By Barbara Fister. So much of the contemporary academic library collection is digital – but most of these digital texts look like journals and books as they were published before the Internet existed, with some exceptions. Quite a few of the books in digital packages lack images because rights weren’t secured covering electronic editions and, I guess, vendors hoped nobody would notice. (They have.) This is just one of the reasons why I’ve been skeptical of subscribing to ebook packages. Read more...

By Barbara Fister. Not long ago, when returning from a conference, the driver of the shuttle I was taking from the airport asked me whether I’d been on vacation. When I told her I was returning from a library conference, she was astonished. “Librarians have conferences?” I don’t always think on my feet, so I never found out why she found that so surprising. Read more...

By Brian Mathews. While the paper is directed at library leaders, it was meant to help others as well. I’ve encountered many librarians and staff who “want to try new things” but are stifled by bosses who just want to maintain the status quo. I use to tell people to “just do it” – but this essay was an attempt to provide a little more structure. More...

By Brian Mathews. Shortly after that we introduced a Multipurpose Room. While this technically is not a classroom, we do use it occasionally to host large class sessions as well as course project showcases, guest lectures, and related events that support the learning enterprise. More...