Librarians and the Holocaust: Research-Related Issues

ABSTRACT

After learning and teaching about the Holocaust for the past 16 years, the author advocates that librarians join Holocaust scholars, historians, teachers, and others in ensuring that this horrific and catastrophic event of the twentieth century is correctly understood, taught, and, most importantly, never forgotten.     

Humanities Reference Librarians in the Electronic Age

Abstract

Humanists build new ideas and arguments based upon studies done in the past. Although research requires these scholars to pick through the literature that has come before, much has been lost because of the lack of adequate comprehensive reference tools. In the age of technology, new projects are available which enhance and enlarge the body of work upon which future scholars can build. For reference librarians helping with research questions in the humanities, the marriage of traditional reference tools and new on-line resources means a richer cumulation of past scholarship. In this paper, I will discuss strategies for academic humanities reference librarians to integrate traditional and electronic reference resources, and the need to continue learning the skills to use both. Humanities reference librarians must continue the great humanist tradition of building new ideas upon older foundations by successfully acquiring and using both new and old reference resources.     

Basic Sources for Undergraduate Librarians

The author provides a list of print and on-line guides useful to librarians who want to begin to tap the Internet's vast potential for undergraduates.     

The Bologna Process Offers New Research Opportunities for Academic Business Librarians Worldwide

European education ministers and officials signed a Bologna Declaration with a goal to reform, strengthen, and standardize higher education programs and degree structures by 2010. Graduates will become more mobile and marketable to employers throughout Europe. These programs shall also attract students worldwide. Higher education programs on other continents have taken notice and are in the process of initiating similar goals and outcomes. All of these events are creating new research opportunities for academic business librarians in all aspects of library support and services including collection development, reference, and instruction.     

The Professor-Librarian: Academic Librarians Teaching Credit-Bearing Courses

Many academic librarians have ideas or opportunities for teaching information literacy courses for the library, outside the scope of their regular positions. Some additional librarians are asked to consider teaching credit-bearing courses for other departments at their institutions, based on graduate degrees they hold in fields besides library science. Academic librarians who face either option are often asked to provide detailed information on how colleagues at other institutions handle arrangements: payment, coverage of library services while they are teaching, and proving their suitability for teaching in a given subject area. Unfortunately, the data available on their work is both scant and scattered. The authors surveyed librarians at 350 academic libraries across the United States to gather and analyze data on these and numerous related aspects of librarians’ teaching for departments outside the library. They also collected and analyzed comprehensive background information on these “professor-librarians.”     

The Undergraduate Prospectus as a Marketing Tool for Academic Libraries

There is widespread use of the undergraduate prospectus as a decision-making tool for prospective university students. Surveys have examined factors that affect student decision-making; none have specifically examined the use of the prospectus as a marketing tool for academic libraries. This study aimed to examine the usefulness of the prospectus as a marketing tool for academic libraries. A content analysis of twenty prospectuses was carried out to determine the portrayal of the library within them. A questionnaire was used to uncover the perceptions of prospective university students. This was distributed to 44 sixth-form students. The prospectus was identified as the most important source of information for prospective students. The library was deemed important in the prospectus in terms of decision-making, but it ranked behind other information, such as course content or entry requirements. The exposure of the library varied within prospectuses; some featured the library heavily, others excluded the library altogether. The most heavily referenced features of the library were information technology, printed and electronic resources, and study space. The prospectus has potential for library marketing, increasing the exposure, and highlighting the value of its services. A “best practice” policy for library marketing and promotion within prospectuses is presented.     

建立和完善学科馆员制度的措施

本文在分析高校图书馆学科馆员制度建立的意义、学科馆员队伍的素质要求及高校图书馆建立学科馆员制度的现实差距的基础上,针对目前存在的高校图书馆高素质人才匮乏的现状,提出了“学科馆员”制度建立及完善的具体措施。     

Librarians in the Classroom

SUMMARY

This article reports on a survey conducted by the author to determine how librarians and library directors feel about librarians teaching outside the library, i.e., in academic disciplines. The author discusses her own experience in the classroom and examines the benefits and detriments of the “professor librarian” model. She includes comments from those surveyed, and offers suggestions for further study.     

From Treading Water to Smooth Sailing: Mentoring for New Academic Librarians

The two authors were paired as part of a formal mentoring program for orientation and to prepare for eventual promotion and tenure. One author has over twenty-five years’ experience on campus, and the other author has completed one year in her current position. During that first year, various themes emerged to remind both librarians that the more things change, the more they remain the same. As the mentoring experience evolved, it became difficult to distinguish the mentor from the mentee because both librarians understood that discussing common issues was mutually beneficial.     

Students' Perceptions of Academic Librarians

Summary

Academic librarians, eager to participate in the education of college students, have been researching library anxiety, students' aversion to asking questions, and other problems with interactions between students and library staff for decades. Misconceptions about librarians' professional status, teaching roles, knowledge and expertise, and attitudes toward students are often proposed as causes of dysfunctional interactions and as reasons why some students don't ask questions. It is important for students to know that librarians are willing and able to help, so that they feel free to ask questions that will help them advance their education. This study reports the findings of a survey of 48 undergraduate students regarding their perceptions of academic librarians, and discusses ideas for addressing existing misconceptions.     

高校图书馆副研究馆员职业高原问题探析

文章对高校图书馆副研究馆员职业高原现象及其成因进行了深刻分析,从图书馆组织层面和副研究馆员自身调适两方面提出了一些措施和办法,值得图书馆管理者和同行深思。     

Librarians Team Up with Marketing Research Class

The Library Assessment Committee at Central Missouri State University has conducted numerous user surveys within the past three years. In an effort to come up with some creative new ideas, the Committee worked with one of the University's Marketing Research classes. The class's term project was to design a methodology to assess students' impressions of library service. Several of the ideas have been implemented, and an intern form the Marketing Department has been hired to assist with future surveys.     

中外高校图书馆学科馆员工作比较研究

文章对2010～2012年中外大学图书馆学科馆员工作进行了跟踪对比分析,指出美国、澳大利亚大学图书馆学科馆员的工作开展较为普遍,注重小众及个性化服务。学科馆员既是图书馆专家也是学科专家,不断拓展、深化学科服务新内容。然而,我国还存在学科馆员工作开展不均衡、学科服务水平悬殊、学科馆员专业技能有待提高等问题。提出应重新进行学科馆员角色定位,并从数据保存、学术出版、嵌入式教学等方面拓展学科服务形式和内容。     

When Librarians Hit the Books: Uses of and Attitudes Toward E-Books

Librarians offer a unique perspective on e-books: on one hand they collect these resources and train users as part of their jobs, while on the other hand, they may be users of e-books themselves. With recent increases in research expectations for Canadian academic librarians, this study aimed to discover: when librarians do research, do they use e-books and how often are they using them? This study examines the results of a survey of 392 academic librarians from across Canada. The survey generated data on librarians' use of, and attitudes towards, e-books. While a number of studies examine the use and opinions of e-books among other user groups, this study examines how librarians search for or use e-books differently than other user groups. Results will help librarians to improve their liaison work and make more informed collection development decisions at their own institutions.     

Strategic Engagement: New Models of Relationship Management for Academic Librarians

ABSTRACT

How do we best bridge the gap between the Library and the diverse academic communities it serves? Librarians need new strategies for engagement. Traditional models of liaison, aligning solutions to disciplines, are yielding to functional specialisms, including a focus on building partnerships. This paper offers a snapshot of realignment across the Russell Group from subject support to relationship management. It then follows the journey of a newly-formed Faculty and School Engagement Team. Techniques are explored for building relationship capital, anchored to a model Strategic Engagement Cycle. Theory is contrasted with the challenges of securing real buy-in to new ways of working amid diverging agendas and assumptions, notably within the Library itself. Consideration is given to the retention of aspects of subject librarian roles. Investment in a relationship management function demands staunch and ongoing commitment to fulfil its promise, not only from its performers but from across the library community.     

人才培养是公共图书馆发展的关键——中山大学广州市图书馆专业人才高级研修班述评

由于地方政府的高度重视和大力投入，中山大学广州市图书馆专业人才高级研修班主办和承办单位秉承“面向现实、面向未来、面向社会”的理念进行课程设计，采用将理念传授、能力培养、素质教育三者融于一体的培训方式。为广州市图书馆事业培养了人才，也为其他地方政府支持图书馆事业的发展提供了可资借鉴的范例。     

Academic Self-Efficacy,Information Literacy,and Undergraduate Course-Related Research: Expanding Gross's Imposed Query Model

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the potential relevance of academic self-beliefs to Gross's imposed query model as they apply to undergraduate students, particularly at the IQ2 (transferred) and IQ3 (interpreted) stages. The author argues that, at these two stages, students will decide if they have the skills required to be successful, how much effort they will put into the research process, and if they will seek help from an expert information intermediary. Furthermore, the author proposes an expanded model of the IQ2 (transferred) and IQ3 (interpreted) stages to be tested by future research seeking to understand how undergraduate students navigate the course-related research process.     

A Community of Practice: Librarians in a Biomedical Research Network

Providing library and reference services within a biomedical research community presents special challenges for librarians, especially those in historically lower-funded states. These challenges can include understanding needs, defining and communicating the library's role, building relationships, and developing and maintaining general and subject specific knowledge. This article describes a biomedical research network and the work of health sciences librarians at the lead intensive research institution with librarians from primarily undergraduate institutions and tribal colleges. Applying the concept of a community of practice to a collaborative effort suggests how librarians can work together to provide effective reference services to researchers in biomedicine.