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This paper examines the impact that poster presentations have had in increasing student knowledge, engagement and interest in learning and understanding library research skills in a college-level, general education information literacy class. Many general education library classes use an annotated bibliography as a summative assessment of students’ learning in the course; however, this type of assessment does not provide a good method to evaluate students’ knowledge of research skills. In place of this bibliography a poster session was used to evaluate and assess student understanding of library research skills. The poster presentations allow the instructor to evaluate how the students applied their library research skills to locate information to answer research questions. Additionally, the presentations provide the students with the opportunity to share what they have learned with their classmates and invited guests and to learn more about each other’s topics.More than 100 students have had the opportunity to present a poster and to share what they have learned. The poster consists of a summary of what was learned about the research question, reasons why the question was chosen and three citations. Students have commented that they have enjoyed the experience of learning more about their selected research topics and sharing what they have learned with their classmates. Researching a topic of interest to the student results in greater understanding and more interest in learning and using library research skills. The poster presentation helps students make a stronger connection between the skills required to find the information and their ability to communicate what they have learned about their research question. When designing information literacy programs, poster presentations showcasing the students’ research process should be considered as an alternative form of assessment that can be used to evaluate student learning in a general education library skills class. Additionally, a poster presentation assessment addresses Standards 1 through 5 of the ACRL (Association of College & Research Libraries) Information literacy competency standards for higher education and demonstrates the students’ ability to meet the course learning objectives.This article is based on a paper presented at LILAC 2012.

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Seasonal treatment performance of small-surface flow wetlands was evaluated during their second operational year and compared with community-level physiological profiles (CLPP) of the heterotrophic bacterial community obtained from sole-carbon source utilization patterns in BIOLOG GN (Haywood, California) microplates. The CLPP patterns varied significantly by season, indicating reduced functional diversity in the heterotrophic community during warmer months of active plant growth (April through October). Principal component analysis (PCA) suggested that the functional community differed in planted versus unplanted wetlands during the growing season. Wetlands generally improved wastewater quality; however, treatment performance was reduced in the second year. Despite differences in the heterotrophic community suggested by CLPP, treatment efficiency with respect to removal of five-day biochemical oxygen demand or reduction in fecal indicator organisms generally was not significantly changed as a function of growing season or plant treatment. Water Environ. Res., 76, 468 (2004).

This paper describes a survey of the implementation and use of Geographic Information Systems (GI) in smaller academic libraries (Carnegie Classification Master's Colleges and Universities I & II) (Carnegie Foundation 1997-2003). Two hundred, sixty-eight libraries were surveyed and 138 surveys were returned. We sought to determine to what degree smaller schools have adopted GI and how the implementation of GI was accomplished. The survey focused on hardware/software, staffing, levels of service, training, monetary support, and use. Twenty-two smaller academic libraries have adopted GI and 27 plan to incorporate this technology in the near future. This analysis will focus specifically on those libraries that already have adopted GI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]