?4U (Question for you): implementing a SMS reference service at the University of the Free State
- Authors: Lombard, H.
- Date: 2010-05-18
- Subjects: Library reference services , University of the Free State , Academic libraries , Information technology , Electronic posters
- Type: Presentation
- Identifier: uj:1569 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/3302
- Description: Since its inception in 1960 the Internet was exalted as the technology that would revolutionise communication access. However, widespread use in Africa was hampered by the lack of quality telecommunication infrastructure. In just two decades, the cell phone has become the fastest-selling, most loved consumer product. Nobody envisioned how popular text messaging, also referred to as short messaging service (SMS) would become. Research shows that 76% of all subscribers or 3.1 billion subscribers use the SMS actively. The abundance of cell phone users is also noticeable in today’s academic library. While some universities has responded to the widespread use of cell phones by delivering educational content and administration of tests via the cell phone, libraries have begun to reach out and serve students’ information needs through the use of the SMS. The University of the Free State Library and Information Services initiated a SMS reference service in 2009. This paper briefly describes the widespread use of text messaging and text messaging technology. The system and services implemented at the UFS LIS is described, as well as the lessons learnt. The paper will end with a short review of cell phone use in libraries and how it could be used to enhance library operations.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Lombard, H.
- Date: 2010-05-18
- Subjects: Library reference services , University of the Free State , Academic libraries , Information technology , Electronic posters
- Type: Presentation
- Identifier: uj:1569 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/3302
- Description: Since its inception in 1960 the Internet was exalted as the technology that would revolutionise communication access. However, widespread use in Africa was hampered by the lack of quality telecommunication infrastructure. In just two decades, the cell phone has become the fastest-selling, most loved consumer product. Nobody envisioned how popular text messaging, also referred to as short messaging service (SMS) would become. Research shows that 76% of all subscribers or 3.1 billion subscribers use the SMS actively. The abundance of cell phone users is also noticeable in today’s academic library. While some universities has responded to the widespread use of cell phones by delivering educational content and administration of tests via the cell phone, libraries have begun to reach out and serve students’ information needs through the use of the SMS. The University of the Free State Library and Information Services initiated a SMS reference service in 2009. This paper briefly describes the widespread use of text messaging and text messaging technology. The system and services implemented at the UFS LIS is described, as well as the lessons learnt. The paper will end with a short review of cell phone use in libraries and how it could be used to enhance library operations.
- Full Text:
Using electronic posters as part of a hybrid learning approach to teaching the research process to honours students.
- Van der Walt, Sophie, Warricker, Adrienne
- Authors: Van der Walt, Sophie , Warricker, Adrienne
- Date: 2010-05-18
- Subjects: Electronic posters , e-Learning , Research methodology , Online learning
- Type: Presentation
- Identifier: uj:1581 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/3314
- Description: The purpose of this paper is to illustrate an electronic poster as an example of a hybrid learning application to be used by librarians in Higher Education Institution libraries for teaching the research process to honours students in research methodology. Presentation explores the use of the electronic poster to provide honours students at both a face-to-face and a distance education institution with an overview of the research process. As first-time researchers, honours students have Research Methodology as a required subject, and they must hand in a mini-thesis as part of their coursework. The poster will guide students through the different steps of the research process, which are: finding a topic, formulating a problem statement, writing the research proposal, the literature review, research methodology approaches, empirical research – i.e. do the surveys, questionnaires, etc., and conclusion. The electronic poster will be hosted on Glogster.com. Glogster is a web portal that allows users to create free interactive posters, or glogs, and share them with others in a variety of formats. The user inserts text, images, photos, audio (MP3), videos, special effects and other elements into their glogs to generate a multimedia online creation. Glogster is based on flash elements and provides a platform to produce any number of posters that can be shared with a wider audience, or the entire Glogster community. Glogs may also be exported and saved to computer-compatible formats. While the electronic poster will be hosted on Glogster it will include a variety of Web 2.0 applications to showcase how these can be successfully incorporated in an online learning experience. Some of these applications include lecture videos hosted on platforms such as YouTube, Academic Earth and FORA.tv; PowerPoint presentations hosted on SlideShare (the world’s largest community for uploading and sharing presentations); presentations hosted on Prezi.com (a story telling and presentation tool); podcasts; video presentations hosted on animato.com (a video mashup application). As technology is only a channel for learning it still needs to be supported by face-to-face training. It is hoped that the electronic poster will provide an overview for the honours students of the various aspects of research process, while meeting the needs of both social and solitary learners. For social learners the poster will provide topics for discussion with their supervisor and subject librarian, while solitary learners preferring to work independently can explore each aspect in more detail at their own pace.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Van der Walt, Sophie , Warricker, Adrienne
- Date: 2010-05-18
- Subjects: Electronic posters , e-Learning , Research methodology , Online learning
- Type: Presentation
- Identifier: uj:1581 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/3314
- Description: The purpose of this paper is to illustrate an electronic poster as an example of a hybrid learning application to be used by librarians in Higher Education Institution libraries for teaching the research process to honours students in research methodology. Presentation explores the use of the electronic poster to provide honours students at both a face-to-face and a distance education institution with an overview of the research process. As first-time researchers, honours students have Research Methodology as a required subject, and they must hand in a mini-thesis as part of their coursework. The poster will guide students through the different steps of the research process, which are: finding a topic, formulating a problem statement, writing the research proposal, the literature review, research methodology approaches, empirical research – i.e. do the surveys, questionnaires, etc., and conclusion. The electronic poster will be hosted on Glogster.com. Glogster is a web portal that allows users to create free interactive posters, or glogs, and share them with others in a variety of formats. The user inserts text, images, photos, audio (MP3), videos, special effects and other elements into their glogs to generate a multimedia online creation. Glogster is based on flash elements and provides a platform to produce any number of posters that can be shared with a wider audience, or the entire Glogster community. Glogs may also be exported and saved to computer-compatible formats. While the electronic poster will be hosted on Glogster it will include a variety of Web 2.0 applications to showcase how these can be successfully incorporated in an online learning experience. Some of these applications include lecture videos hosted on platforms such as YouTube, Academic Earth and FORA.tv; PowerPoint presentations hosted on SlideShare (the world’s largest community for uploading and sharing presentations); presentations hosted on Prezi.com (a story telling and presentation tool); podcasts; video presentations hosted on animato.com (a video mashup application). As technology is only a channel for learning it still needs to be supported by face-to-face training. It is hoped that the electronic poster will provide an overview for the honours students of the various aspects of research process, while meeting the needs of both social and solitary learners. For social learners the poster will provide topics for discussion with their supervisor and subject librarian, while solitary learners preferring to work independently can explore each aspect in more detail at their own pace.
- Full Text:
- «
- ‹
- 1
- ›
- »