Too Much of a Good Thing

Abstract

Information overload is a problem that affects law librarians every workday. Information overload occurs when the receiver receives so much data that the receiver is unable to engage in higher levels of processing. Technology and cultural influences play a significant role in creating information overload. Law librarians are particularly susceptible to information overload due to the characteristics of their profession. We should care about information overload because it has lasting negative consequences for our profession. Even though information overload is a real problem with serious consequences, there are numerous ways to minimize information overload and its effects.     

Medical librarians' knowledge and practices in locating clinical trials for systematic reviews

Objective:In regard to locating clinical trials for a systematic review, limited information is available about how librarians locate clinical trials in biomedical databases, including (1) how much information researchers provide librarians to assist with the development of a comprehensive search strategy, (2) which tools librarians turn to for information about study design methodology, and (3) librarians'' confidence levels in their knowledge of study design methodology. A survey was developed to explore these aspects of how a medical librarian locates clinical trials when facilitating systematic reviews for researchers.Methods:In this cross-sectional study, a 21-question survey was sent to medical librarians via several email listservs during April 2020. Respondents were limited to librarians who make the decisions on search terms for systematic reviews.Results:Responses (n=120) indicated that librarians were often asked to search for various types of clinical trials. However, there was not a consistent method for creating search strategies that locate diverse types of clinical trials. Multiple methods were used for search strategy development, with hedges being the most popular method. In general, these librarians considered themselves to be confident in locating trials. Different resources were used to inform study types, including textbooks, articles, library guides and websites.Discussion:Medical librarians indicated that while they felt confident in their searching skills, they did not have a definitive source of information about the various types of clinical trials, and their responses demonstrated a clear need and desire for more information on study design methodology.     

Pediatricians and speech disorders

The authors present the results of personal interviews with several practicing pediatricians relative to their information about speech disorders and their disposition of speech defective children presented to them.     

Digital Transformation Challenges for Universities: Ensuring Information Consistency Across Digital Services

Abstract

Universities struggle to offer complete, up-to-date and consistent information about their key assets to their numerous users across various digital services and communication channels. Key assets include people, papers, books, dissertations, patents, courses, and research projects. The main difficulty stands in the intrinsic data fragmentation and data diversity: data about the key assets is scattered across multiple information silos, data is often duplicated and difficult to correlate due to the diversity in the format, metadata, conventions, and terminology used. We illustrate how this difficulty can be tackled and describe the work carried out at the University of Trento in Italy.     

Finding a Socratic Method for Information Literacy Instruction

ABSTRACT

Librarians can find techniques for improving information literacy in Plato's Socratic dialogs. The Socratic Method is an effective tool that can help engage students in critical thinking about their research, guide students to reveal flaws in their reasoning, and prepare them to learn new research skills. Examples of information literacy instruction drawn from Socratic dialogs are given in this article along with tips for avoiding pitfalls associated with the Socratic Method.     

Cyberplagiarism and the Library

Summary

Plagiarism by students in academic institutions is an old but continuing problem facing teachers and librarians. Although studies disagree on the Internet's effect on student plagiarism, the easy availability of electronic information creates a challenge for librarians, who must be ready not only to detect and deter plagiarism, but also to educate their patrons about it. The purpose of this contribution is to summarize briefly the nature, extent, and causes of plagiarism in its academic aspect, especially as it has been influenced by electronic information sources, and to review measures of its detection and deterrence.     

Developing a web-based toolkit for new mothers about postpartum pelvic floor health in collaboration with a professional medical association

Background:Few electronic resources are available for new mothers with concerns about changes in their pelvic floor following childbirth. Patients may struggle when seeking authoritative information regarding pelvic floor conditions online given the sensitivity of the topic as well as the inadvertent connection to obscene or demeaning content found online. A health sciences librarian partnered with the Motherhood and Pelvic Health Study, an interdisciplinary research group, to provide expert searching skills for a particularly challenging health condition that patients struggle to find useful information on.Case Presentation:A custom rubric was developed to evaluate existing information products, which included criteria for cultural sensitivity, conflicts of interest, and other red flags. This evaluation process enabled the research team to identify top-tier evidence-based materials that were culturally congruent. This collaborative evaluation process led to the creation of a web-based toolkit resource for new mothers concerned about changes in their pelvic floor. The toolkit connects women to pertinent information on a national health organization''s patient portal, supplemented by videos created by the team to serve as models of communication for women and health care providers.Conclusion:When developing a web-based resource, health sciences libraries can partner with research teams to find, evaluate, and disseminate information. Culturally congruent toolkits such as this one can improve access to health information and lead to improved health outcomes. To ensure that the information highlighted in toolkits is both culturally congruent and authoritative, research teams should form advisory committees and partner with relevant professional medical associations.     

Making the Right Assumptions

Summary

Reference librarians often make incorrect assumptions about the library knowledge of their users. These assumptions can impede the reference interview and influence the outcome of the reference transaction. This article examines seven misconceptions about users and discusses how librarians can correct them to better understand their public and improve reference service. The misconceptions discussed involve users: stating their actual information needs, knowing what sources to use, understanding library arrangement and jargon, communicating with librarians, and caring about competency.     

The Interest-Related Information Needs of Teenagers in an English High School

ABSTRACT

A total of 77 pupils in an English high school contributed data via an online questionnaire about their information needs. Many pertained to popular culture and technology, with sport and computer games inspiring particularly large numbers. Current information was especially important to the participants. Future research incorporating interviews would be invaluable in collecting richer data on young people's information needs.     

Closing Circles,Opening Pathways

Summary

The reference librarian in the setting of a Holocaust library serves several unique functions. Together with survivors and their families the librarian assists in reaching closure in their search for information about relatives who perished in the Holocaust. The reference librarian also serves as facilitator for future generations in learning about the Holocaust and coming to terms with the past. The paper also describes the tools and sources that enable these processes to be accomplished.     

Health websites on COVID-19: are they readable and credible enough to help public self-care?

Objective:There are concerns about nonscientific and/or unclear information on the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) that is available on the Internet. Furthermore, people''s ability to understand health information varies and depends on their skills in reading and interpreting information. This study aims to evaluate the readability and creditability of websites with COVID-19-related information.Methods:The search terms “coronavirus,” “COVID,” and “COVID-19” were input into Google. The websites of the first thirty results for each search term were evaluated in terms of their credibility and readability using the Health On the Net Foundation code of conduct (HONcode) and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL), Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG), Gunning Fog, and Flesch Reading Ease Score (FRE) scales, respectively.Results:The readability of COVID-19-related health information on websites was suitable for high school graduates or college students and, thus, was far above the recommended readability level. Most websites that were examined (87.2%) had not been officially certified by HONcode. There was no significant difference in the readability scores of websites with and without HONcode certification.Conclusion:These results suggest that organizations should improve the readability of their websites and provide information that more people can understand. This could lead to greater health literacy, less health anxiety, and the provision of better preventive information about the disease.

Open in a separate windowSaeideh Valizadeh-Haghi     

The Last Revolution and the Next

ABSTRACT

New information and communications technologies have transformed the archival enterprise in less than a quarter century. They have changed the way we work and, more importantly, our relationship with the wider society. Access to archives has increased immeasurably and spurred demand for use of archives. At the same time, in a painful irony, public support for archival work is under attack. The democracy studies movement suggests ways of thinking about archives and their role in civil society. Archivists must continue to assert the case for archives in our larger civic life.     

Student Newspapers and University Libraries: Uncovering Your Library's Reputation and Promoting Its Services

ABSTRACT

To help librarians use their campus newspapers more effectively as a communications tool, this paper discusses the type of information about campus libraries that ten student newspapers published over the course of one year and discusses strategies that librarians can use to build more productive, collaborative relationships with the people who work for their campus newspapers.     

Open All Night

Abstract

Archives can successfully use the Internet to enhance the level of access to information about their holdings, programs and services. The Internet can be used to improve the efficiency of traditional reference services and enable the institution to expand the level of use without an increased burden on existing resources. This essay reviews the experiences of the New York State Archives and Records Administration (SARA), which operates a variety of Internet services using Gopher and the World Wide Web. The essay focuses on how SARA selected and prepared information for Internet access, and how it has incorporated the Internet into its routine operations.     

Integrating Information Literacy into the Graduate Liberal Arts Curriculum: A Faculty-Librarian Collaborative Course Model

SUMMARY

The article presents a faculty-librarian collaborative course model for information literacy instruction for liberal arts students. Information literacy was integrated seamlessly into a master's thesis seminar, and the faculty member and librarian worked together to teach students effective research skills while helping them make personal connections to their theses. The learning experience was transformational. As students engaged themselves with problems of the real world and shared their learning, their voices articulated insights about themselves and the world. The authors conclude that integrating information literacy into the curriculum and teaching students holistically is the key to successful student learning.     

Library Webmasters in Medium-Sized Academic Libraries

Abstract

Library webmasters in medium-sized academic libraries were surveyed about their educational backgrounds, job responsibilities, and training and experience levels in Web development. The article summarizes the findings of the survey with recommendations for libraries and library and information science programs.