If we built it,would they come? Creating instruction videos with promotion in mind

This article reports on a video project done in an academic library where faculty were included in the production and marketing of the library instruction videos. The videos allowed the librarian to provide a shorter presentation and spend most of her time working individually with each student. The results showed that 97% of the students watched the videos and were able to benefit from the content. The implementation of the videos was a success due to the collaboration of the professors teaching the three courses and the buy-in of the course coordinator; both factors were essential in the success of the video project.     

Alexa,Siri, Cortana,and More: An Introduction to Voice Assistants

Voice assistants are software agents that can interpret human speech and respond via synthesized voices. Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa, Microsoft’s Cortana, and Google’s Assistant are the most popular voice assistants and are embedded in smartphones or dedicated home speakers. Users can ask their assistants questions, control home automation devices and media playback via voice, and manage other basic tasks such as email, to-do lists, and calendars with verbal commands. This column will explore the basic workings and common features of today’s voice assistants. It will also discuss some of the privacy and security issues inherent to voice assistants and some potential future uses for these devices. As voice assistants become more widely used, librarians will want to be familiar with their operation and perhaps consider them as a means to deliver library services and materials.     

OER evaluation as a means of teaching information literacy in individual and small group settings

ABSTRACT

Open education resources represent a great opportunity to reduce textbook costs, but many of them have not been evaluated for quality. Librarians and former students in an introduction to engineering course collected and evaluated open education resources to supplement the course textbook in future semesters. Both searching for and evaluating these resources created opportunities for the librarians to evaluate information literacy skills of these students and to provide instruction to improve these skills.     

Trends of infodemiology studies: a scoping review

Introduction

The health care industry is rich in data and information. Web technologies, such as search engines and social media, have provided an opportunity for the management of user generated data in real time in the form of infodemiology studies. The aim of this study was to investigate infodemiology studies conducted during 2002–2016, and compare them based on developed, developing and in transition countries.

Methods

This scoping review was conducted in 2017 with the help of the PRISMA guidelines. PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, Web of Knowledge, Google Scholar, Wiley and Springer databases were searched between the years 2002 and 2016. Finally, 56 articles were included in the review and analysed.

Results

The initial infodemiology studies pertain to the quality assessment of the hospital's websites. Most of the studies were on developed countries, based on flu, and published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.

Conclusion

The infodemiology approach provides unmatched opportunities for the management of health data and information generated by the users. Using this potential will provide unique opportunities for the health information need assessment in real time by health librarians and thereby provide evidence based health information to the people.

     

Is There a Future for Journalism?

A functionalist perspective on the future of journalism would posit that because human society needs journalism, we will find ways to support this communications practice. Yet such a perspective, however consoling, assumes a teleology that is far from guaranteed. What will happen is far from easy to predict; nevertheless, this paper pinpoints several key issues that impact on the future of journalism. It also advances some general propositions and a broad periodisation around UNESCO’s historical role in relation to these issues. The analysis gives particular attention to political and economic matters, the safety of journalists and internet governance. Each of these dimensions entails existential threats to journalism, but some opportunities are also noted. Four paradoxes are also identified, with tensions that may lead to change in one direction or another.     

多媒体阅览室拓展少儿网络学习教育功能的思考——以柳州市图书馆多媒体阅览室为例

互联网承载和传播着大量的信息和数据,其中有不少涉及色情、暴力、诈骗等不健康信息。以柳州市图书馆多媒体阅览室为例,就如何正确引导少儿读者利用网络进行学习,拓展公共图书馆多媒体阅览室的网络学习教育功能阐述了自己的想法。     

面向新生的“微视频+代入式体验”信息素养教育研究

[目的/意义]基于建构主义学习理论，借鉴翻转课堂先进理念，以提高个人信息素养能力的初学者为主要教育研究对象，调研分析其个性特征、信息行为和教育方式偏好。[方法/过程]通过调研分析，总结教育方式与学生需求之间的矛盾成因，提出面向新生的"微视频+代入式体验"信息素养教育创新模式，着重分析模式特点、构建策略和实施方案，并提出可行性组织策略。[结果/结论]"微视频+代入式体验"信息素养教育新模式，综合运用微视频所特有的视觉冲击力，克服教师语言抽象化的不足，同时通过代入式情境体验，完成知识吸收内化、高层次思维认知，有效提升学生的信息素养综合能力。     

Libraries and Spatial Literacy: Toward Next-Generation Education

The role of the library is to assist citizens in skills development critical to national interest and empowerment as literacy ambassadors, in general. Specifically, the work by the Federal Geographic Data Committee (1994) indicates that spatial literacy is for every citizen and not just a set of workforce specialists. Hence, the use of maps in decision making and problem solving will become fundamental to all professions, including library professionals. Thus, a spatial literacy awareness and rationale for such as standard job ability is discussed as a future librarian workforce proficiency and knowledge transfer medium.     

Part 1. If We Frame It,They Will Respond: Undergraduate Student Responses to the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education

There remains significant confusion surrounding the purpose, audience, and proposed application of the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. This exploratory study addresses the question of whether undergraduate students can understand the language and concepts in this document. By presenting student responses to pretest questions recorded at the beginning of a semester-long research methods course, this article shows that students can, even on first impression, begin to make sense of the complexity and richness found in the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education.     

How can children with mild literacy difficulties be supported at the transition to secondary school? A small‐scale quasi‐experimental study

There is evidence that pupils with weak literacy skills struggle on transition to secondary school. Many experience a drop in attainment in the summer break between the two. A British government‐funded programme of rigorously designed research on boosting literacy at transition had (by 2015) found only four of 15 interventions evaluated had positive effects. This small‐scale quasi‐experimental study investigated the effectiveness of support for pupils with mild literacy difficulties on transition to secondary school. Thirty‐two pupils in three schools were involved; half received the programme. Pairs were matched on reading, spelling, age and gender. Intervention was designed around the individual needs of each pupil, focusing variously on language skills, writing, reading and spelling. The group receiving the programme made modest gains in spelling, reading efficiency and single word reading. The comparison group lost ground, relatively, in all three areas. The results suggest a promising line for more rigorous investigation.