What gives him his expertise? By what authority does he write?
John R. Henderson has been a reference librarian at the Ithaca College Library since 1981, having previously worked in libraries in West Virginia and Pennsylvania. He received his master's degree in library science from the University of Pittsburgh back when the closest thing to the World Wide Web was something called "mechanized information retrieval." And back when he was an undergraduate at Westminster College, they were still using Hollerith cards. Mr. Henderson (note, please, he is neither Ms. Henderson nor Dr. Henderson) has been involved in Web development and articulation issues since 1994, when during Thanksgiving break he created ICYouSee in response to a request from the director of the Ithaca College Libraryto prepare a Mosaic workshop series. In addition to designing the ICYouSee Web pages, he has contributed to many of the Library's subject guide and reference Web pages. He has addressed several audiences on the topic of Internet training and evaluation issues, including college professors, college students, elementary school teachers, and law librarians. Henderson has also served as the coordinator of the Ithaca College Library credit instruction program. He has served on the Resource Base Committee of Project LookSharp, a media literacy initiative. He is an active member of Project Wombat, formerly known as STUMPERS-L, an online list through which some of the best reference librarians in the world plus other amazing researchers seek or supply answers that have others stumped. Fans of radio quiz shows might be interested in knowing that Henderson is enshrined in the SaysYou Hall of Fame.
If expertise and authority can be measured by what others
have said, it might be useful to note that John Henderson and the ICYouSee
Web site have won a few awards and recognitions, including the Miss
Rumphius Award, presented by members of the RTEACHER mailing list
"to educators who develop and share exceptional Internet resources
for literacy and learning. It honors teachers who make our world a more
beautiful place, like the title character in the book Miss Rumphius by
Barbara Cooney."
The site has been featured in AAAS Science NetLinks, The Scout Report, and The ResearchBUZZ. Educuators and educational groups that have recognized it include SchoolZone UK, the HomeworkSpot, Educating.net, Global Connections Online, and Top20kids. The popular press even discovered ICYouSee several years ago, and the site was favorably reviewed in Entertainment Weekly, USA Today, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and Maclean's Magazine. Back when the World Wide Web was first getting national attention, the site was featured on the first episode of the net.sho, a public broadcasting TV program about the Internet.
SPECIAL NOTE:John R. Henderson is unrelated to another Ithacan with a similar name, Cornell Anthropologist John S. Henderson, who is a Mayan scholar.