Wednesday, December 21, 2011

[Lib-helig-l] [IFLA-L] Institut d'Egypte disaster update (sent on behalf of FAIFE Chair Kai Ekholm)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Stuart Hamilton <Stuart.Hamilton@ifla.org>
Date: Wed, 21 Dec 2011 10:46:01 +0100
Subject: RE: [IFLA-L] Institut d'Egypte disaster update (sent on
behalf of FAIFE Chair Kai Ekholm)
To: ifla-l@infoserv.inist.fr

Dear Colleagues

Recent postings on IFLA-L have shown that many of us are increasingly
concerned about the situation of libraries in Egypt and other
countries in the Middle East, particularly since the burning of the
Egyptian Scientific Institute of Cairo on December 17th. The FAIFE
committee shares these concerns and wishes to publicly state its
support for all Egyptian libraries, librarians and library users
during this time of tension, and reaffirm the principles of free
access to information and freedom of expression that are core values
of the librarians worldwide. The committee would ask the Egyptian
authorities and, more broadly, the Egyptian people to protect
libraries from any damage and to create the conditions for librarians
to help serve their users who now, more than ever, need access to both
contemporary information and cultural heritage.

FAIFE has paid particular attention to the experiences of librarians
in the Middle East in the past twelve months. A Spotlight by our
Egyptian colleague Mahmoud Khalifa, focused on the use of information
during the Arab Spring
(http://www.ifla.org/en/publications/the-role-of-information-technology-in-defeating-the-arab-regimes-facebook-2-0-arab-pres).
Former FAIFE Committee member Shawky Salem shared his diary of the 18
days that proceeded the fall of the Mubarak government
(http://www.ifla.org/en/news/exclusive-faife-committee-member-s-report-from-egypt).
Both Shawky Salem and the Director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Dr.
Ismail Serageldin, spoke at the FAIFE session at the WLIC in Puerto
Rico where their presentations were very well received. Dr. Serageldin
himself made a statement on the IFLA website (where you can also find
other news links regarding Egypt:
http://www.ifla.org/en/news/statement-from-ismail-serageldin-director-of-the-library-of-alexandria-egypt).
Furthermore, IFLA, in its role as a member of the International
Committee of the Blue Shield, spoke out against the destruction of
cultural institutions such as libraries through statements on both
Egypt (http://www.ifla.org/en/news/blue-shield-statement-on-egypt) and
Libya (http://www.ifla.org/en/news/blue-shield-statement-on-libya). At
present IFLA, along with other Blue Shield members such as the
International Council on Archives (ICA) and the international Council
of Museums (ICOM), and UNESCO, is participating in discussions
regarding the safeguarding of cultural heritage in Yemen and Syria. We
work as hard as we can with our partners on these issues to share
resources, information and expertise.

Nevertheless, if the sad events of December 17th tell us anything, it
is that cultural disasters that involve libraries, whether they are
pre-mediated or accidental, are sadly still common, and that
institutions can often become victims of societal unrest quite out of
the blue. We are now working with our colleagues in the Blue Shield,
along with the staff of our regional office in the Bibliotheca
Alexandrina, to gather more information on the unfolding situation,
and will endeavour to report back to IFLA-L when we have a better idea
of the extent of the damage at the Egyptian Scientific Institute and
other institutions caught up in the turmoil. In the meantime, I refer
you to Danielle Mincio from the Preservation and Conservation's
excellent post on the situation which was previously sent to the
IFLA-L list.


Yours Sincerely,
Kai Ekholm, FAIFE Chair


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Thursday, December 15, 2011

[Lib-helig-l] A Model of a Research Consultation

Dear Colleagues
Another long weekend read!
Regards
Ingrid

 
 

Sent to you by IngridThomson via Google Reader:

 
 

via Academic Librarian by Wayne Bivens-Tatum on 12/12/11

In my last post, I discussed research consultations, which seems to be one common interaction in academic libraries that is rarely addressed in library school, at least based on the standard reference textbooks. I examined the two standard texts I'm familiar with–Bopp & Smith's Reference and Information Services and Katz's Introduction to Reference Work–and neither addresses the research consultation as such, though Bopp & Smith mention that there are these things called research consultations. The assumption seems to be that the needs of the research consultation are covered under basic reference: conduct a reference interview, assess the information need, address it, etc. Instead, I tend to think of a research consultation as something in between a standard reference transaction and an instruction session.

Though some research consultations focus on specific information needs, most of the ones I have start from a general research topic, usually with the student wanting scholarly books and articles on that topic. Often enough, there's a gap between the way the student thinks about the topic and the scholarly discussion about it, if indeed there's any scholarly discussion at all. In that case, the consultation often includes discussion about how to approach a topic based on the research found. Rarely do I encounter a student who has a topic that perfectly conforms to both the research and the controlled vocabulary of an established index. So, considering a student who goes into a consultation with only a topic or even a vague research question, what should that student leave with? That question isn't addressed in the reference textbooks, and it wasn't addressed at all in any of the reference courses I took in library school.

In the ideal research consultation, I think students should emerge with a small number of relevant sources and a plan for how to proceed with their research after the consultation. Thus, it is partly about finding an "answer" to a question like "can you help me find sources on X?" However, it's also a time to provide detailed instruction on how to find more sources like those, and sometimes even on how those sources might be useful depending upon the essay topic.

I've given a lot more thought to this since I started teaching in a library school. I wanted to teach reference skills appropriate to academic librarianship. In the arts & humanities librarianship course I've been teaching at the University of Illinois, I assume that ready reference in the humanities is dead and focus on research consultations. Dead might be too final a word, but the way reference has traditionally been taught–e.g., sets of ready reference questions and possible reference sources–is much less relevant to the academic library than once it was. For the research consultations, I give fairly well developed research questions based upon actual questions I or others have gotten from students and have my own students write a response in 2 pages or less as if it were an email exchange. There are obviously limitations to the assignment, such as the impossibility of conducting a reference interview, but it's as close to a real world interaction as I could come up with, and the sort of thing I do on occasion when a face to face meeting won't work.

In their response, my students are supposed to provide an example of each of the following (if relevant to the topic):

  • Primary sources (archives/ historical documents/ works of literature/ philosophical works, etc.)
  • Secondary sources (including "seed documents"—recent, relevant, scholarly books & articles)
  • Tertiary sources (encyclopedias, bibliographies, etc.)
  • Citations that seem worth chasing
  • Important scholars in the field (if they can be identified)
  • Databases and indexes to search
  • Useful keywords and subject headings/descriptors

Keep in mind this sort of consultation is geared towards the humanities, though I could imagine variations for students who needed help in other fields. Also, not everything on the list is appropriate for every consultation. Nevertheless, students who get to this point should be able to proceed on their own, which should be the ultimate goal of research instruction.

Because I'm curious about what other people do and because I'm always looking for ways to improve the course, I'll end with questions. Does this seem like an appropriate model for a research consultation? Is it too ambitious? Or does it leave the student with too few documents in hand? Is there something you would do differently in an assignment that could make it mirror an actual consultation more?


 
 

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[Lib-helig-l] Defining a Librarian in the Information Age: Can it be done?

Dear Colleagues
A posting off Library Connect ...
Regards
Ingrid Thomson

 
 

Sent to you by IngridThomson via Google Reader:

 
 

via Library Connect News by libraryconnect@elsevier.com (Elsevier Library Connect) on 12/12/11

Quick, fill in the blanks:

A Librarian in the information age is most like a ____________________________ because ____________________________.

So what did you come up with? Not easy, is it? To narrow down the multitude of choices for these two blanks is a challenge when you consider how much librarians are expected to know and do in our always evolving information age. What I see out on social media only adds credence to this thought. On Twitter, for example, I've seen tweets from librarians that say their job description has changed or new responsibilities suddenly have fallen into their lap. To paraphrase one tweet from a librarian I recently came across: "I mentioned I use Twitter so now I'm suddenly the library's social media marketing guru!" Can you relate? You might not be your library's new social media marketing guru, but I'm sure you've had some unexpected job responsibilities thrown your way.

With that in mind, can you fill in the blanks yet?

A Librarian in the information age is most like a ____________________________ because ____________________________.

My asking you to fill in the blanks is not without reason. We just released the latest issue of the Library Connect Newsletter, themed "Librarian 2.0 and Beyond." Just like there are seemingly endless choices to fill in the blanks above, there are limitless ways to define how to become, or what being, a "Librarian 2.0 and Beyond" entails.

According to Helen Partridge at Queensland University of Technology (Brisbane, Australia), being a librarian 2.0 is not just about learning new skills, but rather, how librarians view themselves and their profession. In other words, to borrow the headline of Helen's article, "It's all in the attitude." Hiroya Takeuchi from Chiba University in Japan echoes Helen's sentiment when it concerns librarians needing to define their roles. In "The new role of librarians at Chiba University's Academic Link," Hiroya says librarians need to move toward an active role in education and learning. From his point of view, this approach is one way — and perhaps the only way — to establish a solid professional foundation for librarianship in Japan.

With more than 30 years experience as a university librarian, M. Luisa Álvarez-de-Toledo at the Universidad de Oviedo (Spain) has witnessed many changes to the librarian profession. More importantly, however, she has embraced them. In "Librarians are engaging in new roles, such as helping to improve the discoverability and raise the impact of their researchers' academic publications," Luisa says librarians' day-to-day tasks have become more technical and specialized, and it's essential that new knowledge be embraced to best serve the university community. With that in mind, Luisa says three tasks have become prominent in her daily activities:

  • The promotion, evaluation and marketing of academic publications on the Internet, i.e., academic search engine optimization (SEO);
  • the development and creation of semantic content for Web 3.0; and
  • the application of social media tools in Web 2.0

    Aaron Tay from the National University of Singapore also has embraced the opportunity to become more technical. In "To connect with today's library users, librarians need to implement and stay abreast of the latest communications technologies and tools," Aaron admits he's not a coder, but because librarians deal with information, he says "there is no getting away from the use of information technology." Aaron also has embraced social media and now manages many of his library's social media and chat channels. You can follow Aaron on Twitter @aarontay.

    By showcasing a selection of articles from our latest newsletter, you see there are so many ways to define librarian 2.0…and fill in the blanks. Rudy Leon from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign may have summed this conundrum up best with her article's headline, "Retooling library staff to take on the future, where a state of flux is the new normal."

    So have you thought of your answers yet? I want to know how you would fill in these blanks:

    A Librarian in the information age is most like a ____________________________ because ____________________________.

    You can send me your responses through Twitter @library_connect, post them on the Library Connect Facebook page, leave a comment here on the blog, or if you want to keep your answers confidential, email me at j.walsh@elsevier.com. Please send me your feedback by January 31. I plan on doing a follow up post in early February so I can share all the answers provided by you and your librarian colleagues.

    Joe Walsh
    Social Media Manager, Library Connect
    j.walsh@elsevier.com

  •  
     

    Things you can do from here:

     
     

    Monday, December 12, 2011

    [Lib-helig-l] Fwd: [academicpr] Calling all academic librarians who promote!



    >>> Karen Okamoto <kokamoto@jjay.cuny.edu> 12/13/2011 2:36 AM >>>

    Are you an academic librarian who is responsible for the overall promotion of the library? Do you develop marketing initiatives for your library? Are you responsible for community, faculty, and/or student outreach?

    If you answered "yes" to any of the above questions, then we invite you to complete a short anonymous questionnaire for our research study "Academic Librarians Who Promote: Roles, Responsibilities, & Challenges". The questionnaire, which was originally disseminated in 2009 but has been revised since, is available at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/academic_librarians_who_promote. The researchers wish to explore the roles, responsibilities, and activities of Academic Librarians whose major responsibilities include Marketing, Promotion, or Outreach.

    Participation should take about 3-5 minutes.

    We will maintain the anonymity of your response. We will not collect or record your IP address. There will be no method to link the data from the questionnaire to your identity, your job position in the organization, your place of employment.

    Your participation in this study is completely voluntary. You may discontinue participation at any time. You may refuse to answer any specific questions.

    The data will be summarized and the results may be published in a peer-reviewed library journal.

    Your decision to respond to the questions on this online questionnaire means that you have read this consent statement. If you have further questions about this research please feel free to contact the Principal Investigators. Their contact information can be found below.

    If you have any questions regarding your rights as a research participant please feel free to contact the John Jay Institutional Review Board Office at  jj-irb@jjay.cuny.edu, or (212) 237-8961 or Ms. Angela Cartmell at the College of Staten Island Institutional Review Board Office at Angela.Cartmell@csi.cuny.edu  or 718-982-3867.

    Thank you for completing the questionnaire.

    Mark Aaron Polger, Reference and Instruction Librarian
    College of Staten Island
    City University of New York
    MarkAaron.Polger@csi.cuny.edu

    Karen Okamoto, Interlibrary Loans, Reference, and Instruction Librarian
    John Jay College of Criminal Justice
    City University of New York
    Kokamoto@jjay.cuny.edu

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    [Lib-helig-l] Vacancy: Manager: Knowledge Access at UCT Libraries

    Dear Colleagues
     
    Attached please find an advertisement for the post of Manager: Knowledge Access Services at UCT Libraries.   
     
    Kind regards
    Ingrid Thomson
     
     
    Ingrid Thomson
    Librarian: Humanities Information Division
    Chancellor Oppenheimer Library
    University of Cape Town Libraries
    Private Bag
    7700 RONDEBOSCH
    SOUTH AFRICA
     
    Tel: +27 21 650 3703  Fax: +27 21 689 7569
     
     
     

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    UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN

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    Monday, December 5, 2011

    [Lib-helig-l] Survey for Librarians

    Denise Nicholson, last year's LIASA Librarian of the Year, plans to write an article on the importance of professional librarians belonging to LIASA and why they have not registered as members if they don’t belong to LIASA. 

     

    To do this, she would like to feature some important roles, achievements and awards of LIASA members and to show that being a member of LIASA opens doors to broader library activities, e.g. participation in IFLA Committees, etc.  

     

    She would appreciate it if you would kindly give a few minutes of your time and respond to the survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/KVKS656

     

    Your assistance and co-operation would be much appreciated.

     

    Regards

    Denise Nicholson (Mrs)

    Copyright Services Librarian,
    University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
    The Library, Private Bag X1, WITS, 2050,

    South Africa
    Tel. No. + 27 11 717-1929; Email Fax: 0865533134

     

     

    Annamarie Goosen

    CiCD Project Manager
    A LIASA-Carnegie Project

    Tel: 012 324 6096

    Fax: 086 694 7272

    E-mail: cicd@liasa.org.za

     

    http://www.liasa.org.za

    Facebook: LIASANews

    Twitter: LIASANews

     

     

     

     

    [Lib-helig-l] Libraries for New Generation Learners, 27 October 2011 presentations

     
     

    Sent to you by IngridThomson via Google Reader:

     
     

    via Library Intelligencer by shirley on 11/30/11

    http://www.iatul.org/conferences/workshops.asp

    The annual IATUL Seminar was held in Melbourne and jointly sponsored by IATUL and La Trobe University Library and featured both International and Australian perspectives on the seminar topic.

    presentations included:

    James L Mullins, Dean of Libraries and Professor, Purdue University; Some observations on Libraries and Students in the USA.

    Dr Reiner Kallenborn, University Librarian, Technische Universität München;Libraries 2020: Current and Emerging  Trends.

    Steven Yates, E-Learning Coordinator, Monash University
    The NowGen Library Professional Staff Development – An e-learning framework addressing a collaborative and sustainable digital learning development approach for Monash University Library staff.

    Anne Horn, University Librarian, Deakin University and Sue Owen, Associate University Librarian, Client Services, Deakin University; New channels for learning and support.
    Fiona Salisbury, Learning and Research Services Manager, La Trobe University; Next generation learners – library services and spaces for the curriculum of the future.
    Michael Wiebrands, Resources and Access Manager, Curtin University;Library Everywhere – Adapting library services to the needs of constantly connected library users.

    Sue Roberts, University Librarian, Victoria University of Wellington and Gillian Barthorpe, Associate University Librarian, Auckland University of Technology
    New Generation Leadership Workshop


     
     

    Things you can do from here:

     
     

    [Lib-helig-l] University World News - SOUTH AFRICA: Radical new plan for higher education

    http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2011120222252975#.Ttysubw4HUU.email

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    Thursday, December 1, 2011

    [Lib-helig-l] [IAMCR] CFP:"Media education Research - Durban 2012

    Dear Colleagues
    You may be interested in this conference ....
    Regards
    Ingrid

     
    Ingrid Thomson
    Librarian: Humanities Information Division
    Chancellor Oppenheimer Library
    University of Cape Town Libraries
    Private Bag
    7700 RONDEBOSCH
    SOUTH AFRICA
     
    Tel: +27 21 650 3703  Fax: +27 21 689 7569
     
     
     
    >>> "Keyan Tomaselli" <TOMASELL@ukzn.ac.za> 12/1/2011 9:16 AM >>>

    IAMCR Conference in Durban, South Africa, July 15-19, 2012
     
    The Media Education Research Section (MER) warmly invites submissions (both individual proposals and collective panels) for the next IAMCR conference to be held at the University of KwaZulu Natal (UKZN) in Durban, South Africa. The section is interested in papers bearing on all the dimensions of media education research, to promote further the construction of our field:
    *    Epistemology and theory in media education research
    *    Place of media education within information and communication sciences
    *    Research methodologies in media education
    *    Representations and coverage in the media
    *   Pedagogy/pedagogies, curricula and teaching practices
    *    Media education policies at local, national and international level
    (indicators, benchmarking,…)
    *   The frontiers of media education with information literacy, digital
    literacy, computer literacy, etc.
    *   New learning research processes and their impact on media education
    *   Literacy studies as social practices
    *   Play, simulation and other participatory techniques for media education
    *   The contribution of media education to citizenship, ethics, peace and
    participation
    ·        Resistance and criticism to media education

    The conference main theme "South-North Conversations" provides a defying and suggestive focus of inspiration, inviting us to think in comparative studies, dialogic approaches and pluralistic methodologies. It may be taken up by participants when deciding to present their paper. It opens interesting possibilities for interaction with other sections, so researchers are hereby encouraged to submit proposals both for thematic tables and joint initiatives with other sections. Some suggested topics could relate to:
    *   Digital divide and inclusion projects and results
    *   Pedagogical and cultural work in the field of intercultural communication
    *    Experiences and practices  involving South-North exchanges
    *   The role of international organizations and NGOs in promoting South-North conversations
    *   Media and information literacy and curriculum development
    *   Media literacy education as a tool and field for intercultural communication

    Paper proposals should be one page long, and should list the author's name, address, university affiliation, telephone and e-mail, followed by the paper's title and an abstract of 500 words/1500 signs. The abstract should specify the subject, research questions asked, methodology and indicate some of the findings. Proposals will be peer reviewed and supervised by the scientific board of the Media Education Research section. In order to improve the on-site quality of the contributions, all panels will have a discussant.  
     
    Submission of abstracts can only be done online, via the IAMCR OCS website. The deadline for submission is  February 14th 2012. You can enter your proposals at
    http://iamcr-ocs.org/index.php/2012/2012  
     
    For further information about the conference, please contact the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) by email (IAMCR2012@ukzn.ac.za <mailto:IAMCR2012@ukzn.ac.za> ) or access the Conference website at: http://www.iamcr2012.ukzn.ac.za/or
     
    In case of need, please do not hesitate to contact the Media Education Research Section:
    Chair: Divina Frau-Meigs (Divina.frau-meigs@univ-paris3.fr <mailto:Divina.frau-meigs@univ-paris3.fr> ), University of Sorbonne nouvelle
    Co-Chair: Manuel Pinto (mpinto@ics.uminho.pt <mailto:mpinto@ics.uminho.pt> ), University of Minho, Portugal


    Please find our Email Disclaimer here-->: http://www.ukzn.ac.za/disclaimer


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    Monday, November 28, 2011

    [Lib-helig-l] Presentations from 2011 Evidence Based Library + Info Prac Conf

     
     

    Sent to you by IngridThomson via Google Reader:

     
     

    via Library Intelligencer by shirley on 11/27/11

    http://www.eblip6.salford.ac.uk/online.php

    papers include:

    Growing the evidence base: results of a national survey into the barriers and priorities for research development in health librarianship; Hannah Spring, York St John University, United Kingdom

    Australian employers' perspectives on future skills requirements for health librarians; Suzanne Lewis, Northern Sydney Central Coast Health, Australia and Gillian Hallam, QUT

    Undergraduate library use study: students studying students;  Allyson Washburn and Sheila C Bibb, Brigham Young University, United States

    The student and the information search process: library development using student voices; Ib Lundgren, Malmo University, Sweden

    Moving forward: defining and conceptualising evidence based practice for the library and information profession; Helen Partridge, Queensland University of Technology, Australia

    Assessment of student learning in a freshman English library instruction program;  Susan Gardner, Loyola Marymount University, United States

    Redesigning evidence based practice for wicked problem solving; Kate Davis, Queensland University of Technology, Australia and Zaana Howard, Swinburne University of Technology, Australia

    Valuing knowledge and expertise: using evidence to improve the professional development program in an Australian academic library; Leanne Levinge and Gillian Hallam, QUT

    and lots more…..



     
     

    Things you can do from here:

     
     

    [Lib-helig-l] Great Monday Lunchtime Read from Aarontay :

     
     

    Sent to you by IngridThomson via Google Reader:

     
     

    via Musings about librarianship by Aarontay on 11/27/11

    Like many academic librarians, I do various types of presentations, orientations and classes to students.

    Some students might think we librarians are out of touch that we librarian just use our library catalogues and subscribed databases and know little of Google/Wikipedia etc. As such I always try to mention some "real-world" scenarios to signal that I am well aware of the strong google/wikipedia tendencies of well pretty much everybody. Here are some material I am thinking of using or have made use of in the past.

    Google has everything

    Lane Wilkinson's Sense & Reference blog points out a very common phenomena that we librarians face at tutorials. Inevitably someone will stand up and say why use the library or subscribed databases when Google has everything? And even if no-one is bold enough to say so, you can bet a lot of people are thinking that.


    There are many ways to handle this question, but Lane's answer is most interesting. He simply challenges the person to do a google search. Even though Google say there are thousands of results, when you actually move to the last search engine result page you will find there is usually a lot less, because results are usually capped.


    In his example "Alcoholism" he shows that Google shows only 800+ results despite claiming a few million.  Even after adding omitted results it shows 1,000. Below shows what I see using Google.com.sg




    Google says there are 28 million results, but in actual fact shows only 791, even clicking on repeat the search with the omitted results included doesn't help much. Below shows the results when I click on it.








    In comparison most databases (assuming the right type), will show thousands of results (full text only).
    Below shows JSTOR






    Not that JSTOR is the best database for this , but many students love it, and as the screenshot above shows, there really are 32,000 results!




    He concludes


     "It's just a rhetorical trick designed to call into question the commonly held belief that you can find morein Google than in the library. And, as a rhetorical device, it introduces valuable questions. Why does Google cap their results? How useful is it to havemillions of results? How does Google decide which 1,000 results to display? Sure, Google may have 50 billion pages indexed, and you may find websites on just about everything, but sometimes it's nice to be able to show that, from a practical standpoint, the library has more."


    I was aware of the capped results effect in Google, though I never thought of using it this way. Though Lane views this as a rhetorical trick, (I mean most dont view past the first 10 and even the most obsessive researcher past the first 100), personally I am still mulling over the implications of this capped results. If say I get capped results of 758, if I refine it further does it just work on the set of 758? If so this can be quite a handicap. 




    xkcd : Where Citations come from








     Source: http://xkcd.com/978/


    The above picture probably says it all pointing humorously that there is a loophole despite Wikipedia policies of No Original Research. It is important to note that I am generally in agreement with the Daring Librarian, that Wikipedia is not wicked. I could be wrong but I think most librarians agree as well that Wikipedia can be used properly to help start research occasionally.

    But still interesting to use this has a starting piece to further discussion on Wikipedia.




    Does library use affect student attainment? A preliminary report on the Library Impact Data Project


    Again the graph says it all, showing that the students who got first class honours generally used library resources more for both online resources and borrowing of print material, though the effect was stronger for the former. There seems to be almost no correlation for visits to library though.

    This is a UK project (University of Huddersfield & 7 partners) and I have been fascinated with their project since I learnt about it. Seems to be a good short slide to quickly show to motivate students :)

    Still whenever I mention this, I tend to joke that correlation doesnt not imply causation, so it doesn't mean if you start searching randomly on library databases, you will start increasing your chances of a first class honours :)

    Always wondered if we could do this here in Singapore, either at the undergrad level or at the lower levels of A Level students where there is a "Project Work component" required for university admission, where students get a feel of doing some research. Such students would pretty much have to rely on NLB eresources and while there are classes on research held for students by the NLB academy, I am curious whether there is a correlation at this level as well between usage of eresources and perhaps book borrowing and grades received eventually,


    Conclusion

    Would you use any of these pieces? Why or why not? Anything else you use as talking points?











     
     

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    Friday, November 25, 2011

    [Lib-helig-l] Library Studies at UCT

    *   Please share with your networks. * 
     
    The University of Cape Town is pleased to announce that its Department of Information and Library Studies will remain open in the future, and will be offering the following programmes in 2012:
     
    Postgraduate Diploma in Library and Information Studies
    Master's degree in Library and Information Studies
    PhD
     
    Applications for these programmes are invited by those interested in studying at UCT in 2012.
    Applications:  http://applyonline.uct.ac.za  or  http://www.uct.ac.za/apply/applications/forms/
    Inquiries: From the Department at cil-ched@uct.ac.za  or A/Prof Karin de Jager, karin.dejager@uct.ac.za
     
    Applicants for the PGDipLIS intending to work in a public library may enquire from the Library and Information Association  of South Africa (LIASA) about the possibility of scholarships for their studies.
     
    Enquiries: LIASA,  liasa@liasa.org.za
     
     
     

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    UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN

    This e-mail is subject to the UCT ICT policies and e-mail disclaimer published on our website at http://www.uct.ac.za/about/policies/emaildisclaimer/ or obtainable from +27 21 650 9111. This e-mail is intended only for the person(s) to whom it is addressed. If the e-mail has reached you in error, please notify the author. If you are not the intended recipient of the e-mail you may not use, disclose, copy, redirect or print the content. If this e-mail is not related to the business of UCT it is sent by the sender in the sender's individual capacity.

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    Tuesday, November 22, 2011

    [Lib-helig-l] SCECSAL 2012 - early registration...

    Dear Colleagues
     
    Apologies for the confusion and thanks for the emails pointing out that the date had closed.    I had just forwarded the pdf to the listserv without looking at the dates.   
     
    However,  the early registration is open until end 30th December.     http://www.klas.or.ke/p/kla-2011-annual-conference.html
     
    Conference fee is 360 US dollars for early registration by 30th December 2011
    • For those who will register later than December 2011 will pay 400 US dollars.
    • For those who will register during the conference will pay 450 US dollars
    • For further information please contact the Conference Chairperson Mr. David
    Muswii on david.muswii@knls.ac.ke
     
     
    Kind regards
    Ingrid
     
     
    Ingrid Thomson
    Librarian: Humanities Information Division
    Chancellor Oppenheimer Library
    University of Cape Town Libraries
    Private Bag
    7700 RONDEBOSCH
    SOUTH AFRICA
     
    Tel: +27 21 650 3703  Fax: +27 21 689 7569
     
     
     

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    UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN

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    [Lib-helig-l] Call for Papers SCECSAL Conference

    Dear Colleagues
     
    Attached please find the Call for Papers for the SCECSAL Conference next year.
     
    Regards
    Ingrid Thomson

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    UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN

    This e-mail is subject to the UCT ICT policies and e-mail disclaimer published on our website at http://www.uct.ac.za/about/policies/emaildisclaimer/ or obtainable from +27 21 650 9111. This e-mail is intended only for the person(s) to whom it is addressed. If the e-mail has reached you in error, please notify the author. If you are not the intended recipient of the e-mail you may not use, disclose, copy, redirect or print the content. If this e-mail is not related to the business of UCT it is sent by the sender in the sender's individual capacity.

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    [Lib-helig-l] Esp for Western Cape Fwd: [cet-l] Invitation: Exploiting the information deluge by Cameron Neylon


     

    Dear all

    The Scholarly Communication in Africa Programme in collaboration with OpenUCT and the UCT Research Office invite you to a seminar and discussion with Cameron Neylon, a senior researcher and leading global expert in understanding the technologically-driven changes taking place in the 21st-century research environment.

    Exploiting the information deluge: The role of institutions, researchers and communities in web-enabled scholarship

    It is easy to assert that 'the web changes everything'. It threatens traditional approaches and power relations in scholarship but also offers new opportunities for effective scholarly communication, exploitation of research, and engagement. How does a modern institution position itself to take advantage of the opportunities, while retaining its core values? In a world of distributed information, and increasingly distributed relationships, how can the institution most effectively continue to play a role in coordination and quality assurance? Neylon will argue that an institution with a clearly articulated and shared mission and a strong tradition of independent scholarship is well placed to make the most of the opportunities the web presents. While deep conceptual changes are needed to fully exploit the opportunities these changes align with traditional scholarly values of openness, transparency and academic freedom.

    Date: Thursday 8 December
    Time: 11-1pm
    Venue: Seminar Room, Research Office, 2 Rhodes Avenue, Mowbray
    (Parking available at Shoprite rooftop parking. Note that a light lunch will be served.)

    Cameron Neylon is a biophysicist who has always worked in interdisciplinary areas and is an advocate of open research practice and improved data management. He currently works as Senior Scientist in Biomolecular Sciences at the ISIS Neutron Scattering facility at the UK's Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). Along with his work in structural biology and biophysics his research and writing focuses on the interface of web technology with science and the successful (and unsuccessful) application of generic and specially designed tools in the academic research environment. He is a co-author of the Panton Principles for Open Data in Science, founding Editor in Chief of Open Research Computation, and writes regularly on the social, technical, and policy issues of open research. He currently serves on the Advisory Panel and is a Special Consultant to the Scholarly Communication in Africa Programme.

    This is an open event. Please pass the invitation on.
    RSVP to thomas.king@uct.ac.za by Friday 2 December 2012.

    - - -

    Thomas King
    Research Assistant
    Scholarly Communication in Africa Programme
    University of Cape Town
    South Africa
    Tel:+27(21) 650 5061
    Cell: 073 076 2801
    http://www.scaprogramme.org.za/
    Follow us on Twitter: SCAprogramme


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    UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN

    This e-mail is subject to the UCT ICT policies and e-mail disclaimer published on our website at http://www.uct.ac.za/about/policies/emaildisclaimer/ or obtainable from +27 21 650 9111. This e-mail is intended only for the person(s) to whom it is addressed. If the e-mail has reached you in error, please notify the author. If you are not the intended recipient of the e-mail you may not use, disclose, copy, redirect or print the content. If this e-mail is not related to the business of UCT it is sent by the sender in the sender's individual capacity.

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    Ingrid Thomson
    Librarian: Humanities Information Division
    Chancellor Oppenheimer Library
    University of Cape Town Libraries
    Private Bag
    7700 RONDEBOSCH
    SOUTH AFRICA
     
    Tel: +27 21 650 3703  Fax: +27 21 689 7569
     
     
     

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    UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN

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    Sunday, November 20, 2011

    [Lib-helig-l] Monday Morning Read - New Research on Embedded Librarians

     
     

    Sent to you by IngridThomson via Google Reader:

     
     

    via The Embedded Librarian by davidshumaker on 11/20/11

    My latest research on embedded librarianship has just been published on the Special Libraries Association website at: http://www.sla.org/pdfs/ModelsofEmbeddedLibrarianshipAddendum2011.pdf

    This is a supplement to the final report that Mary Talley and I co-authored in 2009. In this supplement, I report on six site visits that I made during June of this year. Three visits were made to institutions of higher education; two to for-profit organizations, and one to a not-for-profit corporation. Two were re-visits (one educational, one professional services firm) to organizations that Mary and I visited in 2009 and documented in an appendix to our final report.

    The six organizations were chosen because of a sustained record of successful embedded librarianship. In each visit, my focus was on practices that contributed to success — especially management practices, and the roles of library managers and information user group managers. I talked to at least four individuals at each site — a mix of librarians, library managers, senior managers, and information user group members. (At one organization, I was unable to talk to information users due to a scheduling problem.)

    I'm working on analyzing and synthesizing the results for future publication, but I wanted to make the writeups available for those who might be interested in the meantime. If you go over to the SLA site and read them, I hope you'll come back here and post a comment or otherwise give me your feedback.

    p.s. I want to thank the folks at the Special Libraries Association for funding the project and for their patience as I've worked away at it over the past 3+ years.



     
     

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    Friday, November 18, 2011

    [Lib-helig-l] to share with your students : Google Photography Prize

    Dear Colleagues
    See below. This photography competition is open to all university students around the world including South Africa.
    Please share with interested students ...

    Regards
    Ingrid Thomson

     
     

    Sent to you by IngridThomson via Google Reader:

     
     

    via Official Google Africa Blog by Amanda Gicharu on 11/16/11

    En Français

    Google+ is only a few months old, but the photography community is already thriving on it. Take a look at the profiles of Scott Jarvie, Thomas Hawk, Colby Brown or Claire Grigaut to see just a few of the inspiring photographers on Google+. More than 3.4 billion photos have been uploaded to the platform in the first 100 days.

    We're really excited about this, and think great art deserves great exposure. So we're teaming up with Saatchi Gallery, London for the Google Photography Prize, a chance for students around the world, including across Africa, to showcase their photos on Google+ and have their work exhibited at a major art institution.

    The contest is open to university students around the world (some exceptions apply, see google.com/photographyprize for more details). From far-away places to up-close faces, there are 10 different categories to spark your imagination. And there are some great prizes to be won: 10 finalists chosen by a jury of renowned photographers will show their work at Saatchi Gallery, London for two months in 2012 alongside Out of Focus, a major photography exhibition, and win a trip to London to attend the exhibition opening event with a friend. One winner will go on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to an amazing destination with a professional photography coach.

    It's easy to enter: After you pick a category, upload your photos to Google+ and share them with the world as a public post, then visit the submission form on google.com/photographyprize by January 31, 2012 to enter.

    Saatchi Gallery, London will share updates on their Google+ page for the contest, so add it to your circles if you want to see the great work that's being submitted.

    We can't wait to see your photos and have Africa represented in the competition!

    Posted by Anat. S. Amir, Head of Marketing, Google Africa

    ====

    Prix de la photo Google : A la recherche des stars de la photo de demain

    Google+ n'a que quelques mois mais la communauté des photographes s'en est déjà emparée. Jetez un coup œil aux profils de Scott Jarvie, , Thomas Hawk, Colby Brown ou Claire Grigaut pour ne citer qu'eux, et vous serez convaincu du talent des photographes sur Google+. Plus de 3,4 milliards de photos ont été téléchargées sur la plate-forme au cours des 100 premiers jours.

    Nous sommes ravis et nous pensons que le grand art mérite une exposition digne de ce nom. Nous faisons ainsi équipe avec la Saatchi Gallery à Londres pour décerner le Prix de la photo Google, l'occasion pour les étudiants à travers le monde, Afrique comprise, de montrer leurs photos sur Google+ et de voir leur travail exposé dans une institution artistique de premier plan.

    Le concours est ouvert aux étudiants des universités du monde entier (à quelques exceptions près, voir google.com/photographyprize pour plus de détails). Lieux exotiques ou portraits en gros plan, il existe 10 catégories pour laisser libre cours à votre imagination. Et de superbes prix sont en jeu : les dix finalistes sélectionnés par un jury de photographes reconnus pourront exposer leurs œuvres à la Saatchi Gallery à Londres pendant deux mois en 2012, dans le cadre de Out of Focus, une grande exposition de photos, et gagneront un voyage pour deux à Londres pour assister à l'ouverture de l'exposition. Un des gagnants se verra offrir un voyage exceptionnel vers une destination surprenante avec un photographe professionnel comme coach.

    Pour participer : après avoir choisi une catégorie, il suffit de télécharger vos photos sur Google+ et de les partager avec le monde entier sous forme de post public, puis de remplir le formulaire d'inscription sur google.com/photographyprize avant le 31 janvier 2012.

    La Saatchi Gallery à Londres mettra à jour les infos sur le concours sur sa page Google+. Ajoutez-la à vos favoris si vous voulez regarder les superbes travaux proposés.

    Nous sommes impatients d'admirer vos photos et de voir l'Afrique représentée dans le concours!

    Posté par Anat S. Amir, responsable du marketing Afrique

     
     

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    [Lib-helig-l] Google Scholar Citations

    Dear Colleagues
     
    Anyone tried the new Google Scholar Citations yet?
     
    regards
    Ingrid Thomson
     
     
    Ingrid Thomson
    Librarian: Humanities Information Division
    Chancellor Oppenheimer Library
    University of Cape Town Libraries
    Private Bag
    7700 RONDEBOSCH
    SOUTH AFRICA
     
    Tel: +27 21 650 3703  Fax: +27 21 689 7569
     
     
     

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    UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN

    This e-mail is subject to the UCT ICT policies and e-mail disclaimer published on our website at http://www.uct.ac.za/about/policies/emaildisclaimer/ or obtainable from +27 21 650 9111. This e-mail is intended only for the person(s) to whom it is addressed. If the e-mail has reached you in error, please notify the author. If you are not the intended recipient of the e-mail you may not use, disclose, copy, redirect or print the content. If this e-mail is not related to the business of UCT it is sent by the sender in the sender's individual capacity.

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    Thursday, November 17, 2011

    [Lib-helig-l] Interesting Friday morning read:

     
     

    Sent to you by IngridThomson via Google Reader:

     
     

    via LJ RSS Feeds by David Rapp on 11/17/11

    On 11/11/11, what some claimed was a good day for turning a new leaf, Library Journal held its second Future of the Academic Library Symposium, at Temple University. Attendees heard not a single presentation with the word "future" in the title. No predict...

     
     

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