Volume 16, Number 1 (1997)
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Item Bibliographic lnstruction - Credit Courses(H.W. Wilson Company, 1997) Pask, Judith M.; Cordell, Rosanne M.Barbara Wittkopf, in a summary of her survey of ARL Libraries ["A Look at the State of BI Credit Courses in ARL-Member Libraries." Research Strategies 9 (Fall 199 1): 162- 1631 states that "there has been a positive shift away from library orientation tours and tool-specific instruction toward the development of research skills and strategies." Some academic libraries have offered a credit course in library research skills for years, while others have recently added a course to cope with the need for information literacy education. In addition to decisions about what and how to teach, the procedures for offering such a credit course vary greatly from institution to institution.Item Controlling the Internet(H.W. Wilson Company, 1997) Abell, Carol; Hobgood, JillHow can libraries provide Internet access and still maintain the control necessary to prevent abuse? Nearly all libraries that offer Internet access have some kind of Internet use policy, but their policies may differ greatly. Some are highly regulated, some lenient, and some change from day to day to cover situations as they occur. A few academic libraries have use policies that are set by their computing facilities.Item Overcoming Resistance: Motivating Students to Join the Information Age(H.W. Wilson Company, 1997) MacKay, Gail; Kanzler, JoniThe suggestions gathered from the Talk Table can assist both the public library patron and the academic library student in gaining confidence in using the library. In the discussion, patron resistance was generally seen as anxiety created by inexperience withusing libraries. The experience of the participants reflected that when students and patrons become oriented to the library, resistance and hesitation greatly diminish. Ideas offered by the group fell mainly into the categories of library resources and library instruction.Item Tippecanoe County Public Library Small Business Breakfast Series: Introducing Library Resources and Services to the Business Community(H.W. Wilson Company, 1997) Krushen, MindyThe Tippecanoe County Public Library (TCPL) has been conducting business breakfasts since 1995. The purposes are two-fold: (1) to publicize and promote the use of TCPL's business collection and pertinent business databases, and (2) to support the library's mission to be "a leader in information resources in "Tippecanoe County" by providing free guidance for those interested in starting or developing a small business.Item Moving Through the lnternet: Teaching Mechanics and Evaluation(H.W. Wilson Company, 1997) Milne, Sally Jo; Stevens, ArenaThe Talk Table group (divided about equally between academic and public librarians) spent a lively time discussing how we might "teach" searching on the Internet. It was noted that especially in the academic setting, no one seems to take the responsibility for teaching students how to use the Internet. Most of the sessions taught in both academic and public library settings have been drop-in classes; however, one member suggested that it was like "teaching Italian in five nlinutes." Patrons dropping in for such classes have a range in expertise from needing a basic tutorial on how to use a mouse, to needing more expert help on advanced searching techniques. With the variety of search engines available, emphasis is put on learning to use the "help" screens for each engine. Some public libraries are beginning to use volunteers from the community to help teach, thus relieving pressure on the librarians. A few libraries offer printed help sources for what is covered in class. The use of "bogus" Websites was recommended for helping patrons evaluate information found on the Net. The following bibliography was given to Talk Table participants.Item Instructional Materials in Print: On Paper or the World Wide Web(H.W. Wilson Company, 1997) Popp, Mary Pagliero; Barsun, RitaInstructional materials in print, whether on paper or on the World Wide Web, are important tools that assist users of library resources in finding the information they need. As library resources are increasingly becoming available in electronic forms and many people are using them from home or office, the need for instructional material is burgeoning. Users need guidance in selecting appropriate resources, designing effective search strategies, and analyzing and improving search results. Remote users face the additional challenge of connecting to electronic resources via disparate hardware and networks.Item Database Dependency(H.W. Wilson Company, 1997) Hogan-Vidal, Patricia; Kreps, DennisWe defined the phenomenon of database dependency as the behavior of a library user to immediately select computerized information resources without considering (1) the appropriateness of the electronic gesource to the immediate information need, (2) the quality and accuracy of the information found, and (3) the amount of time it may take to find the information in a database compared to finding a print resource in that library. The librarians at the Talk Table agreed that patrons seem to accept whatever information they find in an electronic resource even if it takes longer to get the answer, the answer is incomplete, or if the information would have been more easily found in a print reference source. The academic librarians said that they have been seeing this behavior in their libraries for the last several years. The public librarians agreed that this behavior is increasing in their libraries as people are becoming more comfortable with computers.Item Top Ten Things I Didn't Learn in Library School(H.W. Wilson Company, 1997) Kanzler, JoniAfter graduating from Indiana University's School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) in December of 1995 with my MLS, I began working as the Instructional Services librarian at the University of Southern Indiana (USI) in Evansville, Indiana, in January 1996. Throughout my daily routine, I find myself using many applications, theories, and ideas taught at SLIS. In addition, each day is a learning experience at US1 where much of my time is spent interacting with students, librarians, and support staff at the university, as well as staying aware of current trends in technology and instruction. After one year, I am taking a moment to reflect - and believe me, it is a moment - upon many things not taught or emphasized enough during my graduate school training. Below is a list of ten items in no particular order that I have found challenging during my first year. I hope this list will help prepare future graduates for the challenges and responsibilities that await them once they begin a career as a professional librarian.Item Purdue University's Management and Economics Library Educates All Undergraduate Students(H.W. Wilson Company, 1997) Mai, Brent Alan, 1964-; Nixon, Judith M.Until recently, the user instruction program of Purdue University's Management and Economics (M&E) Library was concentrated almost completely in two areas: (1) first week student orientation sessions, and (2) occasional lectures to subject-specific courses. This approach was not completely unsuccessful, the library reached a total of more than 2,400 students campus-wide during the 1996-97 academic year. The orientation sessions, however, often presented problems. The students were given too much information before they were ready to use it, and the research strategies that were taught appeared to be forgotten by the time they were needed. Also, the subject-specific lectures during courses reached only a fraction of the entire student population that needed instruction. The spring 1997 semester brought about a significant change in this approach to teaching information research skills and familiarity with library resources to undergraduate students in Purdue's School of Management.Item Team Teaching a Credit Class(H.W. Wilson Company, 1997) Russo, Michele C.The library instruction program at Indiana University-South Bend (IUSB) is much like programs at most other universities. The freshman study skills class and the freshman writing class have required library components in which the librarians introduce the basics of academic library research. Upper level and graduate classes have instruction only upon the request of the individual instructors. While we occasionally have the luxury of seeing a class two times in a semester, the majority of instruction is "one-shot." We also offer occasional workshops open to any student, and our reference-byappointment allows more in-depth instruction for an individual. While assessment of our instruction program shows that students do benefit from our efforts, students often ask how they could learn more. For quite some time we had considered offering a credit course, but we had not been able to free up one individual's time to develop and teach it, and none of the librarians wanted to take on all of the additional work alone. After much discussion, we eventually decided to team teach the course using all of the instruction librarians (who are also most of our reference librarians). In the spring of 1996, we began teaching a one credit-hour course called "Library Resources and Skills" offered through the School of Library and Information Science (SLIS). This article describes the process we used in planning, teaching, and revising the course since its inception.