How Do You Like Your Forgiveness? Communication Style Preferences and Effects

Two studies examined forgiveness recipients’ evaluations of, and responses to, four styles of forgiveness-granting communication: engaging, deemphasizing, conditional, and suppressing. In the context of close friendships, Study 1 showed that whereas the engaging style was highly preferred, the suppressing and conditional styles were not. Content analysis suggested that the latter two styles are perceived as unclear, inauthentic, and/or in violation of norms. Study 2 suggested that engaging forgiveness is preferable because it effectively addresses personal and relational face needs and reduces uncertainty. Implications for the conceptualization of forgiveness-granting styles and the practical construction of forgiveness expressions are discussed.     

You can't Get There from Here,or How Do I Become a Slavic Studies Librarian?

ABSTRACT

New librarians looking to enter the field of Slavic librarianship soon discover there is no clear template for how to acquire the skills and knowledge necessary to be successful in this field. This article attempts first to define those skills and knowledge, and then to map out the opportunities for acquiring them in North American institutions. Toward this goal, it summarizes and analyzes the results from a survey of the educational and experiential background and current responsibilities of 128 working Slavic librarians. It then details the North American academic institutions offering specialized training or degree programs for Slavic librarians and those institutions where the component parts are all available to be assembled by the proactive student.     

What Would You Like Earth's Largest Library to Be?

Abstract

A college librarian reflects on the role of libraries and how they address local needs in the age of electronic library collections. He explores the question of whether a conglomeration of all books ever published can replace collections developed by librarians who know their patron base.     

Electronic Copyright Rights: Do You Have What You Need?

Publishing agreements have long operated with certain assumptions about what books are and what publishers do. These assumptions are increasingly at odds with the new technological forms in which books are created and marketed, from e-books and Kindle 2 read-aloud works to so-called “vooks” that incorporate on-demand streaming video and other internet-based features in conjunction with hard copy books. Publishers’ contracts need to be re-thought in light of these changed circumstances. Specifically, publishing contracts today should focus on the activities in which the publisher may engage, and not the form in which the work may be presented, a point that was made clear several years ago in the Random House v. RosettaBooks litigation. In defining these activities, contracts should track the language of the exclusive rights enumerated in §106 of the Copyright Act. Finally, to the extent that books are becoming “audiovisual works” publishers may be able to shift to a work-made-for-hire model for obtaining ownership, rather than relying on grants from individual authors.     

When Online Instruction Doesn’t Measure Up: How Can You Tell,and What Should You Do?

At Duquesne University, freshmen are required to take a one-credit information literacy course. This course has traditionally been offered mostly face-to-face, but has expanded into more online offerings. Unfortunately, the experience for students and instructors online was not as positive as those involved with the face-to-face version of the course. Assessment results on a variety of levels and anecdotal evidence indicated that students did not work as well together to learn as those did in the face-to-face version of the course. Not only did instructors receive lower student evaluation scores, but students did not perform as well on their final, collaborative project. While there will be barriers to learning online, especially when students work together in a group, instructors and instructional designers can take distinct steps to make the experience a positive one. Instructors must use particular interventions to increase student-to-student interaction that leads to learning.     

Do You Have What It Takes to Be a Successful Information Broker?

Successful information brokers possess a uni ue combination of entrepreneurial characteristics and reference skills. An individual may be a successful reference librarian, but may not possess any or enough entrepreneurial characteristics to insure success as an information broker. This article provides an opportunity for reference librarians, in particular, to assess the extent of their entrepreneurial characteristics. The self-analysis and discussion of what information brokers and reference librarians have in common and what they may not, I will help individuals determine if a career as an information broker is a viable one for them.     

And You Thought That You Couldn't Publish a Book?

Abstract

The author describes her experiences in compiling and editing a book of contributed chapters, titled The Successful Academic Librarian. The process includes writing the book proposal, finding contributors, editing their work, and working with the publisher. A timeline of the process is presented, and the challenges and rewards of the project are discussed.     

How Many Libraries Do We Need?

ABSTRACT

According to the American Library Association, there are 119,000 libraries in the United States. But how many do we need? In this vision session report, Arizona State University Librarian James J. O’Donnell addresses this question through the lenses of discovery tools, usability, and marketing strategy. He also addresses the need for a more global and collaborative approach to collection building in libraries. This deliberately provocative talk provides several different ways to think about the answer to the title question—and several answers.     

What Exactly Do You Do Here? Marketing-Related Jobs in Public and Academic Libraries

ABSTRACT

This study analyzes the presence of marketing-related job duties in public and academic library job listings and the experience required for these positions in order to better understand how libraries currently embrace marketing. A content analysis was performed on job listings from the American Library Association (ALA) JobLIST. The findings revealed 37% of job listings included marketing-related content, while only 11% of those listings also included stated experience or training in the marketing field. The findings will be of interest to library administrators looking to improve marketing strategies within their library without compromising the productivity of other library activities.     

Do Holdings Have a Future?

Summary

Holdings are multipurpose data which libraries use to acquire and control publications, display information to users, and manage physical and sometimes virtual items. This workshop focused on how the various functions interact, what further services librarians will demand from automation of their holdings, and what they can do in the meantime to make their holdings more useful. The workshop gave special attention to the USMARC Format for Holdings Data (MHFD), its features, advantages and difficulties, and its particular role in conveying serials information. It explored possibilities for adapting the format to solve the special problems associated with multiple versions and title changes.     

How Much Time Do You Spend Online? Understanding and Improving the Accuracy of Self-Reported Measures of Internet Use

Given the importance of survey measures of online media use for communication research, it is crucial to assess and improve their quality, in particular because the increasingly fragmented and ubiquitous usage of internet complicates the accuracy of self-reported measures. This study contributes to the discussion regarding the accuracy of self-reported internet use by presenting relevant factors potentially affecting biases of self-reports and testing survey design strategies to improve accuracy. Combining automatic tracking data and survey data from the same participants (N = 690) confirmed low levels of accuracy and tendencies of over-reporting. The analysis revealed biases due to a range of factors associated with the intensity of (actual) internet usage, propensity to multitask, day of reference, and the usage of mobile devices. An anchoring technique could not be proved to reduce inaccuracies of reporting behavior. Several recommendations for research practice follow from these findings.     

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.     

How Much Do Librarians Know About Stress Management?

The purpose of this study is to attempt to determine how much librarians know about stress management and how they handle stress. The needs of the individual librarian are highlighted, and stress management training is recommended as a response to these needs. An increasing number of articles is appearing in library literature on the topic of stress/burnout and librarianship. However, only a few are empirically based, and still fewer report efforts made by libraries to address the issue. The survey found that 28 percent of responding librarians know little or nothing about stress management and that 82 percent think it would be beneficial to learn about it. Reinforcing the need to learn about it are the results of the present survey. These indicate that only 11.1 percent of the respondents practice stress management preventively at this time. While 60 percent do not think that stress management is a necessary part of librarianship training, an overwhelming 88.8 percent feel it should be part of one the job in-service training or of staff development programs. Supporting this indication of desire for such training is the finding that the subjects' responses to how they presently react or respond to stress indicate that 72 percent of the behaviors and feelings engaged in or experienced are destructive in nature.     

Do You See the Signs? Evaluating Language,Branding, and Design in a Library Signage Audit

Signage represents more than directions or policies; it is informational, promotional, and sets the tone of the environment. To be effective, signage must be consistent, concise, and free of jargon and punitive language. An efficient assessment of signage should include a complete inventory of existing signage, including an analysis of the types of signs, its location, language, and its design. This article outlines the steps involved in a comprehensive signage audit, which along with a literature review, provides the foundation for creating a signage policy, best practices guidelines, and a branding strategy for future signage.     

Do Museum Exhibitions Have a Future?

Abstract A 50‐year retrospective return to the first volume of Curator: The Museum Journal suggests that colleagues half a century ago were vitally aware of the cultural potential of museums, the well‐being of visitors, the need for interpretation and learning, and even the appeal of staying open 24 hours a day. So the more things change, the more they stay the same? The question leads to others: Are exhibitions an obsolete medium? Can museums keep pace with the interactions available elsewhere: virtual games, video arcades, jazz clubs, even a good Chinese restaurant? Is the glass half full of optimism or pessimism?