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Article
Publication date: 1 March 1980

Brian Nielsen

The interaction of technological change and a professionalization movement is considered within the context of librarianship and online. In sharp contrast to the theories of…

96

Abstract

The interaction of technological change and a professionalization movement is considered within the context of librarianship and online. In sharp contrast to the theories of Daniel Bell predicting a professionalized post‐industrial society, a number of sociologists suggest a future deprofessionalized society in which many professions lose status, deferential prestige, or other traits commonly associated with established professions. Among these sociologists, Nina Toren has hypothesized that technological advance, notably computerization, may lead to the deprofessionalization of an occupation because the occupation can no longer hold a controlling monopoly over its hitherto esoteric knowledge base. The technology of online bibliographic searching is examined in the light of the Toren theory, and it is argued that in some respects the technology can be seen to threaten deprofessionalization of librarianship. Such a view is in sharp contrast to the more common perception in the library/information science community that online is a professionalizing force for librarianship. Drawing upon interview data, as well as previously published data from two national surveys, it is shown that the status‐enhancing view of online has some credence. Trends in the development of the technology, however, suggest that such status‐enhancement for librarianship may be short lived. A conflict view of occupations and technology is suggested to clarify the forces at work with librarianship.

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Online Review, vol. 4 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-314X

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Article
Publication date: 1 April 1993

Virginia Tiefel

The proliferation or information, created and sustained with the help of technology, has placed increased pressure on librarians to teach/assist library patrons to use the…

50

Abstract

The proliferation or information, created and sustained with the help of technology, has placed increased pressure on librarians to teach/assist library patrons to use the information efficiently and effectively. With decreasing budgets and resulting smaller staffs, academic libraries have been hard pressed to meet the demand. In response to this need, the Ohio State University (OSU) Libraries has developed a microcomputer program that enables library users to identify, locate, evaluate, and select information independently. With the support of three federal grants and one private grant, the OSU Libraries has designed The Gateway to Information in order to guide users to the best information for their needs, regardless of format. The Gateway's evaluations demonstrate that it is an effective and user‐friendly information tool for a wide range of library patrons. The Gateway is now available on all of the Libraries' terminals.

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Library Hi Tech, vol. 11 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0737-8831

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Article
Publication date: 1 January 1995

James Rettig

It all began a very long time ago, sometime before 1876, that annus mirabilis of librarianship during which the American Library Association was founded, Library Journal debuted…

143

Abstract

It all began a very long time ago, sometime before 1876, that annus mirabilis of librarianship during which the American Library Association was founded, Library Journal debuted, and Samuel Green published in its pages the first article about reference librarianship. And it continues today. In April 1994, an unidentified library school student from the State University of New York at Buffalo queried the participants of the LIBREFL listserv, asking them, “Can you give a summary of the ‘hot’ library reference issues of the week? I'm working on a project for my Reference course, and would like to find out what is REALLY vital to refernce (sic) librarians out there today.” I was tempted to reply that all of that week's “hot” issues were identified in Green's 1876 article. In that article describing the phenomenon we today call reference service, Green touched on issues such as the librarian's obligation to provide information without injecting personal values, the inability of any librarian to know everything, the need sometimes to refer a patron to another information agency, SDI services, the value of proactive rather than passive service, the challenges of the reference interview, and, of course, what has come to be called the “information versus instruction debate.”

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Reference Services Review, vol. 23 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0090-7324

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Article
Publication date: 1 February 1993

Thomas A. Peters

The purpose of this article is to present an overview of the history and development of transaction log analysis (TLA) in library and information science research. Organizing a…

579

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to present an overview of the history and development of transaction log analysis (TLA) in library and information science research. Organizing a literature review of the first twenty‐five years of TLA poses some challenges and requires some decisions. The primary organizing principle could be a strict chronology of the published research, the research questions addressed, the automated information retrieval (IR) systems that generated the data, the results gained, or even the researchers themselves. The group of active transaction log analyzers remains fairly small in number, and researchers who use transaction logs tend to use this method more than once, so tracing the development and refinement of individuals' uses of the methodology could provide insight into the progress of the method as a whole. For example, if we examine how researchers like W. David Penniman, John Tolle, Christine Borgman, Ray Larson, and Micheline Hancock‐Beaulieu have modified their own understandings and applications of the method over time, we may get an accurate sense of the development of all applications.

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Library Hi Tech, vol. 11 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0737-8831

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Article
Publication date: 1 February 1993

Beth Sandore

The ability to conduct unobtrusive observation of user searching is a potential strength of the method of information retrieval system analysis known as transaction log analysis…

101

Abstract

The ability to conduct unobtrusive observation of user searching is a potential strength of the method of information retrieval system analysis known as transaction log analysis (TLA). Transaction logs supply unequivocal information about what a user typed while searching. All other methods rely on self‐reporting, which, as Nielsen points out, is not always corroborated by the logs. Regardless of where in an institution information retrieval (IR) system evaluation takes place, TLA is a method that enables library staff at all levels to examine a variety of system and user‐related activities that are recorded on the log. Dominick suggested that TLA can enable the examination of three broad categories of activity: 1) system performance and resource utilization, 2) information retrieval performance, and 3) user interaction with the IR system. This article has been divided into several sections corresponding to functional areas in a library to suggest useful applications of TLA.

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Library Hi Tech, vol. 11 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0737-8831

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Article
Publication date: 1 February 1989

William Miller, Richard R. Rowe, L. James Gosier, Richard E. Luce, Brian Nielsen and Richard M. Dougherty

While there exists a small and perhaps growing cadre of mature library managers skilled in automation, not enough new MLS holders are being educated to support and extend the…

93

Abstract

While there exists a small and perhaps growing cadre of mature library managers skilled in automation, not enough new MLS holders are being educated to support and extend the potential of automation within libraries. The result in too many libraries is the hiring of a non‐librarian to cope with the myriad technical details involved with setting up equipment and interacting with academic and administrative computing, county governments, and business office operations, with the hope that in time this person somehow “will become one of us.” However, something will be lost in future interactions if the librarian‐managers themselves do not know enough to participate knowledgeably in such interactions. Developing new educational initiatives is an important challenge facing those who wish to improve our managerial competence in the automation area.

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Library Hi Tech, vol. 7 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0737-8831

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Article
Publication date: 1 February 1980

New field for Infomart. Infomart, SDC's agent in Canada, recently announced that it had entered the field of electronic publishing with an influx of $6 million from two of…

18

Abstract

New field for Infomart. Infomart, SDC's agent in Canada, recently announced that it had entered the field of electronic publishing with an influx of $6 million from two of Canada's largest communication companies, Southam Inc. and Torstar Corporation. Infomart recently hosted an international forum on the future of videotex in Canada.

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Online Review, vol. 4 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-314X

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Article
Publication date: 1 February 1992

John Kupersmith

Rapid technological change has become a fact of life in the libraries of the 1990s. While this change touches all parts of the library organization, nowhere is it more visible, or…

999

Abstract

Rapid technological change has become a fact of life in the libraries of the 1990s. While this change touches all parts of the library organization, nowhere is it more visible, or are its effects more keenly felt, than in reference departments. Consider these “snapshots”—fictional, but real enough:

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Reference Services Review, vol. 20 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0090-7324

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Article
Publication date: 1 March 1988

Hannelore B. Rader

The following is an annotated list of materials dealing with orientation to library facilities and services, instruction in the use of information resources, and research and…

68

Abstract

The following is an annotated list of materials dealing with orientation to library facilities and services, instruction in the use of information resources, and research and computer skills that are related to retrieving and using information. This is the fourteenth review to be published in Reference Services Review and lists items in English published in 1987. A few items are not annotated because the compiler could not obtain copies of them for this review.

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Reference Services Review, vol. 16 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0090-7324

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Article
Publication date: 1 April 1984

Carol Tobin, Harriet Tippet, Patricia Culkin and Elizabeth Walker

The computer is every day looming larger on the professional horizon of every librarian. Instruction librarians, too, must confront the realities and potential of the computer in…

70

Abstract

The computer is every day looming larger on the professional horizon of every librarian. Instruction librarians, too, must confront the realities and potential of the computer in their efforts to bring the library into the pedagogical mainstream of their institutions. Reference Services Review takes this opportunity to offer three different perspectives on how the computer relates to library instruction. Carol Tobin, Princeton University, discusses the impact that access to online bibliographic databases has on the instructional program of a library; Harriet Tippet, Lawrence University, addresses word processing applications for producing instructional materials and the use of the computer as a management tool for library instruction data; and Patricia Culkin and Elizabeth Walker focus on computer assisted instruction.

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Reference Services Review, vol. 12 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0090-7324

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