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Book part
Publication date: 21 November 2005

Diane Kresh

A significant amount of experimentation in virtual collection building and public service has been underway for the past few years. The time has now come to stop experimenting and…

Abstract

A significant amount of experimentation in virtual collection building and public service has been underway for the past few years. The time has now come to stop experimenting and commit instead to building collaborative, scalable and sustainable programs to meet patrons at their point of need. Our failure to do so will mean a relegation of libraries to the back ranks of information gatherers and suppliers. While it is unlikely that libraries will disappear altogether, they will become afterthoughts unless librarians consciously rethink their roles in society and academia becoming less the passive retainer and more the active participant in the creation and maintenance of information and knowledge. The resources and means are available to make librarians viable and necessary contributors to efficient information retrieval. However, do librarians have the will, the imagination and the confidence to do so? This chapter will evaluate the development of virtual reference services and will suggest a road map for where to go next.

Details

Advances in Librarianship
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-12024-629-8

Book part
Publication date: 1 January 2009

Meg Bellinger, Pam Kircher, Taylor Surface and Leah Houser

On August 26, 1971, OCLC introduced the online union catalog and shared cataloging system. During the 1970s, OCLC focused its efforts on creating and expanding the online…

Abstract

On August 26, 1971, OCLC introduced the online union catalog and shared cataloging system. During the 1970s, OCLC focused its efforts on creating and expanding the online cataloging system and telecommunications network. It added an online interlibrary loan system in 1979. In the 1980s, OCLC began adapting distributed computing and microcomputing technologies as its product and service lines expanded to some 60 offerings. The organization also began looking at ways to move beyond bibliography by furnishing information not only to library staffs, but also to library patrons. In the 1990s, OCLC launched a new core business in reference services. (Smith, 1998, pp. 251–252). Now, in the 21st century, OCLC is introducing tools, services and infrastructure to manage the life cycle of digital content in libraries.

Details

Advances in Librarianship
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-12-024627-4

Book part
Publication date: 24 November 2010

Heting Chu

Education in library and information science (LIS) in the first decade of the 21st century is reviewed and discussed in terms of changes, developments, and associated issues…

Abstract

Education in library and information science (LIS) in the first decade of the 21st century is reviewed and discussed in terms of changes, developments, and associated issues. Specifically, courses and concentrations newly added to the LIS curriculum are described along with a summary of what has been revised, including the core. Distance education in LIS is presented as a result of technology application while reposition, relocation, and closures of LIS schools are also examined. Of the organizational changes among LIS schools, the emergence of iSchools and related topics received particular coverage with data gathered recently. Issues persistent in LIS education (i.e., accreditation of LIS programs, library education crisis, and chasm between LIS education and practices) are revisited with analysis. The author believes on the basis of this review that the digital age has brought us in LIS education with opportunities greater than ever. LIS education will move forward and even thrive in this digital age when the field not only makes intelligent use of the technology but also changes in other dimensions as the society advances.

Details

Advances in Librarianship
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-979-4

Content available
Book part
Publication date: 27 September 2002

Abstract

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Advances in Librarianship
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-12024-626-7

Content available
Book part
Publication date: 21 November 2005

Abstract

Details

Advances in Librarianship
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-12024-629-8

Content available
Book part
Publication date: 16 September 2013

Abstract

Details

Mergers and Alliances: The Operational View and Cases
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78350-054-3

Book part
Publication date: 11 August 2014

Emily Weak and Lili Luo

In the past decade, library literature has witnessed a spate of studies documenting different aspects of Collaborative Virtual Reference Services (CVRS) and a significant amount…

Abstract

In the past decade, library literature has witnessed a spate of studies documenting different aspects of Collaborative Virtual Reference Services (CVRS) and a significant amount of valuable information is spread across numerous individual reports. With the support of the Institute for Museum and Library Services, the authors of this chapter undertook a synergistic effort to examine these studies and identify the popular governance models as well as shared challenges and benefits. They conducted a supplementary survey of librarians with personal experience working in CVRS. The authors found that while collaborative structures are myriad, many utilize similar staffing and management strategies. Benefits of CVRS include shared staffing responsibilities, the extension of service hours, professional and community development, access to specialists, and mitigating the risks of a new service, while challenges include answering local questions, cultural differences, and software and technology problems. The literature on CVRS primarily focuses on single collaborations. While these in-depth examinations are valuable, they cannot provide a “big picture” of how libraries may work together to provide a service. As budgets shrink and ICT-facilitated connections grow, collaboration is an option to which many libraries are turning to for the provision of reference as well as other services. The quality of such collaborations may be improved by considering the lessons presented in this chapter, resulting in better service.

Details

Mergers and Alliances: The Operational View and Cases
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78350-054-3

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Book part
Publication date: 5 December 2008

Jeffrey Pomerantz, Songphan Choemprayong and Lori Eakin

This chapter traces the history of digital libraries (DLs) in the United States through the funding sources that have supported DL research and development over the past decade…

Abstract

This chapter traces the history of digital libraries (DLs) in the United States through the funding sources that have supported DL research and development over the past decade and a half. A set of related questions are addressed: How have the mission and goals of funding agencies affected the types of projects that have been funded? What have been the deliverables from funded projects and how have the goals of the funding agencies shaped those deliverables? Funding agencies have exerted strong influence over research and development in DLs, and different funding agencies have funded different types of projects, with varying sets of concerns for driving the various fields that feed into DLs. This chapter will address the impact that DL funding has had on the development of research in the field of Library and Information Science, as well as on the practice of librarianship.

Details

Influence of Funding on Advances in Librarianship
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84855-373-6

Book part
Publication date: 6 July 2021

Thomas Elliott and Jennifer Earl

Youth political engagement is often ignored and downplayed by adults, who often embrace a youth deficit model. The youth deficit model downplays the voices and unique experiences…

Abstract

Youth political engagement is often ignored and downplayed by adults, who often embrace a youth deficit model. The youth deficit model downplays the voices and unique experiences of youth in favor of adult-led and adult-centered experiences. Like other historical deficit models, the youth deficit model also provides permission to adults to speak for or about youth, even when not asked to speak for them. We refer to this powerful construction of youth interests by adults as mediation. Fortunately, online advocacy could offer an unmediated route to political engagement for youth as digital natives. Using a unique dataset, we investigate whether online protest spaces offer an unmediated experience for youth to learn about and engage in political protest. However, we find that youth engagement, and especially unmediated youth engagement, is rare among advocacy digital spaces, though it varies by movement, SMO-affiliation, and age groups. Based on our findings, we argue that, rather than youth being primarily responsible for any alleged disengagement, the lack of online spaces offering opportunities for youth to take ownership of their own engagement likely discourages youth from participating in traditional political advocacy and renders the level of youth engagement an admirable accomplishment of young people.

Book part
Publication date: 27 March 2006

Marcia A. Mardis and Ellen S. Hoffman

Digital libraries (DLs) are currently in place or being developed for a variety of educational applications. These resources offer support for instructional innovation…

Abstract

Digital libraries (DLs) are currently in place or being developed for a variety of educational applications. These resources offer support for instructional innovation, traditional curricula, and equitable access to learning resources. Yet, the carrot of instructional innovation is often overwhelmed by the stick of conflicting educational policy priorities. This chapter will define and situate the term “educational digital libraries,” and discuss the ways in which sustained use through school libraries and lessons learned from exemplary projects can transform the contemporary educational policy, reform, and learning landscape.

Details

Technology and Education: Issues in Administration, Policy, and Applications in K12 Schools
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-76231-280-1

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