Knowing Your Users and What They Want: Surveying Off-Campus Students About Library Services

In order to have a successful library program for off-campus students, librarians must understand who their students are and what they want. This presentation will address the issues involved in conducting a user survey for off-campus students. The presentation will cover details on developing a survey; it will discuss the logistics of sending and receiving; and it will examine one method of evaluation. The presentation is based on a student survey conducted by the University of Iowa Libraries during November 1998 and March 1999

NC DOCKS: The Institutional Repository for The University of North Carolina at Greensboro

NC DOCKS (North Carolina Digital Online Collection of Knowledge & Scholarship available at http://libres.uncg.edu/ir/) is an open-access database for collecting, preserving, and disseminating the scholarly and creative works produced by the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG), and in addition, it provides open access to the electronic theses and dissertations written by UNCG graduate students

Dark Side of Being Pretty

Assessment of social and economic advantages possessed by individuals considered physically attractive is acommon research theme in the social science literature. Since the early 1960s, researchers have reportedattractive women and handsome men have advantages related to procuring jobs with higher salaries,obtaining better seating at restaurants, and experiencing a generally higher level of cordiality than lessattractive counterparts. Informal observations of high stress levels among extremely attractive professionalwomen, however, prompted exploration of a potential “dark side” to being pretty. A focus group was used todetermine if physically attractive women face discrimination. Goffman’s work was employed framework forsample collection. Findings suggest that these women experience cognitive dissonance and its emotionalconsequences. Social services tend to be dominated by women and social work mentors need to be aware ofthis as a potential concern that may arise for some mentees

The First Social Worker

In 1977, a young instructor of social work was quietly working in his office, when a full professor of history popped his head in and asked, "Did you know that the first social worker bore your name?" The quick and intelligent reply was, "Huh?!" However, the curiosity had been wetted and the professor was asked to stop and explain. He said, "I don't have much information, but I do know that the first deacons of the church functioned as social workers. You really should read The Acts Apostles and look into it." In fact, diving into it led to a full weekend at the Library of Congress, and an interest that has lasted for years. The following is an effort to draw a picture of the person known as the first social worker, and the environment surrounding him

Uncovering UnCover: A Cool Tool for Social Work Research

Back in the old days (prior to 1993), social work students (BSW, MSW, Ph.D.) would employ a variety of library tools to complete a literature search. Commonly used tools included: Social Work Abstracts, Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature, and a wide diversity of online databases that required a degree in library science to use and charged a fee. Social work researchers witnessed a dramatic move into technology when Social Work Abstracts produced a CD version. This was an improvement. However, now we have UnCover, which may make all other search mechanisms obsolet

Assessing the Library Needs and Preferences of Off-Campus Students: Surveying Distance-Education Students, from the Midwest to the West Indies

In order to have a successful library program for distance-education students, librarians must understand who their students are, as well as what their students want and need. Of course, the best way to get this information is to ask the students. The ACRL Guidelines for Distance Learning Library Services emphasize this point, encouraging librarians to regularly survey students involved in distance-education and off-campus programs. This paper is based on two student surveys, one conducted by the Coordinator of Library Services for Distance Education at the University of Iowa and the other conducted by the Distance Librarian at University of the West Indies, Mona Campus. The paper focuses on the issues that librarians confront when they conduct a survey of distance-education students. In addition, it covers details on writing and developing a survey instrument, including the need to ask the right questions in a proper manner and the need to arrange the questions and information in a user-friendly format. The results of the two surveys are presented, including a comparison of some data between the two programs

An Editor’s Tips on Publishing in Library Literature

Writing for professional library literature can be a challenging experience, especially for new writers and new librarians. This article reviews a variety of how-to-write publications intended for librarians—those books and articles that provide advice and inspiration to aspiring library writers on how to publish in library literature. Applying his experience as a writer and as editor of the Journal of Library & Information Services in Distance Learning, the author also provides a list of tips on preparing article-length manuscripts to be submitted to library-related journals. When appropriate, special resources and tips are noted for writers working on distance learning subjects

Documenting priorities, progress, and potential: planning library services for distance education.

The ACRL Guidelines for Distance Learning Library Services recommends that every library develop a written profile and a written statement addressing the needs and outlining the methods by which progress can be measured. Many libraries do not have a written plan, and occasionally at such institutions, services for distance-education students suffer as a consequence. In 1998, the University of Iowa Libraries instituted a written plan for developing library services for its off-campus students, and the plan has been an effective tool. Highlighting the University of Iowa Libraries’ plan, this article discusses a variety of subjects that should be addressed when preparing, writing, and implementing a plan for distance-education services

Enhancing the limit of detection of biomarkers in serum using a SPRi nano-aptasensor

Surface Plasmon Resonance imaging (SPRi) is a label-free, ultrasensitive detection method for monitoring biomolecular interactions in real-time with high throughput. Diagnostic biomarkers for cancer, cardiovascular disease, and Alzheimer’s disease are often in low abundance in serum, presenting many challenges for their detection. SPRi has great potential as a diagnostic tool because its limit of detection (LOD) for many biomarkers falls in the nanogram per milliliter range, but in order to further enhance its usefulness, its LOD must be reduced to even lower concentrations. We have developed a detection scheme that improves SPRi sensitivity by several orders of magnitude. This increase in sensitivity relies upon the integration of SPRi with nanomaterials and microwave-assisted surface functionalization. This approach makes it possible for the SPRi biosensor to detect C-reactive protein in spiked human serum at concentrations of 5 fg/ml or 45 zeptomole. This scheme was then compared to commercial ELISA kits for the detection of human Growth Hormone, which has a LOD of 1 ng/ml. In order to directly compare the two platforms the antibody sandwich assay was copied in the SPRi scheme and with nanomaterial enhancement, an LOD of 9.2 pg/ml was achieved

Three Empirical Strategies for Teaching Statistics

This paper employs a three-step process to analyze three empirically supported strategies for teaching statistics to BSW students. The strategies included: repetition, immediate feedback, and use of original data. First, each strategy is addressed through the literature. Second, the application of employing each of the strategies over the period of eight years of classroom application is outlined and discussed. Third, the three strategies are evaluated by students