Objectives- To understand how university libraries are engaging with the university community (students, faculty, campus partners, administration) when working through the strategic planning process. Methods- Literature review and exploratory open-ended survey to members of CAUL (Council of Australian University Librarians), CARL (Canadian Association of Research Libraries), CONZUL (Council of New Zealand University Librarians), and RLUK (Research Libraries UK) who are most directly involved in the strategic planning process at their library. Results- Out of a potential 113 participants from 4 countries, 31 people replied to the survey in total (27%). Libraries most often mentioned the use of regularly-scheduled surveys to inform their strategic planning which helps to truncate the process for some respondents, as opposed to conducting user feedback specifically for the strategic plan process. Other quantitative methods include customer intelligence and library-produced data. Qualitative methods include the use of focus groups, interviews, and user experience/design techniques to help inform the strategic plan. The focus of questions to users tended to fall towards user-focused (with or without library lens), library-focused, trends & vision, and feedback on plan. Conclusions- Combining both quantitative and qualitative methods can help give a fuller picture for librarians working on a strategic plan. Having the university community join the conversation in how the library moves forward is an important but difficult endeavour. Regardless, the university library needs to be adaptive to the rapidly changing environment around it. Having a sense of how other libraries engage with the university community benefits others who are tasked with strategic planning

Objective – To determine if library instruction has an effect on resources cited in student reports. Design – Citation analysis. Setting – The study took place in the medical school of a large American university. Subjects - One hundred eighteen of 120 first-year medical student reports were analyzed. Two reports did not include any works cited and were excluded from the study. Methods - Over the course of 3 years, 15 20-minute library instruction sessions were conducted. The sessions, based on five clinical cases presented each year were conducted approximately two weeks before each report due date. Eighty-five case-specific resources were demonstrated, with teaching plans being modified from year to year based on the frequency of citation of a particular resource cited the prior year. A LibGuide online course guide also directed students to specific resources shown in the class, with content updated every year based on citation trends from the previous year. Every citation referenced in a report was then categorized into a) those that were discussed during an instruction session, b) those found on a course guide, c) those accessible through the library, d) those available from course material (i.e., PowerPoint presentation, lecture notes), or e) those which did not fall under any of the other categories. A citation could be included in multiple categories. Main Results – The 118 reports included 2983 citations. Over the 3 year period, an average of 77.51% of all citations were from library resources, 49.55% of the citations from a resource demonstrated in the class, and 21.68% from resources found in the course guide. Although citations from sources discussed in class did not increase significantly from year to year, the percent of citations from resources on the course guide significantly increased from 19.40% to 25.63%. Conclusion – Medical students cite library resources emphasized during instruction sessions.

Strategic planning is a necessary undertaking for many university libraries. Through a literature review and an open-ended, exploratory survey to university libraries in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and United Kingdom, the researcher was able to get a sense of nuance and importance of some of the parts of the process. Themes are organized into who worked on the process, the timeframe of the plan and process, prioritization and focus, environmental scanning, university plan alignment, and assembling the plan. Understanding what worked (and what did not) can help others who are tasked with taking on lead roles in the strategic planning process, and can enable libraries to create a strategic plan that works best for their staff, users, and institution.

The researcher conducted a content analysis and literature review of papers written from 2000-2010 that focused on university biology students, faculty, and their papers. Scholarly articles were divided into the library research domains. The largest number of papers was from the Education domain, followed closely by Collections. Only two papers were categorized as Reference/Enquiries, and no papers were found in Management and Professional Issues. This research will enable science librarians to better understand what has already been written about biology subjects in a university setting. Gaps in the literature can help other librarians who are interested in pursuing more research with biology subjects.

Objective – To study methods that support retention of academic librarians. Design – Exploratory research using an online survey; non-random sample. Setting – Academic libraries, nearly all located within the U.S. (97.2%). Subjects – A total of 895 professional academic librarians. Methods – The researchers sent an online survey link to professional electronic mail lists and directly to heads of Association of Research Libraries (ARL) member libraries. The 23-item survey was available from February 19, 2007, through March 9, 2007, and contained questions about the professional experience of respondents, their libraries, and their universities. Subjects were asked to identify retention activities that were currently offered at their workplaces (both library-specific and university-wide) and to rate their satisfaction for each available initiative. The list contained fifteen initiatives based on the researchers’ literature review. Main Results – Almost half (46.3%) of respondents were 50 or older and 7.5% under 30 years old, leaving 46.2% between the ages of 30-50 years old (although this percentage is not explicitly stated in the paper except in a table). Nearly half of the subjects were in the first ten years of their careers. 80.2% had held between one and four professional positions in their careers, and even when length of professional experience was factored out, age had no effect on the number of positions held. Most job turnover within the past three years (3 or fewer open positions) was in public service, while other areas of the library (i.e., technical services, systems, and administration) reported zero open positions. Only 11.3% of respondents noted that their libraries have deliberate, formal retention programs in place. Despite this, there are several library- and university-based initiatives that can be considered to help with retention. The most reported available library-based retention initiative was the provision of funding to attend conferences (86.8%). Librarians also frequently reported flexible schedules, support and funding for professional development and access to leadership programs. University-based retention programs included continuing education funding, new employee orientations, faculty status, and the chance to teach credit-bearing courses. Only 22.2% of subjects reported formal mentoring programs as a retention strategy. Librarians were very or somewhat satisfied with schedule flexibility (79.6%). They were generally satisfied with other initiatives reported. In response to 22 five-point Likert scale descriptions of positive library work environments, subjects most agreed with statements that allowed librarians to have control of their professional duties, that allowed for personal or family obligations, and that supported professional development. Librarians agreed less often regarding statements about salaries, research support, and opportunities for advancement. Conclusion – Academic librarians are involved in and are benefitting from some library and university-based retention initiatives, even though retention may not be the primary strategic goal.