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Are librarians and libraries relevant in the 21st century? This is a fundamental question and one that presents differing opinions across the many diverse information sectors. If there is a continuing need for libraries and for librarians, then how do library leaders obtain strategic support when there appears to be a lack of clarity or understanding about the very purpose of libraries at a time when economically, libraries are under pressure to develop new business models and be more commercially focused?Bold Minds: Library leadership in a time of disruption brings together international leaders who frame many aspects of the current library provision and who carry responsibility for the library models of the future to consider how librarians and libraries can be a driving force in a time of disruptive economic, technological and cultural change.Each chapter critically presents a short leadership provocation regarding libraries and their purpose, encompassing strategic impact, culture change, engagement, diversity, service delivery, collections, staff skills and professional training and assessing what it means for leaders, their sectors and organisations, and how they have developed their personal leadership signature. This book will be invaluable to library and information professionals in a range of public and private sector libraries as well as policy makers in services where libraries are a component. It will also be useful for students, educational establishments, and IT professionals with an information management element to their work.

The leadership and management skills and competencies needed to lead an academic library are not always limited to domain-based expertise developed in graduate school and honed over careers. Librarians in administrative positions, both within the organization and the greater university leadership structure, need to be entrepreneurial in their approach to leadership and become systems thinkers: consider the overarching structures in which they operate, identify collaborative opportunities to strengthen their organizations, and creatively lead bold change in order to keep their organizations relevant. Developing the Next Generation of Library Leaders examines how the library profession can foster this skill development for new leaders through the leadership stories and development of twenty-two assistant/associate deans. Ten big ideas emerged through this research: •Developing a career ladder •Mitigating identity crisis •Learning theory, applying to practice •Support •Find your people •Leadership pause points •Alternative leadership and management models •Demystifying leadership and management •Succession planning •Battling gender-based doubts Each of these ideas include questions as well as recommendations that, when taken together, offer a holistic approach to shrinking the leadership gap in our profession and preparing the next generation of library leaders to move the profession forward and meet the evolving challenges of higher education.

A-Z Common Reference Questions for Academic Librarians is a survival guide for frontline library staff to help them find appropriate information quickly, whether they are answering questions at a physical help desk or remotely by telephone, email or instant messaging service. The book will help academic librarians tackle the questions most commonly asked by students, academics and researchers. A broad cross-disciplinary A-Z of themes including topics such as literature searching, plagiarism and using online resources are covered helping you to address an query confidently and quickly. Each topic is split into three sections to guide your response: typical questions: listing the common enquiries encountered points to consider: exploring the issues and challenges that might arise where to look: listing annotated UK and international resources in print and online including key organisations, scholarly bodies, digital libraries, statistical data and journal article indexes. A-Z Common Reference Questions for Academic Librarians updates and expands the author's previous book, Know it All, Find it Fast for Academic Libraries, and includes new sections on blogging and social media text and data mining and data visualization assistive technology resources early career researchers impact measurement including bibliometrics; citation analysis and journal rankings academic internet searching LGBT studies Middle East studies project management open access publishing research data management study skills systematic reviews. This will be an indispensable day-to-day guide for anyone working with students, academics and researchers in an academic library.

Front-Line Librarianship: Life on the Job for Librarians presents a diverse range of observations, viewpoints and useful commentary on the current workplace experiences of librarians and their associates. The book's author presents an unrivalled portrait of front-line librarianship that is based upon his unique experience and voice. Chapters consider workplace matters, the fate of hardcopy books, speechmaking at conferences, the effects of recessions on libraries, continuing education, and corporate gift-giving programs. This book will make an excellent and useful addition to library collections in library science. - Tells stories and presents interviews, bringing color and texture to library experience - Shows librarianship from the perspective of a long-term practitioner - Gives different approaches to a great range of real-life workplace issues

Librarianship may be said to be facing an identity crisis. It may also be said that librarianship has been facing an identity crisis since it was proposed as a profession. With the advent of technology that lowers barriers to the access of information, the mission of a library has become indistinct. This volume will explore the current purpose of librarianship and libraries, how we become “Masters of our Domains”, develop expertise in various elements of the profession, and how we extend outward into our communities.

Managing the Multigenerational Librarian Workforce examines how libraries are undergoing a massive shift in their workforce. As baby boomers retire, an influx of Gen Y and millennials has taken their place. This book presents the differences that generational groups bring to the workforce, along with a working mindset that has been shaped, at least in part, by when they were educated and spent their formative early-career years. For the librarian manager, it is important to understand the needs and perspectives of various generations and the career stages they are in if they are to effectively manage the library. - Presents information on the reality of multigenerational workforces in libraries and how to manage expectations and differences - - Addresses the challenges of having many kinds of staff, some of which will stem from differing generational perspectives - Provides practical advice on how to recognize different perspectives and how to work with librarians in different career phases and from different generations

In this update of the ideal introduction to the library profession, the core competencies of professional librarians are presented in 14 essays supplemented with foundational principles and context.• Updates a core textbook and introduction to the profession that will be useful for almost all LIS programs and new librarians• Brings together the work of authors who are experts in various core areas• Provides content based on an analysis of emerging trends and issues • Includes key resources for further reading

The Handbook of Art and Design Librarianship integrates theory and practice to offer guidelines for information professionals working in art and design environments who need to support and anticipate the information needs of artists, designers, architects and the historians who study those disciplines. Since the first edition of this title, the world of art and design libraries has been transformed by rapid advances in technology, an explosion in social media and the release of new standards and guidelines. This new edition, offering mostly entirely new chapters, provides an accessible, fully updated, guide to the world of academic art and design libraries from a range of international experts who reflect current practice at a global level. Coverage includes: case studies and library profiles, providing benchmarks for developing facilities teaching and learning, including the ACRL Framework, teaching with special collections, meta-literacies, instructional design and cultural differences developments in institutional repositories, digital humanities and makerspaces contemporary library design, spaces for collaboration and sustainability. This book will be useful reading for students taking library and information science courses in art librarianship, special collections, and archives, as well as practising library and information professionals in art and design school libraries, art museum libraries and public libraries.

The Invisible Librarian: A Librarian's Guide to Increasing Visibility and Impact provides insights into what many librarians are feeling, including questions such as'do they feel invisible?'and'How many times have they heard somebody say'but everything is on the Internet'?'If you are a librarian struggling to find the best strategy for the future of the profession in a rapidly changing information environment, this book is for you. People don't realize that librarians make information available and not just by search engine. This book will make people think differently about librarians, making a case for their value and impact that is compelling, convincing, and credible. Given their versatility and knowledge, now is the time for librarians to become champions of the information age as they improve the visibility and impact of libraries to readers, to stakeholders, and in society. By the end of the book, librarians will have a Visibility Improvement Plan to guarantee future success. - Provides strategies that librarians can use to raise their visibility - Presents how successful librarians have made a positive impact - Covers new techniques that measure current visibility amongst readers and key stakeholders - Includes key guidance on how to implement a 10-step Visibility Improvement Plan

Chapter 1 - Librarian Chapter 2 - How to Become a Librarian Chapter 3 - How to Locate a Book in a Library Chapter 4 - How to Check out a Library Book Chapter 5 - How to Organize Books Chapter 6 - How to Create a Library in Your Home Chapter 7 - Library Chapter 8 - Public Library Chapter 9 - Types of Libraries

While much attention has been paid to art librarianship as it exists in museum settings, comparatively less notice has been taken of academic and art-and-design-school art librarianship as a distinct focus. However, the skills of subject specialists in the arts and their advocacy on behalf of their users are fundamental elements in vital art libraries that fully support and anticipate the needs of artists, designers, architects, and the historians who study these disciplines. Put together by an international team of contributors, this essential handbook examines methods of innovative librarianship in academic and art school libraries throughout the world. With a focus on the intersection of best practice and best opportunities, the book brings together the philosophies and realities of the most creative librarians working in the field of art librarianship today and serves as a field guide to academic art libraries in the twenty-first century. It includes key discussions such as: the role of liaison to the visual arts; visual literacy for highly literate viewers; art history pedagogy and special collections; technology in an art and design library; collection management, renewal, and de-accession; new forms of scholarly communication and their impact on art librarianship; and, the making of the 21st century art library - cultivating vision, collaboration and support. This timely book is essential reading for all information professionals working in art and design environments. It will also be of interest to students of librarianship interested in the challenges currently facing professionals working in this specialized area.

This book is about rethinking your career in a refreshing and systematic way to take into account your professional and personal goals. The book provides students and information and library professionals (at all levels) with tools and practical steps to making changes in their career. At the heart of the book is a methodology called'personal strategic planning', which allows the reader to work out a baseline for what is important to them in a career and provide techniques and tools for moving forwards. - Written in accessible style from an experienced practitioner's point of view - Draws on the author's experience of moving between different LIS sectors having worked in the private and public sector - Draws on the author's experience of successfully moving and adapting skills from a career in another industry sector