Ramirose Ilene Attebury

Using Blackboard to Assess Course-Specific Asynchronous Library Instruction

The authors conducted a pilot project in Spring 2011 at the University of Idaho in which information literacy video tutorials were developed and embedded within Blackboard for a psychology research methods course; students were given pre- and post-tests to measure confidence and knowledge. This article will review the literature, describe survey and video development and implementation within Blackboard, present the methodology used in analyzing test results, and discuss results and implications. The results of the study indicate that students benefit from asynchronous instruction materials, and that video tutorials are an effective instruction tool for libraries.

What do LIS students in the United States know about liaison duties

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze job advertisements in United States academic libraries in order to determine the prevalence of jobs that contain a liaison component. It also aims to report on a survey of current library science graduate students to assess their level of understanding of what liaison work entails and what type of preparation they have had for such work in their LIS program.Design/methodology/approach – The study includes an analysis of 313 academic library job advertisements. It also uses a 12 question survey, which was distributed to 52 library school listservs throughout the USA. The survey announcements resulted in 516 responses from library school students nationwide.Findings – Of the jobs surveyed more than a quarter specifically mentioned liaison activities. The survey showed that few respondents have been exposed to a discussion of liaison work in their classrooms. Those who have demonstrated greater awareness of what constitutes liaison work demonstrate greater se...

Adult education concepts in library professional development activities

Purpose – The purpose of this review is to survey the literature addressing the professional development of academic librarians in the context of adult education principles. Design/methodology/approach – This article is a literature review. Findings – The review reveals that among those activities incorporating concepts from the adult education field andragogy, transformational learning, communities of practice and instructional design are most prevalent. Originality/value – To date, no other literature review considers adult education concepts in professional development of academic librarians.