Dean offers direction on information highway
BUTLER TWP — When Steve Joseph began his job in 1995 at Butler County Community College's John A. Beck Jr. Library, there was no Internet access and no computers for student use.
The library received two electronic databases on CD-ROMs twice a month, and that was the extent of electronic information, according to Joseph, BC3 dean of library services.
Today, with a budget that “hasn't grown all that much,” Joseph balances the library's funds between investments in print and electronic material to determine which best suits students' needs.
“It's 60/40 or 70/30,” Joseph said of the budget split, with electronic spending dominating.
The library has about 55,000 print books and nearly 10,000 electronic ones.
In addition, it subscribes to numerous databases. Although there are too many to name, the databases include 800 newspapers, more than 1,000 scholarly journals and popular magazines with full-text articles, a collection of online reference books, in-depth information on companies, research and legal topics.
But there is much at stake in choosing from among those many options.
“Print encourages a different kind of thinking (than electronic data does),” Joseph said. “In print, readers are engaged in a sustained argument.”
Readers view the evidence a writer has collected and decide whether or not they agree with it, he said of printed materials.
“Electronic information doesn't promote the ability to follow a sustained argument like books do,” Joseph said.
Instead, electronic data is delivered in chunks, he said, both in electronic databases and on Web sites.
Traditionally, and as is usually still the case, printed academic books and journals are reviewed by a writer's peers and editors before being published.
Although it wasn't a perfect system — printed materials do sometimes include inaccuracies —“you did have to jump through some hoops,” to publish a book or an article, Joseph said.
The same isn't necessarily true for information on websites. Readers must evaluate a website's credibility, he said, because information may not have been seen by anyone but the writer before being released.
Website information also can't be accepted at face value, he said.
Nevertheless, students are less likely to use books, simply because accessing electronic data is faster and more convenient than browsing a library shelf or doing research through academic journals, Joseph said.Electronic data is literally at students' fingertips day or night. That's especially important for distance education students who are away from campus and for nontraditional students, he said. Those two groups make up a significant portion of BC3's enrollment.To bridge the gap between vetted and unvetted material, the library is taking steps to help students evaluate content they read online.During library orientation, students are taught to look at a website's currency, accuracy and for clues to any bias, Joseph said.In addition, Joseph is surveying faculty to learn whether they teach website evaluation, and he will be testing graduates to see if their website evaluation skills are adequate.“We'll see how we can beef that up, if necessary,” he said.Joseph has another role at BC3, instructor of the class “Introduction to Religions of the World.”“I've been interested in religion since high school,” Joseph said, noting that he has a bachelor's degree in psychology and religion from Earlham College in Richmond, Ind.As electronic data becomes more prevalent, publishers' expectations for both print and electronic publishing are changing, Joseph said.Self-published books have weakened print's credibility at the same time academics are developing peer review processes for electronic information, he said.“However people get their information, they need the skills to separate the wheat from the chaff,” he said.Butler County residents who are unaffiliated with BC3 may get a free library card at the library circulation desk. A driver's license or other proof of residency is required for access to all of the library's resources.Beck Library is open during BC3's fall and spring semesters from 7:30 a.m. through 8:30 p.m., Monday through Thursday. It's open from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fridays, and closed Saturdays and Sundays.During the summer, the library is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
<B>Age: </B>54<B>Address:</B> Mount Lebanon<B>Family: </B>Wife, Maria; sons, Aaron, 14, and Will, 10<B>Employment: </B>Butler County Community College Dean of Library Services; BC3 faculty, Introduction to Religions of the World<B>Education: </B>Bachelor's, psychology and religion, Earlham College, Richmond, Ind.; Master's, education, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.; Master's, library and information sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa.<B>Interests: </B>“When I'm not working I drive my kids around.”<B>Quote: </B>“Print encourages a different kind of thinking (than electronic data does). In print, readers are engaged in a sustained argument.”
