"Road Tripping Down the Digital Preservation Highway" follows the continuing adventures of Peter Palmer, erstwhile librarian at Bellaluna University and manager of the library's and University's digital content, as he journeys down the Digital Preservation Highway. Palmer's problem this month was somewhat more philosophical. As manager of the…

People see challenges to libraries in funding, in ebooks, and in the internet. However, in this information-rich age, librarians' roles are even more important. They are information experts. They know how to think about the changing information environment, and they know the impact--both positive and negative--it can have on people whose jobs…

Students at U.S. colleges and universities are concerned about the high cost of textbooks. Expansion of library course reserves has been suggested as one solution to this problem. The authors surveyed libraries at public universities to explore the status and management of physical course reserves and the role they play vis-a-vis textbook…

The intent of this study was to aid academic librarians in examining their perceptions of the future of higher education, engaging disciplinary faculty members to understand their views, and determining actions to take to shape the future. In this mixed methods study, scenarios about the future of higher education served as the basis for…

In October 2007, the Oregon Association of School Libraries (OASL) invited the author to speak at their annual conference. The question they asked him was, "What information literacy and library research skills do academic librarians think entering college freshmen should have?" The author investigates this question in his home state of…

Hoping to do for electronic books what the iPod has done for digital music, a new generation of e-book devices recently hit the market. This article argues that even with improved screens, the new e-book devices are not ready for college. The screen is the big innovation in the new e-book devices, the most prominent example of which is the Sony…

This literature review on job satisfaction of academic librarians is divided into two sections. The first section deals with the conceptual framework which includes two theoretical approaches to job satisfaction. These theories include Maslow's Needs Hierarchy Theory and Herzberg's Two-Factor (Motivation/Hygiene) Theory. Criticisms of these…

Based on a study trip to Denmark which included visits to a large central public library, branch libraries, the Royal Library, a special library, several university libraries, and the library school, this article offers personal observations on library education since the passage of the Royal School of Librarianship Act in 1985. (Three references)…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not the reference interview is essential in the provision of public library reference service. A survey questionnaire was mailed to 125 small and medium sized public libraries throughout Ohio. The survey was administered in the spring of 1994 with a response rate of 56%. Respondents were asked…

As the academic library plays the roles of intermediary and adjudicator of collection purchases and cancellations, faculty involvement in library resource decisions is not only commonplace, but essential to making such decisions. Faculty involvement in cancellation projects is often enhanced by a thorough explanation of the depth of financial…

Examines the nature of faculty culture and how certain aspects of it impede bibliographic instruction efforts. It is suggested that continued initiatives by librarians to understand and to reach out to faculty are needed to increase widescale acceptance by faculty of bibliographic instruction. (Contains 126 references.) (Author/LRW)

A brief questionnaire was sent to a random selection of 70 librarians in the State University of New York Librarians' Association Directory to determine the frequency of their use of humor at the reference desk and in the library instruction classroom, their perceptions of classroom humor, and their reasons for using humor in these situations.…

Describes the use of CoSy, a computer conferencing system, by academic librarians at McMaster University in Ontario. Computer-mediated communications systems (CMCS) are discussed, the use of the system for electronic mail and computer conferencing is described, the perceived usefulness of CMCS is examined, and a sidebar explains details of the…

Presents results from two surveys of catalog departments in academic libraries that were conducted to determine the changing role of catalog librarians. Main areas of focus include catalog department organizational patterns; the managerial responsibilities of the cataloger; and which cataloging tasks are performed by professionals and which are…

Six professionals in the library field--two with the Masters of Library Science (M.L.S.) degree and four non-M.L.S. professionals--express their views regarding the role for non-M.L.S. specialists in the library environment. Areas of expertise cited for non-M.L.S. professionals include business, marketing and public relations, personnel…