Note: full text for these articles will appear on the Taylor & Francis Informaworld platform in Fall, 2009
Transcending Library Catalogs: A Comparative Study of Controlled Terms in LCSH and User-Generated Tags in LibraryThing for Transgender Books
by Melissa Adler
Abstract
Perhaps the greatest power of folksonomies, especially when set against controlled vocabularies like the Library of Congress Subject Headings, lies in their capacity to empower user communities to name their own resources in their own terms. This paper analyzes the potential and limitations of both folksonomies and controlled vocabularies for transgender materials by analyzing the subject headings in WorldCat records and the user-generated tags in LibraryThing for books with transgender themes. A close examination of the subject headings and tags for twenty books on transgender topics reveals a disconnect between the language used by people who own these books and the terms authorized by the Library of Congress and assigned by catalogers to describe and organize transgender-themed books. The terms most commonly assigned by users are far less common or nonexistent in WorldCat. The folksonomies also provide spaces for a multiplicity of representations, including a range of gender expressions, whereas these entities are often absent from LCSH and WorldCat. While folksonomies are democratic and respond quickly to shifts and expansions of categories, they lack control and may inhibit findability of resources. Neither tags nor subject headings are perfect systems by themselves, but they may complement each other well in library catalogs. Bringing users' voices into catalogs through the addition of tags might greatly enhance organization, representation, and retrieval of transgender-themed materials.
Keywords
folksonomies, Library of Congress Subject Headings, controlled vocabularies, transgender, tagging, gender, queer, LibraryThing, Social Network Sites
An Analysis of Undergraduate Students' Search Behaviors in an Information Literacy Class
by Hsin-Liang Chen
ABSTRACT. The purpose of this project was to investigate how students’ search strategies changed over the course of a semester-long information literacy class. Data collection included four different paper questionnaires corresponding to course content in the Spring 2008 semester. Seventy-seven participants completed the questionnaires and course work in the class. Results showed that participants’ demographics did not have any impact on their selection of search keywords. While participants reported better search experiences with more search keywords, they were not able to develop more sophisticated search keywords after receiving more instruction and search experience. The participants who did develop more sophisticated search keywords had better search experiences and a higher rate of satisfaction with their research results. Future studies should examine what enabled these participants to develop more sophisticated search keywords.
KEYWORDS: information literacy, information and computer literacy, higher education, educational standards, search strategies, undergraduate students, academic libraries
Hacking Blackboard: Customizing Access to Library Resources through the Blackboard Course Management System
by Lynda M. Kellam, Richard Cox, and Hannah Winkler
ABSTRACT. Academic libraries have long been trying to gain access to users through their favorite online spaces, such as social networking sites. In this article, we detail the project at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro’s University Libraries which integrated library resources within our campus course management system, Blackboard. Our main objective was to push the best resources to our students based on their actual needs. For years we created static HTML Web pages, but the proliferation of these pages required tremendous maintenance. In addition we cannot be certain our students are able to access the most relevant resources buried deep in our Web site. Because of these challenges, we created the Course Resources Tool and the Library Resources Portal to provide high levels of customization based on information we gathered from users as they log in to Blackboard. We have been able to customize our tools so our subject specialist liaisons can integrate library resources at the major, department, course, and course section levels. Despites some difficulties in launching and promoting these projects, we have received positive feedback. We have also seen an increase in usage statistics that rivals the use of the library’s main Web site. In this article, we describe the tools, document the difficulties with each phase of the project, and discuss the lessons learned. We also provide a brief overview of possible expansions of the Blackboard Course Resources Tool and the Library Resources Portal.
Keywords: Blackboard,
course resources,
academic libraries,
course management systems (CMS),
web application,
integration,
customization,
subject specialist,
Google,
library 2.0,
ASP.NET,
Web services,
Research guides,
Subject guides