Managing Reference Services in the Electronic Age

Summary

Managing reference services is challenged by the influx of electronic resources in libraries. Traditional approaches to reference management lack a conceptual framework of effectiveness and emphasize mostly internal processes, downplaying the turbulent environments libraries face. The competing values approach to effectiveness is presented as a broad-based integration of four existing models of organizational effectiveness, encompassing the contradictory values of an internal and an external focus, a control and a flexibility orientation, and means and ends. Implications of the approach for reference management are discussed, and the movement toward diversified team structures examined as a possible solution to the problems of managing reference in the electronic age. The focus is on academic libraries but may apply to other types of libraries as well.     

A lesson from the New York Times: Timing and the management of cultural change

Abstract

The author places newspaper decision‐making models within a timing framework, using the infamous New York Times‐Jayson Blair‐plagiarism case to illustrate how the U.S. newspaper industry can feasibly and sincerely engineer the change in newspaper culture suggested by an earlier industry‐commissioned study. Using arguments from timing theory, the author illustrates how the framework generates timing‐related questions about management style that would not normally get asked. Ultimately, the argument challenges newspaper managers to re‐consider the essence of the managerial concept of control and, eventually, their own managerial style and culture. Cultural transformation, the author argues, does, indeed, start at the top but with management acknowledging that it has much to learn and that popular culture‐enhancing management tools must be used only when managers consider the timing‐induced paradoxes inherent in decision‐making, where the “when”; becomes just as important as the “what.”;     

Scientific storytelling: A narrative strategy for scientific communicators

Courses: Science communication, public speaking, technical communication, professional and/or management communication

Objectives: This activity about scientific and technical communication uses narrative principles to communicate complex information to broader audiences. Upon completion of the activity, students will be able to:

• (1)?Explain the four fundamental elements of Cohen’s framework for creating memorable anecdotes.

• (2)?Identify the four elements of Cohen’s framework in sample scientific presentations.

• (3)?Provide examples of how to apply Cohen’s framework to communicate complex information.

• (4)?Identify one or two complex concepts in their subject area that would benefit from a narrative approach.

• (5)?(Optional) Use Cohen’s framework to create a narrative relevant to their subject area.

     

Teaching communication and conflict as a game

Courses: Communication and Conflict.

Objectives: Through the use of a game-based framework, students will build intrinsic motivation to engage with course material and course content, and will engage their critical-thinking, problem-solving, and communication skills in relation to conflict management over the length of the course.     

Persistent Identification for the Permanent Referencing of Digital Resources—The Activities of the EPICUR Project

ABSTRACT

Long-term referencing of online publications (for example, research papers embedded in a distributed heterogeneous information environment) presents several challenges. In order to address the challenges, two main things must be taken into account:

? A method for location-independent referencing by means of Persistent Identifiers (PIs)

? The long-term access to digital objects by means of (long-term) preservation

These imply that long-term referencing is not only an issue of a technical implementation of PIs, but also a matter of a political and organizational infrastructure.

These starting points underlie the PI-related activities at Die Deutsche Bibliothek (the German National Library) that are occurring in the framework of the EPICUR (Enhancement of Persistent Identifier Services-Comprehensive Method for Unequivocal Resource Identification) project.

This article discusses cooperative URN management at Die Deutsche Bibliothek within the EPICUR project. It presents results concerning the framework of URN assignment and administration, resolving services, and standardization within bibliographic information services.     

Starting up the News: The Impact of Venture Capital on the Digital News Media Ecosystem

ABSTRACT

Venture capital funding is an increasingly common yet understudied management model in the rapidly changing market of news media. Drawing on scholarship in media management and entrepreneurship, this study applies a community ecology framework to analyze the relationship between venture capital funding and digital news media firms. In doing so, this work explores the interaction between legacy news media firms and new entrants as they struggle for scarce resources and seek to grow in the face of rapid change. A dataset tracking funding activity of legacy and startup news media firms is used to analyze resource allocation within the digital news media ecosystem. Results of the analyses provide insights for news media management by furthering understanding regarding venture capital funding models and the generative mechanisms that help drive growth. Specifically, findings highlight the importance of cross-sector engagement and the tension between firm age and position for growth in the digital news media ecosystem.     

Performance of conceptual framework elements for the retrieval of qualitative health literature: a case study

Objective:A growing volume of studies address methods for performing systematic reviews of qualitative studies. One such methodological aspect is the conceptual framework used to structure the review question and plan the search strategy for locating relevant studies. The purpose of this case study was to evaluate the retrieval potential of each element of conceptual frameworks in qualitative systematic reviews in the health sciences.Methods:The presence of elements from conceptual frameworks in publication titles, abstracts, and controlled vocabulary in CINAHL and PubMed was analyzed using a set of qualitative reviews and their included studies as a gold standard. Using a sample of 101 publications, we determined whether particular publications could be retrieved if a specific element from the conceptual framework was used in the search strategy.Results:We found that the relative recall of conceptual framework elements varied considerably, with higher recall for patient/population (99%) and research type (97%) and lower recall for intervention/phenomenon of interest (74%), outcome (79%), and context (61%).Conclusion:The use of patient/population and research type elements had high relative recall for qualitative studies. However, other elements should be used with great care due to lower relative recall.     

U.S. Newspapers and the development of online editions

Abstract

Media managers in the 21st century will need to constantly assess and respond to emerging technologies that have the potential to disrupt the industry. This project examined the innovation‐management processes that the newspaper industry used to respond to the Internet, using an analytical framework of recommended innovation management techniques derived from previous research. The study found that newspapers’ innovation‐management processes were generally haphazard and that industry executives should be better prepared in the future to manage innovation. From a theoretical perspective, the study also found that organizational responses to emerging technology were related to the senior executive's perception of the nature of the technology. The paper concludes that future innovation management research should control for variances in the technology's perceived nature.     

Periodizations and History of Science

Abstract

The significance of historical periodizations is explored for the purpose of collection development. As historians often rely upon utilizing historical periods for discussion and research in their scholarship, an understanding of the nature of historical periods as a collection perspective and approach can be useful for the subject librarian engaged in or responsible for the history of science collections. An examination of the last 20 years of ISIS bibliographies using historical periods as a chronological tool provides useful framework and knowledge for research, scholarship, and collection management, especially selection for library collections, of the history of science. Data revealed periodizations and their emphases, evolution over time, and possible scholarly directions, pertinent for collection purposes. Informed knowledge of periodizations and how they may affect collections, acquisitions, and instruction enables librarians to effectively interact with the specialists in the history of science.     

Build Your Program by Building Your Team: Inclusively Transforming Services,Staffing and Spaces

ABSTRACT

User feedback told the story of the largest and busiest campus library being dated in both physical form and programmatic function. Under the framework of a newly-developed strategic plan, library leadership initiated a comprehensive and inclusive assessment program to understand fully user needs by engaging users, campus partners, and, importantly, library personnel. Simultaneously, they embarked on a review of change management literature for guidance on implementing the required transformation. Informed by the change management philosophy of John Kotter, the library utilized the findings of the assessment program to craft and implement a sustainable transformation of its services, staffing, and spaces.     

The Digital Transformation of Special Collections

ABSTRACT

The effect of digital technology on special collections has been profound and ongoing. The purpose of this article is to explore the effect born digital materials, digitization, and intellectual property have had on special collections in the 21st century. In particular this study will focus on how archival materials have been significantly transformed by interacting with digital technology—providing both challenges in management and opportunities for new online environments to expose this content worldwide. Finally, a research experiment underway at the University of Virginia Library offers a framework that may help highlight some strategies for exploiting new opportunities going forward.     

Knowledge Management on the Web

Abstract

Knowledge management is another valuable concept within the business world. The authors outline major Web resources for finding information on knowledge management as well as Web-based publications.     

The decisions and processes involved in a systematic search strategy: a hierarchical framework

Objective:The decisions and processes that may compose a systematic search strategy have not been formally identified and categorized. This study aimed to (1) identify all decisions that could be made and processes that could be used in a systematic search strategy and (2) create a hierarchical framework of those decisions and processes.Methods:The literature was searched for documents or guides on conducting a literature search for a systematic review or other evidence synthesis. The decisions or processes for locating studies were extracted from eligible documents and categorized into a structured hierarchical framework. Feedback from experts was sought to revise the framework. The framework was revised iteratively and tested using recently published literature on systematic searching.Results:Guidance documents were identified from expert organizations and a search of the literature and Internet. Data were extracted from 74 eligible documents to form the initial framework. The framework was revised based on feedback from 9 search experts and further review and testing by the authors. The hierarchical framework consists of 119 decisions or processes sorted into 17 categories and arranged under 5 topics. These topics are “Skill of the searcher,” “Selecting information to identify,” “Searching the literature electronically,” “Other ways to identify studies,” and “Updating the systematic review.”Conclusions:The work identifies and classifies the decisions and processes used in systematic searching. Future work can now focus on assessing and prioritizing research on the best methods for successfully identifying all eligible studies for a systematic review.     

Savannah River National Laboratory Emergency Response Capability for Atmospheric Contaminant Releases

ABSTRACT

Emergency response to an atmospheric release of chemical or radiological contamination is enhanced when plume predictions, field measurements, and real-time weather information are integrated into a geospatial framework. The Weather Information and Display (WIND) System at Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) utilizes such an integrated framework. The rapid availability of predictions from a suite of atmospheric transport models within this geospatial framework has proven to be of great value to decision makers during an emergency involving an atmospheric contaminant release.     

A framework for building brand equity online for pure‐play B2C retailers and services

Abstract

Brand equity is an important asset that a B2C company can leverage to compete and prosper in its unique and intensely competitive environment. This paper provides a framework for building brand equity model. Based on this framework, some strategies are suggested to build brand equity online. Implications of the framework for research and practice are also discussed.     

Community Connections: Advocating for Libraries through Effective Brand Advocacy

ABSTRACT

Information professionals strive to understand the needs of communities in order to discover ways to connect and engage them in library resources and services. Positive word-of-mouth communication remains one of the most powerful tools used to develop mutually rewarding connections with the community. This article argues that libraries can harness the power of brand advocacy to transform their patrons into the most enthusiastic sharers of information, or informal brand advocates. Moreover, it emphasizes how libraries can carefully build and maintain mutually rewarding community connections through effective brand advocacy by utilizing the STEPPS framework – Social Currency, Triggers, Emotion, Public, Practical Value, Stories. Each principle in this framework can help an organization to effectively spread important brand messages. While the social currency principle encourages people to talk about topics that make them appear more favorable to others, triggers provide everyday cues that remind people of the library brand. Emotion focuses on appealing to feelings and the public principle calls for initiatives that advertise the brand. Finally, practical value motivates people to spread useful information and the stories principle explains that people share their experiences through memorable narratives. The article calls for adopting a holistic approach toward brand advocacy in applying the STEPPS framework in libraries.     

Using Bloom's Taxonomy to Teach Critical Thinking Skills to Business Students

ABSTRACT

Using Bloom's Taxonomy, this article provides a practical approach for enhancing critical thinking by business students. The article first describes Bloom's Taxonomy and how the model may be used as a framework for engaging business students in higher-order thought. It then explains how secondary research methods can be used to move business students to the higher planes of thought identified in Bloom's Taxonomy. Lastly, Herrick's criteria are used as a framework to analyze and evaluate the quality of secondary sources.     

Mapping the Socio-Technical Complexity of Australian Science: From Archival Authorities to Networks of Contextual Information

SUMMARY

This article examines the evolution of a national register of the archives of science and technology in Australia and the related development of an archival informatics focused initially on people and their relationships to archival materials. The register was created in 1985 as an in-house tool for the Australian Science Archives Project of the University of Melbourne. Its potential as a public reference guide for historians of science and technology soon became apparent. The story of the computerisation and publication of the register provides the background for the examination of the use of archival authority records as a means of finding better ways of connecting archives with their potential users. The success of this approach led to demands from the community for a generic database tool using a framework based on the authoritative entities associated with archival materials-an activity that we started to call contextual information management. The Online Heritage Resource Manager (OHRM) was created in response to these calls, and the story of its development as a tool for mapping networks of contextual information is told in the latter part of the article.