Library users conduct an increasing number of information searches online without the help of a librarian. The library’s discovery and access systems play an important role in helping users sift through and access the large amount of electronically published content. When these systems have to rely on poor-quality data, users face a major barrier to...

Metadata helps users locate resources that meet their specific needs. But metadata also helps us both to understand the data we find and to evaluate what we should spend our time on. Traditionally, staff at libraries, archives, and museums (LAMs) create metadata for the content they manage. However, social metadata—content contributed by users—is evolving as...

Librarians need to be familiar with the evolving aspects of scholarly communication and the changing scholarly record. One component of that is the role of repositories. It’s crucial for anyone working in a research library to understand the repository landscape, both to advise researchers on where to look for information and how to disseminate their...

This article reports on a project using an ethnography of communication approach and Erving Goffman's face-work concept to analyze a librarian user interaction. This approach has the potential to greatly increase the understanding of interpersonal dynamics in computer-mediated communication realms. Erving Goffman’s theoretical framework and concept of face-work has the potential to greatly increase the...

This report highlights successful strategies in providing a single point of access to library, archive and museum collections. In the era of global search engines, users are often puzzled by the realization that they can search the Interne through a single interface, yet the resources of universities and other institutions are often compartmentalized in a...