A meta-research study

Chronicle of Higher Education

From the issue dated August 17, 2007

An Anthropologist in the Library
The U. of Rochester takes a close look at students in the stacks
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v53/i50/50a02601.htm?=attw

"A few years ago, Ms. Foster was hired by Rochester's library to study undergraduates, to help shed light on how they do their research and write papers, and how they spend their days. The results of the study, which will be published in a book due out next month from the Association of College and Research Libraries"

RSS for academics

Here is a blog post about 15 ways to use RSS for education
http://www.rss-specifications.com/rss-and-education.htm:

1. Share Resources
2. Class blogs
3. School Schedule/Sports Scheudle
4. Podcast Lectures
5. Mointor Research
6. Professional Development
7. Job Searches
8. Colloration (writely/wiki)
9. Search Feeds
10. Study Guides
11. Medical Education
12. Scholarships
13. Grants
14. School News
15. Student Fiancial Aid News

Frustration with the last mile

A huge 113 page report from the British Research Network, Researchers and discovery services Behaviour, perceptions and needs: A study commissioned by the
Research Information Network November 2006

"The main frustration is not with the research discovery services themselves but with the
problem of subsequently accessing identified sources and materials. The .last mile. of the
process which actually delivers the document or other source that has been searched for is
the focus of concern, with lack of access to journal articles because of a subscription barrier
being the most frequently-expressed difficulty experienced. Librarians agree with researchers
that the key problem is accessing online journals rather than problems with the discovery
tools themselves. (Section 4.2.9)"
http://www.rin.ac.uk/files/Report%20-%20final.pdf

I thought this analogy of the last mile is a great one. I think I will use it in my instruction--certainly I know users frustrations with the "last mile"