Information literacy in a biology laboratory session: An example of librarian–faculty collaboration

This paper describes a collaboration between librarians and the biology department to create a science information literacy component in a general biology laboratory. The objectives, planning, and execution of the program are outlined. The program was assessed in two ways: by judging the quality of the students' final reports and by a student feedback questionnaire. Both forms of evaluation indicate that the goals of the program were met. The assessment also indicated areas for improvement, such as moving the session earlier in the semester and broadening the range of topics to reduce overlap among the groups. Overall, this initial attempt to incorporate information literacy in the general biology course was deemed a success.     

Clinical librarianship in the UK: temporary trend or permanent profession? Part I: a review of the role of the clinical librarian

BACKGROUND: This paper is the first of a two-part series of articles presenting the role of the clinical librarian (CL) in the UK today. It situates the CL concept historically, and specifically reports the findings from a study in 2002 (Skinner, The Role of the Clinical Librarian in the UK. MSc Dissertation. Loughborough University: Department of Information Science). RELEVANCE: The impetus for the 2002 study was the awareness of an increase in job advertisements within the NHS for roles seeking to enhance the practice of evidence-based medicine, which included elements of clinical librarianship. Therefore the research was undertaken to establish whether this increase was coincidental, or the beginning of a new professional role for librarians. METHODS: A content analysis of CL job advertisements, examining job titles and duties was undertaken. Twenty-three advertisements were scrutinized, and these results are presented here. As a complementary investigation, a postal questionnaire was sent to a sample of practising CLs in the UK. RESULTS: Several duties can be classified as core to the role of the CL. However there is a great diversity of duties attached to this core, reflecting an absence of nationally accepted practice. CONCLUSION: Further work was necessary to assess current practice and how clinical librarianship can continue to grow at local and national levels. This is addressed in Part Two of this series.     

Labor migrants’ self-empowerment via participation in a diasporic magazine: Filipinos at Manila-Tel Aviv

This study delves into the motivations, symbolic rewards, and experiences of Filipinos involved in the creation of a magazine catering to the Filipino migrant workers’ community in Israel. Although practices of resistance are the prevailing framework within research about diasporic media, this paper offers another perspective of the construction of a subjugated minority's sphericule. Power (or lack thereof) is not necessarily a basic force of motivation. Participation in cultural production is not perceived as a journalistic endeavor by Filipinos, but a rare and crucial opportunity to be heard, to have a voice, to win over coerced living circumstances of alienation, solitude, and hard work. In this context they are not ‘just the caregiver,’ but accomplished writers, winners of competitions, and recipients of respect. Empowerment is derived from pleasure; it is grounded in recreational gratifications and a sense of mission that have no political dimensions.     

What's in a Name?

Abstract

Many archivists believe that outreach is an important part of their job. However, how do archivists define the term outreach? How does outreach compare to basic services? What types of outreach programs are being done? This article reports the results of a survey that asked college and university archivists to answer these and similar questions. The author describes the respondents' answers, compares their opinions about outreach and basic services, and reports the types of outreach programs that are done. The article concludes with a new and more inclusive definition of outreach that is based on the respondents' answers.     

What's in a Name?

These words critique the ongoing tendency to create false dichotomies between different approaches in media studies. Delivered as part of a panel on the future of media studies at the 2013 Society for Cinema and Media Studies, I offer a definition of critique that all critical media scholars should share.     

“Request for proposal” or “run for protection?” some thoughts on RFPS from a librarian and a bookseller

Increasingly, academic librarians are using the RFP (Request for Proposal) to assist them in selecting materials vendors. While this has been a common practice for integrated library system selection for some time, it is still a relatively new phenomenon in the acquisitions field. The authors, one a library administrator and the other a bookseller, review the pros and cons, pitfalls and benefits of using the RFP method for purchasing library materials.     

What contributes to a qualified digital humanities librarian and ideal digital humanities pedagogy? An exploratory qualitative study

Various digital humanities (DH) methods are increasingly being incorporated into the curricula of higher education institutions and the research undertaken in these institutions. Through semi-structured interviews conducted with eight librarians from four universities, along with observation of their actual work and investigation of the library websites, this study explored these librarians' perceptions of DH pedagogy and their understandings about the role of “DH librarian.” The findings show that the role of a DH librarian can be seen as a liaison among different stakeholders, a group of specialists, or a collective title. The importance of humanities versus technical backgrounds and the practical skills a DH librarian needs to support DH pedagogy are discussed. The findings also indicate that an ideal practice of DH pedagogy requires balanced collaboration, a clear framework, a closer partnership, ample investment in human and technical resources, and high valuation of non-book scholarship.     

For a few dollars more: a future for scholarly books in Australia?

Australia's universities have seen significant growth in government research funding, with more to come, but this is not reflected in the output of research monograph publications; structural barriers stand between creation and dissemination of research. This is especially a problem for those working on Australian topics. The author has proposed a new model for funding scholarly publishing in Australia, which may well be applicable to other countries: just a small proportion of the funds committed by the Australian government to research inputs could ensure the publication of research outputs. This would deliver major gains in impact and productivity for government, universities, and individual academics alike.     

Digital publishing in China: is there a copyright crisis?

This paper takes three organizations who are aggregators/Web publishers as case studies and uses them to illustrate the potential copyright crisis in digital publishing in China. It also shows the serious results of legal action on these issues. It proposes that companies should establish business development strategies in which copyright compliance is the core.     

Validating the Hornik & Woolf approach to choosing media campaign themes: Do promising beliefs predict behavior change in a longitudinal study?

Hornik and Woolf (1999) proposed using cross-sectional survey data to prioritize beliefs to address with communication campaign messages. The empirical component of the approach combines evidence of (1) association of beliefs with intentions and (2) current level of beliefs to calculate a “percentage to gain” as the potential promise of a belief. However, the method relies on cross-sectional data; its conclusions are open to challenge. Here, a panel study assesses whether the calculated promise of a belief actually predicts future behavior change. A nationally representative sample of 3,204 U.S. youth and young adults were interviewed twice, six months apart. Sixteen beliefs about the benefits and costs of smoking cigarettes are compared with regard to their percentage to gain (calculated from cross-sectional data) and their ability to account for subsequent cigarette use. A belief’s cross-sectional percentage to gain is substantially associated with its ability to predict subsequent behavior change (r = .53, p < .05).     

Examining six modes of relationships in a social-mediated crisis in China: an exploratory study of contingent organization–public relationships (COPR)

ABSTRACT

The relationship management theory and contingency theory of conflict management, as two dominant approaches in the field of public relations, bolstered by a tapestry of literature from cross-disciplinary fields, were brought together to conceptualize the concept of contingent organization–public relationships (COPR). To generate the theoretical robustness of COPR and test its practical applicability, we selected a social-mediated crisis occurring in China and collected data through mixed-methods, including both content analysis and in-depth interviews. Quantitatively, content analysis of 338 Red Cross’s press releases and 4003 media coverage and 136,754 public posts during a 3-year time range provided a natural history of the application of COPR in crises. Qualitative interviews also offered in-depth information on the perceptions of stances and relationships from each party in this incident. Findings concluded that COPR addressed the dynamic and contingent multi-party relationships in contemporary China.     

Cracking induction in health libraries: is there a right way?

In most instances, inductions are the first time that users will be introduced to health library services. The time available in which to deliver library orientation sessions within a broader, Trust induction programme is often limited, and this can present challenges for health librarians. Inductions are a great marketing tool, and it is important that induction sessions make the right impact. Within a brief window of opportunity, the health librarian must impart key information to the inductees whilst ensuring the session is relevant and memorable. In this article, guest writer Nicola Healey, Library Manager of North Somerset Healthcare Library, discusses the range of approaches she and her colleagues have explored in delivering library inductions, explaining what worked, what did not and what areas still remain for development. H. S.     

A fair history of the Web? Examining country balance in the Internet Archive

The Internet Archive, an important initiative that maintains a record of the evolving Web, has the promise of being a key resource for historians and those who study the Web itself. The archive's goal is to index the whole Web without making any judgments about which pages are worth saving. The potential importance of the archive for longitudinal and historical Web research leads to the need to evaluate its coverage. This article focuses upon whether there is an international bias in its coverage. The results show that there are indeed large national differences in the archive's coverage of the Web. A subsequent statistical analysis found differing national average site ages and hyperlink structures to be plausible explanations for this uneven coverage. Although the bias is unintentional, researchers using the archive in the future need to be aware of this problem.