Research methods: What's in the name?

How Much of Library and Information Science Literature Qualifies as Research

How reference and information service is studied: Research approaches and methods

In this project, co-investigators explored how college and university curriculum centers are addressing challenges with K-12 electronic textbooks (particularly acquisition, cataloging, and access) and implementing technology-focused services for pre-service teachers. The results of this research have provided guidance for planning the future of the curriculum center in Milner Library at Illinois State University, which comprises 2.5% of the library’s holdings and accounts for almost 25% of the library’s circulation. We identified service gaps and opportunities for improvement and are in the process of acting upon our findings, such as leveraging campus partnerships, integrating makerspace technologies, and exploring different models for ordering and processing the collection

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Exploring the Future of the Teaching Materials Center at Illinois State University: From E-Textbooks to Makerspaces.

Young people are going to need new knowledge, skills and dispositions to enable them to deal successfully with a changing world. That's why Tasmania's Department of Education has identified what is 'Essential Learning' for children from birth to age sixteen and developed a curriculum for the future. Phil Tyson spoke with Penny Andersen to find out how 'Essential Learnings' are transforming the Tasmanian curriculum.

Transforming the Curriculum

Through this study the author adds to the existing body of literature on library and information science research by reporting results of statistical descriptive data analysis of the empirical research studies in the field of technical services. The author used the non-probability purposive sample approach and content analysis method to collect and analyze 256 articles published in a group of 21 journals over 5-year period (2007–2011). The author aimed to answer the questions on research methods used and topics addressed by the other authors reviewed in this study. The case study and survey were found to be the two most widely used research methods; the majority of studies employed qualitative data analysis; and the topics of electronic resources management and access to the materials in online catalog were the most popular research topics during the investigated time period. The study is set in context of previous examinations of general library and information science research as well as research conduc...

Five Years of Empirical Research in the Area of Technical Services: An Examination of Selected Peer-Reviewed Journals, 2007–2011

Curriculum materials center (CMC) collections in academic libraries play a vital role in supporting teacher education programs. The collection items consist of print and non-print materials including nontraditional items such as kits, games, models, and toys. Following a comprehensive literature review of research on CMC collections, this study seeks to raise awareness of the role played by curriculum materials centers in the history of teacher education and the challenges faced by the CMC librarians. The article provides a general overview of the CMC at Long Island University (LIU) Post library and describes local collection development strategies and issues in collection access and maintenance.

Natalia Gelber

Papers

Five Years of Empirical Research in the Area of Technical Services: An Examination of Selected Peer-Reviewed Journals, 2007–2011

Managing a Curriculum Materials Collection: One Academic Library Experience