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The purpose of this paper is to explore distinctive yet simple strategies for sustainability in academic libraries focussing on structured communication templates for stakeholders, pre-planned daily programming, and regularized, self-sustaining staff development.

Case study of unique strategies implemented at Nanyang Technological University Libraries.

Each of the three strategies has been successfully launched though they are at various stages of maturity. The first two strategies (structured communication templates and daily programming) have been implemented quite recently, whereas the staff development programme has been running for some time. Findings indicate that sustainability in all of these cases is directly linked to good planning which either minimizes daily, weekly or monthly work, and/or helps to clarify goals and focus action.

These strategies are feasible, transferable, malleable, and impactful such that other academic libraries with varying staffing structures can adopt and adjust them to their local needs.

Implementing simple sustainable services and strategies can have real impact and can provide alternatives to large-scale projects that may be too resource intensive for many to undertake on a regular basis.

As discovery systems take the library world by storm, there is a new opportunity for user‐centred information literacy programs to emerge. This paper aims to explore the impact that new web‐scale discovery systems might have on information literacy programs and pedagogical approaches to library instruction.

Utilizing both a conceptual approach and a case study of one particular library, various questions and possible answers are discussed with the goal of opening new avenues for information literacy instruction.

Discovery systems offer new possibilities to shift instruction programs away from their historical focus on explanatory searching and citing, towards exploratory higher level thinking in relation to evaluating and using information itself. As library search gets easier and varied platforms become unified, the focus of information literacy on search rules and platform choice and navigation is (finally) able to truly give way to critical thinking and imaginative exploration.

Many libraries have recently or are currently adopting discovery systems, but few have begun to explore and recognize the potential for a new era of instructional possibilities. This paper acts as a base for continuing exploration and discussion in this area.

The purpose of this paper is to describe how a course‐integrated blog is used to facilitate the learning of information literacy skills. It also reports on how the effectiveness of the blog is evaluated.

The blog is made the centerpiece of library support offered to a first‐year politics course. With the support of the faculty member involved, students are required to post answers to weekly library research skills questions posted to the blog. The quality of student responses is examined using a simple assessment rubric. Also, a survey is administered to students to determine perceived usefulness.

The evaluation of blog posts shows that the quality of answers is generally very good. Students put effort into their responses and most give accurate and thorough answers. The results of the survey indicate that most students feel the blog is useful to their learning, both in terms of general information skills, and in terms of helping research the term paper for the course.

These results reflect just one course at a single university, therefore it is not possible to use the findings to make generalizations. The study could serve as a starting point for further inquiry into the evaluation of blogs as a support tool.

While others have reported on using blogs in a similar manner, this study also attempts a thorough evaluation of the efficacy of the blog in helping students learn. Given the positive results of this evaluation, librarians could consider using blogs and other Web 2.0 tools to engage students in their own learning.

The purpose of this viewpoint paper is to consider how academic reference librarians might be guided by non‐academic librarians as their roles shift and/or expand in a many different directions.

Connections between the work of academic reference librarians and the work of public, special, school, law and medical librarians are drawn. Areas where expertise can be garnered are identified.

Several relevant areas of expertise from non‐academic library fields are identified as being potentially useful to academic reference librarians, depending on the priorities of their individual institutions. As an example, the public library “service response” framework is applied to the academic library setting.

As academic reference librarians are being asked to take on a wider range of roles on their campuses, this paper offers a possible framework for professional development.

The future of academic reference librarians has not been viewed in the light of adopting expertise from colleagues in other types of libraries on such a broad scale, and with a view to creating a suite of services best suited to individual environments.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the strategic efforts of the Hong Kong Baptist University Library to build institutional support for information literacy in an environment of major curriculum reform.

The paper outlines the current state of information literacy efforts in Hong Kong higher education, provides a context for renewed potential of these efforts, and describes a number of approaches that were undertaken to build institutional support. Further, a change agency approach is used to assess these efforts thus far and provide guidance for the future.

Campus‐wide information literacy programmes have been virtually non‐existent in Hong Kong. The current higher education environment and mindset is conducive to recognizing information literacy as a vital component in teaching and learning. Librarians can turn this opportunity into reality by gaining authority, credibility and visibility on campus, and by strategically aligning with institutional priorities such as outcomes‐based education, assessment, and lifelong learning.

This paper provides a Hong Kong perspective on integrating information literacy at the institutional level, and offers several specific strategies that have successfully been undertaken by librarians at one institution.