Combined Use of Online Tutorials and Hands-On Group Exercises in Bibliographic Instruction for Pharmacy Students

This study describes the new blended learning methodology implemented in a Drug Literature Evaluation course for pharmacy students that involves combined use of online tutorials and in-class group exercises. Assignment grades earned by 909 students enrolled in the course before and after the new methods were implemented (2008–2010) were studied to measure student performance. Course evaluations were analyzed in order to ascertain students’ perceptions. The hybrid approach used to deliver the course content allowed students to perform at the same level as traditional didactic teaching. Students’ evaluations reported a positive educational experience and favorable perceptions of the new course design.     

Using the ADDIE Model in Designing Library Instruction

Librarians are increasingly placed in the role of instructor and are required to design and deliver effective instruction. This article highlights ADDIE, an instructional design model that librarians at Weill Cornell Medical College used to redesign an evidence-based medicine course taken by first-year medical students. The ADDIE model incorporates the five phases of analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation. It was found that the application of ADDIE can result in instruction that focuses on learning outcomes relevant to students, meets students' needs, and facilitates active learning.     

Collaboration and Organization for Successful Serials Cancellation

Serials cancellations are dreaded equally by librarians and faculty. Previously, faculty reviewed title lists, and librarians canceled what they recommended. Today's cancellation process is more complex; there has to be a context and a timetable. Reports must include at least data about historical pricing and titles associated with e-packages that are not cancellable. Although libraries' workflows differ, there are basic steps necessary to carry out a successful cancellation process. This joint presentation demonstrated how integrated planning and the use of serials management tools are used to organize complex information into useable data. It takes early and collaborative planning between Collection Development, teaching faculty, and Serials Technical Services to make a dreaded process less painful and more effective. This tactics session was delivered in parts by Susanne Clement and Gaele Gillespie, Head of Collection Development and Serials Librarian, respectively, at Watson Library, University of Kansas, and by Sarah Tusa, Coordinator of Collection Development and Acquisitions at the Mary and John Gray Library, Lamar University.     

Getting Buzzed In the Library: The Use of Restaurant-Style Pagers for Reserves Checkout in an Academic Library

In 2004, the Social Sciences and Humanities Library at the University of California–San Diego implemented restaurant-style pagers to notify waiting patrons that the reserve collection materials they needed were available. The authors describe the university libraries’ process for implementing the pagers and the success staff has had with pagers over the past four years, list other libraries that use pagers, suggest other library uses for pagers, and offer guidance to institutions that might consider this service enhancement.     

Resource Sharing and Social Justice: An MLIS Student Intern’s Perspective of the 2018 Great Lakes Resource Sharing Conference

This paper presents a library student intern’s experience at the Great Lakes Resource Sharing Conference 2018 (GLRSC) in Perrysburg, Ohio on June 7–8. GLRSC is a regional conference aimed at training resource sharing (RS) professionals and creating a collaborative environment for peers to discuss new ideas, best practices, and partnership opportunities, among other related topics. This paper focuses on GLRSC 2018 presenters who emphasized the inherent value of librarianship, and RS specifically, as a tool for social justice. George Needham’s discussion of the intense and unique value of RS to shape our community’s information access is presented, as well as Anna Bendo and Stephen Kaufman’s session about affordable learning options for students of higher education. The inherent relationship between RS and intellectual freedom is also discussed. These concepts of unconditional information access resonate with Myers due to her interest in outreach librarianship and commitment to her position serving marginalized patrons in her community who have severely limited access to the public library’s resources and materials.     

Academic Library Collaboration in Supporting Students Pre-Induction: The Head Start Project

For higher education institutions in the United Kingdom there is a growing focus on improving student retention, encouraging academic engagement, and easing transition into university life. This article reports on the creation and outcomes of Head Start, a pre-induction online course created to provide students with a level of understanding of academic literacies including information literacy to aid preparation for university study. Information literacy librarians have reported that there has been a marked improvement in the confidence and information literacies of new starters taking the module. The article is of value for others wishing to support students at pre-entry.     

NGOs,Communicative Labor,and the Work of Grassroots Representation

In this article, I develop a critical perspective on the communicative labor of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and on the omissions and silences created by a spatial, moralizing grassroots discourse. My qualitative case study of an environmental justice NGO provides a view into the daily practices of communicative labor, including critical processes of formation. In highlighting how members actively produce and mobilize images of a grassroots constituency, I challenge the tendency to treat NGOs as authentic representatives of already-formed constituencies.