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The paper examined big data and academic libraries and emphasized whether it is big for something or nothing.

A conceptual and review analysis of documents was adopted to determine the concept of big data, the sources, the features, the relevance to academic libraries, specific case studies from around the world that have made use of big data, uses of big data in academic libraries, a review of best practices in the use of big data in academic libraries and the challenges.

The paper reports that although big data is indeed very big in academic libraries because there are evidences of its adoption and best practices in its use in academic libraries across the world, available challenges can render it big for nothing.

This study is limited in terms of using literature review approach to discuss big data and academic libraries. The study is also limited in terms of focusing academic libraries and not taken other types of libraries into consideration.

The study has created awareness on the part of academic libraries stakeholders including authorities, librarians and users on the relevance of big data in academic and how big indeed it is in academic library landscape. The study also implied future related studies can borrow ideas from the current studies, which will inform whether an empirical evaluation is possible on the subject matter.

The paper is the original idea by the author, and it is to emphasize the relevance of big data in academic libraries and to prepare academic libraries that have not been tapping the opportunities of big data to get ready.

The purpose of this paper is to identify strategies to help academic libraries to be more useful and present to users in the context of the plethora of information made available by the online revolution.

Professors Davenport and Beck's stickiness model, comprising convenience, relevance, engagement and community, outlined in The Attention Economy: Understanding the New Currency of Business, is first identified as a framework to examine how to improve stickiness between the library and its users. Each factor is investigated in the context of an academic library and then specifically, in the Humanities and Social Sciences Library, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. A survey is then conducted to establish the relative importance of the factors to users. Priority areas where application of the factors could be strengthened are then identified. Finally, an assessment of the usefulness and comprehensiveness of the model is made.

The stickiness model has some limitations; library roles such as preservation and data curation are not examined. Beyond this, the model is a very useful practical tool to evaluate the library's strengths and weaknesses, identify growth areas, and formulate a strategy to improve stickiness.

Convenience and relevance are currently key areas, while engagement and community offer great potential to cement stickiness.

The paper highlights the issue of attention deficit and identifies strategies to improve the library's stickiness, change traditional mindsets about its roles and usefulness and enable it to be more present in the lives of its users.

To outline and explain the importance of strategies for marketing academic libraries.

Case study of Waterford Institute of Technology Libraries.

Libraries have existing resources available to them to initiate highly effective and affordable marketing strategies.

The retention of existing patrons, attracting new patrons, streamlining and updating resources, and generating revenue.

Re‐confirming the relevance of academic libraries as the primary source and repository of information services.

Outlining of achievable strategies for success in difficult financial times for library staff and academic communities.

The purpose of this paper is to report research into the marketing and promotion of e‐books, and use this as a case study context to generate insights into approaches in academic libraries to the marketing of new services. As such it contributes to the limited empirical research on both the introduction of e‐book services and on marketing in academic libraries.

Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 25 academic librarians, in seven case study libraries, holding the following posts: subject librarians, e‐resources librarians, or cataloguers. Interviews focussed on: the existence of a promotion/marketing strategy for e‐books; the marketing and promotion tools used to promote e‐books; promotion via academics; the issues and challenges in promoting e‐books; and future plans for the promotion of e‐books.

None of the libraries had a marketing communication strategy relating to e‐books, yet, on the other hand, most interviewees were able to point to a range of tools used to promote e‐books, and some had plans for improvements in their promotion activities.

This study demonstrates a laissez faire approach to the marketing of potentially significant new services from academic libraries – providing access to e‐books. Recommendations for development focus on taking a strategic approach to marketing and promotion, managing tensions between promotion and supply, innovation in promotional tools, and influencing word‐of‐mouth.

The present study discusses the future of academic librarianship, emphasizing the essential aspects of embedded librarianship practice and implementation. In addition, it also explores the changing role of academic librarians, addressing challenges and opportunities in various contexts and highlighting the significance of embedded librarianship practice.

The study employs a literature review to understand the significance of embedded librarianship and its implementation in academic libraries. The researchers searched a range of electronic data sources, including Emerald Insight, Taylor and Francis, Science Direct, Web of Science, EBSCOhost, Scopus, Information Science and Technology Abstracts (LISTA), Library and Information Science Abstracts (LISA), etc. Moreover, only peer-reviewed articles were considered for the review.

The study identified five major competencies, i.e. communication and interpersonal skills, teaching, research, collaboration and coordination and technological expertise, that are essential for implementing embedded librarianship in the academic library. However, in developing countries, there are various challenges faced by academic librarians such as inadequate ICT infrastructure, resource accessibility, cooperations, cultural diversity and a lack of financial support from the authority were major barriers to the successful implementation of embedded librarianship.

The study findings are of considerable value to academic librarians, providing them with the opportunity to assess and evaluate their competencies and acquire the essential skills for implementing embedded librarianship. Further, the study also recommended some practical implications of embedded librarianship practices in the academic environment.

The findings and insights from this investigation provide a valuable perspective on the future of academic librarianship, shedding light on the critical role that embedded librarianship plays in shaping its direction.

In this paper three technological trends are explored. While these trends are not directly related to each other, the author posits that they are all manifestations of areas where libraries and librarians could play a more active role in using the technology to further the mission of the library. Taken together, the author discusses how these trends become a call to action for libraries and librarians to more directly engage in areas of responsibility outside their traditional domain if they wish to maintain a relevant role in the academy.

In this paper, an analysis of three of the trends discussed in the “NMC Horizon Project short list: 2013 higher education edition” report is undertaken. From this analysis, the author evaluates the relevance, in both the short- and long-terms, of these trends to academic libraries.

These three trends represent areas where libraries and librarians should attempt to become more directly involved in either using or exploiting technology. While two of these trends involve technology that is outside the traditional boundaries of librarianship, each of these technology trends will be increasingly critical to the higher education environment and it would behoove librarians to be at the forefront of thought leadership in these areas.

In this article, the author takes what seem to be unrelated trends and finds a common thread among them. Part of understanding how the needs of a library’s user community may evolve over time is through identifying how a number of factors, many apparently unrelated, come together to change the overall focus and direction of patron needs. By looking at technology trends that are seemingly unrelated to libraries directly, the author develops a picture of what future directions academic libraries may take if they desire to maintain relevancy in a rapidly evolving technological landscape.

Library impact and how to evaluate it has been debated for a number of years. While the activity – the busy-ness – of the library is now routinely measured and described, the difference the library makes is less tangible and harder to measure. Libraries in all sectors and worldwide are grappling with this issue, and the purpose of this paper is to summarise international standards available to support them.

The first international standard concerning library impact, ISO 16439 Information and documentation – methods and procedures for assessing the impact of libraries, was published in 2014 after several years in development.

The standard describes a range of methods for assessing library impact which have been used across the world in a variety of libraries in all sectors.

This paper summarises the key methods described in the standard, and gives references for further reading.

The purpose of study is to understand the motivation of academic library users by developing Vroom’s expectancy theory in the context of academic libraries using the grounded theory approach.

The grounded theory approach has been used for data collection, analysis and development of theory. The data were collected through the process of theoretical sampling. Interviews of faculty and students belonging to government and private universities in India were recorded and transcribed till theoretical saturation was achieved. The interviews were analysed in three stages, i.e. open coding, axial coding and selective coding, to identify concepts of Vroom’s theory and integrate them into a theoretical model.

The components of Vroom’s theory, i.e. motivation, expectancy, instrumentality and valence were generated from data. The motivation to visit an academic library can be classified as intrinsic motivation and force choice motivation. Expectancy in the context of academic libraries is related to ease or difficulty in accessing library and its resources which relates to ease of location access, timing access, remote access, access to siblings and discipline norms for access. Instrumentality is related to infrastructure, information, service and promotion. Valence is related to pleasure and satisfaction. The concepts were integrated into a theoretical model.

The study is limited to academic libraries under state universities and private universities in India. Hence, the study cannot be generalised across institutions enjoying autonomy by the Government of India. Users of academic libraries may be motivated by several factors other than those considered with respect to motivation, expectancy, instrumentality and valence. The findings are based on the grounded theory approach which is an inductive approach. Alternate research methodologies, both inductive and deductive, need to be used to strengthen the external validity.

The understanding of user motivation through Vroom’s theory will help academic libraries to increase user motivation, thereby increasing usage of library resources.

Vroom’s expectancy theory of motivation in the context of academic libraries was developed using the grounded theory approach.

The purpose of this paper is to detail the experience of a rising gate count at a departmental science and engineering library while many traditional user statistics show the now familiar decline.

Library and material‐use statistics gathered continuously over an eight‐year period along with data from a user exit survey describe the many changes in the patterns of use at academic libraries.

Data confirm that the in‐house use of print material will continue to decline in the face of rising gate counts. Discussion identifies probable causes of the continued rise in gate count.

A description of the environment and causes for findings are available for future comparisons.

Anecdotal and informal observations were confirmed with the analysis of data. Taken together, these two forms of reporting support timely management decision making.

The paper provides baseline data for librarians evaluating “library as place” innovations.

The purpose of this study was to get a baseline understanding of the state of reference services in urban public libraries in the United States.

The researchers surveyed all members of the Urban Libraries Council, a network of public library systems in urban centers across the country. The survey asked about their reference services, including how reference is offered, volume and types of questions and staff responsibilities. Participants were also asked how reference has changed in the past 5–10 years and what changes they anticipate in the future.

This study found that the vast majority of urban public libraries still maintain a physical reference desk, but most also offer reference services in other formats as well. Most libraries have seen numbers of reference questions decline. Reference staff members are engaged in instruction, programming and community outreach as well. Looking ahead, some libraries expect reference questions to continue to decline and demand for virtual services to increase.

Directors and reference staff of public libraries, especially those in urban and suburban settings, will find these results useful for benchmarking against their own experiences and for planning for future changes.

While discussions of changes in reference service and volumes of reference questions are plentiful, as are predictions of how these declines will impact reference services, there is little current research on the actual state of those services. This study fills a gap in the literature by providing a baseline overview of the reference services in urban public libraries.