Library and Information Science Commons^™

Books Are Back!, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

MORE THAN 1000 LIBRARIANS, publishers, and vendors jammed into the 25th annual Charleston Conference in South Carolina, November 2-5. Created by College of Charleston librarian Katina Strauch, the meeting brings together everyone in serials and acquisitions.

This year several speakers focused on book collections--print-on-paper books housed in bricks and mortar. Add in the discussions on ebooks and you could feel the back-to-book backlash.

Complex Syntax Lives On, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

ALL THE TALK OF SIMPLISTIC TEXTBOX interfaces as the goal leaves the impression that there is no need to know how to use special characters or syntax, that all systems are being dumbed down. Even library school students groan when they are first told to learn the complex commands of an "old-fashioned" power system like Dialog. They expect systems where the complexity is behind the scenes and everything is done for them. Despite these new attitudes, commands and complex syntax are still needed in online searching, even on the web.

Vendors And Search Engines, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

AT FIRST IT SEEMED INEVITABLE that free search engines would compete with fee-based online services. Now they work together.

Inundated With Data, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

IN THE OLD DAYS, IT WAS DIFFICULT to gather information about the use of library collections. Door counts, circulation records, and tick-marks at the reference desk gave crude approximations. To obtain data about periodical use, patrons were asked to leave used periodicals unshelved, and librarians guessed how many articles were read.

Digital periodicals, ebook collections, and virtual reference inundate libraries with usage data. Some libraries collect it across systems, but most rely on data provided by vendors. If the data allow vendor comparisons, and are consistent and accurate, librarians learn more about their collections.

Working For A Vendor, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

A combination of content creators, online vendors, other intermediaries, and librarians work to bring online information sources to end users. Although these interconnected parts are sometimes adversarial, the current information marketplace relies on interaction among them all. People have wondered what it is like on the other side. The author interviewed three veterans who started out in libraries. This article presents the interviews.

Vendor Communication, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

Do vendor reps provide librarians with the information they need in the way they need it? Do vendors feel they are communicating effectively with their librarian clients? A recent survey of North American and European academic librarians commissioned by Jim McGinty, vice chair of Cambridge Information Group, and carried out by consultants David Oglivie and Simon Inger may help improve this tricky, but important, communication process. McGinty presented the first results as the annual Miles Conrad Memorial Lecturer at the 2005 annual meeting of the National Federation of Abstracting and Information Services (NFAIS). Almost 200 academic librarians responded to his …

Shopping For Information: Industry Behemoths, Niche Sellers, And Boutique Shops Compete For Library Dollars, Carol Tenopir, Gayle Baker, William Robinson

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

Both librarians and end users have more shopping options than ever when it comes to finding information. From small boutiques with specialized products to the one-stop shopping of megastores, the database marketplace of 2005 resembles retail shopping. But some worry that the information marketplace will be subject to the same uncertain market conditions of the retail world, where it's difficult for small stores to compete when megachains come to town.

Getting The User’S Attention, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

CAN WE DELIVER INFORMATION the way our users want it--cheap, fast, and good? According to Stewart Bodner, associate chief librarian of the New York Public Library, that's what users desire and what librarians and vendors must provide. But at least in the public library world, "convenience trumps quality every time," Bodner went on to tell the audience at the annual meeting of NFAIS (National Federation of Abstracting and Information Services) in Philadelphia this February. NFAIS brought together company representatives and librarians to brainstorm ways to redirect users away from Internet search engines and the open web and toward high-quality information.

Duplication Is Ubiquitous, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

This article discusses how Phil Davis, Life Sciences Bibliographer at Cornell University, found duplicate articles in Emerald/MCB University Press journals. According to Davis, he has found hundreds of examples of the same article published in more than one journal in at least 73 Emerald/MCB journals over 30 years. This article gives the details of his discovery and what he chose to do about it.

Google In The Academic Library, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

Whatever it does, Google Scholar will be wildly popular with students. Already students turn to search engines (and Google most often) as a first choice. Google Scholar seemingly answers their teachers' and librarians' main objections to the web-that the material isn't of high enough academic quality...