Academic libraries face particular ongoing challenges in calculating and presenting their value to their parent institutions, primarily because of the dramatic effect on their traditional role of advancements in technology. Adequately gauging the value of a library in today’s world requires a more subtle and considered approach to the work of libraries and librarians than hitherto, especially in the current recessionary economic environment.....Read more

The University of Turin libraries launched an E-book Pilot Project as a means of addressing gaps in the provision of e-books and determining the best way forward for future e-book efforts. At the outset of this project, the libraries were not providing access to many e-books, and apart from some experimentation with e-book trials, library staff had few e-book management skills. E-books were relatively unknown to our patrons and e-reading device lending had never been tested before. As a result, users were not asking librarians for e-book content.....Read more

Sustainability is the key....Read more

One of the greatest strengths of Next Gen librarians can be found in their ability to bring new and innovative ideas to the information workplace. When reading the library literature, one expects to find that any mention of Next Gen librarians incorporates a discussion of new technology implementation, issues relating to Web 2.0, the benefits of social networking or any of the other talking points commonly associated with fresh-faced librarians who grew up in the digital age.....Read more

Held in Helsinki in November 2008, the 6th Annual Library Connect Nordic Librarian Forum covered topics including research assessment and policy. During that event, Per Koch delivered a presentation which he’s kindly agreed to reshape as this article for Library Connect.  ....Read more

In 2007, Elsevier launched a study looking at the return on an academic institution’s investment in its library. As you may recall, Phase 1 of this ROI study was described by Judy Luther in the January 2008 issue of the Library Connect Newsletter and in an extensive white paper. Both are available at www.elsevier.com/libraryconnect. Phase 1 summary....Read more

Recently, several major changes at my library have pushed us to be much more intentional about assessing our services, workflows, budgeting practices and resource selection. Through strategic planning and development of policy and practice, we have begun to lay the foundation for a culture of assessment in our library — a culture in which decisions are based on facts, research and analysis and where services are designed to maximize the benefit for our patrons (Phipps, 2001).....Read more

A: The Scopus Affiliation Search allows you to easily monitor your institute’s research output and changing research trends.....Read more

The depth and extent of the current economic downturn have affected all of us in both our professional and personal lives. Strategic thinking and careful planning are absolutely critical when the focus is on surviving rather than thriving. To a certain extent, this is not a new scenario for libraries. We have always had to plan carefully. Even in the best of times, we’ve rarely experienced the luxury of having enough resources to match what we hoped to achieve with our services, collections and staff.....Read more