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This paper explores how internationalization is understood and experienced in German academic libraries. Its main purpose is to move the discussion of internationalization in academic libraries beyond the boundaries of English-speaking North America by investigating a European perspective. Its secondary purpose is to investigate the role of English in German academic libraries. An online survey and a series of in-person interviews conducted in Germany in April 2015 provided the data for this study. What emerged are a series of stated differences and similarities between North America and Germany informed by the two overarching themes of implicit internationalization and plurilingualism, the ability to switch from one language to another as required.

This study explores how non-native speakers of English think of words to enter into library databases when they begin the process of searching for information in English. At issue is whether or not language learning takes place when these students use library databases. Language learning in this study refers to the use of strategies employed by students to develop English vocabulary knowledge. This study found that international students do seem to engage in language learning when using library databases, and it identifies and describes their strategies.ibrary database searching is a key activity that takes place in and through university libraries in North America on a daily basis. As a core activity, searching for information through library databases offers students an important way to access and retrieve relevant material for their academic needs. Library database searching has been the topic of investigation in the library literature mainly through the lens of information-seeking behavior. How people find information is of great interest to the profession both on a theoretical and on a practical level, because a better understanding of their information-seeking behavior may lead to better meeting their information needs.This study looks at the activity of library database searching through a different lens, that of language learning. Language learning as used in this article refers to the use of strategies employed by non-native speakers of English to improve and expand their knowledge of English vocabulary. The key research question of this study is: Is library database searching a language learning activity in addition to being a means for finding information? Why this question may be important is that international students who are nonnative speakers of English comprise a large and growing minority of university students in North America. In the current academic era in which internationalization efforts at universities in both the United States and Canada are intensifying, it might behoove us to better understand how international students use our libraries. An investigation of language learning in this context may underscore our own importance in terms of both supporting students' information needs and in helping them to develop their English language proficiencies to better navigate the academic world. Literature ReviewInternational students who are non-native speakers of English in North America