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Academic libraries play an important role in making numeric data collections available to their researchers and providing assistance in identifying and accessing appropriate resources. The University of Tennessee Libraries have been working to strengthen the numeric data component of their reference services and have expanded promotion and outreach activities to make this specialized service more visible. In fall 2003, the Data Services Awareness and Use Survey was conducted to learn more about the university's users of research data and assess their awareness of the service and the effectiveness of promotional activities. Results of the survey are being used to plan, promote, and provide data services. The survey portion of this manuscript was presented, in part, at the International Association for Social Science Information Service and Technology Conference on May 26, 2004 in Madison, Wisconsin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brief reviews for multiple web sites and internet references for historical materials made available in 2012 are presented, including the "War of 1812 in the Collections of the Lilly Library," found at http://collections.libraries.iub.edu/warof1812, "Baltimore 68: Riots and Rebirth. Special Collections University of Baltimore," found at http://archives.ubalt.edu/bsr, and "Civil War Diaries and Letters. University of Iowa Libraries," found at http://digital.lib.uiowa.edu/cwd.

The article offers information on the audiobooks in libraries and advice for any librarian trying to build or improve their audiobook collection. Topics discussed include opportunity for libraries to serve readers who would rather listen on their mobile devices; promoting audiobooks with all this information about the current popularity in audiobooks; and viewing narrators as simply another piece of metadata. Also mentions about audiobook review sources.

The article focuses on the role of librarians in United States as information professionals to ensure the understanding of the value of employing a fact-based criterion for evaluating resources. Topics include disregard for facts in news and by political leaders in the U.S. , the use of information literacy in providing us with diverse perspective to work within academic communities, and the combination of information literacy and archiving.

The article discusses a study that examines information behavior in the context of the academic electronic book user experience while taking into account the academic reading environment. The term "format shifting" indicates shifting from electronic to print or vice versa. Reasons for the use of print for more immersive or extended academic reading were mentioned. Study participants conveyed reasons contributing to a discrepancy between preferences for print and use of digital.

The article focuses on the need of libraries to provide the financial literacy education services and programming. Topics discussed include the need of library staffs to have knowledge in the financial literacy, the role of the American Library Association and the Reference and User Services Association in creating the "Financial Literacy Education in Libraries: Guidelines and Best Practices for Service," and the book "Public Libraries & Resilient Cities" by Michael Dudley.

In the article, the author offers information on different guide sources related to flamenco baile dance. It reviews the book "The International Dictionary of Modern Dance" by Taryn Benbow-Pfalzgraf, and the book "The Art of Flamenco" by D. E. Pohren. It mentions about the periodical "Dance Magazine" with reference to its online subscription address.

The article offers information on various resources such as books, archival collections, Internet resources, films and sound recordings related to the social movement Women's Suffrage Movement around the world. It mentions the book "Elizabeth Cady Stanton: An American Life," by Lori D. Ginzberg, the Smith College's Sophia Smith Collection, which includes suffrage publications, memorabilia and scrapbooks, and the film "Iron Jawed Angels," directed by Katja Von Garnier.

The article discusses the implementation of an online portal for recreational reading materials set up by the Tanimura and Antle Family Memorial Library, an academic library at California State University, Monterey Bay (CSUMB). The benefits of recreational reading, the use by the library of the Voyager integrated library system created by Ex Libris, and the importance of promoting the recreational reading materials, are examined.

The article reviews reference websites including the Census Bureau: Economic Indicators, located at www.census.gov/cgi-bin/briefroom/BriefRm, from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Dietary Supplements Labels Database, located at http://dietarysupplements.nlm.nih.gov/dietary, from U.S. National Institute for Health, and the National Association of Counties (NACo), located at www.naco.org.

The article discusses the relationship between the time of day and the type of reference services used at academic law libraries through a case study of the Lillian Goldman Law Library at the Yale Law School. Topics addressed include patrons' use of technology and Internet reference services at law libraries, the frequency of in-person interactions with reference librarians, and considerations of Media Choice Theory (MCT).

The article discusses a readers' advisory model as a library-wide initiative and the effectiveness of involving staff in book discussions and readers' advisory training. Topics covered include how reading interests can be developed by talking about those interests and engaging others in discussing books and how the coverage of multiple genres and nonfiction topics provide library users with the opportunity to expand their personal reading experience.

The article discusses the results of a study comparing cost and usage of electronic books and print books in public libraries. The findings that electronic books represent a slightly lower cost for libraries than print books and that print books circulate at higher rates than e-books are examined, and a literature review of previous research on the topic of usage rates of print vs. electronic books is provided. Limitations imposed on e-book circulation by publishers are also touched on along with the growing popularity of e-books with library patrons.

The article presents a case study about the integration of virtual reference and digital reference tools into academic libraries, focusing on the integration process at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. It addresses the impact of the needs of library users on the integration process and provides information on the school's reexamination of the library's reference services.

The article explores Book Club to Go Kits (BCTGK), a service provided by the Johnson County Library in Kansas. It notes that the program supports the growth and development of area book clubs by providing numerous copies of a variety of titles suitable for discussion. Kits contain ten paperback copies of a selected title as well as a discussion guide either included in the book or available through the library's Web site. It notes that kit titles are also available in alternate formats including large print and audio in order to involve and include a variety of readers. The popularity of the kits among library patrons is also discussed.

An annotated list of resources concerning textile and clothing studies for academic and public libraries is presented which includes "20,000 Years of Fashion: The History of Costume and Personal Adornment," by François Boucher and Yvonne Deslandres, "Textiles," by Sara J. Kadolph, and "The Historical Encyclopedia of Costume," by A. Racinet.

The article focuses on the development of an instrument to evaluate reference services. It discusses reference service evaluations that count and classify transactions. It also examines instruments that evaluate the quality of library service as a whole, such as the LibQUAL survey. The author notes that the goal was to develop a model similar used to the customer satisfaction postcard used at restaurants. An instrument evaluating the perception of users and providers of reference services at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania academic libraries is explored.

Public users represent a small but growing clientele in academic libraries. Many academic librarians grapple with the issue of serving public users, partially because of shrinking academic library budgets and growing user demands. This article presents data from a 2002 survey about public access in Florida academic libraries. A Web-based survey consisting of nine questions was sent to sixty-six libraries, of which thirty-six responded. Results show that while a majority of publicly and privately funded academic libraries allow public users to access their resources and services, many do not actively promote themselves to the community at large. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents print and electronic information resources about meditation research. The book, The Relaxation Response by Herbert Benson, The Relaxation Response was a bestseller and was subsequently published in various countries, languages, formats and editions. This book is controversial among those who believe that the spiritual elements of meditation are necessary to reap its benefits; that is why it is an important part of any meditation collection. In print; also available in large print, VHS videotape and audiotape. The book, Scientific Research on the Transcendental Meditation Program Collected Papers edited by David W. Orme-Johnson and John T. Farrow, is the complete official collection of research papers on Transcendental Meditation (TM) published by the TM organization. This edition is the compilation of the reports of the 508 research studies on the TM method and TM-Sidhi Program, a program for advanced practitioners, with some that are not included in the first edition of the papers. TM is a method of meditation originating in India and taught by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi throughout the world beginning in the late 1950s. The article, An Analysis of Recent Meditation Research and Suggestions for Future Directions by Shauna L. Shapiro and Roger Walsh, reviews the recent literature of meditation research, including the most well designed studies on meditation. The authors discuss the psychological, physiological, and transpersonal aspects, dividing meditation into two basic types: concentration and awareness. The site, Health Emotions Research Institute, University of Wisconsin, provides descriptions of state-of-the-art research facilities and descriptions of current research projects, including a recent study of mindfulness meditation.

The phenomenal growth of distance-learning programs at colleges and universities has tremendous implications for providing library services to distance students. Academic libraries are trying to meet the accreditation requirements for providing "equivalent" library resources and services to on-campus students and distance learners. This article reviews the literature and presents an overview of distance-learning services offered by academic libraries. The impact of distance-learning and accreditation requirements on the work and roles of academic librarians is explored, and shifts in the roles of librarians serving distance learners and educators are discussed. The focus is on examining additional responsibilities, opportunities, and challenges encountered by academic librarians in serving distance learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the database "Slavery in America: History, Culture and Law" providing information to full-text titles that includes periodical titles; and mentions works such as memoirs, slave codes, judicial cases on the topic of slavery.

1.0 Introduction Library users need information in order to make decisions. They have a right to gain access to any published information available in library collections. Staff is responsible for [...]

The article offers information on the website Free People of Color in Louisiana, developed by Louisiana State University (LSU) Libraries, located at http://lib.lsu.edu/sites/all/files/sc/fpoc.

This issue's Alert Collector offering on audiobooks is a departure from the usual subject-based column. With the wide availability of downloadable audiobooks, there is a huge opportunity for libraries to [...]

Open houses are a great way to introduce your services to your patrons, especially those who may not otherwise be regular visitors. Librarians at the Engineering Library on the Pennsylvania [...]

It is always good to reflect occasionally on professional ethics and the implications of those ethics in library practice. In this paper, based on a presentation given by the author [...]

The trials during the Women's Suffrage Movement that rocked the beginning of the United States is reaching their one-hundredth anniversary, making this an imperative time to begin, add, or renew [...]

Libraries and librarians generally aspire to provide the best services they can to their user communities. But what does that mean? Assumptions about what is needed may not necessarily align [...]

Call them 'boomers' or 'baby boomers.' They are the generation born just after the end of World War II (1946) through 1964, the year the Beatles were introduced on the [...]

When we attend library conferences we often rush back to our libraries excited to implement some of the ideas that we've heard. Lucy Lockley presented a session at the 2012 [...]

According to a market survey showing that the public library is the first place many turn when seeking health information, librarians are the front-line workers in consumer health literacy. A [...]