Don't Confuse a Tool with a Goal: Making Information Technology Serve Higher Education, Rather Than the Other Way Around

This article examines the relationship between information technology (IT) and educational policy and argues that leaders of universities and colleges must do a better job of thinking creatively and strategically about how IT can enrich their institution's basic educational mission. The paper examines five areas of education policy that are deeply affected by IT-library policy, intellectual property, distance education, commercialization, and curricular standards and processes. The paper suggests that the new technology has unleashed such creative, frequently entrepreneurial activity that is so expensive, pervasive and difficult to manage that it has had a negative impact on some of our fundamental practices in teaching and scholarship. It will continue to do so, and it will drive us if we do not drive it. The paper asks, have we established the mechanisms to review, monitor and evaluate these developments? And, have we given enough thought to how we can employ IT thoughtfully and self-consciously to meet our explicit educational policy goals?

Library as Agent of [Re]Contextualization

Paper presented at the Digital Humanities 2009 conference in College Park, Maryland

Library as Agent of [Re]Contextualization

Paper presented at the Digital Humanities 2009 conference in College Park, Maryland

Reviewing Digital Scholarship: The Need for Discipline-Based Peer Review

Digital scholarship connects scholarly research to students and the public in nontraditional ways. Authors present research in a digital form, which may include links to primary source material and teaching guides. In this format, design and accessibility are important, and unfortunately, those quick to dismiss all digital work as teaching or outreach can overlook the research element. The confusion over what digital scholarship is and how to evaluate it raises questions that can affect promotion and tenure decisions in academic institutions. This paper will examine issues surrounding the availability of peer review for digital scholarship, especially in the field of American History. Mechanisms for peer review must be created by scholarly associations and applied to digital scholarship to ensure that this form of scholarship is acknowledged and rewarded

Libraries and IT: are we there yet?

Special Issue on Library and IT Mergers. Article URL (requested by publisher) to final published version: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/10.1108/00907320710774247Purpose – This study aims to look at the impact for users on university library and information technology services, present and future, following merger. Design/methodology/approach – The study examined user survey data from the early 1990s through the 2006 LibQUAL survey, collected information through interviews with faculty and Information Services, and examined the National Science Foundation and the American Council of Learned Societies reports on cyberinfrastructure. Findings – The paper finds that while the merged information services organization is not yet a resounding success from the perspectives of staff in information services or faculty, it is a brave attempt to respond to the future. Originality/value – This paper is useful to others thinking the organizational relationship between libraries and campus information technology. Keywords - Academic libraries, Communication technologies, Organizational restructuring, Information services Paper type - Case stud

Professional Development and Self-Efficacy of Nurses Who Care for Patients Requiring Biocontainment

Increasing global occurrences of highly infectious, easily transmissible diseases unfamiliar to nurses affect the learning environment and the required skill set for professional nurses. The global threat of Ebola Virus Disease and other high-risk diseases requiring biocontainment necessitates competency in the management of complex patient needs, while ensuring safety measures that prevent spread of the potentially fatal disease. Guided by Bandura\u27s social cognitive theory, this quantitative correlational study addressed the relationships between nurses\u27 professional characteristics and their perceived self-efficacy when providing care to highly infectious patients requiring biocontainment. A full census of 92 nurses was used to recruit participants from eligible nurses for this study. Participants anonymously completed a cross-sectional electronic survey consisting of the Nursing Care Self-Efficacy Scale (NCSES) and questions related to the nurses\u27 professional practice characteristics. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, correlations, and multiple linear regression. Results showed that the number of biocontainment drills and a higher level of formal education were significantly correlated with a higher total NCSES score. Years of nursing significantly predicted a higher total NCSES score. Results support the establishment of prerequisites criteria for learner participation in biocontainment training and the inclusion of multiple drill within the education design. Findings from this study may inform positive social change through educational enhancements that support the development of professional self-efficacy and competency in skill performance for nurses who care for patients with highly contagious diseases requiring biocontainment

A Kaleidoscope of Digital American Literature

The word kaleidoscope comes from a Greek phrase meaning to view a beautiful form, and this report makes the leap of faith that all scholarship is beautiful (Ayers 2005b). This review is divided into three major sections. Part I offers a sampling of the types of digital resources currently available or under development in support of American literature and identifies the prevailing concerns of specialists in the field as expressed during interviews conducted between July 2004 and May 2005. Part two of the report consolidates the results of these interviews with an exploration of resources currently available to illustrate, on the one hand, a kaleidoscope of differing attitudes and assessments, and, on the other, an underlying design that gives shape to the parts. Part three examines six categories of digital work in progress: (1) quality-controlled subject gateways, (2) author studies, (3) public domain e-book collections and alternative publishing models, (4) proprietary reference resources and full-text primary source collections, (5) collections by design, and (6) teaching applications. This survey is informed by a selective review of the recent literature, focusing especially on contributions from scholars that have appeared in discipline-based journals