The Dewey Library Blog

In this hurried modern world, students these days are often more concerned about ‘passing the test’ than actually learning. Computerized social networking groups, blogs, and other online entertainment have changed the way we socialize, the internet has changed the way we gather information, and instant messaging and email challenge our concept of space and time. As a result, now more than ever, the village in the expression “It takes a village to raise a child” has become a global village.

A new book co-authored by University at Albany professor Joette Stefl-Mabry, Knowledge Communities: Bringing the Village into the Classroom, discusses how the local and global community should become a bigger part of the classroom. In this modern world, feeling connected to and belonging to larger groups has changed dramatically. Children are no longer participating in family dinners or even playing outdoors with their neighbors. Now children spend more time with and feel a sense of belonging to their online communities. With this change in how children relate to the world the authors’ state the need “to create schools that maximize the students’ ability to interact with the world around them.”

The authors advocate the need to create ‘Knowledge Communities” as a way to organize the world. These knowledge communities are comprised of “people in diverse positions who collectively help members of an enterprise shape their future.” By bringing the world into the classroom, students can see how they are a part of this larger global village. The authors’ state that we need “to be proactive and not reactive” to the changes in society that shape how students see their world. This book is invaluable to those interested in preparing students to become

Co-author Joette Stefl-Mabry is an Assistant Professor with the College of Computing and Information, Department of Information Studies as well as an Assistant Research Professor with the School of Education’s Department of Educational Theory and Practice at the University at Albany. This book can be found in both the Main Library as well as Dewey Library with the Call Number of LB 2833.82 S8415 2006. For now, in Dewey Library it can be found on the New Book Shelf near the Reference Desk.

Blog post created by Judith O. Mueller

Posted by Elaine Lasda Bergman at 11:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A new subject guide for IST students in the Archives track, is now available on the Libraries’ web site. This guide is a terrific starting point for conducting research about archival collections, preservation, and records management. You can easily find the guide from the University Libraries’ main web page. Using the drop down menu under the words "My Research Subject Is,” choose the subject "Information and Library Science." One of the options that appears is a link for Archives: A Guide to Information Sources.

The resources are broken down into five main categories. The first, Finding Articles, highlights specific databases for locating scholarly articles dealing with archives and records management. The nature of archives research is interdisciplinary -- with content found in information science, education, and history databases.

The Finding Books category provides a quick overview of Minerva, the library's online catalog, and Interlibrary Loan. However the most helpful information here may be the list of the most common Library of Congress Subject Headings for archives and records management. These terms can save you time when searching Minerva and other library catalogs. Most books related to archives are located here at Dewey, but any items housed at the uptown libraries can be obtained through UA Delivery.

While not the primary focus of this research guide, the section Locating Archival Collections provides links to some popular online sources for finding special collections and other types of repositories.

Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, and Bibliographies relating to the study of archives are found in the Dewey Library Reference Collection. A quick description of these ready referenc sources, along with its call number make this section of the research guide a quick, but extremely useful stop.

Internet Resources includes web links for everything from professional archival associations, to sites dealing with topical issues such as digital preservation. These sites have been vetted for authority and reliability by our Information Studies Subject Specialist.

If you have any questions or need further assistance, remember, you can always Ask-A-Librarian! For researching in-depth topics relating to archives and records management we encourage you to contact the Information Studies Subject Specialist, Deborah Bernnard.

Blog post created by Michael Daly

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Finding information about technology is critical to today’s Information Studies students and faculty. In an effort enhance our offering of technology resources available to the UA community, the University Libraries now subscribe to the ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) Digital Library database. ACM is a widely recognized organization with a mission to advance computing as a science and a profession.

This database is a vast collection of citations and full text from ACM journal and newsletter articles, as well as conference proceedings. Key topics include: computer technology, online education, software engineering, programming, networking, human-computer interaction, artificial intelligence, and information systems, to name a few.

Free registration is required to access personalized services, such as table-of-contents (TOC) alerts and virtual binders. The TOC alert service sends an email when a new issue of an ACM resource has been posted in the digital library. The virtual binder is your own personal bibliography where you can organize and store copies of articles of interest or build your own resource list for future research.

The ACM Digital Library is available from the Libraries’ Databases and Indexes page. As always, if you need help with this or any other library resource drop by the Dewey Library Reference Desk, call us at 442-3691, or submit ani Ask-A-Librarian request online.

Posted by Elaine Lasda Bergman at 07:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dewey Library is proud to announce that it is now receiving Public Services Quarterly, which happens to be edited by the University Libraries’ own Trudi Jacobson, who is the coordinator of User Education Programs. This journal is a great addition to our collection of journals on academic librarianship. It focuses on all areas of public service in academic libraries, including reference, information literacy and instruction, access and delivery services, e-reserves, and digital collections.

Public Services Quarterly is available both in print at the Dewey Library (call number Z 711 P845) and online through Minerva.

Posted by Elaine Lasda Bergman at 12:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

University Libraries have recently added two new databases of interest to Information Studies Students available through EBSCO Host: Education Research Complete and Book Index with Reviews.

Education Research Complete is a large education database that covers all levels of education from early childhood through higher education. Although Education Research Complete is primarily an education database, it also includes a number of Library and Information Science journals. Deborah Bernnard, bibliographer for Information Studies, thinks that this database will be very useful to Information Studies students. She says that “it will help students obtain citations to recently published resources. It also includes publications from many trade associations; which can help to add to the practitioner’s viewpoint to student research.” With indexing and abstracting of 1500 education journals and full-text coverage of 750 journals, Education Research Complete is the largest full-text education database available.

The library also has a one-year free trial of Book Index with Reviews, whose goal is to help users “find information on the books you want and need to read.” The database contains information on a very wide range of books (3.8 million total), including both fiction and non-fiction for children and adults. Juvenile books range from pre-school to high-school level and adult book coverage extends from popular literature to the academic research level. Book Index with Reviews also has over 800,000 book reviews from sources including Library Journal, School Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, and Choice. Deborah Bernnard thinks that it is an especially good resource for finding book reviews of popular titles.

You can access these databases through the Database Finder at http://library.albany.edu/databases/search.asp.

Posted by Elaine Lasda Bergman at 12:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Deborah Bernnard would like Information Studies students and faculty to be aware of two useful new books that have content about careers in Information Studies:

Dowell, D. R. & McCabe, G. B. (2006) It’s all about student learning: Managing community and other college libraries in the 21st century. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.
Dewey Z 675 J8 I87 2006

This book’s focus is on Community College and Small College libraries. The authors differentiate these institutions from other academic libraries by their collection policies. These libraries are more likely to collect materials that support student learning rather than faculty research. The book contains a series of essay chapters written by working librarians in which they explain how to: organize a Community College library, motivate Community College students, market the library to students and faculty, manage library budgets and more.

It’s all about student learning: Managing community and other college libraries in the 21st century is full of practical advice that will be of benefit to librarians who are just starting their careers as well as more experienced librarians. For example, Patricia Vierthaler, Technical Services Librarian at Trident Technical College in Charleston, South Carolina, provides a detailed primer on long range planning and David R. Dowell, Director of the Library/Learning Resources at Cuesta College, in California, provides a useful chapter on budgeting. The book also includes several short one to two page appendices which contain advice on selected topics.

Skrzeszewski, S. (2006). The knowledge entrepreneur. Lanham, MD: The Scarecrow Press.
Dewey Z 682.35 V62 S57 2006

The Knowledge Entrepreneur is written for graduates of Information Studies programs who don’t want to work in libraries. Instead of becoming a librarian think about becoming a knowledge entrepreneur. Skrzeszewski defines a knowledge entrepreneur as “someone who is skilled at creating and using intellectual assets for the development of new ventures or services that will lead to personal and community wealth creation or to improved and enhanced services”(Skrzeszewski, 3). Skills, characteristics and traits that make a good entrepreneur are described and case studies of entrepreneurs in action are interspersed throughout the book.

Skrzeszewski himself is a trained librarian who has left a 22 year career in libraries to become a consultant. He has written an engaging how-to book that forecasts some of the career niches for future MSIS and MLS graduates.

Posted by Elaine Lasda Bergman at 01:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)