MINERVA: Archiving Born-Digital Material at the Library of Congress

ABSTRACT

MINERVA (Mapping the Internet Electronic Resources Virtual Archive) is the Library of Congress's largest archive of born-digital materials. The article discusses crawling to find material, selection, copyright considerations, the importance of metadata, cataloging, and the user interface.     

Mountains,Valleys, and Pathways: Serials Users' Needs and Steps to Meet Them

ABSTRACT

An overview of the preliminary analysis of focus group and semi-structured interviews identifies how and why college and university information seekers meet their information needs. In the age of immediate gratification, in certain situations users may settle for information that is quickly and easily available instead of library sources that are considered more authoritative and trustworthy. Meeting user needs in the library environment requires updating library catalogs to implement discovery and recommender services that provide the associations and links that are available to users in other Web-based environments and that meet these users' expectations of online systems and sources.     

Applying user analytics to uses and effects of social media in China

ABSTRACT

We introduce what user analytics can do in the first half of the paper and then illustrate how to do user analytics in the second half. In the current context, user analytics refers to a set of diverse communication research methods on uses and effects of social media. User analytics has evolved from TV ratings research to online user research. The history illustrates what data sources, measures, and analyses can be used for what types of research questions under user analytics. We discuss the similarities of and differences between user analytics and other methods of computational communication research (e.g. content mining and online experiments), and compare the strengths and weaknesses of user analytics with traditional quantitative methods (e.g. survey). Finally, we present an application study of Chinese bloggers to demonstrate how to employ user analytics methods to study the production, consumption, and effects of user-generated content.     

Batter Up: Classifying Pre-World War II Baseball Cards Using Dewey Decimal

Abstract

Within cataloging non-book items, literature on sports cards is limited and not rooted in academic research. Sports cards provide valuable statistical information and evidence of lineups. This article addresses the gap by examining Jefferson Burdick’s The American Card Catalog. Known as the Dewey Decimal system of trading cards, the Catalog is the preeminent resource for collecting pre-World War II cards. This article expands upon Burdick’s work and guides librarians through the building of a class number for individual sports cards. The result incorporates classification methods to support user search, and highlights the historical value of cards within library collections.     

Blogging for the Distance Librarian

Abstract

Based on user lookups, Merriam-Webster Onlineproclaimed “Blog” the word of the year for 2004.¹ Distance librarianship, until mid-way through 2004, was a subject that was underrepresented in the blogosphere. The inception of a blog called The Distant Librarian: Comments on the World of Distance Librarianshipis chronicled in this article, along with suggestions for how and where to get started, as well as how to incorporate blogs that support library services for distance students.     

Forty Years of IIC Membership from a Central European Perspective

Abstract

Manfred Koller, former head of the Bundesdenkmalamt in Vienna, was awarded Honorary Fellowship of the International Institute for the Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works at the Annual General Meeting in January 2006. This is a written version of the paper he delivered after the award.     

UpToDate versus DynaMed: a cross-sectional study comparing the speed and accuracy of two point-of-care information tools

Objective:To compare the accuracy, time to answer, user confidence, and user satisfaction between UpToDate and DynaMed (formerly DynaMed Plus), which are two popular point-of-care information tools.Methods:A crossover study was conducted with medical residents in obstetrics and gynecology and family medicine at the University of Toronto in order to compare the speed and accuracy with which they retrieved answers to clinical questions using UpToDate and DynaMed. Experiments took place between February 2017 and December 2019. Following a short tutorial on how to use each tool and completion of a background survey, participants attempted to find answers to two clinical questions in each tool. Time to answer each question, the chosen answer, confidence score, and satisfaction score were recorded for each clinical question.Results:A total of 57 residents took part in the experiment, including 32 from family medicine and 25 from obstetrics and gynecology. Accuracy in clinical answers was equal between UpToDate (average 1.35 out of 2) and DynaMed (average 1.36 out of 2). However, time to answer was 2.5 minutes faster in UpToDate compared to DynaMed. Participants were also more confident and satisfied with their answers in UpToDate compared to DynaMed.Conclusions:Despite a preference for UpToDate and a higher confidence in responses, the accuracy of clinical answers in UpToDate was equal to those in DynaMed. Previous exposure to UpToDate likely played a major role in participants'' preferences. More research in this area is recommended.     

The Reference Interview as Partnership: An Examination of Librarian,Library User,and Social Interaction

SUMMARY

The reflections penned in this article began as a single paragraph contributed several years ago to Charles Anderson's “The Exchange,” a column in RQ (now Reference & User Services Quarterly) (Anderson, 1995). I elaborated upon the concept through further reflection and augmented the ideas through a literature review. These ideas are meant to spark interest among library school students, new reference librarians, and veteran reference librarians who perhaps need new reason to show up with a positive attitude at that next reference shift. The thesis is that this moment in time within a given reference interview occurs only once, regardless of how many times a librarian has heard the question. We as librarians must always be alert to respond appropriately to the distinct contributions that the given library user brings to that question. In the process, we are equals in that the librarian knows more of the research technique to uncover the appropriate sources, but the library user knows more of what his specific slant on the topic will be. We would be wise to stay diligent, to listen well, and to take nothing for granted. The reference interview then becomes a lively, energetic, and stimulating discussion meant to lead to library research at its best.     

Combining History of Medicine and Library Instruction: An Innovative Approach to Teaching Database Searching to Medical Students

Library faculty members at the Health Sciences Library at the LSU Health Shreveport campus offer a database searching class for third-year medical students during their surgery rotation. For a number of years, students completed “ten-minute clinical challenges,” but the instructors decided to replace the clinical challenges with innovative exercises using The Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus to emphasize concepts learned. The Surgical Papyrus is an online resource that is part of the National Library of Medicine's “Turning the Pages” digital initiative. In addition, vintage surgical instruments and historic books are displayed in the classroom to enhance the learning experience.     

Building a Collaborative AgNIC Site as an Outreach Model

Abstract

Construction of the Rangelands of the Western U.S. web site provides a dynamic model for information outreach. Central to its success is the collaboration between librarians, other information professionals, and rangeland experts committed to working together for a common goal: a selective, centralized, web-based resource designed to help meet the information needs of rangeland scientists, range professionals, students, faculty, ranchers, environmentalists, librarians, and other stakeholders. Begun over eight years ago by a University of Arizona AgNIC Project team, the effort is extending to include participation of range and information professionals from the other Western states. In addition to linking to existing digital content, the project seeks to create or support the creation of critical electronic information resources through an integrated user interface.     

Student Values and Research: Are Millennials Really Changing the Future of Reference and Research?

ABSTRACT

This article provides perspective on the research habits of Millennials, placing them in generational context while questioning whether adherence to generational differences hinders educational pedagogy. An exploratory survey at Pima Community College (PCC) East Campus provides context from which Millennial behaviors, commonly perceived by faculty and in literature, can be scrutinized. The article discusses the preference for experiential learning across generations and the misnomer of the digital native, while discussing the student as information consumer and the consumer behavior behind library use. The significance of customer service and user education to library use is demonstrated. The future of libraries is discussed to include service barriers and the outlook that the Web is enhancing rather than eliminating the need for libraries.

This article originally published in Journal of Library Administration, Vol. 49, Issue 4, pages 341–364, 2009. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01930820902832454