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In a politically and digitally polarized environment, identifying and evaluating fake news is more difficult than ever before. Librarians who have been teaching information and media literacy skills for decades understand the role we can and must play in this environment.

Nearly all academic libraries offer course reserves and most have long considered it a core library service. However, expanding use of course management systems in academia have opened new opportunities for libraries interested in exploring changes to electronic reserves services. Budget constraints and staffing shortages have also led several institutions to consider eliminating or modifying their e-reserves operations. Potentially difficult challenges, however, also accompany making significant changes to often well-established practices. This environmental scan of selected academic libraries across the United States discusses institutions which have maintained the status quo in e-reserves services, as well as those who have changed or discontinued these services. The article also provides insight on why some of the latter decided to make these changes.

As libraries of all types and sizes continue to re-envision themselves to remain relevant in a rapidly changing information landscape, the single service point is visible evidence of this effort. In a complex environment, combining formerly disparate functional or service units is for many libraries both an innovative and effective way to manage resources and services. It is the intent of this overview to look beyond these issues to find similarities in theme and application that may be useful for those considering implementation of a one-stop model.

Unlike so much of the current vocabulary in education and technology that seems to stir more confusion than clarity, most public service librarians may already have a general idea about digital badges. As visual representations of individual accomplishments, competencies or skills that are awarded by groups, institutions, or organizations, they are also part of larger educational reform initiatives. Questions about these virtual artifacts of learning are not concerned as much with what they are but rather how and why they are being used and developed across multiple sectors, including schools, universities, businesses, associations, and government agencies. It is a topic that many in the library world are watching with interest. There is a great deal of discussion and debate about open badges or micro-credentialing. While sharing evidence of skills and knowledge acquired through a wide range of traditional and nontraditional activities and interests across a lifespan sounds like a great idea, it does require a focused rethinking about teaching, learning, assessment, motivation, and even gaming. Similarly, even as digital badges receive a growing amount of attention in the blogosphere and professional press, with an increasing appearance of white papers and case study reports, there is a paucity of research literature on the topic. Taken as a group, the articles in this issue's column represent a range of possibilities and ideas about a new form of achievement and recognition that will spark even more discussion and debate. This column provides a list of articles about Digital Badges, along with abstracts, to serve as a resource for further research.

Proponents of Open Educational Resources (OER) point to numerous ways that a new approach to thinking about teaching and learning can break down barriers, making education accessible, available, and affordable to all. Digitized educational material that can be used, reused, translated, customized, and shared by faculty, students, and researchers in a variety of ways provide the impetus for the OER movement. Just as Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) offer a promise of reducing the overall costs of education, open textbooks present another. College students have long complained about the exorbitant prices of required texts, with several reports indicating that students currently spend approximately $1,000 per year on these books. It is these prices that propel students into academic libraries every term, seeking copies that can be borrowed rather than bought. There, they discover that libraries do not generally purchase commercial textbooks because they take up space, they change every term, and they are expensive. Open textbooks may now offer some relief. This article presents a selection of literature surrounding OERs, open textbooks, and the role libraries may (or may not) play in the current landscape.

Fourteen years after its establishment, the Distance Learning Section is one of the fastest growing sections in the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), a division of the American Library Association. Based on Section archives and secondary literature, this article traces the organization's development from its beginnings as a fledgling discussion group to a dynamic and fully functioning section within ACRL, while also highlighting activities and achievements, leadership and growth through the years. (Contains 20 notes.)

Based on differing missions and models, with unique populations and policies, regional campus libraries vary greatly in form and in function not only from those on a main campus but also among themselves. Demanding flexibility in personnel, administrative models, service philosophies, and collection development efforts while still meeting resource and service expectations to regional campuses presents increasing challenges to academic libraries. This paper discusses the findings of a survey distributed to regional campus librarians in the fall of 2005. doi:10.1300/J111v45n01_03 KEYWORDS. Digital libraries, electronic books, regional campus libraries, extended campus, branch campus

This paper points out that the Distance Learning Library Services Guidelines can be used to gage the effectiveness of distance learning services provided by libraries.

Examines the efficacy of using the Association of College and Research Libraries Guidelines for Distance Learning Library Services (DLS) to develop strategies for assessing distance library services in the U.S. Definition of assessment and performance measurement; Factor critical to the success of an assessment plan; Uses of the DLS guidelines.