may11a.indd


May 2011 253 C&RL News

In theIn the

Welcome to the May 2011 issue of C&RL News. 
In the nearly four years since ACRL published 
Studying Students: The Undergraduate Re-
search Project at the University of Rochester,
ethnographic research in academic libraries 
has grown in popularity. In this month’s is-
sue, Gina Hunter and Dane Ward, anthropolo-
gist and librarian respectively at Illinois State 
University, outline their “Students research the 
library” project and discuss how formal ethno-
graphic research can inform library spaces and 
services.

Not all student-centered projects need to 
be formal research studies however. Librarians 
from the University of Maine discuss their more 
informal methods of gathering information from 
students for marketing and planning in their 
article “Imagine: A student-centered library.”

Student input can also come in handy in 
evaluating library services. Candice Benjes-Small 
and Elizabeth Kocevar-Weidinger reveal that 
student help is one the “Secrets to successful 
mystery shopping” in the library context.

Many libraries are experimenting with reach-
ing out to students through social media efforts 
such as video. But producing video that both 
appeals to students and gets across the library’s 
message can be diffi cult. Anali Maughan Perry 
provides great tips for video production in her 
article “Lights, camera, action!”

E-books continued to be a hot topic of 
conversation at the recent ACRL 2011 confer-
ence in Philadelphia. In this month’s Scholarly 
Communication column, Ellen W. Faran, 
director of the MIT Press, discusses an AAUP 
report on “Sustaining scholarly publishing” 
in the era of new online publishing models 
for monographs. 

Make sure to check out the other features 
and columns this month, including an essay on 
“Lifelong learning” beyond the library degree, 
Internet Resources on human rights, and the 
second installment of our profi les of the 2011 
ACRL award winners.

—David Free, editor-in-chief
dfree@ala.org