Digital Commons Network^™

Free Web App Trello: Your Key To Institutional Memory In Your Subject Librarian Departments, Robert Heaton

Robert Heaton

A new subject-liaison assignment carries with it a daunting information-management challenge: Who are the faculty members in this department, and how have they worked with the previous subject librarian? Often librarians step into such a role completely blind to this history, but with an easy-to-use online tool, helpful information such as faculty photos, CVs, syllabi, assignment descriptions, research interests, collection needs, teaching schedules, notes on planning meetings and library-instruction sessions, and more can be given to a librarian along with their new subject assignment. Legwork to gather the information from department websites and personnel is required up front, but Trello, …

Channeling Don Draper: Dabbling In Database Marketing, K. Wesolek, Robert Heaton, G. Lebeau

Robert Heaton

Utah State University Libraries' Collection Development Department embarked on a marketing campaign to increase awareness of our databases. This poster displays a small sample of the images used and discusses the impact on database usage during each marketing period. The results of our study were inconclusive, suggesting that online promotion efforts are best combined with departmental outreach, classroom instruction opportunities, and other marketing approaches.

Teacher Design Using Online Learning Resources: A Comparative Case Study Of Science And Mathematics Teachers, Mimi Recker

Mimi Recker

Using a comparative case study design, this paper explores the impacts of a technology-related professional development (TTPD) design aimed at helping science and mathematics teachers design classroom activities using the wealth of resources available on the Internet. Using the lens of curricular adaption and the notion of teachers’ varying pedagogical design capacity, we analyzed the experiences of four teachers in terms of the kinds of instructional activities teachers designed, how these were supported with online resources, and teachers’ perceptions of impacts on student learning. Findings suggested that participants used a variety of personally relevant design strategies when applying TTPD concepts …

Resource Discoverability, Anne Diekema, Cheryl Walters, Liz Woolcott

Liz Woolcott

Resource discoverability is the crossroads where library resources and users should come together, but do they? Librarians “catalog”resources by describing, indexing, and organizing them. Then they make these resources available -- on library shelves, in databases, and on the web. The Internet, however, is changing how people find and use information. Users increasingly are discovering relevant resources outside traditional library systems and expect immediate access to resources at the point of discovery. These changes are challenging traditional thinking on how we should “catalog” and provide access to resources. This panel intends to engage the audience in a lively discussion on …

Making Cents Of Cataloging: Are We Getting What We Are Paying For?, Becky Skeen, Julie Grover, Liz Woolcott

Becky Skeen

Presentation given at the 2010 Utah Library Association annual conference about cataloging costs. Discussion focused on patron needs, workflow, training, and how to do more with less to make the process more efficient.

Making Cents Of Cataloging: Are We Getting What We Are Paying For?, Becky Skeen, Julie Grover, Liz Woolcott

Liz Woolcott

Presentation given at the 2010 Utah Library Association annual conference about cataloging costs. Discussion focused on patron needs, workflow, training, and how to do more with less to make the process more efficient.

Reference Desk Consultation Assignment: An Exploratory Study Of Students' Perceptions Of Reference Service, Pamela N. Martin, Lezlie Park

Pamela N. Martin

This paper describes the experience of three sophomore English composition classes that were required to visit the reference desk for class credit. Student perceptions of reference consultations are analyzed to gain a clearer understanding of the students’ attitudes towards reference services. Findings of this exploratory study indicate that students still suffer from library anxiety and are much more likely to seek out reference help if they are convinced that a consultation will save them time.

Gathering Leadership Momentum Across Great Distances: Creating An Online Community Of Practice, Erin L. Davis, Danielle Theiss-White

Erin Davis

At the 2007 Mountain Plains Library Association Leadership (MPLA) Institute, held in New Mexico, USA, eight academic librarians formed an online multi-state, multigenerational community of practice. MPLA is a twelve-state library association within the United States. Using Google Groups™, the members formed an online environment called the MPLA Community of Practice for continuing development of the leadership skills presented at the Institute. These early-career librarians represent diverse educational backgrounds and work in libraries serving varied populations with differing disciplinary emphases.

The group meets monthly with each member preparing and facilitating online discussions, complete with personal assessments, topical readings, and questions. …

Vital Business Educators Perceptions About The Usefulness Of Business Education Periodicals, James C. Scott, Carol Blaszczynski, Diana J. Green, Britt A. Fagerheim

Britt Fagerheim

No abstract provided.

Taking The Sting Out Of Tax Season: A Reference Department/School Of Accountancy Collaboration, Britt A. Fagerheim

Britt Fagerheim

No abstract provided.

Information Professional Or Caretaker Of "Old Stuff", Daniel Davis

Daniel Davis

Do archivists emphasize their role as technicians with specialized skills and knowledge or do they emphasize their role as sort of "semi-pro" historians? This debate has been around since the 1930s and is not likely to be decided any time soon. My argument is that young archivists cannot afford to take an either/or approach and must incorporate elements of both paths or risk obsolescence and/or continued low salaries.

Google As Teacher: Everything Your Students Know They Learned From Searching Google, Pamela N. Martin

Pamela N. Martin

No abstract provided.

Integrating Information Literacy With A Sequenced English Composition Curriculum, Wendy Holliday, Britt A. Fagerheim

Britt Fagerheim

This article details the process of implementing a sequenced information literacy program for two core English composition courses at Utah State University. An extensive needs assessment guided the project, leading to a curriculum design process with the goal of building a foundation for deeper critical thinking skills. The curriculum development and implementation process highlights several of the advantages of using the course-integrated model of instruction to develop a more comprehensive information literacy program.

Enhanced Resource Sharing Through Group Interlibrary Loan Best Practices: A Conceptual, Structural, And Procedural Approach., Lars Leon, June Deweese, Carol Kochan, Billie Peterson-Lugo, Brian Pytlik Zillig,

Carol Kochan

: Members of the Greater Western Library Alliance Interlibrary Loan Committee have spent more than two years developing a Best Practices model for Interlibrary Borrowing and Lending for consortia and local operations. The model includes the practices to be followed, a monitoring plan, and a process for regular evaluation. The GWLA Interlibrary Loan Committee has not yet determined the regular evaluation process, including the timeline. We anticipate that process being established in Spring 2003.

The Ideological Development Of U.S. Government Publication, 1820-1920: From Jefferson To Croly, John Walters

John Walters

Abstract-This paper traces the development of an ideology for U.S. government publication, focusing primarily on dominant strands of political thought during the antebellum period, the gilded age, and the progressive era. This paper examines political thought that inhibited the development of an ideology of U.S. government publication, such as the antistatism of Thomas Jefferson and the Social Darwinism of Herbert Spencer and William Graham Sumner; it focuses also on American political thought that fostered its development, such as the Positivism of Lester Frank Ward, the Pragmatism of John Dewey, and the Progressivism of Herbert Croly

Informing The Nation Jacksonian Style: The Ideological Impetus For, And Impediments To, The U.S. Government’S Informing Function During The Antebellum Period, John Walters

John Walters

This article examines the development of the U.S. government's informing function during the antebellum period. Particular attention is paid to the ideology of Jacksonian democracy, as expressed through such prominent organs as the Democratic Review and through such representative thinkers as Jeremy Bentham, George Bancroft, and William Leggett. Examined are the ways in which the ideology of democracy not only shaped and contributed to, but also impeded the development of, the informing function of government.

Whose Vision Fulfilled? Toward A Rightful Ideological Progenitor For The U.S. Federal Depository Library Program, John Walters

John Walters

This article addresses the assertion, advanced by the Depository Library Council (DLC) to the Public Printer, that James Madison's political writings serve as the ideological underpinning for the Federal Depository Library Program. In ascertaining the validity of the DLC's claim, this article reviews the evolution of Anglo-American thought regarding the concept of an informed citizenry, and concludes by suggesting persons who may rightfully be considered the harbingers of a federal depository library program

The Republic Of Federal Scientific Publication: The Not-So-Public Domain, John Walters

John Walters

This article examines the forces that have made federal scientific publication an essentially private enterprise. Particular attention is paid to the rise of the scientific community in the American political system. The period under review begins roughly with 1941 and American involvement in World War II, which coincides with the establishment of the Office of Scientific Research and Development (ORSD). The article examines OSRD’s method of conducting federal scientific research, its contractual system, and the new publishing paradigm that it engendered. The article concludes in the 1960s with congressional efforts to revise provisions in Title 17, the Copyright Code.

"'Toy' Presses And The Rise Of Fugitive U.S. Government Documents", John Walters

John Walters

Explains how advances in the graphic arts, and the rise of executive agency duplicating plants in the early twentieth century, gave rise to a large body of U.S. government documents that were, and still largely are, unavailable to the public