Volume 44, Number 4 - July/August 2020
EDITORIALFrontLines Page 4 The sudden shift to remote working—I know people who had only a few hours' notice to leave their offices and they haven't been back in 3 months—invites malfeasance. By Marydee Ojala The Searcher's Viewpoint Page 29 We are accustomed to learning about new tools. We have a strong desire to meet with our communities of users across all types of libraries and to be helpful. This is what we do. By Michael Casey, Michael Stephens DEPARTMENTSPage 8 Search Engine Update By Greg R. Notess Page 31 Conference Corral Conferences Go Online By Marydee Ojala FEATURESPage 10 Physical maps were a necessity when you had your feet propped up on your car's dash and you were ready for your road trip to who knows where. Modern information technology has added so much value to maps beyond getting from one place to another. Digital maps can be used to chart countries and decades against music, look at water or trails, see the history of cities, trace hunger and neighborhoods, and even learn about witches. Internet guru Tara Calishain gives pointers for rethinking maps. By Tara Calishain Page 18 Engaging Library Student Workers in User Experience At the University of California-Santa Cruz, Jess Waggoner has watched her job in web services evolve from strictly technology-focused to creating content better aligned with patron needs. Employing dedicated staff for this purpose was not an option, so Waggoner enlisted the aid of students, hiring for library usability student assistant positions. She walks through the procedure of creating user flows and personas, doing usability testing, making journey maps, and implementation. By Jess Waggoner Page 22 It's astonishing how much the news business has changed within the past few years; the most striking of which has affected local news. Traditional news outlets are disappearing, hedge funds are investing in newspapers (often with disastrous results for readers), and algorithms are taking over what once were human functions. Librarian Amy Affelt considers what is happening with community news, along with the consequences for information professionals. By Amy Affelt COLUMNSInternet Express Page 33 Open Source Technology and Online Instruction During the Lockdown When life as we knew it came to a screeching halt in mid-March due to the pandemic, all types of libraries had to deliver much needed services to their communities and patrons and in a much different manner. Carly Lamphere looks at how libraries rose to the challenge with a bevvy of online resources and dedicated staff. By Carly Lamphere InfoLit Land Page 36 Evidence and the Search for Truth A growing nightmare for information literacy teaching is controversy over authority of information. The same pieces of evidence result in differing and highly polarized interpretations. The notion of critical thinking to evaluate information is becoming less common. If there is a search for truth, it has become a search for personal truths, which are many and varied. By William Badke The Dollar Sign Page 40 To Market, to Market to Buy a Report: Market Research Report Quality Measures The market for market research reports, sometimes known as market studies, is strong. Prepackaged reports based on primary research are a staple of academic library collections, while one-off purchasing of reports is more common elsewhere. What is disturbing is the number of spurious reports from unknown research companies sporting dubious research methodologies that populate web search results. By Marydee Ojala Metrics Mashup Page 42 Altmetrics Gamesmanship Gaming the impact metrics system is not restricted to traditional impact factor manipulation. Elaine Lasda notes that, sadly, the problem of fraud occurs in altmetrics indicators as well. She investigates what happens when authors try to game the system that uses tweets, blogs, news, and other social media as impact factors. By Elaine M. Lasda Hard Copy Page 45 Recommended Reading on Learning Commons, Copyright, and Reference Services By Jennifer A. Bartlett Online Spotlight Page 48 Helping Everyone Play FAIR Mary Ellen Bates outlines the concepts behind the call for data and metadata to be FAIR—findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable—and looks at the info pro's role in creating and maintaining FAIR data and workflow. By Mary Ellen Bates |
