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Article
Publication date: 15 August 2017

Robert Hallis

In the future, librarians need to prepare users to navigate a profoundly different informational landscape. Addressing issues of information overload and informed selection of…

Abstract

Purpose

In the future, librarians need to prepare users to navigate a profoundly different informational landscape. Addressing issues of information overload and informed selection of both search tools and results, the purpose of this paper is to cast the collaborative relationship between librarian and student in the mode of an outfitter: a guide preparing a client for a journey. Within this context, the authors emerging role involves guiding students through the task at hand using critical thinking skills to access a wider range of publications to meet a broader range of needs.

Design/methodology/approach

Metaphors created by Raymond and Friedman reflect the current state of information, the relationship users have with these sources, and the role librarians play in a disintermediated environment. In The Cathedral and the Bazaar, Raymond portrays a decentralized environment as a bazaar. In The World is Flat 3.0, Friedman describes how technology flattens organizations through empowering end users. The informational landscape in the twenty-first century is decentralized, and more powerful search tools provide unparalleled access to these sources. Users, however, continue to experience problems finding their information. A librarian/outfitter can prepare users to effectively track information in the new environment.

Findings

In the twenty-first century, a broader range of sources are available, and search engines are turning to dashboards to prioritize the growing list of results. Users need to adapt to the new environment through viewing the search as an activity rather than a destination. Librarians can help this process through sharing their expertise in uncovering likely places relevant information may be found, in evaluating sources, and locating information in a larger context. Through developing the meta-skill of information management, librarians guide users through the process of finding information for personal, professional, and academic needs.

Practical implications

The author’s goal is what it has always been: empowering end users to successfully access needed information in a disintermediated environment. Today librarians need to emphasize a fundamentally different set of skills in the interactions they have with students and faculty. People can use dashboards and satisficing to find sources they need, but librarian/outfitters can introduce a broader range of sources and tools suitable for completing specific tasks. This paper illustrates the different skills needed to effectively find information for personal, professional, and academic tasks.

Originality/value

This paper provides a new context for the process used for locating and validating information in an increasingly broad and diffuse informational landscape. Librarians become advisors in navigating a more complex informational landscape that is used to meet a broader range of informational needs. While focusing on navigating the broader range of resources through decoding dashboards and satisficing techniques, the author can assist users in overcoming information overload and advocate a broader sense of satisficing through using more sophisticated critical thinking skills.

Details

Library Management, vol. 38 no. 6/7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-5124

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 May 1998

Robert Hallis

59

Abstract

Details

Electronic Resources Review, vol. 2 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1364-5137

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Article
Publication date: 1 June 1997

Robert Hallis

19

Abstract

Details

Electronic Resources Review, vol. 1 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1364-5137

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Article
Publication date: 1 November 1997

Robert Hallis

36

Abstract

Details

Electronic Resources Review, vol. 1 no. 11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1364-5137

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 December 2005

Mohammed Kishk, Robert Pollock, Jummai Atta and Laurie Power

Property performance assessment has become increasingly important in property management because of the emergence of a number of trends as issues of concern of property owners and…

Abstract

Property performance assessment has become increasingly important in property management because of the emergence of a number of trends as issues of concern of property owners and occupiers. There are, however, many problems facing the consideration of performance measurement. Perhaps the main obstacle is the lack of a structured process for property performance measurement. The prime objective of the research work that underpins this paper therefore is to address this gap by the development of a structured model for property performance measurement. This involved three main steps. First, basic characteristics of an effective performance assessment in property managements are identified and the framework for a generic model is outlined. Next, key processes of performance measurement and property management tasks are identified. Then, these processes are set out into steps for better understanding and applicability of the model to actual property management practices. Some unique features of the model include consideration of clients and tenants requirements, integration of the functions of property management in the model and the inclusion of two property and resource databases to aid storage and retrieval of information. Besides, it is the first step in developing a dedicated computer tool for property performance assessment.

Details

Journal of Financial Management of Property and Construction, vol. 10 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-4387

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 April 1976

Roberta A. Scull

This compilation of over 500 United States Government bibliographies is the second annual supplement to BIBLIOGRAPHY OF UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT BIBLIOGRAPHIES 1968–1973 (Pierian…

Abstract

This compilation of over 500 United States Government bibliographies is the second annual supplement to BIBLIOGRAPHY OF UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT BIBLIOGRAPHIES 1968–1973 (Pierian Press). Due to the Government Printing Office backlog during 1974, many 1973 and 1974 titles are included in this 1975 Supplement, which should have appeared earlier.

Details

Reference Services Review, vol. 4 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0090-7324

Article
Publication date: 1 March 1984

Arthur E. Carey and Kjestine R. Carey

Gambling has been a part of the human experience for a long time, perhaps as long as humans have interacted socially. Its literature has been accumulating since ancient times…

Abstract

Gambling has been a part of the human experience for a long time, perhaps as long as humans have interacted socially. Its literature has been accumulating since ancient times, with references found in some of the earliest records. Throughout history gambling has had a bad reputation because of the multitude of social problems attributed to it. The gambling industry today refers to the activity as “gaming,” which does not sound quite as notorious.

Details

Reference Services Review, vol. 12 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0090-7324

Article
Publication date: 1 September 1908

In the continuation of the work previously described, experiments were conducted, according to the general plan already described, to determine the effects of benzoic acid and…

Abstract

In the continuation of the work previously described, experiments were conducted, according to the general plan already described, to determine the effects of benzoic acid and benzoates upon health and digestion. This investigation is of special importance because of the opinion held by many manufacturers, food officials, and consumers that benzoic acid and benzoates are probably the least harmful of the preservative substances employed. It is believed that for this reason there has been a very large increase in the use of these preservatives in the United States in the last few years, with a corresponding decrease in the amount of other preservative substances employed. It has also been claimed that there can be no reasonable objection to the use of benzoic acid by reason of its natural occurrence in many food products, either in traces or in considerable quantities. Among the products cited the cranberry occupies the most prominent position because of the notable amount of benzoic acid it contains. These considerations, however, had no determining influence on the choice of this substance for the experimental work, inasmuch as it was included in the original scheme which was prepared before the experimental work on preservatives previously reported was begun.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 10 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Article
Publication date: 1 January 1903

The Daily Telegraph has recently published several articles and a considerable amount of correspondence relating to malt whisky and the tricks of the whisky trade. As is usually…

Abstract

The Daily Telegraph has recently published several articles and a considerable amount of correspondence relating to malt whisky and the tricks of the whisky trade. As is usually the case when a daily newspaper takes up a subject of this kind, a number of well ‐ meaning people make a variety of suggestions as to what ought to be done to secure the purification of the particular Augean stable under discussion and to ensure the reception by the purchaser of the article which he really desires to have. But what ought to be done and what can be done are two very different things, and the question of what it is possible to do in the present state of scientific knowledge—and under the existing law as it is at present administered— is, as a rule, avoided by the writers referred to. It has been suggested, for instance, that it should be made compulsory that all vessels in which spirits are sold should bear a label distinctly stating the exact nature of the contents of such vessels. This would be an excellent suggestion if it could be effectively carried out, but, before this can be done, it is necessary to devise a method of compulsion. A man who sells as malt whisky an article mainly or entirely composed of spirit to which that title should not be applied would not have any very serious scruples as to the truth of the statements which appear on his labels. He must be compelled to act honestly by some sufficient force, and, short of a law which would permit the manufacture and “blending” of whisky to be carried out by certain persons only, according to specified rules, and under strict Government supervision in every case, no legislative enactments whatever would have the effect of preventing the various forms of this particular fraud. At present there are no legal definitions whereby the composition and characters of the articles described as “malt whisky” and “whisky” are laid down, excepting the definitions which may be held to be implied in the application of the 6th section of the Sale of Food and Drugs Act of 1875 to the case. This section requires that an article shall be of the “nature, substance, and quality demanded by the purchaser.” On the strength of this section it is quite unjustifiably assumed that the compulsion referred to can be effectively secured by the operation of the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts. According to our legal system it is essential under the criminal Acts— and the Food Adulteration Acts are criminal Acts—for the prosecuting authority to prove beyond all possibility of question that a person charged with an offence is guilty of that offence, and, in regard to the matter under consideration, it would therefore be necessary to absolutely prove by scientific evidence that any given mixed spirit, for the sale of which as malt whisky a prosecution had been instituted, was not of the nature, substance, and quality of the article demanded. Under the present conditions relating to sampling under the Acts this would be impracticable, except, possibly, on very broad lines; and, assuming that scientific investigation resulted in the possibility of fixing clear and definite points of distinction between the true and the false, there would still be the enormous difficulties and the heavy expenses attending the proving of offences of this character to the satisfaction of the Courts—difficulties and expenses which local authorities cannot fairly be expected to face. If, after the lengthy and expensive investigations that would be necessary, and which could only be properly carried out with Government aid, by a scientific Commission appointed by the Government, it were found possible to establish working definitions and standards, these would necessarily be only applicable to a limited extent, just as is at present the case in regard to milk and butter; while the question of quality can never be dealt with under repressive Acts of, Parliament of any kind. Assuming the establishment of standards of some kind we fully admit the possibility, under altered legal conditions, of checking the grosser forms of whisky sophistication by the employment of legal machinery, as is done with various other products; but vast amounts of various spirit mixtures could still be sold under false names with impunity. We should still have with us the legalised inferiority and the legalised adulteration of comparatively minor type which we have in the case of milk and butter. What is required and what alone can be effective, in dealing with sophistications which the law can never reach, is the provision of adequate and entirely independent guarantees which are based both on permanently‐applied analytical investigations carried out upon quantities of material which are not absurdly limited, and on a system of permanent and independent inspection,—both being supplied by some authority or authorities of sufficient standing. While the statements made by a reputable firm ought to carry weight, and ought, no doubt, to be accepted as valuable so far as they go, there is always necessarily and obviously a great element of weakness in the declarations put forward by a firm with respect to its own products. Particularly in view of modern commercial conditions something very much stronger than a personal asseveration as to the purity and excellence of one's own goods is now in reality required. That this is the case is shown by the fact that the demand for independent guarantees has recently been repeatedly voiced in the general press. The public are badly in want of education on all such questions and the Daily Telegraph is entitled to the thanks of the community for having initiated a discussion which can only be productive of good results in this direction.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 5 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Article
Publication date: 1 August 1915

According to a report issued by the Director of the Chemical Laboratory of the Department of Police in Berlin which has reached the Journal of the American Medical Association

Abstract

According to a report issued by the Director of the Chemical Laboratory of the Department of Police in Berlin which has reached the Journal of the American Medical Association, some interesting exhibitions of German “culture” in the matter of food frauds have been afforded during the war. We do not know the origin or the justification (if any) of the ancient proverb that there is “honour among thieves.” Evidently, however, even this form of “honour,” if it exists, does not exist among the Huns, since the criminal in the German lines is hocussed by the huckster‐criminal in the German fake‐shop. One of the articles supplied to stimulate the Hun in the doing of those deeds of Hunnish valour peculiar to himself is known as “solid alcohol,” advertised as a substitute for familiar alcoholic beverages, and consisting of cubes of gelatin to which brandy and sugar are supposed to have been added before the mixture has solidified. The directions are to pour hot water on these cubes, whereupon one obtains a sweetish fluid, weak in alcohol, and possessing the objectionable flavour of glue. The longer the cubes are kept the greater is the tendency of the alcohol originally present to disappear by evaporation, so that the supposedly invigorating “solid brandy,” never at any time a representative product, becomes weaker and weaker in alcoholic strength. In some cases the cubes have been replaced by collapsible tubes of semi‐gelatinous mixtures containing some brandy and advertised for use in the same way with hot water. The price of two‐ounce tubes varies from 25 to 35 cents. The alcohol content has gradually been reduced by the manufacturers, and one firm went so far as to introduce brandy substitutes and substances of a “peppery” nature to simulate the “warmth” of a dose of brandy. Painful lesions about the mouth have been reported by Germans on the march who were unable to wash out the disgusting mixture that was sent to them by their friends. Other “substitutes” for alcoholic beverages were found to consist of cubes of sugar coloured with coal‐tar dyes mixed with tartaric acid. Grosslv adulterated coffee and cocoa have likewise been supplied in tablet form. One popular brand was sold at the rate of 12 marks per pound. Coffee has been often replaced by chicory mixed with sugar. 500,000 kilograms of cocoa husks found their way into the market in Hamburg alone. Tablets alleged to be made of dried milk, but being nothing of the kind, have been sent in enormous quantities.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 17 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

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