Return on Instruction: Methods for Assessing the Impact of Information Literacy Instruction on the Use of Electronic Resources

Moving from simplistic, open web search strategies sufficient for high school level work to independently navigating the complex system of information sources available on college campuses is a developmental milestone for undergraduate students. One of the aims of library instruction is to play a critical role in this transition to college-level research, which necessitates the use of specialized databases and other information sources. Instruction librarians raise awareness of library e-resources and provide in-depth guidance in selecting and effectively using online sources. Santa Clara University librarians were interested in investigating the immediate impact of instruction on the use of the library’s e-resources. Do students regularly use library resources after instruction or do they revert to open web sources when searching independently? To study this question, Santa Clara University librarians examined LibGuides statistics, usage data, and instruction data to determine how frequently students access library databases post-instruction. The investigators examined LibGuides associated with course instruction from a selection of classes and explored the potential impact of instructional techniques, timing of instruction, and assignment integration on sustained use of electronic resources. The investigators also examined use of resources by level of course to explore whether independent use of library resources increased as students progress through their college years. This poster will share methodologies for assessing use of library e-resources after instruction using LibGuides statistics combined with usage and instruction data. The poster will also explore opportunities for implementing this method to assess instruction, access, and use of e-resources on college campuses. Speaker

English Language Bibliography 1945 to the present

English Language Bibliography 1945 to the Present (ELB) provides one-stop shopping for your bibliographic needs on post-World War U publishing in the English language. ELB provides quick access to a Listing of approximately 7.5 million English-language titles dating from when Gutenberg revved up his press to last week\u27s best seller. Specifically, it claims to include comprehensively all titles in English published in any country since 1945. It is updated weekly

Perseus

When exploring the vast territory of ancient Greek culture, let Perseus heroically guide the way ... Perseus 2.0 that is. A product of the Perseus Project at Tufts University, this virtual library includes more than 420 works by 31 authors in both Greek (e.g., Plato, Homer) and English, extremely detailed entries for Greek art and architecture located throughout the world, and a number of reference works (such as a 35,000-word Greek-English lexicon, an encyclopedia, and a searchable atlas of the ancient world). In addition, there are over 25,000 full-screen images (photographs and drawings) of architecture, archaeological sites, coins, vases, and sculpture

IBZ-Online: Internationale Bibilographie der Geistes-und Sozialwissenschaftlichen Zeitschrigtenliteratur (Review)

That extensive German title may be intimidating but IBZ-Online (or for non-Germanophiles, International Bibliography of Periodical Literature in the Humanities and Social Sciences-Online) is an index for scholarly research that no self-respecting European or American research library has been without for over a hundred years. Founded by Felix Dietrich in 1899, IBZ is also known as The Dietrich in Europe. Publications from 40 countries in more than 40 languages are covered. lBZ-Online provides access to citations for over two million journal articles. with some 120,000 entries from 6000 periodicals added each year

Nationalgalerie Berlin: Catalogue of Painting and Sculptures (Review)

For scholars and students of modem German art, the Nationalgalerie: Catalogue of Painting and Sculptures on CD-ROM is an excellent means of learning about this museum\u27s collection without having to go all the way to Berlin. This disc presents in electronic form the complete catalog of the collection of 19th- and 20th-century art in the Nationalgalerie Berlin. While the Nationalgalerie\u27s collection shows a predictable emphasis on German artists, it includes a wide variety of other European artists as well. The disc also catalogs for the first time works confiscated and lost by the museum during World War II. Entries for over 7500 works of art exist here (only 5600 entries include illustrations, and only half of that number are in color)

Birth outcome in relation to licorice consumption during pregnancy.

A role for glucocorticoids is suspected in the etiology of low birth weight. The authors tested whether maternal consumption of glycyrrhizin (an inhibitor of cortisol metabolism) in licorice affects birth weight in humans. A sample of 1,049 Finnish women and their healthy singleton infants was studied in 1998. Glycyrrhizin intake was calculated from detailed questionnaires on licorice consumption. Glycyrrhizin exposure was grouped into three levels: low ( or =500 mg/week; n = 110). Birth weight and gestational age (from ultrasound measurements) were obtained from hospital records. Babies with heavy exposure to glycyrrhizin were not significantly lighter at birth, but they were significantly more likely to be born earlier: The odds ratio for being born before 38 weeks' gestation was 2.5 (95% confidence interval: 1.1, 5.5; p = 0.03). Although the effect of heavy glycyrrhizin intake on mean duration of gestation was small (2.52 days) when expressed as an effect on the mean, this shift to the left of the distribution of duration of gestation was sufficient to double the risk of being born before 38 weeks. The association remained in multivariate analyses. In conclusion, heavy glycyrrhizin exposure during pregnancy did not significantly affect birth weight or maternal blood pressure, but it was significantly associated with lower gestational age

Bibliography of American Literature (Review)

A staple of humanities reference collections, the five printed volumes of The Bibliography of American Literature are now available on the web as part of the LION (LIterature ONline) gateway package. Included in the BAL file are nearly 40,000 bibliographic records for literary works of over 300 American authors writing from the American Revolution through 1930 (authors who published during this period but died after 1930 are excluded). While the emphasis is on imaginative works, the principal works of major essayists and journalists who also published poetry or fiction appear here as well. Citations to secondary works, reprints, and reference works of relevance are also included for many authors