“You've Got Mail”: Addressing Effective E-mail Communication in New Graduate Teaching Assistant Training

Objective: New graduate teaching assistants will learn to respond effectively to student e-mail messages.

Courses: GTA teaching seminars or orientation programs     

Personal librarian programs in medical and academic health sciences libraries: a preliminary study

Objective:This preliminary study examined how personal librarian programs are implemented within medical and academic health sciences libraries. Increasing awareness of these programs and how they are implemented could create a larger and more accessible knowledge base for establishing best practices that similar libraries can look to when creating their own programs.Methods:To characterize existing programs, a twenty-two-item survey was sent to MEDLIB-L, AAHSL-ALL, ARCL-HSIG, and PSS-Lists email listservs in October 2018 to reach a broad audience of medical and academic health sciences librarians. Survey responses were analyzed using Qualtrics and Excel.Results:Of the 2,882 potential email recipients, 49 survey sessions were recorded, and a total of 38 survey sessions were completed (1.3% response rate). Of the 38 completed responses, representatives of 12 libraries (31.5%) reported that a personal librarian program had been implemented at their institution. For implementation, eight libraries involved 1–5 librarians, and four involved 6–10. Librarians were assigned 50–100 (n=6), 101–150 (n=1), or 151 or more (n=1) students each. The identified programs served medical students (n=11), nursing students (n=7), health professions students (n=7), dental students (n=2), and students in other fields (n=4). Services provided and communication methods were also identified.Conclusions:The personal librarian programs identified by the survey were uniquely structured to best meet the needs of their users, though similarities in implementation existed across institutions. Medical and academic health sciences libraries can look to these libraries as practical examples when starting their own personal library programs.     

Bursar Accounts,Payroll Deduction,and Debt Collection: A Three-Channel Approach to Lost Item Reimbursement

ABSTRACT

In 2003, Penn State Libraries implemented payroll deduction and collection agency programs to gain better control of accounts receivable. The author reports on the implementation processes and first year outcomes of the programs. She recommends careful consideration of several questions before implementing such measures.     

Remediation in the Undergraduate Library

ABSTRACT

This paper suggests ideas for television programs to make librarianship a trendy profession.     

Supporting Parents in Early Literacy through Libraries (SPELL): An Evaluation of a Multi-Site Library Project

ABSTRACT

The Supporting Parents in Early Literacy through Libraries (SPELL) project was initiated to evaluate the effectiveness of early literacy programs in libraries. Eight Colorado libraries developed and implemented year-long early literacy programs targeting parents of children ages zero to three. Pre- and post-surveys were conducted to determine the effect of these programs on the early literacy habits of participating parents. The survey results indicated that after participating in the SPELL prototype programs, respondents reported increased knowledge of and engagement in early literacy activities.     

Electronic Portfolios: A Demonstration of Multi-level Communication Skills and Professional Accomplishments

Courses: Business and Professional Communication; Organizational Communication; any capstone or service-learning course

Objectives: Students will demonstrate their communication abilities and skills to future employers and to graduate school programs by creating an electronic portfolio and will learn how to present their work to an audience while reflecting on course concepts     

Educating/Retraining Serialists for Change

Summary

Changes in libraries and the need to improve staff skills make it necessary for librarians to develop and maintain practical skills training programs. An overview of the planning of training programs is provided. Included are the five primary steps of successful training programs: assessment, planning, selecting methods, using principles of adult learning, and evaluation. A real-life example from the University of Southern California is described.     

A telephone survey of religious program preferences among listeners and viewers in Los Angeles

This study attempts to supply an answer to a question often asked by religious speakers and laymen alike: How effective are religious radio and television programs in reaching people who do not usually attend religious services? The information gained by this study represents an important means in determining the value of present day programs of a religious nature — as far as the reactions of people living in the Los Angeles area are concerned.     

Report on SLAVLIBS Survey on Information Literacy

ABSTRACT

The article reports on a survey of Slavic librarian participation in information literacy programs. It was conducted using the electronic mailing list SLAVLIBS.     

How families select television programs: A mass‐observational study

Mass observation and survey data reveal how family position and family communication patterns influence the selection of television programs under naturalistic conditions at home.     

Stability in the popularity of television programs among children and adolescents

This study analyzed changes in the popularity (ratings) of television programs over the duration of a television season. Results indicated that popularity was quite stable and increased as the season wore on, especially among younger viewers.     

Cooperative Collection Development Programs in Law Libraries

Abstract

A number of cooperative collection development programs are described and analyzed in this article. Factors such as economics, geography, and institutional culture are examined and used to discuss the dynamics of these programs. The author stresses that while many of these endeavors are successful they should not be seen as solutions to larger overarching problems.     

How to Avoid the Unauthorized Practice of Law at the Reference Desk

Summary

A librarian's duty to avoid the unauthorized practice of law limits what reference services can be provided. Traditional approaches to reference services are being influenced by new initiatives in delivering legal services and information. Pro se patrons and the reference librarians who serve them benefit from the web-based resources, authorized non-lawyer assistance programs, and other innovative programs now available. Identifying new resources and using them effectively should enable a librarian to provide excellent reference service while avoiding the unauthorized practice of law.     

Evaluation of the Role of Society-Based Library in Empowering Surabaya City People

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this research is to evaluate the role of society-based library or Taman Bacaan Masyarakat (TBM) in empowering Surabaya City people. Society-based library will be a place of Surabayans’ live-long learning according to the Law on Even Distribution of and Rights to Education. This research adopts a quantitative approach with qualitative data analysis. The sample of the research is fourteen TBMs that have an empowerment program or is near to a small and medium enterprise. Findings of the research include: (1) that TBM role in community empowerment is beginning to be noticeable in their empowerment programs such as trainings for local community, (2) that empowerment programs at TBM are conducted informally and intermittently, such as trainings of producing aromatherapy candles, beads, flannelette, and waste recycling, and (3) the TBM are constrained by shortage of collection and funding for programs. The research recommends that: community empowerment programs should be increased through TBM programs; TBM personnels should be encouraged to innovate; and collection development should be tailored with local needs.     

A Comprehensive Plan for Library Support of Online and Extended Education

ABSTRACT

Acknowledging Arizona State University's (ASU) long-term goal of 100,000 students in online degree programs and recognizing the 8 new 100% online undergraduate programs slated to come online in 2010, ASU Libraries is planning for the continued integration and relevance of the library to online students and programs. During the summer and fall of 2009, the ASU Libraries Task Force for Online and Extended Education met to develop the elements of a Comprehensive Plan for Library Support of Online Programs. The plan includes: (1) guiding principles for library support of online and extended education; (2) a needs assessment and environmental scan; and (3) a sustainable and scalable plan for library support of the online programs. This article discusses the process of developing the comprehensive plan.     

Sex in Adolescent Programming: A Content Analysis

ABSTRACT

This study examined the amount and types of sexual content in adolescent programs popular with tweens (teen scene; 8 to 11 years old) and young adolescents (12 to 15 years old). Adolescent programming, as a whole, does not have an excessive amount of sexual content, but young adolescent programs have significant numbers of specific sexual behaviors (kissing, hugging, intimate touching, sexual suggestiveness, homosexual references, and implied heterosexual intercourse). There are few messages about sexual risk and responsibility. Most main characters in young adolescent programs were sexually active and not virgins. Compared to U.S. teens, sexual activity on television is underrepresented on teen scene programs and overrepresented on young adolescent programs.     

Health information programming in public libraries: a content analysis

ABSTRACT

Health information programs, defined as library programs focusing on health-related topics, are an essential way for public libraries to reach out to their user communities, raising awareness of and interest in healthy lifestyle, promoting access to quality health information, and ultimately enhancing health literacy of the citizenry. This study presents a content analysis of the health information programs provided by a large urban public library system in the past year, seeking to strengthen the professional understanding of how public libraries can contribute to health literacy improvement through effective programming, and help other libraries gain insights on health information program planning and implementation.     

Compressed speech by mnemonic joining: A negative implication for broadcasting

This study extended talk radio research to a developing nation setting. Results received from a Kingston, Jamaica sample of 268 adults, with access to 10 call‐in programs, supported the hypothesis that information and surveillance are the primary gratifications sought from call‐in radio programs in a developing nation. In contrast to U.S. results, reinforcement and companionship were less sought from talk radio listening. Lower socioeconomic status, lower educated, and higher isolated listeners were most apt to find gratification through a range of call‐in programs. These results indicate a potentially important role for call‐in radio in developing nations.     

Taking Shared Print to the Next Level: The Partnership for Shared Book Collections

Abstract

This article introduces the Partnership for Shared Book Collections, a federation of monograph shared print programs. Collaboration of programs at the network level allows for:

• Reducing the cost of retaining the scholarly record through shared distribution of commitments;

• De-duplicating efforts;

• Developing and promoting evidence-based best practices;

• Increasing the effectiveness of communication with end-users and funders;

• Tackling large-scale projects and research that are out of reach for individual shared print programs. This shared stewardship of collection is critical as local resources are depleted due to the COVID-19 pandemic and access to print for digitization increases.