Scenario planning: a tool for academic health sciences libraries

Objective: Review the International Campaign to Revitalise Academic Medicine (ICRAM) Future Scenarios as a potential starting point for developing scenarios to envisage plausible futures for health sciences libraries. Method: At an educational workshop, 15 groups, each composed of four to seven Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL) directors and AAHSL/NLM Fellows, created plausible stories using the five ICRAM scenarios. Results: Participants created 15 plausible stories regarding roles played by health sciences librarians, how libraries are used and their physical properties in response to technology, scholarly communication, learning environments and health care economic changes. Conclusions: Libraries are affected by many forces, including economic pressures, curriculum and changes in technology, health care delivery and scholarly communications business models. The future is likely to contain ICRAM scenario elements, although not all, and each, if they come to pass, will impact health sciences libraries. The AAHSL groups identified common features in their scenarios to learn lessons for now. The hope is that other groups find the scenarios useful in thinking about academic health science library futures.     

Evaluation of strategic plans in academic medical libraries

A multicase approach was used to explore evaluation methods being used in academic medical libraries that are engaged in strategic planning, including where in the planning and implementation process evaluation is being incorporated and how the evaluation data are collected, analyzed, and incorporated into future strategic planning processes. Data collection included document review (strategic plans, memos, Web sites) and interviews (semistructured individual interviews and focus groups). The strategic planning process used at each institution varied yet could be mapped to Bryson's process for strategic planning. Strategic planning was found to serve as a management tool, providing libraries in the study with direction and focus; however, there remains a strong need for leaders to communicate the importance of incorporating evaluation into the planning process.     

Collection management in Australian academic libraries: An American perspective

This paper discusses collection management in Australian academic libraries. The author's sabbatical project was interviewing over 30 academic librarians in October/November of 1992 in eight of the largest research university libraries in Australia. These librarians gave their opinions on selection, acquisition, assessment, budget allocation, cooperative arrangements, and resource sharing. This paper also explores the recent changes in the higher education system in Australia and its impact on Australian universities and libraries, as well as the part Australia's distance from suppliers plays in procurement of materials.     

A social media strategy for academic libraries

This study was carried out to analyse strategies regarding the use of social media for academic library services in Ghana. The research design was quantitative and adopted the survey approach. Questionnaires served as the main data collection instrument. The study population comprised of one hundred and ten library staff from public and private universities in Ghana. As indicated by the study results, the library staff agreed that there was a need for a well-formulated social media strategy to help academic libraries identify the most appropriate social media tools, establish contact with targeted audience, and increase engagement rates to enable an effective and efficient distribution of its resources and services. The results also indicated that the academic libraries, however, seem to neglect these strategies which could drive patrons' use of such platforms. Recommendations therefore suggest the need to implement social media plans and policies, user engagement, social media update, and dedicated staff with the requisite skills in the use of social media platforms for library services delivery.     

Ethnographic methods in academic libraries: A review

Research in academic libraries has recently seen an increase in the use of ethnographic-based methods to collect data. Primarily used to learn about library users and their interaction with spaces and resources, the methods are proving particularly useful to academic libraries. The data ethnographic methods retrieve is rich, context specific, and often difficult to collect via other methods. This review provides an overview of research demonstrating how ethnography can be applied to learn about a variety of issues in academic libraries, ranging from space use to a way of teaching new students about library resources and facilities.     

How students use their libraries: A case study of four academic libraries

The purpose of this study was to explore the similarities and differences in student behavior in or uses of four academic libraries in the greater New York City area. Using on-site observations and semistructured interviews, the authors collected data about resources and tools used by students as well as their academic and nonacademic activities and contributing factors. Across all four libraries, the study identified that students were actively engaged in academic pursuits utilizing multiple library resources while working with print and digital tools. Students were also observed resting, eating, and engaging in other nonacademic activities. The variations in student behaviors across the four libraries can be explained by contextual variables that influence students' behavior in a library, including student demographics, academic requirements, work habits, and disciplinary affiliations.     

The e-book management framework: The management of e-books in academic libraries and its challenges

E-book management in academic libraries is examined, and a framework of the stages in the e-book management process is generated; the framework summarizes the key activities and associated issues and challenges for each stage. Academic libraries are one of the main markets for textbooks and other e-books. As such, the relationships that they forge with e-book vendors (publishers and aggregators), and the resolution of some of the challenges that they currently face in managing their collections of e-books, will have significant consequences for the adoption of e-books in learning. An interview-based study with a purposive sample of interviewees working as managers, subject librarians, metadata officers, and e-resources coordinators from seven academic libraries in the UK was conducted to investigate the libraries' experiences and perceptions of e-book management. The resultant e-book management framework identifies the processes associated with the management of e-books, and also offers insights into the challenges and issues associated with each stage. The stages in the framework are: collection development policy, budget, discovery, evaluation and selection, license negotiations, cataloging and delivery, marketing/promotion, user education, monitoring and reviewing, and renewals and cancellation.     

International staff exchanges for academic libraries

Internationalization is a major concern for many universities, and library faculty exchanges have increased in importance for the participants and their academic communities. This article reports on a survey of academic library directors and exchange participants from both the United Kingdom/Ireland and the United States/Canada.     

Leadership: Developing a research agenda for academic libraries

The number of books and journal articles on leadership is large and constantly increasing. Those writings might advance or evaluate different theories and test their application in different settings. The purpose of this article is to stimulate the amount and type of research on the topic appearing in the literature of library and information science. The research discussed is grouped around a conceptual model, one that captures managerial leadership in the information professions.     

Exploring the future of academic libraries: A definitional approach

The central argument of the article is that while the building, the collection and the staff were inseparably linked, in a digital environment these facets of the library are diverging. This divergence clouds the process of envisioning a future for the library, but, if properly defined, it is a source of clarity, which sheds light on strategic opportunities.     

Instructional design with the ICE approach in academic libraries: A framework that integrates assessing,learning, and teaching

One-shot instruction in academic libraries is a librarian-controlled bibliographic instruction that responds to the point of information need for subject-related courses. The assessment of teaching effectiveness tends to take a summative approach, which provides an answer to what students learned but does not address how they learned. This column theoretically explores the framework of Ideas-Connections-Extensions (ICE) in library instruction and the classroom setting, which demonstrates learning outcomes and explores the learning journey, and integrates assessment, learning, and teaching through collaborative efforts by academic librarians and classroom faculty.     

Veterinary medicine books recommended for academic libraries

This bibliography of in-print veterinary medical books published in English may be used as an acquisitions or evaluation tool for developing the monograph component of new veterinary medicine collections or existing science, technology, and medicine collections where veterinary medicine is in the scope of the collection. The bibliography is divided into 34 categories and consists of bibliographic information for 419 titles. The appendix contains an author/editor index. Prices for all entries are in US dollars, except where another currency is noted. The total cost of all books in the bibliography is $43,602.13 (US).     

Social network services for academic libraries: A study based on social capital and social proof

Despite the potential of social networking services (SNS) as a tool for communication between academic libraries and users, many academic libraries are yet to successfully optimize their SNS. As a result, their social proof and social capital of various SNS do not perform well. This research aims to evaluate the SNS effectiveness of the University of Hong Kong Libraries (HKUL) based on social capital and social proof concepts. We hope that our recommendations according to our findings will be applicable to other academic library contexts. We have found that: (i) there are no major differences between undergraduate and postgraduate students in their attitudes and behaviors regarding the SNS of HKUL on various platforms; (ii) low social proof is related to a lack of user interaction and promotion; (iii) low satisfaction with SNS contents may lead to low social capital. As such, understanding user information need, setting goals and metrics for each SNS, and formulating a formal SNS policy are the keys to further develop library SNS.     

Developing language and literature collections in academic libraries: A survey

Reports a 1995 survey of Wisconsin academic libraries regarding collection development practices in the subjects of languages and literature. In general, libraries rely heavily on faculty selections and course- relatedness, buying almost exclusively current English language material. An analysis of OCLC holdings indicates that Choice's 1993 “Outstanding Academic Books” are not widely held, confirming the survey results showing an emphasis on local demand over presumed quality.     

The administration of international exchanges in academic libraries: A survey

For decades acquisition by exchange has been an important feature employed by libraries in the United States and abroad for maintaining international coverage for research collections. Declining resources, however, have pressured libraries into maintaining greater financial accountability in recent years, thereby causing a finer scrutiny of all acquisitions programs including international exchanges.Through a review of the literature and a special survey of thirteen ARL libraries, this study investigates how international exchanges are administered, how their needs and support may be changing, and how they are viewed and valued as acquisition programs by library administrators and collection development officers. It concludes that international exchanges are considered as cost effective and necessary components of acquisition programs in most research libraries. It also demonstrates that only exchanges with the Soviet Union have been adequately researched and that more in-depth research on exchanges with libraries in other countries and regions is justified.