Library and Information Science Commons^™

Nordinfo: Research And Academic Library Cooperation Across National Borders, Sigrún Klara Hannesdóttir

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

NORDINFO, the Nordic Council for Scientific Information was founded as a bridge between research libraries and the growing information and documentation sector. NORDINFO’s secretariat was set up in Helsinki, Finland, and some permanent staff 6 was appointed to coordinate the activities. The full name behind the acronym was “The Nordic Cooperative Council for Research Libraries and Scientific Information and Documentation.”

When looking at the history of Nordic research library cooperation, it is clear that the members of the committee that suggested the establishment of an institution that would combine librarianship, documentation and information were people that understood what developments were …

Subject Librarians Relations With Faculty At The University Of Botswana: A Review Of Liaison Activities, Edwin Qobose

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

Conclusion

Liaising at the University of Botswana Library (UBL) is at the heart of all subject librarian activities. It is therefore absolutely essential that we make an effort to maintain a liaison program which will ensure effective communication with all the academic departments for all of the library's services. As liaison librarians, we are academic partners, and should actively participate in the promotion of excellent teaching and research activities. By monitoring curricular and research developments in assigned subject fields, subject librarians develop and maintain library collections for their respective faculties. It is vital that we should always be proactive, and …

Cataloging Expert Systems: Optimism And Frustrated Reality, William Olmstadt

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

There is little question that computers have profoundly changed how information professionals work. The process of cataloging and classifying library materials was one of the first activities transformed by information technology. The introduction of the MARC format in the 1960s and the creation of national bibliographic utilities in the 1970s had a lasting impact on cataloging. In the 1980s, the affordability of microcomputers made the computer accessible for cataloging, even to small libraries. This trend toward automating library processes with computers parallels a broader societal interest in the use of computers to organize and store information. Following World War II, …

This State Has "Boundries" (Sic), But No Focus: A Review, Richard Defoe

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

Review of Louisiana Biographical Dictionary: People of all Times and Places Who Have Been Important to the History and Life of the State. Somerset Publishers, St. Clair Shores, MI, 1999. $87.50.

Review:

Somerset Publishers produce biographical dictionaries of some of these United States. The Louisiana volume does not instill confidence in their efforts. Sloppy printing, sloppy proof-reading and sloppy and turgid writing are just the beginning of the problems with this book – the title of this review features one of their glaring spelling errors from the foreword.

But the major problem with this book seems to be focus, …

Are Transaction Logs Useful? A Ten-Year Study, Julie Banks

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

Introduction

Transaction log analysis has long been a staple in academic libraries. Recently, for example, authors have reported on transaction logs and their use in identifying access point use, re-engineering the online public access catalog (OPAC), improving search retrieval, utilizing flip charts at terminals, and employing log data for general personnel management. There are still questions left unanswered, however, about the usefulness of transaction log analysis in marshalling personnel resources. One is whether the logs have predictive value over a span of time, and another is whether any useful trends can be discerned from the logs' data. To answer these …

Metadata In A Digital Special Library: The Energy And Environmental Information Resources Center In Lafayette, Louisiana, Dan Foley

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

This paper discusses three kinds of metadata and how they are used in the Energy & Environmental Information Resources Center (EE-IR Center), a digital special library of text, numeric, and geospatial data, located in Lafayette, Louisiana. These metadata are Dublin Core (DC), MARC21 (formerly USMARC), and Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) metadata.

The EE-IR Center was formed as a partnership between the National Wetlands Research Center (NWRC) of the U.S. Geological Survey and the Center for Advanced Computer Studies of the University of Southwestern Louisiana (CACS/USL). Both partners are located in Lafayette, Louisiana. The EE-IR Center is funded by a …

Learning Communities: A Selective Overview Of Academic Library Involvement, Jean-Paul Orgeron

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

In 1932, Alexander Meiklejohn published a book that addressed the implementation of learning communities at the University of Wisconsin in 1927. The book, The Experimental College, serves as proof of the existence of such communities well over sixty years ago. It is clear that in the mid to late 1990s learning communities have piqued the curiosities of students and teaching faculty alike. Though they go by different names at various colleges and universities, and have somewhat different components, the common idea of learning communities is to have from two to four courses linked so that the courses have the same …

Inspec On Firstsearch: An Evaluation And Tutorial For Effective Searching, Lutishoor Salisbury, Usha Gupta

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

This paper focuses on providing critical evaluation and searching tips for users of the INSPEC database on FirstSearch on the Web. It introduces the idea of records and fields, fields searching to focus a search for effective retrieval, and the use of the Related Headings feature. Also explained is the idea of precision searching using the proximity operators and bound-phrase searching capabilities. Other ways to search for specific types of information (for example, foreign names, reviews, theses and dissertations, and chemical searching) are also presented. We provide practical examples to illustrate the search features using the Basic, Advanced, and Command …

A Model Job Training Program For Summer Youth: Library Interns At Grambling State University A. C. Lewis Memorial Library, Grambling, Louisiana, Sally Carroll, Sandy Stokley

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

A six-week university library intern program sponsored by the Job Training Partnership Act investigated the impact on 12 economically disadvantaged young persons facing nationally recognized problems pertaining to inadequate reading and math skills, work ethics, job skills, and motivation to complete school. Participants, predominantly (92%) African-American high school students, worked at Grambling State University, an historically black university, under predominantly (85%) African-American supervisors. Interns received academic enrichment, work experience, and life skills, primarily through pre-testing, classroom training, orientations by departmental supervisor, "hands-on" group projects, written assignments, daily reviews, and post-testing. Statistical data verify recommendations in the literature that job training …

Flyer By Night: A Cautionary Review, Richard Defoe

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

Review of Bio-rhythms, Biological Clocks and Periodicity: Index of New Information with Authors & Subjects by Preston G. Parke. ABBE Publishers Association of Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C. 1996. $49.50.

The flyer piqued our interest: a hot topic that students were trying to find pre-packaged for their reports and essays. One hundred and sixty pages full of the most recent articles on bio-rhythms -- with index. A reasonable price, for this day, was demanded. The book was ordered, cataloged, prepped and placed on the new books for reference truck. Twenty minutes later, the book had been withdrawn and a note made …

A Checklist Of Considerations For Writing A Book Proposal: Meeting Tenure Criteria, Paul G. Haschak

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

With an apparently increasing emphasis on research, writing and publication in tenure criteria for academic librarians who hold faculty status, illustrated in the study by Park and Riggs (1991), tenure-track academic librarians should not overlook book publication as a possible alternative to the publication of journal articles, as an outlet for their research.

Similarly, they should not overlook or minimize the importance of putting together an effective proposal package to sell their book ideas to publishers. While Buchman (1987) and others have acknowledged that there is not one way to put a proposal package together--and therefore no magic formula exists--there …

Drug, Pharmaceutical, And Pharmacy-Related Sites: A Webliography Of Core Sites, Paul G. Haschak

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

The World Wide Web (WWW) increasingly is becoming an important learning, teaching, and research tool for teachers and students, alike, who are seeking useful drug, pharmaceutical, and pharmacy-related sites on the Web, for their research. However, the seemingly inexhaustible number of WWW links can be daunting even to the most experienced Web user.

The following webliography is presented specifically for educators and students seeking a concise, annotated core list of WWW links on pharmaceutical, drug, and pharmacy-related topics.