Course reserve

Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the history, development, and future plans of Northwestern online total integrated system (NOTIS). Northwestern University Library has been and continues to be a pioneer in library automation. The library has developed automated support for ordering materials, receipt recording, fund accounting, cataloging, and controlling circulation, as well as for course reserve services and an online public access catalog. When the NOTIS was first implemented inJanuary1970,it supported circulation, including self-service check-out of items in the collections. Building upon that strong beginning, the library has pursued a steady process of development. Faculty, students, and staff all rely on computer-based services for their library needs. Developments in the NOTIS system continue to utilize advances in technology. The library's systems staffs are involved actively in the Linked Systems Project. As well as implementing the particular applications protocols for exchanging information between library systems, this involves incorporating into NOTIS the standard ISO communications protocols that are the basis for this project.

Abstract: Introduction Now, more than ever, libraries are facing an increased demand for services while budgets shrink. Creating online tutorials is a nice idea, but we need to justify adding this to our already-increasing workload. Nevertheless, tutorials can be used to lighten the load of an increasing demand for library services and can help libraries get in line with current Massively Open Online Courses (MOOCs) education models. Tutorials and Modern Educational Practice Why use tutorials? Video usage has rocketed in the last five years. A 2011 report from the Pew Research Center noted that 71% of online Americans are using sites such as YouTube and Vimeo. This percentage is up 66% from just a year ago. (2) Online tutorials enable libraries to use a familiar format to meet students in places where they are already seeking instruction or information. At the University of Washington Libraries, the tutorials program was created to meet a two-fold need. Firstly, we were undergoing a major website revision and noticed we had many text-heavy web pages of "how-to" instructions, such as on how to access licensed library materials from off-campus. We reformatted these pages into online tutorials. Secondly, there are a number of programs at the university which are offered in the evenings, on weekends, online, or off-site. Students in these programs are often unable to come to the library during our reference hours. (3) Online tutorials were created to be available at the point of need for them. Since this time, tutorials have provided librarians with a number of opportunities to strengthen our instruction program. Topics range from conceptual to tool-based. Conceptual tutorials cover everything from what are uniform titles and how one might use them to locate musical scores, to what is a peer-reviewed journal. Tool-based tutorials are designed to give users an introduction to the basics of locating materials on course reserve through to locating the full text of article by way of an abstracting database such as RILM. All of our online tutorials are captioned to ensure they are ADA-compliant. (4) While captions make our tutorials accessible to everyone, they serve other purposes as well. The University of Washington's Early Fall Start (EFS) (5) program is a month-long, intensive course designed to prepare students for university. Most students enrolled in the EFS program are international students and EFS gives them a chance to hone their written and aural skills prior to embarking on their rigorous Fall courses. When meeting with the faculty and teaching assistants for the EFS program, we found that the faculty shows our tutorials as part of their classroom sessions and that the students love them. The captions are helpful for students who are working on their aural English skills and they can watch the tutorial as many times as needed to make sure they fully understand a concept. In this way, tutorials may be more useful for international students than a face-to-face library instruction workshop. Enrollment numbers for the class of 2012 show 16.9% of the freshman class is made up of international students. (6) These numbers are likely to increase in coming years and tutorials provide an excellent means of connecting international students with library tools and research concepts. Librarians often face instructional challenges for covering a vast amount of content in a short amount of time. Students not only have to understand the quantity and quality of the material in the library but also how they can apply it to their own work. Tutorials provide a means of saving class time by giving the students what amounts to a lecture which they can view in preparation for class discussion or as a follow-up to class work. They can be created to illustrate important tools or concepts related to class material and sent out as assigned viewing prior to the librarian's class workshop. …

Abstract: The constant technological advances require that professionals have, in addition to specific knowledge, skills such as proactivity, initiative, self-learning ability, communication and teamwork. However, in traditional higher education, generally, the focus turns to knowledge acquisition, appearing as an optional activities that encourage such skills. Seeking to narrow the gap between the academic and the job market, is envisioned the Software Engineering (ES) course at UNIPAMPA. The method chosen to support the approximation between theory and practice was the PBL (Problem Based Learning). Besides teaching the basic concepts, the course reserve part of their semester to practice them across disciplines called Problem Solving. In them, students are encouraged to solve a real problem by developing a computer system. Divided into teams, they apply concepts and practices of software engineering and exercise coordination and project development of your team, simulating the environment of a software development company. The aim of this paper is to show how the use of PBL may contribute to both the learning of software engineering, and to encourage professional aimed skills. As a case study, this paper presents the design and operationalization of Problem Solving I, which is offered to freshman students in the ES. Through the returns from the class of 2011, it was realized that even with a preliminary overview of the course, students realized the importance of the use of PBL as a means to bridge the gap between theory and professional practices of software engineering.

Abstract: Introduction: Anticipating the information needs of undergraduate medical students can be challenging, especially within the context of distributed medical education at a satellite campus. The purpose of this study was to evaluate how first- and second-year medical students in the Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick program are using their satellite campus' library services and if they would prefer to use their home institution's electronic collection as opposed to print collections from the satellite campus library. Methods: First- and second-year medical students were asked to complete a paper survey towards the end of their academic year, which focused on background information, study habits, access preferences and tendencies (print book vs. electronic), satisfaction with their physical library space and collection, as well as their likelihood of completing required course readings. Results: Although both groups actually used electronic books more than print, the first-year class stated a preference for print books. Overall students were satisfied with their physical library's services, but were less likely to borrow a book if it is on course reserve. Discussion and Conclusions: When providing library services to undergraduate medical students, it is important to note that their opinions and needs can evolve quickly and be unpredictable. Librarians should consider maintaining a print collection while transitioning to electronic, in keeping with the trends of academic health librarianship.