I felt that the book The Changing Academic Library: Operations, Culture, Environments by John M. Budd, found on Library Thing, supports my area of interest because it discusses the different roles of the academic librarian, according to member reviews. I tried looking at Amazon.com to see if there was an official book description, but there was not. However, according to additional user reviews, Budd also discusses how academic libraries operated in the past and how the role of the academic librarian is changing due to the internet.
The tag cloud is:
2009 (1) academia (1) academic librarianship (1) academic libraries (7) Academic Library (4) biblioteca universitarias cultura imagen universidades practicas educacion superior (1) BTB (1) dominican (1) grad (1) information society (1) libr246 (1) librarianship (2) libraries (4) library school (1) library science (8) LIS (1) LIS 451 (1) lis 5243 academic library administration (1) management (2) moore (1) notyet (1) OU SLIS (1) own (2) professional literature (1) read (1) read in 2008 (1) school (1) SLIS (1) SP08 (1) textbook
Library Thing URL: http://www.librarything.com/work/385772/book/56942032
Monday, February 22, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
LibraryLit and Books In Print Database Searches
Previously, I asked a naive question and did searches in the ERIC and WorldCat databases. Using the same question, I searched for information in the LibraryLit and Books In Print databases. Let's review the question and rationale.
Topic of Interest: Nonuser studies
Naïve Question: What are some of the characteristics of nonuser groups identified by public libraries?
Why did I choose it?
Nonuser studies is the evaluation of why certain people are not using a library or a particular library service. Such studies can let the librarian know of any inadequacies that prevent use of library services. (Rubin, 2004, p. 65) Inadequacies may include library aesthetics, organization of material, attitude of staff, or lack of marketing.
The nonuser studies trend for public libraries concerns me because it has been over a year since I have used the library. Also, I have not used the library for my own personal needs in over ten years. The reason I used it a year ago was to find books to teach my daughter how to read. Once she learned how to read, I began obtaining books for the entire family from the bookstore. Reflecting on this, I buy books because I can afford to, and I like to keep the ones I really like in case I want to read them again. However, I have also wasted money at the bookstore trying out new authors and works that I ended up not liking. It occurred to me that I could have been using the library to try out the new works and then buy them if I wanted to keep them in the long run. Although it is an extra trip to the bookstore, it would be worth the money saved. However, the library usually does not have new releases or as many intriguing displays as the bookstore. It bothers me that I have always wanted to be a librarian but no longer use my local library. Can those who no longer use the library be grouped as having certain characteristics? Are there ways to encourage nonusers to use the library?
LibraryLit Search
Using the same facets as before, the LibraryLit database was searched to get thesaurus terms as noted in the table below.
This produces the Boolean search statement:
Books In Print uses general subject indexes that can be searched through. These indexes are more general in nature and by major topic area as compared to LibraryLit. LibraryLit has more specific thesaurus terms that can be broadened or made narrower. For example, in Books In Print, "public libraries" is a subject term whereas LibraryLit has "public libraries" as well as more specific types of public libraries listed such as "rural" and "regional libraries".
References
Topic of Interest: Nonuser studies
Naïve Question: What are some of the characteristics of nonuser groups identified by public libraries?
Why did I choose it?
Nonuser studies is the evaluation of why certain people are not using a library or a particular library service. Such studies can let the librarian know of any inadequacies that prevent use of library services. (Rubin, 2004, p. 65) Inadequacies may include library aesthetics, organization of material, attitude of staff, or lack of marketing.
The nonuser studies trend for public libraries concerns me because it has been over a year since I have used the library. Also, I have not used the library for my own personal needs in over ten years. The reason I used it a year ago was to find books to teach my daughter how to read. Once she learned how to read, I began obtaining books for the entire family from the bookstore. Reflecting on this, I buy books because I can afford to, and I like to keep the ones I really like in case I want to read them again. However, I have also wasted money at the bookstore trying out new authors and works that I ended up not liking. It occurred to me that I could have been using the library to try out the new works and then buy them if I wanted to keep them in the long run. Although it is an extra trip to the bookstore, it would be worth the money saved. However, the library usually does not have new releases or as many intriguing displays as the bookstore. It bothers me that I have always wanted to be a librarian but no longer use my local library. Can those who no longer use the library be grouped as having certain characteristics? Are there ways to encourage nonusers to use the library?
LibraryLit Search
Using the same facets as before, the LibraryLit database was searched to get thesaurus terms as noted in the table below.
This produces the Boolean search statement:
SS1 subject field search: (public libraries/non-users OR use studies OR surveys) AND (public libraries OR regional libraries OR rural libraries) AND (public relations of libraries OR library-community relations OR publicity OR marketing OR internet marketing OR surveys/marketing)
The result of this search is 70 records. In my opinion, LibraryLit makes it easy to match up initial terms with thesaurus terms and find relevant results. I only found 1 additional subject heading from results that seemed relevant, "use studies/branch libraries". This can be used to get more results.
SS2 subject field search: (public libraries/non-users OR use studies OR surveys) AND (public libraries OR regional libraries OR rural libraries OR branch libraries) AND (public relations of libraries OR library-community relations OR publicity OR marketing OR internet marketing OR surveys/marketing)
The result of this search yields the same 70 records. However, by taking out the marketing aspect, I can get more results based on nonuser groups in public libraries.
SS3 subject field search: (public libraries/non-users OR use studies OR surveys) AND (public libraries OR regional libraries OR rural libraries OR branch libraries)
RESULT: 1254 Records
Citation: Garland, R., & Willett, P. (2009). We want you back. Public Library Journal, 24(2), 19-21, 25. Retrieved February 21, 2010, from Library Lit & Inf Full Text database.
Books In Print Search
To get thesaurus terms in Books In Print, use Browse By Index --> Subject (All).
SS1 subject field search: library surveys AND public libraries AND (marketing OR publicity)
RESULT: 0 Records
Books In Print uses general subject indexes that can be searched through. These indexes are more general in nature and by major topic area as compared to LibraryLit. LibraryLit has more specific thesaurus terms that can be broadened or made narrower. For example, in Books In Print, "public libraries" is a subject term whereas LibraryLit has "public libraries" as well as more specific types of public libraries listed such as "rural" and "regional libraries".
The search is too narrow in nature. Therefore, get rid of the marketing aspect and do a search on public library surveys only. Then, try getting results again on just marketing public libraries.
The search for public library surveys looks like:
SS2 subject field search: library surveys AND public libraries
RESULT: 5 Records
I found one possibly relevant record along with an additional subject term, "library information networks". Using this additional subject heading should yield more results.
SS3 subject field search: (library surveys OR library information networks) AND public libraries
RESULT: 15 records
Now try the marketing public libraries search.
SS4 subject field search: (marketing OR publicity) AND public libraries
RESULT: 1 Record – not relevant
It looks like there are books available dealing with nonuser groups in public libraries but not marketing for public libraries. My topic is probably found more in journals and governemnt publications due to how quickly people’s opinions change. Also, this seems like the type of information the governemnt would collect for library funding purposes. However, I did get a citation.
Citation: Gordon, R. S. (Ed). (2007, September). Information tomorrow: reflections on technology and the future of public and academic libraries. United States: Information Today, Incorporated.
References
Rubin, R. (2004). Foundations of library and information science. New York: Neal-Schuman.
Monday, February 15, 2010
RSS Feed
I did a blog search to see if I could find anything specific to mathematics or computer science academic libraries. Since my undergraduate background and current career is in math and computer science, this would be a good library fit for me. Christina’s LIS Rant (http://scienceblogs.com/christinaslisrant/) is just what I am looking for. Her blogs contain subject matter such as showing math on the web and podcasting tips. Christina is a science and engineering librarian and gives good insight into the things that an applied science librarian may encounter. I have added her RSS feed to my blog.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
ERIC and WorldCat Database Searches
One of my class competencies is to find a topic that interests me and use it to come up with a 'naive' question. Using the databases ERIC and WorldCat, I am to research my question and list a citation from each database. My search is documented as follows.
My topic of interest is nonuser studies. Nonuser studies is the evaluation of why certain people are not using a library or a particular library service. Such studies can let the librarian know of any inadequacies that prevent use of library services. (Rubin, 2004, p. 65) Inadequacies may include library aesthetics, organization of material, attitude of staff, or lack of marketing. This leads to my naive question.
Naive Question: What are some of the characteristics of nonuser groups identified by public libraries?
The nonuser studies trend for public libraries concerns me because it has been over a year since I have used the library. Also, I have not used the library for my own personal needs in over ten years. The reason I used it a year ago was to find books to teach my daughter how to read. Once she learned how to read, I began obtaining books for the entire family from the bookstore. Reflecting on this, I buy books because I can afford to, and I like to keep the ones I really like in case I want to read them again. However, I have also wasted money at the bookstore trying out new authors and works that I ended up not liking. It occurred to me that I could have been using the library to try out the new works and then buy them if I wanted to keep them in the long run. Although it is an extra trip to the bookstore, it would be worth the money saved. However, the library usually does not have new releases or as many intriguing displays as the bookstore. It bothers me that I have always wanted to be a librarian but no longer use my local library. Can those who no longer use the library be grouped as having certain characteristics? Are there ways to encourage nonusers to use the library?
ERIC Search:
I first used ERIC to conduct my search. I took my naive question to come up with facets and then used the thesaurus in ERIC to get subject terms for my initial terms. The following summarizes this process.
The last term of “encourage nonusers to use the library” is not in my naive question. It came out of my evaluation of my question. I found that this is what I’m ultimately interested in once I understand who these nonusers are.
The above thesaurus terms are used to form the following search statement.
SS1 subject field search: (use studies OR community study OR library research OR statistical studies) AND (public libraries OR county libraries OR regional libraries) AND (marketing OR publicity OR information dissemination OR communications OR library extension OR public relations OR advertising OR institutional advancement)
RESULT: 102 records
Notes: Many of the results concern academic libraries, research libraries and special libraries that I had to sift through although I specified different types of public libraries. These extra results can be eliminated by revising the search statement to not include these library types.
SS2 subject field search: (use studies OR community study OR library research OR statistical studies) AND (public libraries OR county libraries OR regional libraries) AND (marketing OR publicity OR information dissemination OR communications OR library extension OR public relations OR advertising OR institutional advancement) NOT (academic libraries OR research libraries OR special libraries)
RESULT: 25 records
Citation: Ristau, H. (1988). What're You Readin'? How Junior High Students Choose Their Reading Materials in New Ulm, Minnesota. Illinois Libraries. 70(1), 44-46.
WorldCat Search
The same facets and initial terms were used in WorldCat as in ERIC. However, WorldCat produces different subject terms. The table shows the subject terms found for each facet in WorldCat.
This is a good place to note the subject heading differences between ERIC and WorldCat. WorldCat sometimes produces the same subject headings as ERIC for the broader terms. For example, they both use the subject terms “use studies”, “public libraries”, and “regional libraries”. WorldCat has the tendency to be more specific than ERIC, especially when expanding on a broader subject term. For example, WorldCat gave me more specific results than ERIC when searching for subject terms for “publicity”, such as “reading promotion” and “social service publicity”.
The following is the first search statement for the WorldCat search based on the thesaurus terms for this database.
SS1 subject field search: (library use studies OR use studies) AND (public libraries OR regional libraries OR rural libraries) AND (marketing OR communication in marketing OR publicity OR advertising OR public relations OR promotion of special events OR reading promotion OR social service publicity OR television in publicity)
RESULT: 35 Records
Notes: I could use more results based on the statistics and characteristics of nonusers. The search above gives enough results on the marketing aspect. By removing the subject headings associated with “encourage nonusers to use the library”, the following search statement is formed.
SS2 subject field search: (library use studies OR use studies) AND (public libraries OR regional libraries OR rural libraries)
RESULT: 907 records
Notes: The results are plentiful, so the next search will have to narrow things down a bit. However, I was able to quickly find some good resources that concentrate on statistics.
Citation: Galloway, S. B. B. (1978). The relationship between awareness of the Davis County libraries and their use and nonuse. ERIC reports, ED 179 221. Washington D.C.: Educational Resources Information Center.
My topic of interest is nonuser studies. Nonuser studies is the evaluation of why certain people are not using a library or a particular library service. Such studies can let the librarian know of any inadequacies that prevent use of library services. (Rubin, 2004, p. 65) Inadequacies may include library aesthetics, organization of material, attitude of staff, or lack of marketing. This leads to my naive question.
Naive Question: What are some of the characteristics of nonuser groups identified by public libraries?
The nonuser studies trend for public libraries concerns me because it has been over a year since I have used the library. Also, I have not used the library for my own personal needs in over ten years. The reason I used it a year ago was to find books to teach my daughter how to read. Once she learned how to read, I began obtaining books for the entire family from the bookstore. Reflecting on this, I buy books because I can afford to, and I like to keep the ones I really like in case I want to read them again. However, I have also wasted money at the bookstore trying out new authors and works that I ended up not liking. It occurred to me that I could have been using the library to try out the new works and then buy them if I wanted to keep them in the long run. Although it is an extra trip to the bookstore, it would be worth the money saved. However, the library usually does not have new releases or as many intriguing displays as the bookstore. It bothers me that I have always wanted to be a librarian but no longer use my local library. Can those who no longer use the library be grouped as having certain characteristics? Are there ways to encourage nonusers to use the library?
ERIC Search:
I first used ERIC to conduct my search. I took my naive question to come up with facets and then used the thesaurus in ERIC to get subject terms for my initial terms. The following summarizes this process.
The last term of “encourage nonusers to use the library” is not in my naive question. It came out of my evaluation of my question. I found that this is what I’m ultimately interested in once I understand who these nonusers are.
The above thesaurus terms are used to form the following search statement.
SS1 subject field search: (use studies OR community study OR library research OR statistical studies) AND (public libraries OR county libraries OR regional libraries) AND (marketing OR publicity OR information dissemination OR communications OR library extension OR public relations OR advertising OR institutional advancement)
RESULT: 102 records
Notes: Many of the results concern academic libraries, research libraries and special libraries that I had to sift through although I specified different types of public libraries. These extra results can be eliminated by revising the search statement to not include these library types.
SS2 subject field search: (use studies OR community study OR library research OR statistical studies) AND (public libraries OR county libraries OR regional libraries) AND (marketing OR publicity OR information dissemination OR communications OR library extension OR public relations OR advertising OR institutional advancement) NOT (academic libraries OR research libraries OR special libraries)
RESULT: 25 records
Citation: Ristau, H. (1988). What're You Readin'? How Junior High Students Choose Their Reading Materials in New Ulm, Minnesota. Illinois Libraries. 70(1), 44-46.
WorldCat Search
The same facets and initial terms were used in WorldCat as in ERIC. However, WorldCat produces different subject terms. The table shows the subject terms found for each facet in WorldCat.
This is a good place to note the subject heading differences between ERIC and WorldCat. WorldCat sometimes produces the same subject headings as ERIC for the broader terms. For example, they both use the subject terms “use studies”, “public libraries”, and “regional libraries”. WorldCat has the tendency to be more specific than ERIC, especially when expanding on a broader subject term. For example, WorldCat gave me more specific results than ERIC when searching for subject terms for “publicity”, such as “reading promotion” and “social service publicity”.
The following is the first search statement for the WorldCat search based on the thesaurus terms for this database.
SS1 subject field search: (library use studies OR use studies) AND (public libraries OR regional libraries OR rural libraries) AND (marketing OR communication in marketing OR publicity OR advertising OR public relations OR promotion of special events OR reading promotion OR social service publicity OR television in publicity)
RESULT: 35 Records
Notes: I could use more results based on the statistics and characteristics of nonusers. The search above gives enough results on the marketing aspect. By removing the subject headings associated with “encourage nonusers to use the library”, the following search statement is formed.
SS2 subject field search: (library use studies OR use studies) AND (public libraries OR regional libraries OR rural libraries)
RESULT: 907 records
Notes: The results are plentiful, so the next search will have to narrow things down a bit. However, I was able to quickly find some good resources that concentrate on statistics.
Citation: Galloway, S. B. B. (1978). The relationship between awareness of the Davis County libraries and their use and nonuse. ERIC reports, ED 179 221. Washington D.C.: Educational Resources Information Center.
References
Rubin, R. (2004). Foundations of library and information science. New York: Neal-Schuman.
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