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The paper aims to study how the present distance learning libraries can improve upon their existing services and introduce new ones to enhance quality of services to distance learners.

The paper includes a review of literature on quality assurance in open and distance education in general and student support services in particular. It studies and compares the current practices followed by libraries at open universities, which have proved trailblazers in distance education.

This paper proposes an action plan for distance learning libraries and offers suggestions for improving their library services.

This paper will be of interest to library science researchers and professionals working in distance learning libraries with responsibility for quality assurance.

In the spirit of the growing Time is Up movement in North America, this paper aims to focus on the human dimension of academic learning environments and delves into the reasons for the continuous oppression, discrimination and bullying (ODB) of faculty members with disabilities in academia, showing the particularly detrimental effect of ODB in the small professionally oriented field of information science.

The conceptualizing of continuous ODB of people with disabilities in academia is done by carefully scrutinizing the state of affairs; presenting a nuanced survey of utilized terminology; providing a new and inclusive definition of everyday oppression; introducing a new model of an oppressive workplace environment experienced by people with disabilities; showing the centrality of information behaviours and phenomena in ODB; highlighting the high relevance of this discussion to learning science; and outlining potential detrimental effects of ODB on the psychological climate in and the process of professional higher education.

The model of an oppressive workplace environment experienced by people with disabilities is presented.

Unlike previous models of ODB at the workplace, the current model puts information phenomena as decisive factors in continuous ODB against people with disabilities; particular attention is paid to information avoidance behaviours; distorted or delayed information messages transmitted by managers to employees; gossip as an informal information-based tactic of ODB; the insufficient protection of privacy and confidentiality of information about disabilities and personal health; and vague information messages that diminish the usefulness of university policies on disabilities.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the open access and open source movement in the digital library world.

A review of key developments in the open access and open source movement is provided.

Open source software and open access to research findings are of great use to scholars in developing nations.

This paper provides useful information about software for institutions introducing digital library concepts.

This article examines some key principles underlying the design of development programmes and provides some examples of the principles in practice.

In the context of increasing interdisciplinarity in academia and professional practice, the purpose of this paper is to focus on the contribution of information science (IS) to education and practice in social work (SW), specifically in the area of disabilities at the workplace. As a case in point, a work environment of academia and faculty members with disabilities and their managers are chosen. The paper also stands to improve interdisciplinary understanding between IS and SW.

Combining SW and IS perspectives and building off selective exposure, cognitive dissonance and uncertainty management theories, the paper looks at one of the root-causes of continuous workplace discrimination against and bullying of people with disabilities – information avoidance (IA).

The paper conceptualises discrimination and bullying as an inherently information problem, for which an SW solution could be proposed. Two types of information are noted to be avoided: information about disabilities and information about the effect of discrimination and bullying on employees with disabilities. The paper distinguishes between defensive and deliberate IA, each of which poses different challenges for social workers who are likely to intervene in the cases of bullying and discrimination in their capacity as workplace counsellors and advisors.

It is the first known paper that explores the intellectual and practice-based synergy between SW and IS in application to change-related interventions and preventative plans that counteract discrimination against people with disabilities at the workplace. It proposes creative solutions for intervention, including bibliotherapy. It also opens up a broader conversation on how critical the knowledge of IS is for social workers.

The rise of academic librarian professionalism coincided with the consolidation and centralization of university libraries. The resulting consolidation of the materials budget offered a revenue stream exploited by increasingly large publishers. Since publishers will always attempt to maximize their profits, the only way to restrict unlimited access to library funds is through reverting to decentralization. One such method is the creation of modules without overlapping funding. The purpose of this paper is to discuss these issues.

This paper relies on a wide range of academic library economic literature in an attempt to clarify the structural problem of library budgeting as well as to find means to reverse the slide into budgetary collapse.

Professional librarians have over‐centralized academic libraries. This has provided publishers in the past with profitable revenue streams that continue to expand even while the library's ability to maintain funding has contracted. Since publishers will not impose limits on maximizing their profits, it is up to the librarian to impose strictures on available funding.

This paper argues that there is a causal relation between the rise of increasingly large for‐profit publishing and the rise of the centralized big academic library run by library professionals. It proposes the decentralization of academic library budgets as a means to regain fiscal control.

In recent years, the academic profession has received increased interest as an object of study. Higher education systems all over the world have submitted to deep and structural changes with implications for this professional group. Two relevant international projects have been developed to analyze changes in the academic profession in a comparative way: “The Changing Academic Profession” (CAP) and “Academic Profession in Europe: Responses to Societal Challenges” (EUROAC). The aim of this chapter is to analyze the major results of these projects, reflecting on the way they have incorporated theories in the field of sociology of professions, and, simultaneously, to reflect on the contributions the empirical results of these studies have brought to the theoretical framework in this specific field of study. Data analysis reveals that, even if academics do not engage in an in-depth discussion about academics as a professional group, it is possible to classify them as the ‘producers of producers’, or as a meta-profession. Simultaneously, analysis of current changes in the academic profession demonstrates the existence of an increasing internal diversification and fragmentation (based on such dimensions as changes in academics’ roles, employment and working conditions, internationalization processes, autonomy, gender, and age). These results suggest the need to include professional internal diversity in the current debates on changes in professions in contemporaneous societies.

This research argues that architecture knowledge is fragmented between the profession and academia as evidenced by long-standing conflicting opinions regarding desirable graduate attributes. Work-integrated learning (WIL) is one mode of education where these fragments should come together. This research seeks to address a missing part of that WIL model and understand the profession's view of what constitutes quality education as a United Nations (UN) Sustainability Development Goal (SDG).

Utilising a three round Delphi survey of the architecture profession engaged in WIL programs, this study reports on their perspectives of the key benefits and attributes of WIL and the value of WIL experiences as part of a quality higher education system.

The architecture profession confirmed the value of WIL programs as contributing to students developing an understanding of workplace culture and contexts. There was strong agreement that WIL experiences can be a valuable part of a quality education and enhance graduate employability. Challenges for practice included semester-based program timing, the length of engagement with practice and the lack of WIL program guidance by universities to prepare the profession for WIL experiences.

While WIL has been extensively researched over the last decade, it is limited in the architecture discipline. Survey findings address the research gap in understanding the architecture profession's views as a key WIL stakeholder which is important given the rapidly changing practice environments, globalisation and the increasingly transdisciplinary context.