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This conceptual paper identifies future directions for information practices theoretical discourses addressing marginality, community, and embodiment. We extend arguments from critical research identifying how existing discourses fail to capture the nuanced, lived experiences of people and communities confronting marginalization, predominantly via their reinforcement of deficit narratives. We then connect a series of qualitative projects examining the information practices of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual communities in the American South with relevant Library and Information Science (LIS) research to examine how marginality, community, and embodiment shape these practices. Specifically, we introduce a conceptual model that describes marginality by framing information practices as tactical and agentic responses to and refutations of social and structural barriers and risks. While some of the information practices of participants and communities appear to be uninformed or unsafe, they represent the products of community sharing and vetting. Embodied navigations further inform participant practices as they navigate information worlds produced and informed by their intersectional identities. These arguments coincide with key categories established within our model that describe information practices: defensive and protective, and community and self. Based on these insights, we offer directions for future research and theory to reorient existing discourses in ways that inspire middle‐range theory building that fully captures people's lived experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This paper is the second part of a two phase, sequential mixed method study. Objectives: To get the views of medical librarians in Pakistan regarding information literacy (IL) skills of medical students and how to teach them IL skills. Methods: Structured interviews were conducted with 20 medical librarians in Pakistan. We audio recorded, transcribed all the interviews and performed content analysis and coding of the textual data. We presented the emerging themes with the frequency of their appearance. Results: Interviewees agreed that the IL skills of their students were inadequate. Participants suggested that librarians should train students through mandatory IL instruction programmes, designed in coordination with medical faculty. However, workshops/seminars were considered the most effective IL delivery methods for medical faculty and clinicians. The majority of respondents supported the integration of IL instruction into the curriculum as an independent and credit course. Discussion: Teaching IL skills to medical students requires proper planning. Therefore, librarians have to prove their place within the curricular structure of the institution and develop understanding of the pedagogy of instruction. Conclusion: Librarians must collaborate with faculty to train students in advanced information skills. There is a need to integrate IL instruction into the curriculum at all levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background This paper summarises the main points of a review of the Status of Health Librarianship & Libraries in Ireland (SHELLI). The review was commissioned to gain a broad understanding of what was happening in practice in Ireland; acquire knowledge about international best practice, and to inform strategic plans to develop and sustain health libraries and librarianship in Ireland. Methods A Mixed Methods approach was used: a literature review; an online survey distributed to health librarians; Semi structured interviews with key stakeholders; a focus group drawing participants from the survey. All evidence was triangulated. Results New roles for health librarians needed development and the changing educational needs of health librarians warranted attention. Increased collaboration across institutional boundaries needed more consideration, especially in relation to access to e-resources. Marketing of library services was crucial. Irish health library standards, needed to be updated and enforced and a proper evidence base established. The literature provided a number of examples of potentially useful initiatives. Conclusions A strategic plan of action was drawn up in three areas: (i) to identify champions and promote visibility of health service libraries, (ii) to establish a body of evidence and (iii) to support service development and staff mentoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The number of public health degrees and programmes is growing rapidly. This means that a diverse and multidisciplinary group of students are in need of expert library services to navigate the complicated world of public health information. Objective To better understand the information needs of public health students, a group that has not previously been studied in the information needs literature. Methods An online survey. Results Of the 153 students, 38 responded (25% response rate). Their responses indicated a strong need for more tailored library instruction sessions at the point of need as opposed to general stand-alone sessions offered at the beginning of a term. It was also found that many students were unaware of public health specific resources available that could greatly aid them in their information needs. Suggestions were made on how to improve the library subject guide, specifically in the areas of more instructions related to locating hard to find resources (e.g. statistics, grey literature), and direct linking to resources (e.g. databases and relevant articles). Conclusion The information needs of public health students are diverse and complex. It is imperative that the library has a solid understanding of their needs and is able to offer them targeted and relevant library services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The overall goal of this study is to explain how information literacy instruction ( ILI) influences the adoption of online library resources ( OLR) by business students. A theoretical model was developed that integrates research on ILI outcomes and technology adoption. To test this model, a web-based survey, which included both closed and open-ended questions, was administered to 337 business students. Findings indicate that the ILI received by students is beneficial in the initial or early stages of OLR use; however, students quickly reach a saturation point where more instruction contributes little, if anything, to the final outcome, such as reduced OLR anxiety and increased OLR self-efficacy. Rather, it is the independent, continuous use of OLR after receiving initial, formal ILI that creates continued positive effects. Importantly, OLR self-efficacy and anxiety were found to be important antecedents to OLR adoption. OLR anxiety also partially mediates the relationship between self-efficacy and perceived ease of use. Implications for theory and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Healthcare practitioners in Alberta and across Canada have varying levels of access to information resources depending on their institutional and professional affiliations, yet access to current health information is critical for all. Objectives To determine what information resources and services are provided by Albertan and Canadian professional health associations to their members. Methods Representatives of professional colleges and associations were interviewed regarding information resources and services offered to members and perceptions of their members' information needs. Results National-level associations are more likely to provide resources than provincial ones. There is a clear distinction between colleges and associations in terms of information offered: colleges provide regulatory information, while associations are responsible for provision of clinical information resources. Only half of the associations interviewed provide members with access to licensed databases, with cost being a major barrier. Conclusions There is considerable variation in the number of electronic resources and the levels of information support provided by professional health associations in Alberta and Canada. Access and usage vary among the health professions. National licensing of resources or creation of a portal linking to freely available alternatives are potential options for increasing access and awareness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of primary source materials is recognized as key to supporting history and social studies education. The extensive digitization of library, museum, and other cultural heritage collections represents an important teaching resource. Yet, searching and selecting digital primary sources appropriate for classroom use can be difficult and time-consuming. This study investigates the design requirements and the potential usefulness of a domain-specific ontology to facilitate access to, and use of, a collection of digital primary source materials developed by the Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. During a three-phase study, an ontology model was designed and evaluated with the involvement of social studies teachers. The findings revealed that the design of the ontology was appropriate to support the information needs of the teachers and was perceived as a potentially useful tool to enhance collection access. The primary contribution of this study is the introduction of an approach to ontology development that is user-centered and designed to facilitate access to digital cultural heritage materials. Such an approach should be considered on a case-by-case basis in relation to the size of the ontology being built, the nature of the knowledge domain, and the type of end users targeted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

University libraries invest a massive amount of resources in digitizing information for the Web, yet there is growing concern that much of this information is being underutilized. The present study uses the technology acceptance model (TAM) to investigate university library website resources (ULWR) usage. We categorize users based on academic roles and then analyze them as subgroups in order to observe different adoption patterns across groups. A total of 299 usable responses was collected from four different universities and across three populations: undergraduate, master, and doctoral student/faculty groups. The findings show that different library users indeed access ULWR for different reasons, resulting in a need for tailored managerial efforts. Overall, the extended TAM explains undergraduate students' usage best; the explanatory power of the model is significantly lower for the doctoral student/faculty group. Some of the findings challenge results reported in TAM research in other fields. The unexpected findings may result from the application of the model to a different context. Detailed theoretical implications and managerial guidance are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study expands the perspective of knowledge sharing by categorizing the different types of knowledge that individuals shared with one another and examining the patterns of motivators and barriers of knowledge sharing across three online environments pertaining to the following professional practices—advanced nursing practice, Web development, and literacy education. The patterns indicate the different possible combinations of motivators or barriers that may exist in individuals. Data were gathered through online observations and semistructured interviews with 54 participants. The cross-case analysis shows that the most common type of knowledge shared across all three environments was practical knowledge. Overall, seven motivators were found. Analysis also suggests that the most common combination of motivators for knowledge sharing was collectivism and reciprocity. A total of eight barriers were identified. The most common combination of barriers varied in each online environment. Discussions as to how the types of professional practices may contribute to the different results are provided, along with implications and future possible research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

User studies provide libraries with invaluable insight into their users' information needs and behaviors, allowing them to develop services that correspond to these needs. This insight has become even more important for libraries since the advent of the Internet. The Internet has brought about a development of information technologies and electronic information sources that have had a great impact on both the ways users search for information and the ways libraries manage information. Although humanists represent an important group of users for academic libraries, research studies into their information-seeking behavior since the advent of the Internet have been quite scarce (Ellis & Oldman, 2005) in the past decade. This study presents updated research on a group of humanists, Jewish studies scholars living in Israel, as information users in the digital age based on two categories: (a) the use of formal and informal information channels, and (b) the use of information technologies and their impact on humanistic research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UC Merced library is not wed to any particular technology and will abandon any technology when its time has passed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, there exists little evidence concerning how various characteristics of research cultures are associated with patterns of use of electronic library resources. The present study addresses this gap by exploring how research-group membership, across-fields scattering of literature, and degree of establishment of research area are related to patterns of digital library use. The analytic dimensions are derived from Richard Whitley's (1984) theory of the social and intellectual organization of academic fields. The article represents a first attempt to operationalize Whitley's concepts in a large-scale study of e-resources use. The data used in the study were gathered in 2004 by the Finnish Electronic Library (FinElib) through a nationwide Web-based user questionnaire (N = 900). Membership in a research group significantly increased searching in journal databases, the importance of colleagues as sources of information about electronic articles and journals, and the use of alert services. A significant interaction effect was found between degree of across-fields scattering of relevant resources and degree of establishment of research fields. A high degree of across-fields scattering of relevant literature increased the number of journal databases used mainly in less established research areas whereas it influenced the use of journal databases less in established fields. This research contributes to our picture concerning the complex set of interacting factors influencing patterns of use of e-resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A six-month journal evaluation study was conducted at the two NOAA libraries in Boulder, Colorado, from 28 October 1975 to 28 April 1976 to assist in subscription renewal activities, enhancement of collection relevance, and determination of efficient methodology. Data were collected from a use study, circulation and interlibrary loan statistics, a core list, local availability, questionnaire returns, subscription costs, and librarian and patron input. Results showed that (1) monitoring use for three months pulled 84% of the low-use titles obtained in the six-month study indicating that a three-month study is sufficient; (2) considering the lower 31% of the collection in terms of six-month useage, the same titles were pulled 92% of the time when using raw use versus use density data, indicating that use density data need not be obtained for determination of low value titles; (3) when two or more scientists (about 0.8% of scientists responding to a questionnaire) recommended a title, it appeared as a low-use (two or fewer uses) title 5.5% of the time (13.7% of the time for one or more scientists) thus indicating the significance of scientists' recommendations; (4) a balance index for determination of collection balance was derived. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]