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Hot Topics Trade Publications Connect Research With Career Ambitions, Lateka J. Grays, Mark N. Lenker Iii

Library Faculty Publications

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), is home to the William F. Harrah College of Hospitality. Due to the college’s size and its importance for the city’s economy, it is a separate school from the College of Business. Information literacy for hospitality has been a priority for the college’s first-year seminar program since its inception, and the hospitality librarian has been working with seminar coordinators to refine this aspect of the curriculum for over six years.

Five years ago, the hospitality librarian began collaborating with a new teaching and learning librarian in order to give him more teaching experience …

Book Review: The Dysfunctional Library: Challenges And Solutions To Workplace Relationships, Pat Hawthorne

Library Faculty Publications

It is not easy to tackle the issues and address the impact of abnormal or unhealthy interpersonal behaviors and interactions in the workplace. Drawing from literature on dysfunctional organizational cultures and workplaces from the library, management, and organizational development disciplines, Jo Henry, Jo Eshleman, and Richard Moniz approach the subject of the dysfunctional library in a slim volume titled The Dysfunctional Library: Challenges and Solutions to Workplace Relationships.

Utilising Social Media To Improve Relationship Quality: The Case Of The University Library, Melissa N. Clark, Scott Bacon

Library Faculty Publications

As the centre of academic life at a university, the university library plays an important role in how students perceive their relationship with the university. This study analyses the effect that participation in library social media has on student perception of relationship quality with the university. The hypotheses proposed in this study were found to be substantiated: following the library on social media is positively related to a student's perception of their relationship quality with the university; students interested in multiple library services are likely to report the perception of a higher quality relationship with the university.

Linkedin As An Information Source For Human Resources, Competitive Intelligence, Nancy E. Fawley

Library Faculty Publications

LinkedIn, the online professional network, provides people with the opportunity to interact with other professionals in their fields, locate potential employers through company pages and employees, and participate in forums relevant to their professions.

Appearances Do Matter! What Libraries Can Learn From Clinton Kelly, Nancy E. Fawley

Library Faculty Publications

One could easily mistake Clinton Kelly’s closing keynote presentation at ACRL 2011 in Philadelphia last March as light fare. Kelly, cohost of TLC’s What Not To Wear, spoke enthusiastically about the importance of one’s appearance and the necessity of making an extra effort in the way individuals present themselves. His keynote address, and the fact that a fashion expert was a speaker at a conference for librarians, sparked debates on Twitter and in the blogosphere.

Do appearances matter? I say they do and add that this applies to buildings and objects, as well. Academic libraries, especially, could benefit from some …

Financial Stability And Casino Debt, David G. Schwartz, Eugene M. Christiansen

Library Faculty Publications

Casino operators have always borrowed money to construct and improve their resorts. Beginning in 1999, however, the Las Vegas-based companies that dominate gambling in Nevada and many other jurisdictions began taking on unprecedented levels of debt. This debt load escalated from 2005 to 2009, and, though it has since leveled off, it has left casino operators more highly leveraged than ever before. Companies with such high levels of debt have consequently high interest payments, which leads to less money available for capital investment; it also makes them susceptible to default, should revenues weaken (as casino revenues did from 2008 onward). …

Pyramids Of Pink Shrimp: A Brief History Of Las Vegas Dining, 1940s-1970s, Su Kim Chung

Library Faculty Publications

Restaurant dining has always been one of the great attractions of Las Vegas. From its budget buffets and 99 cent shrimp cocktails, to the showrooms of yesterday's production shows, and today's haute cuisine restaurants run by celebrity chefs, dining has added a rich and tasty dimension to the Las Vegas tourist experience. Local residents have also long been attracted to the wide variety of restaurants that have grown along with the city since the construction of the first hotel/casino resort (El Rancho Vegas) on old Highway 91 in 1941. Hotels along the Las Vegas Strip (and a few downtown) have …

International Encyclopedia Of Gambling, J. Cory Tucker

Library Faculty Publications

An update to the author's Gambling in America (CH, Apr'02, 39-4347). this excellent encyclopedia provides detailed information on the gambling phenomenon throughout the world. In more than 300 entries, this two-volume set covers a wealth of information on a wide variety of topics related to gambling.

Going Global: An Information Sourcebook For Small And Medium-Sized Businesses, J. Cory Tucker

Library Faculty Publications

Awe (Univ. New Mexico, Albuquerque) has produced a wonderful resource for entrepreneurs and business owners interested in expanding their companies to the international market.

Utilizing New Staff Training Initiatives To Develop And Implement Reference Competencies At The Unlv Libraries, Sidney D. Lowe, Vicki Nozero

Library Faculty Publications

Building on an orientation program established by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Libraries' Human Resources unit for all new employees, the Research and Information Department developed a training and orientation program for new employees who participate in the reference desk service pool. A task force composed of service pool members created a checklist of expectations that led to a new mission statement and core values for the department as well as a time line for training new employees. The use of a staff wiki to provide access to the expectations, time line, and other resources is explored. Assessment …

Split Estate, Thomas A. Ipri

Library Faculty Publications

The concept of a split estate refers to the fact that owners of a property do not necessarily own the minerals and resources that reside under the property.
Debra Anderson’s Split Estate highlights the more damning aspects of this oddity by documenting how oil and gas companies are setting up shop on home
owner’s land. In some instances, oil rigs are constructing within 100 feet of people’s homes.

Clean, Green, And Not So Mean: Can Business Save The World?, Andy Spackman, Celia Ross, Christy Donaldson, Louise Feldman, Patrick Griffis, Elizabeth Stephan, Laurie Bridges, Baseema Krkoska, Tony Lin, Mark Siciliano

Library Faculty Publications

No matter how you define it, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a hot topic. From community investing to business ethics to environmental sustainability and beyond, proponents of CSR view the business landscape through a lens that focuses less on profitability and more on the greater good.

“Doing well by doing good” is the business world’s new mantra. Concepts of CSR, green business, social entrepreneurship, and peace through commerce have become a focus of research and are inspiring the next generation of businesspeople. The 2010 BRASS Program gave attendees an expert’s view of certain niches within the broader realm of ethical …

Not Undertaking The Almost-Impossible Task: The 1961 Wire Act’S Development, Initial Applications, And Ultimate Purpose, David G. Schwartz

Library Faculty Publications

For a Camelot-era piece of legislation, the Wire Act has a long and unintended shadow. Used haltingly in the 1960s, when the Wire Act failed to deliver the death blow to organized crime, 1970’s Racketeer-Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) became a far better weapon against the mob. Yet starting in the 1990s, the Wire Act enjoyed a second life, when the Justice Department used to it prosecute operators of online betting Web sites that, headquartered in jurisdictions where such businesses were legal, took bets from American citizens. The legislative history of the Wire Act, however, suggests that it was …

The Burger King Revolution: How Las Vegas Bounced Back, 1983-1989, David G. Schwartz

Library Faculty Publications

Most who have considered Las Vegas history have concluded that not much happened in Las Vegas gaming between the openings of the original MGM Grand (1973) and Mirage (1989). In fact, several structural changes during the 1980s had already reversed a declining appeal. Responding to three crises—competition from Atlantic City, a national economic downturn, and the MGM Grand fire—Las Vegas casino operators began to draw more extensively on a middle-class mass market. Capitalizing on the “Burger King Revolution,” Strip casinos drew more gamblers who, on average, played less, and slot machines displaced table games as the industry’s leading revenue producer. …

A Collaborative Voyage To Improve Students' Career Information Literacy, Angela Farrar, Lateka Grays, Diane Vanderpol, Amanda Cox

Library Faculty Publications

Librarians, a member of the Hotel College faculty, and a member of the Career Services staff at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas collaborated in the design, implementation and evaluation of a non-traditional research assignment asking students to demonstrate real world information literacy skills.

Session attendees will explore the process by which the traditional librarian-teaching faculty member collaboration grew into a richer project involving a non-traditional partnering. Attendees will be guided through a discussion on levels of collaboration and an audit of potential non-traditional partner opportunities at their own institutions.

Attendees will examine the product of this partnership: an assignment …

Use And Satisfaction Of Library Resources And Services By Hospitality Patrons: An Exploratory Study, Faye Hall Jackson, Heidi Sung, Lateka Grays, Joyce K. Thornton

Library Faculty Publications

A great challenge for present day libraries is to move from the thought process of being a destination location with a captive audience to positioning its services to meet the needs of its users. This paper explores the frequency of library use and satisfaction of library resources and/or services by hospitality education patrons. Using data collected with patrons (N=368) of five Hospitality Management programs across the country, the study found significant differences in library access, use, and satisfaction based on gender, academic status, and international versus non-international patrons.

University Library Partnerships: Promoting Economic Development, J. Cory Tucker

Library Faculty Publications

The article discusses an innovative partnership at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). The collaborative project involves the UNLV Libraries and the Nevada Small Business Development Center, which is affiliated with the College of Business. The partnership was created to assist the University's goal of promoting economic development in the Las Vegas and Southern Nevada region.

Third Time’S The Charm: Choosing A Career In Librarianship, P. S. Mcmillen

Library Faculty Publications

While many come to librarianship from other careers, I made my third major career change to the profession after a somewhat atypical process. I made myself the subject of a formal assessment process while completing a certificate program in career counseling.

Designing And Implementing Instruction On The World Wide Web: A Case Study, Keith Ewing, Jeanne M. Hites

Library Faculty Publications

This case study describes some tips and lessons learned from a project at St. Cloud State University designed to teach information literacy over the World Wide Web. The information literacy project has two primary components:

1. Under the auspices of LEO: Literacy Education Online (a project to disseminate resources to improve composition and writing skills), to develop content resources providing guidance in library and internet use and application in research;
2. Under the Center for Information Media, to disseminate self-paced instructional modules on library and internet use and application in research that could be used in credit-generating courses.

As the two components …