Human Resource Management in Today\u27s Academic Library: Meeting Challenges and Creating Opportunities.

This book is highly recommended for those with an interest in human resource management in libraries. Although the book focuses on academic libraries, the insights provided could be useful to all types of libraries. The varying nature of the chapters in this book would be beneficial for those in administrative and human resource positions, for students learning about the profession, and for those working within the profession. A quote by Sheila Creth in chapter 10 provides the best summary of this book: “The greatest opportunity for success in any academic library lies with the staff. As one colleague observed, our most valuable resource goes home every night

The ART of People Management in Libraries: Tips for Managing Your Most Vital Resource

This human resource centered book consists of 8 chapters, an epilogue, bibliography and index. The book was co-written by James McKinlay, a professional consultant with thirty years‟ experience and Vicki Williamson, the current Dean of the University of Saskatchewan Library. This book was written with current leaders and those aspiring to be leaders in mind. The authors stated that this was not intended to be an academic work but instead was written in a conversational style with real world example

Problem Patrons: All Shapes and Sizes

Every type of library will inevitably have problem patrons, but this article focuses mainly on public and academic libraries. As the times have changed, so has the magnitude of the problem patrons. Problems of the past seem irrelevant compared to some of the problems we are currently facing. Discussed in this article are particular types of problem behavior, including, but not limited to anger, harassment of staff, and homelessness. The types of each category include examples to illustrate each concern, and possible remedies

Trends in the Job Market for Librarians: 1985-2000

This article discusses the major influence that the information age has had on librarianship. Computer-related technology has changed the way librarians do their jobs, their duties, and has created a whole new realm of opportunities for librarians. Data from the Library Journal annual salary surveys and the ALA Placement Center are included in charts and figures to track job market trends from 1985-2000. Issues such as salary, job mobility and education are also discussed

Workplace culture in academic libraries : the early 21st century

Organizational culture and leadership: exploring perceptions and relationships / Pamela S. Bradigan and Lynda J. Hartel -- Building on our strengths: working towards a preferred workplace culture / Carol Shepstone and Lyn Currie -- Organizational culture and administrative change: a case study at a metropolitan academic library / Jason Martin -- Organizational climate assessment and improvement planning / Patricia MacDonald -- Helping new librarians find success and satisfaction in the academic library / Rebecca K. Miller -- Beyond diversity: moving towards inclusive work environments / Paula M. Smith -- Cultural competencies in authentic leadership / Joan Giesecke and Charlene Maxey-Harris -- Diversity and sensitivity in the workplace: understanding Asian Pacific American staff / Anchalee Panigabutra-Roberts -- Challenges of redesigning staff work space / Wyoma vanDuinkerken and Karen I. MacDonald -- All integration is local: merging cultures in an academic library / Elizabeth J. Weisbrod -- Promoting and enabling civility in the academic library / Loanne Snavely and Alexia Hudson -- Building staff morale and creating a positive workplace / Eric Jennings and Kathryn Tvaruzka -- Interdepartmental communication in academic libraries / Martha Mautino and Michael Lorenzen -- Interaction between departments: strategies for improving interdepartmental collaboration through communication / Sever Bordeianu and Rebecca Lubas -- No middle ground? Perceptions and realities of the distinctions between tenured librarians and their professional colleagues / Peter Hepburn -- Mentoring in academic libraries / Diane Bruxvoort -- How transformational leadership translates into recognized excellence in academic libraries / Rosalind Tedford, Lauren E. Corbett, and Mary Beth Lock -- Generations at work: what we can learn from each other / Martin Garnar and Erin McCaffrey -- Staff motivation at a university library: use of intrinsic motivation at Western Carolina University / Peter Johnson, Mark A. Stoffan, and Timothy V. Carstens -- Managing conflict and incivility in academic libraries / Leah Plocharczyk -- The transparent organization: keeping staff in the loop / Laura Blessing

The Effect of Economic Recession on Institutional Support for Tenure-Track Librarians in ARL Institutions

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 institutional support for tenure-related activities. All of the responding libraries reported experiencing at least moderate reductions in their overall budgets, with the majority indicating increased workloads for faculty and reductions to monetary support for professional development. Despite this adversity, the survey indicated that the expectations for achieving tenure for librarians in the areas of research and service have not changed

Highly Cited Articles in Library and Information Science: An Analysis of Content and Authorship Trends

Thirty-two highly cited articles that were influential to scholarly communication in library and information science (LIS) in the latter part of the twentieth century are identified and examined. Journal distributions, major subject themes, and authorship characteristics of these articles are discussed and compared to the majority of scholarly articles published in LIS during the same time period

Comparison of Three Primary Aggregator Databases

This article explores the results of a study conducted by Louisiana State University Libraries to determine the strengths and weaknesses of three aggregator databases: EBSCO Academic Search Premier, Gale Expanded Academic ASAP, and ProQuest Research Library Core. Main ideas discussed are title coverage, full-text availability, and search features. It is hoped that this article will aid institutions in determining the acquisition of an aggregator database that best meets their institutional needs

Analysis of a Decade in Library Literature: 1994-2004

The purpose of this study was to analyze trends in publication and citation in library and information science journals over a decade (1994-2004) of the literature. This examination revealed the areas of concentration within the research, frequently published subjects through the years, and the characteristics of the top-cited authors and resources during this time. This information allows those in the field to follow the trends in publication, gives researchers the tools to determine which journals might give their work the most exposure and recognition, and can help libraries to make collection management decisions in this subject area

Content Analysis of the Leading General Academic Databases

Title lists from the three leading general academic databases were compared to evaluate journal content. Some of the elements that were analyzed include subject coverage, the quality of titles provided, accessibility issues, and trends over time for these databases. While database title lists are now readily available on the Internet for comparison, as our article illustrates, these lists need further evaluation for proper assessment