This article examines access to electronic books as provided on the Web sites of academic libraries in the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). Our goal was to discover the ways in which that access occurs and to analyze the merit of the various approaches. We found some common barriers to access, as well as many cases of exemplary access. Many libraries could improve access to e-books by providing guidance to the content of e-book packages, by including the word “book” in links from the homepage to the pages that provide e-books, by providing a one-step limit to e-books in the catalog, by explaining which types of resources are available through search structures outside the catalog, and by featuring e-books in library publicity and instruction.
This article reports the results of two related studies: data collection on characteristics of online subject guides at academic ARL libraries, and a survey of heads of reference at the same group of libraries concerning policies and practices for writing, maintaining, and promoting subject guides. Results are compared to a similar investigation published in 2004. Observation of guides focused on numbers and types of web links included, timeliness and accuracy, and discoverability of guides from each library’s homepage. Survey questions included impact of guide quality on librarians’ evaluations, use of guide templates, and reasons for using or not using a guide management system such as LibGuides.
This paper reports on the development and implementation of a process of peer evaluation of teaching to assess librarian teaching in a high-enrollment online information literacy course for undergraduates. This paper also traces a shift within libraries from peer coaching to peer evaluation models. One common model for peer evaluation, using pre-and post-observation meetings between instructor and evaluator, as well as a formal summative report, has been adapted to focus attention on key aspects of online teaching. The paper also discusses the need for evaluating librarians' online teaching performance, as distinct from online course design.
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