Towards Transformation? An Update on the Resource Centre Fora of South Africa

This paper follows an earlier contribution which described the emergence of popular information networks, the resource centre fora in South Africa in the 1980s and 1990s. This update on the fora sketches their contribution to the National Education Policy Investigation's Library and Information Services report which put forward national policy options. The resource centre fora's role in the new Translis (Transforming our Library and Information Services) Coalition is described and their representation at the International Federation of Library Association's conference in Barcelona in August 1993 noted.Finally, the role of the resource centres and their fora in the shifting paradigms in library and information work leading up to, and shortly after, the April 1994 election is reviewed. Crucial challenges are identified as funding, resisting 'agenda setting' by funders, and serving the rural areas effectively. Practical suggestions are made about reaching women in particular, about training and needs assessment. Finally the importance of the fora's meeting these challenges and making a contribution to reconstruction and development is noted.     

Technology Criticism for Technophiles

The Future Voices in Public Services column is a forum for students in graduate library and information science programs to discuss key issues they see in academic library public services, to envision what they feel librarians in public service have to offer to academia, to tell us of their visions for the profession, and to tell us of research that is going on in library schools. We hope to provide fresh perspectives from those entering our field, in both the United States and other countries. Interested faculty of graduate library and information science programs who would like their students’ ideas represented in these pages are invited to contact Nancy H. Dewald at nxd7@psu.edu.

Matthew Baker is a recent graduate of the Simmons Graduate School of Library and Information Science (GSLIS). Here he makes the case for librarians to recognize both the strengths and limitations of technology, and to guide students toward that recognition as well.

Founded in 1902, Simmons GSLIS (http://www.simmons.edu/gslis/) is one of the country's oldest library and information science programs. With campuses in Boston and South Hadley, Mass., the school is ranked by U.S. News & World Report among the Top 10 in the nation. GSLIS offers master's and doctoral programs, along with postmaster's licensure and certificate opportunities and continuing education workshops. Master's degree students can choose concentrations in Archives Management, School Library Teacher, or Library and Information Science; doctoral students focus either on Library and Information Science or Managerial Leadership in the Information Professions.

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LIS Training for Support Staff: An Initial Review of Associate's and Certificate Programs In The U.S.

ABSTRACT

The author presents the results of a review and analysis of thirty-five colleges and universities in the United States that currently offer an Associate's degree and/or vocational certificate(s) in Library and Information Science. These programs, which are geared primarily to existing library support staff who seek additional training, have been created independently of each other and without a national standard to guide the curriculum. Although the American Library Association-Allied Professional Association's Library Support Staff Certification offers guidelines for the educational content of Associate's level LIS programs, a comparison reveals significant gaps. Furthermore, the ALA-APA program currently approves courses at only three institutions in the nation, and certifies graduates from only fourteen. The author identifies areas of misalignment between the Library Support Staff Certification and existing LIS programs and suggests directions for future improvement.

Column Editor’s Note Community college libraries are deeply underrepresented in the professional literature and organizations of academic librarianship. As a result, the challenges and successes that take place in the community college world are largely invisible to others. This JLA column lifts the curtain to reveal the uniqueness of community college libraries as described by their most passionate advocates: the librarians who work there. Articles in this column pay tribute to the commitment and creativity of community college librarians by providing a platform where they can share their professional perspectives and stories. Want to write for this column? Interested authors are invited to submit articles to the editor at kimreed@cwidaho.cc.     

Books on Lotion Pictures

L. Bernard Happe's Basic Lotion Picture Technology (Hastings House, $10.30)

Thomas Fensch's Films on the Campus (A.S. Barnes, $15.00)

Linda B. Greensfelder, The American Film Institute's Guide to College Film Courses: 1970-71 (American Library Association, 50 'East Huron St., Chicago, Ill. 60611, $2.50 paperback)

Neil P. Hurley's Theology Through Film (Harper & Row, $5.95)

Lex Reed's Big Screen, Little Screen (MacMillan, $7.95)

The New York TimesFilm Reviews: 1913-1968 (Library and Information Services Division, New York Times, 229 West 43rd St., New York, N.Y. 10036, $395 for set of six volume)     

The Program for Cooperative Cataloging: Backstory and Future Potential

Abstract

In 1988 the Library of Congress and eight library participants undertook a two-year pilot known as the National Coordinated Cataloging Program (NCCP) to increase the number of quality bibliographic records. Subsequently the Bibliographic Services Study Committee reviewed the pilot. Discussions held at the Library of Congress (LC) and in other fora resulted in the creation of the Cooperative Cataloging Council, and, ultimately, the establishment of the Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC) in 1994. The conditions that contributed to a successful approach to shared cataloging are described. The article concludes with considerations for expanding the future effectiveness of the PCC.     

Master of “Complex and Ambiguous Phenomena”: The ERL’s Role in a Library Service Platform Migration

ABSTRACT

Library Services Platforms (LSPs) offer academic libraries the ability to integrate the management of print and electronic resources in one centralized platform. This article will examine the role of electronic resources librarians (ERLs) in a large-scale, consortial LSP implementation relative to NASIG’s Core Competencies for Electronic Resources Librarians. The speakers, Conor Cote and Kirsten Ostergaard, hail from Montana, where the Treasure State Academic Information and Library Services Consortium, comprised of seventeen academic libraries, is implementing Ex Libris’s Alma LSP in conjunction with the Primo discovery layer. The aim of this presentation and article is to examine how the skills and competencies of an ERL can be leveraged for an effective and minimally disruptive LSP implementation.     

Academicism Versus Professionalism in LIS Programs

The Future Voices in Public Services column is a forum for students in graduate library and information science programs to discuss key issues they see in academic library public services, to envision what they feel librarians in public service have to offer to academia, to tell us of their visions for the profession, or to tell us of research that is going on in library schools. We hope to provide fresh perspectives from those entering our field, in both the United States and other countries. Interested faculty of graduate library and information science programs who would like their students' ideas represented in these pages are invited to contact Nancy H. Dewald at nxd7@psu.edu.

Martha Stortz is a student in the Library and Information Science (LIS) program at the University of Western Ontario. In this essay she offers her perspective on the teaching of librarianship.

The University of Western Ontario's LIS program is part of the Faculty of Information and Media Studies (FIMS) and enjoys the benefits of interdisciplinarity brought about by collaboration with other FIMS programs such as Journalism and Media Studies. Originally founded as the independent School of Library and Information Science in 1967, the school merged with other programs in 1996 to form FIMS. Two major LIS programs of study are offered: one leading to the Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) and the other to the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). The MLIS program is accredited by the American Library Association.

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Student Assistant Training in a Small Academic Library

Abstract

At Valparaiso University's main library, the Christopher Center for Library and Information Resources (formerly the Moellering Library), student employees are an integral part of day-to-day operations. Students work at the reference desk and must be able to handle reference questions. Since the fall 2000 semester, the Reference Services Librarian has been creating a training program for the student assistants, consisting of an initial training period and a series of quizzes combined with review sessions. Student assistants are also indispensable in Instruction Services. These students are charged with library web site and instruction materials' updates. Methods, lessons learned throughout the process, and quiz questions are used to illustrate the development of the training program. Student performance evaluations and feedback are positive.     

The Klaipeda University Library in Lithuania

Summary

The author, Library Director at the University of Klaipeda (Lithuania) and Washington State University Libraries' Library Fellow, writes about her own library in the context of other Lithuanian academic libraries and emerging consortia in Lithuania and the European Community. Both the Consortium of Lithuanian Libraries' project, the Lithuanian Integrated Library Information System (LIBIS), and the European Community's project, the Trans-European Cooperative Scheme for Higher Education (TEMPUS), are specifically noted. The author also offers both her impressions of American academic libraries gathered during her experience as a Library Fellow based at Washington State University Libraries and her hopes for the future of academic libraries in Lithuania.     

Appendix 1

Summary

Holland Reference Services, the largest reference unit of Washington State University Libraries, dates from the merger of two divisional libraries, the Humanities Library and the Social Sciences Library in 1978. In this appendix, the author presents some of Holland's history and vital Statistics.     

Research/Reference Works

Margaret Labash Young, Harold Chester Young, and Anthony T. Truzas, et al. Directory of Special Libraries and Information Centers (Detroit, Mich.: Gale Research Co., 1977---published in two volumes with an updating service at prices noted below)

Anthony Kruzas and Linda Verekamp Sullivan, eds. Encyclopedia of Information Systems and Services (Detroit, Mich.: Gale Research Co., 1978---$95.00)

Paul Wasserman, et al, eds. Encyclopedia of Business Information Sources (Detroit, Mich.: Gale Research Co., 1976---$48.00)

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1978---$39.50)Albert Walker's “Public Relations Bibliography: Sixth Edition, 1976-77,” Public Relations Review 4:4 (Winter 1978)

Ron Nordland, Names and Numbers: A Journalist's Guide to the Most Needed Information Sources and Contacts (640 pp.)

Jerry M. Rosenberg, Dictionary of Business and Management (564 pp.)

Scientific American Cumulative Index, May 1948 -June 1978 (Scientific American, P.O. Box 5947, New York, N.Y. 10017---$38.50 prepublication, and $45.00 afterwords)     

Information Nation: Education and Careers in the Emerging Information Professions by Jeffrey M. Stanton,Indira R. Guzman,and Kathryn R. Stam

The Future Voices in Public Services column is a forum for students in graduate library and information science programs to discuss key issues they see in academic library public services, to envision what they feel librarians in public service have to offer to academia, to tell us of their visions for the profession, or to tell us of research that is going on in library schools. We hope to provide fresh perspectives from those entering our field, in both the United States and other countries. Interested faculty of graduate library and information science programs, who would like their students' ideas represented in these pages, are invited to contact Nancy H. Dewald at nxd7@psu.edu.

Marissa K. Mason is an MSIS student specializing in archives and records management at the University at Albany's Department of Information Studies. In this essay, she discusses the opportunities and challenges of using various social media for promotional outreach of archives and special collections.

The University at Albany's Department of Information Studies, part of the College of Computing and Information, offers a broad-based Master of Science in Information Science degree accredited by the American Library Association. The program has concentrations in library and information services, archives and records administration, school library media, information management and policy, and information systems and technology. Students learn how information is created, organized, represented, stored, accessed, retrieved, managed and used. In addition, they investigate the uses and impacts of information and technology on individuals, organizations and society, including formal and informal communities, libraries, government, and business. A required internship course helps ensure that the program's graduates are ready to enter the world of information professionals. For more information, see http://www.albany.edu/informationstudies/index.php

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Appendix 3

Summary

To better understand the roots of Holland Reference Services in two divisional libraries, the Humanities Library and the Social Sciences Library, the author has culled the Archive in honor of Pauline Lilje in order to show readers some of his favorite original documents from the '70s.     

Thinking About the Next Three to Five Years

ABSTRACT

This is the fourth time we've featured a library's annual report. Our first covered the Denver Public Library. The second analyzed the Memphis-Shelby County Public Library &; Information Center. The Tulsa City-County Public Library was number three. Our fourth feature looks at the Cleveland Library's 2001 Annual Report.     

Two 2015 Summer Conferences

ABSTRACT

The author reports on two conferences she attended during the summer of 2015. The first was the annual conference of the British Slavic (Slavonic) librarians’ organization, the Council for Slavonic and East European Library and Information Services (COSEELIS) in Cambridge, England. The second was the ninth World Congress of the International Council for Central and East European Studies (ICCEES), in the Makuhari convention center in Chiba city, outside of Tokyo.     

The Reserve Department Revisited

The Future Voices in Public Services column is a forum for students in graduate library and information science programs to discuss key issues they see in academic library public services, to envision what they feel librarians in public service have to offer to academia, to tell us of their visions for the profession, or to tell us of research that is going on in library schools. We hope to provide fresh perspectives from those entering our field, in both the United States and other countries. Interested faculty of graduate library and information science programs who would like their students' ideas represented in these pages are invited to contact Nancy H. Dewald at nxd7@psu.edu.

Heather Dodge is a recent graduate of Long Island University's Palmer School of Library and Information Science and has completed an additional Master's degree in Humanities and Social Thought from NYU's Draper Program for Humanities and Social Thought. In this column, she discusses the effective development of chat reference competencies.

The ALA-Accredited Palmer School of Library and Information Science was established in 1959 at Long Island University's (LIU) Post campus. Palmer's mission is to empower information professionals through education, research and achievement. The Palmer School offers a Doctorate in Information Studies; the Master of Science in Library and Information Science with optional concentrations in Archives and Records Management, Rare Books and Special Collections; Advanced Certificates in both Archives and Records Management and in Public Library Administration. The School also offers a Masters in Science in School Library Media. The Archives and Records Management certificate can be taken post-Master's or concurrently as part of the MSLIS program and is now offered both face-to-face and online.     

The heart of the matter: academic and public libraries adapt to pandemics through time and technology

Abstract

Delaney Daly is earning a Master of Library Science degree at the Texas Woman’s University School of Library and Information Studies. She will graduate in December of 2020 and works at Vail Public Library in Vail, Colorado.     

Hacking the Collection: Changing the Collection in Response to a Migration

Abstract

In 2016, the Munday Library at St. Edward’s University migrated to a new discovery layer. The Library had been an EBSCO Discovery Services (EDS) customer for six years, and the migration to Ex Libris’s Alma-Primo negatively impacted content discovery and collection usage due to issues with EBSCO’s proprietary metadata and Primo’s OpenURL link resolver. This article discusses switching the library’s collection using collection data analysis to respond to the change in discovery layer. The data-informed changes made to the collection improved collection usability and access.