School of Library and Information Science

COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION
March 2006

1. What causes "information overload" and what would indicate that it is having an impact on your
   clientele? How can professionals respond to, reduce, or prevent information overload in users of information services?
   
2. Define information literacy. Discuss how a population that is information literate behaves compared to one that isn't.
   
3. Describe two existing technology standards relevant to libraries and information service communities. Include in your description the primary characteristics and properties of standards in general, and of these two standards in particular. Also discuss the role and impact of standards on designing, implementing, and utilizing information systems.
   
4. Federated search technology enables library users to search multiple, heterogeneous electronic resources all at once. Compare and contrast conducting a federated search on library systems with a Web search using meta-search engines. Your discussion should indicate your understanding of all the terms mentioned above and should identify differences in regard to sources/content searched, the search and retrieval processes, and the final results.
   
5. Recently a newspaper reporter suggested that a bookstore and the Internet are taking the place of libraries. Take any position in this you choose. Support your position by drawing on the literature you've read, the classes you've taken, and the views you've formed on the future of libraries and information services.
   
6. In what sense does the World Wide Web function as a library? In what sense does it not function as a library?
   
7. When libraries acquire digital information resources, they generally license rights from vendors, rather than purchasing the resources outright. Why is this distinction important? What rights do libraries typically obtain in these transactions, and what rights do they not obtain?
   
8. Three of the findings of recent OCLC studies are "Users are not aware of the electronic resources libraries make freely available." "Users are as comfortable using Web information sources as library resources." "The library brand is dated." Assume that you are working for a library that has found this to be true among your potential constituencies. Describe the action steps you as a staff member recommend and explain why they are important and who on the staff should take responsibility for enactment.
   
9. Even though key word searching has many advantages and is commonly used, in the year 2006, the library community still spends a huge amount of money to provide subject headings to most of the material indexed in their Online Public Access Catalogs. Why? Provide three advantages to searching an OPAC with subject headings. Provide concrete examples to illustrate benefits of each of your delineated advantages.
   
10. You are assigned to create information infrastructure for a rural village in Africa, which now has only a limited educational facility. What kinds of policies would you make with regard to sources and services; intellectual and physical access; educational and community programs; networking; global knowledge base; and local cultural heritage preservation?