The Holdall Lectern and Prompt Poster

Research has shown the value of reading for school children. In South Africa most pupils study through the medium of a second language and their language competence would benefit from wide reading. Teachers should serve as role models to encourage pupils to read, but many are unqualified or underqualified and lack a knowledge of children's books. Often their initial teacher education does not provide them with the necessary knowledge or media to make their classroom presentations more stimulating. Shell Education Service developed the Holdall Lectern and Prompt Posters which provide teachers with compact, flexible media which they can adapt to suit their own needs. The media can be used immediately and teachers' confidence is increased. Pupils learn better and are introduced to a wider variety of popular books. The Holdall Lectern and Prompt Posters have been used successfully for both formal and non-formal education.     

The Role of Rare Books in Law Libraries

SUMMARY

No other profession is so firmly rooted in historical precedent as the law. Rare law books can be used to promote a knowledge of the history of the law, the history of legal practice, the development of legal writing, the history of legal education, and the history and spread of legal printing and publishing. Since law books cover the entire spectrum of human activity, they can also be used to study any aspect of human thought or behavior that has been the subject of legislation or litigation. Contact with rare books touch the spirit in ways that the law library's other holdings cannot.     

How can Booktok on TikTok inform readers' advisory services for young people?

Libraries provide readers' advisory services to young people to foster reading for pleasure. The Booktok community on TikTok is a resource that can be drawn upon to support promotion of books with this demographic. A hybrid content analysis of 116 TikTok videos explores presence of hashtags, authors and books, and recurring themes promoted in Booktok videos. Popular hashtags build community and promoted authors and books are a small and select group. Young people use Booktok to provide recommendations, explore reader experience and emotional response, generate reader community and identity, discuss fictional characters and places, develop and promote writing, and discuss personal library management and being a reader in the family. Libraries' reader advisory services for young people can use these findings to employ language of the discourse community for insider signposting of the library's physical space and give greater primacy to the emotional response evoked by books and reading.     

Demand for E-books in an Academic Library

ABSTRACT

Rather than create a collection solely to support distance learners, libraries should consider the needs of all customers when developing a digital library. The acceptance of digital libraries is dependant upon the conversion of resources to an electronic format that is easy to use and is fully searchable. While electronic journals are widely accepted by most academic library customers, the delivery of online books has had a very different acceptance rate. Rather than support the sequential reading of books, electronic books are commonly used to find information and can be particularly well-suited for reference purposes. This article will provide insight into the history of e-book models and evaluate the usage statistics of a large electronic book collection in an academic library.     

The Literary Construction of Journalism Education: A Review of the Course Literature in the Nordic Academic Journalism Programmes

ABSTRACT

This article investigates the course literature in the curricula of 12 major journalism schools at Northern European universities. This analysis of the course literature listed in documentation of bachelor programmes traces how journalism education institutions constitute their knowledge base on journalism. It is found that Nordic journalism students are required to read almost four books per study credit on average. Undergraduate academic journalism programmes are professionally oriented, and professional literature by non-scientific publishers occupies a major place in the course literature. A strong emphasis is placed on professional books written in the domestic language, with an average age of seven years. Though the Scandinavian languages show high degrees of similarities with each other, there is very little circulation of literature across the countries within the Nordic area. This analysis of the literature points to a relatively homogeneous educational culture with small differences and raises questions about the qualitative dimensions of instructional design.     

网络阅读窥见

博客的兴起和各门户网站及专业网站开通的读书频道,为民众提供了便捷的阅读渠道,它繁荣了网络创作,拓宽了阅读广度,加深了阅读深度,有利于良好读书氛围的形成,有利于国民素质的提升.但网络阅读者很难像过去那样仔细研读手中的文本,传统教育中所强调的语言规范受到了严重冲击,人们对书本的情结正在迅速淡化,传统的阅读心态被颠覆,导致出版部门改走通俗路线,浅显的图书文本风行.网络文本缺少出版环节把关,其知识性和学术规范无法保证.     

Popular with whom? Usage demographics of popular science nonfiction at an academic library

Abstract

There is a large body of nonfiction written for a general audience which is infrequently promoted in popular reading collections at academic libraries. The aim of this research is to look at the usage of nonfiction science literature at a large university library in comparison to the science collection as a whole. This information can help librarians to not only determine how best to prioritize the collection of nonfiction science literature, but it can also be used to provide insight into how popular nonfiction science books can be most effectively promoted to library patrons.     

The Value of Fiction as Management Training

ABSTRACT

Reading fiction can teach sophisticated management skills. The difference between paraliterary fiction that focuses on escaping reality and literary fiction that analyzes reality is important. All reading can help improve basic literacy including increased comprehension and reading speed. Intermediate skills provide the manager with specific lessons on how to manage. Advanced skills, obtained from reading literary fiction, include empathy, the ability to interpret and create sophisticated texts, and an increased possibility of recognizing the “truth” in any environment. Traditional business publications offer more direct training but often overlook the complexities that the experienced manager will encounter and overemphasize the possibilities for success.

Column Editor’s Note This JLA column will consider issues of education and training for management positions in libraries and other information organizations from the perspectives of both the provider and the recipient. The column will appear in odd-numbered issues of the journal and focus on management education/training at various stages of the individual's career including the effectiveness of these efforts, their content, and the specific challenges of teaching and learning within the field of librarianship. The column will address both theoretical and practical concerns. Prospective authors are invited to submit articles for this column to the editor at aa3805@wayne.edu.     

Does Book Subject Influence Format Preference? Survey Results From a Sample of Graduate Business School Students,Staff, and Faculty

A sample of 325 students, faculty, and staff at a graduate business school completed an online survey designed to assess their knowledge and utilization of the library's e-book collection as well as their desired method of accessing various types of books. Participants were asked about their format preference for reading four different types of books: course textbooks, computer software guides, career development books, and popular business titles. The final section of the survey gave respondents an opportunity to provide free form comments and thoughts about e-books. The implications of this research for collection development are discussed.     

Locating knowledge

ABSTRACT

This paper arose from a discussion of the richness of languages used to describe different landscapes of Australia and how the landscape provides the affordances for the language created from this land. More importantly, each language embodies its place and associated world view. This paper looks at how information technology (IT) is supporting knowledge-sharing through approaches used in Indigenous community IT practice and projects to enhance multimedia repositories of knowledge. The origin of any archive is important, in terms of access and control of the use of this material, but also it is important in teaching, to provide the context and connectedness when presenting the material. A collection of knowledge resources can be used to recreate online flexible learning environments around engineering on country and traditional knowledge practices. IT can provide an interactive interface for people wishing to learn the material, through games or worksheet-style activities. Various case studies and their analysis illustrate the way IT can be used to share this knowledge in a legitimate manner across landscapes and cultures. In particular the aim is to understand how authentic this approach can be in view of concerns over appropriation or co-option of Aboriginal knowledge.     

Popular Illustration

Gerald McConnell and Gene Light's Illustrators 19 (New York: Hastings House, 1978—$26.50)

Evelyn and Leo Farland's Posters by Painters (New York: Abrams, 1978—$8.95, paper)

Robert R. Hartmann's Graphics for Designers (Ames: Iowa State University Press, 1976—price not given, spiral bound)

Peggy and Harold Samuels' The Illustrated Biographical Encyclopedia of Artists of the American West (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1976—$25.00)

The Second Norman Rockwell Poster Book (New York: Watson-Guptill Publications, 19777—$6.95, paper)     

From the ACRL 13th National Conference: E-Book Use Versus Users' Perspective

ABSTRACT

At the beginning of this decade, research on e-books clearly indicated that e-books were neither well received nor desired by students in higher education. However, in the past few years, academic institutions have begun reporting very good use rates for e-books. In this article, the change taking place in e-book use is explored. Faculty and student preference for reading print books, and not e-books, is the background for exploring the effects of forced adoption and user adaptation on e-book use in a small academic institution. In addition, the effect that relative advantage, current adoption rates, cultural norms, publishers' business models, and print book/e-book competition are having on current and future e-book use are discussed.     

Common Practices for Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery at a Small Private University

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to outline the “best common practices” at Regent University Library, and share survey data illustrating their effectiveness. Also discussed is how transitioning from an entirely graduate university to a university serving both graduates and undergraduates has influenced library services. The new constituency will increase interlibrary loan transactions and test the library's practices. Providing quality interlibrary loan service to a growing academic population requires innovative ideas and practices while keeping the workflow streamlined. New programs implemented over the past several years include books on demand and providing more electronic books and journals. A growing distance education student population has led to paying for library cards for academic libraries located near students' homes and permitting them to return materials to satellite campuses.     

Summer Reading and the Potential Contribution of the Public Library in Improving Reading for Children of Poverty

ABSTRACT

Research indicates that there is surprisingly little difference in reading gains between children from high-and low-income families during the school year. Rather, the difference is what happens in the summer. Children from high-income families make better progress in reading over the summer, and over time the summer advantage can account for social-class differences in reading achievement. There is a simple explanation for this difference: Children from high-income families read more over the summer, and they read more because they have more access to books, not only at home but outside the home as well. Studies show that public libraries offer inferior collections and services to children of poverty. An obvious way to increase access to books over the summer is to improve public library services.     

普通外籍人士对图书馆利用与需求状况调研分析

为了了解和掌握普通外籍人士对图书馆的利用及需求情况,项目组运用调查问卷法及SPSS对其进行了调查和统计分析,结果表明,他们阅读的主要目的是为了获取与就业、教育、社会福利和中国文化相关的信息。但语言和文化的差异在很大程度上影响了他们对中文图书资料的阅读。所以图书馆多元文化建设应照顾不同层次、不同背景读者群的具体需求,在地点设置、馆藏布局、资料采购、服务项目上不断调整和完善,为他们提供更好的有针对性的服务。     

1. CBQ REVIEW ESSAY: A Review of Recent Sources in Mass Media Interviewing, 1998–2006

Abstract

Interviewing has, of course, become a common place occurrence. Most adults are familiar with the nature of the transaction, but perhaps not with the complexity of what is actually happening. Modern interviewing as we have come to understand it is basically a post-World War II phenomenon. One of the major changes is the development of interviewing ordinary people (as compared with the more typical past practice of interviewing elites or at least only the significant players). In Learning from Strangers: The Art and Method of Qualitative Interview Studies, Weiss observes that interviews permit listeners “to learn about places, environments, organizations, fashions, careers, and cultures with which they would otherwise have no contact or exposure. But perhaps more telling is that interviews also reveal “interior experiences” including perceptions, and how they are interpreted. The human condition covering events, families, work, and all the emotions from joy to grief become open for all to witness” (Weiss, p. 1).

David Silverman refers to the “interview society” (p. 248) in his 1997 Qualitative Research: Theory, Method and Practice (London: Sage), and that was a decade ago. Today we find ourselves being exposed more and more to a panoply of interviewing experiences. This essay review is designed to present the most recent books with both sides of the equation presented. Guidance on how to be a successful interviewer, and also how to be a wise and sensible interviewee can be found in the following pages. The neutrality of the interviewer is assumed, but should not always be taken for granted as various astute observers note.

The subject domain of interviewing in mass media contains a range of topics considered below. The essay begins with general resources. Fielding's edited work, titled Interviewing, is the most unusual, as this four-volume book set contains “classic” journal article reprints. While there are no articles specifically on mass media, the individual contributions all pertain to the general topic and cover issues and findings that are relevant to the conduct of interviewing in mass media.

As one element of the mass media, entries dealing with interviewing in journalism, follow. Of particular note in this category are Brady's The Interviewer's Handbook and the treatment of the online journalism environment as found in Craig's 2005 chapter. As the title suggests, Brady's work presents a “how to” approach. Craig's contribution brings interviewing into the electronic/computer era and addresses the special challenges and benefits associated with it.

The interviewing in mass media section includes a review of Elsberg's Media Interview Owner's Manual, Barber's The Craft of the Media Interview, and Jones' Winning with the News Media. These, and other entries in this section, provide the core of the recent literature by highly experienced interviewers, and would be useful to anyone contemplating an interviewing career or interesting reading for the person attempting to understand the techniques used by the professionals.

In the era of television and the Internet, radio interviewing still has a place, and Beaman's Interviewing for Radio more than adequately addresses the special consideration of the medium. Television interviewing is covered in Merlis' How to Make the Most of Every Media Appearance. The broader category of video interviewing is treated in The Video Performer, a manual written by Dreibelbis. Bull analyzes the highly specialized world of political communication via television appearances in his work titled The Microanalysis of Political Communication.

The special kind of interviewing found in the public relations environment closes this essay. These works are guides or “how-to” presentations. All are useful, but the Palmer volume may prove to be the most valuable in terms of what to avoid and how to use the media for your own purposes.     

Book Circulation Per U.S. Public Library User Since 1856

ABSTRACT. Underappreciated data concerning libraries' holdings and circulation over the past century and a half offer insights into the behavior of libraries and their users. Book circulation per public library user indicates an outcome of users' demand for books and libraries' supply of books. From 1856 to 1978, library users borrowed from U.S. public libraries about 15 books per user per year. From 1978 to 2004, about 25% of book circulation shifted to audio‐visual circulation. Over about a century and a half, library book circulation per user shows no strong, long‐run trend either up or down. This outcome suggests that libraries have adapted to maintain the stability of their operation and that library borrowing practices are well‐embedded in popular life.     

“Books.Google.RU”—Google's Mass Digitization of Russian‐Language Books

ABSTRACT. Google is pursuing “mass digitization” of Russian books as part of its efforts that now involve more than a dozen partners, although so far there is no separate Russian‐language search interface. How easy is it to find materials in books.google.com that are in Russian? What do users need to know to maximize their results?