Publisher quality is one criterion used by collection development librarians in making book selection decisions. Few studies have assessed the perceptions subject specialist librarians have about the quality of academic publishers’ output in specific disciplines. The author surveyed a sample of members of the Association of College and Research Libraries Law & Political Science Section, asking them to assess the overall quality of political science books published by sixty-two academic presses and imprints. The results are reported, analyzed, and compared to a similar survey of members of the American Political Science Association. Many similarities are seen in the rankings, although, on the whole, librarians ranked university presses higher and commercial publishers lower than did political scientists.

No abstract

Accreditation is critical to the viability of institutions of higher education. Each of the six regional groups that accredit two-and four-year institutions has standards specifically addressing online or distance learning. In general, these standards require institutions to show that distance learners have adequate access to appropriate library resources and to library instruction, and that library resources and services are regularly and systematically evaluated. The LibQUAL+ R survey developed by the Association of Research Libraries is one tool academic libraries can use to demonstrate compliance with accreditation standards relating to distance learning. A methodology for using LibQUAL+ R results to document compliance in this area is described and applied.Academic librarians at institutions with large distance learning (DL) student populations work daily to ensure that DL students receive adequate and appropriate services and resources that are comparable to those provided to on-campus students. Librarians' own service ethos and the ACRL Standards for Distance Learning Library Services demand this. 1 So do standards set by the bodies that accredit colleges and universities. This article will discuss the role of accrediting bodies, representative accreditation standards relating to the provision of library services to distance learners, and how LibQUAL+ R survey results can be used to help document compliance with accreditation

One might think that libraries should know all the journal titles to which they subscribe and how to access them, but this is not usually the case. Many libraries have a difficult time maintaining a list of current print journal subscriptions. The advent of electronic journals available directly from publishers and through aggregators has further complicated the situation. This article discusses the experience of Joyner Library at East Carolina University in trying to manage its print and electronic journal collection effectively. It reviews the procedures followed in creating a database for electronic journal management using Cold Fusion and SQL Server.

No abstract