This study examined the role of librarians in supporting the accreditation process of Nigerian universities. A descriptive survey research design was adopted. The population comprised 250 librarians from federal universities in the South-South and South-West regions of Nigeria, and a census sampling technique was employed. Data were collected using an online questionnaire, of which 223 valid responses were retrieved and analyzed. The findings revealed that librarians are key contributors to the accreditation process, performing essential roles such as preparing accreditation documents and reports, ensuring that library collections meet required standards, and collaborating with academic staff to support accreditation requirements. The study also found that accreditation has a positive impact on library development, particularly in terms of resources, services, and facilities. Furthermore, librarians perceived the accreditation process as beneficial, as it provides opportunities for institutional recognition, improved infrastructure, enhanced information resources, and increased collaboration. However, several challenges were identified, including the late involvement of librarians in accreditation planning and inadequate funding for the acquisition of information resources and subscriptions to online databases. The hypothesis test revealed that librarians’ involvement in the accreditation process significantly influenced library services and resource provision in universities. It is therefore recommended that librarians be involved early in the accreditation process to facilitate effective planning, and that adequate funding be provided to support resource acquisition and database subscriptions.

The paper examined the role of digital literacy in AI readiness among librarians in federal university libraries in Nigeria. The research was anchored on the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge Theory by Mishra and Koehler in 2006. The survey design was descriptive, and the study population comprises all the librarians working in university libraries in Nigeria. The census sampling technique was adopted, and an online questionnaire was used to collect data. The online questionnaire was administered to the librarians, and 315 completed it, and with that, the analysis was made. Findings revealed that librarians possessed a moderate level of digital literacy, with strengths in basic ICT skills, digital communication, and information retrieval, but lower proficiency in digital content creation and identity management. A moderate level of AI readiness was found among librarians due to a lack of institutional support and infrastructural facilities; however, librarians show stronger enthusiasm to learn. Additionally, there was a moderate to high level of self-directed adaptive strategies among librarians, such as skill upgrading and networking in reaction to the changes caused by AI. The test of hypothesis one showed a positive, moderate, and significant relationship between digital literacy and AI readiness among librarians. The regression model also had a significant statistical value, which means that digital literacy is a significant predictive variable of AI readiness. The authors recommended that university libraries and other stakeholders should invest in AI-relevant training and infrastructure that will make librarians better prepared and leaders in AI projects, etc.

Internal communication—communication among those working in the library—is vital to the engagement, success, and functioning of library employees and departments. However, it has received far less attention than external communication (e.g., promotional and outreach efforts to the academic community). This exploratory study surveyed academic libraries in the United States to determine common themes and potential ways to improve internal library communication. Recurring themes around challenges and effectiveness of internal communications remained consistent, regardless of library size or librarian role.

The Summon Discovery tool is a widely used tool in academic libraries. This research explores how users interact with the Summon search interface in a laptop and mobile-simulation setting. The study was conducted using a combination of screen and audio recordings of the sessions, combined with real-time data recording of the participant’s responses. The data was also checked against the recordings when there was ambiguity or uncertainty in the responses as they were recorded. Participants were given a set of five tasks and nine questions to complete, with there being multiple ways to complete each task. The Summon interface was changed to include links to additional resources. The results show that generally users preferred more information for the resources, as well as more links available in the navigation.

This literature review aims to answer three questions: (1) Why is teaching important in the role of an academic librarian? (2) What teaching-related initiatives have been used by academic librarians to acquire teaching competencies? (3) How does teaching in academic libraries relate to the community of practice formed by educators across disciplines at a higher education institution? A review of the literature highlights the importance of teaching in academic libraries. Findings suggest that onboarding processes at academic libraries should accommodate the pedagogical and andragogical gaps of new librarians by implementing mentorship programs and providing ongoing feedback. Establishing such protocols would establish a framework for supporting a community of practice with regard to academic librarianship and teaching.

In addition to registering copyrights, the U.S. Copyright Office has many other responsibilities. These include, but are not limited to, providing educational information and tools to those creating copyrightable works and those looking to take advantage of exceptions and limitations found in the law. In an effort to help readers better understand the valuable resources and services provided by the U.S. Copyright Office, Whitney Levandusky, an attorney who serves as an advisor with the U.S. Copyright Office’s Office Department of Public Information and Education, agreed to be interviewed for this column. Here, she tells us a bit about the history of the Office, its mission and purpose, and identify ways in which librarians and our patrons can connect with them to learn about the law and get involved with legislative revisions and updates

High-impact practices (HIPs) have been adopted on college campuses to enhance student learning. The academic library provides services and space contributing to learning at its institution. Librarians conduct space research to learn how the library building can better serve its users. Library space assessment is one way for librarians to engage with faculty and students to create an HIP in the library. This article is a case study of a collaboration between a librarian and a sociology professor to design an observational study. It demonstrates how librarians can contribute to HIPs at their institution by involving students in meaningful research.

There are different types of questions that can be used to determine whether students learned what they were taught in an information literacy (IL) session. This article summarizes best practices from the education literature for constructing short-answer, alternative-response, matching, multiple-choice, interpretative, and essay questions, as well as includes question examples from the author’s own experience delivering IL instruction.

Since the mid-nineteenth century, student worker programs have been an integral component of academic libraries, and the evolution of the profession has put more students, even undergraduates, into positions with greater responsibility, raising questions about the level of expertise of which undergraduate students are capable. The authors address these questions through the lens of the collaborative redevelopment of two distinct library student worker programs at a small liberal arts college. Included is a discussion of successes and challenges, as well as a consideration of the benefits of a “cross-library” support system in developing such a program.

Receiving library instruction is essential for first-year students. In many colleges and universities, students enroll in an orientation-type class and receive library instruction. However, at William Paterson University, students taking this class do not have a research-based assignment – a challenge for librarians in making the content meaningful to students. To remedy this situation, the librarians implemented the flipped classroom in which students watched instructional videos prior to their library class and participated in active learning activities in class. This method proved to be an engaging way for students to learn information literacy skills, even in the absence of a graded research assignment.