The Scholarly Process And The Nature Of The Information Needs Of The Literary Critic: A Descriptive Model

The research on the information needs and uses of humanists has produced descriptions of general information seeking behaviour patterns and characteristics of document use. The research efforts to explain the information seeking behaviour of humanists have been limited and are quite recent. As well, information scientists have made little effort to understand the nature of scholarship in the humanities.;In the present study, the information seeking and scholarly activities of one group of humanists, literary critics, were examined in order to develop a descriptive model of the literary critic\u27s work and the functions served by information during each stage of the process. Data from interviews with 31 literary critics were used to develop the preliminary model. A larger sample of literary critics was then surveyed as a test of the model. The survey results substantiated a six-stage model of literary criticism that includes: idea generation, preparation, elaboration, analysis and writing, dissemination, and further writing and dissemination. The information functions of each stage correspond to the objectives of that stage. Information needs and uses are most extensive during the preparation stage and the analysis and writing stage. As well, literary critics spend a proportionately higher amount of time on the activities pertaining to these two stages.;The results of the study suggest that literary criticism is an intellectual, creative, enjoyable, reading-centred, and solitary process; research is not used to describe literary criticism but rather represents the information searching undertaken during the preparation stage; ideas most often originate from issues arising from previous work or from teaching; and both formal and informal channels of information are important to the work of literary critics.;The holistic approach of linking information functions to research stages suggests a valid direction for studying and understanding information seeking behaviour. The findings of the study have implications for various areas of information work, such as reference and collection management, and for information workers to obtain a better understanding of the process of scholarship in literary criticism

Information Science: The Canadian Context

This study outlines the development of information science in Canada through an examination of the research contributions to the field by Canadians. Identification of contributors, their backgrounds and the sub-areas of information science to which they have contributed indicate that the field continues to draw inter-disciplinary contributions from a wide variety of academic fields. Despite the tenuous self-identity of the discipline, the development of Canadian periodicals as well as undergraduate and graduate education programmes devoted to information science indicate an increased recognition of the existence and validity of the discipline.L’examen des contributions canadiennes dans le domaine de la science de l’information permet de retracer de développement de cette discipline au Canada. L’identification des contributeurs, de leur formation et de leurs domaines de spécialisation met en évidence le caractère inter-disciplinaire des contributions à la science de l’information. Malgré une identité disciplinaire peu développée, l’apparition de revues canadiennes et de programmes d’enseignement à tous les cycles universitaires, indique que la science de l’information est une discipline dont l’existence et la légitimité sont de plus en plus reconnues

Women in Canadian Science and Technology before World War I: their Publication Record

Little has been written about the work of women in Canadian science and technology, particularly for the period prior to the First World War. In this study, drawing largely on data in Science and Technology in Canadian History: A Bibliography of Primary Sources to 1914, we present a picture of the activity of almost 150 women authors. Representing 1.4% of all known authors of the period, these women wrote on a variety of scientific and technological topics and sometimes with a particular woman's viewpoint. The analysis highlights a number of changes which occurred throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth century.On connaît peu de choses de la place des femmes dans la pratique des sciences et de la technologie au Canada, particulièrement avant la première Guerre mondiale. Fondé sur le volume Science and Technology in Canadian History : A Bibliography of Primary Sources to 1914, cet article aborde cette question à partir de l’étude des activités d’environ 150 auteurs féminins. Représentant 1,4 % de l’ensemble des auteurs répertoriés, ces femmes ont écrit sur une variété de sujets de nature scientifique et technologique, souvent à partir d’un point de vue féminin. L’analyse fait ressortir les principaux changements survenus dans la distribution des sujets abordés entre 1800 et 1914

Out of necessity comes unbridled imagination for survival: contributive justice in Spanish libraries during economic crisis

The call for this journal issue notes that “social justice in LIS/services involves achieving action-oriented socially relevant outcomes via information-related work.” There is not a more fitting time and place for such action than in Spain, where the current economic crisis left more than 6 million (27 percent of the population) unemployed as of 2013. It is not just communities that are grappling with the pain of the economic downturn; libraries are also suffering from the crisis as a result of budget cuts due to reduced public funding. This article presents the case of Spanish academic and public libraries that have found solutions to keep themselves open, providing services vital to the economic and sociocultural needs of their communities. This case is an example of contributive justice, as evidenced in the actions taken by Spanish libraries and their communities as well as in the manner in which the research data were collected. Eight library-related actions were found: professional, community, social, political, digital, cultural/heritage, economic, and ontological. Despite economic hardships all around, these Spanish examples reveal the impact of libraries as social justice institutions, the role of librarians as agents of change, and the value of contributive and grassroots efforts when governments fail to provide. Moreover, these contributions to social justice illustrate actions appropriate to a contributive justice framework for libraries, as proposed in this article.published or submitted for publicatio

A Community-grounded approach to understanding preservation of the cultural heritage of refugee communities

Project APRCH (Agency in the Preservation of Refugee Cultural Heritage), is an effort to ask refugees to speak in their own voice, attaining agency, about the direction they wish to take in the preservation of their (refugee) cultural heritage. Project APRCH focuses on learning from/about the refugee population in the Piedmont Triad region of North Carolina, USA, as a microcosm of similar communities across the United States. It seeks to understand the relationships of particular community members to their intangible cultural heritage as a process for authentic cultural heritage preservation

What is in a Name Change? EMIERT is Still EMIERT

We have kept our acronym but have made a name change

Literary Critics at Work and their Information Needs: A Research-Phases Model.

This article focuses on the information needs of literary critics when producing literary criticism. A fundamental aspect of this research, the six-stage model of producing literary criticism, was developed from interviews with literary critics. Using a mail survey, the model was tested and substantiated. The research-phases model provides the context to understand the function of information at each of the identified stages of literary criticism, that is, idea generation, preparation, elaboration, analysis and writing, dissemination, and further writing and dissemination. The model is contrasted with research-phases models of other disciplines. This holistic approach, linking information functions to research stages, advances the study of information-seeking behavior in context

The Case of Tweddie-Dee and Tweddle-Dum: Authority Control in a Retrospective Database

Authority control is increasingly becoming an accepted element in the design of online catalogues and databases. Much of the literature on this topic focuses on online catalogues and considerably less attention is given to databases of retrospective literature. In this paper the application of authority control to three aspects of the structure and design of Science and Technology in Canadian History: ? Bibliography of Primary History: ? Bibliography of Primary Sources to 1914, namely, author-names, subject-descriptors, and serial titles, is described. The creation and structure of each authority ale is described, the attendant problems associated with authority control in such a database are noted, and implications for further work of this: nature are discussed

Ask Dr. Chu: An Interview with a Peruvian-born Chinese Canadian Living in the U.S.

Clara Chu is an Associate Professor in the Department of Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her research interests include multicultural library and information services, information seeking behavior and critical information studies. Inspired by educator Paulo Freire, Professor Chu?s goal is to eradicate the „culture of silence? created when individuals are oppressed by information practices and systems that deny them access and representation. As one of the leading scholars on multiculturalism and information practices, Clara has published numerous articles on issues related to diversity, equity and multilingual information resources. In addition to her publications, she has been recognized for outstanding contributions to the library profession. In 2002, the American Library Association honored her with its Equality Award for promoting equality in the profession. And, in 2005 she was noted in Library Journal as a person who is shaping the future of libraries through her innovativeness and eagerness to make a difference. More information can be found about Clara at her website at: http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/chu . Renate Chancellor is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Information Studies at UCLA. Her research interests include historical research methods and design and the history of librarianship and library education. She is also a book review editor of InterActions: UCLA Journal of Education and Information Studies. The following interview with Information Studies professor Clara Chu explores some of the central issues facing immigrant library users. She shares with us some of her life experiences as an immigrant and her views on the current immigration debate as well as its implications for information professionals and library educators

Commitment to Multicultural Library and Information Science Education: Part 2 - A Model for Success

Welburn's (1994) persuasive case for including cultural diversity in the educational preparation of library and information science (LIS) professionals is based on the rationale that the foremost function of LIS educators is their involvement "in programs of study that are designed to prepare graduate students as professionals mediating between information and people" (p. 328). Although the words "cultural diversity" were not used, over 20 years ago Shera (1972) also regarded the environment of the clientele as the librarian's raison d'etre, which translates to the need for information professionals in the United States to be prepared to serve a multicultural, multiracial, and multilingual user population