It is imperative that the 21st century population develops media literacy competence at several levels. Schools possess a crucial role in achieving these competencies and as such, teachers need to be equipped with effective methods and training. "Promoting Global Competencies Through Media Literacy" is an advanced reference publication…

Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn: it's difficult enough to keep abreast of social media Web sites, let alone understand how they fit into today's library. This practical resource brings together current information on the topic in a concise format that's easy to digest. Laura Solomon is a librarian with more than a decade of experience in Web…

Building a personal learning network (PLN) for intellectual freedom has long been an important role of a school librarian; however, in the steadily increasing onslaught of digital information that librarians face today, and in the future, the task has become mission-critical. Personal learning, it stands to reason, requires an appropriate dialogue…

To assume the role of technology leaders and information literacy specialists in their schools, librarians need access to the most current information. And, they do this by helping each other. There are many definitions, but professional learning networks (PLNs) involve sharing work-related ideas with a network of colleagues via various digital…

Social media now offer a fresh opportunity to enliven the learning process. But to gain traction, they will have to prove their relevance. Librarians are quite vocal in advocating for the preservation of human interaction around digital media; one might say that it is their charge to be certain that the human factors within digital libraries are…

This study examined the homepages of the libraries of 175 smaller bachelor of arts institutions, coding for the presence of 98 design elements. By reporting and examining the frequency of these features, the authors noted what is and is not common practice at these libraries. They found that only fourteen elements were present on at least half of…

Rare is the inspirational, spontaneous, transformative moment shared among 20 million people. In the summer of 2010, people around the world were moved by the sighting of a double rainbow--almost a triple rainbow--"all the way across the sky" in Yosemite National Park. Caught on video and posted to by YouTube by Paul Vasquez in January 2010, the…

Librarians face many challenges when dealing with issues of privacy within the mediated space of social networking sites. Conceptually, social networking sites differ from libraries on privacy as a value. Research about Generation Y students, the primary clientele of undergraduate libraries, can inform librarians' relationship to this important…

The very nature of information seeking in today's world suggests that credibility is an important factor in how one goes about seeking and using information. The proliferation of Web-based resources and the ability for nearly anyone to publish on the Web force individuals to make judgments of quality and authority as they flow on- and offline in…

Since its widespread public adoption in the 1990s, the internet has inextricably woven itself into every facet of human existence, influencing and in some ways reshaping every aspect of modern life--people's communication patterns, the way people seek information, the way people think, and, in some instances, the way people act. It is highly…

In recent years, libraries have made efforts to create games, often for the purpose of information literacy instruction. Games can provide an interactive alternative to traditional instruction by introducing research tools and resources while also teaching problem solving skills within a collaborative learning environment. Despite the benefits,…

With budgets threatened in schools nationwide, students, parents, and educators have begun to realize that they cannot wait around for state or national organizations to act. Web applications have made grassroots advocacy a lot easier, and homegrown efforts on behalf of libraries have sprung up across the country via blogs, wikis, Facebook, and…

The paper describes the theory and definition of the practice of librarianship, specifically addressing how Web 2.0 technologies (tools) such as synchronous messaging, collaborative reference service and streaming media, blogs, wikis, social networks, social bookmarking tools, tagging, RSS feeds, and mashups might intimate changes and how…

When improving a web presence, today's libraries have a choice: using a free Web 2.0 application, opting for open source, buying a product, or building a web application. This article discusses how to make an informed decision for one's library. The authors stress that deciding whether to use a free Web 2.0 application, to choose open source, to…

This study targets librarians and information professionals who use Web 2.0 tools and applications with a view to providing snapshots on how Web 2.0 technologies are used. It also aims to identify values and impact that such tools have exerted on libraries and their services, as well as to detect various issues associated with the implementation…