Leadership for Excellence:

Results and insights on how UK libraries can address the diverse challenges students face, including language barriers, previous library experience, cultural differences, and lack of familiarity with UK teaching methods. All students would benefit from measures aimed at international students, such as jargon-free publications and signs, improved customer service, and information literacy skills aimed at different learning styles and embedded in coursework. Several papers discuss UK applications of social software, generally referred to as Web 2.0 in the United States. Jane Secker (London School of Economics) and Gwyneth Price (University of London) highlighted the findings of LASSIE (Libraries and Social Software in Education) that gathered extensive information through a literature review and undertook a few small case studies. Two librarians from the University of Bath, Kara Jones and Kate Robinson, investigated the use of user-generated reviews and recommendations in libraries, questioning whether this kind of data should be included in the library catalog. They reported on their case study, “Around the World in 80+ Books,” that sought to identify the issues and evaluate possible risks associated with allowing users to create a collection of recommended books. The Birmingham Re-Usable Materials (BRUM) project and the reusable learning objects (RLOs) created during the project were topics addressed by Nancy Graham from the University of Birmingham. The BRUM project team used a variety of software to create re-usable learning objects with several key attributes: flexible, small and self-contained, self-paced and interactive, reusable and re-purposable, and capable of being aggregated into a learning package. The team worked with both academics and students to evaluate the success of the RLOs in improving the students’ information skills. Given the international focus of the conference there was much interest in the delivery of digital library information in developing countries. Pauline Ngimwa of the African Virtual University (AVU) presented a paper that focused on the problems faced by the university and its distance students, most of whom attend school only part-time. The AVU utilizes digital libraries and open education resources but the students suffer from connectivity challenges. AVU’s innovative solutions to overcoming these challenges include the establishment of a bandwidth consortium among educational institutions utilizing a satellite service provider and the establishment of large local information stores of Internetbased resources on local area networks. Other presenters highlighted the work of the Developing Library Network in India and six other countries; discussed the status of library automation and electronic services in Sri Lanka; and examined the possible uses of virtual reference in developing countries to provide real-time help. Experiences in “anywhere, anytime” delivery of library resources in developed countries were not overlooked. Bo Ohrstrom of the Danish National Library Agency reported on Denmark’s Electronic Research Library, a cooperative venture involving Danish research libraries, and its work providing integrated search systems. Work done at the library of Helsinki University of Technology to create a training course for teachers that utilizesmapping software to structure information searches in various fields of knowledge was reported on as was the transition of the UK’s Resource Directly Network Internet gateways (collections of Web sites relevant to college and university work) to Intute, a single access point to “the best of the Web.” As mentioned previously, the conference is not limited to academic librarians. In their paper, “Public Libraries, Learning and the Creative Citizen: a European Perspective,” Robert Davies (MDR Partners, UK) and Geoff Butters (Manchester Metropolitan University) examined the role of public libraries as centers of informal learning and creativity, focusing on how public libraries can meet the adult learning goals set by the European Ministers of Education and the European Union’s e-learning initiatives. A quartet of Greek researchers reported on the design of a usability test to aid in evaluating the VeriaGrid system, an online map of cultural resources housed at museums, libraries, and other cultural institutions in Veria, Greece. Promoting the digitization of cultural heritage resources in order to develop digital cultural tourism in Europe is another priority of the European Union. Overall, the papers are relatively short and most have introductory paragraphs plus section and subsection headings that help one locate relevant information quickly. Attractive, easily understood tables and figures appear within the papers, aiding the presentation of information. A list of contributors and a detailed index aid in locating specific topics. Librarians must remain alert to new information formats and recent experiments in information delivery. As we plan new services at our libraries, we can benefit from the experiences of others through the examination of case studies such as those included here. This collection of papers by contributors from a variety of countries worldwide includes new perspectives on the goal to provide “anytime, anywhere” delivery of library services.