2012
11
Jul

The Ebook Cargo Cult

By Brett Bonfield Libraries created the present crisis in scholarly publishing, and we are creating a similar crisis now with our approach to ebooks. We created the crisis in scholarly publishing by ceding control of an intrinsic library function, abstracting and indexing, a decision with inevitable consequences. Consequences like the present need to boycott Elsevier...
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2012
13
Jun

An Interview with Paul Ford and Gina Trapani

By Brett Bonfield Gina Trapani and Paul Ford are programmers, interface designers, authors, editors, and broadcasters. They are consistently involved in the kinds of projects that we as librarians undertake when we’re at our best: finding imaginative, meaningful ways to make as much information as possible widely available, easily accessible, and interesting. Gina Trapani was the...
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2012
2
May

Zen and the Art of Constructive Criticism

By Erin Dorney Introduction If there were a single piece of advice I have for new professionals entering the field of librarianship, it would be to develop the skill of giving and receiving criticism. This isn’t something I’ve been able to find in an LIS course catalog, slate of webinar programming, or conference booklet (although it...
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2012
17
Apr

In the Library with the Lead Pipe Reader Poll

This poll is no longer being monitored, but we left it available in order to make the results article make sense. We’d still like to hear from you though. Please get in touch with us via our contact form instead. By Editorial Board We at In the Library with the Lead Pipe are taking the next...
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2012
4
Apr

Answering questions about library impact on student learning

Photo by Flickr user WordShore (CC BY-NC 2.0) By Derek Rodriguez This essay reports on a project which evaluated the Understanding Library Impacts (ULI) protocol, a suite of instruments for detecting and communicating library impact on student learning. The project was a dissertation study conducted with undergraduates enrolled in upper-level and capstone history classes at six U.S....
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2012
21
Mar

Out of the Library and Into the Wild

By Lana Mariko Wood Librarians and library school students have a lot to gain by sharing their skills with groups outside of the library, such as community organizations, social justice groups, and non-profits. By building coalitions and offering support to different groups, librarians help lend their particular expertise while simultaneously advancing the roles of these groups....
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2012
7
Mar

From the Frying Pan Into the Fire (and Back Again): Adventures in Subject-Based, Credit Instruction

  By Natalie Tagge My best experience as a teacher-librarian was leading a credit, semester-long course while a librarian at the University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) during which my students came to care deeply about the topical content and used their developing research skills to further their engagement.  For librarians, though, this is the exception rather...
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