The Value of Using Interns in the Academic Library

Graduate programs in library and information science programs provide strong theoretical foundations in information systems, library organization, library history, management, collection management to support user needs, reference, information literacy instruction, and specialized information resources. While practical course projects create approximations of professional librarianship, the best hands-on learning experiences include work-based learning through internship placements in actual libraries. Internships immerse students in valuable hands-on practical work in real-workd settings. Internships also learn from the interns' perspectives on library processes and challenges, while also providing library professionals with enriching opportunities to mentor library students and convey knowledge to future generations of professionals.

Brave New World, 2050: The Implications of Shifting to Electronic Collections

This futuristic article discusses the shift in academic and research libraries to electronic collections in the context of information access, costs, publication models, and preservation of content. Certain factors currently complicate the shift to electronic formats and challenge their widespread acceptance. Future scenarios spanning skill ecosystems, technologies and workflows, and societal implications are explored as logical outgrowths of present circumstances.

Acquisitions: The Next Generation

This article reviews a broad range of trends and concerns regarding the recruitment, training, and retention of acquisitions librarians. The survey of trends benefits library educators and students, members of search commillees seeking to fill acquisitions vacancies, and working acquisitions librarians.

Training New Acquisitions and Collection Development Librarians: Some Technical and Philosophical Guideposts

This article covers key competencies for success as acquisitions and collection development librarians, delineates between collection development's intellectual facets of curricular support and acquisitions' business functions and shows how the two interrelated. Also provided are best practices for training and mentoring and professional development information for new librarians entering acquisitions and collection development.

Redefining the Academic Library Managing the Migration to Digital Information Services

Academic libraries are faced with a daunting series of challenges brought on by the digital revolution. In an era when millions of books, articles, images, and videos available instantaneously via the web, libraries across all institutional types are experiencing declining demand for their traditional services, built around the storage and dissemination of physical resources. At the same time, new demand for digital information services and collaborative learning spaces promise new areas of opportunity and engagement with patrons. A rapid and orderly transition to “the library of the future” requires difficult trade-offs, however, as no institution can afford to continue expanding both its commitment to comprehensive, local print collections as well as new investments in staff, technology, and renovations. This report illustrates how progressive academic libraries are evolving in response to these challenges, providing case studies and best practices in managing library space, staff, and resources.