University Library Faculty Present at IFLA

Helsinki Exhibition & Convention CenterSeveral University of Illinois library faculty presented at the IFLA World Library and Information Congress in Helsinki, Finland held from August 11-17, 2012.  Below are short descriptions of each presentation with links to the full paper.Jim Hahn, Associate Professor at the Undergraduate Library and the Orientation Services & Environments Librarian, and Nate Ryckman, the UGL’s Visiting Research Programmer presented their paper, “Optical Character Recognition Software in Library Mobile Apps, during a session on open source technology and mobile devices use and accessibility. They discussed the prototype of an optical character recognition app that would allow students to more efficiently connect campus assignments with library resources. Hahn and Ryckman are planning to iteratively study how this helps support first-year students as they go about completing their first research assignments.

Myung-Ja Han, Assistant Professor of Library Administration and Metadata Librarian,  presented her paper, “Metadata with Levels of Description: New Challenges to Catalogers and Metadata Librarians,” during the “Inspired Moments in Cataloguing” session. In her paper, she identifies the need for more granular levels of descriptions and access services and discusses the importance of collaboration among catalogers and metadata librarians to develop new metadata schemas. Han also suggests a way to design and create metadata schemas for describing granular levels of resources.

Steve Witt, Associate Professor of Library Administration and Head of the International and Area Studies Library, presented during the international and comparative librarianship session. In his paper, “Agents of Change: International Librarianship, Development, and Globalization Theory,” Witt places the development of international librarianship within the historical development of international non-governmental-organizations and the advent of globalization. He asserts that globalization theories provide useful perspectives from which to research the impact of past and present international library development projects.

Jenny Emanuel, Assistant Professor and Digital Resources and Reference Librarian, presented a poster called “Understanding the Information Seeking Habits of Researchers: A Global Perspective.” This poster presented results from a collaboration with Dow Chemical Company, which allowed librarians and members of Dow’s Technical Information Services (TIS) group to examine the information seeking habits of Dow researchers.

In addition to the presentations above, Lynne M. Rudasill, Global Studies Librarian, was the panel chair for the discussion, “The Strategic View: How Can We Promote Our Common Course.”

Susan Schnuer, Coordinator of the Mortenson Center for International Library Programs and Assistant Professor of Library Administration, co-chaired the IFLA satellite meeting, The Road to Information Literacy: Librarians as Facilitators of Learning in Tampere, Finland from August 8-10, where two Illinois librarians presented. Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe, Coordinator for Information Literacy Services and Instruction and Associate Professor for Library Administration, served as a member of the satellite planning committee and gave two presentations: “Immersive Professional Development for Information Literacy” and “Instructional Design for Information Literacy: Using the ‘Understanding by Design’ Model to Achieve Learner Success.” Merinda Kaye Hensley, Assistant Professor and Instructional Services and Reference Librarian, held a workshop entitled “Best Practices for Using Critical Reflection to Improve Your Teaching.”

Thanks to everyone for your hard work!

 

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