Library Anxiety Impedes College Students’ Library Use, but May Be Alleviated Through Improved Bibliographic Instruction

A Review of: Jiao, Q. G., Onwuegbuzie, A. J., & Lichtenstein, A. A. (1996). Library anxiety: Characteristics of ‘at-risk’ college students. Library & Information Science Research, 18(2), 151-163. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0740-8188(96)90017-1 Abstract Objective – To identify the characteristics of college students that are related to their experiences of library anxiety. Design – Survey, analyzed with multiple regression. Setting – Two universities, one in the mid-south and one in the northeastern United States. Subjects – 493 students from those two universities. Methods – The students responded to two questionnaires: the Library Anxiety Scale developed by Bostick (1992), and a Demographic Information Form that included questions about students’ gender, age, native language, academic standing and study habits, library instruction received, and library use. Spearman’s rank correlation was used to identify those demographic characteristics that were correlated with library anxiety. Multiple regression analysis was used to develop a model for predicting library anxiety. Main Results – The study found that age, sex, native language, grade point average, employment status, frequency of library visits, and reasons for using the library contributed significantly to predicting library anxiety. Library anxiety was highest among young male students who did not speak English as their native language, had high levels of academic achievement, were employed while in school, and infrequently visited the library. While the overall regression model was statistically significant and explained 21% of the variability in library anxiety, the individual correlations with library anxiety were generally weak (the strongest was a -0.21 correlation with frequency of library visits). Conclusion – The authors conclude that many students experience library anxiety, and recommend that libraries make every effort to be welcoming. In addition, they recommend that library instruction should be introduced at the high school level and, in college, incorporated into the classes that require library research. In this setting, library anxiety should be addressed during the instruction, and classroom teachers should plan to assist students in the early stages of their research

Mentoring Future Biologists via the Internet

Mentoring has a long tradition, reaching as far back as 1000 B.C. It continues to be practiced today in both educational and corporate settings. The process is typically established to help a protégé grow and develop new skills and attitudes. But science students in lower socioeconomic areas rarely have the opportunity to interact with mentors face-to-face. This is particularly true if the students are located in a rural setting, since most corporate scientists and their research facilities are concentrated in a few urban areas of the country. Few college students can travel to these sites as part of their college study, and few scientists have the leisure to travel to colleges and universities to interact with students there. If such contact were possible, students would be exposed to a much wider range of perspectives on scientific and professional issues. The E-Mentoring program was designed to overcome some of these difficulties. Electronic mentoring, or telementoring, involves the use of computer-mediated communications (like e-mail or computer conferencing systems) to support a mentoring relationship when a face to-face relationship would be impractical.The E-Mentoring program provided biology students from two historically minority universities in North Carolina with opportunities to interact and develop relationships with corporate scientists, to expand their learning horizons, and to use technology in a meaningful way. To provide a meaningful context for electronic mentoring for students, the project was integrated within appropriate biology courses, one undergraduate and one graduate. For most students and mentors, e-mentoring was a pleasant experience, but there was no immediate important impact. It is possible that the impact of the relationship may be more fully appreciated upon later reflection. For a few students, the program was unsuccessful They never developed a relationship with their mentors, and so the only benefit they received was the introduction and use of a new technological communication tool. Recommendations for future e-mentoring programs are provided

Lifelong Learning for Information Systems Professionals

A quarter century ago, Toffler (1970) speculated that the rate at which changes took place was increasing at an ever-faster pace. He surmised that this was creating a more complex environment with greater uncertainty for individuals and organizations. Since his prediction, the business world has surely experienced immense changes that have seemed to occur with increasing frequency. Product life cycles have been drastically shortened in many industries. Globalization of the marketplace has taken place in a very short time span. Fluctuating prices for raw materials and energy, currency volatility, industry deregulation, and a host of other transformations have all contributed to an increasingly complex competitive environment. These changes havehad a major impact on the practice of information systems and on the careers of professionals. We will argue in this paper that the changes necessitate a complete reengineering of information systems curricula and teaching method

E-Mentoring Handbook: Lessons Learned from Two Electronic Mentoring Pilot Programs

E-Mentoring, electronic mentoring for tomorrow’s scientist, connects Historically Minority University (HMU) students and corporate scientists. E-Mentoring helps to prepare HMU students for a rewarding future and/or career not only in science but also quite possibly in technology. E-Mentoring introduces all participants to the world of technology, if they haven’t already been exposed to it. Students use e-mail and computer technology, often for the first time. Teachers get additional hands-on exposure to computers and web-based instructional software. Corporate scientists get the satisfaction of being mentors to tomorrow’s scientists, using technology on their desktop or in their homes. There are numerous items that need to be in place before E-Mentoring can occur. The first section of this report covers identifying participants and matching students and scientists. The next sections will pick up where this leaves off, in terms of pulling all the pieces together and making it work and be successful

Feasibility and marketing studies of health sciences librarianship education programs.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill evaluated five curricular models designed to improve education for health sciences librarianship. Three of the models enhanced existing degree and certificate programs, and two were new programs for working information professionals. Models were developed with input from experts and a Delphi study; the marketability of the models was tested through surveys of potential students and employers; and recommendations were made as a guide to implementation. The results demonstrated a demand for more specialized curricula and for retraining opportunities. Marketing data showed a strong interest from potential students in a specialized master's degree, and mid-career professionals indicated an interest in post-master's programs that provided the ability to maintain employment. The study pointed to the opportunity for a center of excellence in health sciences information education to enable health sciences librarians to respond to their evolving roles

Alternative Approaches to Educating Medical Informationists

Because the information world of medical professionals is complex and ever-expanding, a new set of information professionals is needed to serve as a liaison between that world of information and the world of medicine. Davidoff and Florance [1] raised many of these issues when they proposed the concept of the ???informationist??? ??? someone who possesses both clinical knowledge and information retrieval skills and expertise. The Institute of Medicine [7] also underscored the need for evidence-based information in the reduction of errors and the delivery of quality care, and identified the need for more training of clinicians in informatics skills and knowledge. Several alternative approaches to educating medical informationists have been proposed and/or field tested. One approach is to train librarians to become informationists. To illustrate this approach, Detlefsen [2] presented a case study of someone with an MLIS degree who uses Vanderbilt???s on-the-job training program to gain additional medical expertise and move into an informationist position in an academic setting. She also encourages medical librarians to consider augmenting their training with a degree or certificate in medical informatics [3]. This is also the approach used at the NIH Library [8]. A second approach is to educate informationists through biomedical informatics programs like the one at the Oregon Health Sciences University [4]. A third approach is the AMIA 10x10 combination of a single course plus a one-day face-to-face session, covering a range of topics in medical informatics and related areas [6]. A fourth approach has been implemented through a dual degree program offered at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) and Duke University [5]. In this program, medical students from Duke use their third year to complete the master???s degree in information science at UNC. During this roundtable discussion, proponents of these alternative approaches will be available to describe the advantages of the approach with which they???re most familiar, and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each approach. This roundtable will be of interest to all those involved in medical/health informatics education, or planning related programs. In this informal discussion setting, participants will be able to express their concerns and share their experiences

i-Schools as a Natural Home for Digital Libraries Education

Given that digital libraries bring together technology, information, and the people using the information, it can easily be argued that i-schools should play a central role in educating DL professionals. This study examines the existing roles that i-schools play in DL education from two different vantage points: their offering of DL courses and their participation in a DL curriculum development project. In addition, we explore the potential to expand the iSchools Caucus by recruiting those schools that are active in DL education efforts (i.e., those that offer courses or participate in curriculum development) but are not yet members of the Caucus. based on the seven course syllabi available on the open Web, DL courses in the i-schools are further analyzed, in terms of the topics covered, the textbooks used, and the types of assignments used. From this analysis, we conclude that there is not yet a consensus on the topics covered or the assignment used in DL courses

Capturing the complexity of information interactions: Measurement and evaluation issues

This panel addresses how to evaluate information interactions in evolving information landscapes. Using a common scenario, panelists each provide their own take on the user experience and its measurement, building a multifaceted view of information landscapes and their measurement.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90348/1/14504801057_ftp.pd