Library Garden

A New Year, A New Book on Academic Library Research

December 31, 2008 at 4:22 pm Marie L. Radford 5 comments

Happy New Year to All!

Although it is otherwise a slow news day, as we all await the start of 2009 and look ahead to a new year unfolding. I am so thrilled that “Academic Library Research: Perspectives and Current Trends,” which I co-edited with Pamela Snelson, Director of Franklin & Marshall College Library has just been released. This book has been in the making for over 5 years, and I haven’t actually held a copy in my hands yet, but I’ve been told that my copies are in the mail! We take a look back at academic library research since 1990, showcasing this time of rapid, revolutionary change. I co-wrote the chapter that summarizes research on reference (face-to-face and virtual reference modes) with Lorri Mon and predicts trends in reference over the next few years.

The book is #59 in the ACRL Publications in Librarianship series, edited by Craig Gibson. ACRL/ALA has published the book just in time for it to be showcased at ALA Midwinter in Denver which I’ll be attending. According to the Press Release the book “updates traditional topics that have undergone exceptional, and in some cases unexpected, change since 1990 as well as reaching into new areas. It combines theoretical scholarship with real world research, including case studies and user surveys, designed to inform practice. Part I highlights significant perspectives and trends such as reference service, information literacy, collection management, knowledge organization and leadership. Part II features two chapters on recently developing evaluation methods, including usability testing and measuring library service quality through LibQUAL+.

It is always a joy to see a finished product finally published and out there to add to the library literature. Am now already involved in two more book projects, one of which is an edited volume (co-edited by Dave Lankes) of reports from the field and research papers from the Reference Renaissance conference. Would be amazing if the Ref Ren book, to be published by Neal-Schuman could be out by the end of 2009, will be fun to work towards this goal.

Entry filed under: Academic Libraries, Research. Tags: Publications in Librarianship.