Search results

Academic capital formation upon the transition to higher education

The transition from secondary education to the first year of higher education is a phase in which students are faced with many challenges. First-year students may lack the academic capital that is needed to understand explicit and implicit rules of higher education. We investigated students’ participation in a preacademic program and the development of their academic capital. In a mixed method study, we showed that first-year students who participated in a preacademic program perceived peer mentors and teachers to be relevant sources of information, learned how to overcome educational barriers, and became more acquainted with explicit and implicit college requirements.

The Demise of Quality? Quality Newspapers and the Information Function of Libraries on the Brink of Collapse or Resurrection?

In The Guardian, Alan Rushbridger compared the future of newspapers to climate change. Five years ago, many climatologists were sceptical whether climate change was a real and serious issue. Today, most scientists agree that global warm ing is a fact of life. In the world of newspapers, at present, almost everyone agrees that the traditional, particularly quality, newspapers are facing huge problems. The blog ‘Print is dead’ chose a fitting title for Rushbridger’s article: Print is dead: an inconvenient truth. Another traditional icon of the information society, the public library, is facing similar problems as the newspaper industry. The information function, the core business of the library, is under threat. People tend to use search engines at home instead of visiting and accessing the (virtual) library and ask for professional advice. It is important to note that these search engines are more and more driven by commercial interests than by a genuine concern of quality information. Ranking algorithms are more beauty contests and quality stamps. (Local) governments tend to demand more and more new social services included in the library. Commercial publishers’ concerns are understandable. In the United States and Europe the world of the press faces a real crisis, and the battle to survive is a race against the clock. Newspapers, especially the quality press, will only survive if they can persuade the audience of generation Z to read them on the Web. Failure to do this will signal their demise. We will discuss the tensions in this field by addressing the mutual relationships between the stock market driven economic business model and the traditional characteristics of quality journalism as well as the cultural changes in consuming news stories and analyses in print and on the web. The key question is: how these societal tendencies will affect the quality of information consumed by the public and hence the public quality of discourse? This paper aims to address both issues by asking whether quality is really under siege and to what extent can the new, convergent media improve the quality of the information society by fostering the interaction of the roles of journalists and librarians. In the new world of journalism and librarianship both will prove their roles and functions by engagement, enrichment, empowerment and entertainment for both readers and library users.

The effect of social software for academic libraries

The Leiden Manifesto Under Review: What Libraries Can Learn From It

Purpose: This paper is a critical discussion of the Leiden Manifesto for libraries already engaged in bibliometric practices. It offers practical recommendations based on the work of the European Association for Research Libraries (LIBER) Working Group on Metrics. This work is in the beginning phase and summarizes literature on the topic as well as the experiences of the members of the Working Group. The discussion reflects today’s growing popularity of (quantitative) research assessment which is seen in enthusiasts introducing new metrics (i.e. altmetrics) and by critics demanding responsible metrics that increase objectivity and equity in evaluations.Design/methodology/approach: This paper is the result of the Working Group on Metrics of the European Association for Research Libraries (LIBER) that critically discussed the practicality of the Leiden Manifesto for libraries.Findings: Full compliance with the Manifesto is time-consuming, expensive and requires a significant increase in bibliometric expertise with respect to both staffing and skill level. Despite these apparent disadvantages, it is recommended that all libraries embrace the Manifesto’s principles. To increase practicality it is advised that libraries collaborate with researchers, management and other libraries at home and around the world to jointly design and provide services that can be reused within the library community.Originality/value: Libraries have increasingly been confronted with questions about research assessment, responsible metrics, and the role of digital products in evaluations and funding decisions. Although a wide range of recommendations and initiatives are available (e.g., DORA San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment) many recommendations are not straightforward enough to be implemented from a library perspective. This paper provides assistance for libraries to implement these principles by acknowledging the heterogeneous backgrounds the libraries may stem from.https://doi.org/10.1108/DLP-01-2017-0004

Enhancing users' experience: a content analysis of 12 university libraries Facebook profiles

Facebook has become one of the most prominent tools for social networking over the last few years. Since its establishing in 2004, more and more players have made use of it: not just ordinary users willing to find their old friends and to get back into contact with them, but also, for example, more and more players from the cultural scene. These latter ones include cultural institutions willing to experiment with new ways of getting in touch with their traditional audiences but also willing to attract new audiences (like a younger audience, who is supposed to be more present on such social media); artists, who use it to create a community to share information, to promote their own creations but, more recently, also to collaborate on common project; and finally also libraries. This paper intends to explore the use of Facebook in university libraries by making an empirical analysis of current practices. In doing so, the paper builds on the knowledge gained in a previous study on the way in which Flemish cultural institutions make use of the possibilities offered by social media to communicate with their audiences and to promote themselves [2]. The analysis on current uses we performed will help us sample existing practices and help us derive some general ideas for future best practices. And this will help libraries to better profile themselves and communicate better with their old and new audiences.

Extending media literacy: a new direction for libraries

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to emphasise the importance for libraries to address the issue of media literacy in the internet age. The library must claim its key expert role in the field of literacy. The library can function as a platform and playground for consuming and producing media content.Design/methodology/approachResearch has been carried out on theory, policy and practice in the field of media literacy. The paper provides an overview of ideas on new skills and competences that should be taught to make people media‐literate.FindingsThe paper shows that attention on the issue of media literacy is increasing. Academics and political institutions alike stress the importance of media literacy for participation in society and full citizenship. Libraries must claim their expert position in this field as various organisations outside the library have initiated projects and products on media literacy in recent years.Practical implicationsLibrary management should develop policies on media literacy and personnel should be trained in essential media literacy skills. Collaboration and knowledge sharing in media literacy between libraries and other organisations are essential.Originality/valueThe paper provides a brief overview of theory and policy on media literacy.