Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Reference Books Bulletin: Is Print Reference Dead?

Extracts:



Reasons why print is dying:


  • Catalog information for p-titles is limited to title in most cases
    e-ref is very browsable online--TOC, indexes, etc.

  • Preferences of contemporary users who expect 24/7 access, searchability, full text delivery.

  • P-content is invisible

  • Print indexes are too hard to use

  • MLS/MLIS students are not required to take reference. Most get out of school with only one (or fewer) ref classes

  • Print is....print. E-resources offer interactivity and multimedia. Many resources are dynamic and frequently updated

Continue reading


Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Make sure your resume is noun-intensive

A thought for those who are looking for a job and sending a resume: Don't be insensitive
Scanning technology used by most companies tends to search by nouns, not verbs. For example, instead of writing "managed projects" on your resume, write "project manager." in 10 Ways to Stand Out From Your Competition, By KATE LORENZ, CAREERBUILDER.COM EDITOR

Friday, July 20, 2007

Who is Reading Books (and who is not)

PS. This is a quote posted by Bill @ Faith Commons: A Chasm Is Growing Between the Knows and the Know-nots


58% of the US adult population never reads another book after high school.

42% of college graduates never read another book.

80% of US families did not buy or read a book last year.

70% of US adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years.

--Jerrold Jenkins via Dan Poynter's ParaPublishing

Monday, July 16, 2007

What are the advantages of e-books over print books


punchline:

3.2.6i: Why Librarians would like to purchase more e-books and encourage greater use of them, and their concerns
3.2.6ia: Access
3.2.6ib: Stock Maintenance and Administrative
Tasks
3.2.6ic: Quality of Stock
3.2.6id: Economic Considerations

3.2.6ii: Librarians’ prioritisation of e-book acquisition, with reasons
3.2.6iia: High demand
3.2.6iib: Material types sought
3.2.6iic: Target subjects
3.2.6iid: Specific user groups
3.2.6iie: Constraints
continue reading: What are the advantages of e-books over print books

see also:
  • Advantages of E-books www.ukoln.ac.uk
  • The Benefits and Advantages of Ebooks By Remez Sasson
  • advantages of ebooks
  • Google for more
  • Saturday, July 14, 2007

    The Top 10 Reasons to Be a Librarian

    By Martha J. SpearLibrary media specialist Berkley (Mich.) High School
    (with apologies to David Letterman)

    As a high school library media specialist, I have the good fortune to work with, and sometimes mold, young people. If I’m lucky, I discover what they do after graduation. Recently, one of my favorite students informed me that after earning her humanities degree at a tiny private college, she was pursuing a master’s degree in museum studies. Congratulating her, I jokingly said, “Watch it. That’s awfully close to a master’s in library science.” She laughed and said: “Oh, I’d never do that.” Somewhat defensively, I replied, “You could do worse.”

    Long after this brief conversation, I wondered, where did we, as librarians, go wrong? Why is there such an onus on this profession that a bright, young person would choose, well, any career but that of librarianship? I think it’s sad. Librarianship has much to offer, and I think we can do better in promoting our profession. Toward that end, I present my top 10 reasons for being a librarian.

    Ever-changing and renewing
    Romance
    Useful skills
    Great conferences
    Time off
    A job with scope
    It pays the rent
    Good working conditions
    Cool coworkers
    Grand purpose
    In sum, I feel very much like Evelyn Carnahan in the film The Mummy. To refresh your memory, our leading lady is in the midst of describing—and defending—what she does for a living to a roguish male. They have been drinking.

    Evelyn: Look, I—I may not be an explorer, or an adventurer, or a treasure-seeker, or a gunfighter, Mr. O’Connell! But I am proud of what I am!

    Rick O’Connell: And what is that?

    Evelyn: I am . . . a librarian!

    I couldn’t have said it better.

    This article originally appeared in American Libraries, October 2002, p. 54–55. continue reading

    Saturday, July 07, 2007

    Finding a journal article is like hunting for a needle in a haystack

    I have an excellent powerpoint presentation on information literacy. This was originally designed as an online tutorial.
    Available on request.

    Punchline:
    "Unfortunately, database searching techniques are rarely taught inelementary secondary education and college and graduate education may often see little increase in this nil level of instruction. Hence information literacy in academia is perhaps the most neglected area of erudition and is after all only that minor aspect of scholarship that involves the methods one uses in electronic sources to find the
    publications and documents that are on topic for research and specific subject learning." David Dillard


    See also other PowerPoint presentations: