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To ascertain the levels of ICT literacy among library staff in a range of Nigerian libraries.

A survey was conducted among the professionals, paraprofessionals and “other” members of staff of 18 Nigerian university libraries.

Analysis of the data showed that, on a self‐assessment basis, out of about 268 professional librarians, only 87 (approximately 32 per cent) were ICT‐literate, implying that the remaining 181 (approximately 68 per cent) of professional librarians were ICT‐illiterate. Of the 358 paraprofessionals in those libraries, only 28 (approximately 8 per cent) were ICT‐literate, while the vast majority, some 330 (approximately 92 per cent), were ICT‐illiterate. Of the 1,133 “other” staff members in the survey, a minimal 69 (6 per cent) staff were ICT‐literate, while 1,064 (approximately 94 per cent) were ICT‐illiterate.

The questionnaire basis of the investigation gives room for subjective distortions in assessment of levels of literacy; the investigation only considered two categories of skills, “literacy” and “illiteracy”, without gradations between these categories.

The conclusion reached was that Nigerian university library professionals and paraprofessionals should acquire an enhanced level of ICT literacy: both staff training and an adequate ICT infrastructure were recommended.

The paper gives a representative overview of the attainment level of library staff in an important area of professional competence, and shows the importance of addressing the gap between the desired levels of ICT literacy and the actual levels.

The paper aims to discern, document, and analyze current staffing trends in college and university libraries.

The author gathered information from the literatures of library and information science and higher education.

The paper details six trends across public and technical services affecting librarians, non‐MLS professionals, and paraprofessionals. The presentation of trends is followed by a discussion of three concerns the author has about these trends.

The paper covers trends in college and university libraries but does not specifically address community college libraries. Community colleges may have similar issues, as well as unique trends; further research is encouraged.

Library managers will be able to compare developments in their libraries to the profession‐wide trends. They will also be able to link to a large body of literature on the topic.

This kind of comprehensive look at academic library staffing does not seem to have been published recently.

The purpose of this paper is to explain the reversal of language hierarchy in a Finnish multinational corporation (MNC) from a political perspective. This paper situated the language hierarchy in the historical context of the colonial-style relationship between Finland and Russia. From a post-colonial perspective, the colonial legacy of Russia has had an influence on language strategy and everyday translation work in the Finnish multinational until the present day.

This paper undertook a case study based on qualitative secondary analysis of existing data sets. These data sets originated from two previously conducted studies of the same Finnish MNC.

The findings revealed a reversal of the traditional corporate language hierarchy. Russian, as the host country language of powerful local subsidiaries, rose to the top of the hierarchy at the expense of English, the common corporate language, and other languages. The colonial-style relationship was enacted by professional and paraprofessional translators who collaborated by using “the master’s language and imitating the master’s voice” to reap the strategic benefits of local responsiveness.

In contrast to previous work drawing on post-colonial theory in the study of MNCs, this paper represents the headquarters in Finland as the “colonised” party and the Russian subsidiaries as the “coloniser.” Owing to its colonial legacy, Russian, the host country language, became very powerful and influenced the language strategy of the entire MNC. This paper conceptualized translation as a multilevel phenomenon and offers a holistic explanation of why the language hierarchy in the Finnish MNC was reversed.

This study is aimed at comparing library services and job performances of personnel in public libraries in South-South Nigeria.

The study adopted a descriptive survey design using 107 personnel in public libraries in South-South Nigeria. The total enumeration sampling technique was used for this study. All 107 personnel in public libraries in South-South Nigeria were considered appropriate for this study. The instrument used to elicit data from the respondents was a self-designed questionnaire and oral interview, 103 respondents answered to the questionnaire.

Library services such as recreational services, community information services, career information services, information alert services, services to prisoners, mobile library services and adult literacy education programs are not carried out. The result also revealed that factors such as poor funding by government, insufficient staff strength, lack of interpersonal skills and untrained staff hinder adequate job performance of personnel. In the final analysis, the result from the study amongst others shows that there is no significant difference between the six states on the types of job performed in the different state public libraries in South-South Nigeria. Meanwhile, there is a significant difference between the extent of job performance of librarians and paraprofessional librarians in public libraries in South-South Nigeria.

To the best of the researchers' knowledge, this research is the first to ascertain library services and job performance of personnel in all public libraries in South-South Nigeria.

Teachers play a vital role in the structure of their classrooms. Part of this structure is having a clear understanding of the importance of not only supporting their students, but also the teacher assistants/support staff with whom they collaborate. Providing teacher assistants/support staff with guidance, information on student needs and classroom structures, team-building strategies, training, and supervision sets the stage for a positive climate for collaboration, teamwork, and learning. Consequently, teachers should be proactive and diligent to ensure high-quality training and supervision for teacher assistants/support staff, as this will have a direct impact on the services and learning opportunities being provided to the students.

Purpose – Drawing on a survey of over 1,000 Library and Information Science (LIS) professionals and over a dozen interviews, this chapter explores the student loan crisis from an LIS perspective and offers practical solutions for the field to decrease debt from LIS graduate programs, which has ballooned in recent years.

Design/Methodology/Approach – In April 2016, I sent a survey via email to approximately 10 library-affiliated listservs ranging from Code4Lib to the UMD iSchool discussion list. While I attempted to keep the reach small and controlled to only library-affiliated listservs, the survey link quickly spread to Twitter and other social media. The survey attracted 1,630 qualified responses and ran for two weeks in total. Using skip logic, all potential respondents who did not attend a library school (26 in total) were automatically disqualified. Email addresses were provided by 497 participants for interview post-survey. I received 215 partial responses. In September 2016, I conducted qualitative interviews with participants. Thirty-two telephone interviews were conducted extending for 15–20 minutes and I received 38 written questionnaires in response to my questions.

Findings – The findings are outlined in sub-chapter headings, including increased tuition does not equal increased aid, older students borrow less and take longer in programs tailored to their needs, new graduates unlikely to pay off their loans soon, and students with high undergraduate debt: a divided loan burden. Other findings include interview results, which are embedded within the chapter.

The final section offers recommendations for LIS programs to lessen the burden for students. These recommendations include better financing information and counseling for students; shorter, more flexible degree programs; apprenticeship model, more pathways for a paraprofessional to professional track; and expand public service loan forgiveness programs.

Originality/Value – This is the first comprehensive qualitative/quantitative study of the cost of library school as well as the debt burden for students. It provides actionable outcomes as well as an analytic framework through which to view the academic debt crisis. It features the voices of librarians from around the country as they struggle through a changing job market and increased monetary burden.

Purpose – The purpose of this chapter is to explore the ways in which bachelor’s degree programs in library and information studies can support and enhance Master of Library Science (MLS) and Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) programs.

Approach – The history of undergraduate library degrees is examined, followed by a brief discussion of the current landscape of library education. Finally, five ways in which library and information science (LIS) undergraduate programs can revitalize the MLS/MLIS are addressed and analyzed.

Findings – Bachelor of Science in Library Science degrees can impact the MLS/MLIS degree in five discrete ways. Undergraduate programs can interest student in future information work, allow for more specialization in graduate programs, allow paraprofessionals to advance their library education, support rural libraries, and can lead to more rigorous MLS/MLIS curricula.

Value – As libraries and library education are in transition, undergraduate LIS degree programs have the potential to transform LIS education as a whole.

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.

The purpose of this article is to briefly present current research and insight into the subject of student labor as a sharp cost-saving measure in the management of today’s library personnel budgets.

Drawing from a recent empirical study on the subject, this article adds commentary from other researchers on the pitfalls and benefits of student library labor versus paraprofessionals and librarians.

Although library student workers are commonly not seen as “ideal” employees, their demonstrated performance on many library tasks is compelling enough to consider hiring more of them in place of existing staff.

This subject can be provocative for managers to simply mention to their staff or professional colleagues. There is little research in this area, and this article helps to broach the subject in a candid manor to spark more discussion among library staff looking to improve their bottom line.