Scholarly publishing continues to be a prominent expectation for many academic librarians. This survey explores characteristics, behaviors, motivations, institutional supports, and educational opportunities that help library practitioners become successful authors. It also looks at perceived confidence in research skills of both novice and experienced librarians. Many librarians show confidence in research activities related to their overall job assignments (literature searching, writing, and such) but find more sophisticated research skills, such as statistical analysis, more challenging. Findings indicate that having additional graduate research experience beyond the library degree, time-management skills, and collaboration with other researchers may provide useful benefits.

/pdf/academic-librarian-publishing-productivity-an-analysis-of-1ssw5rf43n.pdf

Academic Librarian Publishing Productivity: An Analysis of Skills and Behaviors Leading to Success

The Availability and Effectiveness of Research Supports for Early Career Academic Librarians

This study explores how time and experience affect an academic librarian’s perception of tenure. Researchers surveyed 846 librarians at ARL institutions, reporting on institutions that offer both tenure and faculty status for their academic librarians or neither. The survey reported how librarians rated tenure’s benefit to patrons, its effect in attracting and retaining quality employees, and tenure as a motivating factor in giving extra effort on the job. Researchers found that tenured librarians rated tenure as more beneficial than librarians without tenure who had more than six years of work experience at their institutions. Furthermore, non–tenure-track librarians with fewer than six years of experience at their institutions rated tenure’s effect on library patrons as more beneficial than tenure-track librarians who had not yet achieved tenure. The study implies a selective perception bias on the part of academic librarians that grows with time and warrants further consideration and study.

/pdf/academic-librarians-changing-perceptions-of-faculty-status-c00ic765wh.pdf

Academic Librarians’ Changing Perceptions of Faculty Status and Tenure

A continuous cycle of mixed-methods assessment contributes to the success of a mentoring program, as shown in this case study from a large academic library. Assessment instruments include t...

/pdf/mixed-methods-assessment-of-a-mentoring-program-16dendckqc.pdf

Mixed-Methods Assessment of a Mentoring Program

A content analysis of job advertisements for digital humanities-related positions in academic libraries

Hiring and retaining talent in academic libraries marks a significant investment of time and capital for colleges and universities. This is particularly true for tenure-track academic librarians. Successful attainment of tenure is in the interests of both librarians and administrators, and many institutions offer tenure support systems to assist librarians in this regard. A forty-four question survey assessed tenure-track librarians' perceptions and satisfaction of whether tenure requirements are adequately supported in their critical partnership with library administrators. While most respondents expressed somewhat moderate satisfaction with provided support measures, support type and quantity varied significantly. A recommendation for creating a comprehensive program of support is discussed.

Perceptions of Support Systems for Tenure-Track Librarians

As academic librarians strive to meet the needs of their users, it is important to understand the current and constantly changing landscape of digital humanities librarianship. The author of this article investigated areas in which current LIS professionals working in digital humanities came into their various roles, how they have been trained, how they feel about their opportunities for training, and where improvements can be made. The purpose of this study was to provide an overview of the digital humanities librarian skill set and to explore what training and infrastructure are needed in the field. Rather than looking to define digital humanities as a discipline, this study provides a current profile of digital humanities librarians, allowing for the profession to align with this evolving field's scholars and practitioners.

Molly Dahl Poremski

Papers

Perceptions of Support Systems for Tenure-Track Librarians

Evaluating the landscape of digital humanities librarianship