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The purpose of this study is to contribute to the establishment of metrics that can be used by libraries to analyze, anticipate, and plan for resource allocation for specialized print-based collections within an academic library. In the context of transactions associated with the circulation of library materials, that is checkouts, renewals, and holds, the resources this study will propose includes two ratios that can be used for evaluating and justifying continued allocation of library resources to specialized print collections. These ratios proposed are the Proportionate Number (P/N) and Internal P/N (I-P/N) Ratios. Beginning with the conceptual framework of how data driven decision making can contribute to the operation of the library, the study will also provide concrete examples of how to analyze data from an Integrated Library System (ILS). Data will be presented for the case study of Gumberg Library at Duquesne University. The study hopes to address a perceived gap in the literature that percentage of users accessing a collection is often not considered in the analysis of circulation data.

This article seeks to understand the current state of the field of special collections library administration in the United States. Using a dataset gathered through publicly available information about special collections directors from the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), Independent Research Libraries Association (IRLA), and the Oberlin Group institutional members, the authors explore the educational backgrounds of directors, the types of positions they held prior to taking on their current roles, and the effect of gender on leadership advancement. This article also discusses the similarities and differences between institution types as well as promotions within institutions and across types of institutions.

During the Fall 2017 semester, staff at the Hudson County Community College (HCCC), Library began to notice that many books listed as available in the catalog were often not being found on the shelves when patrons attempted to retrieve them. This situation puzzled library leadership because HCCC had recently conducted an inventory and removed all missing items from its holdings. To determine the cause of this discrepancy, HCCC staff decided to sample the library's collection to determine if books were available at the expected locations. From this, the library found that a high percentage of its books were not present where they were expected to be. In response, library staff implemented a variety of changes to HCCC's shelving and access services operations.

If an item is not readily available in an academic library's collection, is it quicker to buy it or does is make better sense to borrow it? At a public, four-year institution, acquisitions and interlibrary loan (ILL) are exploring a new relationship to improve the users' experience. The question is determining what triggers the decision to borrow versus buy an item. The exploration is born of the institution's ongoing migration from a traditional to a demand driven based collections strategy. This article will elucidate how acquisitions and ILL can work together to effectively deliver what users need when they need it.

The authors investigated quantitative methods of collection use analysis employing library data that are available in ILS and ILL systems to better understand library collection use and user needs. For the purpose of the study, the authors extracted circulation and ILL records from the library's systems using data-mining techniques. By comparing these data to records of books acquired in a four-year period, the study reveals generally good collection use as well as some unmet collection needs. The study also offers a method of compiling and sharing these multiple types of usage data among work groups to create feedback mechanisms to inform the work of selectors and suggest modifications to collection development practices.

This article presents an analysis of the feasibility of a bookless library in a research setting. As spaces for collections are being converted for increased study and community spaces, many libraries have been moving low-use collections to off-site storage. Issues regarding the types of storage spaces available are addressed. Concerns and solutions addressed include electronic availability, virtual browsing, and efficient interlibrary loan services. The article concludes that although moving all materials off site could be adequate for research needs on a short-term basis, the permanent removal of all materials would be undesirable due to a loss of discovery by browsing.

The decision for libraries to make print collections available in a digital format has already been made. The question is how to go digital in a way that is practical (e.g., considering funding, staff time) and useful for patrons (both local and remote). Though creating digital versions of paper maps has been standard practice for a decade or more (Allen, 1999), there have been many useful technological advances in recent years such as increased Internet connection speeds and better file compression technology (Peterson, 2001). Given the decrease in technological costs and the increase in technological efficiencies, making paper maps available in a digital format is more feasible than ever before. Due to the nature of cartographic materials, the next step is more challenging--oversized maps are difficult to present in their entirety given the limitation of screen size. The John R. Borchert Map Library at the University of Minnesota is challenged on how to provide access to these digitized items in a way that is useful for their patrons.

The purpose of this article is to describe the scope and depth of the historic corporate annual report collections in twelve academic/research libraries in North America. For many decades, a few major academic business libraries have been collecting and preserving corporate Annual Reports (ARS), the reports sent to shareholders documenting the financial status and future plans of the company. Today these historic collections provide more than a record of the companies' finances; they provide a glimpse into the social and cultural thoughts from the past and the corporate stories of individual companies. Digitization of these reports has only just begun; so, except for fewer than 900 companies (most of which have been on the Fortune 500 list), the companies included in these historic annual report collections are not available electronically. The combined collection of the twelve libraries includes reports from nearly 38,000 different companies. Stanford, Harvard, and Western Ontario have the largest collections. Harvard and Columbia have collections with significant historic depth, while Purdue has a collection with important late-twentieth-century holdings. The overlap of the collections is much smaller than was anticipated. The two largest collections, Stanford with over 18,000 companies and Harvard with over 11,000 companies, have only 3,668 companies in common. The overlap of companies between the largest five collections is only thirty-three companies. This research identifies these collections as unique and therefore valuable to the study of specific company histories and the industrial development in North America. Librarians need to preserve these collections and work toward digitizing them.

In the summer of 2004, Georgia Southern University began a library construction project that was to last 4 years. An important aspect was the installation of an Automated Retrieval System (ARC) to house a substantial portion of the library collections so that more space could be available for students, faculty, and the services to meet their needs. This paper traces the development of the use of the ARC to house collections, with emphasis on how materials were selected for the two phases of the project and how catalogers have adapted to the idea of collections that can only be browsed virtually.

In 2002, the Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST), Higher Education Information Infrastructure Advisory Committee commissioned the National Library of Australia to analyse the uniqueness and overlap of Australian university library collections, comparing library collections in each state, using the National Bibliographic Database (NBD) available through the Kinetica Service. The study revealed that at a state level, university library collections have a high level of uniqueness. Further investigation of the trends identified by the study would be beneficial and would assist decision-making on future co-ordination of access to more diverse information resources for the Australian university community. (Contains 11 tables and 30 endnotes.)

One of the cloud-based solutions introduced in the university library is changing catalog management to be accessible, scalable, and resource-efficient. The following abstract debate discusses how the influence of cloud technologies has changed the catalog management system/CMS features of academic libraries regarding resource management, user access, and practice performance improvements. Cloud-based catalog management systems put libraries more squarely in control, with flexibility and adaptability, over their gargantuan collections. Compared with traditional, locally stored systems, cloud-based CMS is much more capable of handling growing digital and physical collections and ensuring that library resources are always available to users of the same libraries. This expansibility feature is vital for university libraries, which receive new materials constantly and have to keep track of large and complex collections. The vital benefit of cloud-based systems is that they will increase ease of access tremendously. This will further enable students, teachers, and academics to view library libraries from anywhere on any device-brilliantly making libraries open and end-users accessible. Better usability will mean users can locate materials fast and retrieve them a whole lot easier and enhance the experience for academic study and learning. Cloud-based stock management makes operations highly streamlined. Automation of upkeep and updating lightens the workload. This heavy load of library staff has been reduces, and this precious team will currently think more in scale with large projects and user support. Run advanced analytics tools that create reports, assisting librarians to gain a lot from patterns of resource use, including user behavioral patterns and the nature of allocation. The findings, therefore, make better decision-making possible and help in better utilization of resources so that service quality at the library is enhanced with time. Cloud-based solutions are crucial to ensuring easier collaboration amongst academic institutions regarding sharing resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Describes the library collection at Gallaudet University and discusses deaf-related information available via the World Wide Web which is particularly suited as a communication medium for the deaf community. Discusses subject specific, special purpose, and comprehensive Web sites for deaf people, their families, and involved professionals, and considers implications for librarians. (Author/LRW)

As libraries, archives, and museums make unique digital collections openly available via digital library platforms, they expose these resources to users who may wish to cite them. Often several URLs are available for a single digital object, depending on which route a user took to find it, but the chosen citation URL should be the one most likely to persist over time. Catalyzed by recent digital collections migration initiatives at Indiana University Libraries, this study investigates the prevalence of persistent URLs for digital objects at peer institutions and examines the ways their platforms instruct users to cite them. This study reviewed institutional websites from the Digital Library Federation's (DLF) published list of 195 members and identified representative digital objects from unique digital collections navigable from each institution's main web page in order to determine persistent URL formats and citation options. Findings indicate an equal split between offering and not offering discernible persistent URLs with four major methods used: Handle, DOI, ARK, and PURL. Significant variation in labeling persistent URLs and inclusion in item-specific citations uncovered areas where the user experience could be improved for more reliable citation of these unique resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines commercial electronic document delivery services that are available to academic libraries. Highlights include collection development issues; criteria for selection and evaluation; remote access systems, including CARL UnCover 2, Faxon Finder and Faxon Xpress, ContentsFirst and ArticleFirst, and CitaDel; and on-site access systems, including ProQuest and Adonis. (four references) (LRW)

Describes the resources available to scholars in the library and information science collections of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Western Ontario. For each university, the description includes a history of the development of the school of library and information science as well as resources found in special collections and archives. (CLB)

An intriguing new opportunity for research into the nineteenth-century history of print culture, libraries, and local communities is performing full-text analyses on the corpus of books held by a specific library or group of libraries. Creating corpora using books that are known to have been owned by a given library at a given point in time is potentially feasible because digitized records of the books in several hundred nineteenth-century library collections are available in the form of scanned book catalogs: a book or pamphlet listing all of the books available in a particular library. However, there are two potential problems with using those book catalogs to create corpora. First, it is not clear whether most or all of the books that were in these collections have been digitized. Second, the prospect of identifying the digital representations of the books listed in the catalogs is daunting, given the diversity of cataloging practices at the time. This article will report on progress towards developing an automated method to match entries in early nineteenth-century book catalogs with digitized versions of those books, and will also provide estimates of the fractions of the library holdings that have been digitized and made available in the Google Books/HathiTrust corpus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This institutional case study analyses 1723 sources referenced in five PhD theses awarded at Alphacrucis University College between 2017 and 2021. The purpose was to demonstrate that the library’s collection development policy is successfully guiding purchasing decisions in order to provide students with the resources they need to complete their research at high levels. Sources were extracted from each thesis and grouped according to type. Library holdings were then checked, revealing that, overall, 70.2% of all cited sources were available from the AC library collection. This research-in-practice paper shows that AC library’s shift in focus for its collection development policy is adequately providing required resources to research students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews how assessment has evolved in the past ten years at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. From having 1.5 people devoted to assessment to one person in charge of assessment while also being Head of Collections, it became imperative to integrate assessment into the day-to-day workings of the library to address the lack of dedicated time available. By examining the library's deployment of the Insync survey, reliance on external and internal university reports, assessment for strategic planning activities, and shifts in data collection practices, this paper will reveal how Carleton Library has reviewed the services, collection, and space given available resources. Partnering with other departments on campus and within the library is key. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides a retrospective overview of the discussion of Arnold Dolmetsch, his family, students and friends in Early Music since its first issue in 1973. It connects these cases with a broad range of other literature, suggests the need to rethink and recontextualize the lifetime of Arnold Dolmetsch and considers the significance of archival materials in the Jeanne-Marie Dolmetsch Collection newly available at Cambridge University Library (Ms. Add. 10371). In particular, it demonstrates the largely overlooked intercultural dimension of the Dolmetsch family's contribution to the early music revival, highlighting their interactions with people and music cultures from beyond western Europe. Finally, it suggests a programme for possible future research on the Dolmetsch phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers the artists' book collections in two academic libraries: New York University, where books circulate routinely, and Cornell University, where books circulate by special arrangement. The authors examine how these collections were formed, their evolution, the challenges and advantages to having open collections, recommendations for libraries considering making their holdings available to patrons in the open stacks, and how these initiatives can contribute to a more equitable and inclusive library environment. The authors focus on how these endeavors can bridge gaps between patrons from marginalized communities and academic libraries. [This article is a combination of two papers presented at the 50th annual ARLIS/NA conference held in Chicago, Illinois, in April 2022] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The document provides information on East Asian libraries in North American institutions for the fiscal year 2022-2023. It includes data on physical and electronic collections, fiscal support, staffing, and public services. The document highlights specific collections and acquisitions at certain institutions and mentions challenges faced by some libraries. It also provides contact information for libraries conducting research on East Asian studies. The document offers a comprehensive overview of the East Asian library collections and resources available at these institutions. [Extracted from the article]

This study investigated influence of institutional management on collection development in Federal Colleges of Agriculture in Northern Nigeria. The study has 3 objectives which include to: determine the types of collection available in Federal College of Agriculture libraries in Northern Nigeria; find out the influence of institutional management on collection development in Federal College of Agriculture libraries in Northern Nigeria and find out the challenges faced by the library management on collection development in Federal College of Agriculture libraries. In order to achieve the stated objectives 3 research questions were asked. The study used a descriptive research design with a population of 72 management staff of Federal College of Agriculture libraries in Northern Nigeria and the sample size drawn was 36 respondents. Out of the 36 copies of questionnaire administered, 28 copies were returned which represent 78%. Data collected was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics at 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that there is availability of collection in all the libraries under study. It was revealed that the college management has a lot of influence on collection development of the college libraries. Finally, the findings revealed that funds are not sufficiently provided, which affects adequacy of collections, there is also delay in the delivery of Collections among others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the role of interloan (interlibrary loan) services in the private college library. Interloan service is suggested as a means of sharing the abundance of books available in academic library collections. Cost and space considerations are outlined. (EJS)

This paper describes about the 'Infrastructure facilities in fine arts college libraries in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry states: A case study. The analysis of the study explains about the Books Collections available in the fine arts college Library, Information Facilities and Services in the Library of the Music, Dance and Visual Arts Colleges in Tamilnadu and Pondicherry, Number of Journals subscribed and journal back volumes available by the colleges under study. The study reviled that the library collection of more than 72% of the colleges have more than 5000 books. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Original accounting records relating to early periods of American history of accounting are in ample supply in libraries end archives; but research activity has been only very modest in scope. The major problems facing the researcher are organization of and access to existing materials, also a relative lack of interest in history within the accounting profession and among the general public, and a resulting lack of funds to finance extended historical research. Original records of firms, covering early periods, are abundant in the big public libraries, such as the Library of Congress and the major city libraries such as New York. Materials generally are indexed only alphabetically, by firm name, not by subject matter. This very fact defeats almost every serious effort at researching those materials with regard to accounting development. The major universities also have collections containing original accounting records of early periods These collections generally are better organised and classified than those of the public libraries. Records reflecting history of a particular region of the country are found sometimes in regional universities. For example: Xavier University in New Orleans has interesting records pertaining to the early slave trade. On a country-wide basis, Harvard University and the University of California at Berkeley have the best collections of accounting records. A new edition of the Catalog of Business published by Baker Library at Harvard, is classified by subject matter and permits easy access to the collection for research purposes. This collection comprises about 1,300 sets, over 60,000 items, dating from the 18th and 19th centuries. It includes records related to agriculture, mining, manufacturing, construction, transportation, marketing, financial services, and government. New England firms are emphasized, but other regions of the United States and foreign firms are also represented in the collection. Aside from these universities, the University of California in Los Angeles, the University of Pennsylvania, and New York University, as well as other universities, have significant collections of original accounting records. Early American textbooks on accounting are available in public and university libraries through the country. The richest collections of early texts are found at Boston Public Library (the Bentley Collection), the Kress Library at Harvard, the University of California, and at Columbia University. The Bentley Collection at Boston is perhaps the most complete, including between 500 and 1,000 American texts on bookkeeping and accounting from the 18th and 19th centuries. These early American texts are indexed in the bibliography by Bentley and Leonard. Both the Kress Collection at Harvard and the Robert Montgomery Collection at Columbia University contain approximately 500 early American accounting texts from the 16th through the 19th centuries. The library of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants in New York also has a substantial number of early works The American Accounting Association, official organization of teachers and researchers in the field of accounting, sponsored, for the first time, a committee on accounting history during the academic year 1968-69. This This committee is presently inactive, but may be reactivated at a later date. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the potential of the Gamified Metaverse as a platform for promoting library services. The study compares the effectiveness of a traditional library program with a Metaverse- based library program in terms of knowledge acquisition and library anxiety. The research also examines students' perceptions of implementing gamification within the context of the Gamified Metaverse platform. A mixed-methods approach was adopted, including pre- and post-test analysis, statistical analysis, and qualitative data collection. The results indicate that both the traditional and Metaverse-based library programs effectively increased the participants' knowledge, with no significant difference between the two approaches. However, the Metaverse-based program was found to be less effective in facilitating interaction with librarians and reducing library anxiety. Additionally, students expressed positive perceptions of implementing gamification in the Gamified Metaverse platform, finding it engaging and motivating. These findings contribute to the understanding of the effect of the Metaverse as a tool for promoting library services and enhancing knowledge acquisition. However, it is not as effective in reducing library anxiety, particularly in terms of interaction with librarians and staff. It should be noted that the platform may have limitations such as high costs and potential side effects of virtual reality, making it more suitable as an additional tool for promoting library services, taking into account its feasibility and potential benefits for specific student populations and larger libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessment on university campuses increasingly emphasizes learning outcomes and student success. Academic librarians need to identify relationships between their collection spaces and the learning activities of the university in order to play a role in the environment of assessment. Measuring the proportions of discipline-oriented content of library collections and comparing those proportions to discipline-oriented learning activities produces collection performance indicators. Academic libraries can use collection performance indicators to assess how well their collection spaces correspond to student demand and student success using readily available metrics. Collection performance indicators answers a gap in library literature pertaining to relationships between collection spaces and learning activities by demonstrating the linkages between learning and the demands placed on physical and digital spaces. Collection performance indicators are used to evaluate the collection space in an academic library at a mid-sized American research university. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collection development is a most important process of a library. This process increases the reading materials of the library for the satisfaction of the reader approach. Collection development policy acts as a guide for selecting library materials. It helps to maintain library cooperation and communication between library staff. This process increases the reading materials of the library for the satisfaction of the reader approach. Collection development policies are written statements of goals and evaluative parameters to guide decision-making when adding material to a library collection. A large number of e-resources collection has become a challenge to libraries as a lot of information is now available to the public without having to visit and use the traditional library. American Library Association states that the collection development policies document which defines the scope of a library's existing collections, plan for the continuing development of resources, identify collection strength and outline the relationship between selection philosophy and institutions goals, general selection criteria, and intellectual freedom. In electronic environment collection development policy select tools and processes, set the principles for the management of electronic resources, allocating the budget for buying of e-resources. Due to information technology, most of the libraries are involved in the sharing of the e-resources in many ways. The Collection development policy must indeed be clear whether the collection is in print or electronic form and also it should full fill the user's demand. This article tried to explore the different collection development policies for e-resources. The information provided in this article is based on secondary data. The information available in this article is a general kind of information and it is applicable in all kinds of libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In academic libraries, the obligation to pay a fine for overdue books is a common global phenomenon. As university libraries try to meet the growing expectations of their users with limited resources, it is important to ensure that the existing collection is available in circulation. This study investigated overdue returns at the BRAC University library, Bangladesh, focusing on the reasons why users returned their books late; students' satisfaction with the current overdue policies; and suggested improvements to the overdue procedures. The study was carried out using a quantitative methodology. Structured questionnaires were distributed to the students and data was collected over a period of 60 days between March and April 2019. Of the 300 questionnaires distributed, 258 were returned, with a response rate of 86%. The primary reasons for users' late return of books were forgetfulness and not completing the task required from the book. It is a positive fact of the study that, most students did not show unwillingness to use the library again after fine had been imposed for a late return; a large number of them managed to pay the fine out of their pocket money. The library's current policies were considered to be satisfactory. The students considered them to be a form of discipline, which made them return items at the appointed time. There was no gender bias in their reactions. Suggestions for improvement included increasing the collection of hard-copy and e-books. The outcomes of this research may help to develop the overdue and circulation policies of academic libraries in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The study aims to find out the current scenario of library resources and services viz. collection including infrastructure, staff position, library services available in the private university libraries in the state of Assam, India. Methodology: Physical survey of all the five libraries has been conducted for which a questionnaire was designed. Findings: With the increasing number of library users, there should be adequate number of library staff to maintain all the different collections and services of the library. Private university libraries e-books and e-journals facility is not sufficient to cater the increasing demands of the users. Research Limitations: The study is applied to private university libraries within the geographical barrier within the state of Assam. It is applied only on the basic level library resources and services expected from a library. Practical Implications: It will provide an opportunity to the library authority to fill up the gap in providing their basic library services. The method and technique of the study may be applied to any other libraries where the libraries are managed by library science professional with proper library procedures. Originality/value: The study is itself a unique one as no such study was conducted in the area of private university libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this study was to examine trends and developments in budgeting and financial management of collections in university libraries of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), Pakistan. Locally there is limited literature available on the financial management of university libraries in Pakistan. However, previously no study of this nature has been conducted. The present study aimed to close this gap through a sector wide survey through face-to-face interviews in 26 universities of the province of KPK. The fieldwork was conducted by principle author in June, 2015 with the specific objectives of investigating financial management of collections in the university libraries of KPK. The study found that no specific norms are followed by the university administration in allocating budget for libraries. The role of Library and Information Science (LIS) professionals in the financial management of libraries seems to be more of facilitators than decision makers. The overall analysis demonstrates that university libraries in KPK are more vulnerable to changes in future because of their reliance and dependence on expenditure allocations from parent institutions that are heavily dependent on public funding from the government. The study suggests that libraries with meager budget allocations cannot develop collections in line with the changing trends and needs of the users. Apart from it in the face of low budget allocation, there is an apprehension that instead of expanding collections, university libraries have been obsessed to maintain their old collection sizes and if weeding takes place then it would mean that collections have shrunk in size. Therefore, LIS professionals in the university libraries of KPK must be aggressive in forging connections both within their institutions and among their communities at large to recognize that financial management of collections is the only important step for effective collection development which will ultimately bring LIS professionals both satisfaction and rewards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital collections of full-text e-books are proliferating on the Web and provide a wealth of open content for students. To examine whether academic libraries are providing a digital gateway to these resources, ten e-book titles from open digital collections were searched in the online catalogs and Web pages of ten academic libraries serving distance learners. Only three of the digital collection e-books were available from any of the library catalogs, and none were found on library Web pages. Availability of the ten e-book titles through Google and other digital discovery tools also had a fixed results. Continued projects for improved delivery of open online content are necessary. In order to fulfill their role as digital gateways for their academic communities, libraries must pursue metadata standards to support cross-searching, collaborative projects, and development of e-resource search software, which integrates with the library catalog. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The number of journals with embargo periods in aggregated databases designed for academic libraries has increased for the simple reason that the number of available full text journals in these collections has also increased. Misconceptions surrounding embargo periods deduce that embargoes diminish access to information by withholding the current full text from journals, when in fact, embargoes increase access to information for journals that otherwise would not be available in aggregated databases. Embargoes exist for the purpose of preserving a publisher's traditional print and electronic journal subscriptions. Full text databases and e-journals are distinctly different resources. The use of embargoes may be valid in one electronic resource, but not the other. Linking capabilities provide seamless access from embargoed journals with current indexing in databases to the corresponding current full text found in a library's e-journal collection. Embargoed information from a given journal is far superior to no full text information at all from that source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The academic library is an institution in continual flux, with ever-growing demands and challenges for its leadership. Many leadership development texts focus on implementing selected styles or techniques in order to deal with these challenges. However, this article explores how developing reflexivity is an essential component of leadership development for academic library leaders. In order to develop this reflexivity, leaders must become disembedded via relational practices such as engaging within interstitial spaces. Discussion of the topic yields three suggested relational practices for leaders to become disembedded in their quest for reflexivity: (1) participating in regular strategic assessment; (2) cultivating faculty relationships; and (3) engaging in student outreach and embedded librarianship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With an ongoing focus on accessibility and usability, many academic libraries have developed new ways to improve services for students with disabilities. Library technical services departments contribute to the accessibility of library resources through materials selection, cataloging, and the acquisition of assistive technologies. Library partnerships with an institution’s office of disability services have also proven particularly effective and can help libraries to better identify potential barriers to accessibility and find workable solutions. For students with visual impairments, screen readers, magnifiers, voice recognition software, and braille texts are some of the methods that libraries can use to improve accessibility. This paper offers a case study of the collaboration between the Office of Disability Resources for Students and the University Libraries at the University of Memphis to make a discrete collection of braille textbooks more widely available to students, including the collection management considerations, system configurations, and cataloging procedures that went into the process. This case study provides a simple and cost-efficient example of how libraries can improve services for users with visual impairments that readers will find easy to implement in their own libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the irreversible effects of COVID-19 pandemic, libraries worldwide have undergone a significant shift towards online accessibility of their resources, services, activities/events, and programs. Technological advancements have transformed how information is accessed and disseminated, underscoring the importance of library websites in supporting the learning, teaching and research endeavours of students, faculty members, and researchers. This study aims to serve as a roadmap for library practitioners, web developers, and similar stakeholders, who are planning to create and/or enhance websites for their respective libraries. This paper utilized an evaluative instrument for an academic library website developed by Wijayaratne and Singh (2015), to scrutinize the selected major Philippine universities' academic libraries. The findings of this study are expected to be valuable to academic librarians and future researchers in recognizing the significance of designing tailored websites for their institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]