Aaron Schmidt and I have combined our columns this month for a double length examination of the site visit assignment in LIS schools: The most responsive libraries would aim to make a change based on the suggestion of the student. The reports and other data would be shared with the staff and the recommendations for improvements evaluated and implemented. The findings might also be shared externally or with the library’s governing body to promote not only transparency but the positive aspects of the library partnering with a library school. These partnerships should be encouraged and leveraged as much as possible. […]
Categories Research
105 posts
Internet Reference Services Quarterly (http://goo.gl/Q0np0) is now accepting manuscripts for the 2012/13 volume year. Internet Reference Services Quarterly is a refereed journal that presents research and practical information about reference librarianship in the digital age. The journal offers studies and articles on technology and innovations related to the delivery of library user services, including reference, research consultation, instruction, information literacy, user design and usability, and electronic reference materials and sources. Internet Reference Services Quarterly welcomes articles covering topics on the online, electronic and digital aspects and nature of library reference and information services, including reference practices, research consultations, reference sources […]
Hi Michael: Please share this informal research inquiry with your readers: What pre-service teacher preparation or supervisor preparation programs at the undergrad or masters level exist that include a component that at least introduces these educators to what school librarians can do for them? A more eloquent way of stating this is, “…[that] include a component that introduces the role of how school librarians support the school’s mission to produce literate and informed learners and how school librarians can help students graduate from high school college- and career ready.” [Thanks to Mary Moyer, Cumberland County Library Commission Member, Congressional Contact […]
Stephens, M. & Cheetham, W. (2012). “Benefits and results of Learning 2.0: a case study of CityLibrariesLearning – discover*play*connect.” Australian Library Journal, 61(1), 6-15. A snippet: Both the pre- and post-programme survey utilised the question ‘Which of the following topics/tools are familiar to you?’ Staff selected from a scale ranging from ‘have only heard the name’ to ‘very familiar.’ There were marked improvements across the scale in every category for the post-programme survey. Technologies such as Facebook, blogs, Google documents and others showed marked improvement in the post programme survey. Adopting the tools into work and personal life was also a […]
Reprinted with permission from John’s blog: http://johnmiedema.ca/2011/07/24/tedxlibrariansto-slow-reading/ Say the words, “slow reading”, and you will have a reader’s attention. In a time of information overload, we all feel pressure to read more quickly. Three years ago I performed a Google search on slow reading. I found studies on dyslexia and eye disorders, advertising for speed reading courses, and complaints about the scanning rates of I/O devices. At the time I was doing a Master of Library and Information Science, and decided to undertake a broad search for research and concepts about the benefits of slow reading. The results were published […]
Over the weekend, while all my American colleagues were heading to The Big Easy for #ala11, I jumped north of the border to attend TEDxLibrarians at the University of Toronto. It was an inspiring day in a beautiful city and the speakers gave me a lot to think about on my long drive home. TEDx events are inspired by, and take their name from, the wildly popular TED conference. Local and independently run, TEDx organizers build the event around short and inspiring talks to create a TED-like atmosphere that is meaningful and thought provoking. Since TED first began sanctioning these […]
http://www.against-the-grain.com/2011/05/v-23-1-book-reviews-monographic-musings/ Nice to see this review of reference reborn. I have a chapter in the book on tracking tech trends. However, like telephone service, reference service has been transformed by the digital age. This work attempts as the subtitle says to bring “new life into public services librarianship.” The world of the Internet has truly transformed the way in which information is delivered to readers. This book refers to the vast forests of unused reference tomes languishing on bookshelves, while lightning fast reference service is delivered via texting on seamless Web connections that never fail. A new generation of Web […]
When we initiated a new usability study of our library’s website, we reviewed close to 60 library websites. The one dominant trend we observed was the placement of some sort of search functionality was present on the library’s homepage. Most libraries had tabbed search boxes that allowed users to click between tabs for searching the OPAC, periodical databases, and other types of information. Our assumption was that we also should move our search functionality to our library’s homepage. We thought that search was the primary purpose of our website, but the results of our usability study caused us to rethink […]
Åke Nygren reports from Helsinki Midwinter Darkness Camp: http://www.InfoToday.eu/Articles/Editorial/Featured-Articles/Nordic-geeky-and-cool-73614.aspx At the Helsinki Midnight Darkness Camp we had the opportunity to pitch project ideas that had either already started to take form as a formal project, or were still waiting to be matched with the right combination of people. One project idea that took an important step forward towards realisation was a very interesting peer2peer loaning concept for mobile devices:using the mobile phone as a library card and making it possible for patrons to borrow and lend books directly between themselves. Near Field Communication, anyone? Other project ideas buzzing around at #hmdc11 […]
Barrett Jones at the LOC writes: Hi Michael- Thank you so much for posting the announcement for our survey back in October. Thanks to you and other dedicated librarians who spread the word, we received over 800 responses to our survey. I wanted to share some highlights from the results: Findings from a Library of Congress Survey on Digital Preservation Training What do U.S. organizations see as their needs with respect to digital preservation training? How do they handle digital preservation functions now? A new Library of Congress survey provides some answers to these questions. The survey was conducted in summer […]