Wikipedia and the evolution of history

Wikipedia's in the news again regarding its editing policy and accuracy, this time with an interesting twist. In an article this week in the Atlantic, Timothy Messer-Kruse, a renown scholar on the Haymarket riot and resulting trial, talks about his experience attempting to update the Wikipedia entry on the riot. Years of research on the trial of the men convicted of building and throwing the bomb that killed one police officer and wounded several others, Messer-Kruse added new information not yet known in many history circles about forensic evidence used by the prosecution in the case. Almost as soon as he posted the new text, Wikipedia's editors removed it.

This highlights a standard Wikipedia policy which requires that statements in entries are verified and represent a majority view by scholars. Wikipedia requires that minority views should be stated as such and should not dominate an entry. (Wikipedia, 2011)." The idea behind this policy is to rely on the judgment of many scholars in the field to weigh out a lone theorist with unvetted ideas. But how does that effect new scholarship and evidence? Because Messer-Kruse's information was newly discovered, it had not appeared in other sources and had not been greatly debated. But was it inaccurate?

This controversy reminds me of a recent book looking at historical events through a contemporary cultural prism as seen through high school textbooks over time. Kyle Ward, author of History in the Making (2006), shows students how as public opinion changes over time, the historical record also changes. In an NPR interview, Ward discusses how the writing of history is affected by the culture of the time in which that history is written.

How do you feel about Wikipedia's policy of majority opinion? Is it a safe guard? Does it adequately allow for new scholarship? How will those majority opinions and hence the entries change over time? We'd love to hear your thoughts.

Discovering Our Hidden Resources

The Special Collections Department is often an overlooked resource at Langsdale Library. It doesn’t help that it is located on the fourth floor, housed behind locked doors and open by appointment only.  However, the staff of three archivists is work diligently to make the treasures to be found within more accessible.  There are 134 individual archival collections, the majority of these related to the making of the modern city of Baltimore. Collectively they document the built environment, civic groups, public agencies, and nonprofit organizations from 20th century Baltimore City. Among the holdings can be found: oral histories, photographs, television news footage, architectural plans, and the papers of prominent Baltimore citizens.

As part of increasing awareness and promotion of the resources several digital initiatives over the last couple of years have been undertaken.  These range from completely digitized archival collections to select photographs and news footage on flickr.  Another impetus for improving access is researcher interest, recently MICA professor Mikita Brottman wrote about her experiences with this regard while trying to learn about the history of the Belvedere Hotel.  It was her use of this collection that led the staff to enhance the collection overview and creating a finding aid on the department’s website.  Collection overviews have also been created for all 134 collections and this information will soon be available in the library’s catalog.

Paging a Librarian

I recently read a blog post from the Chronicle of Higher Education about a new twist to roving reference. Roving reference means that a librarian strolls around areas where students are computing answering questions that may arise. While that model takes the librarian to the users, some students are bothered by the continuous strolling of the librarian - perhaps thinking, "is s/he watching me, checking out everything I'm doing?" Others may feel the librarian's "May I help you?" a bit disruptive in their work flow? How then do librarians reach out to the students and respond quickly without interrupting or too much in the students' space?

Brian Matthews, Associate Dean for Learning & Outreach at Virginia Tech, takes an idea from a chain restaurant and other pager models. He suggests that libraries offer some mechanism at each work station that students can use to signal a question or need for assistance. Think of turning your restaurant coffee cup over to signal you'd like a cup of coffee. It could be as simple as putting a solo cup on the top of the user's monitor or desk, or flipping a card up beside the desk (remember putting up the flag on your mailbox when there was mail to go out?).

If you have ideas for signaling that you need help from a librarian, please let us know what they are!

Fewer clicks, no extra passwords

Langsdale Library is always looking for ways to make things easier and faster for faculty and students. Well, we have successfully made retrieving E-reserves as simple as 1 click.  Watch the before and after demonstration. Then try it out for yourself.

A new face at the library

As the new student liaison, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Mariama Gregory. I study corporate communications at the University of Baltimore. I am excited to be the liaison for Langsdale because it offers me an opportunity to gain experience in marketing and advertising. My hope is to be an effective advocate for Langsdale and make it a resource students want to use. I look forward to this rewarding challenge. 

- Mariama

Find the materials you need!

Welcome back to another semester!  The hunt for materials to supplement your learning is in full swing!

Do you need access to books and articles that are not available in Langsdale Library’s collection?

The Book and Document Delivery  Department  here in Langsdale Library provides Intercampus and Interlibrary Loan services for the UB community.  All you need is a valid Library ID to use these services.

If Langsdale does not have a book that you need, search the USMAI catalog for your title.  If it is available from another university system library, just select the REQUEST button and choose UB for your log-in and inter-campus delivery.

If you need books not found in the USMAI catalog or articles not available full text in our databases, a one-time registration allows access to your personal Interlibrary Loan account.  The FIND IT button in our catalog and databases provides the opportunity to place an ILL request from your search results. 

Both Inter-Campus and ILL books are picked up at the Langsdale Circulation counter.  Articles are received as PDFs and are desktop accessible through your ILL account.

Access to both of these services can be found on our new web page at http://langsdale.ubalt.edu and further information can be found at http://ubalt.libguides.com/badd

Good luck and have a productive semester!

e-reader ownership up substantially

Did you know that almost 1/5 of Americans polled own tablets or e-readers? According to a new Pew Internet & American Life Project report, ownership of both type devices almost doubled during the holiday season. As of January 2012, 19% of those polled indicated that they have a tablet, and 19% indicated that they have an e-reader, both up from 10% in December 2011. Not surprisingly, the greatest level of ownership is seen in those with salaries over $75,000 and college educated responders.