Wednesday 2 February 2011

The mobile library

College and Research Libraries. January 2011. Vol.72, No.1. January 2011. p.9-20.
Library on the go: a focus group study of the mobile web and the academic library by Jamie Seeholzer and Joseph A Salem.

Students in this study expressed a surprisingly strong preference for accessing research databases via a mobile version of the library's website even after being advised that most databases would not be formatted for easy use by mobile devices. They also liked the idea of being able to contact a librarian for help via live chat.

Monday 12 April 2010

Where are we, and our users, going?

Evans, Woody Building Library 3.0: issues in creating a culture of participation. 025.02 EVA

What is Library 3.0? In this book it's taken to be whatever survives of the library after the web 2.0 revolution. It's the future and so somewhat unpredictable but might incorporate elements of 3D virtual worlds, the semantic web, intelligent search, natural language queries, social networking and mobile web. It will almost certainly involve the breaking down of barriers and some threats to the established role of libraries.


Lee, Sul H. Bridging the gap: connecting users to digital contents. 025.04 LEE

Papers delivered at the Oklahoma Libraries 2007 conference looking at a variety of technological challenges that are currently facing libraries.


Dempsey, Kathy. The accidental library marketer. 021.7 DEM

How to avoid the pitfalls that await the amateur library marketer.


Pantry, Sheila and Griffiths, Peter. How to give your users the LIS services they want. 025 PAN

Who are these 'users' and what do they want? Includes chapters on making use of information about past behaviour, tracking changes in user wants and needs and some thoughts about the future.

Friday 18 December 2009

Human rights, business information and Library 2.0

Samek, Toni Librarianship and human rights: a twenty-first century guide. 020.1 SAM

Consists largely of examples of how libraries and information workers worldwide have addressed human rights issues by empowering people with information skills, protecting freedom of thought, providing access to information and upholding rights to privacy.


Abels, Eileen G Business information: needs and strategies. 026.65 ABE

An in depth look at what business information consists of and where to find it. Although it is written from a US perspective much of the content applies to business information generally.


Cohen, Laura B Library 2.0: initiatives in academic libraries. 021.2 COH

Case studies from the US, Australia and Sweden.

Tuesday 10 November 2009

Politics, philosophy and future of libraries.

Access, delivery, performance: the future of libraries without walls. Edited by Jilliam R. Griffiths and Jenny Craven. 020
In four sections based around four main themes: libraries, learning and distance learning, widening access to information, changing directions of information delivery and performance, quality and leadership.

Information and liberation: writings on the politics of information and librarianship. By Shiraz Durrani. 021.8
A collection of material related to the politics of librarianship in Kenya and the UK.

Surviving the future: academic libraries, quality and assessment. By Gail Munde and Kenneth Marks. 027.7
Begins with the interesting question 'What is quality.' Further chapters then look at ways of measuring it and what it might mean in terms of different user groups.

An introduction to staff development in academic libraries. Edited by Elizabeth Connor. 023.8
Practical examples and case studies of staff development activities in academic libraries.

The Library at Night by Alberto Manguel 020
A philosophical look at libraries through the ages.

Monday 15 June 2009

A bumper issue of Just In!

Analysing Library Collection Use with Excel by Tony Greiner 025.210285
Starts with the basics of Excel then looks at what you might want to analyse and how to do it. May be as useful for the 'what' as the 'how'.

Disaster Management in Archives, Libraries and Museums. By Graham Matthews. 027.00684
The UK and international situation in disaster management and planning for libraries.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations by Robert E. Wolverton 025.1775
An overview of issues and practices relating to electronic theses and dissertations. Includes an annotated bibliography.

A Handbook for Media Librarians
Edited by Katherine Schopflin 025.17
The contributors to this book have experience working for a variety of news and media organisations.

Information Obesity. By Andrew Whitworth. 025.5
A different take on the familiar issue of information overload this book examines the possible effects of the changing quantity/quality balance of information and what it means to be 'literate' or 'educated'.

Keeping the User in Mind. By Valeda Dent Goodman. 025.5
Instructional design theory as it applies to information literacy training.

Leadership: the Challenge for the Information Profession by Sue Roberts 025.1
Looks at issues around leadership in library and information services with examples from a variety of sectors and a number of suggested points for reflection.

Libraries Without Walls 7: Exploring 'anytime' 'anywhere' delivery of library services. Edited by Peter Brophy. 021.24
Conference proceedings on a variety of issues in digital and distance library services.

M-libraries. By Gill Needham. 025.04
Conference papers on libraries use of mobile technologies.

Making the Most of RFID in Libraries. By Martin Palmer. 025.82
Everything you ever wanted to know about RFID in libraries.

Searching 2.0 by Michael Sauers 025.04
If you don't know what web 2.0 is by now - read this book! There's a whole chapter looking at what it is. This is followed by the specifics of what web 2.0 has done to search, looking at media search, print search, local search, searching the past and more. The final chapter looks towards the future with examples of data visualisation.








Thursday 30 April 2009

Primo at UAE

Primo
Serials Vol.22 No.1 March 2009


Brief article by Sarah Elsegood on UEA's use of Primo.

Tuesday 10 March 2009

Fresh thinking on what libraries have to offer

The Information Literacy Cookbook Edited by Jane Secker, Debbi Boden and Gwyneth Price. 025.5
I really liked the first sentence of chapter 2: 'The secret to good cooking lies in the use of fresh ingredients.' If you feel like your training sessions might be getting a bit stale you might find something here to help. Very much a book to dip into for inspiration but, given the enthusiasm with which the authors take on and develop the metaphor, probably best not read if you're feeling hungry!

Marketing the Best Deal in Town: Your Library. Where is your purple owl? By Nancy Rossitor. 021.7
Seth Godin wrote about the need for 'purple cows' - not just the same old thing with new marketing spin but truly innovative products and services. Are libraries boring old brown cows, or do we have something genuinely remarkable to offer?