Towards a Conceptual Map of Academic Libraries\u27 Role in Student Retention

Academic libraries, like other academic departments, are developing strategies to retain students given the high cost of withdrawing to both students and institutions. The relatively few empirical studies of college libraries and retention efforts cite comfortable library facilities, student employment in the library, and inter-departmental partnerships as effective library strategies to prevent attrition. Much of the professional literature on libraries and retention extrapolates what libraries could be doing based on general studies of retention. These empirically-based and theoretical strategies are presented in the form of conceptual map at the end of this review along with a map of institutional stakeholders in a holistic retention strategy

How to Cut a Third of Your Journal Subscriptions (and Keep Faculty Happy)

When faced with a 0% budget increase for fiscal year 2010, librarians at Gettysburg College designed a comprehensive review of journal subscriptions. Library staff began by gathering data about format(s), price, publisher, and more. Then subject librarians consulted with academic departments and asked faculty to review titles for relevance to current research and curriculum. 100% of departments cooperated with the review with a mixture of enthusiasm and concern; in the end, most offered to cancel about a third of their journal titles. By trimming multiple format subscriptions, relying on aggregator databases for full text content, cancelling titles that no longer support the curriculum, and cancelling a small number of high-cost subscriptions in favor of document delivery, the library met – and exceeded – its savings target. More importantly, by involving the faculty in every stage of the review process and sharing all available information, the library received absolutely no complaints about cancellations. This poster presentation will include a flow chart of the entire review process, sample review spreadsheets used by faculty in academic departments, and graphs showing cancellations by department. This journal review model is transferable to other academic libraries

Copyright, Fair Use and the Digital Age in Academic Libraries: A Review of the Literature

Copyright law in the United States has gained a certain notoriety for its complexity and ambiguity, which has only been compounded by the evolution (or, some would say, revolution) of print resources to electronic resources. The purpose of this literature review is to review the current understanding of copyright law within the context of academic libraries in universities and colleges. Additionally, this review will describe what issues academic librarians face in complying with copyright law in this new digital age while continuing to perform duties such as processing course reserve materials, developing an institutional repository, and maintaining a digital collection. This literature review emphasizes the need for further and continuing education about copyright law among all members of the campus community, and, in particular, academic librarians

Reframing Library Student Employment as a High-Impact Practice: Implications from Case Studies

The purpose of this paper is to discuss how academic libraries can directly contribute to campus student success initiatives through student employment programs. Case studies from the perspectives of two supervisors demonstrate how library student employment programs can intentionally incorporate the characteristics of High-Impact Practices. This paper builds upon a previously published systematic review of the academic library literature on student employment, which found a significant gap in the discussion of employment as a mechanism for learning and retention. This paper aims to address this gap by focusing on practical applications for creating more learner-centered student employment programs

Core content modules at Leeds Metropolitan University

As part of Leeds Metropolitan University’s review of the postgraduate curriculum in 2012–13, Libraries and Learning Innovation (LLI) was asked to lead a project group to create two core content modules for use at Level 7 (Masters level) in Research Practice and Project Management. The rationale for choosing these two areas was the sheer number of modules in these subjects taught across a wide range of disciplines, each of which is currently designed and populated by individual course teams. The group consisted of representatives from the University’s Centre for Teaching and Learning, academic staff, learning technologists and academic librarians, and was chaired by the Associate Director of LLI, Wendy Luker

Publishing solutions for contemporary scholars: The library as innovator and partner

Purpose: To review the trend in academic libraries toward including scholarly communication, and by extension, electronic publishing, as part of their core mission, using the Cornell University Library as an example. Design/methodology/approach: The paper describes several manifestations of publishing activity organized under the Library’s Center for Innovative Publishing, including the arXiv (http://arxiv.org/), Project Euclid (http://projecteuclid.org), and DPubS (http://DPubS.org). Findings: Libraries bring many competencies to the scholarly communications process, including expertise in digital initiatives, close connections with authors and readers, and a commitment to preservation. To add publishing to their responsibilities, they need to develop expertise in content acquisition, editorial management, contract negotiation, marketing, and subscription management. Originality/value: Academic libraries are making formal and informal publishing a part of their core activity. A variety of models exist. The Cornell University Library has created a framework for supporting publishing called the Center for Innovative Publishing, and through it supports a successful open access repository (arXiv), a sustainable webhosting service for journals in math and statistics (Project Euclid) and a content management tool (DPubS) to enable other institutions (libraries,scholarly societies, presses) to engage in similar ventures to increase the dissemination of scholarship and to lower the barriers to its access

Επιπτώσεις εφαρμογής ISO 9001:2000 στις ελληνικές ακαδημαϊκές βιβλιοθήκες

This work investigates and empirically assesses the current status of quality management systems implementation in the Greek academic libraries. More specifically, the main aim of this paper is the assessment of pitfalls and benefits of ISO 9001:2000 standard development, implementation and certification in the Greek academic libraries and information services. For that purpose, a. inferences and recommendations based on a national and international literature review for ISO 9001:2000 in academic libraries is provided, and b. an empirical research in regard to the effects of quality management system implementation in the Greek academic libraries is conducted. The empirical study was based on similar attempts for the Greek service sector. A questionnaire has been developed and distributed through electronic mail to the directors of the academic libraries within the spring of 2007. The open and closed questions that are included in the questionnaire express a. the reasons that may lead to a decision for ISO 9001:2000 standard implementation and, b. the expectations of academic libraries top management in regard to the effect of ISO 9001:2000 implementation in library operations and/or information service quality