School of Library and Information Science

1.       To improve the practice of librarianship, information professionals conduct studies of users and assessments of services using various methods. For a library or information service setting of your choice, select an aspect of library operations that you think is important to study. Discuss and justify two methods you would use to plan and conduct the study. Outline your process for planning, preparing, and conducting your study. Finally, explain how you would use the results of your study to improve your operations. Include references to the literature as appropriate.

 

2.       An increasing number of libraries are now using social networking and collaborative tools to connect with patrons. These tools include social networking sites, Twitter, social tagging tools, and wikis. Select one of these tools. Define it. For a library or information service setting of your choosing, describe how you would apply this tool to enhance library services. Explain one important benefit this tool has for patrons. Also, describe one technical challenge and one management challenge that your library or information service would face when implementing this tool. Include references to the literature as appropriate.

 

3.       Compare and contrast controlled vocabulary and uncontrolled keywords. Discuss the strengths and limitations of these two approaches for information organization and information retrieval. Describe an information system that uses both controlled vocabulary and uncontrolled keywords. Explain how it uses them. Include references to the literature as appropriate.

 

4.       Michael Buckland posits a three-fold definition of information: “information-as-process”, “information–as-knowledge” and “information-as-thing.” Explain each definition, contrast them, and provide an example for each. In an information service setting where you might work, select one definition of information and explain how it will apply to your work. Include two examples to illustrate your answer. Include references to the literature as appropriate.

 

5.       Innovation and change are constants for librarians and information professionals. They create information literacy instructional modules, design and re-design websites, field new media applications, upgrade library management systems, design and renovate physical facilities. In all these activities, project management is necessary. For a library or information service setting of your choosing, compare and contrast the steps in planning, development, and implementation of any two of these innovations. Include references to the literature as appropriate.

 

6.       Two historically common measures of library success have been the library's total expenditures and patron counts, such as the number of patrons entering the front door of the library, or the number visiting the reference desk.   Explain how these two measures may provide an accurate view of the library and how they may provide a skewed view of the library. As a manager in a library or information services setting of your choice, discuss two philosophical issues or factors you would take into account in developing measures and evaluations for your operation. Include references to the literature as appropriate.

 

7.       Information technology has affected the field of library and information science in many ways. Do you think that librarianship has become largely a technocratic profession? In your answer, discuss the importance of technology skills in the work of librarians and compare and contrast the technology skills of librarians with (other) information technology workers. Include references to the literature as appropriate.

 

8.       One of the important missions of libraries and archives is the preservation of knowledge and information resources. Historically, have libraries and archives been successful at this mission? In your answer, discuss specific historical examples. Do you think the prospects for preservation are improving, or declining, as more and more information is “born digital” and exists only in digital form? Describe two specific factors or initiatives that have had an impact on the prospects for preservation. Include references to the literature as appropriate.

 

9.       Online public access catalogs, periodical indexes and databases, and free Web search engines are examples of information retrieval (IR) systems. Select two of these tools. Compare and contrast them in terms of 1) the types of materials indexed by the IR system, 2) how the material is indexed, and 3) how they enable users to access the information contained within them. Describe one way in which the capabilities or characteristics of these systems are converging and explain why this is happening. Include references to the literature as appropriate.

 

10.   The current “Google Books” case has focused the world’s attention on the relationships among authors and intellectual property holders, public sector librarians, and for-profit companies like Google. Both Google and librarians claim the mission “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” Discuss two essential interests and values that librarians must insist upon and safeguard in any public-private partnership such as the Google Books project. What are the impacts on society if these interests and values are not protected? Include references to the literature as appropriate.