- Volume 25, Number 3 (2006)
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Item Servant-Leadership in Public Libraries(H.W. Wilson Company, 2006) Heaphey, JoeWhen Beverly Martin, Director of Johnson County Public Library, was asked to name the most important skill for her job, she replied without hesitation, "Leadership." Beverly emphasized that a good leader creates a working environment in which all employees feel that their contributions to the organization are valued. She noted that even new and relatively inexperienced employees may nevertheless offer valuable insights and fresh ideas to library issues. Finally, she said that she always tries to pay her staff a living wage and provide funds for their continuing professional development. Although Beverly didn't attach a name to her style of leadership, her priorities suggest some of the attributes of what is known as servant-leadership. This article will explore the concept of servant-leadership and its possible application to the management of public libraries.Item First Impression: An Interview With Author and Bibliophile Nicholas A. Basbanes(H.W. Wilson Company, 2006) Meehan, William F.Nicholas A. Basbanes did not publish his first book until he was 52 but, in the ten years since, the former literary editor at the Worcester Sunday Telegram has given bibliophiles and librarians five books about books. The first, A Gentle Madness: Bibliophiles, Bibliomanes, and the Eternal Passion for Books (Holt, 1995), was a landmark commentary on book collecting that has sold 100,000 copies. The second, Patience & Fortitude (HarperCollins, 2001), named for the pair of lions that guard the entrance to the New York Public Library, explored the ways librarians and collectors have protected and housed their treasures throughout history, while describing libraries and book culture in general. Next came Among the Gently Mad: Strategies and Perspectives for the Book-Hunter in the 21st Century (Holt, 2002), a spin-off book from the first book. Arriving after that was A Splendor of Letters: The Permanence of Books in an Impermanent World (HarperCollins, 2003), an expanded section intended for Patience & Fortitude that looked at how books are preserved for succeeding generations. Borrowing from Ranganathan's third law of library science, Basbanes' recent book, Every Book Its Reader (HarperCollins, 2005), allowed him to draw on numerous taped interviews conducted for A Gentle Madness that were never used. His next work will be a centennial history of Yale University Press. The Lowell, Massachusetts, native spoke at Indiana University as a guest of its Medieval Studies Institute in October 2005, when William F. Meehan III sat down with the author at the Grant Street Inn in Bloomington.Item IUPUI University Library Use and the Religious Studies Department(H.W. Wilson Company, 2006) Burmeister, Beverly; Oldfield, Tara; Schatzlein, SoniaThe purpose of this study was two-fold, to determine to what extent the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) religious studies faculty expected students to use library resources and to discover the needs of the Religious Studies Department in an effort to improve library services and thus increase the use of the library.Item Using a Wiki to Enhance Library Instruction(H.W. Wilson Company, 2006) Matthies, Brad; Helmke, Jonathan; Slater, PaulA wiki is a type of social software that allows users to write, share, and edit content in real-time, with only rudimentary skills in Web page creation. Moreover it is safe to say that most of what is being written regarding wikis in librarianship tends to focus on wiki-based reference sources, their questionable credibility, and how this question of credibility may impact information literacy. Outside of this contentious topic are a wide range of multidisciplinary articles that focus on the collaborative uses of wikis. However, so far, the library literature appears to lack articles that discuss the application of wikis in library instruction. This article hopes to address this deficiency by chronicling Butler University Libraries' use of a wiki in librarian instruction.Item A Collaborative Effort: Importance of the Relationship Between School Libraries and the University(H.W. Wilson Company, 2006) Young, RobynAlthough media specialists know that they will take additional classes to maintain their teacher certification, for many, there is never a second thought about a university once the graduation ceremony is complete. Most media specialists are too busy with day-to-day work to consider the ways in which a relationship with a university might be of benefit. This is unfortunate because a relationship between the school library program and a university can be beneficial to both parties. Universities are looking for a place to conduct action research and to apply the tools of the trade within a practical application. School library media specialists often need help with the research process to answer their questions. Taking these two different perspectives into consideration, the affiliation can be one of mutual benefit.Item Indiana Libraries: Indiana Library Federation Professional Journal Advertising Reservation Form(H.W. Wilson Company, 2006) Indiana LibrariesItem Blurring of Lines: Academic and Public Libraries Revisited(H.W. Wilson Company, 2006) Steele, Patricia AnnAmong the conclusions reached in Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources: A Report to the OCLC Membership in 2005, was the following: "The similarity of perceptions about libraries and their resources across respondents from six countries is striking. It suggests that libraries are seen by information consumers as a common solution, a single organization - one entity with many outlets - constant, consistent, expected." Does this mean that many of the traditional differences between public and academic libraries also are blurring? In this pieces, I would like to explore that thought informally and then suggest some approaches libraries of all types need to take.Item Library News From Around the State(H.W. Wilson Company, 2006) Indiana State LibraryItem Westminster Village: A Theme-Based Approach to Teaching Seniors About the Internet(H.W. Wilson Company, 2006) Kerico, JulietIn the fall of 2004, the Indiana State University Library's Reference Department decided to venture out into territory normally reserved for public libraries. We began an instructional outreach program called Bits 'n Bytes to teach basic computer and Internet searching skills to a selection of seniors within our community. What makes this program so special is that it has served as a point of outreach to a community of patrons often forgotten by academic libraries. With the educational initiatives of our university in mind, which encourage community outreach and engagement with the community, we developed this program and tailored it specifically to seniors in our area. Currently, the Bits 'n Bytes program at Westminster Village Retirement Community in Terre Haute serves as an example of how academic libraries can, and should, remain connected to the educational needs of the seniors in their communities.Item Doctoral Degrees and the Academic Librarian, or, is "There a Doctor in the House?"(H.W. Wilson Company, 2006) HeĢrubel, Jean-Pierre V. M.Recently, discussions have emerged concerning newly minted Ph.D.s entering the professional field of librarianship. To be certain, these discussions have revolved around the potential entrance of Ph.D. holders into academic librarianship, something that has caused concern over the value of the master's degree in library and information science (LIS). Of continuing professional interest is whether Ph.D.s should be permitted to compete for and hold professional positions within academic libraries, without the requisite master's degree in LIS. Todd Gilman, a librarian at Yale University, and Tatiana Weinstein, a public librarian in Illinois, hold similar views when upholding the necessity of LIS training as a viable vehicle for professional librarianship. Others propounding possible postdoctoral training programs, without LIS educational options, may hold differing views, often oriented to ward the need for doctoral expertise vis-a-vis the need to fill specialized positions, i.e., archival, special collections, or rare books librarianship. Such discussions have prompted some interesting and insightful concerns over the necessity of LIS education as the sine qua non for any position--all for the better understanding of what the essential purpose the LIS fulfils. Beyond the perceived professional characteristics offered the holder, i.e. union membership privileges, the master's degree in library science constitutes the only viable and recognized form of professional acculturation.