Distance learning has flourished in Sudan during the last two decades; more and more higher education institutions offer distance learning programmes to off-campus students. Like on-campus students, distance learners should have access to appropriate library and information support services. They also have specific needs for library and…

The library environment has drastically changed since 1992 when Bostick's Library Anxiety Scale was developed. This project aimed to develop a scale specifically for undergraduate students. A three-stage study was conducted, using students of Kuwait University. A variety of statistical measures, including factor analysis, were used to process the…

From a fledgling technology with no proven business models, electronic books (e-books) have grown in importance usurping traditional formats as an acquisitions budget line in many academic library contexts. Business models include purchase, subscription, and pay per use. In academic and research libraries, web based e-book delivery is the dominant…

Creating a learnable, effective, and user-friendly library Web site hinges on providing easy access to search. Designing a search interface for academic libraries can be particularly challenging given the complexity and range of searchable library collections, such as bibliographic databases, electronic journals, and article search silos. Library…

Accreditation is critical to the viability of institutions of higher education. Each of the six regional groups that accredit two- and four-year institutions has standards specifically addressing online or distance learning. In general, these standards require institutions to show that distance learners have adequate access to appropriate library…

"Research Library Issues" ("RLI") focuses on current and emerging topics that are strategically important to research libraries. The articles explore issues, share information, pose critical questions, and provide examples. This special issue presents a report released by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Joint Task…

This paper describes the process whereby a university library investigated the value of its subject guides to its users. A literature review and surveys of library staff, library users and other libraries were carried out. Existing library subject guides and those of other higher education libraries were evaluated. The project team reported…

This article describes the fundamental challenges to data curation, how these challenges may be compounded for smaller institutions, and how data management is an essential and manageable component of data curation. Data curation is often discussed within the confines of large research universities. As a result, master's and baccalaureate…

The management and curation of digital geospatial data has become a central concern for many academic libraries. Geospatial data is a complex type of data critical to many different disciplines, and its use has become more expansive in the past decade. The University of Idaho Library maintains a geospatial data repository called the Interactive…

"Research Library Issues" ("RLI") is a bimonthly report from ARL (Association of Research Libraries), CNI (Coalition of Networked Information), and SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition). This issue includes the following articles: (1) Strategies for Opening Up Content: Laying the Groundwork for an Open…

This brief salute to Duane Webster and his defining role over the past several decades at the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) focuses on his formative role in defining and evolving the assessment protocols employed by both the association and the profession. (Contains 8 notes.)

The purpose of this article was to examine how technological advances in research affect The University of West Alabama's mission as well as its resources available to students through the curriculum lab as the lab should be an integral part of the University's offerings. Living in the age of the instant, the prevalence of information available…

The Association of Research Libraries E-Science Working Group developed a survey to "build an understanding of how libraries can contribute to e-science activities in their institution" and "identify organizations and institutions that have similar interests in e-science to leverage research library interests." The August 2009…

Duane Webster is a visionary leader who, throughout his career, has had a significant impact on the improvement of libraries and librarianship. His work to establish the Association of Research Library's (ARL) Office of Management Studies (OMS) and its several organizational improvement programs laid the foundation for organization development in…

In this article, the author reports on the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Conference which occurred in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March 29-April 2, 2011. There were numerous panel sessions to choose from, and the author attended "Fostering Library as Place for Distance Students: Best Practices from Two…