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Information Competency Assessment Initiatives

POSTED: 14 May 2008 - 3:47 pm

The Information Literacy/Fluency Task Force (ILTF) of the University Libraries' Public Services Committee has launched two multi-faceted initiatives to assess and improve the information competencies of UB undergraduate and graduate students.

The first initiative involves creation of an Information Competency Assessment for First-Year Undergraduate Students. Task Force members Cindy Ehlers, Chris Hollister, Karen Walton Morse and Tiffany Walsh, in collaboration with faculty teaching the World Civilizations courses, will develop and integrate an information competency assessment into the course. Task Force members have already developed an "Information Competency Standard for the University at Buffalo's World Civilizations Course" which will serve as the basis for assessing UB students' information literacy skills.

The new program will include three components: Pre-Assessment, Library Instruction, and Post-Assessment. The assessment will be adapted to the calendar and content of each individual section of the course, and will be guided by a rubric based on the Standard. Planning is underway for a Fall 2008 pilot program that will involve 400 students in two sections of the course.

The second initiative will focus on assessment of the information literacy/fluency competencies of graduate and advanced-level undergraduate students, and will encompass three separate efforts:

Discipline-Specific Information Competencies:
Task force members Joe Gerken, Dean Hendrix, Robin Sullivan and Cindi Tysick will work with liaison librarians to familiarize them with existing information competencies in specific academic disciplines and provide assistance in developing competencies for disciplines which do not presently have them.

Library Instruction Assessment Form:
The Task Force will develop a new standardized form to assess whether library instruction influences students. The new form will be available online and in print, and the group is investigating the possibility of having results immediately imported into statistical evaluation packages.

Certificate in Research Literacy:
Consultation for the development of an advanced certificate program, in conjunction with the UB Graduate School of Education, is currently underway. Approximately 14 modules are in development to foster skills in research literacy. It is hoped that a pilot program will be launched within the Graduate School of Education in Fall, 2008.

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Libraries Faculty and Staff Book Authors Honored at UB Celebration

POSTED: 06 May 2008 - 2:04 pm

Four UB librarians and staff members, as well as a former librarian, were honored for books published in 2007-2008 at the University's 'Anthology of Recognition: The Second Annual Salute to UB Authors.' The event was held in the Center for the Arts on May 1, 2008, where UB President, John Simpson, Provost Satish Tripathi, and Vice President for Research, Jorge Jose presided and personally congratulated each author.

In their preface for the event brochure, President Simpson and Provost Tripathi reflect on the scholarship of the authors: 'Your achievements prove that the best scholarship is, at its heart, an act of community-building. Your theories make possible new ways of thinking about problems, some that are as old as humanity itself. And your innovations help to improve the quality of life for individuals and communities the world over.'

Librarians and staff honored and their books:

Dr. Michael Basinski
Curator of the Poetry Collection
All My Eggs Are Broken. Blaze Vox, 2007.
Of Venus 93. Little Scratch Pad Editions, 2007.
Welcome to the Alphabet. Red Fox Press, 2008.

Diane Marie Ward
Instructional Support Technician, Special Collections
The Complete RFID Handbook: A Manual and DVD for Assessing, Implementing, and Managing Radio Frequency Identification Technologies in Libraries. Neal-Schuman Publishers, 2007.

Elizabeth Adelman
Associate Director, Law Library
Georgia Legal Research. Carolina Academic Press, 2007.

Dr. James Maynard, editor
Visiting Senior Assistant Librarian, Poetry Collection
Dr. Robert Bertholf, editor
Librarian Emeritus
An edition of Robert Duncan's Ground Work: Before the War/In the Dark. New Directions Press, 2006

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Dr. Diane Rein Joins the UB Libraries

POSTED: 05 May 2008 - 10:58 am

Dr. Diane Rein, Ph.D. and MSLIS, joins the faculty of the University Libraries on May 1, 2008. She is the UB Libraries' specialist/liaison to the Bioinformatics and Molecular Biology research community. In this position, she is based at the Health Sciences Library on the UB South Campus and she also has office space at the Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences on the Buffalo-Niagara Medical Campus in downtown Buffalo. Her expertise and liaison services are, however, available to faculty and graduate students in these disciplines on all three UB campuses.

Dr. Rein brings over 35 years of scientific research experience to this position, including masters, doctoral and postgraduate fellowship training and faculty appointments in cell biology, developmental biology, and molecular/biochemical genetics at the University of Cincinnati, Stanford University, and the Baylor College of Medicine. Her degree in library and information science is from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Most recently, Dr. Rein has been Assistant Life Sciences Librarian and Molecular Biosciences Specialist at Purdue University where she focused on the information resources and information management training needs of these research disciplines.

Dr. Rein has been recognized nationally for her expertise as a biotechnology information resources consultant and trainer. She was appointed as a visiting scholar at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) at the National Library of Medicine, part of the National Institutes of Health. Her curriculum vitae includes 16 peer-reviewed articles in molecular biology and genetics and 10 more peer-reviewed articles in library and information science. Over her career, she has received over $1.4 million in research grant support as a principle investigator or co-PI.

The Libraries and the University look forward to the new expertise and services she will provide for the research/medical community here at UB. The Libraries encourage faculty and researchers to become acquainted with Dr. Rein. Her email address is drein@buffalo.edu, and her telephone is 829-3900 x113.

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Law Library - Limited Access

POSTED: 28 April 2008 - 5:49 pm

Access to the Law Library will be limited to law students, law faculty, and law school staff from Monday, May 5, 2008 through Friday, May 16, 2008.

Researchers who require use of law library materials during this period may be admitted at the front door, on a case-by-case basis, at the discretion of the Law Library staff.

Contact the Law Library Reference Desk at 645-2047 for further information.

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New Service for Faculty

POSTED: 25 April 2008 - 09:56 am

The University at Buffalo Libraries will now deliver articles and books to faculty at the Center of Excellence and the Hauptman Woodward Institute on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus. This fast and convenient service includes:
  • Journal articles available from your desktop
  • Books delivered to your office
  • Worldwide access to materials not owned at UB

SIGN UP TODAY
Register for an ILLiad account:
http://ulilliad.lib.buffalo.edu/illiad
(Include COE or HWI as part of your departmental designation.)

For more information, contact the UB Libraries Document Delivery Services

Phone: (716) 829-3900 ext 116
Phone: (716) 645-2814 ext 443
Email: hslids@buffalo.edu

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