Adobe: A Primer for Librarians–A Collaborative Article

ABSTRACT

This article is a collection of short pieces by various authors containing hints, tips and best practices reguarding Adobe Acrobat and its constituent pieces including Adobe Capture. Ariel, interlibrary loan and electronic reserve applications are included.     

Experiential Learning: Context and Connections for Legal Research–A Case Study

The American Bar Association requires that all law students receive “substantial instruction” in legal research. This article discusses a unique legal research program that meets this requirement by focusing on experiential learning. Two components of experiential learning, context and connections, are explained pedagogically and specifically as to legal research curriculum.     

A Faculty–Librarian Partnership: A Unique Opportunity for Course Integration

ABSTRACT

Librarians at the University of California, Berkeley have created a partnership with faculty in the teaching of a special course, “Introduction to Environmental Studies.” This class is interdisciplinary in nature, covering science and the humanities, and has offered a unique opportunity for library staff to develop a special program incorporating the teaching of analytical skills along with research skills for specific subject areas. The continuous collaboration with faculty and the challenges of working with students with very varied backgrounds and interests are the main points of discussion in this article.     

Brazil: Has the Country of the Future Become the Country of the Present for Book Publishing?

This article analyses the growth of the Brazilian book market in the decade from 2004 to 2013 and compares it to Brazil’s GNP growth. It also studies the recent developments of three factors that should contribute to the performance of the Brazilian book industry: the growth of the middle class, the decrease of functional illiteracy and the higher number of college institutions and college students in the country. This article shows that despite these factors, the Brazilian book industry is underperforming and not living up to its potential.     

Faculty–library collaboration: A model for University of Colombo

Faculty–library collaboration paves the way to make students information literate and finally to make them life-long learners. In traditional universities, the faculty–library collaboration is an emerging phenomenon as these two entities are driven by separate agendas; teaching and providing services. Rapid development in information and communication technologies has built a platform for these two institutions to work collaboratively and for making synergies. The purpose of this paper is to describe the conceptual model for faculty–library collaboration based on the extensive literature review and some strategies used by librarians at University of Colombo to collaborate with the academics.     

The “Big Deal”: A Survey of How Libraries Are Responding and What the Alternatives Are

The library's mission is to support the information and educational needs of its users. E-journal “Big Deals” offer libraries one method of maximizing the resources available to their users, but, with libraries now experiencing flat or decreasing budgets, these Big Deals present budgetary difficulties for libraries. They also remove collection development decisions from the control of the libraries themselves. Some libraries have canceled their Big Deals, resulting in problems. This article presents the results of an online survey of libraries regarding these bundled journal packages.     

Building Cataloging Capacity for Libraries in South Sudan: A North–South–South Collaboration

In the developing world, a common trend is to have north–south collaborations constituting most of the continuous professional development (CPD) activities for librarians. The emerging drift highlighted in this article is a north–south–south initiative aimed at rebuilding the University of Juba Library through capacity-building of the library staff. This article will illuminate the process of equipping library staff with cataloging skills in the absence of previous library training. This endeavor is a result of the collaborative efforts of Makerere University Library (MakLib) in Uganda and the University of Bergen Library (UoBL) in Norway under the Juba Library Automation Project (JULAP). JULAP's main objective is to rebuild the University of Juba Library with the components of library automation and training of library staff. This article will concentrate on the practical training of the library staff in cataloging and the hands-on training on the Koha integrated library system to lay the groundwork for computerized library services for the University of Juba. This article will also highlight the challenges and lessons learned so far while articulating strategies for the future.     

The Greater London Council’s Initiatives: A Precursor of British Asian Radio Broadcasting

By the mid-1970s, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and the Independent Local Radio (ILR) sector started catering to the local Asian migrant listener community in England, by producing Asian radio programming output in English and in Asian languages such as Hindi and Urdu. In the 1980s, the Greater London Council (GLC) came up with its own initiatives to cater to London’s Asian migrant community. This article describes GLC’s initiatives through its Community Radio Unit, which encouraged independent British Asian radio broadcasting in England.     

Social stability and harmony: A new mission for the press?

The world appears to be ready for a new journalism paradigm— one that stresses order and social harmony. Western media dominance is still a fact of life as the 21st century dawns. But the social form, pulling ever more complex populations toward order, cooperation, and a need for authority, is thrusting media systems into a new and more harmonious communitarianism.

The harbinger of such a drift away from the older libertarianism is found even in the US where public journalism is being heralded by many as an antidote to harmful effects of 18th Century Enlightenment liberalism that is accused of pushing journalism increasingly toward social irresponsibility and even chaos.     

A Review of “How to Create and Manage a Mutual Fund or Exchanged Traded Fund: A Professional’s Guide”

Business students comprise a significant proportion of the Library's reference workload at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB). A literature review on business students and their use of libraries provided limited, dated material which indicated that business students are infrequent users of libraries and possessed minimal research skills. CSULB business faculty were surveyed to determine attitudes on student library use and learning. Students were surveyed to determine library attitudes, use, and skills. While library use has increased dramatically over the years, skills needed for independent research have not. Suggested solutions include the targeting of core business courses for instruction and increasing involvement of the faculty.