Classifying The Questions Of Small Business Owners: A Top-Down and Bottom-Up Approach

A classification scheme of business information needs was developed through question analysis of a set of business requests posed by small business entrepreneurs in the state of Maryland. Existing business classification schemes were examined for use in the project and while an existing scheme could be used for subject/industry analysis, no classification scheme was found to be adequate for the information requirements. This classification of business requests can be used to enhance communication between intermediaries and their clients, provide an understanding of user needs, assist in the develop of search strategies, and provide a basis for correlating information requirements with industry, age of industry and purpose of request

Remote Reference in U.S. Public Library Practice and LIS Education

This article submitted to IUPUI ScholarWorks as part of the OASIS Project. Article reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Permission granted through posted policies on copyright owner’s website or through direct contact with copyright owner.The state of remote reference services in the United States was assessed by surveying remote reference availability at 100 U.S. public libraries, examining remote reference in the syllabi of American Library Association (ALA)-accredited library and information science (LIS) courses in the U.S., and analyzing national competencies and guidelines. Findings indicated that the telephone was the most common medium in use for remote reference services at public libraries, followed by e-mail and chat. In teaching, however, syllabi at LIS programs addressed digital remote reference media far more often than the telephone. Reference standards and guidelines primarily focused on general practices applicable to both remote and face-to-face reference work, rather than on specifics relevant to differing remote reference media types. Included in this study are recommendations to address this apparent disconnect among reference practices, teaching, and professional guidelines

Examination of the Internet Public Library as dynamic, collaborative teaching laboratory

The Internet Public Library (www.ipl.org) is a collaborative online learning environment that involves LIS faculty and students as well as working librarians around the world. Over the past twelve years, the IPL has become more collaborative with the introduction of new technologies and cultural changes. The IPL team consists of a variety of people from around the world: LIS faculty, IPL staff librarians, masters and doctoral students, working librarians, and technology specialists. Through the IPL, library and information professionals are being prepared to meet the challenges and opportunities of the digital environment: the dynamic nature of information technology, changing social and cultural norms, and an abundance of freely available content are presented in the digital reference environment. Extensive training material has been prepared by the IPL staff and feedback is provided to students by IPL staff, faculty and volunteers. In addition to the learning environment, the IPL also offers a test bed for research related to collaborative online learning environments. For examples, questions such as the role of Web 2.0 resources such as Wikipedia, Facebook, MySpace and other social computing sites will be explored

The contributions of library and information services to hospitals and academic health sciences centers: a preliminary taxonomy

Objectives: This article presents a taxonomy of the contributions of library and information services (LIS) in hospitals and academic health sciences centers. The taxonomy emerges from a study with three objectives: to articulate the value of LIS for hospitals and academic health sciences centers in terms of contributions to organizational missions and goals, to identify measures and measurable surrogates associated with each LIS contribution, and to document best practices for communicating the value of LIS to institutional administrators. Methods: The preliminary taxonomy of LIS contributions in hospitals and academic health sciences centers is based on a review of the literature, twelve semi-structured interviews with LIS directors and institutional administrators, and a focus group of administrators from five academic, teaching, and nonteaching hospitals. Results: Derived from the balanced scorecard approach, the taxonomy of LIS contributions is organized on the basis of five mission-level concepts and fifteen organizational goals. LIS contributions are included only if they have measurable surrogates. Conclusions: The taxonomy of LIS contributions offers a framework for the collection of both quantitative and qualitative data in support of communicating the value of LIS in hospitals and academic health sciences centers

Ipl2 website evaluation: a case study of the Internet Public Library redesign

The present study discusses the methods used as well as the issues encountered while conducting ipl2 (formerly the Internet Public Library) website evaluation and redesign over the last six months. Researchers on the ipl2 team tailored the study to address key issues and assess users’ perceptions of the new site. A total of 19 undergraduate and graduate students from the iSchool at Drexel University were recruited to participate in the study. The study was divided into three phases: user testing with paper prototypes, heuristic evaluation, and user testing with the live ipl2 site. For each phase, researchers took existing knowledge of issues into consideration when refining the following phases. Moreover, during initial implementation of each phase, the researchers calibrated their evaluation tools, eliciting pointed results specifically used to inform redesign. Findings from Phases 1 and 2 identify issues from 5 categories: search and browse functionality, information overload, naming conventions, visibility, and aesthetics. Findings from Phase 3 indicate a significant improvement in the overall functionality and quality of the new site as expressed by participants. Various issues with the redesigned ipl2 website have surfaced and been addressed during the evaluation process. Nevertheless, the ipl2 team is currently addressing and planning to resolve many of the remaining issues identified by this study. The findings from this study will also serve as the basis for revising the current evaluation method to conduct more rigorous testing in future research