Search results

The purpose of this paper is to provide a selected bibliography of recent resources on library instruction and information literacy.

The paper introduces and annotates periodical articles, monographs, and audiovisual material examining library instruction and information literacy.

The paper provides information about each source, discusses the characteristics of current scholarship, and describes sources that contain unique scholarly contributions and quality reproductions.

The information may be used by librarians and interested parties as a quick reference to literature on library instruction and information literacy.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a selected bibliography of recent resources on library instruction and information literacy.

Introduces and annotates English-language periodical articles, monographs and other materials on library instruction and information literacy published in 2013.

Provides information about each source, discusses the characteristics of current scholarship and describes sources that contain unique scholarly contributions and quality reproductions.

The information may be used by librarians and interested parties as a quick reference to literature on library instruction and information literacy.

The purpose of this study is to explore the extent to which e-books fit the needs of medical academics of the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in the performance of their academic tasks.

A web-based survey was distributed to all UNSW academics in medicine, and 224 completed responses were analyzed according to the attributes of a task-technology fit (TTF) model developed for e-books in academic settings.

Although the UNSW Library had access to > 225,000 e-books, usage by medical academics was relatively low (38 per cent); however, most (92 per cent) predicted that they would be using e-books within the next five years. Nearly two-thirds (65 per cent) had portable devices including smartphones, and 90 per cent rated the ability to search across full text in an e-book of moderate-to-high importance. Research tasks dominated the use of e-books, and 71 per cent agreed that e-books helped improve their overall productivity.

Only 224 (8 per cent) of 2,790 medical academics at UNSW participated in the study. The low response rate and over-representation of research only academics limit the extent of generalization of the findings.

This is the first study on the use of e-books among academics in the Faculty of Medicine – comprising nearly 64 per cent of all UNSW academic staff. The findings highlight the extent of e-books used by medical academics and their enthusiasm for access to digital resources. There is also the suggestion that the library must continue to develop services to ensure delivery of task-compatible e-books to medical academics in increasingly mobile environments.

The aim of this study is to identify the status of managing gray literature (GL) in medical science libraries in terms of three dimensions, collection development, organization and dissemination.

In this survey study, a structured questionnaire was used. The questionnaire consisted of 30 questions and consisted of six sections (demographic characteristics, the use of the term GL, types of GL, collection development, organization and dissemination). In total, 50 librarians from 15 medical science libraries participated in this study. The questionnaires were distributed manually to librarians by visiting libraries. All the librarians filled in the questionnaires. It should be noted that descriptive statistics and Excel and SPSS software were used for data analysis.

The results of using the term GL showed that 68 per cent of librarians use the source name itself. Most GL in libraries were theses (94 per cent). Moreover, a review of the status of GL collection showed that 60 per cent of libraries had written instructions for providing these resources. A total of 62 per cent of librarians stated that there is a GL selection committee in their library and the librarian is the most important member of the collection department. A total of 40 per cent of libraries were weeding GL. The most common way of obtaining GL was through deposition. The analysis of the status of GL organization indicated that 80 per cent of libraries had GL organization. A total of 90 per cent of libraries had digitized GL, and that librarians played a large role in organizing such resources. Evaluation of the dissemination of GL showed that all libraries have enabled users to access GL. In most libraries, users were only allowed to use GL in the library, and it was not possible to copy GL. Students and faculty members were the most important users of GL. Informing through the library website and the parent organization was the most important way of informing about these resources.

GL is one of the most important resources in medical and non-medical academic libraries. In this study, for the first time, the status of GL management in Iranian libraries of medical sciences was investigated. The results of this study can be useful for policymakers and managers of medical and non-medical libraries.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a selected bibliography of recent resources on library instruction and information literacy.

The paper introduces and annotates periodical articles, monographs, and audiovisual material examining library instruction and information literacy.

The findings provide information about each source, discusses the characteristics of current scholarship, and describes sources that contain unique scholarly contributions and quality reproductions.

The information may be used by librarians and interested parties as a quick reference to literature on library instruction and information literacy.

The use of high-density remote storage facilities helps alleviate competing space needs in academic medical libraries while they continue to support core services and supply service copies of resources.

Four academic medical libraries in the Texas A&M University System and the University of Texas System will highlight their participation in a regional collaborative storage facility using the Resource in Common (RIC) model.

Results will show how library services and facilities changed since moving some or all of print collections to JLF.

The RIC model has proven to be a success in recovering user space without losing access to resources.

In order to better understand how collections are used, this study aims to present a large‐scale analysis of usage patterns for non‐core monographs in the collections of fourteen general academic libraries of varying sizes.

Using Spectra Dimension, a collection analysis tool, this study compares use data from multiple academic libraries.

It appears that general academic libraries are overinvesting in legal materials and perhaps underinvesting in medical materials.

This study suggests that analysis of use data from multiple libraries may help individual libraries better understand their own collecting needs. Local issues may, however, override the broad patterns identified here.

In lean budgetary times, understanding collection use is key to making informed decisions about resource allocation for collection development. Libraries may be able to use these data to better manage their own materials budgets and collecting practices.

Though there have been a number of large‐scale analyses of collections, most have relied on sampling or have compared small portions of collections, and few have compared use across libraries. This study analyzes collection use across many institutions at a level of detail not possible before the introduction of multi‐library collection analysis tools.

The quantity and scope of the information that has materialized so far on the subject of AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) has increased significantly since the first case of the syndrome in the United States was diagnosed in 1981. Initially, information could be found only in a few articles in the medical periodical literature or in a few newspapers. Gradually, more information appeared in health care, allied health, and other professional journals and periodicals. As the incidence of the syndrome increased, more newspapers and the mass market magazines and the electronic media began covering the syndrome, and both health care professionals and the general public found themselves presented with a steady stream of information, research, and education on the subject of AIDS.

Changes in the US healthcare system in the past 20 years have meant increasing pressure on consumers to find their own healthcare information. Their search, amid an ever‐widening array of information resources, has profound implications for library reference services. A recent study of 350 public librarians in Michigan is, to date, the only investigation of librarian practices in health information provision in a large region of the USA. Examines services, queries, problems, librarian training and health collection resources. The findings have special meaning for academic librarians as they delineate their unique role in the health information system and, with public librarians, seek to devise effective means for responsive library service in today’s competitive health information resources environment.

The Saab Medical Library (SML) developed its virtual medical library site in 1997. The spread of the Internet prompted its development, in addition to continuous requests from users to provide such a service for 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The virtual library is dynamic, growing and changing continuously, and the role of the traditional reference librarian and the end‐user education programs had to change to fit this borderless library. This paper discusses the aim, preparation, problems and lessons learned after three years of the user education program in a virtual library setting, and how reference work had to change to satisfy the needs of both the system and its users. The reference librarian has to carry out a smooth transition to a virtual library and help users cope with the technological changes. Training at the SML, as in any academic library, aims at teaching how to retrieve information rather than providing answers. This training is presented in different forms such as orientation sessions, seminars, and course‐related instruction, in addition to Web‐based instruction. In a virtual setting, reference librarians should act both as educators and consultants for end‐users, advising them on the search strategy as well as the software set‐up. The “Lebanese Corner” and an e‐reference service were added to complete the picture of this virtual library. This change had advantages and disadvantages for the users.