Please, permit me to rant about EBSCO’s new UI for a little while. Ours changed over in August, and up until this point, I’ve been quite busy with teaching and the general chaos of the beginning of fall semester. I had time today to sit down and really lay out the issues I have. I … Continue reading "EBS-No; or, a rant" The post EBS-No; or, a rant first appeared on ACRLog.| ACRLog
I occupy an unusual position in academic librarianship. As a continuing appointment performing arts librarian serving the School of Music, Dance, and Theatre, I straddle multiple worlds: subject specialist and generalist, curator and reference provider, researcher and daily practitioner. In other words, my work constantly shifts between different expectations and evaluative frameworks. By comparison, my colleagues in … Continue reading "Reframing Traditional Models: Research Needs in the ...| ACRLog
A few months ago, I wrote about how federal funding for international studies education, including language programs, was likely going to be cut and, indeed, recently national resource centers around the country, focused on various areas of the world, received word that their programs were no longer a governmental priority. This will have wide-ranging effects … Continue reading "Funding Cuts and Collaboration" The post Funding Cuts and Collaboration first appeared on ACRLog.| ACRLog
On July 29th, I was enjoying a week of vacation, spending time with my spouse’s family in South Dakota. I got an out-of-the-blue text message asking me to join a meeting with my library’s director and human resources. Having been in this situation before, I knew what was coming—I was being laid off. The Story … Continue reading "Laid Off, Again" The post Laid Off, Again first appeared on ACRLog.| ACRLog
As a process that validates information credibility, peer review is undeniably and incredibly valuable—when it works. But sometimes it doesn’t work as well as we’d like. The post Reviewing peer review first appeared on ACRLog.| ACRLog
What happens when you inherit a world-renowned collection that needs fundamental reimagining? My time as Performing Arts Librarian at Arizona State University has taught me that transformational collection work requires both patience and urgency—and that the process itself is as important as the outcome. From Child Drama to Theatre for Youth and Community When I … Continue reading "Inheriting, Repairing, and Reimagining Collections" The post Inheriting, Repairing, and Reimagining Collecti...| ACRLog
As we enter a new academic year, we’re looking to bring on a few new bloggers here at ACRLog. We’d like to thank our 2024-25 FYAL bloggers Jonathan Rowe, Heidi Uhey, and Brianna Calomino for their terrific posts this past year in our First Year Academic Librarian Experience series. We’d also like to encourage new … Continue reading "Seeking First Year Academic Librarian Bloggers" The post Seeking First Year Academic Librarian Bloggers first appeared on ACRLog.| ACRLog
The summer, for many academic librarians, brings a lull, and for me that sometimes means that I have the opportunity to travel. Budgets here, as I imagine they are in many institutions, are currently a mess, but I was luckily still able to visit Southeast Asia a few weeks ago. I didn’t do nearly as … Continue reading "What I did for my summer vacation: library edition" The post What I did for my summer vacation: library edition first appeared on ACRLog.| ACRLog
Why is professional identity important to you? For me, it helps to develop career goals, pursue professional development opportunities, and build confidence in the professional expertise I have to offer students, faculty, and library staff. As part of my professional identity, I no longer identify as an early-career librarian. If I had to pinpoint when| ACRLog - Blogging by and for academic and research librarians
I don’t know the right metaphor to make you understand how this much debt physically feels. What it actually feels like is a pressure on my chest and shoulders, but maybe that’s not evocative enough. What if I describe it as an anchor trailing behind me? Or being covered in molasses, trapping my energy and … Continue reading "On Owing $93,605 in Student Loans; or, A Profession Built on Debt" The post On Owing $93,605 in Student Loans; or, A Profession Built on Debt first appeared on ACR...| ACRLog
Blogging by and for academic and research librarians| ACRLog - Blogging by and for academic and research librarians
Editor’s note: We welcome a guest blog post from Jay Singley, Document Delivery and Circulation Desk Manager at North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics. In March 2025, Ex Libris unveiled their AI-powered Research Assistant tool for institutions using Summon. Within a week, Summon users reported error messages with specific search terms and topics. The first| ACRLog - Blogging by and for academic and research librarians