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College and Research Libraries
March 2002, Vol. 63, No. 2
Abstracts
Integrating Information Literacy into the Science Curriculum
Cecelia Brown and Lee R. Krumholz
PDF version
A science librarian and a microbiology professor collaborated to assess information-seeking, evaluating, and usage abilities before, during, and at the end of a senior-level geomicrobiology course. ACRL’s Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education was used as a guide in designing a survey and checklists to measure literacy levels. Following an initial survey of the students’ information literacy level, two instruction sessions were provided in the use of bibliographic finding tools available from the University of Oklahoma Libraries. During each subsequent class meeting, students presented, critiqued, and discussed a referred article. The cycle was repeated, and the survey was administered again at the end of the semester. The survey results indicated an 11 percent increase in information literacy, but no significant improvement in the students’ ability to present, critique, and discuss information. A model for incorporating information literacy into upper-level undergraduate science courses and an instrument for measuring information literacy are proposed.
East Asian Collections and Organizational Transformation in Academic Libraries
Hitoshi Kamada
PDF version
Special aspects of East Asian collections, induced by constraints in handling vernacular-language information from East Asia, have distanced those collections from mainstream academic library administration. Meanwhile, substantial organizational transformation is changing the landscape of academic library management. Quality management, staffing changes, a desire for demonstrated efficiency and effectiveness, and strategic planning are some of the major forces of organizational change in academic libraries now having an effect on East Asian collections. This article explores how organizational changes affect East Asian collections, entities often marginalized in this era of transformation, and how East Asian collections should respond to the changes.
Music Libraries: Centralization versus Decentralization
Lois Kuyper-Rushing
PDF version
Branch libraries, in general, and music libraries, in particular, have struggled with the decision concerning centralization for more than a hundred years. Decentralized collections, those located in the music school or department, are favored by some because of their proximity to the classroom and the private lesson studio. However, proponents of a centralized location (where the collection is held in the main library facility) point out that the collection can be cared for more effectively if it is located in the main library. For this study, the Association of Research Libraries was surveyed concerning the location of their music libraries. Possible motivations for choosing one location or the other were explored, including degrees offered, size of the music collection, and overall budget of the music library.
Managing Meaning: Language and Technology in Academic Libraries
Daniel Coffey and Karen Lawson
PDF version
Professionals in academe today are faced with an ever-increasing number of technological advances, and few feel the effects of these changes more than library professionals. With each change comes a new vocabulary that has the potential to cause communication rifts between departments in academic libraries. Through a comprehensive literature review and a selective survey of administrators of information technology, public services, and technical services in academic libraries belonging to the Association of Research Libraries, the authors show how the new terminology has affected communication among professionals in these positions, specifically in the context of technological decision-making, and ideas are put forth for ways to overcome this problem.
Toward Continual Reform: Progress in Academic Libraries in China
Ke Ping
Translated by Sha Li Zhang
PDF version
This article traces recent developments in China’s academic libraries. Areas covered include managing human resources, restructuring library departments, revising and implementing new policies, evaluating services and operations, establishing library systems, building new structures, and exploring joint-use library models. China’s academic libraries are focusing more on the user; consequently, several major changes accompany this endeavor.
Leadership Competencies for Academic Librarians: The Importance of Development and Fund-raising
Mark D. Winston and Lisa Dunkley
PDF version
Private-sector research has addressed the issue of leadership competencies as a part of defining the nature of effective leadership, the leadership qualities and areas of knowledge needed by those who contribute to organizational success, and the educational preparation needed by leaders. The societal, organizational, and competitive changes affecting academic libraries point to the need for effective leadership and the identification of leadership competencies for academic librarians. This article presents a rationale for the identification of an important component of such a statement of leadership competencies in the context of the knowledge and skills associated with development and fund-raising. This issue is key for professionals who play an important role in ensuring the value and viability of their employing organizations, as well as in articulating the relevance of academic library and information services to an array of potential funding sources. The research presented here describes the areas of expertise, experience, and skills associated with academic development positions in colleges and universities as a basis for identifying leadership competencies that are relevant to academic librarians and administrators.
Selected Reference Books of 2001
Eileen McIlvaine
PDF version
This article follows the pattern set by the semiannual series initiated by the late Constance M.Winchell more than sixty years ago and continued by Eugene Sheehy. Because the purpose of the list is to present a selection of recent scholarly and general reference works, it does not pretend to be either well balanced or comprehensive. A brief roundup of new editions of standard works is provided at the end of the articles. Code numbers (such as BD111) have been used to refer to titles in the Guide to Reference Books, 11th ed. (Chicago: ALA, 1996).
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