Responding to the information needs for research success : the role of the research librarian
Paper presented at the Annual LIS Research Symposium, 24-25 July 2014, at UNISA Science Campus, Florida
Roles of the Librarian in a Research Library in the Digital Era: Challenges and the Way Forward
This article describes the roles of librarians in a research library, particularly in the digital era. Librarians' roles vary from the custodian of resources to providers of a diverse nature of activities ranging from collection development, organization of knowledge, information services, preservation and conservation, and management. Librarians perform the aforementioned functions traditionally by using printed tools ranging from collection development tools (e.g., publishers' catalogues, books in print, Ulrich, bibliography); cataloguing tools (e.g., classification schemes such as Library of Congress Classification [LCC] and Dewey Decimal Classification [DDC]); information services (e.g., bulletin, notice board, flyers); preservation and conservation (e.g., clean shelves, use of acid free boxes); and so forth. The traditional ways of performing these functions is being eroded by modern technology. This calls for changes in the products and services of research libraries to the research community served. These changes and the roles that librarians play are discussed in this article. Also enumerated are the challenges, such as dwindling budgets, capacity building, inadequate facilities, among others, of optimizing innovative ways of achieving more enhanced services. Some suggestions that could move the profession forward are also proffered.
Prevalence of lice on dairy cattle in England and the bordering counties of Wales
A postal questionnaire was used to collect information on the prevalence of lice on cattle on a random sample of dairy farms in England and the bordering counties of Wales. Replies were received from 1040 (52.8 per cent) of the 1970 farms which were mailed. Fifty per cent of farmers reported having ever seen or suspected lice in their herds and 29 per cent reported possible infestations in the winter of 1996/97. Visits were made to 24 farms in the south west of England during February 1998. Twelve of the farmers said that they had seen or suspected lice in their herd since October 1997, and that lice were more frequently observed on the adult cattle. However, examination revealed lice on 18 of the 24 farms, and adult cattle were the least likely group to be infested.