Profiles in Resource Sharing: Peter Bae

ABSTRACT

At a large university library, helping patrons use a full text database such as LEXIS-NEXIS places pressure on reference staff because the service is complex. Staff cannot give the proper attention to patrons because activity at the reference desk can limit the time spent with each individual. Full-text services require more instruction and reference help than electronic bibliographic databases, but patrons often come for assistance just before the assignment is due. To relieve such pressure, librarians at Penn State's Pattee Library developed Just-in-Time demonstrations to help patrons learn how to use LEXIS-NEXIS when they need it. The Justin-Time demonstrations provide a weekly alternative which relieves the “I need it now” pressure by providing instruction on a weekly basis. These demonstrations have been well received by patrons and staff.     

Maximizing Access to Resources: A Distance Learning Librarian Joins Forces with Colleagues at Supporting (Proximal) Libraries

ABSTRACT

Saint Leo University faculty provide instruction at SCE sites located on eight community college campuses and three military bases in the Florida region. This article will examine ways in which the Distance Learning/Reference (DL/Ref) librarian facilitates off-campus student access to both the university library's online and print resources and to library resources at nearby supporting, or “proximal,” libraries for students who are too far from the University Campus to use anything except the Ask-a-Librarian, 1–800 reference, and Interlibrary Loan services. These students must rely on proximal libraries, which include large public library systems, library consortia, community college libraries, and military base libraries, for access to print resources as well as Internet access to the university's online content. Providing library access services for such a large, disparate group requires the additional combined efforts of administrators, other faculty librarians, and supporting libraries.     

A survey of Internet access and usage among undergraduates in an African university

The study surveyed the use of Internet among undergraduate students at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. A total of 1000 questionnaires were distributed using a stratified sampling method to select the respondents. Ten faculties were covered. A total of 664 questionnaires were returned and all were usable. The findings revealed a high percentage use of the Internet. The access point for them is cyber cafes. The university library though linked to the Internet is yet to provide access to students. Respondents pay for the access time through their pocket money for food, books and assistance from friends. Their use of the Internet has not affected their use of the library. Some problems they face in their use of the Internet include slowness of the server and payment for the access time. The study recommends that the university should provide access points for students. The university library also should continue to aim at ensuring that it gets enough funds from the government and sponsors to be able to provide access points in the library for use by students and include the use of Internet in its library instruction course.     

A survey of Internet access and usage among undergraduates in an African university

Abstract

The study surveyed the use of Internet among undergraduate students at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. A total of 1000 questionnaires were distributed using a stratified sampling method to select the respondents. Ten faculties were covered. A total of 664 questionnaires were returned and all were usable. The findings revealed a high percentage use of the Internet. The access point for them is cyber cafes. The university library though linked to the Internet is yet to provide access to students. Respondents pay for the access time through their pocket money for food, books and assistance from friends. Their use of the Internet has not affected their use of the library. Some problems they face in their use of the Internet include slowness of the server and payment for the access time. The study recommends that the university should provide access points for students. The university library also should continue to aim at ensuring that it gets enough funds from the government and sponsors to be able to provide access points in the library for use by students and include the use of Internet in its library instruction course.     

The Impact of the Internet

Summary

The Internet has brought great changes to reference services in academic libraries. One significant impact has been the growth and evolution of the reference librarian's role as teacher. This article reviews the literature on the librarian's increased teaching role with the emergence of the Internet, discusses the changing student populations who require a librarian's instruction and the skills that students need to achieve information literacy, and reviews how the Internet has affected current teaching strategies including classroom instruction, Web-based instruction, and efforts to integrate information literacy instruction into the curriculum. In addition, it also introduces emerging Internet technologies with their potential impact on teaching and instruction. The authors conclude that the reference librarian's teaching role will further increase with the development of information technologies.     

Reinventing the Library's Message Through the Alignment of Research and Instruction

This article is about the Walker Management Library staff and services at Vanderbilt University's Owen Graduate School of Management and its primary audience, the graduate business school community. In the spirit of continuous improvement, new goals were set to increase the library's impact on the school and the end product, the graduate business school students. To do so, the library staff retooled specific practices on how we provided reference and instruction services. Through planning and experimentation, the library staff consciously redefined our message, methods of delivery, and did so in ways that other libraries can duplicate.     

Internet In-Service Training at the University of New Mexico General Library

This article summarizes in-service Internet training for reference and bibliographic instruction personnel at the University of New Mexico General Library. The training incorporated hands-on instruction and collaboration with the campus computing center. Sessions included an introduction to the Internet, electronic mail, and FTP, future sessions will aver advanced e-mail, accessing bibliographic and non-bibliographic databases, and the use of the Internet as a reference tool. The authors discuss practical aspects of organizing the training, including logistical and political problems. what we learned from out experiences, and recommendations for future training needs.     

Promoting European Union depository collections in the United States through bibliographic instruction

The European Union (EU) maintains a system of depository libraries in the United States. This study surveyed 55 of the U.S. European Union depositories concerning the scope of their efforts to provide bibliographic instruction for the EU collection. Survey respondents were also asked about other promotional efforts. The study found that librarians responsible for the European Union collections were enthusiastic about the applicability of the materials to a variety of research questions, but that the time available for instruction in their use was limited. In designing an instruction program, respondents indicated that it is important to include information about the structure and function of the EU, as well as information about the use of the major reference tools.     

Instruction and Outreach at Colorado State University Libraries

Summary

The Colorado State University Libraries' instructional outreach services have undergone significant changes since the reorganization of Reference Services in January of 1998. The new organizational structure created a separate group for instruction, outreach and staff training, which includes the extended university programs position (distance learning), and a new position, the undergraduate instruction librarian. This new group gives the Libraries an avenue in which to provide focused instruction to the Colorado State University community and limited outreach to campus affiliates and the Fort Collins community. This article discusses outreach activities before and after the reorganization including services to specific populations such as African Americans, Hispanics, distance learning populations and extension services, undergraduates, and disabled students.     

Opinions and experiences of university faculty regarding library research instruction: Results of a web-based survey at the University of Southern Colorado

In March 2000, all 188 University of Southern Colorado (USC) nonlibrary faculty members were surveyed to determine their needs and opinions regarding library research instruction. Forty-four (23.40%) of the faculty responded to questions concerning their past experiences with library research instruction, the frequency with which they use various library and Internet resources, the types of library research instruction they currently use with their students, and their level of support for proposed new programs. Results showed an overwhelming interest on the part of respondents for an online library research skills tutorial. The survey also revealed the need for professional development opportunities for faculty. A higher proportion of respondents with 10 years or less of teaching experience than those with more than 10 years of experience indicated they had received formal library instruction from a librarian. However, no direct correlation could be shown between years of teaching experience and respondents' perceived value of library research instruction. Nor did a correlation exist to show that respondents with fewer years of teaching experience were more likely to ask a librarian to provide formal library instruction to their students. In fact, respondents with more than 20 years of teaching experience provided most types of library instruction more often than less experienced respondents. Overall, USC faculty rated their students' abilities to conduct library research very low. However, they had slightly more confidence in their students' abilities to find, evaluate, and use information they found on the Internet over information from traditional print sources.     

Servicing the Various Publics at a State Supported Academic Library

Reference librarians and administrators are always concerned about ways to provide the best service to their patrons. The traditional user groups of the academic library are the faculty, staff, and students of the college or university. In a publicly supported academic library, patrons come from the general community, including children, adolescents, and business people, as well as from the university. This article emphasizes the importance of examining the reference service currently provided, recognizing and identifying the needs of various user groups both within and outside the university community, recognizing current budgetary and staff limitations at the library, and setting priorities for future service opportunities.     

高校图书馆虚拟社区建设策略

网络虚拟社区是一种新的社区形态,社区提供各种交流平台,使社区成员得以互动。基于这一理论,对高校图书馆虚拟社区建设进行了详细的分析与探讨,构建高校图书馆网站虚拟社区功能模型,围绕虚拟社区这个平台,凸现资源优势、服务优势、竞争优势和文化品牌优势。高校图书馆要运用虚拟社区模式建立成功的网站,以门户站点作为虚拟社区的发展方向,利用虚拟社区提供个性化服务,建立和维护反馈循环机制等,为高校图书馆创新发展,开拓新的平台。     

Noodling Down the Internet:

Some of the problems created by the introduction of the Internet to library services are discussed. These include problems with the structure of the Internet, library staff issues, an analysis of the preparedness of current users for the Internet, and bibliographic instruction impact.     

The “blur” of federal information and services: Implications for university libraries

Information product content is becoming increasingly interrelated with associated services. This concept is called “blurring” by current management authors Davis and Meyer. In the realm of federal information, there is great potential for “blurred” offerings. Citizens could have access to customized and filtered information from federal websites and could perform transactions with government agencies over the Internet. While some technical, infrastructure, and policy issues will take time to sort out, many innovative products and services will be offered over the Internet. Whether the federal agencies themselves will provide these customized services or whether institutions in the public and/or private sector will provide them remains to be seen. Universities need to re-think how they offer services related to federal information in the networked environment. Such activities as reference service, instruction, access to data archives, and staff training need to be re-examined in light of the changes enabled by the Internet and the development of new types of content and services.     

读者参与高校图书馆阅读品牌创建研究

[目的/意义]探讨移动互联网环境下，如何通过对阅读推广品牌化运作及对阅读品牌社群的教育、引导实现高校图书馆价值，试图为我国高校图书馆阅读品牌创建提供借鉴与参考。[方法/过程]以湘潭大学图书馆话剧《北鸢》排演为例，就读者参与阅读品牌创建的过程、特征、经验等品牌运营要素进行分析。[结果/结论]高校图书馆阅读品牌创建，首先需要发挥阅读品牌社群的作用，进一步强化阅读推广的品牌化运作，让读者社群成为图书馆品牌的创建者。其次需要强化馆员管理意识，从品牌的设计管理、品牌定位、品牌传播、系统维系等方面进行教育、引导，从而实现我国高校图书馆阅读推广层次与水平的提升。高校图书馆阅读品牌创建是基于营销思维下，将公共文化服务按经营管理理念开展的创新服务。在读者参与阅读品牌创建的过程中需要合理审视，由专业馆员与网络技术人员协作，发挥数字社群的作用，利用阅读社群的口碑传播功能实现品牌创建。     

高校图书馆留学生信息素养教育现状与思考

[目的/意义] 调研国内高校图书馆留学生信息素养教育实践进展,提出可行性发展对策,为我国高校图书馆开展支撑学校"双一流"战略与国际化建设的留学生信息素养教育提供参考。[方法/过程] 面向我国东西南北中5个地区的91所开展留学生教育的高校,对其下属图书馆的104名馆员和上海交通大学的20名留学生开展问卷调查,并通过调查结果分析我国高校图书馆留学生信息素养教育存在的优势、不足和应对策略。[结果/结论] 中国半数以上高校图书馆开展了留学生信息素养教育,相关教学实践呈现出授课人员与师资多样化、教学类型与内容多维化、教学方法与语言多元化等特点,存在对留学生信息素养培育的重视程度不足、教学实践有待加强、授课人员队伍严重缺乏、教学效果尚需提升等问题,可通过加强留学生信息素养教育规划设计、夯实师资队伍建设、注重馆员教学能力提升、加强新型教学方法运用等对策来改善。     

Collection development and acquisitions in a changing university environment

Fondren Library at Rice University has reorganized and combined the library public services staff with the public services staff of the computer center. This reorganization was the result of several challenges at the university: the increasing use of computing in instruction, the rise in support questions for delivering information to the desktop, and the inability to add staff lines. These changes have affected the ways in which collection development is done, expanding the roles of selectors and cutting into their time. The line between public service and collection development has blurred. Some of the time constraints have affected procedures used in acquisitions.     

Information and Research Support Services:

Organizing reference services to use paraprofessionals as information providers can help academic libraries adapt to new technology, provide staff support for resource sharing, and assist reference librarians in developing new and enhanced roles on campus. It is a staffing alternative that can facilitate the integration and use of electronic reference resources, such as Online Catalogs, CD-ROM databases and end user searching by providing more assistance to users. Placing responsibility for teaching library clients how to use document delivery with the same staff who help users identify needed materials makes access easier for requestors, and resource sharing more readily accepted by students and faculty. And by separating Information and Research Support activities and sharing the workload between staff at different levels, reference librarians can provide an advanced level of research assistance, spend more time on support for faculty research collection development, classroom instruction, and the development and improvement of programs. Training of the paraprofessional staff and practice of the referral process are essential to the librarian-paraprofessional partnership this model requires. This article describes how paraprofessionals have been used in reference at a new academic library, and how the role of the reference librarian has been redefined as a result.     

Use of Special Collections as an Opportunity for Outreach in the Academic Library

ABSTRACT

Academic special collections librarians have made great strides in making their collections discoverable and accessible to a wide audience. This article examines use of special collections departments and the many kinds of outreach librarians undertake to increase access to and knowledge of their collections, including creating electronic finding aids, digitizing material, collaborating with faculty, increasing participation in instruction and reference, and using exhibits, social media, and relationships with community partners to further the mission and goals of the library and the college or university. The article uses the University of Illinois at Chicago Special Collections Department as a case study.     

Libraries to Labs

Summary

The contemporary academic library increasingly provides one or more public access computer labs. Students use these labs for word processing, Internet browsing, creating spreadsheets, and other related applications. Providing these types of computer labs in academic libraries is a relatively new development and requires effective management techniques. The purpose of this article is to examine some of the current management concepts, including background, funding, design and implementation, staffing, equipment, software, security and control, and patron relations. Effective management relies on a combination of physical and internal measures as well as a knowledgeable support staff. With the advancement of the Internet and other emerging technologies, the library must strive to maintain its position as a leader in the university environment. Providing computer labs is a valid response to the increasing demand by patrons for electronic resources.