Current Cites for July 2020 (Final)

 

Current Cites for July 2020 is out! You can find the issue here...

The issue is noteworthy for a couple of reasons: first that well-known library star Roy Tennant was ending his decade-long record as editor. My contribution was the featuring of two articles, one a snapshot of life as librarians in this age of COVID-19 and the other an interesting review of information literacy from the 1970s till now.

In addition, I'll be joining Roy in concluding my decade-long contribution. More and more my interests and activities are in library reference. Less tech and more public service -- that's the ticket! So bye-bye Current Cites! It's been a good -- very good -- run!

Current Cites for Feb. 2020

 

Current Cites for Feb 2020 is out! You can find the issue here...

Wrote about an interesting study that looked at the characteristics of transfer students at the undergrad level. Rang a bell.

Current Cites for Sept. 2019

 Current Cites for Sept. 2019 is out! You can find the issue here...

Usability studies on the effectiveness of library research guides are popping up all over the place. The one I recommended appeared in the latest issue of Information Technology and Libraries. Naturally in the meantime another example popped up -- this one in the latest issue of Journal of Web Librarianship. Hot topic!

Current Cites for Aug. 2019

 Current Cites for Aug. 2019 is out! You can find the issue here...

Being the beginning of the academic year, I thought it'd be appropriate to write about an article on the future of academic libraries.

Current Cites for Dec. 2018

 Current Cites for Dec. 2018 is out! You can find the issue here...

I wrote about a library research project where the investigators decided to scrap everything and go back to the drawing board. Highly unusual (at least for published accounts).

Current Cites for Oct. 2018

Current Cites for Oct. 2018 is out! You can find the issue here...

I recommended an article on a new initiative from Europe promoting open access journals. Given the high cost of research journals and databases, this kind of topic is always interesting. In fact, the original link to this article was forwarded by a colleague where I work.

Current Cites for June 2018

Current Cites for June 2018 is out! You can find the issue here...

I wrote about an interesting usability study published in Journal of Web Librarianship measuring the effectiveness of library research guides. I guess the best take-away from the article might be, 'know your audience'. 

Current Cites for May 2018

 

Current Cites for May 2018 is out! You can find the issue here...

MIT Technology Review devoted its entire May/June issue to blockchain and cryptocurrency. It's something that's getting a whole lot of press so if ever there was a opportunity to actually read anything on it, this is it.

Current Cites for February 2018

 Current Cites for February 2018 is out! You can find the issue here...

Being involved with Citation management at DPU, I found an interesting study which actually polled faculty as to what system they use. Although the response rate wasn't great, it is a good example -- at least a beginning -- for evaluating reality in these services.

Current Cites for December 2017

Current Cites for December 2017 is out! You can find the issue here...

It's the end of year update and I was already in holiday mode so naturally I went with an article on (what else?) Twitter. Fun and academic at the same time, you might say.

Current Cites for May 2017

Current Cites for May 2017 is out! You can find the issue here...

I couldn't resist recommending something non-library this month -- an interview with Tim Berners Lee, inventor of the WWW. His advice for "young computer scientists" was what you might expect from a true innovator, namely, "ignoring conventional wisdom and following their own instincts."

Current Cites for Apr. 2017

Current Cites for Apr. 2017 is out! You can find the issue here...

The article I recommended almost seemed like an April Fool's joke when I first saw the title, "The Rewards of Predatory Publications at a Small Business School". But nope, it was serious -- the argument being, if you don't understand the 'incentives', you won't know how to counter them. Um, okay.

Current Cites for Jan. 2017

 Current Cites for Jan. 2017 is out! You can find the issue here...

Current Cites for Sept. 2016

Current Cites for Sept. 2016 is out! You can find the issue here...

This month I recommended a helpful article from the Journal of Web Librarianship that discussed the use of Google Analytics to improve library website design.

Current Cites for July 2016

 Current Cites for July 2016 is out! You can find the issue here...

This month I recommended an article describing an innovative 'beacon-based' navigation system which opened with this excellent piece of advice, "...as with other technologies before it, usefulness does not magically emerge from implementing new technology; rather, it is the culmination of a comprehensive plan for merging technical know-how with business knowledge or user-generated content."

Current Cites for April 2016

 

Current Cites for April 2016 is out! You can find the issue here...

This month I recommended a rather enjoyable research article that looked at focus groups involving college students and their searching habits -- a situation rather familiar to those of us fortunate enough to work in public service. Included were lines like, "few students were aware of what a 'subject librarian' was".

Current Cites for March 2016

 

Current Cites for March 2016 is out! You can find the issue here...

This month I recommended an article that took text-based content analysis and applied it to tweets from the Twitter accounts of 10 different academic libraries. Interesting results.

Current Cites for January 2016

 

Current Cites for January 2016 is out! You can find the issue here...

Starting the year out right. I pointed to the "big anniversary issue" coming from the Journal of Electronic Publishing (JEP) celebrating its 20th year as an open access journal.

Current Cites for November 2015

 Current Cites for November 2015 is out! You can find the issue here...

I recommended an article titled, "When IT No Longer Remains Anonymous -- For All the Right Reasons" (EDUCAUSE Review). It looks at two approaches to academic IT depts. -- one reactive (okay) and the other pro-active (better).

Current Cites for September 2015

 

Current Cites for September 2015 is out! You can find the issue here...

I recommended an article from Computers In Libraries that's near and dear to anyone who's experienced the same on a website they've managed, namely "Hacked! Lessons Learned From An URL Injection".