Tuesday, June 19, 2007
7 Things You Should Know About Wikipedia
Take a look at "7 Things You Should Know About Wikipedia", a recent publication of Educause. This two page document answers essential questions about the popular online encyclopedia that anyone can edit. Students use it, faculty use it, even librarians use it (it's linked from our web site). What should we know to get the most out of it and guide others to avoid fallacy pitfalls? Well, read the document!
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Some call it leisure . . . we call it literacy!
Just when I was planning to promote our revitalized arrangement of new and popular books in the library (and our nifty Playaways), a possible crisis in literacy came to my attention. Zounds! Coincidence? . . . . I think not!
First, the library has long been committed to providing recreational or leisure reading opportunities along with our more scholarly fare. We have formed a new location for you to browse these items right by the blue chairs in our reference area. Since the 1971-72 school year, the library has leased the "McNaughton Collection" of popular fiction and non-fiction books. Ably chosen by Belinda Martindell since 1990 (or thereabouts), the McNaughtons offer over two hundred titles for your reading pleasure. They are inter-shelved with our New Book collection, a selection of titles ordered by faculty and staff members and managed by Diane Miller.
In addition to these books, we have a growing collection of Playaway digital audio devices. We are just about to nearly double the size of this collection by adding 40 new titles. You can browse the Playaways right next to the McNaughton and New Book area. You can also run a keyword search for "playaway" in the catalog. It's mainly popular adult fiction, with some children's fiction and a few non-fiction titles.
All right, now the potential literacy crisis: are college graduates growing less literate? Are they reading less for personal enjoyment? The following articles were suggested as background reading for an upcoming discussion at the American Library Association annual conference next week, entitled "Aren't There Any Good Books Here? (Un)Required Reading and the Academic Library":
• “A First Look at the Literacy of America’s Adults in the 21st Century” (NCES) at http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2006470
• Dillon, Sam. “Literacy Falls for Graduates from College, Testing Finds,” The New York Times, December 16, 2005 at http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/16/education/16literacy.html
• Elliott, Julie. “Academic Libraries and Extracurricular Reading Promotion,” Reference and User Services Quarterly 46:3 (Spring 2007): 34-43.
• Feller, Ben. “Johnny Still Can’t Read – In College,” The Globe and Mail, January 20, 2006 at http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060120.wliter0120/BNStory/International/
• MacAdam, Barbara. “Sustaining the Culture of the Book: The Role of Enrichment Reading and Critical Thinking in the Undergraduate Curriculum,” Library Trends 44:2 (Fall 1995): 237-63.
Is there anything we can do about this? Well, fear not . . . the above resources can help. We all need a little relaxation, stimulation, and satisfaction that can be gained from reading or listening to a good book.
First, the library has long been committed to providing recreational or leisure reading opportunities along with our more scholarly fare. We have formed a new location for you to browse these items right by the blue chairs in our reference area. Since the 1971-72 school year, the library has leased the "McNaughton Collection" of popular fiction and non-fiction books. Ably chosen by Belinda Martindell since 1990 (or thereabouts), the McNaughtons offer over two hundred titles for your reading pleasure. They are inter-shelved with our New Book collection, a selection of titles ordered by faculty and staff members and managed by Diane Miller.
In addition to these books, we have a growing collection of Playaway digital audio devices. We are just about to nearly double the size of this collection by adding 40 new titles. You can browse the Playaways right next to the McNaughton and New Book area. You can also run a keyword search for "playaway" in the catalog. It's mainly popular adult fiction, with some children's fiction and a few non-fiction titles.
All right, now the potential literacy crisis: are college graduates growing less literate? Are they reading less for personal enjoyment? The following articles were suggested as background reading for an upcoming discussion at the American Library Association annual conference next week, entitled "Aren't There Any Good Books Here? (Un)Required Reading and the Academic Library":
• “A First Look at the Literacy of America’s Adults in the 21st Century” (NCES) at http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2006470
• Dillon, Sam. “Literacy Falls for Graduates from College, Testing Finds,” The New York Times, December 16, 2005 at http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/16/education/16literacy.html
• Elliott, Julie. “Academic Libraries and Extracurricular Reading Promotion,” Reference and User Services Quarterly 46:3 (Spring 2007): 34-43.
• Feller, Ben. “Johnny Still Can’t Read – In College,” The Globe and Mail, January 20, 2006 at http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060120.wliter0120/BNStory/International/
• MacAdam, Barbara. “Sustaining the Culture of the Book: The Role of Enrichment Reading and Critical Thinking in the Undergraduate Curriculum,” Library Trends 44:2 (Fall 1995): 237-63.
Is there anything we can do about this? Well, fear not . . . the above resources can help. We all need a little relaxation, stimulation, and satisfaction that can be gained from reading or listening to a good book.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
A Periodical Update: the Popular and the Current
In case you ever wondered what the most popular periodicals in the Library were, here's your answer. We haven't done a count like this since 2004/2005 (which you can check for comparison), but it seemed like a good time. We are unable to track online use of the more than 30,000 full-text periodicals we offer through our databases (at least specific counts to the Middletown campus), but we do track uses of our over 250 current newspaper, magazine, and journal subscriptions.
But before I get to the list, let me mention that we have moved our Current Periodicals shelving over into our reference area. Now you can browse our periodicals collection at a glance, pick out a title to review, and sit in our comfy laptop chairs or at a table. Periodic bliss!
And now, for the 2006/2007 academic year, the top 20 periodicals were:
1. Washington Post
2. Cincinnati Enquirer
3. Publishers Weekly
4. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, and Neo-Natal Nursing
5. Chicago Tribune
6. Time
7. Nursing Times
8. Los Angeles Times
9. Better Homes and Gardens
10. Middletown Journal
11. Rolling Stone
12. Booklist
13. National Wildlife
14. Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School
15. Writing Center Journal
16. Ebony
17. Library Journal
18. Health
19. Dayton Daily News
20. American Journal of Nursing
But before I get to the list, let me mention that we have moved our Current Periodicals shelving over into our reference area. Now you can browse our periodicals collection at a glance, pick out a title to review, and sit in our comfy laptop chairs or at a table. Periodic bliss!
And now, for the 2006/2007 academic year, the top 20 periodicals were:
1. Washington Post
2. Cincinnati Enquirer
3. Publishers Weekly
4. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, and Neo-Natal Nursing
5. Chicago Tribune
6. Time
7. Nursing Times
8. Los Angeles Times
9. Better Homes and Gardens
10. Middletown Journal
11. Rolling Stone
12. Booklist
13. National Wildlife
14. Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School
15. Writing Center Journal
16. Ebony
17. Library Journal
18. Health
19. Dayton Daily News
20. American Journal of Nursing
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