Tuesday 25 May 2010

Rethink! Learning styles debunked

Rethink! Learning styles debunked
Latest research now contradicts long held beliefs about different learning styles and utilising them to create the best learning environment. Find out more about learning styles and see where you sit in this debate.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091216162356.htm

Monday 24 May 2010

In Praise of Librarians

From a professor of English, a nice article for the start of the week.
Selected quotes below (but do read the whole article, it's well considered in its positivity about our work).

"highly professional guides who can lead us through an increasingly tangled bank of information, librarians provide a voice of caution in a period when drastic, irreversible change seems like an easy fix for a concatenation of expensive institutional ailments."

"In my experience, librarians almost always pass the beer test: They are among the most likeable people you'll find at any college. They have the intellectual curiosity of academics without the aloofness and attitude often displayed by professors. If you are a stranger on a strange campus, the one person who will always save you is a librarian. "

"...libraries are becoming "the new village green." Far from being the declining years of these revered institutions, the present offers new opportunities for collaboration and democratization with the library—and librarians—at the center of that experience."

http://chronicle.com/article/Marian-the-Cybrarian/65570/

Tuesday 18 May 2010

More on the Google Books Settlement

Publishing executive turned industry consultant Michael Cairns has prepared a useful report which makes some well informed predictions about how the Google books project might play out, particularly interesting from our perspective are the predictions on pricing and how important the product might become for academic and research libraries.

If you're not up to date with what the Google Books settlement is, the the first couple of pages of the report are an excellent synopsis of the background and legal issues at stake.

Summary Findings of the Report:

* Libraries will see tremendous advantages – both immediate and over time - from the GBS, although concerns have been voiced (notably from Robert Darnton of Harvard)
* Google’s annual subscription revenue for licensing to libraries could approach $260mm by year three of launch
* Over time, publishers (and content owners) will recognize the GBS service as an effective way to reach the library community and are likely to add titles to the service
* Google will add services and may open the platform for other application providers to enhance and broaden the user experience
* The manner in which the GBS deals with orphan works will provide a roadmap for other communities of ‘orphans’ in photography, arts, and similar content and intellectual property


http://personanondata.blogspot.com/2010/04/database-of-riches-business-model.html