, which would provide a…

In fall of 2011 the University at Buffalo Libraries circulation department undertook Six Sigma training for the purpose of overhauling its student scheduling process. The department was able to mitigate significant staffing budgetary reductions and resource reallocations and to overcome the unique challenges of scheduling student labor for a…

Some of the conditions in research libraries which have shaped the Office of University Library Management Studies' (OMS) approach to library management studies are outlined, OMS activities during 1976 are described, as well as priorities for 1977. OMS work with member libraries in 1976 indicated that research libraries are primarily concerned…

The Office of University Library Management Studies (OMS) activities which are reviewed include providing member libraries with resources and services ranging from research and development programs to information collection and dissemination programs and training. In addition to conducting Management Skills Institutes and regional and special…