Biographical and Education Information

Dr. Linda C. Smith is currently a Professor and Associate Dean of the Graduate School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana – Champaign.

She did her undergraduate work at Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania where she received her bachelor’s degree in physics and mathematics. She then went on to receive several M.S. degrees one in library science from the University of Illinois Urbana – Champaign and the other in information and computer science from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Dr. Smith has also received her doctorate from Syracuse University in information transfer.

For more information go to:

http://www.lis.uiuc.edu/oc/people/bio.html?id=lcsmith

http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=pressreleases&template=/contentmanagement/contentdisplay.cfm&ContentID=62882

Professional Work

Dr. Smith’s interests include the design of information systems, educating future and current librarians, and the impact new technology (such as the internet and computer databases) has had on the reference/information workplace (Haythornthwaite & Kazmer, 2004, p. 301). She has edited and co-authored several works on reference collection and development, the effective uses of electronic reference, as well as long distance education using the internet.

One of her well known works is Reference and Information Services (1995) a textbook she co-edited and co-authored. This text examines electronic reference sources and their uses within reference librarianship. In the preface Smith and Bopp explain, "how print and electronic sources can be used together, in a complementary fashion, in the provision of reference service."(p.xviii) This statement shows Smith's determination to foster internet use for reference as well as educational purposes.

Dr. Smith edited a compilation of papers presented at the 1987 Clinic on Library Applications of Data Processing called Questions and Answers: Stategies for Using the Electronic Reference Collection (1989). In her introduction to this book she stated, "Access to databases of various types is gradually becoming a more integral part of reference work."(p.2) Dr. Smith also states her personal feelings about online reference by expressing her belief that these new online resources will help the field of reference to grow and will give reference librarians greater range for answering user questions than they were able to with print materials alone.

Awards

Dr. Smith has been the recipient of numerous awards for her outstanding work in the field of Library and Information Science. Several of these awards are:

- American Library Association Beta Phi Mu Award, 2004

- UIUC Graduate Collage Award for Outstanding Mentoring of Graduate Students

- Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE) Award for Teaching Excellence

- Isadore Gilbert Mudge – R.R. Bowker Award from the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), 2000

Current Projects

The BeeSpace Project

Educating and Recruiting Digital Librarians for the 21st Century

WISE: An Online Consortial Initiative to Build Multi-Institutional Capacity for Library and Information Science Education

References

American Library Association. (2004, April 16). Beta Phi Mu Award recipient named. Retrieved November 15, 2006, from http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=pressreleases&template=/contentmanagement/contentdisplay.cfm&ContentID=62882

Bopp, Richard E., & Smith, Linda C. (Eds.).(1995). Reference and information services(2nd ed.). Englewood: Libraries Unlimited, Inc.

Graduate School of Library and Information Science.(n.d.). Retrieved November 15, 2006, from http://www.lis.uiuc.edu/oc/people/bio.html?id=lcsmith

Haythornthwaite, C., & Kazmer, M.M. (Eds.). (2004). Learning, culture and community in online education (pp. 301). New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc.

Smith, L. C. (Ed.). (1989). Questions and answers: Strategies for using the electronic reference collection. The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.

Elizabeth (Biz) Tanner