Examining Change Within Interlibrary Loan

Technological innovations have changed the interlibrary loan landscape, leading many of its practitioners to wonder what the future holds for interlibrary loan. Examining the way in which change is discussed can reveal some insecurities on the part of interlibrary loan workers and can also provide direction as to where interlibrary loan is going.     

How the international news agency business model failed – Reuters in Australia, 1877–1895

Case studies regarding institutional change and the mechanisms that drive it provide nuanced views into internal and external organizational dynamics. For decades, journalists in Argentina plied their trade in a context of contentious media–state relations, economic and political instability and organizational directives. As the political environment stabilized and private industry opened, an innovative news organization gained prestige from reporting on high-level scandals. Other, more market-powerful competitors followed suit. However, as democracy continued, declines in the original innovator's watchdog content startled press observers. Other organizations translated changes in different manners. In terms of institutional change, the diffusion of watchdog journalism and then its subsequent organizational re-accommodation reflects ongoing processes of articulation of commercial logics, ideological ideals and state strategies, knotty relations with deep historical ties.     

Removal of Gay‐Themed Materials from Public Libraries: Public Opinion Trends, 1973–2006

Gay images have slowly become integrated into mainstream cultural venues over the last forty years, including publishing. Studies show that gay‐themed materials in libraries are targets of censorship attempts. Are these attempts reflections of the opinions of the majority of the population or of a vocal minority? The information in this study contributes over thirty years of trend data on the general public's views of the censorship of gay‐themed materials in libraries. This information can be useful to library policy makers and those faced with materials challenges.     

Swimming Upstream

SUMMARY

“Swimming upstream” suggests a leadership model in our era of chaos and complexity that replaces the traditional hierarchical command and control way of leading in libraries. It requires the leadership actions of connection, contributions, and collaboration to build trust, success, and a healthy library system.     

The Transformation of Singapore's Public Libraries: A Case Study

This article is an overview of the vast changes that were made in Singapore's public libraries, focusing especially on how leadership made the reforms both relevant and healthy for the future of the system.     

PRIVATIZATION:

Library administrators, confronted with the realities of managhg with less, should consider privatization as a cost-cutting arrangement for the delivery of library services. Management decision making which separates the roles of provider and producer offers the potential for reducing costs through competitive bidding by private firms offering to produce library services. This article examines the privatization arrangement, reviews its advantages and disadvantages, and critiques its application to three areas of library operations: reference services, security, and cataloging.     

An Opportunity,Not a Crisis: How Google Is Changing the Individual and the Information Profession

ABSTRACT

This article explores some of the key impacts that Google and new technologies such as Web 2.0 have had on the way people see information and information professionals and presents the argument that much of what is typically seen as negative about Google is, in fact, positive.     

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.     

Conceptual change with refutational maps

ABSTRACT

This study investigated how studying a refutational map, a type of argument map, affected conceptual change. Refutational maps visually display both correct and alternative conceptions. Participants (N?=?120) were randomly assigned to (1) a refutational map condition, (2) a refutational text condition, and (3) a non-refutational text condition. The post-test results showed that studying the refutational map led to better performance on free recall and learning transfer measures. Specifically, participants who studied the refutational map performed significantly better than others on a free recall test, and they significantly outperformed the non-refutational text group on a short-answer transfer test. The multiple-choice test, another transfer measure, failed to detect any differences among the three groups. The research also found that individual differences in need for cognition and logical thinking ability interacted with the type of study materials. Participants scoring lower on logical thinking ability gained more from studying the refutational map.