CONFERENCE PAPERSService-Friendly Librarians: Challenges and Opportunities
Multiform Resources and Services: Transforming the Library
SERVQUAL, LibQUAL+, e-QUAL, Accreditation : Assessing Service Quality
Library Theory and Research: an Imperative Challenge
Handling Local History Materials
Collection Development in a Free Access Environment
|
ABSTRACTS Questions and Challenges in Establishing and Maintaining a Local Studies Center: The Case of the Cavite Studies Center of De La Salle University-Dasmariñas At present, the Cavite Studies Center (CSC) of De La Salle University - Dasmariñas serves as an important catalyst in promoting the history and culture of the province of Cavite. Formally instituted as a university unit in 1990’s, the center has already established its reputation as one of the leading local studies centers in the country. Its considerable success is largely due to the various programs and projects that it undertook for the last decade which clearly brought to the fore the province’s remarkable history and its contribution to the national historical development. This paper attempts to explain the historical development of the Cavite Studies Center of De La Salle University-Dasmariñas. Discussion will focus on the reasons of its existence, vision-mission, operations, programs, projects, and linkages. Part of the paper will focus on the issues and problems confronted by the center in promoting local culture, and the challenges in carrying out its programs in the university and community levels. View full paper / presentation
Surfacing Filipino School Children’s Images of This qualitative study aims to describe how the Filipino grade school pupils in a private sectarian school in the capital of the Philippines identify their views and images of a librarian. Two hundred fifty eight (258) pupils were asked to fill-out a robotfoto, box for illustration and a diagram to be filled in. Subsequent to the data gathered and data analysis, two (2) faces of librarians came in to view. Results showed the perception of the children based on their doodles and given characterization, which may be either a desirable or undesirable librarian. On the one hand, the desirable librarian represents the enticing, enduring, and engaging types . On the other hand, disappointing, depressing, and depriving types characterize the librarian who is undesirable. The doodlings indicate that being desirable attracts library clients to visit the library and develops interest in using the library facilities more often. The undesirable qualities make students hesitate in entering the library. This study dwells on the need for librarians concerned to improve their images and develop desired qualities for the benefit of their student clientele. View full paper Clientele Recognition of Library Terms and Concepts Used by Librarians: A Case of an Academic Library in the Philippines Using a 30-item multiple choice type test, this investigation dwelt on the ability of college students to recognize terms and concepts used by librarians. A total of 447 respondents representing the fields of education, nutrition, food technology, tourism and hotel and restaurant management took part in this investigation. Data were gathered through robotfotos and an inventory of commonly used library jargons, duly identified and validated by academic librarians in one of the biggest multi-disciplinary universities in the Philippines. Data were treated indepth through percentage, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), t-test, and Spearman’s rank correlation. Interestingly, results of this study showed that clientele’s ability to recognize library terms and concepts posted the highest and lowest ratings of 84% and 33% respectively. Further, among the respondents’ profiles, gender and type of catalog used (OPAC vs. card catalog) were found to have significant relationship with their ability to recognize library terms and concepts. Finally, a moderate positive correlation (rho-0.58) exists between the clientele’s recognition ability and the librarian’s ranking of frequently asked and used terms by the former. View full paper International Best Practices of Service-Friendly Librarians: Fresh Perceptions from a Year-long Comparative Analysis of U.S. and John Hickok is the Coordinator of Library Instruction at California State University, Fullerton (USA), and a Librarian/Instructor, specializing in outreach to international populations and cross-cultural library cooperation for over 10 years. John is a member of the American Library Association’s International Relations Round Table, and has just completed a year-long field project throughout the Asia-Pacific region, including the Philippines, documenting comparative librarian-service conditions (book forthcoming). For 12 months, 14 countries and over 200 libraries (including many in the Philippines) were visited, interviewed, and analyzed in their librarian service context. There were common challenges—that cut across international borders—such as the challenges of providing information-rich resources in very limited budget situations…and how librarians rise to the occasion to address this. There were also incredible opportunities discovered, as well, such as efforts to change the “image” of librarians from merely material caretakers to expert, proactive instructors of information. In this presentation, specific challenges and opportunities—including model “Best Practices”—of both Asian-Pacific libraries and those in the West ( U.S., Canada, Europe, etc.), will be detailed. Likewise, the many exciting opportunities service-friendly librarians receive, will be shown: real-life examples of wonderful endeavors service-friendly librarians are doing. View full paper / presentation The Theory of Human Caring and Service Friendly Librarians This reflective essay analyzes Jean Watson’s Theory of Human Caring in the context of service friendly librarians. Aspects of Carl Roger’s Actualization Tendencies and Kay Vandergrifts’ Ethic of Care are also discussed. How the cultivation of sensitivity to oneself and others can create a service friendly environment for the information user is a topic worthy of examination. Management theories which encourage team building as a way to better the organization (with the highest regard for the user) emphasize a culture of listening to the voice of the customer, the voice of staff, the voice of the process and the voice of the organization. Librarians themselves need to remain supported and informed of appropriate ways to deal with the user. They need to know how to manage themselves, inculcate the mission of their institutions, and develop qualities of human caring. The central task of library and information science education must be to help students, faculty and practitioners learn how to form caring relationships with their users and their communities because the profession is about educating mankind. The knowledge, skills and values of librarianship are humanistic in orientation, even though expertise in technological tools is essential. Human caring is a normative standard of library service. View full paper / presentation Why not Change Libraries’ Position of Supply-Chain? A Conceptual Model for Leaguing Libraries and E-resource Industry Chiou-shu J. Hwang, PhD This article aims to present a conceptual model for building a supply-chain partnership between the library of institute of technology and electronic resource (hereafter referred as e-resources) industry in Taiwan. The conceptual model was developed by concerning the current relationship between library of institute of technology and e-resources industry. In Taiwan, the campus library of institute of technology is usually at the downriver position of the e-resource supply-chain. However, the main missions of the faculty in Taiwanese institute of technology are training students the practical skills and cooperating with the industry; therefore, their main knowledge product are technical reports and industrial projects. The technical reports and industrial projects are usually not appreciated by the e-resource provider. The conceptual model aims to present creative, practical and effective blueprints for purchasing e-resources and offering new services of promoting the knowledge product, and benefit the faculty of institute of technology, students, libraries, and e-resources industry. It is conducted by thinking about: why do not those libraries of institute of technology cooperate with the e-resource providers or change the downriver position of the e-resource supply-chain? The library of institute of technology can not only purchase the e-resource from the provider but also push them to collect the technical reports and industrial projects of the faculty of Taiwanese institute of technology. In other words, this conceptual model is going to build a new collaborative relationship with e-resource providers and will be an adventure in marketing library resources and services. Therefore, this article firstly describes the missions of the libraries of institute of technology and e-resources industry, secondly gives a brief introduction toward the historical development of electronic collection and product by reviewing relative literature, and thirdly introduces the current electronic collection situation of Taiwanese institute of technology. There is also a special need to do justice to the Taiwanese institute of technology. Hopefully, the conceptual model of supply-chain partnership will contribute to librarians, Library and Information Sciences, and e-resources industry. Library Service Quality of Pustaka Negeri Sarawak, What do the Users Say? Nagarajah Lee Hun Leong, PhD Pustaka Negeri Sarawak has been actively implementing its role as a state library under the requirements of the Sarawak State Library Ordinance, 1999. As Pustaka Negeri Sarawak (Kuching) continues to advance its quest to become a world-class state library services provider, a deeply embedded library service quality pursuit has been identified through this research as one vital alternative. This study aims to asses the users’ perceptions of the services provided by the Pustaka Negeri Sarawak (Kuching); to assess the users’ expectations on the services provided by Pustaka Negeri Sarawak (Kuching); and to identify the gaps between customers’ perceptions and expectations of the services provided by Pustaka Negeri Sarawak (Kuching). Specifically, the adequacy and superiority gaps are identified for further library service quality improvements. Overall, the service performance of Pustaka Negeri Sarawak (Kuching) as perceived by the two groups of users is satisfactory across the four dimensions of library service quality.
Possibilities of Minimizing Acquisition Costs and Accumulating Comprehensive Research Materials through Collaborative Resource Sharing among Libraries Marcia Czarina Corazon M. Medina Based on an earlier study (2006), this paper initially looks at the use of online resources (i.e., journal databases) in the natural sciences programs (i.e., physics, chemistry, and biology) of two Philippine universities, and the use of these online resources vis-a-vis printed journals. Key informant interviews with graduating students, thesis advisers, and library personnel were conducted for data gathering. The research shows two primary concerns of the actors involved: (1) the accumulation and availability of a comprehensive roster of research resources – both online and printed – to aid the knowledge production of the students and teachers, and (2) the overwhelming costs of acquiring these requested materials entail, coupled with the concern that not all resources are used at a rate that would maximize the costs. In the status quo, there are attempts to augment the general insufficiency of resources in libraries through resource sharing, which happens when one library opens its resources to another library at a very minimal cost or requirement. It involves the collaboration of the key actors: (1) the mediation of the thesis advisers when they recommend references to students, (2) the cooperation of library personnel of one university when they accommodate requests from their researchers that they contact other library personnel for the reference needed, and (3) the shared efforts of libraries when they offer their references to visiting researchers although with corresponding requirements to be presented first. This study formulates possible ways of balancing the two concerns (i.e., acquisition costs and accumulation of references) through exploring points of improvement on the resource sharing mechanisms among universities, with emphasis on the use of online technologies. Management Strategies for Delivering Quality Library Services Khaiser Nikam, PhD Providing professional quality services is a complex process, requiring extensive subject expertise, knowledge of library collections and systems and also years of practical experience, etc. This paper reports the study on strategies for delivering quality library services in engineering college libraries of Karnataka, India, which are affiliated with Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU). The data collection for this study is based on stratified random sampling method. Based on the age, 113 colleges were selected for the study. The structured questionnaires were sent to three segments (students, faculty members, and librarians) of respondents. On the whole, for the strategies used in delivering quality library services, significant associations (CC = .113; P<.000) were observed between the types of respondents and their responses, where majority of the students, faculty members and librarians express that service delivery is not strategic.
Learning to Learn: The Ultimate Outcome for Young and Old Alike Ann M. Riedling, PhD The abilities to access, evaluate, organize and use information have become the skills necessary to function in our current world. Information Literacy is common to all disciplines, all learning environments and all levels of education. More specifically, an information literate individual: identifies the need for information; formulates questions based on information needs; identifies potential sources of information; develops successful search strategies; evaluates information; organizes information for practical application; and uses information in critical thinking and problem solving. Information Literacy is not an innate knowledge; it must be developed. Ultimately, information literate individuals are those who have learned how to learn because they can always find the information they need for any task or decision at hand. Good decision makers are information smart; they realize that real information power is having the right information when they need it. Librarians must help them understand when information is needed, where to look and how to evaluate what they find. Information Literacy is a process and cannot be developed in isolation; collaboration is essential. Librarians must stand at the forefront and be leaders…leaders with the skills to create independent, socially responsible, lifelong learners. Design and Development of Web Database for Remote Access to Book–Accompanied CD-ROMs Using Open Source Software at Central Library, IIT Kharagpur, India B. Sutradhar, PhD Many new books have a CD-ROM on back page containing additional information like tables, facts, figures, program, software, etc. At the Indian Institute of Technology Libraries these CD-ROMs are taken out from the book and kept separately for access but access is available to a single user only because CD-ROMs are of the stand-alone version. To access these CD-ROMs one has to physically come to the library and there is no remote access of these book-accompanying CD-ROMS. This paper describes the need for remote access of book- accompanied CD-ROMs at IIT Libraries. It describes the tools and techniques to design and develop the system for remote access of book- accompanied CD-ROMs. This article mentions the hardware and software requirement and their installation and configuration. It shows various tables and figures and their description. It also highlights the benefits of the system for remote access of book- accompanied CD-ROMs. From classroom to career: Lessons Learnt from Using Citation Analysis as a Research Tool in a University Library Adriaan Swanepoel, PhD The theory and application of citation analysis is studied in many library schools and is relatively well known within the library community. Although many case studies have been published, those studies seldom report the negative or positive lessons learnt from citation analysis studies. The aim of this paper is to expand the knowledge base of librarianship by disclosing the lessons learnt by the library of a university of technology in South Africa after conducting a citation analysis study for the first time. The researcher analysed the reference list of more than 300 theses and dissertations that were submitted by masters and doctoral students during 2004, 2005 and 2006, from a collection development perspective.
Filipiniana Online: Collection Development in a Free Access Environment Vernon R. Totanes Vernon T. Totanes is a licensed librarian with a master’s degree in library and information science from the University of the Philippines and an undergraduate degree in management engineering from the Ateneo de Manila University. He is currently a PhD student at the University of Toronto The Internet has made it possible for library users to search for sources by themselves and for libraries to provide access to entire books, documents, and other resources freely available online. Some users are aware of which online resources are reliable, others are not. Some librarians know which resources they can recommend, others are not. Many, however, do not know that there is a growing list of sites that have made Filipiniana freely available online. This paper will serve as an introduction to these sites, compare and contrast their strengths and weaknesses, and discuss how they can serve to augment the physical and electronic collections of libraries that are limited by space or financial constraints. Finally, the organizations behind these digital collections will be examined, and suggestions on how they can be emulated will be offered.
Nayana Darshani Wijayasundara Nayana Darshani Wijayasundara graduated with honors in chemical engineering and started working as an Assistant Librarian, moved to the University of Colombo as a Senior Assistant Librarian and made a break through in her professional life. Being an award winner of the UNESCO/ Keizo Obuchi Research Fellowship, she carried out a research on electronic library services at University of Malaya, Malaysia in 2003/04. She spent a fruitful five weeks in the United States of America as a fellow of the IFLA/OCLC Early Career Development Fellowship in 2004. In 2006 she was awarded the Presidential Scholarship by the government of Sri Lanka for a training program at the Sydney Jones Library, University of Liverpool, UK. At present, she is a recipient of the Commonwealth Scholarship by the Malaysian Government to pursue PhD studies at the University of Malaya. In traditional universities, the faculty-library collaboration is an emerging phenomenon as these two entities are driven by separate agendas; teaching and providing services respectively. Rapid development in information and communication technologies has built a platform for two institutions to work collaboratively for making synergies. The teacher brings an understanding of the strengths, weaknesses, attitudes, and interests of the students, and of the content to be taught. The librarian adds a thorough knowledge of information skills and methods to integrate them into the course, pedagogical knowledge for teaching these skills. Collaboration is based on shared goals, a shared vision and a climate of trust and respect. Each partner brings different strengths and perspectives to the relationship. Successful collaboration required well defined roles, comprehensive planning and shared leadership. This study focuses on the collaborative practices between the library and faculty in the Sri Lankan University system with 15 universities, 3 campuses, and 6 postgraduate institutes and 9 other institutes and a total student population of around 40,000.
|