image by wordshore on Flickr This essay reports on a project which evaluated the Understanding Library Impacts (ULI) protocol, a suite of instruments for detecting and communicating library impact on student learning. The project was a dissertation study conducted with undergraduates enrolled in upper-level and capstone history classes at six U.S. colleges and universities in [...]

In the Library with the Lead Pipe is pleased to welcome guest authors Iris Jastram, Danya Leebaw, and Heather Tompkins.  They are reference and instruction librarians at Carleton College, a small liberal arts college in Minnesota. Becoming forensic librarians “Wait, this is information literacy?” a rhetorician at our workshop exclaimed in excited surprise. “But this [...]

In the Library with the Lead Pipe is pleased to welcome guest author Derek Rodriguez. Derek serves as a Program Officer with the Triangle Research Libraries Network where he supports collaborative technology initiatives within the consortium and is project manager for the TRLN Endeca Project. He is a Doctoral candidate at the School of Information [...]

As librarians, we invest a great deal of time and effort instructing researchers on how to use our materials. This is especially true for special collections librarians, as we attempt to familiarize researchers with our unique resources and intricate collection arrangements. At the end of that instruction investment, we often wonder if we have been [...]

Not just another pretty picture Introduction I’m a slave to spreadsheets. Trying to decide between a stacked column bar chart and a 3-D area chart is par for the course in my work. Microsoft Excel© is great for many practical needs, but it doesn’t always support the need to create simple, compelling and interactive graphical [...]