Volume 40, Number 4 - July/August 2016
EDITORIALFrontLines Page 4 Sometimes the knowledge gleaned from our research is amplified by the knowledge ingrained in us by personal experiences. By Marydee Ojala Searcher's Voice Page 25 bq's musings are "guided" by the demise of a venerable ALA publication much revered by at least one longtime searcher. As bq looks at what caused the end of Guide to Reference Sources (print and online), she takes heart in other options, such as Google Books and OCLC's Find in a Library, and wonders why advertising is seen as such a bad option. By Barbara Quint DEPARTMENTSPage 51 Conference Corral AIIP Makes a Pit Stop FEATURESPage 42` Business Development for Law Firms: Opportunities for Information Professionals Law firms are, of course, in the business of practicing law. But to do so, they need clients. Business development presents interesting opportunities for information professionals. They contribute to their firm's viability by creating company profiles, biographies, litigation assessments, and topical summaries. By Jennifer Brown Wegman Page 10  The U.S. is awash with nonprofit organizations. All those who volunteer with a nonprofit, take a board position, or interact in some other fashion need to pay attention to the legal, ethical, and financial health of the organization. Taking a leadership role usually encompasses more than you think it will. Hence, this handy outline of resources can support your involvement with nonprofits. By Jocelyn Sheppard Page 14 Tagging Content Information professionals excel at metadata assignment, taxonomy building, and tagging content. Barbie Keiser reviews the many options available to help with thesaurus management and auto-tagging and the companies that supply them. By Barbie E. Keiser Page 22 Setting the Research Agenda With Open Scientific Datasets Scientific research generates data, lots of data. The emphasis on data over text and the increasing availability of open access data sets are changing the research agenda. How we search and what we search, when it comes to datasets, require a new mindset and an awareness of different types of scientific data repositories. By Matthew Von Hendy Page 30 App Overload If you are feeling overwhelmed by mobile apps, there's a good reason for it: Last year, Apple and Google had more than 1.5 million apps for sale. Luckily, mobile expert Nicole Hennig shares tips to help you maneuver to find the apps that are most "app"-ropos for your needs. By Nicole Hennig Page 34 Where should a searcher go to find out about monetary policy, banking, consumer finance, the U.S. economy, and related subjects? Susan Fingerman points you to the richest websites possible: those making up the Federal Reserve System. As well as profiling the main site, she highlights what makes the content of each of the Fed Banks unique. By Susan Fingerman Page 46 Diesel engine retrofitting might not be the most thrilling topic but, as with any industry research, there is much to learn about sources and search techniques that are transferable to other industries. Get on the road again and learn from Karen Klein's research experience. By Karen Klein COLUMNSInternet Express Page 27 From the age of cholera (which is still a big problem wherever sanitation is an issue) to the Zika virus, Irene McDermott reviews disease outbreaks that have caused devastation the world over. She provides searchers with some of the best sources of up-to-date information to keep track of current outbreaks and what may lurk on the horizon. By Irene E. McDermott On the Net Page 54 Link Searching The web is built on links. Greg Notess reviews the basics of link searching, discusses what has changed, and makes suggestions about strategies to employ. Although many link analysis tools are aimed at marketing, information professionals can also profit from them. By Greg R. Notess The Dollar Sign Page 57 Studying Case Studies Harvard pioneered the case method of teaching and its Case Studies are in great demand by business professors. But Harvard is not the only originator of Case Studies. Other universities produce them; SAGE has a new database of Business Cases; and librarians can help professors write their own. By Marydee Ojala The Open Road Page 60 Open Peer Review: The Next Wave in Open Knowledge? Peer review, that unsung and underappreciated element of scholarly publishing, is gaining new respectability as open peer review becomes part of the open knowledge movement. With transparency, open peer reviewers should be able to positively contribute to scholarly communication. By Abby Clobridge InfoLit Land Page 63 A Letter From a Librarian to Professors Everywhere Online Searcher's information literacy expert writes an open letter to professors, acting as an advocate for students confused by assignments, unclear on the concept of scholarly research, and scared to admit their lack of understanding to their professors. Librarians and professors have in common their desire to help students do the best work they can. By William Badke Control-Shift Page 66 Checking In on the Intranet Intranets need as much update love as public-facing websites. Library webmasters, however, tend to concentrate more on the latter than the former. Whether your intranet runs on SharePoint or another platform, it should be subject to regular review and freshening. By Jeff Wisniewski Hard Copy Page 69 Recommended Reading on Marketing, Digital Detecting, Library Instruction, and Storytelling By Deborah Lynne Wiley Online Spotlight Page 72 Hiding the Power Tools of Search Mary Ellen Bates recommends we not overlook search syntax, the complexity of which is frequently hidden in advanced search, while a simple user interface is presented initially. Those hidden power tools are essential to professional searching. By Mary Ellen Bates |
