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Management

From Reference Librarian to Interim Dean: A Journey of Comparisons and Contrasts

Jun 20th, 2011
by RUSQ.
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Marianne Ryan, Editor
Mark Stover, Guest Columnist

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The path to becoming an academic library dean is not prescriptive nor necessarily linear. Each ascends to that post in a unique way; all come from different backgrounds and experiences. For some, such a position is a goal from the start of their careers; they lay careful groundwork and make strategic choices to chart their course. In other cases, the decision to move into management evolves as the career unfolds, making it seem logical or even necessary to consider moving on to an administrative opportunity. (more…)

Catching On: Management Training in Depository Libraries

Dec 29th, 2010
by RUSQ.
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Marianne Ryan, Editor

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On July, Chicago Cubs manager Lou Piniella announced that he would retire from his position at the end of the current baseball season. Although the season didn’t end until October and spring training doesn’t start until February of next year, there was immediate buzz and much speculation about who would be the next skipper of the storied franchise. It is never too early to start looking for a good manager. (more…)

How Scholars Work: Panning for Gold in Libraries

Apr 7th, 2010
by RUSQ.
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Marianne Ryan, Editor
Judith M. Nixon, Guest Columnist

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Numerous articles have been written about the impact of today’s simplified, remote access to information on the research habits of scholars, but few have probed the research process from the germination of an idea through the steps that bring it to fruition in this era. This article, part current study and part retrospective, does just that. (more…)

Quick and Easy Reference Evaluation: Gathering Users’ and Providers’ Perspectives

Jan 3rd, 2010
by RUSQ.
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Judith M. Nixon, Editor
Jonathan Miller, Guest Columnist

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Imagine a reference survey instrument that is very simple to administer, requires only a pencil to fill out, and gathers data specifically on whether users get the help they need and are satisfied with reference service, and whether in the process they learn about how to find and evaluate information. If you are interested, read on. (more…)

Creating Online Tutorials at Your Libraries: Software Choices and Practical Implications

Nov 28th, 2009
by RUSQ.
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Judith M. Nixon, Editor
Maribeth Slebodnik and Catherine Fraser Riehle, Guest Columnists

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As this is the last “Management” column I will be editing, some comments on the articles in this new column are in order. Three years has passed very quickly. During my tenure as column editor, I have looked for a variety of practical articles on how to improve reference services and increase opportunities to teach research strategies to our users. (more…)

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

May 29th, 2009
by RUSQ.
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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. (more…)

The LibQUAL+ Phenomenon: Who Judges Quality?

Jan 6th, 2008
by admin.
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Judith M. Nixon, Editor
E. Stewart Saunders, Guest Columnist

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For my second column as the editor of the new Management column, I decided to focus on library service assessment. It is certainly one of the most important activities we need to do; however, often we, as librarians, have little training on or knowledge of how to evaluate and assess our service. We are better at collection evaluation than service evaluation. (more…)

Providing Reference Service in Our Sleep: Using a FAQ Database to Guide Users to the Right Sources

Jan 5th, 2008
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Judith M. Nixon, Editor
Karen Anello and Brett Bonfield, Guest Columnists

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This is my first column as the editor of the new Management column. I am heartily in favor of a column on managing reference and user services departments. In my career as a librarian, I have managed collections ranging from as small as a popular books collection in a public library to the largest library at Purdue University. (more…)