How Internet Use Has Effected Academic Work

This is the Major Research Study Paper for LIS 584. This research paper will be sent to Cindy Ehlers, Reference Librarian at Lockwood Memorial Library, caehlers@buffalo.edu, Cindi Tysick, Subject Specialist at Lockwood Memorial Library, cat2@buffalo.edu, and Jeanne Tuohey, Reference/Instruction Librarian at Niagara County Community College Library, tuohey@niagaracc.suny.edu.

Introduction

The purpose of this research paper is to identify the effect that the Internet has had on academic work. Over the years there has been a lot of anecdotal evidence bandied about in academic circles about how Internet sources have lowered the quality of student work, how students no longer use the library to conduct research and how students do not know how to evaluate information sources. Through a search of literature and studies on the subject of Internet use by college students, this paper will provide scientific fact to either prove or disprove the anecdotal statements made about the topic. For the purposes of this paper, the term Internet will be used to describe both the Internet and the World Wide Web.

The literature used for this paper includes literature produced at the beginning of Internet use. Without an historical background for future studies, how can progress be evaluated in the area of Internet research. The paper includes studies and literature about how students perceive their use of the Internet. In contrast to the students view, there are also studies containing data about faculty perceptions of Internet use in academic work. The final group of literature includes studies and literature regarding the idea of critical thinking and how this plays a role in Internet use for research purposes. Even though plagiarism is an important issue with academia, this paper will not include the area of plagiarism and Internet use, as an entire research paper could be written on that subject alone.

The paper will also include ideas for future research and a summary of the studies and literature presented. Future research is always needed and is especially important to area of Internet research in academic settings. It is important because the nature of the Internet continually changes and use of the Internet changes as well.

Early Literature

Early literature in the area of Internet research for academic purposes is very limited. At the beginning of the Internet, few studies were being done in the area of academic research. In general, the early research about the Internet revolved around the various uses of the Internet, with very little data about actual research.

In the article “Tidal Wave or Ripple? The Impact of Internet on the Academic,” a literature review is completed about academic use of the Internet. The literature reviewed deals with the areas of the Internet and library services, academic publishing, and what academics are doing with the Internet. The majority of the article is written about the first two topics. The third area of literature review, dealing the how academics are using the Internet is mainly concerned with communications: email, collaborating with colleagues, publishing, delivering information to students, and a small portion for actual research. (Pascoe, 1995).

An article by Thomas Klein discusses how the Internet will effect the lives of students and faculty members. This article is about vision, rather than research, but it illustrates how little research on Internet use was actually available in the early to mid 1990s. Klein writes about how much do libraries need to invest in the new technologies, do faculty members need assistance in learning these new technologies, how new electronic sources of information will change the way research is conducted. Klein writes about how the Internet will open up the world of information (1995).

In the article “Serving College Students in an Era of Recombinant Information,” the author writes about the emerging technologies, how costs for these technologies will decrease and how students will make use of these technologies. The information is based on a small case study conducted at the undergraduate library at the University of Texas regarding the implementation of online catalogs and periodical indexes. The case study also deals with the development of a computer center located in the library. As with other articles from this time period, there is little information on the effects of the Internet on the quality of student work (Alberico, 1995).

Information about conducting research on the web was difficult to find, however, one book about the subject was found. “Researching on the Internet” provides any type of user information regarding the Internet and how to research it. The book contains information on finding Internet providers, the changing nature of the Internet, the various types of resources available on the Internet, and issues about law and the Internet. The book gives a general overview of the Internet. What is missing from this book is how to determine the credibility of the information found using the Internet (Rowland, 1995).

The lack of scientific research is apparent in these early works about Internet use. It is clear that researchers concerned with the Internet were just starting to discover areas for research, which would expand as the Internet became a more frequently used tool in the academic world.

Student Views of the Internet

Since the advent of the Internet as a tool in academia, there have been multiple small studies performed to determine student use of the Internet as well as their self-described competence with the Internet. A study was also conducted to determine how Internet sources have effected student’s work. As well, there have been a couple large studies conducted, searching for similar information. These studies collect data from a wide range of students and scholastic disciplines.

In one focus group study, performed at the University of Idaho, researchers learned that the biggest change in academic research was the growth in Internet use, which had changed the way both students and faculty gathered information. When asked about sources for material, the Internet was consistently cited as a major source of information. These same students and faculty members also discussed their frustration with getting tangled in links on the Internet. A major change in obstacles to finding information was also noted in this focus group study. In the past, students and faculty had difficulty finding books and other materials in the library because they weren’t on the shelves where they should have been. Now, students and faculty say the obstacle is too much information. They stated that the Internet contained too much information and that it was difficult getting through the information. One item was apparent to all members of the focus study, there is a need to watch for accurate and reliable information on the Internet (Young, 2001).

Barbara Quarton, in her article “Research Skills and the New Undergraduate,” discusses the need for undergraduate instruction in research skills, both in libraries and the Internet. Her premise is that students need help from instructors in determining which sources are the most appropriate. They also need guidance in learning the differences between databases available online through the library and the free Internet. By having faculty provide short exercises to help students learn about the plethora of good information sources, they will make better decisions about research paper resources in the future (2003).

Another study was implemented on the differences in how students conduct Internet searching. This study was conducted with Masters students performing research on predetermined topics, using a single search engine. What these researchers found was that gender and cognitive styles play a key role in how well search engines searches retrieve information that is of value to the student (Ford, 2001). This poses the question, how do the search engines change to meet the cognitive styles of different individuals, and how to students know which search engines will best fit their cognitive styles?

A study was conducted at Cornell University among Introduction to Microeconomics students that studied the Internet citations used in research papers over several years. The study began in 1996 and continued through 2001. At the beginning of the study, the number of Internet citations was lower than those of books, scholarly journals, and magazines. Through the years of the study, the number of Internet citations climbed, the length of the bibliographies got longer and faculty became concerned with the quality of the student papers. During the last year of the study, faculty members implemented guidelines for the students for acceptable reference sources. Because of this implementation, the number of Internet resources significantly declined, but the total number of resources did not. The researchers found that reliance on Internet sources increased until faculty members stepped in to curb the use of Internet sources for research papers (Davis, 2003).

A similar study was conducted at universities and colleges in the Philadelphia area. This study found that students did not use a lot of electronic/Internet resources for their work. They also found that students were unable to properly cite electronic/Internet sources, even though they received instruction in how to do so. In some cases, the researchers also had difficulty in determining with a source was from the Internet, due to the student’s inability to properly cite an Internet source (Malone, 1997).

A small focus group study at Monmouth University found that all the participants in the study had used Internet sources for at least one assignment in the previous five months. The researchers also found that in feedback from faculty, as reported by the students, most faculty would accept Internet sources, as long as these weren’t the only sources used. The study also found that students were aware of changing nature of information on the Internet and that the sources might not be current, that it was important to look for when the page was last updated. The researchers were satisfied with the results they received from the study, but were cognizant of the limitations from a small focus group study (D’Esposito, 1999).

A study by Metzger, Flanagin, and Zwarun dealt with the issues of student internet use, information credibility and student verification of the information. In the first section of the study on internet usage, the researchers found similar results to those of other studies about college student internet use. In the second part of the study, the researchers found that students find news and reference information to be more credible that either entertainment or commercial information. They also found that students rarely verify the accuracy of information they find on the Internet (2003).

Three larger studies have been conducted about student use of the Internet. One of the studies was conducted at Duke University, the two other studies are national. John Lubans conducted a series of three studies at Duke University over a couple of years. In his 1998 survey of freshman, he found that the majority of students use Internet sources for their assignments. For the majority of these students, the number of Internet sources do not make up more that 50% of their total resources. Twenty percent of students felt Internet sources helped improve the quality of their work. Lubans’ study also found that students had a balanced view of the accuracy of the Internet. Many students found that the information found on the Internet was accurate, timely, and authoritative, while others didn’t take such a positive view of its accuracy. The study also found that these students are using the Internet for a lot more that research (Lubans, 1998).

In Lubans’ article, “When Students Hit the Surf”, the author compared the results from three different studies he conducted, two with Duke University students and one with 7th-10th graders who came to Duke during the summer of 1998. He compares the two groups (college students and 7th to 10th graders) because eventually, the younger students will come to college and their survey results can only help librarians and faculty members prepare for them. Between the two groups, he found very little difference in the way the students utilized the Internet. The students felt the Internet opened up greater opportunities for resources (1999).

A national study conducted by Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) found similar results as Lubans’ study in terms of the use of the Internet by college students. In addition, the OCLC study found that students believe the Internet falls short in accuracy of information available. Students also question whether the information on the Internet is up to date (2002).

The Pew Internet & American Life Project also conducted a national survey of college students. As with the other two large surveys, most of the data collected had little to do with how students use the Internet for research. The study did have a section related to this area of study. The researchers found that students use the Internet more than the library for research. Based on this, the researchers concluded that the Internet has become a major factor in student research and will continue to become even more important in the future (Jones, 2002).

Overall, the amount of research completed about student use of Internet resources for academic work is small, compared to the research conducted on the ways students use the Internet. The consensus among the studies presented is that the majority of students use Internet sources to complete assignments for classes. How many Internet sources used depends on the guidelines given by the faculty. Through the years, it also appears that Internet use has increased for research purposes, although students may question the accuracy of the information they find.

Faculty Views on the Internet

The studies conducted of faculty views on the use of Internet sources in academic work are more conclusive and direct than the studies of student views. While none of the studies found for this research paper were national in scope, they do present different attitudes of faculty members across disciplines. The faculty studies presented in this section of the paper will be in chronological order, to get an idea of how faculty response to Internet use has changed.

Toward the beginning of the use of the Internet as a reference source, there were few studies presenting the faculty side and there was a lot of anecdotal evidence and personal experience presented in the literature. Steven Knowlton (1997)states that

“They (faculty) are concerned that they Internet makes readily available so much information, much of it unreliable, that students think research is far easier than it really is. As a result, educators say, students are producing superficial research papers, full of data – some of it suspect – and little thought.” (p.18)

David Rothenberg, an associate professor at New Jersey Institute of Technology, says that “My class had fallen victim to the latest easy way of writing a paper: doing their research on the World Wide Web. (p. 59)” Rothenberg also believes that it is his responsibility to teach his students how assess sources and determine their credibility so that the quality of their work will improve (1998). Kari Boyd McBride (1998) took a positive approach to the advent of the Internet as a research tool. Even though she realizes that students no longer get their information from reliable print sources, she sees the Internet as a great opportunity to teach students how to become “better readers, writers, and thinkers (p. B6).”

In two separate articles based on a survey of faculty at colleges and universities in Alabama, Susan Davis Herring studies faculty acceptance of the Internet as a research tool. In the first article, Herring (College, 1998) contemplates two questions asked in the Alabama survey, “1. Have faculty accepted the Web as a suitable resources for their undergraduate students’ research? 2. Do faculty encourage their undergraduate students to use the Web as a resource in their course-related research assignments? (p. 253)” Herring found that the majority of faculty encourage their students to use Internet resources, whether as specifically stated by the assignment, or on their own. These faculty members, however, are also concerned with the accuracy of the information found on the Internet.

In the second article in The Journal of Academic Librarianship, about the Alabama study, Herring studies whether faculty find the Internet as an acceptable resource for their own research and does academic discipline play a role in the acceptance of the Internet as a research tool. What Herring discovered was that researchers were happy with the expanding information present on the Internet, even though they were skeptical about accuracy. As well, Herring discovered that academic discipline does play a role in the acceptance of the Internet as a research tool, science disciplines were more likely to accept research from the Internet than social science or language disciplines (1998).

In another study by Liz McDowell, faculty members were interviewed to gain their perspectives on the role of electronic information in their classes. Three areas were discussed, the concept of an electronic academic library, bringing electronic information into the classroom, and student use of electronic resources for their work. As with other studies, this study found that faculty were willing to accept some resources from the Internet, but that peer reviewed and scholarly resources were more welcome. The faculty members also expressed concern about the quality of the materials found on the Internet and about plagiarism from Internet sources (2002).

Finally, a study was conducted using faculty from a business school. The data received from this study is different from the other studies. Faculty members in the business discipline actively encourage their students to use the Internet as primary sources of information. This is due to the information that can be found on the Internet relating to business matters (Dewald, 2005).

As can be seen from the studies presented, for the most part, faculty members appear to be wary of Internet resources as reference sources for class assignments. The lone exception to this is in business classes. Also, it appears that some faculty believe that it is partly their responsibility to teach their students which types of sources are acceptable for assignments and which sources need to be evaluated for accuracy and credibility. As the Internet changes and grows, reliable resources have made their way onto the Internet. Some believe that faculty should be encouraging students to use Internet resources and teach they ways to evaluate the sources (Harmon, 2007).

Critical Thinking

From the beginning of Internet in academic work, there has been a call for faculty and librarians to teach students how to evaluate information found on the Internet as well as to think critically about the information retrieved, not only from the Internet, but from traditional as well. To begin with, librarians were called upon to create tools for students to use while performing research on the Internet. For the most part, these tools called for students to check and recheck the accuracy of their sources (Brandt, 1996).

As more students used the Internet as a resource, studies began to appear that addressed the issue of critical thinking in terms of Internet use. Once such study found that if students used critical thinking when searching the Internet, they could find more in-depth information than was readily available from traditional sources. The study also found that interactivity also played a role in critical thinking about Internet sources. Students had the ability to contact the author through electronic means. The study found, however, that students were missing the importance of the context of information which led to a narrower understanding of the topic they were researching (Browne, 2000).

A study produced by Burton and Chadwick studied the criteria students used for evaluating Internet resources and the type of instruction these student had received to evaluate the resources. The majority of student involved in the study had received at least some instruction on evaluating reference sources, either traditional or Internet. The researchers also found that do evaluate the sources they plan to use for assignments. These evaluation techniques, however, are not necessarily the correct ones for the type of resource they are evaluating. Students tended to use one set of evaluation criteria for both traditional and Internet sources. This leads to questionable accuracy of materials based on inappropriate evaluation (2000).

Grimes and Boening created a study to determine if students were using inaccurate or inappropriate resources from the Internet for their academic work. The results from the study showed that students were evaluating Internet resources on a superficial lever, if at all. They also found that students were not taking advantage of web guides provided by the library or of the databases located within the libraries’ electronic resources. Grimes and Boening recommend more faculty guidelines regarding resources, as well as instruction in determining good Internet resources (2001).

Additional studies found that critical thinking and evaluation skills are crucial to successfully using the Internet as a research tool. Connor-Greene used an in-class exercise as the basis for a study on student evaluation of Internet sources. The exercise posed a series of questions that could be answered by using the Internet. She found that the majority of students used the first source they could find to complete the questions, without verifying the information from one or two additional sources. She also found that this information was not always correct or was taken from an Internet site that had an agenda to pursue. Connor-Greene found the exercise as a good starting point for teaching her students how to critically think about the sources they were using (2002).

In more recent literature, researchers discuss how students trust Internet resources without evaluating the sources for reliability. They are also discussing how critical thinking needs to be taught to students so that they may confidently use a resource that has continually gained popularity since its inception (Graham, 2003).

Researchers are also looking into the research methods of Generation Y as they enter their college years. This is the first generation that has grown up having computers available to them. They started junior high and high school as the Internet came on the scene. Weiler explores the various research on information retrieval and critical thinking to open up discussion on these processes as they pertain to this new group of students. She found that Generation Y students are used to sound bites, videos and images in their day-to-day lives and this translates into the types of research they perform for academic work. They want to find information quickly and are not necessarily concerned with the accuracy of that information. The Internet suits their style of learning (2005).

It is apparent that the studies have uncovered a need for college students to think critically about the information they retrieve from both traditional resources and Internet resources. This critical thinking will help them decide which resources best suit their needs and give them accurate and current information for their academic work. The studies also find that critical thinking skills are either not being taught at the university level, or students are not absorbing these lessons. This lack of acquiring critical thinking skills has effected the learning that students achieve during their college years.

Further Research

All the areas of this research paper could be further researched. The data on student use of the Internet is several years old and no new studies could be found in ths area. Additionally, studies could be completed just on student use of the Internet as a research tool for their academic work. As seen in the studies mentioned above, this area of research was limited to a couple of questions, while the majority of the survey was interested in all other types of Internet use.

In addition, new studies based on faculty acceptance of Internet sources in course work should be studied. As with the student use, the studies mentioned are not current. As well, the ideas of critical thinking and instruction in critical thinking need to be included in future studies of faculty acceptance of the Internet. This appears to be the direction thought on the Internet is moving towards and new research should be completed on this topic.

This new research is particularly important since the Internet continues to grow and change. Have beliefs about accuracy and quality changed? Do faculty members still need to provide their students with guidelines for how many Internet sources they will accept? Do students still feel that accuracy isn’t really important when dealing with Internet sources? These are all areas that need further and expanded research.

Summary

The studies found for this research paper indicate several common threads with regard to the use of Internet sources for academic work. First, as the Internet came into use on a widespread basis, so did use of the Internet by college students. Students have increased their use of the Internet for three reasons, they can research schoolwork from their rooms and it is easy to locate information to use for their assignments, and they save time by researching assignments on the Internet. Second, students seem unconcerned about the quality and accuracy of information they find on the Internet. Third, faculty members are concerned with the increase in Internet resources cited for class assignments. Fourth, faculty members are concerned with the accuracy and quality of the resources used on the Internet. Fifth, faculty and librarians are concerned with educating students to better use the Internet and other electronic resources for their work.

Further study needs to be done on this topic. To date, much of the research has been done on a small scale. The larger studies are now five or more years old. Since the Internet is an ever changing resource, new studies need to be completed as to the perceptions of accuracy and quality of the resources, as well as faculty and student beliefs about using the Internet as a source of information.

Works Cited

Alberico, R. (1995). Serving college students in an era of recombinant information. Wilson Library Bulletin, 69(March 1995), 29-32. Retrieved April 15, 2007, from Library Literature & Information Science Full Text database.

Brandt, D. S. (1996). Evaluating information on the internet. Computers in Libraries, 16(5), 44-46. Retrieved April 15, 2007, from Academic Search Premier database.

Browne, M. N., Freeman, K. E., & Williamson, C. L. (2000). The importance of critical thinking for student use of the internet. College Student Journal, 34(3), 391-398. Retrieved April 15, 2007, from Education Full Text database.

Burton, V. T., & Chadwick, S. A. (2000). Investigating the practices of student researchers: patterns of use and criteria for use of internet and library sources. Computers and Composition, 17(3), 309-328. Retrieved April 15, 2007, from ScienceDirect database.

Connor-Greene, P. A., & Greene, D. J. (2002). Science or snake oil? Teaching critical evaluation of ‘Research’ reports on the internet. Teaching of Psychology, 29(4), 321-324. Retrieved April 10, 2007, from Academic Search Premier database.

Davis, P. M. (2003). Effect of the web on undergraduate citation behavior: guiding student scholarship in a networked age. portal: Libraries and the Academy, 3(1), 41-51. Retrieved April 15, 2007, from Project MUSE database.

D’Esposito, J. E., & Gardner, R. M. (1999). University students’ perceptions of the internet: an exploratory study. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 25(6), 456-461. Retrieved April 10, 2007, from Academic Search Premier database.

Dewald, N. H., (2005). What do they tell their students? business faculty acceptance of the web and library databases for student research. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 31(3), 209-215. Retrieve February 21, 2007, from Library Literature & Information Science Full Text database.

Ford, N., Miller, D., & Moss, N. (2001). The role of individual differences in internet searching: an empirical study. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 52(12), 1049-1066. Retrieved February 21, 2007, from ProQuest database.

Grimes, D. J., & Boening, C. H. (2001). Worries with the web: a look at student use of web resources. College & Research Libraries, 62(1), 11-23. Retrieved April 10, 2007, from Education Full Text database.

Graham, L., & Metaxas, P. T. (2003). ‘Of course it’s true; I saw it on the internet!’: critical thinking in the internet era. Communications of the ACM, 46(5), 71-75. Retrieved April 15, 2007, from Business Source Premier database.

Harmon, J. C. (2007). Let them use the internet: why college instructors should encourage student internet use. College Teaching, 55(1), 2-4. Retrieved April 12, 2007, from Academic Search Premier database.

Herring, S. D. (1998). Faculty acceptance of the world wide web for student research. College & Research Libraries, 62(3), 251-258. Retrieved April 10, 2007, from Education Full Text database.

Herring, S. D. (1998). Using the world wide web for research: are faculty satisfied? The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 27(3), 213-219. Retrieved February 22, 2007, from Academic Search Premier database.

Jones, S. (2002, September 15). The internet goes to college: how students are living in the future with today’s technology. Retrieved April 15, 2007, from
http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_College_Report.pdf

Klein, T. (1995). Electronic revolution at the educational crossroads. College Teaching, 43(4), 151-156. Retrieved March 26, 2007, from Academic Search Premier database.

Knowlton, S. R. (1997, November 2). How students get lost in cyberspace. The New York Times. Retrieved April 15, 2007, from Factiva database.

Lubans Jr., J. (1999). When students hit the surf. School Library Journal, 45(9), 144-147. Retrieved April 15, 2007 from Academic Search Premier database.

Lubans Jr., J. (1998, April 8). How first-year university students use and regard internet resources. Retrieved April 15, 2007, from http://www.lubans.org/docs/1styear/
firstyear.html

Malone, D., & Videon, C. (1997). Assessing undergraduate use of electronic resources: a quantitative analysis of works cited. Research Strategies, 15(3), 151-158. Retrieved April 15, 2007, from ScienceDirect database.

McBride, K. B., & Dickstein, R. (1998). The web demands critical thinking by students. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 44(28), B6. Retrieved April 15, 2007, from LexisNexis Academic database.

McDowell, L. (2002). Electronic information resources in undergraduate education: an exploratory study of opportunities for student learning and independence. British Journal of Educational Technology, 33(3), 255-266. Retrieved April 15, 2007, from Education Full Text database.

Metzger, M. J., Flanagin, A. J., & Zwarun, L. (2003). College student web use, perceptions of information credibility, and verification behavior. Computers & Education, 41(3), 271-290. Retrieved April 10, 2007, from ScienceDirect database.

OCLC White Paper. (2002, June). How academic librarians can influence students’ web-based information choices. Retrieved April 15, 2007, from http://www5.oclc.org/
downloads/community/informationhabits.pdf

Pascoe, C., Applebee, A., & Clayton, P. (1996). Tidal wave or ripple? the impact of internet on the academic. Australian Library Review, 13(2), 147-155.

Quarton, B. (2003). Research skills and the new undergraduate. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 30(2), 120-124. Retrieved February 23, 2007, from Education Full Text database.

Rothenberg, D. (1998). How the web destroys student research papers. Education Digest, 63(6), 59-61. Retrieved April 15, 2007, from Academic Search Premier database.

Rowland, R., & Kinnaman, D. (1995). Researching on the internet. Rocklin, CA: Prima Publishing.

Weiler, A. (2005). Information-seeking behavior in Generation Y students: motivation, critical thinking, and learning theory. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 31(1), 46-53. Retrieved March 26, 2007, from Education Full Text database.

Young, N. J., & Von Seggern, M. (2001). General information seeking in changing times: a focus group study. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 41(2), 159-169. Retrieved April 10, 2007, from Library Literature & Information Science Full Text database.

Buffalo Museum of Science Research Library

The library at the Buffalo Museum of Science has an "illuminated manuscript" at the door giving patrons information about the library and how the books are organized within the library.

There are comfortable leather sofas with the current periodicals.

The library has a small children's section with a fun carpet, bean bags, and a lot of books.

The library has a resident cat named Lily. She was watchful as I walked around the library.

There were houseplants and flowers all around the library.

Antique scientific instruments were placed on shelves throughout the library.

The research library still maintains a card catalog. They have had a comput-

erized catalog for less than a year. All new

acquisi-

tions go into the computer, the older items remain on cards.

The library maintains glass front bookcases for the very old books.

This library was the only place moveable stacks were seen.

Antique tables, chairs and bookcases were placed in various locations.

The library had birds and small animals on display on a couple bookshelves.

Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum

The Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum is unusual in that the building is a former church.

Inside the museum, there is a very large area for classes to sit and listen to a lecture.

There are smaller gathering areas on either side of the museum.

The museum has WiFi.

After school, the Karpeles Museum allows the neighborhood kids to come in and study or use the WiFi connection.

Sears Law Library at UB

Original artwork over the open areas on the 2nd and 3rd floors. Prints on the walls at the elevators and stairs.

Plants on various floors of the library.

Closed door carrells along one wall of the library.

Open seating around the balcony. You step down to sit at the long table.

Computer desks where the computers and terminals are below the desktop. The terminal is viewed through glass.

Open area seating on the staircase to the 3rd floor.

Open study tables like a reading room.

Health Science Library at UB

The Health Science Library at UB has antique medical instrument on display in glass cases in the lobby.

Board presentations from students were displayed in the lobby.

The second floor of the library contains an "old fashioned" reading room, complete with wood paneling, a fireplace and two chandeliers.

Fredonia State College Library

The Reed Library at Fredonia State College has a very large open area as you enter the library. There is no crowding around the circulation and reference desks.

There are multiple group work areas near the entrance, as well as a handful of computers. In this group of tables, there were several that were counter height and these tables had stools, instead of chairs.

There was original artwork throughout the library.

The library had a couple enclosed group study rooms.

The individual study carrells were designed into the architecture of the library. They are made of the same concrete as the pillars.

WiFi is available throughout the library.

The reference stacks have a poster display about censorship. The posters contain information about books on the ALA's Most Frequently Challenged Books.

There is an atrium connecting the one portion of the library to the other. This is the only area in the library where food is allowed.

The library has a Learning Center where student can go for help from tutors. This area is set up with tables and each table is labeled for help in a specific area of study.

The Tower Study Lounge -- space on two floors for individual and group study. On the upper floor, the library placed a red emergency phone.

One of the study areas is labeled as a reading room and at one end, there are pieces of antique furniture and prints in honor of a donor to the library.

The Reed Library has a special section set aside for students studying music. They have a separate floor off of the main entrance. This section of the library has display cases, listening centers (tape, CD and record), a sizeable LP collection, and permanent concrete carrells for viewing videos.

The Office of the Registrar is located within the library.

Buffalo State College Library

The E. H. Butler Library at Buffalo State College has a cafe in the lobby.

As you enter the library, there is currently a display about African Americans.

In the lobby of the library, there is a professional map to the various floors of the library.

Throughout the library, there are original works of art (oil paintings, acrylic wall reliefs, posters of local architecture).

Historical letters from President Grover Cleveland to Edward H. Butler are prominently displayed.

The library has a roof garden off of the 2nd floor. The roof garden has places to sit.

The library has a Creative Studies section. This section has an unusual sign, shaped like a head. Computers have also been placed in this section.

The library has large areas for studying on all the floors. These areas have a lot of light.

An Interna-

tional Study Reading Area is located in the Butler Library. This area has study tables, display cases containing carvings and flags from many countries hanging from the ceiling.

There are Library Instruction classroom on one floor of the library.

On the first floor of the library, around the corner from the circulation desk, there is a kiosk so students can get their student ids.

Canisius College Library

The Bouwhuis Library at Canisius College has original artwork throughout the building, starting at the entrance to the library. This artwork is in many different forms, including lithographs, acrylic wall reliefs, oils, and ink & watercolors.

Right inside the library, by the circulation desk, the library has a large, colorful Buffalo (from the Buffalo project a couple years ago). Also, they have a bus bench from "A Seat for Social Justice", commemorating Rosa Parks' ride.

The library offers WiFi throughout.

There are many small group study rooms throughout the three floors of the library.

On the main floor of the library, there is an art gallery sponsored by the Boys & Girls Club of Buffalo.

The library contains a bright and colorful Education Curriculum Center which contains childrens' books, games, etc. for their Education students.

There are vending machines within the library.

The library offers a listening/viewing area which contains carrells with stereos, turntables, and televisions with either VHS or DVD players. The student must provide his/her own headsets.

The library offers a lounge area with a television for the students.

The stacks on the lower floor (basement) exhibit ink & watercolor drawings.

The library is currently showcasing Rev. Ludwig Bouvin, S.J. and the early years of Canisius College.

Niagara University Library

Niagara University library offers laptop lending to their students within the library. Two forms of id are required.

The library had individual study carrells located behind closed doors. They look like sound booths from the old record stores.

There are vending machines (food and drink) located by the stairs in the library.

The library has a couple large group study rooms.

The NU library offers WiFi connection to their students. Where the WiFi connection isn't strong, the library has network plug-ins.

The Business School Administration offices are located on the second floor of the library. There are also a couple of Accounting faculty offices on the same floor.

Erie Community College-City Library

Erie Community College (ECC) library offers their students the opportunity to check out laptop computers while working in the library. They just need two forms of identification.

In the library at ECC, they placed artwork from the students at Locust St. Art.

The library offers comfortable seating in the periodical section.

Niagara County Community College Library

Niagara County Community College (NCCC) library has a very accessible interlibrary loan and reserve desk near the entrance of the library.

NCCC library offers their students virtual reference 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

5 Outstanding Academic Libraries

The first priority for finding the outstanding libraries was to determine the criteria with which to judge the websites. I chose the following criteria: purpose, appropriateness, currency, responsibility, clarity, accessibility, and creativity. (Lesley) Once the criteria were established, the search for outstanding websites began. The results are as follows.

Seattle Central Community College - the Library @ Seattle Central
http://dept.sccd.ctc.edu/cclib

The reasons for selecting the Library @ Seattle Central are:

• The library has listed three ways for students to receive help, by email, by phone, and in person.
• The library hours are shown on the library home page. There is no need to move to a new page to locate this information.
• The page contains an easy-to-use site menu on the left hand side.
• The labels for the tools are clear and easy to understand.
• There are easily identified links to help get started with using the site. There are links to the library catalog, to periodicals, to helpful websites, and for assistance with writing up the results.
• The links are easy to navigate and understand.
• Easy access to the other SCC libraries from the page.
• The website is uncluttered and the information has been recently updated.

Harvard University Libraries

http://lib.harvard.edu

The outstanding qualities that led me to choose Harvard are:

• The website was creatively designed, especially the home page. The top of the home page showcases collections about Black History Month topics, as well as highlighting the digital collections available through the libraries. Access to the libraries' resources are located in the lower half of the home page.
• Access to the various library resources are separated into categories and each category is given a column.
• When you click on links in a particular category, each linked page within that category has the same style and format. Every category has a different page design.
• The labels for the categories and links are clear and concise.
• The page designs throughout are clean and simple. They are not distracting to the eye.

Libraries of the Claremont Colleges

http://libraries.claremont.edu

The qualities that made the libraries of the Claremont Colleges a choice are:

• There are four liberal arts schools that form the Claremont Colleges. Having a combined library webpage allows students to access materials from all four colleges at once.
• The home page has beautiful images that enhance rather than distract from the purpose of the site.
• Hours for all four libraries for the current day are available in the upper right corner of the home page.
• There is easy access to the catalog, the databases, the journals, the collections, and the reserves from the center of the page.
• The home page contains access to the individual libraries.
• There is a nice how to... section where students can access frequently needed information.
• The page contains up-to-date news for the libraries.
• Easy access to help from a librarian.

University of Texas at Austin Libraries

http://www.lib.utexas.edu

The reasons for selecting the University of Texas at Austin library are:

• Important tools are located at the top of the page in drow down menus that are easy to access.
• When the page loads, the research tools drop down menu is automatically displayed, giving the user immediate access to the catalog, databases, periodicals, and other search methods.
• Additional resources are separated into categories and placed in boxes at the bottom of the page. There categoreis are for students, faculty, web searching through Google Scholar, news, and "Utopia".
• Every time the home page loads, a different photo from the library is shown.
• The links are clearly marked and easy to access.
• The design of the page is original, when compared to other academic library webpages.

College of Charleston Libraries

http://www.cofc.edu/~library

The outstanding aspects of the College of Charleston Libraries are:

• There are four categories into which library resources were placed. Each category is color coded for easy identification.
• The site has the ability to browse by subject/major.
• The home page contains a way to immediately start searching the catalog. The home page also contains news about the library.
• There is easy access to the most commonly used features through the category boxes.
• The pages are uncluttered and easy to access.

References

"Evaluating Web Sites." Lesley Libraries. 31 Oct. 2006. Lesley University. 12 Feb. 2007 http://www.lesley.edu/library/guides/research/evaluating_web.html#topofpage .