Bureaucratic Compliance with Mexico's New Access to Information Law

We analyze government document custodians' attitudes and behaviors in order to assess the prospects of a new access to information law establishing a citizen's right-to-know in Mexico. The Mexican law is considered one of the best in the hemisphere in terms of broad access and workable enforcement provisions. However, no extra resources were allotted to government agencies for compliance with the law; the country's traditional bureaucratic incentive structures support closure rather than access; and bureaucrats' views on the uses of government information prior to democratization suggest an instrumental approach guided organizational incentives rather than generalized support for either secrecy or access as a principle. We argue that missing or unclear political will at the top is the strongest challenge to Mexico's emerging right to know.     

Complexity of Work Families and Entity-Based Visualization Displays

Abstract

Conceptual modeling of bibliographic data, including the FR models and the consolidated IFLA LRM, has provided an opportunity to shift focus to entities and relationships and to support hierarchical work-based exploration of bibliographic information. This paper reports on a study examining the complexity of a work's bibliographic family data and user interactions with data visualizations, compared to traditional displays. Findings suggest that the FRBR-based visual bibliographic information system supports work families of different complexities more equally than a traditional system. Differences between the two systems also show that the FRBR-based system was more effective especially for related-works and author-related tasks.     

The Development and Current Status of Authority Control at the National Library of China

ABSTRACT

This article gives a thorough introduction to authority control at the National Library of China from several perspectives including bibliographic services, the online cataloging center, acquisitions, and the library's integrated library system. It introduces the objectives, principles, applications, solution to the problem, and concludes with comments and insights on the issues surrounding the proposed NLC authority control system. This article also discusses the importance of authority control for access.     

Bibliographie Instruction for Business Classes

Abstract

A contribution to an issue devoted to end-user research needs and information-seeking behavior, this paper describes a cooperative venture between faculty members, librarians and students to assess and improve methods of bibliographic instruction for business classes in order to assist students with their research needs. At St. Edward' s University' s Scarborough-Phillips Library, bibliographic instruction (BI) of business information is offered to students upon the request of faculty members of the Business School-it is not a required credit course. A new approach to eliminating information overload in BI sessions was attempted, proved successful and will likely be repeated.     

Defining the scope of Judaica: Complementary problems in bibliographic control and bibliographic organization

The multiple meanings of Judaica and bibliographic control are defined. A broad view of Judaica is taken, that is, intersection with Hebraica as opposed to exclusion thereof. Bibliographic control is presented as a collection development function, while bibliographic organization is the cataloger's domain. Four problem areas in defining the scope of Judaica are identified: overlap with Hebraica and Israeli publications, the numerous cognate disciplines of Jewish studies, Judaism as a religion vs Jews as an ethnic group, and “who is a Jew?” Each issue is discussed from both the bibliographer's and the subject cataloger's perspective. The automatic identification of works relevant to a Judaica collection is dependent upon appropriate subject analysis or classification. Judaica bibliographers should therefore monitor developments in Judaica cataloging and advocate changes that would simplify control of the multidisciplinary, multilingual literature of Jewish studies.     

Web 2.0 and Information Literacy Instruction: Aligning Technology with ACRL Standards

The purpose of this article is to report on how Web 2.0 tools in an online information literacy instruction course aligned with ACRL's Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. A qualitative case study was undertaken on an online graduate course related to information literacy instruction. Data collected included: course activities, assignments, emails, online discussions, and surveys. The educational theory of constructivism and its adherence to reflection, active learning, and social interaction was used to find patterns in the data. Activity theory provided a framework for data analysis and interpretation related to the patterns of activities that took place while students used each Web 2.0 tool. Web 2.0 was found to enhance all five information literacy standards. These standards related to collaboration, information organization, creativity, discussion, and technology education.     

基于Z39．50的分布式联机书目检索

Z9．50是网络信息检索的标准协议,目前主要应用于联机书目检索领域。本文首先探讨基于Z39．50的联机书目检索的技术以及目前面临的问题,然后提出一个应用查询路由技术的分布式结构,并讨论了MARC索引的组织,节点质心信息的提取,查询循环控制等关键技术。文中提出的系统结构和实现技术有助于提高数字图书馆环境中分布资源的查询效率。     

Bibliographic Data Bases in Collection Development

The literature on the use of batch and on-line bibliographic data bases in collection development activities is reviewed. A sample of special libraries and medium-sized research libraries was surveyed to see how widespread is the use of on-line data bases in selection and collection evaluation. It was found that on-line data bases are being used primarily for bibliographic verification as part of the selection process. Very little use in collection evaluation was reported, although its potential was acknowledged. The author's use in evaluation is described.     

Online Public Access Catalogs and Serials

Online public access catalogs (OPACS) enable the user to search a library's holdings in ways never before possible and to know the status of the desired items before going to the shelf. Serials constitute an important part of a library's collection. Holdings information is a necessary adjunct to bibliographic information. The online catalog of the future will give access to serial literature beyond that held by a library. As users become accustomed to the OPAC's capabilities their expectations for access to information will rise. Libraries should be aware of the factors to be considered when incorporating serials information into an online catalog. They must make decisions on what information their users need and what form of access and display will best meet that need.     

Assessing Global Inequality of Bribery for News Coverage: A Cross-National Study

Bribery for news coverage has a negative impact on the credibility of media; it also restricts the free flow of information and violates the public's right to know. Further, research showed that there exists considerable inequality among countries in terms of the extent to which bribery for news coverage exists in media system. This study provides the first quantitative cross-national assessment of a set of predictors of the likelihood that bribery for news coverage exists in a country's media system and tested competing arguments derived from the literature. Data of this study are drawn from 66 nation states. The analysis shows that 5 groups of political, economic, cultural, educational, and technological variables have direct or indirect impacts on a country's media bribery level. The interactions between these variables are also analyzed. The study concludes by discussing how analyses of the nature of the international media bribery problem contribute to finding multiple approaches to solutions to this problem.     

Information for social and economic participation: A review of related research on the information needs and acquisition of rural Chinese

This paper provides an analytical overview of related literature published during the past decade on rural population's information needs and acquisition in China, with a view to informing the world research community and policy makers of what has been found about the information needs of the world's largest rural population and to promoting dialogue between interested researchers within and outside China. Results from related studies are summarized; major methodological features of these studies are noted; practical and theoretical implications of major findings are critically analyzed. Although the results from related studies are not directly comparable due to their differences in research methods and contexts, it is nevertheless possible to draw some common conclusions regarding the rural population's information needs and information source preferences. Related research has overwhelmingly showed that rural residents have an extensive range of information needs, with agricultural technological information, market information, income generation information and policy information being the most needed; and that they rely very much on interpersonal relationships for acquiring both general information and information for agriculture production. The primary objectives of most studies are pragmatic rather than theoretical.     

数字时代书目导读在信息素养教育中的应用思考

信息素养是信息社会每个社会成员的基本生存能力,信息素养教育在信息社会变得越来越重要.针对信息素养教育现状及其存在问题,笔者认为书目导读可以在信息素养教育中发挥更大的作用.     

从学术研究过程看参考文献标注方法的选择

学术研究过程中的文献阅读和论文撰写与参考文献标注方法密切相关.在阅读文献时,著者-出版年制更符合阅读习惯,有更多的有效信息含量,更有助于提高阅读和学习效率.在撰写和修改论文时,著者-出版年制能更便利地处理参考文献,提高引文的准确性.     

Parent,Student, and Teacher Perceptions of Parental Involvement

Parental involvement is a key predictor of a student's academic success. However, little research has explored whether parent, student, and teacher perceptions are similar regarding what constitutes parental involvement and the communication activities it entails. The present study examines parent, student, and teacher perceptions of parental involvement and communication. While agreement exists on the importance of monitoring a child's academic performance and constructive teacher-parent communication, disagreement on the role of discipline and the use of extracurricular programs exist. Two discourses surrounding parental involvement are articulated--information transmission and partnership--and the implications of these discourses for developing parental involvement interventions are examined.     

Instructional Interventions Across the Inquiry Process

ABSTRACT

Information literacy aims to develop in students the necessary skills, knowledge, and dispositions to use information to solve problems, make decisions, and generate new knowledge. The literature is replete with examples of guiding students in accessing and evaluating information sources. Less prevalent is processing information—the heart of the inquiry. Analysis, inference, and synthesis are critical thinking skills that take information literacy beyond a bibliographic task. In this liberal arts college setting, librarians team with consultants in quantitative reasoning, writing, and presentation technologies to deliver an information literacy program that supports not only the search, but also the analysis, interpretation, synthesis, and presentation of findings and insights.     

PART V: ALTERNATIVES TO CURRENT ACCESS MODELS IN RESEARCH LIBRARIES

Abstract

With the transformation of the card catalog into the online public access catalog came the expectation of its increased functionality. For the most part, today's online catalogs perform an expanded list of tasks quite effectively. Bibliographic utilities, system vendors, and individual libraries continue to improve bibliographic retrieval by providing new and better services through the catalog. In spite of these improvements, many observers believe that online catalogs have reached their maturity. Today's information environment includes a wealth of material to which online catalogs cannot provide universal and up-to-date access. Increasingly, librarians are turning to federated searching portal applications to find a means of managing the flood of digital information that threatens to engulf users. This chapter describes essential functionality of such tools, suggesting directions and strategies for improving them. The author concludes that, while the online catalog will continue to function as the principal tool for access control of the library's physical collections, the federated searching portal will ultimately serve as the library's principal Web gateway to digital resources.     

近十年国外书目控制研究动向述评

[目的/意义] 现代信息技术环境下的书目控制研究已经迈入新的阶段,了解国外书目控制研究动向并从中获得经验,可以促进书目数据交流,实现世界范围的文献资源共享。[方法/过程] 利用包括Web of Science等平台在内的多种检索途径,采用内容分析法对近十年国外书目控制研究成果进行调查与分析。[结果/结论] 在梳理书目控制理论内涵的基础上,将国外书目控制研究归纳为区域性书目控制发展状况研究、各类文献书目控制研究、书目控制标准化研究和书目控制综合性研究四大主题。探究数字环境下书目控制研究新的增长点,指出书目控制是大数据时代目录学理论的拓展,是数字信息资源结构化的手段,也是图书馆精准服务与个性化服务的基础。最后,基于我国书目控制现状,提出推动书目控制工作良好运行、实现信息资源有序利用的发展建议。     

From MARC to BIBFRAME 2.0: Crosswalks

ABSTRACT

One of the big challenges facing academic libraries today is to increase the relevance of the libraries to their user communities. If the libraries can increase the visibility of their resources on the open web, it will increase the chances of the libraries to reach to their user communities via the user's first search experience. BIBFRAME and library Linked Data will enable libraries to publish their resources in a way that the Web understands, consume Linked Data to enrich their resources relevant to the libraries' user communities, and visualize networks across collections. However, one of the important steps for transitioning to BIBFRAME and library Linked Data involves crosswalks, mapping MARC fields and subfields across data models and performing necessary data reformatting to be in compliance with the specifications of the new model, which is currently BIBFRAME 2.0. This article looks into how the Library of Congress has mapped library bibliographic data from the MARC format to the BIBFRAME 2.0 model and vocabulary published and updated since April 2016, available from http://www.loc.gov/bibframe/docs/index.html based on the recently released conversion specifications and converter, developed by the Library of Congress with input from many community members. The BIBFRAME 2.0 standard and conversion tools will enable libraries to transform bibliographic data from MARC into BIBFRAME 2.0, which introduces a Linked Data model as the improved method of bibliographic control for the future, and make bibliographic information more useful within and beyond library communities.