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Library and Information Science

2015

Beth McNeil

Articles 1 - 6 of 6

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Electronic Text Centers: Creating Research Collections On A Limited Budget, The Nebraska Experience, Joan Giesecke, Beth Mcneil, Gina L. B. Minks Aug 2015

Electronic Text Centers: Creating Research Collections On A Limited Budget, The Nebraska Experience, Joan Giesecke, Beth Mcneil, Gina L. B. Minks

Beth McNeil

In this article, we will describe a slightly different approach to building digital collections. The approach is that of building collections as a by-product of a service center rather than collection building being the primary purpose of the program activity. Specifically, we will discuss how an Electronic Text Center can enhance digital collection development in the humanities.


Librarians And Link Rot: A Comparative Analysis With Some Methodological Considerations, David C. Tyler, Beth Mcneil Aug 2015

Librarians And Link Rot: A Comparative Analysis With Some Methodological Considerations, David C. Tyler, Beth Mcneil

Beth McNeil

The longevity of printed guides to resources on the web is a topic of some concern to all librarians. This paper attempts to determine whether guides created by specialist librarians perform better than randomly assembled lists of resources (assembled solely for the purpose of web studies), commercially created guides ('Best of the web'-type publications), and guides prepared by specialists in library science and other fields. The paper also attempts to determine whether the characteristics of included web resources have an impact on guides' longevity. Lastly, the paper addresses methodological issues of concern to this and similar studies.


Database Selection: One Size Does Not Fit All, Deeann Allison, Beth Mcneil, Signe Swanson Aug 2015

Database Selection: One Size Does Not Fit All, Deeann Allison, Beth Mcneil, Signe Swanson

Beth McNeil

With increasing costs and decreasing budgets, it is important for librarians to make sound purchasing decisions for electronic resources. What factors are important to consider in making a decision? How can librarians balance these factors, which may appear to be contradictory, and also meet the expectations of administrators, staff, and users? This article describes a strategy for making delivery decisions that address local conditions, pricing, feature options, hardware costs, and network availability. Finally, a model is presented for evaluating the decision based on dollar requirements and local issues.


Core Competencies And The Learning Organization, Joan Giesecke, Beth Mcneil Aug 2015

Core Competencies And The Learning Organization, Joan Giesecke, Beth Mcneil

Beth McNeil

Designing libraries that can thrive in changing, chaotic environments is a continuous challenge for today's managers. To succeed, libraries must now be agile, flexible, and able to adjust to a world that resembles an amusement park roller-coaster ride or white-water rafting.

One system that can help managers in today's environment is that of the learning organization. A learning organization is an organization that has an enhanced capacity to learn, adapt, and change, and is "skilled at creating, acquiring, and transferring knowledge and insights." In these organizations, staff are encouraged to continuously learn new skills. For learning to be effective, however, …


From High School Users College Students Grow: Providing Academic Library Research Opportunities To High School Students, Debra Pearson, Beth Mcneil Aug 2015

From High School Users College Students Grow: Providing Academic Library Research Opportunities To High School Students, Debra Pearson, Beth Mcneil

Beth McNeil

The University of Nebraska was chartered by the Nebraska Legislature in 1869 as the state's landgrant higher education institution "to afford to the inhabitants of this State the means of acquiring a thorough knowledge of the various branches of literature, science and the arts."' The University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) University Libraries take this land-grant mission seriously, serving as a statewide resource and making the research collection available throughout the state to Nebraska citizens. The focus of this article is on the University Libraries' service to one particular group of citizens-high school students. In the late 1980s, the libraries developed a …


Transitioning To The Learning Organization, Joan Giesecke, Beth Mcneil Aug 2015

Transitioning To The Learning Organization, Joan Giesecke, Beth Mcneil

Beth McNeil

Peter Senge popularized the concept of the learning organization, and several libraries have tried, with varying degrees of success, to adopt the learning organization model. This article explores why organizations consider attempting to become learning organizations, includes an overview of the theory of learning organizations, presents steps to becoming a learning organization, and describes examples of learning organization efforts at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries and other libraries.