Libraries and Technology and Articles, Papers, and Reports

Ithaka's 2006 survey of faculty members sought to determine their attitudes related to online resources, electronic archiving, teaching and learning and related subjects.  This study affords the opportunity to develop trend analysis of many measurements collected in the 2003 and 2000 faculty surveys. As in the past, Ithaka developed a robust set of disciplinary and other demographic analyses that have allowed them to learn more about how best to serve the needs of different types of faculty members. Findings include;

Storing digital data is becoming more essential to the work of librarians, who are trying to think in terms of the next 100 years — a virtual eternity in computer time.

The following excerpt is based on an interview conducted by Gerry Bayne, EDUCAUSE multimedia producer, with James G. Neal,Vice President for Information Services and University Librarian at Columbia University.

In order to evaluate student opinion as well as the impact on students of an active learning methodology of two face-to-face presentation styles, during a 50-minute session of library research skills, participants attended either a traditional presentation or a modified one, incorporating the use of the PRS. The Personal Response System is a wireless technology in which students, equipped with clickers, respond to a variety of questions posed by the librarian in the course of the presentation. Both types of sessions, offered by the same librarian, included the same research skills content.  Created for the purpose of evaluating various aspects of the library presentation, a questionnaire completed by all students was analyzed.  In the evaluation, the PRS group not only indicated a greater enjoyment of the session but found the presenter to be well organized.  The authors also discuss aspects of using clickers versus employing a traditional classroom setting.

This study aims to look at the impact for users on university library and information technology services, present and future, following merger. The study examined user survey data from the early 1990s through the 2006 LibQUAL survey, collected information through interviews with faculty and Information Services, and examined the National Science Foundation and the American Council of Learned Societies reports on cyberinfrastructure. The paper finds that while the merged information services organization is not yet a resounding success from the perspectives of staff in information services or faculty, it is a brave attempt to respond to the future.

This Handbook was written by a group of subject librarians at Cardiff University to support their colleagues in Information Services as they developed their information literacy teaching.

Although many new forms of scholarly exchange have reached an advanced state of adoption, scholars and researchers generally remain remarkably naïve and uninformed about many issues involved with change in scholarly publishing and scholarly communication broadly. It is increasingly important that dialogue at research institutions involve a much wider group of researchers and scholars. Only active engagement by those undertaking research and scholarship can ensure that the advancement of research and scholarship takes priority in the development and adoption of new models. Research libraries have led in educating stakeholders about new models and are expanding their outreach to campus communities. In considering the effects of recent change, and looking to emerging trends and concerns, six dangers of the current moment are considered along with six topics ripe for campus dialogue.

Over 100 librarians, administrators, faculty, and other members of the academic community concerned about issues relating to graduate education convened in Washington DC on October 12, 2007, to participate in the forum "Enhancing Graduate Education: A Fresh Look at Library Engagement."2 Sponsored by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI), the event promoted engagement in conceptualizing the library's evolving role in graduate education, and it encouraged academic libraries to begin considering new ways to partner with the broader graduate studies community. The forum was inspired by the Council of Graduate Schools 2007 report, Graduate Education: The Backbone of American Competitiveness and Innovation,3 which examines the current state of graduate education and how it influences the positioning of the United States in the global economy.

This is the Final Report and Recommendations to the Scholarly Communication Steering Committee, the
Public Policies Affecting Research Libraries Steering Committee, and the Research, Teaching, and Learning Steering Committee.

E-science has the potential to be transformational within research libraries by impacting their operations, functions, and possibly even their mission. Recognizing this potential, the ARL Steering Committees for Scholarly Communication and for Research, Teaching, and Learning jointly appointed a task force in 2006 to address the emergent domain of e-science. The Joint Task Force on Library Support for E-Science focused its attention on the implications of trends in e-science for research libraries, exploring the dimensions that impact collections, services, research infrastructure, and professional development. Priorities of government funding agencies further shaped the task force's work.

A Comparison Across Institutions at Different Stages of IR Development.