The Information Literacy Challenge

Abstract

Technological changes are occurring rapidly. As one result, students entering college are bringing very disparate computer skills and attitudes. Some students are reluctant to embrace new technologies; others demand electronic resources for all assignments. By considering the computer access and Internet resources available to elementary school students today, we can only imagine what our users of tomorrow will expect from libraries. Although college students may arrive at our libraries with increased computer skills, their knowledge of electronic information may be lacking. Definitions of information literacy and an overview of information literacy skills are outlined. The Digital Information Literacy program at The University of Texas at Austin, as well as the technological environment and facilities at the institution, serve as a case study for integrating information literacy skills into traditional services and partnerships.     

Information Technology Workforce Skills: Does Size Matter?

ABSTRACT

Changes in information technology (IT) services and their delivery have shifted the need for non-IT firms' (i.e., firms whose primary business is something other than providing IT goods and services) IT skills and capabilities to emphasize a business focus while integrating more outsourcing options from both domestic and global third-party providers. This paper explores how organizations of different sizes value critical IT skills and investigates firms' needs for entry-level and mid-level capabilities. The results show that smaller organizations consider more in-house hiring than their counterparts. Although desired entry-level skills differed among organizations of varying sizes, they all valued project management skills highly for mid-level IT staff.     

Developing a Chat Reference Training Program

ABSTRACT

In the last few years, chat reference services have been implemented by public, college and university libraries. One important aspect of the chat reference service is library staff training. Literature shows that this is a vital step in offering a chat reference service. Library staff need to be well-trained in areas of chatting, reference interviewing in a digital environment and using electronic resources, such as the Internet and databases. This article discusses the chat reference training program at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The following text provides an outline for establishing a chat training program including planning, organization, implementation and assessment. Areas of discussion include the chat reference interview, chatting and patron management techniques.     

Designing and Developing Internet Reference Services to Support Firefighter Distance Learners in Illinois

SUMMARY

This article discusses issues surrounding the development of a small special library's Internet reference services to support firefighter distance learners for the University of Illinois Fire Service Institute's (IFSI) online Firefighter II Certification Program, the first of its kind in the nation. Planning for the Internet reference services involves consideration of user needs, funding, staff management, and collection development. In addition, this article explores how the IFSI Library has established a collaboration and partnership with the online course and Information Technology teams, and local public and community college libraries.     

Integrating Library Reference Services in an Online Information Literacy Course

SUMMARY

The Internet Navigator, an online information literacy course developed by a team of academic librarians in Utah, offers a model for teaching independent research skills to remote students. The course uses an online textbook that doubles as a self-paced tutorial, and a set of assignments that take students step-by-step through the research process. Assignments are submitted by e-mail and evaluated by reference librarian/instructors. Questions on the assignments follow the pattern of a reference interview helping instructors guide students to use useful research strategies and information sources. Other methods of integrating reference services with online learning are discussed.     

Trends of internet auctions and agent-mediated Web commerce

Electronic Commerce (EC) is a promising field for applying agent and Artificial Intelligence technologies. In this article, we give an overview of the trends of Internet auctions and agent-mediated Web commerce. We describe the theoretical backgrounds of auction protocols and introduce several Internet auction sites. Furthermore, we describe various activities aimed toward utilizing agent technologies in EC and the trends in standardization efforts on agent technologies. Makoto Yokoo, Ph.D.: He received the B.E. and M.E. degrees in electrical engineering, in 1984 and 1986, respectively, from the University of Tokyo, Japan, and the Ph.D. degree in information and communication engineering in 1995 from the University of Tokyo, Japan. He is currently a distinguished technical member in NTT Communication Science Laboratories, Kyoto, Japan. He was a visiting research scientist at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, from 1990 to 1991. His current research interests include multi-agent systems, search, and constraint satisfaction. Satoru Fujita, D.Eng.: He received his B.E. and M.E. degrees in electronic engineering from the University of Tokyo in 1984 and 1986, respectively. He also received his D.Eng. from the University of Tokyo in 1989 for his research on context comprehension in natural language understanding. He joined NEC Corporation in 1989, and is now a principal researcher of Internet Systems Research Laboratories of NEC. He is engaged in research on mobile agents, distributed systems and Web services.     

Page Us

ABSTRACT

When patron workstations are located far from the reference desk, service suffers because patrons can't easily contact staff. While in-house chat services offer a partial solution to this problem, these services fail to provide the face-to-face element that the literature shows is critical for effective reference service. This study analyzes NCSU Libraries' method for solving this problem, a hybrid service that combines features of in-person and virtual reference service.     

A Review of “Hiring,Training, and Supervising Library Shelvers”

Abstract

The emergence of the Internet has dramatically changed information access capabilities through computers. Tools and resources available on the Internet affect library services in various ways. Many health science librarians are using Internet resources to meet the information needs of health care providers and themselves. This study examines different applications of the Internet components in medical library settings with a special emphasis on reference services. It also discusses the role of the Internet in fulfilling National Network of Libraries of Medicine's (NN/LM) objectives and analyzes the merit and demerits of using the Internet as a reference tool in health sciences libraries.     

Internet Access in School Library Media Centers

SUMMARY

Internet access in schools should be provided via the school library media center. School library media specialists have sets of skills that allow the connection to the Internet to be made and utilized to its full potential. These skills include technical expertise in establishing and maintaining networks, experience in promoting and integrating new technologies in the educational process, and the ability to identify and evaluate information resources. Additionally, school library media specialists have knowledge and training in dealing with the issues of censorship and equity of access that accompany use of the Internet by school children.     

Internet Training

Abstract

Library staff members throughout the world are being introduced to the Internet by means of various training programs. Many libraries are calling on members of their own staff to develop programs for their own libraries. The success of these programs depends on advance preparation, the ability to convey information, and the ability of the trainer to fit comfortably into the training role.     

SRU,Open Data and the Future of Metasearch

ABSTRACT

Search/Retrieve via URL (SRU)isaREST-ful Web service defined by the Library of Congress that supports the standardized, machine-readable transmission of textual queries via HTTP using XML. This article evaluates the suitability of SRU for wide implementation by information providers of all types as a tool to enable effective metasearch services. SRU proves to be an excellent choice for commercial publishers, content aggregators, Internet search engines, and digital library maintainers who wish to make their content available to metasearch tools. This article also presents a hypothetical scenario illustrating how a library could use SRU compliant information resources to implement a metasearch service. doi:10.1300/J136v12n03_09     

Improving device-aware Web services and their mobile clients through an aspect-oriented,model-driven approach

ContextMobile devices have become an essential element in our daily lives, even for connecting to the Internet. Consequently, Web services have become extremely important when offering services through the Internet. However, current Web services are very inflexible as regards their invocation from different types of device, especially if we consider the need for them to be adaptable when being invoked from mobile devices.ObjectiveIn this paper, we provide an approach for the creation of flexible Web services which can be invoked transparently from different device types and which return subsequent responses, as well as providing the client’s adaptation as a result of the particular device characteristics and end-user preferences in a completely decoupled way.MethodAspect-Oriented Programming and model-driven development have been used to reduce both the impact of service and client code adaptation for multiple devices as well as to facilitate the developer’s task.ResultsA model-driven methodology can be followed from system models to code, providing the Web service developer with the option of marking which services should be adapted to mobile devices in the UML models, and obtaining the decoupled adaptation code automatically from the models.ConclusionWe can conclude that the approach presented in this paper provides us with the possibility of following the development of mobile-aware Web services in an integrated platform, benefiting from the use of aspect-oriented techniques not only for maintaining device-related code completely decoupled from the main functionality one, but also allowing a modularized non-intrusive adaptation of mobile clients to the specific device characteristics as well as to final user preferences.     

The Internet Movie Database

ABSTRACT

Reference services are increasingly dependent on information available through well organized and reliable Web sites. Questions submitted by library users of all ages are often incomplete, making it difficult for the librarian to easily, quickly, and completely answer the question. The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an established Web site that allows easy access to material relating to movies, television series, actors, and actresses with a minimal amount of information from the searcher. This article explores the Internet resource of the Internet Movie Database and its potential benefits for librarians.     

Discovering users with similar internet access performance through cluster analysis

Users typically subscribe to an Internet access service on the basis of a specific download speed, but the actual service may differ. Several projects are active collecting internet access performance measurements on a large scale at the end user location. However, less attention has been devoted to analyzing such data and to inform users on the received services. This paper presents MiND, a cluster-based methodology to analyze the characteristics of periodic Internet measurements collected at the end user location. MiND allows to discover (i) groups of users with a similar Internet access behavior and (ii) the (few) users with somehow anomalous service. User measurements over time have been modeled through histograms and then analyzed through a new two-level clustering strategy. MiNDhas been evaluated on real data collected by Neubot, an open source tool, voluntary installed by users, that periodically collects Internet measurements. Experimental results show that the majority of users can be grouped into homogeneous and cohesive clusters according to the Internet access service that they receive in practice, while a few users receiving anomalous services are correctly identified as outliers. Both users and ISPs can benefit from such information: users can constantly monitor the ISP offered service, whereas ISPs can quickly identify anomalous behaviors in their offered services and act accordingly.     

How May I Help Thee? Let Me Count the 2.0 Ways…

ABSTRACT

Web 2.0, Library 2.0, and Librarian 2.0 are terms that have been in the vernacular now for some time. There is an ever-increasing number of 2.0 applications that can be utilized as tools for information and reference service in the academic library. Using examples from experience, four such applications are discussed in the context of providing Internet reference service to undergraduate engineering students. It is impossible to incorporate all appropriate 2.0 technologies in Internet reference so it is recommended that the librarian choose a small number at first and determine which ones works best before trying other applications.     

Choices in the Paradigm Shift

Abstract

External factors are forcing libraries to seriously evaluate and redefine their purpose within higher education. Libraries have identified themselves as gateways to information. Google, and other Internet search tools, have changed the need and importance of the gatekeeper role in libraries. The authors argue that libraries have a role that is broader than that of gatekeeper. It is necessary to move beyond our existing mental models and truly redefine our unique role based on the needs within the external environment. To develop this broader role, libraries must develop collaborative relationships and leverage existing tools and services.     

Current Awareness Using PubMed

ABSTRACT

Current awareness is something that librarians do, at least informally, passing on relevant current information to their patrons on a regular basis. The type of current awareness service considered here entails running preselected searches against electronic databases. The availability of these electronic bibliographic databases allows automating much of the current awareness process. Any successful current awareness service will have three key attributes: speed, ease of use, and relevance. The flexibility and accessibility of the National Library of Medicine's PubMed make it ideal as the basis for a current awareness service. Six freely available services are evaluated according to uniform criteria with notes made of special features. Four services use PubMed as the source for data, and the other two use MEDLINE. Recommendations are made for modifying one of the services to embody the key attributes of a successful service. Particular attention is given to local needs. Such a service can be run from a single desktop machine with a dial-up connection to the Internet.     

Current Awareness on a Shoe String

ABSTRACT

There is no shortage of articles describing the nature of blogs and RSS feeds and their potential use in libraries. However, articles describing the implementation and evaluation of RSS for library current awareness services and the lessons learned along the way are harder to find. This case study relates the experience of implementing an RSS feed-based current awareness service in a small special library in Canada, and the preliminary uptake and feedback of the staff it serves.