EDITOR'S NOTE
Learning 2.0
by Barbara Brynko
No matter how old we get, the crisp autumn feel of September still conjures up memories of heading back to school, made all the sweeter with a new box of Crayolas, a big three-ring binder, and a handful of freshly sharpened No. 2 pencils. OK, the tools today for the back-to-school scene are slightly different. Think smartphones, iPads, and Facebook.
This issue seemed to be the perfect place to talk about our theme of innovation for academic communities. Our three features this month cover all the bases, from elearning to innovation to iSchools.
First, in “Up Close With Stephen Abram,” Miriam A. Drake gets this global thinker talking about his dedication to librarianship and his mission to merge learning with the work of librarians. Abram offers his insights as a librarian as well as the vice president of strategic partnerships and markets at Gale Cengage Learning.
Then, author Robert S. Benchley takes a look at the crossroads of crowdsourcing and thinking outside the box in “NineSigma: Finding Innovation in Unexpected Places.” CEO Andy Zynga helps enterprises forge innovative partnerships to meet ever-changing technology needs in the marketplace.
Finally, we step into the virtual classrooms at three top iSchools that represent the academic creativity involved in shaping the minds of tomorrow’s librarians and information scientists in “iSchools: Shaping the Information Landscape.” Whether their titles are records management specialists, business intelligence analysts, or digital initiatives librarians, they’re librarians to the core.
This issue is packed with information about new products, tools, and services designed especially for the academic community, from ed2go (Gale, part of Cengage Learning) to the Turnitin plagiarism tool (iParadigms, LLC). Enjoy the issue.
— Barbara Brynko |
