Research libraries have long invested in approval plan services, which offer an economical way to acquire scholarly and scientific publications. Traditional approval plans have evolved and now enable libraries to expand their e-book offerings to better serve researchers. Publishers offer a myriad of e-book purchasing options. These range from…

Academic libraries are continually being asked to demonstrate their value. Showing benefits that provide financial value to the user community is one approach to meeting this challenge. With a focus on journal articles and monographs, the authors have analyzed course syllabi to determine the cost savings graduate students in psychology receive…

Texas A&M University has a history of international collaboration, cooperation and global outreach. Texas A&M University at Qatar provides engineering students in the Middle East with an education, and ultimately, a degree comparable to that found on our home campus in College Station. The Texas A&M University Libraries have provided…

Presented as the keynote address at the Library Research Seminar, University of Maryland, October 7, 2010, this essay identifies and explores three agendas ever appropriate for study, the pursuits of which are especially needed now. They are as follows: to (1) explore the historical dimension of library topics, (2) revive study of the institution…

"ARL" is the bimonthly report on research library issues and actions from ARL (Association of Research Libraries), CNI (Coalition of Networked Information), and SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition). "ARL" reports on current issues of interest to academic and research library administrators, staff, and…

In 2001, Texas Tech University Library surveyed faculty who taught distance learning courses. This article reports the findings of the survey. Implicit in the article is the belief that a clear understanding of the needs and expectations of faculty serves as a foundation on which librarians can build a solid program of support for distance…

Prior to changing from a manual/time sharing circulation system to an online system with an in-house computer, the staff of the Mary and John Gray Library of Lamar University reevaluated their current circulation policies in light of the increased capabilities of the new system. As part of this process, a survey was conducted of the libraries in…

This study examines the actual and the desired performance of school librarians in areas of planning, accessing networks, instructional and curriculum development, and production of learning resources. A questionnaire based on the 1976 certification requirements for Texas learning resources specialists was constructed as the survey instrument.…