OPACs,Users, and Readers’ Advisory: Exploring the Implications of User-Generated Content for Readers’ Advisory in Canadian Public Libraries

This article examines the contribution of social discovery platforms and user-generated content (UGC) on readers’ advisory (RA) services in Canadian public libraries. Grounded Theory was used to conduct a content analysis of library-assigned subject headings and UGC of 22 adult fiction titles in 43 Canadian public libraries that use BiblioCommons, SirsiDynix, and Encore social discovery platforms. Findings indicate that UGC complements the MARC bibliographic record as it provides insight into the subject of a work, its protagonists, and the effect the book has on readers. User-generated reviews provide a rich data set that clearly connects to known RA access points.     

Reading in the Borderland: An Ethnographic Study of Serious Readers in a Mega-Bookstore Café

Today, mega-bookstores are one of the most powerful sponsors of reading. They are not just selling books; they are teaching people new ways to read. The enthusiasm among some individuals to read in a retail store (as opposed to the home or library) did not occur spontaneously. Mega-bookstores’ marketing strategies underwrote a “commercial-contract approach to reading” and wider social formations helped enable it. This ethnographic study explores the tension between the reading environment constructed by one Borders bookstore in a midwestern college town and the different expectations and practices that serious and not-so-serious readers bring to the café. Although the reading culture in the café appears unstructured, Borders has made sure that little has been left to chance. Borders’ fluid “social, sensual” narrative of reading is designed to control store space by affirming the identities of its preferred customers and by promoting reading practices that translate into sales.     

The Influence of E-book Format and Reading Device on Users’ Reading Experience: A Case Study of Graduate Students

To explore the influence of e-book format and reading device on users’ reading experience, this paper studied a group of graduate students’ reading speed and comprehension. The participants were asked to read same length content from the same monograph chapter in both fixed layout format file (PDF) and fluid format file (EPUB) on four different reading devices: laptop, tablet, dedicated e-reader and smart phone. Their reading process, speed and comprehension were recorded and compared. Through the experiment and depth interviews, this study found that e-book format and reading devices have influence on reading speed and reading comprehension level. Generally speaking, people read EPUB files faster than PDF files. For smart phone, dedicated e-reader and tablet, participants’ average reading comprehension is higher when reading EPUB file, while most participants read PDF file faster when they use laptops.     

Interlibrary Loan's Efficacy in Meeting Students’ Expectations to Acquire Textbooks: Results From a Study Conducted in a Large Research Library

Students look to interlibrary loan (ILL) as a mechanism for acquiring textbooks. What are the students’ expectations of ILL and can ILL meet those expectations, especially given that textbooks are perceived as difficult to borrow? This article reports the findings of a survey designed to determine the expectations of students who had placed ILL requests for textbooks. By analyzing the records for those students’ requests using data from ILLiad, the degree to which students’ expectations can be met was determined. Students’ flexibility with editions provides ILL staff methods to increase fill rates and improve service.     

Walking in Your Users’ Shoes: An Introduction to User Experience Research as a Tool for Developing User-Centered Libraries

In the past decade, User Experience research and design has gained significant traction in the business world. It also has much to offer to academic libraries. In this framework, the center of attention is always the users and their experience with an organization at all physical and digital touchpoints. User Experience research can be used to discover how patrons interact with the library as well as any potential trouble spots, where patrons become frustrated or even choose not to use the library at all. This research can then be used to inform user-centered design. User Experience research is an iterative process, and the work of discovering how patrons experience the library is never done.     

Writing and Publishing in a Blended Learning Environment to Develop Students’ Scholarly Digital Ethos

The explosive growth of clinical psychology literature has made it difficult for anyone to get a comprehensive overview of the field. Clinical psychology handbooks help alleviate this problem by providing a thorough survey of the discipline. Despite their utility for both students and librarians, no literature reviews of handbooks in clinical psychology currently exist. The present study seeks to fill this gap by selectively reviewing handbooks currently available, as well as a few "classics."     

“I’m a Library Hugger!”: Public Libraries as Valued Community Assets

Public library value is often ascertained by outlining the economic, social, and cultural benefits public libraries generate for the greater community. While researchers have focused on the concepts of social capital, civic engagement, and the role of libraries in promoting democracy, fewer studies have explored the public’s perceptions of libraries in an effort to determine library value. Furthermore, library nonusers are rarely included in these studies. In Alberta, Canada, 1,201 Albertans from across the province, including both urban and rural areas, were asked a series of questions about their perceptions of public libraries and library use. Findings reveal characteristics of library users and nonusers, what services and resources are used most often at public libraries, what value the public places on public libraries, and the role that libraries play in supporting communities.     

Students’ Discrete Emotional Responses in the Classroom: Unraveling Relationships With Interest and Engagement

Recent instructional communication research reveals that the communication and emotional processes at play in the classroom can influence class-specific emotions experienced by students. Students’ enjoyment and pride were positively related to their emotional interest, while students’ enjoyment, hope, and pride were positively associated with their cognitive interest. While students’ anger and boredom were inversely related to their emotional interest, students who reported greater hopelessness and anger indicated decreases in cognitive interest. Students’ hope and pride were positively associated with their overall engagement behaviors. Anger, anxiety, shame, and boredom led students to report decreases in their engagement. Follow-up tests highlighted challenges in the assessment of specific emotional responses; exploratory factor analysis simplified the measurement of these variables and provided additional insight into expected relationships.     

Cognitive Processes and Information Literacy: Some Initial Results From a Survey of Business Students’ Learning Activities

A survey of classroom learning activity and research skills was conducted to obtain data on information literacy competence and critical thinking requirements among all undergraduate students enrolled as business majors at Memorial University of Newfoundland, which is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. Initial findings confirm past larger-scale studies, particularly business students' preference for electronic resources over print, prior skills acquisition being largely self-taught, and reluctance to consult with a librarian during the research process. Regarding critical thinking, survey results can be interpreted as indicating ceremonial conformity in educational discourse versus classroom teaching.     

What’s in a Word: Coming to Terms With Reference

Information literacy has gained ascendency in the reference world to the detriment of the practice of reference librarianship itself. Libraries seem more interested in having librarians teach with technology than in having them engage in thoughtful reference work. Major library associations seem more interested in touting the benefits of information literacy than in supporting traditional reference work, and they define reference in overly simplistic, tautological terms as the practice of answering reference questions rather than attributing to it the subtlety and expertise that make it so valuable. These associations need to rethink the hierarchy and give reference its due.     

EARwitness Testimony: Applying Listener Perspectives to Developing a Working Concept of “Localism” in Broadcast Radio

Ever since the introduction of new technologies such as satellite, Internet and cable radio, the concept of “local” has been at the center of a debate in the radio industry. Ownership consolidation has led to concerns about the loss of “local identity.” Broadcast radio news providers are operating under the assumption that the geographical location of the origin of news plays an increasingly smaller role. Through an Internet survey of 485 radio listeners nationwide, this study re-defines the concept of “local” as applied to broadcast radio and confirms the value of each station's physical connection to the area it serves.     

Effecting Change in an Evidence-Based Medicine Curriculum: Librarians’ Role in a Pediatric Residency Program

Librarians for the joint Phoenix Children's Hospital/Maricopa Medical Center Pediatric Residency Program were asked to assist on the Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) Subcommittee for the program. Faculty was open to recommendations for revising and improving the curriculum and desired librarian assistance in completing the task. The annual program review and conference evaluations revealed a gap between the objectives of the EBM curriculum and the residents’ perceived abilities to integrate knowledge into meaningful literature searches. This column demonstrates how librarians can collaborate with their residency programs to revise and improve processes to effect change in their program's EBM curriculum.     

Anatomy of a product safety crisis: Fonterra’s recall crisis in China

In 2013, the global dairy company Fonterra recalled its potentially contaminated Whey Protein Concentrates (WPC 80). This recall crisis led to a drop in sales in China not only for Fonterra but also all dairy products originating in New Zealand. We adopted the Cultural Discourse Studies approach (Shi, 2015) to present a holistic analysis of Fonterra’s crisis communication behavior with regard to this crisis. We treat Fonterra’s reactions to the recall crisis as a discursive/communicative event with multiple elements and focus on its cultural orientation. Though Fonterra reacted to the crisis in a professional manner, it ignored special concerns from the Chinese market and was clearly deficient in intercultural understanding and in communicating with the public. This resulted in an ineffective and asymmetrical communication and consequently its short-term failure. This paper enriches current crisis communication literature by providing a cultural discourse studies’ paradigm in addition to discussing crisis communication in a global context.     

Educational TV Consumption and Children’s Interest in Leisure Reading and Writing: A Test of the Validated Curriculum Hypothesis

The relationship between children’s TV consumption and literacy outcomes is currently unclear, as past research has identified both linear and curvilinear trends. One explanation for the contradictory results is the varying content children consume; specifically, researchers have argued that research-based educational TV programming should be positively related to literacy outcomes whereas non research-based programming should be negatively related to literacy outcomes (what we refer to as the validated curriculum hypothesis). To test this hypothesis, students in grades 4 and 5 N = 120) completed a survey assessing educational TV consumption and leisure reading/writing behaviors. The results upheld the validated curriculum hypothesis and revealed several key moderators including composite TV consumption and parents’ reading behavior.