Search

Virtual reality (VR) offers potential for teaching and learning, though there seems to be no prior use of VR for teaching library and information science. This paper reports on a project that used VR for teaching library design, specifically for designing a library for customers with physical impairments. A survey and interviews were used to collect data. The results suggest that students prefer using VR to more traditional forms of learning because it makes physical problems seem more real than they would if presented in a book or video.

Discussion of trends in Australian higher education focuses on academic libraries. Highlights include online courses; integrating library services into curriculum development; workload priority for librarians; information literacy; and a case study of the University of Queensland, including their Web site, flexible delivery, special services for remote students, and digital learning objects. (LRW)

Discussion of customer expectations of library service quality and SERVQUAL as a measurement tool focuses on two studies: one that compared a survey of Chinese university students' expectations of service quality to New Zealand students; and one that investigated national culture as a source of attitudes to customer service. (Author/LRW)

Discussion of library education in New Zealand focuses on the cultural clash between government control of education and university autonomy, as well as the clash between an indigenous people and a culture introduced from outside. Topics include nationwide higher education reform; distance education; quality assurance, including strategic planning; and evaluation. (Author/LRW)

Academic library managers need a multimethod, objective, valid tool for measuring service quality. Examines three research studies in the measurement of service quality in Australian and New Zealand academic libraries: the Hernon and Altman Study; Hernon and Calvert Study; and the University of Waikato (Hamilton, New Zealand) Survey, a two-stage gap analysis. (PEN)

Examines the effectiveness of a framework developed to measure service quality in academic libraries. The research, which was conducted in the seven university libraries of New Zealand during 1996 concluded that the survey questionnaire administered is an effective instrument for testing service quality. (AEF)

Reports on the second stage of the New Zealand University Libraries Effectiveness Study, which identified dimensions of effectiveness in New Zealand academic libraries and examined parallels with dimensions of organizational effectiveness in a similar study of public libraries. Each libraries' staff rated the library's performance against 99 indicators of effectiveness. (Author/LRW)

Surveyed stakeholder groups in the New Zealand university system to determine each groups' criteria for measuring university library performance. Compared responses of resource allocators, senior library staff, other library staff, academic staff, and graduate and undergraduate students, and found that the groups have different perspectives on library effectiveness. Contains 11 tables and the questionnaire. (JMV)

Two articles discuss library administration and staff training at the University of New Guinea, and question the value of quantitative standards for the high school libraries of Papua New Guinea. The major problem in the high schools is identified as lack of experienced personnel to implement standards. (CDD)

Misinformation on the Web has the potential to distort the learning of higher education students. Research with faculty, research students and taught students showed that higher education students are naïve about the problem of misinformation. They believe they can identify it and do not make extra effort to check the sources of their information. Greater information literacy is advocated as one means of countering misinformation. Other suggested controls, such as certification of sources, and greater plurality of the ownership of information sources, receive less support. We do not know how much misinformation is on the Web, so determining the cost-benefit of proposed solutions is still not possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports on the status of academic libraries in Germany. Details on higher education system in Germany; Factors that influence the overall situation of academic libraries in Germany in 2002; Groups of staff in academic libraries.

Examines the general environment of higher education libraries in Great Britain, especially the impact of government initiatives and legislation on a national and regional scale. National and regional developments; Variety of legislation which have an impact on higher education; Proposal for a Distributed National Electronic Resource for learning and teaching.