For over 30 years, Duane Webster worked tirelessly and effectively in developing leaders in the research library community. Through his own efforts and example and through a group of colleagues he trained and mentored, the Association of Research Libraries was able to create a series of programs in leadership development that has had an impact on…

In their Top Trends of 2012, the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) named data curation as one of the issues to watch in academic libraries in the near future (ACRL, 2012, p. 312). Data curation can be summarized as "the active and ongoing management of data through its life cycle of interest and usefulness to scholarship,…

Describes the activities of the Advisory Committee on Research in promoting research by librarians at Ohio State University. (PF)

The author defends his research on decision making in libraries, and questions the value of Beverly Lynch's Participative Management in Relation to Library Effectiveness'' (LI 502 450). (8 references) (SJ)

The author is a reference and instruction librarian at Iowa State University with collection development and liaison responsibilities for chemistry, biochemistry, entomology, and natural resource ecology. She recently came to librarianship with an education and three years' experience in biochemistry and biotechnology. During the last four years…

The Association of College & Research Libraries' (ACRL) Academic/Research Librarian of the Year awardees constitute a "hall of fame" for ACRL. This article reports research analyzing 30 years of awardees between 1978 and 2007. Studying the demographics and accomplishments of the awardees contributes to knowledge of how academic librarianship has…

Study of the development of libraries and librarianship may be done only historically, by analysis of the records of development. Such study necessarily is interpretive because historical study does not establish facts, but proceeds from them. In historical study an hypothesis may not be used as in scientific study, because the hypothesis is not…

This series of articles approaches the major issues in academic libraries including faculty status for librarians, mass instruction method for teaching library skills, performance appraisal for librarians, and the controversy as to a research requirement for all librarians. (JAB)

Argues that if librarianship is to change its outside perceptions, it must first change its self-perceptions. Three areas in which true professions that demand recognition and respect have established clearly visible ground rules are highlighted: (1) credentials and librarianship as a profession or trade, (2) research, and (3) continuing…

Discusses the purpose of research on library issues and problems and the use of the scientific method in a library context. Four research methodologies are described as well as measurement scales and research techniques. (BK)

Describes the design, execution, and reporting of a fictitious library research project conducted by a children's librarian in the future. Problems in gaining support, in designing the study, and in presenting the results effectively are highlighted, and possible solutions are presented. (BK)

Data curation is a concept with many facets. Curation goes beyond research-generated data, and its principles can support the preservation of institutions' historical data. Libraries are well-positioned to bring relevant expertise to such problems, especially those requiring collaboration, because of their experience as neutral caretakers and…

There's a lot of focus on the "Next Gen" librarians out there bringing a youth perspective that's supposed to shake things up and introducing new ideas and practices into a profession that sometimes moves forward at a glacial pace. But the ideas of the new generation do not invalidate the work done by those who came before. In fact, change in…

The objective of this study was to reveal how the national economic recession has affected the nature and extent of support for tenure track librarians at Association of Research Libraries (ARL) member institutions. The authors surveyed 43 ARL Deans and University Librarians to discover the criteria for achieving tenure and the current…

This article presents an interview with Karen Glover of Georgia Tech, a key person behind the planning of the Access Services Conference held last fall, and now going into its second year. Glover started working in libraries as a part-time library assistant at her local public library during her high school years. She later became a Circulation…