The paper describes the theory and definition of the practice of librarianship, specifically addressing how Web 2.0 technologies (tools) such as synchronous messaging, collaborative reference service and streaming media, blogs, wikis, social networks, social bookmarking tools, tagging, RSS feeds, and mashups might intimate changes and how…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe a theoretically based coding framework for an integrated analysis and assessment of critical thinking in online discussion. Design/methodology/approach: The critical thinking assessment framework (TAF) is developed through review of theory and previous research, verified by comparing results to…

Just as participation in social networking has grown, so has media coverage of inappropriate activity online. Teacher-student relationships and cyberbullying are just a few of the stories that seem to make the news on a regular basis. For educators, this is particularly troubling, considering how few students know what is appropriate when using…

A community of practice provides a forum for professionals to exchange ideas and discuss concerns related to the profession. Within this forum, technology can eliminate many of the constraints face-to-face communities of practice encounter by providing a convenient and highly interactive environment. A description of how to set up an online…

There is a growing interest in making available and making sense of the data on the Web and trapped in databases. Rather than a web of unstructured documents, full of information understandable only to humans, there is a movement whose intention is to make these data structured, reusable, machine-readable, and interrelated. This approach to Web…

Current technology enables schools to provide remote or virtual computing labs that can be implemented in multiple ways ranging from remote access to banks of dedicated workstations to sophisticated access to large-scale servers hosting virtualized workstations. This paper reports on the implementation of a specific lab using remote access to…

This working paper provides an initial discussion point for the construction of a national location service as a component of a national library and information service network. The study described had a dual purpose: (1) expansion of the Register of Additional Locations (RAL) data base by cooperative means, which involved identifying…

The Message Delivery System described, a facility that will link automatic bibliographic services and permit the transmission of messages among the various services, is one of the basic requirements for the development of a comprehensive computerized bibliographic system of nationwide scope. The system will enable users of one system to have…

Describes the databases available to Canadian libraries through the Canadian Selective Dissemination of Information (CAN/SDI) Program: Library of Congress/MARC tapes, ERIC, Social Science Citation Index, and Psychological Abstracts. The CAN/SDI program is useful for the school librarian and teacher in the special profiles and online retrospective…

This discussion of the design, development, and operation of information systems functioning at the national or international level focuses on some of the current interests and concerns of those networks designed to facilitate the sharing or exchange of particular types of nonprint media (NPM) materials. Three categories of NPM materials/resources…

Describes the objectives, testing, procedures, and effects on document delivery systems of the OCLC interlibrary loan (ILL) subsystem, an uncoordinated national ILL network which provides users with immediate access to the OCLC On-Line Union Catalog, the ILL Transaction File, and the ILL Message Waiting File. (CWM)

Many libraries are using co-browsing chat products to provide reference services to their patrons, whilst their patrons are online and using the internet. The concept of such an online service is highly desirable, but many libraries are concerned that they will never be able to afford such a system. This may have changed: Instant Messaging (IM)…

This monograph is an overview of the present and possible future trends in networking, the use of computer communications technology to facilitate the sharing of information and computer resources over great distances. The text reviews networks already being used by universities to share instructional resources and computing ability, and by…

This network planning paper discusses creation and maintenance of authority files as one of the essential components of bibliographic control, which is a prerequisite to the access of information. Authority files impose consistency on the organization of information and thereby greatly facilitate information retrieval. In the creation of a union…

Telecomputing means using a computer that is connected to the Internet or an online service. Examples of how some students use this technology are presented. Illinois high school students design their own science experiments. At a middle school in New Jersey, home and school links and small group collaborative learning are enhanced through…