The use of virtual or Web-based tours is on the rise in academic libraries, but with the loss of face-to-face contact and direct experience with the library's physical spaces, questions abound about this format's efficacy. Do online tour experiences measure up to those of a guided, face-to-face tour? Do online tours help mold students' perceptions…

Among librarians, government information has a reputation for being a valuable but underused resource. A literature review of undergraduate citation studies, however, reveals that the use of government information has apparently increased so much for some subject areas that, after books and journals, it has become one of the most frequently used…

Teaching students the difference between good and bad information has become increasingly more difficult for librarians and other educators. While tools exist to help students to understand how to determine good and bad online information (Web site evaluation forms, techniques to link back to Web site owners, etc.), the reality is that most…

Federated search products are becoming more and more prevalent in academic libraries. What are the implications of this phenomenon for instruction librarians? An analysis of federated search products using the "Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education" and a thorough review of the literature offer insight concerning whether…

Twenty-six scholarly papers and ten abstracts comprise the content of the thirteenth annual Brick and Click Libraries Symposium, held annually at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Missouri. The proceedings, authored by academic librarians and presented at the symposium, portray the contemporary and future face of librarianship. The…

A three-year study at the University of Alabama compared a traditional lecture method for teaching library research skills with a course-integrated, computer-enhanced approach by assessing each method's impact on the quality of bibliographies from engineering students' term papers. In four of the five semesters, no significant differences were…

To make the most of a library, read and read and read. Here's a sure remedy for the television habit: pile a stack of library books on the television set and next time, instead of turning on a program, reach for a book. Some people limit themselves to reading current bestsellers, but the library is full of yesterday's bestsellers which are still…

Since its founding in 1978, the Bibliographic Instruction Section (BIS) of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) has published an annual guide that serves as the organizational handbook and directory of BIS officers and committee members. This directory opens with a capsule history of the origins and early years of BIS written…

This text is intended as a guide for searching ERIC using the SilverPlatter CD-ROM database. The text describes the content and function of the ERIC database and demonstrates fundamental search techniques by following an example of a successful ERIC computer search. The search begins with the choice of a topic, the formulation of a search…

This handbook was prepared for the officers and committee members of the ACRL (Association of College and Research Libraries) Bibliographic Instruction Section (BIS). Introductory material by Mimi Dudley and James W. Hart traces the history of bibliographic instruction (BI) and the development of BIS. Following a brief discussion of how to get…

Designed to acquaint Pennsylvania State University students at the Delaware County Campus with the facilities and resources of their library, this workbook on library skills is designed for use with English 15, and its mandatory completion is incorporated into the final course grade. It is organized into exercises dealing with types of materials…

Designed primarily for use by first-time searchers, this workbook provides an overview of online searching. Following a brief introduction which defines online searching, databases, and database producers, five steps in carrying out a successful search are described: (1) identifying the main concepts of the search statement; (2) selecting a…

This workbook in library skills is designed to acquaint students with the facilities and resources of the North Dakota State University Library. Each chapter includes a brief discussion of the topic and a worksheet. The following topics are covered: (1) library tour; (2) the online catalog; (3) term and subject searches using the online catalog;…

This handbook was prepared for the officers and committee members of the ACRL (Association of College and Research Libraries) Bibliographic Instruction Section (BIS). Published annually, the handbook details the organizational structure of BIS, provides procedural information, and highlights section activities and resources. In addition, the…