2006 Final Exams Questions

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April 7, 2006

1. Metadata, often defined as "data about data," is increasingly being recognized as a key to the organizatin of and access to inofrmation. How will metadata be used in the Internet environment? (Please give specific expamples) What role can librarians and other information professionals play in developing metadata?

2. How would you define a "digital library"? Is the Internet itself an effective digital library? What are the primary challenges for the organization of, and access to, digital information?

3. Many information professionals consider the development of a society that is information literate an important national goal. What does the information profession mean by the term "information literacy," and what kinds of things could libraries and librarians do to contribute to the accomplishment of the goal?

4.For years a debate has existed in library literature juxtaposing reference as a point of service to reference as a point of instruction. What are the critical points of this debate, including the aims of both service and instruction; how does library type impact this discussion; and how can these aims coexist within reference work?

5. Community analysis is used to identify client needs so that services may be designed to meet those needs. What are some methods used to analyze the library's service community? From the perspective of a library type of your choice, discuss the type of services that community analysis considers, and the effectiveness of methods to study them.

July 14, 2006

1. Staffing is generally considered one of the primary functions of library management. What activities are typically included in the staffing function? From the perspective of a type of library of your choice (academic, public, school, special, etc.) discuss how developments of the last 25 years or so (both inside and outside libraries) have impacted the staffing function in library management. What are the challenges that library organizations face in staffing?

2. Library collections, commercial databases, and the Internet are among the basic avenues for retrieving information. Discuss the scope and the contents of these sources and compare and contrast methods and tools for retrieving information from them. To what extent do they overlap? With examples, illustrate when (under which circumstances) and how (with what particular search strategies) each of the avenues can best be used.

3. An American scholar has written an academic book on the world-wide reactions to the publication of cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed. The book includes some of the images in question and has itself become a subject of protest in cities and on campuses where libraries have included it in their collections. Discuss this scenario in the context of the intellectual freedom and community sensitivity issues that you would consider in making a selection decision. What would you recommend and why? What local community issues might you consider and how might you anticipate or respond to them? What ALA guidelines could you use to guide or support your decision?

4. Using controlled vocabulary is often the preferred choice of the professional searcher when searching electronic documents. First define what is meant by”controlled vocabulary” and then address the advantages and disadvantages that arise in the use of controlled vocabulary for searching.

5. Computer and information technologies have dramatically impacted libraries over the last quarter of a century. From a type of library perspective of your choice (public, academic, school special, etc.) identify and discuss what you consider would qualify as five of the most important information technology developments that changed libraries during the last 25 years. Your discussion should describe the technology, place it within this time frame, and describe the impact each has had in terms of library use, library services, or the role of librarians.

November 17, 2006

1. In electronic information retrieval, the use of controlled vocabularies and natural language approaches each has its own advantages and disadvantages. Describe each of these approaches and compare them in terms of indexing documents and their subsequent retrieval by users.

2. A public library board in a Georgia community where one in six residents is Hispanic recently announced it would no longer purchase Spanish-language fiction, responding to community objections that continuing to do so would “cater to illegal immigrants”. As library director, how might you respond to this directive? What professional and ethical issues does such a policy raise for a public library, and how would you address them? What ALA guidelines and policies could you bring into this discussion with the board and broader community to support your views?

3. One could argue that of all the technological changes of the last 30 years, the emergence of the Internet has been one of the most significant agents of change for libraries. Describe the major Internet technologies and how they have evolved over the last 30 years. Then from a library perspective of your choice (public, academic, school, or special), discuss how these Internet technologies have impacted the library as a “place”, the services it offers, and the role of librarians.

4. Begin by defining the functions of management. From the perspective of a library or information agency of your choice, identify and discuss the major issues that today’s library organizations are facing in each function.

5. Reference has always been a core service of libraries. Discuss the central role of reference sources and services in libraries as well as how they have been impacted by changing technology. Then describe the assessment of reference service. What criteria and procedures could be used as measures of quality in the evaluation of reference?

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