Are you in h?

A new method of assessment of scientific papers, scientists, and scientific institutions was defined. The significance of a paper was assessed by the definition of the largest (the most prestigious) set, including that paper in its h-core. The sets of papers were defined by affiliation (country, city, university, department) or by subject (branches and sub-branches of science, journal). The inclusion of a paper in the h-core of certain set(s) was used as an indicator of the significance of that paper, and of the scientific output of its author(s), of their scientific institution(s), etc. An analogous procedure was used to assess the contribution of an individual to the scientific output of his/her scientific institution, branch of science, etc.     

Ethical issues and learning analytics: Are academic library practitioners prepared?

Academic libraries are participating in the collection and analysis of student data. Under the umbrella of learning analytics, these practices are directed toward developing an understanding of how libraries contribute to student learning, the educational experience, and efficient operations of academic institutions. Learning analytics, however, is loaded with ethical issues, which are made more complex by the high ethical bar library practitioners espouse as part of their professional values. This article discusses findings from a survey of academic library practitioners. The survey identifies what ethical issues practitioners associate with learning analytics and the degree to which they are prepared to address such issues. The discussion suggests pathways forward for filling knowledge and practice gaps.     

北京：Are you ready？

进入8月，距离2008奥运开幕一周年，伴随日渐升温的天气热度，整个北京进入繁忙的“奥运预演”，一场不期而遇的雷雨给这个主办城市提出了真正的考验。     

Do you Facebook? Usage and applications of Facebook page among academic libraries in Malaysia

This paper explores the use and application of Facebook among Malaysian academic libraries in order to provide academic libraries with ideas for best practices in using social networking sites to better profile themselves and communicate effectively with their users. The research questions guiding this study were: (a) What are the extent and nature of institutional Facebook use by Malaysian academic libraries? (b) What information do Malaysian academic libraries deliver through Facebook page? This study employs content analysis to examine current uses of the library Facebook page. A checkpoint was developed to analyze the libraries’ usage and application of Facebook page. A total of 14 academic libraries in Malaysia are using Facebook page as part of their services to users. However only three libraries are fully utilizing their Facebook page, and they have been identified as “Skaters” based on the 8-S Framework of Category Development for Facebook user. Most libraries are using their Facebook page for marketing and creating awareness of library services to their users.     

Do you have a broken link in your accessibility chain?

Key points

• Accessibility of publications in academia is a non‐negotiable legal requirement.
• The accessibility of your journal or other scholarly publication is the most important design consideration in your workflow.
• EPUB Accessibility 1.0 and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 provide a clear publishing pathway.
• Consider the readability chain: Any link can result in accessibility failure but an unbroken chain will benefit all readers.

     

What do academic libraries tweet about,and what makes a library tweet useful?

People spend an increasing amount of time using social media systems to network, share information, learn, or engage in leisure activities (e.g., gaming). Libraries too are establishing a social media presence to promote the library and provide services to user populations through the social media systems the users frequent. This study explores Twitter uses by six large academic libraries and factors that make library tweets useful. 752 tweets were analyzed by topic to develop a subject typology of library tweets. In addition, tweets and Twitter user characteristics were analyzed to explore what makes library tweets useful, as measured by the number of retweets and favorites received. Content analysis of the samples of library tweets revealed nine content types, with the event and resource categories being the most frequent. In addition, the analysis showed that tweets related to study support services and building and maintaining connections with the library community were the most frequently retweeted and selected as favorites. The presence of a URL in the tweet was positively associated with the number of retweets, and the number of users followed was positively associated with the number of favorites received. Finally, a negative correlation was found between the account age and number of favorites.     

Who Are We Missing? Conducting a Diversity Audit in a Liberal Arts College Library

In the spring of 2021, Thomas Tredway Library at Augustana College undertook an audit of the library's print book collection to determine if there were gaps in representation of the voices of authors of differing races/ethnicities; genders; or sexual orientations. With the results of this audit, Augustana College librarians now have a better understanding of which voices and perspectives are missing and/or underrepresented in the print collection. This article documents the audit methodology; shares the results; and provides suggestions and a toolkit for other libraries to use in audits of their own.     

The Books Are Shelf-Ready; Are You?

Over the past 2 years, shelf-ready services, the outsourcing of cataloging and processing services, has become the hot topic in the library world. This article examines the implications of shelf-ready service, both operationally and organizationally, for both library and vendor. Using the format of a dialog between librarian and vendor, the article discusses the following questions: Why are you interested in contracting for (or providing) these services? What do you hope to gain? What are the stumbling blocks to implementing a shelf-ready program? What is the impact on workflow and staffing in your organization? How many and what kinds of jobs are affected? How do library/vendor responsibilities change when shelf-ready procedures are applied to an approval plan … to firm orders … to standing orders? How can quality control be assured? Which errors really matter? Are the same standards applied to vendor staff as to in-house staff? How are standards affected by shelf-ready? How do both library and vendor know when they’re “ready for shelf-ready” in a given situation?     

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.     

Writing academic papers: lost in translation?

The process of writing for publication is a challenging one. It moves us from the spoken and written word into a realm that requires us to provide supporting evidence to develop an argument in a logical and progressive way. In English language journals, as elsewhere, the quality of the written word is a determining factor in the likelihood of a paper being accepted for publication. By reading past issues of a targeted journal, drawing on the expertise of colleagues and responding positively to feedback, it is possible to significantly enhance your prospects of publication.     

Are You Ready for Your Close-Up? Creating a Library Promotional Video

Learn how to create a promotional library video for your library using the multimedia software Camtasia. Challenges and lessons learned are explored by detailing one reference librarian’s efforts at creating a Ask A Librarian video.     

Analysis of a natural history exhibit: Are Dioramas the answer?

The results of this study indicated that small but significant amounts of knowledge gain did occur upon visiting the Living Land Living Sea gallery, that attitudinal change was not measured, and that exhibit type clearly affects attracting power and holding power.It is only fair to say that the results have left the RBCM staff with mixed reactions. Knowledge gain did occur, but still the majority of intended messages were not communicated. Attitudinal change did not occur, yet this was a stated museum goal. Does this mean the gallery has failed? The attracting power and holding power values for the gallery seemed low. Visitor flow did not follow the designed pattern, nor did visitors stay in the gallery for the intended period of time, whilst key exhibits did not receive the necessary attention, and visitors were attracted to and held at certain exhibits for other than the intended purpose. Are these matters of a serious enough nature to be of concern, or does the overwhelming positive enjoyment reaction outweigh the fact that the visitor did not view the gallery in the manner or sequence intended?Is the Living Land Living Sea gallery a success or not? Are dioramas the answer? These questions demand that the exhibits be studied both from the museological perspective and from that of the visitor. In relation to this gallery, the visitor would vote an overwhelming ‘yes’, but we are fearful that if one is being honest, the museologist must answer ‘no’.One surprising result of this study is that those exhibits judged to be the most successful in behavioural terms, i.e. the larger ‘concrete’ exhibits, were not the most successful in educational terms. The negative relationship between knowledge gain and minimum viewing time, and the implied negative relationship between knowledge gain and Concrete Index scores, leads us to conclude that dioramas are not the best vehicle for communicating ideas. This finding reinforces the concept that large diorama-type exhibits be used to ‘wow’ visitors, but if we want to teach them anything, we should probably go for the small exhibit whose message can be gleaned in a relatively short time.All museums, not just the RBCM, need to re-examine their motives for public exhibits. As ‘tourists’ become increasingly our most important market (since visitation seems to be an indicator of success), more and more museums are contemplating the use of large dioramas to attract visitors. As these data indicated, dioramas are not the answer to all our problems and thus should be used carefully and cautiously.     

Are we teaching trauma?

Covering violence is an expected part of the daily job for many journalists in the United States; however, are college and university programs fully preparing students for what they may experience? This study surveyed accredited journalism schools in the United States. Of the 41 respondent schools, only one offered a course specifically aimed at teaching journalists how to protect themselves from psychological trauma and how best to interact with victims of trauma. Results show that although schools believe the topic of trauma is important and worth teaching to future journalists, the approach to the topic is mostly reactive and inconsistent. Implications for the future of journalism education are discussed.     

Environmental factors in professional development activities: Does type of academic library affiliation make a difference?

The importance of continuing professional development activities for academic librarians is generally acknowledged, but differences in activity levels according to type of academic institution have received little examination. This study compares academic librarians in a single state on the basis of type of employing institution: 2-year institution, predominately 4-year college, or doctorate-granting institution. Demographic profiles of librarians and institutional support for professional activities did not vary significantly across type of institution, but a number of notable differences emerged when the professional behavior of the three groups was compared. Librarians at doctorate-granting institutions belonged to more professional associations, were more active in those organizations, and published more. However, in other activity areas, different comparative patterns were discovered.