Editorial

Citation

Mitchell, E. and Barbara Watstein, S. (2013), "Editorial", Reference Services Review, Vol. 41 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/rsr.2013.24041aaa.001

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Reference Services Review, Volume 41, Issue 1

Arising from an interest to provide a library user education conference in the West, the first LOEX of the West conference was held at Willamette University in June 1994, with the theme “Cultivating the Electronic Landscape: Teaching and Learning in a Climate of Constant Change.” The success of this conference led to another in June 1996 at University of Washington, Seattle, with the theme “Collaboration and Instructional Design in a Virtual Environment.” The conference has continued since then every two years. LOEX of the West is not officially associated with the LOEX Clearinghouse for Library Instruction at the Eastern Michigan University Library. However, the LOEX of the West conferences have followed the LOEX conference model of a limited number of attendees, promoting an atmosphere for library professionals to learn and share experiences and ideas with others. LOTW is very grass roots; it has no permanent home, no permanent sponsor, just individual librarians who volunteer1.

LOEX of the West (LOTW) 2012 held in June at Woodbury University, confirms the emerging reputation of this bi-annual conference as a key venue for information literacy practitioners and theorists. With focused scope and a very personal touch, LOTW serves as a vehicle for dissemination and review of research, for intellectual and practical exchange of ideas, and for forging valuable professional and social networks with peers and established leaders in the field. Whether sharing best practices or vetting new approaches, participants can engage with others who are gathered together for precisely the same reasons: there is little of the usual presentation-hopping behavior that characterizes the larger conferences with more diffuse missions and audiences. Within sessions, during breaks, and over meals, the LOTW conference is intense and immersive (with outdoor yoga at dawn providing some de-compression time). Too, the path to presentation at events like LOTW is often a more accessible one, and shorter time frames may assure fresher and more current content. “Crowd-sourcing” with information literacy devotees is a great way to get feedback to shape works in process.

Professional travel and development have been the easier targets for some institutions seeking ways to shave budgets; demonstrating the value of these activities to the individual, the library, the institution, and the profession is critical. Does comprehensive attendance for you and your institutional colleagues at the “A-list” conferences still make sense? Local and regional conferences, and more focused, topical programs may offer cost savings but also greater opportunities for active engagement, networking, and forging on-going professional relationships, abetted in some cases by geographic proximity. Can these conferences still be intellectually stimulating and help attendees renew their own professional excitement? Absolutely. LOTW is case in point.

Reference Services Review continues to enjoy a special relationship with LOTW, and is pleased, once again, to feature LOTW presenters’ and participants’ manuscripts in this theme issue. Jennifer Rosenfeld, Assistant Professor of Library Sciences and Systems Librarian, and Raida Gatten, Assistant Professor of Library Sciences and Access Services Librarian, Woodbury University, Burbank, California, were co-chairs of LOTW 2012 Planning Committee and are serving as theme editors; their editorial in this issue provides more details.

Also in this issue are two articles that complement the LOTW theme issue on information literacy. B. Jane Scales is the author of “Qualitative analysis of student assignments: a practical look at ATLAS.ti,” which describes the use of this software for authentic assessment of information literacy at Washington State University. We are also delighted to include Leslie Sult’s “A new approach to online database instruction: developing the guide on the side” which describes the development of a scalable and pedagogically-sound online tutorial which is open source and customizable for your library.

Overall, we are confident that the pieces in this issue of RSR will inform and inspire your institutional approaches to information literacy.

From the LOEX of the West 2012 conference page, available at: http://woodbury.libguides.com/content.php?pid=250460&sid=2286449

Eleanor Mitchell, Sarah Barbara Watstein