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A task force at Rutgers University Libraries was charged with exploring ways to develop more effective liaison relations with teaching departments. As a preliminary step the working group surveyed Rutgers liaisons to identify preferred practices and to solicit comments on trends in liaisonship in academic libraries. Based on this survey, we examine changes in the information profession and how they have effected the reference and instruction that departmental liaisons provide to faculty and students. Particular emphasis is placed on the impact of the Internet. Generally, electronic resources have made faculty and students less reliant on liaisons for help with their research, while electronic communication, especially via e‐mail, has the potential to make liaisonship more efficient and effective. We offer a number of recommendations for effective liaisonship, including concise and purposeful e‐mail messages and making direct and personal contact with faculty and students whenever possible.

Many university libraries are adopting a faculty liaison librarian structure as an integral part of their organization and service delivery model. This paper aims to examine, in a pragmatic way, the variations in the definition of the role of the faculty liaison librarian, the expectations of those librarians, their library managers and their clients and the impact of environmental factors. The faculty liaison librarian role is not entirely new, evolving from the traditional subject librarian and university special/branch library role. However the emerging role is characterized by a more outward‐looking perspective and complexity, emphasizing stronger involvement and partnership with the faculty and direct engagement in the University's teaching and research programs.

Following a review of the literature and other sources on the rationale and role of library liaison, the current developments, drivers and expectations are discussed.

The study finds that dynamic external and internal environments of universities are driving the evolution of library liaison, so the role description is still fluid. However, the breadth and weight of expectations is now such that the effectiveness and sustainability of the role has to be addressed.

While a dynamic, broader and more intensive role for the faculty liaison librarian is emerging, more thinking is needed about the extent of that role and its sustainability. What, for example, are the priorities for the faculty liaison librarian? What traditional activities can, and may, have to be abandoned? These considerations are necessary not only to guide the librarians, but also to help define the attributes and skills required for the position and to determine the institutional support it requires.

This is a contemporary critique of the well‐established, but diverse library service – the faculty liaison librarian structure.

Liaison programmes have been in existence in academic libraries for a number of years. A liaison programme is a co‐operative agreement between the library and academic units to foster better communication, improve services and enhance collection development. In order for it to be operated effectively such a programme needs to be assessed on an ongoing basis. Reports the findings of an assessment survey which was conducted in the spring of 1992 at Kent State University Libraries and Media Services, Kent, Ohio. The assessment of this programme offers some guidelines for assessing similar programmes at other institutions.

Recognizing the importance of developing professional identities and valuing the work of school-based teacher educators, this chapter outlines a specific context in which teacher leaders self-identified and worked across contexts to support teacher development within their schools. This chapter’s primary focus includes the perceptions and experiences of teacher leaders in school–university partnerships connected to one university in one identified role: liaison-in-residence. Three themes resulted from analysis of transcripts, journals, and memos: teacher leader identity developed within democratic leadership; teacher leader positionality stirs tensions in professional identity; and service and equity as key guideposts for leading and learning.

This chapter qualitatively explored the impact of including parent liaisons (i.e., parents with lived experience caring for a child with complex needs, who support other caregivers in navigating child and family needs) in a case conferencing model for children with complex medical/social needs. Case conferences are used to address fragmented care, shared decision-making, and set patient-centered goals. Seventeen semi-structured interviews were conducted with clinicians and parent liaisons to assess the involvement of parent liaisons in case conferencing. Two main themes included benefits of parent liaison involvement (10 subthemes) and challenges to parent liaison involvement (5 subthemes). Clinicians reported that liaison participation and support of patients reduced stress for clinicians as well as family members. Challenges to liaison involvement included clinical team/parent liaison communication delays, which were further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Parent liaison involvement in case conferences is perceived to be beneficial to children with complex needs, their families, and the clinical team. Integration of liaisons ensures the familial perspective is included in clinical goal setting.

The purpose of this paper is to improve the health and criminal justice outcomes for people who come into contact with the criminal justice system. People with learning disabilities (LD) are particularly vulnerable to health and social inequalities within the criminal justice system.

Using examples from practice, this paper discusses some of the challenges and achievements experienced by a LD nurse employed within a liaison and diversion service within the North-West of England.

Whilst the specific functions of liaison and diversion practitioners are detailed by National Health Service (NHS) England (2014), complexities in communication, multi-disciplinary working and role recognition affect the embedment of the role in practice.

The implications for practice are identified and recommendations for further research made. These seek to evaluate the impact of liaison and diversion services from the perspectives of LD nurses within liaison and diversion services, people with LD, their families and the wider multi-disciplinary team.

NHS England (2015) are in the process of evaluating of liaison and diversion services. This paper adds to the evaluation by discussing the experiences of a LD nurse within a liaison and diversion service through the inclusion of activity data and illustrative examples.

The purpose of this paper is to explore actual interlibrary loan (ILL) usage patterns as a way to improve ILL services and assist in library liaison work.

The study assesses ILL services at a mid‐size comprehensive college library in order to see who is utilizing the current service. Usage patterns are constructed and explored based on data collected over a three‐year period. The requested materials' publication date and Library of Congress subject heading, as well as the requestor's academic status (faculty, graduate student, undergraduate student) and department are addressed.

Usage patterns can accurately illustrate trends in the borrowing behavior of patrons in order to gain a better understanding of their needs. The majority of users were faculty members from a limited number of academic departments. Usage patterns can be very helpful in constructing and focusing liaison work. A thorough study of ILL usage patterns is a viable undertaking worthwhile for any institution looking to improve and expand its ILL and liaison services.

This paper recommends that The College of Staten Island Library utilize ILL statistics to improve and redesign Liaison activities to under‐represented departments. Assessing ILL usage patterns can enable a quick and accurate overview of actual use for improving ILL and liaison services.

Previous research has linked Interlibrary Loan services to collection development. The current study links the assessment of actual ILL usage patterns with liaison activities beyond collection development.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an updated definition of academic liaison work and examine methods for developing effective liaison relationships.

The authors reviewed and incorporated recently published (1989‐2009) material relating to academic liaison work. In addition to published material the authors conducted a survey of faculty in their liaison areas during the fall 2008 semester in order to access their knowledge and satisfaction with liaison services.

The paper finds that liaison work is multifaceted and success is based both on administrative support and the individual liaisons efforts.

The originality of this work includes the definition of liaison work and requirements of academic liaisons in today's libraries. The paper is of value to current academic liaisons and librarians just entering the field of academia. The paper incorporates recent research, an author conducted survey and the authors' nearly two decades of combined liaison experience and may serve as an overview of the expectations and potential benefits of academic liaison work.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze job advertisements in United States academic libraries in order to determine the prevalence of jobs that contain a liaison component. It also aims to report on a survey of current library science graduate students to assess their level of understanding of what liaison work entails and what type of preparation they have had for such work in their LIS program.

The study includes an analysis of 313 academic library job advertisements. It also uses a 12 question survey, which was distributed to 52 library school listservs throughout the USA. The survey announcements resulted in 516 responses from library school students nationwide.

Of the jobs surveyed more than a quarter specifically mentioned liaison activities. The survey showed that few respondents have been exposed to a discussion of liaison work in their classrooms. Those who have demonstrated greater awareness of what constitutes liaison work demonstrate greater self‐confidence in their ability to become successful liaisons.

The anonymous survey did not require participants to indicate what school they attended, possibly resulting in a geographically biased sample. The survey also did not ask respondents at what point they were in their program, so that some respondents may have been very new to their library school studies and may not have had the opportunity to take many classes at the time of the survey.

This study suggests that library schools should find ways to incorporate a discussion of liaison work into some part of their curriculum, especially for students interested in academic librarianship.

No other studies have analyzed job descriptions in terms of liaison work, nor have any studies surveyed students to determine their knowledge of, and preparation for, this type of work.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the collaborative aspects of the communication practice and illustrate the importance of role‐related liaison devices for coordination in a project setting.

A case study was made of a large Swedish partnering project focusing on the coordinative and communicative activities carried out within the project. It consists of 18 semi‐structured interviews, three days of observations, meeting participations, document analysis, and was analysed with a theoretically supported thematic categorisation.

The paper describes the communicative sub‐processes of the project and analyses the link between them. The focus is placed on illustrating the importance of the project liaison as a crucial part of the coordination of the project. It is shown how the project liaisons; guides and coordinates the ongoing activities, translates and reduces information, creates space for the experience of the subcontractors, assists in coordinating unexpected situations, and therefore constitutes a crucial part of the success of the project.

From a project management perspective it is suggested that it is beneficial to identify, acknowledge, and create legitimacy for project liaisons in order to facilitate the coordination of the project. As the project liaison is shown to be of major importance it is also suggested that there is a need to further study the existence and role of liaisons within project organisations.

The paper draws on organisational theory and therefore enriches the field of project coordination as it also includes and stresses the importance of the human actors.