A Community of Practice: Librarians in a Biomedical Research Network

Providing library and reference services within a biomedical research community presents special challenges for librarians, especially those in historically lower-funded states. These challenges can include understanding needs, defining and communicating the library's role, building relationships, and developing and maintaining general and subject specific knowledge. This article describes a biomedical research network and the work of health sciences librarians at the lead intensive research institution with librarians from primarily undergraduate institutions and tribal colleges. Applying the concept of a community of practice to a collaborative effort suggests how librarians can work together to provide effective reference services to researchers in biomedicine.     

When Librarians Hit the Books: Uses of and Attitudes Toward E-Books

Librarians offer a unique perspective on e-books: on one hand they collect these resources and train users as part of their jobs, while on the other hand, they may be users of e-books themselves. With recent increases in research expectations for Canadian academic librarians, this study aimed to discover: when librarians do research, do they use e-books and how often are they using them? This study examines the results of a survey of 392 academic librarians from across Canada. The survey generated data on librarians' use of, and attitudes towards, e-books. While a number of studies examine the use and opinions of e-books among other user groups, this study examines how librarians search for or use e-books differently than other user groups. Results will help librarians to improve their liaison work and make more informed collection development decisions at their own institutions.     

加拿大图书馆员参与开放教育资源的实践与启示

随着开放教育运动的兴起,开放教育资源已经成为国外非常重要的资源建设方向,美国、加拿大等国纷纷通过立法等方式对其发展进行支持,因此了解开放教育资源的发展现状及国外的相关实践经验具有重要的意义。文章介绍了开放教育资源的发展背景,对加拿大促进开放教育资源发展的相关举措加以概述,并以加拿大BCOER图书馆员组织为例分析了其开放教育资源实践活动的优势和特点。开放教育资源的发展需充分发挥政府政策的重要推力作用,需提高对此类资源的认知度和使用能力建设,使用环境的培养和形成较为关键,质量是保障开放教育资源可持续发展的核心要素,图书馆在其中可以发挥重要作用。     

OER evaluation as a means of teaching information literacy in individual and small group settings

ABSTRACT

Open education resources represent a great opportunity to reduce textbook costs, but many of them have not been evaluated for quality. Librarians and former students in an introduction to engineering course collected and evaluated open education resources to supplement the course textbook in future semesters. Both searching for and evaluating these resources created opportunities for the librarians to evaluate information literacy skills of these students and to provide instruction to improve these skills.     

国内外开放教育资源的分布及特点分析

开放教育资源是开放存取的重要实践成果之一。文章根据国内外开展开放教育资源的机构及国家情况,对全球开放教育资源分布情况及特点进行了较为全面的梳理和分析,为下一步开发、重组和利用开放教育资源奠定基础。     

建立和完善学科馆员制度的措施

本文在分析高校图书馆学科馆员制度建立的意义、学科馆员队伍的素质要求及高校图书馆建立学科馆员制度的现实差距的基础上,针对目前存在的高校图书馆高素质人才匮乏的现状,提出了“学科馆员”制度建立及完善的具体措施。     

Creating an Emotional Intelligence Community of Practice: A Case Study for Academic Libraries

Abstract

Using Etienne Wenger’s concept of a community of practice, UH Libraries’ Liaison Services Department developed departmental members’ emotional intelligence. The social learning structure of the community of practice mirrors the emotional intelligence learning model theorized by Daniel Goleman. This case study demonstrates how this approach can benefit a unit within an academic library. Using a community of practice approach to build a space for social learning creates an environment in which library workers are able to learn and practice the skills of emotional intelligence among their colleagues and within the context of the norms and values of the work environment.     

Enhancing Teaching and Learning: Libraries and Open Educational Resources in the Classroom

Academic libraries continually adjust services to adapt to the ever-changing landscape in higher education. In response to the broken textbook market, libraries are becoming actively involved in the open educational resources (OER) movement. Although there is not a formal program in place, librarians at Utah State University explored a collaborative approach to integrate OER in faculty members' courses. One goal of the effort was to work closely with faculty to consider course objectives and learning outcomes when evaluating and incorporating OER. This article identifies a streamlined process for targeting courses most suited for OER adoption and outlines a process of collaborating with teaching faculty to integrate relevant OER. The paper includes a detailed workflow that other libraries can easily adapt to make OER part of their faculty outreach toolkit.     

Appraising the Community of Practice at a Hospital Library System Using a Critical Librarianship Lens

Abstract

The Kaiser Permanente health sciences librarians created inter-regional policies to standardize and guide the work of all librarians across regions. In response to the larger organization’s emphasis on promoting diversity and equity in healthcare and the workplace, the library policies have evolved over time to include aspects of critical librarianship in the information services that the Kaiser Permanente librarians provide to their organization. The article describes how the inter-regional group of hospital librarians provide information services through a critical librarianship lens and provides examples of how other health sciences librarians can incorporate these principles to expand their services.     

Finding More Like Us: Values and Practices for Hiring in Community Colleges

ABSTRACT

This article describes the author's observations related to hiring practices in a new community college undergoing a growth phase. While the goals of a search committee are alike at all academic institutions, the types of candidates sought out by community colleges differs significantly in comparison to their four-year peers. Successful candidates reflect the values espoused by the community college faculty and staff, including a focus on teaching, a preference for generalist knowledge over specialist expertise, a deep concern for the needs of students, an activist orientation, and the right “fit.” The author further describes a range of creative hiring practices discussed that can help bring quality candidates to light for search committees at community colleges and their libraries.     

Expanding Librarian Roles Through a Librarian Initiated and Facilitated Faculty Learning Community

The role of libraries is changing to focus more on users rather than the collection of information. Community building and connecting people with shared interests represents a social role for libraries in the information age. Their role adds a new dimension to the traditional domains for libraries. Developing and implementing an integrated medical curriculum became the primary focus of basic sciences faculty at a new medical school. Scholarly teaching and connecting teaching with educational research presented a great challenge for the faculty. In response to the learning, teaching, and developmental needs of faculty members, a librarian established a faculty learning community as an approach to supporting faculty development and growth as teaching scholars and scholars of educational research. The article provides a case to illustrate how a librarian spanned boundaries and took up the responsibilities of establishing a faculty learning community and developing a year-long program in light of different developmental needs of faculty members at the new medical school. It also describes the process of developing the faculty learning community program, its components, and the many roles that the librarian took in implementing the program.     

美国《电子资源图书馆员核心能力》标准及其应用案例解析

[目的/意义]美国《电子资源图书馆员核心能力》标准是专门针对电子资源图书馆员的管理和工作能力而制定的相关标准,内容涵盖了电子资源全生命周期管理中所需要具备的技能和知识,对其内容及实践应用进行研究对我国实现高水平的电子资源管理极具意义。[方法/过程]对美国《电子资源图书馆员核心能力》标准的内容进行解析,介绍和分析其在学生专业培训、图书馆机构重组、图书馆人员继续教育、图书馆部门及个人工作的评估和图书馆服务平台的迁移和流程重组等案例中的应用方式及效果。[结果/结论]美国《电子资源图书馆员核心能力》标准可以在图书馆的多个领域发挥作用,图书馆需灵活掌握,根据本馆实际情况借鉴应用,支持电子资源管理领域的深入拓展和人才培养,更好地应对图书馆的动态发展环境。     

A Community of Practice Approach to Delivering Research Support Services in a Post-92 Higher Education Institution: A Reflective Case Study

ABSTRACT

The need for research support in U.K. universities is growing at a fast pace and a number of different professional and academic units within universities are involved in the process. This case study takes place in a post-92 higher education institution and discusses the benefit of utilizing a cross-university Community of Practice (CoP) approach to delivering research support services. It takes a qualitative approach, using semi-structured interviews to ascertain the personal experiences of community members. The article's key findings for successful implementation include a common sense of purpose; a shared concern or passion about the research agenda; a sense of community and belonging; trust; a safe environment; and senior management support. Added benefit is demonstrated by enhanced staff knowledge, increased job satisfaction, and profile-raising of the Library and Learning Service. The findings can help libraries in similar positions to use collaborative initiatives to develop research support services.     

Being a Librarian Isn't Enough: The Importance of a Nonlibrary Research Agenda for the Academic Librarian: A Case Study

Subject specialist college librarians can become producers and disseminators of knowledge by pursuing an active research agenda in their nonlibrary field. Research in an academic discipline can inform and enhance the college librarian's teaching, research, and collection development practices. Through such research, college librarians can elevate their personal status among their nonlibrary colleagues and students, as well as the prestige of their library and the library profession. Suggestions for managing traditional librarian duties and pursuing a nonlibrary research agenda are included.     

国外社群信息学教育与研究实践现状

[目的/意义]了解国外社群信息学(community informatics, CI)研究与教育基本情况,为国内开展相关研究与教育提供借鉴.[方法/过程]通过网络调查和文献分析,考察国外CI课程设置、教学方法、研究机构、学术会议和学术期刊的基本情况和特点.[结果/结论]研究发现国外CI教育与研究实践呈现出资金支持下的以项目为导向、教育与实践一体化的特征,具体表现为:① CI研究与教育紧密结合,相互支撑;② CI研究与教育受惠于研究基金支持;③ CI研究与教育凸显实践特色;④CI研究与教育重视方法论指导.     

Qualitative Teaching and Learning Needs Assessment for a Community of Academic Librarians

ASBTRACT

The Information Literacy Unit at Michigan State University Libraries is tasked with providing teaching and learning support to 70+ librarian colleagues at MSU. The unit was asked to conduct a needs assessment to determine supportive needs, attitudes toward teaching and learning, and to lay groundwork for expanding the ability of the unit to provide support through building trust and strengthening relationships with librarian colleagues. An interview-based method grounded in social sciences rather than an assessment with a management focus was employed to accomplish these diverse tasks, which yielded actionable insights.     

基于科普场馆资源的科技实践活动设计与实施

本文聚焦于科普场馆教育中的科技实践活动,在阐述实践活动是科普场馆教育活动重要形式的基础上,结合科普场馆科技实践活动的设计原则,提出四种有效提升科普场馆科技实践活动设计的思路和做法,以满足科普场馆教育活动设计的需求,促进科普场馆教育的内涵式高质量发展。     

An Exploratory Examination and Critique of Academic Law Librarian Blogs: A Look into an Evolving Reference Communication Practice

This study is an exploratory qualitative investigation of academic library blogs with the purpose of examining how the technology of blogging is evolving for reference and research purposes at particular academic law libraries. This study uses anthropological archive research methods to study the blogs’ posts and triangulates the study with librarian blogger interviews. It provides a look into possible future directions for blogging in academic law libraries that may serve as a model for other academic libraries.