Online Reference Question Protocol

This presentation first provides a snapshot of internet habits of college-age patrons. Then, following topics are discussed: concerns with online reference; ideas to use online reference to its fullest potential; the human element online; personal space; and language of communication for the online environment; handling rude/impatient users; more issues to consider; and words of advice from veteran

Cast a Net: Meshing Libraries with Service Learning

Common Missions and Goals; Tying UNO Faculty, Students, and Community Partners Together; Service Learning Defined; Where is the Library in Service Learning; Service Learning Projects at the Criss Library; Mesh Your Library with Service Learning; What can the Library Offer SL Projects

Show Me What You Mean: Visual Literacy and the Academic Library

This poster features The Visually Literate Student; Visual vs. Information Literacy; Visual Literacy Defined; Libraries; Collaboration; and Sources

Assessment Can Be Easy Via Blackboard

The UNO campus recently initiated an electronic portfolio system called myMAPP, to capture data to measure programmatic and individual faculty, staff, and student achievement. Developing an online version of the assessment provided an added opportunity to collaborate with the English composition faculty, and utilizing Blackboard was the most efficient, familiar and convenient. Tapping into the existing technologies and the knowledge base of faculty and graduate students on campus proved invaluable. This presentation shows how two librarians developed an effective, outcomes-based assessment instrument in Blackboard with little money and training and how others can do the same

Envisioning a Literacy Partnership: The University of Nebraska at Omaha’s Criss Library and Girls Inc.

The history of academic library involvement in service learning is varied. This paper provides an overview of service learning and the literature on academic libraries’ participation in service learning activities. A vision of service learning participation is described, as well as the implementation of service learning activities in two library science courses. Strategies for future library contributions to service learning are presented to encourage more widespread involvement across the profession

ClimateQUAL® and Thinklets: Using ClimateQUAL® with Thinklets to Facilitate Discussion and Set Priorities for Organizational Change at Criss Library

Criss Library conducted the ClimateQUAL survey during the 2009 fall semester. The library had been experiencing numerous changes due to a three year library renovation, several personnel resignations and library reorganizations. There was an over-riding perception of mistrust, fear and uncertainty that needed to be addressed. Our first step in addressing the negative perceptions was to run the ClimateQUAL survey to gather statistics for a better understanding of staff perceptions. Our next step was to report on the ClimateQUAL data to the library staff and start discussions on goals and solutions for addressing the organization climate. The third step was to identify the areas of the organization to address first. Once those organizational areas were identified, they were prioritized and goals with solutions were developed. Due to the negative perceptions and climate of mistrust, we wanted a way to offer an open, comfortable line of communication so library staff felt free to express opinions and offer ideas for solutions. We found the answer to anonymous expression of opinion by using thinkLets, ways for people to use a pattern language for reasoning toward a goal, developed at the UNO Institute of Collaboration Science. The group support system (gss) software was loaded on computers and the library staff was divided into groups where each individual in the group added their comments and ideas to their computer anonymously. Using thinkLets and the gss software in the facilitated discussions allowed each participant the freedom to openly express opinions, comments and ideas and led to a consensus of prioritizing problems and solutions with goals and timelines. This paper will discuss the process that the Criss Library has been through from the ClimateQUAL survey, the facilitated discussions using thinkLets and the strategies for improvement

ClimateQUAL® and Thinklets: Using ClimateQUAL® with Group Support Systems to Facilitate Discussion and Set Priorities for Organizational Change at Criss Library

Objective – This article discusses a series of actions taken by the Criss Library at the University of Nebraska at Omaha to implement organizational change, using the ClimateQUAL® survey and facilitated discussions with ThinkTank™ group decision software. The library had experienced significant changes over a five-year period, with a renovation of the facility and three reorganizations resulting in a 50% staff turnover. Recognizing the strain that years of construction and personnel changes had placed on the organization, there was a desire to uncover the mood of the employees and reveal the issues behind low morale, uneasiness, and fear. Methods – In November 2009, the library conducted a ClimateQUAL® survey to develop a baseline to assess the effectiveness of any changes. After the results were distributed to library faculty and staff, a series of two-hour facilitated discussions was held to gather opinions and ideas for solutions using thinkLets, a pattern language for reasoning toward a goal. The group support system ThinkTank™ software was loaded onto computers, and employees were able to add their ideas anonymously during the sessions. Finally, 12 employees (29%) completed a four-question survey on their perceptions of the facilitated discussions. Results – The facilitated discussions returned 76 sub-themes in 12 categories: staffing and scheduling issues, staff unity/teamwork, communication, goodwill/morale, accountability, decision-making, policy issues, skills and training, leadership, ergonomics/physical work environment, respect, and bullying. An advisory team culled the 76 sub-themes into 40 improvement strategies. Five were implemented immediately, and the remaining 35 were scheduled to be presented to the faculty and staff via an online survey. Participants’ perceptions of the facilitated discussions were mixed. Eighty-three percent of respondents reported that they did not feel safe speaking out about issues, most likely because a supervisor was present. Conclusion – Improving organizational climate is a continuous and iterative process that leads to a healthy environment

Minority and foreign-born representation among US blood donors: demographics and donation frequency for 2006.

BackgroundHistorically, minority populations have represented only a small proportion of US blood donors, but recent trends in immigration and potential blood shortages emphasize the need for recruitment strategies to increase minority donations.Study design and methodsDonation data from a network of six US blood centers for 2006 were analyzed. Race/ethnicity, country of birth, and educational attainment data were collected specifically for the study and assessed for their influence on donation behavior. Logistic regression was used to determine independent associations with repeat donors status and annual donation frequency.ResultsA total of 1,288,998 donations from 729,068 donors were studied; most donors had data on race/ethnicity (97.1%) and country of birth (93.1%). The proportion of minority donors differed by blood center, with African American donors (16%) most common at the Southeastern blood center and Asian (12%), Hispanic (13%), and foreign-born donors (13%) most common at the Northern California blood center. Minority donors and those born in Mexico or Latin America were younger than white donors. Minority and non-US-born donors were less likely than white and US-born donors to be repeat donors (odds ratio [OR], 0.60-0.78), and most were less likely to give two or more annual donations (OR, 0.82-1.11).ConclusionMinority and Mexico/Latin America-born donors represent a younger and often first-time donor population compared to white and US-born donors, but their annual donation frequency was only slightly lower than white and US-born donors. Increasing the retention and donation frequency of minorities will be important for supplementing the blood supply

A chemotactic gradient sequestered on endothelial heparan sulfate induces directional intraluminal crawling of neutrophils

During infection, chemokines sequestered on endothelium induce recruitment of circulating leukocytes into the tissue where they chemotax along chemokine gradients toward the afflicted site. The aim of this in vivo study was to determine whether a chemokine gradient was formed intravascularly and influenced intraluminal neutrophil crawling and transmigration. A chemokine gradient was induced by placing a macrophage inflammatory protein-2 (MIP-2)–containing (CXCL2) gel on the cremaster muscle of anesthetized wild-type mice or heparanase-overexpressing transgenic mice (hpa-tg) with truncated heparan sulfate (HS) side chains. Neutrophil-endothelial interactions were visualized by intravital microscopy and chemokine gradients detected by confocal microscopy. Localized extravascular chemokine release (MIP-2 gel) induced directed neutrophil crawling along a chemotactic gradient immobilized on the endothelium and accelerated their recruitment into the target tissue compared with homogeneous extravascular chemokine concentration (MIP-2 superfusion). Endothelial chemokine sequestration occurred exclusively in venules and was HS-dependent, and neutrophils in hpa-tg mice exhibited random crawling. Despite similar numbers of adherent neutrophils in hpa-tg and wild-type mice, the altered crawling in hpa-tg mice was translated into decreased number of emigrated neutrophils and ultimately decreased the ability to clear bacterial infections. In conclusion, an intravascular chemokine gradient sequestered by endothelial HS effectively directs crawling leukocytes toward transmigration loci close to the infection site