Block 2 Sessions, 10:45-11:30 a.m.
Program F - Part 1
An Embarrassment of Riches
Ruth Wallach
Acting Head, Doheny Reference Center
University of Southern California
This paper is geared towards librarians who frequently work with faculty
and graduate students, and will summarize our experience in organizing and
conducting several subject specific workshops on using the Internet as a
research medium. It will examine the practical issues on how to approach
the task of teaching researchers something new and the more theoretical
question on whether such workshops afford a new collaborative environment
between librarians and specialists in particular disciplines. How do we
negotiate the hype created by the rapid accessibility to resources on the
Internet and the conservatism often present in academic settings? Does
the ready availability of the Internet on many academic campuses affect
the relationship between the librarian and the researcher? And finally,
is this all a great big hype, masquerading as research, which detracts us
from doing our professional work?
