Digital Commons Network^™

Tiered Reference: The New Landscape Of The Frontlines, Susan Gardner

E-JASL 1999-2009 (Volumes 1-10)

Introduction

When one walks into a typical academic library today, he or she is hard-pressed to see a reference librarian in plain view working at a public services desk. The well marked “reference desk” of yore, staffed by a smiling librarian and once a staple of every traditional academic library, has evolved into a less visible, more amorphous facility. Most libraries now use a new service strategy called “tiered reference,” whereby the initial reference contact point is with trained students or paraprofessionals at a general service desk. These non-librarians field all manner of questions, including directional, computing, and occasionally reference. …

Subject Librarians In The Changing Academic Library, Louise Feldman

E-JASL 1999-2009 (Volumes 1-10)

Abstract

This article overviews the literature and key topics surrounding the role of subject librarianship in the evolving environment of academic libraries. Subject librarians are looked at in the context of the broad trends affecting librarianship and in the context of the traditional roles they have held in collection development, instruction, and reference. The author opened a discussion on this topic entitled, “Subject Librarians: Viable or Vanishing?” for the RUSA-CODES Dual Assignments Discussion Group at the American Library Association Midwinter Meeting in San Antonio, Texas in January of 2006.

Assessing Library Collections Using Brief Test Methodology, Jennifer Benedetto Beals

E-JASL 1999-2009 (Volumes 1-10)

Abstract

The brief test methodology was developed by Howard White as an assessment tool to determine or verify the existing strength of a library collection. The relatively quick and inexpensive procedure utilizes the Research Libraries Group’s Conspectus levels, subject expertise, and cataloging records in WorldCat. In support of the University of Tennessee Libraries’ continuing efforts to encourage resource sharing with Information Alliance partners, I developed a project with art counterparts at the University of Kentucky and Vanderbilt University. Using brief tests, I completed an assessment of each institution’s collection in the subject area of African art. The results enabled us …

Guide To Nebraska Map Resources, Sue Ann Gardner

UNL Libraries: Faculty Publications

Includes listings for Doane College, Midland Lutheran College, University of Nebraska-Kearney, American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, Lincoln City Libraries, Nebraska Department of Natural Resources, Nebraska Department of Roads, Nebraska Library Commission, Nebraska State Historical Society, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Norfolk Public Library, Douglas County Historical Society Library, Omaha Public Library, and University of Nebraska-Omaha.

Information includes address, personnel, holdings, access, hours, geographic information systems, collection services, and physical facilities.

American Library Association (Ala) Midwinter Meeting Report, Christopher Cox, Hui Hua Chua, M. Claire Stewart, S. G. Ranti Junus

UNL Libraries: Faculty Publications

The American Library Association Midwinter Meeting was held in San Antonio, Texas, January 20–25, 2006. The following are highlights from the meeting. We have a range of coverage and reviewers. Christopher Cox gives us an update on groups discussing digital media such as HD-DVD and Blu-ray, electronic reference books, and RFID issues. Hui Hua Chua writes about a discussion on federated searching. M. Claire Stewart reports on the inaugural meeting of the ALCTS Preservation and Reformatting Section’s Digital Preservation Discussion Group and a whirlwind meeting on standards, which included the discussion of five standards and the overall National Information Standards …

Bound By Law? Trapped In A Struggle She Didn't Understand, By Day A Filmmaker, By Night She Fought For Fair Use! [Tales From The Public Domain], Keith Aoki, James Boyle, Jennifer Jenkins

Copyright, Fair Use, Scholarly Communication, etc.

A graphic novel about fair use with respect to United States copyright law.

Synopsis:

A documentary is being filmed. A cell phone rings, playing the "Rocky" theme song. The filmmaker is told she must pay $10,000 to clear the rights for the song. Can this be true? "Eyes on the Prize," the great civil rights documentary, was pulled from circulation because the filmmakers' rights to music and footage had expired.

What's going on here? It's the collision of documentary filmmaking and intellectual property law, and it's the inspiration for this comic book. Follow its heroine Akika as she films her …