Briefly Noted
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Exploring Discovery: The Front Door to Your Library’s Licensed and Digitized Content, ed. Kenneth J. Varnum. Chicago: ALA Editions, 2016. 304 pages. $95.00 paper (ISBN 978-0-8389-1414-4)
Edited by Ken Varnum, senior program manager for discovery, delivery, and learning analytics at the University of Michigan Library in Ann Arbor, Exploring Discovery: The Front Door to Your Library’s Licensed and Digitized Content is divided into four parts: Vended Discovery Systems, Custom Discovery Systems, Interfaces, and Content and Metadata. The book offers a variety of case studies that illustrate the complexity of organizing ever-growing information sources into a smooth and efficient search experience. In 19 chapters written by over three dozen librarians, software developers, and systems programmers, Exploring Discovery provides examples of solutions to vexing discovery challenges that libraries, museums, and archives face. Representing both small and large institutions, individual libraries and consortia, these case studies detail systems, software, and strategies necessary for leading users to your library’s resources. (FR)
Leading Libraries: How to Create a Service Culture, Wyoma vanDuinkerken and Wendi Arant Kaspar. Chicago: ALA Editions, 2016. 224 pages. $65.00 (ISBN 978-0-8389-1312-3)
Authors Wyoma vanDuinkerken and Wendi Arant Kaspar spend the first two chapters of Leading Libraries: How to Create a Service Culture defining leadership, service, and service leadership. Such care is necessary because creating a service culture demands self-reflection of leaders, who must first understand the values that motivate them. Leading Libraries is not specifically aimed at managers or supervisors but at any librarian who is interested in transforming his or her work environment. For vanDuinkerken, coeditor of the Journal of Academic Librarianship, and Kaspar, editor of College & Research Libraries, leaders are innovators. They model behaviors that enable people and organizations to recognize and take advantage of new opportunities. Concluding chapters on innovation, strategic planning, and sustaining service culture provide practical suggestions for introducing transformative leadership in today’s rapidly evolving library world. (FR) [End Page 849]
The Heart of Librarianship: Attentive, Positive, and Purposeful Change, Michael Stephens. Chicago: ALA Editions, 2016. 186 pages. $48.00 (ISBN 978-0-8389-1454-0)
The Heart of Librarianship: Attentive, Positive, and Purposeful Change is a collection of vignettes based on Michael Stephens’s writings over the past decade, including his “Office Hours” column in Library Journal. Stephens is an assistant professor of information studies at San José State University in San Jose, California, who writes, speaks, and teaches on emerging technologies and trends in libraries and library education. The Heart of Librarianship offers thoughtful reflections and insightful ideas in an accessible style on a wide range of topics. Readers in public and academic libraries will find this work useful for understanding the current state and cultural context of our profession. (FR)
Visual Literacy for Libraries: A Practical, Standards-Based Guide, Nicole E. Brown, Kaila Bussert, Denise Hattwig, and Ann Medaille. Chicago: ALA Editions. 208 pages. $70.00 (ISBN 978-0-8389-1381-9)
Digital images, graphs, and tables are now as common as textual sources, and our students should develop the skills to interpret the information conveyed by such graphic elements in books, articles, social media, news portals, and blogs. In Visual Literacy for Libraries: A Practical, Standards-Based Guide, Nicole Brown, Kaila Bussert, Denise Hattwig, and Ann Medaille bring the same practical approach to visual phenomena that information literacy librarians follow in instruction. The first three chapters cover the basics: analyzing, interpreting, discovering, and creating images. The final three chapters focus on using images in an academic and professional context, covering ethical considerations, citing and crediting, and using images in research. Each chapter ends with suggested instruction activities. This attractive, well-edited, and well-formatted book should find a broad audience among librarian instructors. (FR) [End Page 850]
