Rejuvenating Aging Studies in Academic Libraries

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to identify resources essential gerontology (aging studies) resources and liaison strategies that provide guidance for academic librarians working with faculty and students in this highly interdisciplinary field.

Design/methodology/approach – A convenience sample of gerontology faculty was surveyed to identify important materials, including preferred journals, databases, reference books, and sources of grey literature for gerontology research and teaching. Gerontology faculty information seeking behaviors, including faculty-librarian partnership, were also examined.

Findings – Results confirm that faculty teaching in gerontology use a wide variety of resources in their teaching and research. Faculty identified frequently used journals, reference materials, databases as well as sources of grey literature produced by non-profits, special interest group/lobbying organizations, educational organizations, and/or government agencies.

Research limitations/implications – Surveying faculty from undergraduate gerontology programs would have likely increased the number of participants completing the online questionnaire, presumably increasing the reliability of the results.

Originality/value – Few studies identify the resources that faculty in gerontology graduate programs value and what services the library can provide or improve. This paper addresses these gaps and recognizes the need to support the growing number of interdisciplinary programs in gerontology.