Digitally-Wired and Mobile Device-Driven: Are Singapore Teenagers Still Reading?

Singapore teenagers are digitally-wired and mobile device-driven. Growing up digital, the question is how are their reading habits like? To better understand the state of reading for leisure in a highly digitally-wired country, the Singapore’s National Library Board (NLB) conducted the inaugural population-wide National Reading Habits Study in 2016 among Singaporeans aged 13 years and above. A mixed-method research design in the form of a quantitative survey and focus group discussions was employed for the study. This paper focuses on the reading habits of teenagers between the ages of 13 and 19. The study ascertained that 71% of Singapore teenagers read any material for leisure frequently, i.e. at least a few times a week. Half of them (51%) indicated reading online articles on social media or websites, with the proportion for social media higher compared to websites. However, few of them had read news (35%) or books (32%) frequently. The study also found that the internet and digital devices are a double-edged sword, as they help them to read more, but at the same time distract them from reading due to their active connection to friends on social media. Strategies to better engage Singapore teenagers are discussed.     

Is This Search Necessary?

Reference service as practiced in most large libraries meets the criteria for information and referral services as set forth by the Community and Information Referral Task Force of the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science. Because most reference service these days also includes some form of online data base searching, user expectations at the reference desk are heightened and in some cases unrealistic or unreasonable. Librarians must be able to make the decision to utilize print resources, conduct online data base searches, or refer users to more appropriate sources to satis their information needs. On-line data bases, In particular, are not always the first resource to consider.     

Still the Same?

This article analyses whether a specific news event is reported differently online compared to print newspapers. The question is hardly new but has increased in importance as more readers pass from print newspapers to online news. The conditions of news selection and production are discussed departing from the theories of market-driven journalism and media logic, and are related to aspects of audience needs and gratifications, as well as professional norms and standards. A content analysis of news reporting during the 2010 Swedish election campaign reveals no significant differences between how major newspapers reported the aspects, issues and actors online compared to in print. Individuals using online news received the same information about the election campaign as those reading the print paper, which indicates a displacing rather than complementary effect of online journalism on print journalism.     

Print Newspapers: Are They Still Being Used in Academic and Research Libraries?

A six-month print newspaper usage study at the University of Michigan's Hatcher Graduate Library showed a marked decrease in use from a more limited study done four years previously. In general, patrons used only the major national, international, and regional newspapers. Communications with other academic and research libraries confirm these findings.     

Learning in Children's Museums: Is It Really Happening?

This study examined what children learn while they are interacting with exhibits at a children's museum as well as the conditions that facilitate learning. Using naturalistic observations to get information on the kinds of observable learning that occurred in a variety of settings within the museum, the study found that much observable learning did occur and that different contexts supported different kinds and amounts of learning. Learning was more likely to occur with adult interaction than without, and certain types of exhibits invited more adult involvement than others. Examples of learning of relatively higher levels of cognitive complexity and higher degrees of generalizability were observed more rarely than examples of learning of lower complexity and less generalizability. Implications for children's museums and other settings of informal learning are discussed.     

Do Museums Change Lives?: Ninth Stephen Weil Memorial Lecture

No museum is actually “neutral,” ever. This article presents the keynote address presented at the annual conference of the International Committee on Museum Management (INTERCOM) and of the Federation of International Human Rights Museums (FIHRM). In it, the author lays out the provocative case that museums not only are not, but should not be “neutral” when it comes to issues of human rights and social justice. Museums need not present both sides of every argument, or retain a lofty academic tone when it comes to the injustices of the present and the past. As an alternative course, the author presents a framework published by the British Museums Association, entitled Museums Change Lives, which offers a vision for museums to engage with challenging topics. He then offers a series of examples where Museums have embraced a new role as a promoter of social good.     

The Books Are Shelf-Ready; Are You?

Over the past 2 years, shelf-ready services, the outsourcing of cataloging and processing services, has become the hot topic in the library world. This article examines the implications of shelf-ready service, both operationally and organizationally, for both library and vendor. Using the format of a dialog between librarian and vendor, the article discusses the following questions: Why are you interested in contracting for (or providing) these services? What do you hope to gain? What are the stumbling blocks to implementing a shelf-ready program? What is the impact on workflow and staffing in your organization? How many and what kinds of jobs are affected? How do library/vendor responsibilities change when shelf-ready procedures are applied to an approval plan … to firm orders … to standing orders? How can quality control be assured? Which errors really matter? Are the same standards applied to vendor staff as to in-house staff? How are standards affected by shelf-ready? How do both library and vendor know when they’re “ready for shelf-ready” in a given situation?     

Prevention of Substance Abuse: Can Museums Make a Difference?

After declining during the 1980s, use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs is again rising in junior and senior high schools nationwide. A field-trip program developed at the Hall of Health (HOH) in Berkeley, California, attempts to reverse or lessen this trend by communicating in a museum setting the dangers of drugs and addiction. Pre-visit and post-visit surveys collected from 823 students in fifth through eighth grade showed the HOH program had an immediate, significant impact on statements of intent to use alcohol, tobacco, diet pills, downers, and inhalants as well as illegal drugs in high school. Two weeks after the field trip in a follow-up study of 172 students, those who initially intended to experiment with drugs still showed a significant reduction in their original intent (as indicated in their pre-visit survey) to use 12 of 15 drugs. The program may serve as a model for museums desirous of reversing the trend toward drug use by young people.     

Are You Who You Say You Are?

Abstract

A growing yet unresolved problem in access services today is controlling user access to resources in a networked environment. This paper describes the history of network authentication, explores the issues involved in selecting an authentication method, discusses the benefits and drawbacks of the various methods, identifies efforts by some integrated library services vendors and academic institutions to address this problem, and makes recommendations for selecting an authentication scheme for a college library. The discussions are based in part upon the results of a survey conducted with California community college libraries, various integrated library system vendors, and online resource companies. Technical terms are defined in a glossary.     

A Place for Kids? The Public Image of Natural History Museums

Scholars, commentaries, guide books, and people “on the street” seem to agree and take for granted that natural history museums are mainly aimed at children. Nevertheless, no studies have specifically investigated the public image of natural history museums. In this study, we provide quantitative evidence that natural history museums are indeed seen by the public as being primarily aimed at children and families with children, and we discuss the consequences that this fact has for the potential role that natural history museums could have in promoting science literacy and for the perception of science in general.