From the President

The Flow State: An Interview with RUSA’s Section Chairs

Neal Wyatt, President

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RUSA is an oddity. Usually institutions fall into one of two categories: Either the sum of its parts is greater than the whole, or the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Think about Congress, the UN, or a car manufacturing line. In each case, either the total institution is more important than its parts, or the parts are what make the institution shakily hold together. »»

The Alert Collector

Core Collections in Genre Studies: Fantasy Fiction 101

Charlotte Burcher, Neil Hollands, Andrew Smith, Barry Trott, and Jessica Zellers, Guest Columnists

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The second edition of the Reading List, RUSA’s juried selection of the best genre books in eight different categories, was announced at the ALA Midwinter Meeting this past January. The winning titles showcased the rich pleasures that genre books offer readers. To celebrate the creation of the Reading List and to highlight the importance of genre fiction in library collections, I instituted an “Alert Collector” occasional series on genre fiction. »»

For Your Enrichment

A Guide to Excellent Creative Business Libraries and Business Centers

Adriana Trujillo Gonzalez, Vincci Kwong, Julie Strange, and Julie Yen, Guest Columnists

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I had the opportunity to view the work produced by the American Library Association’s (ALA) Emerging Leaders at the 2008 ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim. While I was impressed overall with the quality of work produced by these rising stars, I was drawn to the research that one group presented as a poster session. »»

Management

Who Let the Librarians Out: Embedded Librarianship and the Library Manager

Judith M. Nixon, Editor
David Shumaker, Guest Columnist

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One of the newer ideas being discussed and tried in libraries is “embedded librarians.” The phrase comes from “embed ded journalists,” and places a reference librarian right in the midst of where the user is to teach research skills whenever and wherever instruction is needed. In colleges and universities, our users are in the classroom, especially the electronic classroom. In business they are in the research lab or office. In hospitals they are with doctors and nurses. Embedded librarians are like bibliographic instruction librarians that have been totally immersed—this is more than collaborating with classroom faculty members. »»

Readers' Advisory

Stalking the Wild Appeal Factor: Readers’ Advisory and Social Networking Sites

Barry Trott, Editor
Kaite Mediatore Stover, Guest Columnist

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Readers’ advisory (RA) services have always been about building a two-way line of communication between a reader and the readers’ advisor. The whole premise of contemporary RA practice rests on the idea that the advisor comes up with suggestions for a reader by listening carefully to how that reader experienced a book or author that they particularly enjoyed. »»

Feature

Developing a Model for Reference Research Statistics: Applying the “Warner Model” of Reference Question Classification to Streamline Research Services

Harry C. Meserve, Sandra E. Belanger, Joan Bowlby, and Lisa Rosenblum

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The merger of an academic library with the main branch of a large city’s public library in 2003 required a new method for determining customer–patron transactions. The Warner model, previously reported in RUSQ in 2001, was adopted and used to investigate the possibilities for developing tiered reference, adjusting staffing levels, and improving service in a merged reference unit. »»

Feature

Uncovering Black Feminist Writers 1963–90: An Evaluation of Their Coverage in Research Tools

Rebecca Hankins

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Has the move toward online resources had an effect on source material for the study of black feminist theory? The last forty years have witnessed a critical mass of literary and theoretical writings on the black feminist movement. This article evaluates the coverage of writings by a select group of forty “second wave” (1963–75) and pre– “third wave” (1976–90) black feminists in twelve major electronic-literary and women’s-studies indexing and abstracting services. »»

Feature

Making Unmediated Access to E-Resources a Reality: Creating a Usable ERM Interface

Kate Fuller, Jill Livingston, Stephanie Willen Brown, Susanna Cowan, Thomas Wood, and Leslie Porter

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During fiscal year 2006, the University of Connecticut Libraries spent almost two-thirds of its collection budget on electronic resources, making it essential that students, faculty, and staff can find and access these resources without assistance from librarians. To address ease-of-use issues, a cross-functional task team spent a year assessing the libraries’ database locator and worked to create a more functional system. »»