The Impact of the Monographs Crisis on the Field of Communication

This study replicates and extends Yates and Chapman's [(2007), Behavioral & Social Sciences Librarian, 26(1), 39–51] study of references from Communication Monographs, Communication Research, and Journal of Communication for the years 2010 and 2015 to draw further conclusions on the use of monographs in journal literature in the field of communication. Results show that the use of monographs in these journals has been outpaced by references to journal articles by a ratio of 5 to 1. The references were further analyzed by date and publisher. The authors then selected a random sample of the monographs cited in the journals to explore the availability of these monographs in electronic format and found that many are available as ebooks, particularly the more recent titles. The authors also examined the references from a collection of scholarly books in communication from 2005, 2010, and 2015 and found that the use of monographs may be declining slightly. The most notable trend in these references was the increase in the number of references to items in other formats such as film, television, comic books, and websites. The authors conclude that the monographs crisis is indeed affecting citation patterns in the field of communication.     

Peer education in the commons: a new approach to reference services

In planning for a new library construction project for the University of Oklahoma-Tulsa, graduate students enrolled in the University of Oklahoma (OU) School of Library and Information Studies collaborated in an innovative effort to develop a commons-based reference service. By first considering a philosophical approach to the need for a commons, blending in the experiences of other libraries that have created similar spaces, and focusing on the workflow issues likely to be encountered by the graduate assistants staffing the commons itself, this planning team developed an uncommon peer-to-peer approach to reference and education services, one focused on the patron as student.     

Mobile social networking as information ground: A case study

Mobile messaging systems, particularly those that incorporate social networking capabilities, affect how individuals socially interact and how they exchange information. This paper reports the impact of a mobile-device-based social networking service that enables users to form groups and send both text and photos to co-members. Survey and system usage data from 19 participants over 16 months were analyzed using information ground theory, which focuses on how people share everyday information in informal social settings. This study was novel in applying the theory to an online environment. In addition to how the mobile system functions as an information ground, the results highlight the types and usefulness of information shared, the role of information shared in everyday life, and how the system fits into participants' communication and social “ecosystem.” Usage analyses describe message sending frequency and system participation levels in relation to other factors, such as length of time in the system. Findings are discussed in the context of the information ground framework's seven propositions, to which we propose adding an emergent concept: “information capital,” i.e., an individual's capacity to access information based on his/her information grounds extent, and degrees of social capital and information literacy.     

Understanding student article retrieval behaviors: Instructional implications

This study evaluates the use of full-text databases amongst 425 undergraduate and graduate students in western New York. A review of literature implicated convenience, time issues, article retrieval option knowledge, and the appreciation and understanding of research article quality as potential predictors of full-text reliance. These variables were then evaluated via survey response and frequency counts, by conducting correlations, a one-way ANOVA, and stepwise regression analyses. The findings suggested that convenience, appreciation and understanding of research quality, and time management issues played a significant role in the prediction of student full-text reliance. These findings as well as the relationships among independent variables are discussed. Implications for instruction are then addressed.