Digital Commons Network^™

From Pumps And Pipes To Data And Discovery: Unifying A New Division, Jeremy Myntti, Megan Mcmillan

Faculty Publications

A reorganization of the Brigham Young University Library in 2020 brought many changes to the library, including the formation of the Metadata and Information Technology (MIT) Division. This new division needed to define a vision for itself, encourage a sense of unity among its employees, and foster collaboration among those employees. This article details how the MIT Division created a Data and Discovery initiative based on the Pumps and Pipes collaboration model, a model which brings seemingly unrelated industries together to discover solutions to their respective challenges by exploring “their neighbor’s toolbox” (Pumps and Pipes, n.d., “What We Do”). Here …

British Online Archives, Katherine Van Arsdale

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Films Digitized To Celebrate Andrews University Sesquicentennial, Katherine Van Arsdale

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Open Educational Resources: Initiatives At The James White Library, Margaret Adeogun

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Growing New Librarians Through Meaningful Internships, Nicole Lewis

Faculty Publications

Internships have the potential to be incredible learning experiences for students, but without thoughtful preparation, they may be nothing more than short-term jobs. Using a metadata internship as a case study, this presentation will discuss how using effective teaching and course design principles could create more thoughtful and meaningful internship experiences, specifically how crafting an internship objective and learning outcomes can help with creating content and learning activities that prepare interns for their hands-on projects. The result is an internship that combines theory and practice into a meaningful experience for the student and delivers needed work for the library.

Children In The Workplace: An Exploration In Library Policy Making, Sharolyn Swenson, Marissa Anne Bischoff, Ryan Lee

Faculty Publications

Children in the workplace are becoming a more common discussion in various work environments, including libraries. Since the university has no policy addressing this issue, a task force was charged to draft a recommended policy for the university library regarding bringing children to the workplace. The task force reviewed existing policies and conducted a survey and interviews with library employees. The resulting policy provided guidelines for employees and their supervisors without being overly prescriptive. This article provides a case study of how the task force used assessment methods and tools to create an appropriate and inclusive policy. While the specific …

Creating An Inclusive Metadata Policy, Nicole Lewis, Jeremy Myntti

Faculty Publications

Best of Core Forum webinar series

The BYU Library has created an Inclusive Metadata Policy for metadata creators to use when creating and remediating descriptions to be more inclusive. Accompanying the policy is a companion document with recommendations and examples, including links to many external resources. In addition to working with stakeholders in the library to develop the policy, we consulted with the University’s Office of Belonging. This presentation describes the process we used to undertake the creation of the library policy and recommendations document.

Professionalizing A Student’S Library Employment Through Experiential Learning Workshops, Marissa Anne Bischoff, Matt Armstrong, David Waddell

Faculty Publications

If intentional, college students in campus jobs can develop professional skills valued in the post-college workforce. However, many students are not likely to realize the potential of their experience without advisement or instruction that teaches them how to reflect on experience and articulate its value, usually in the form of a resume or in an interview. This study examines the value of three workshops to help students reflect on their development of NACE career readiness competencies as a result of their library work experience. Survey and focus group data suggest students’ confidence in their ability to articulate and apply their …

Report From The Adventist Digital Library And Seventh-Day Adventist Periodical & Obituary Index, Katherine Van Arsdale

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Review Of Hopeful Visions, Practical Actions: Cultural Humility In Library Work, Carol A. Leibiger

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Recruiting The Right Candidate, Cynthia Bassett

Faculty Publications

The market for hiring a law librarian has changed significantly over the last few years. Those on both sides of the equation are a little uncertain about the whole process, wondering when the job search should start, how much to expect in pay, and what aspects of a position are up for discussion. The challenge of a limited pipeline of law librarians requires new approaches to recruiting.

"What Is A Wave But 1000 Drops Working Together?": The Role Of Public Libraries In Addressing Lgbtqia+ Health Information Disparities, Vanessa Lynn Kitzie, A. Nick Vera, Valerie Lookingbill, Travis L. Wagner

Faculty Publications

Purpose. This paper presents results from a participatory action research study with 46 LGBTQIA+ community leaders and 60 library workers who participated in four community forums at public libraries across the US. The forums identified barriers to LGBTQIA+ communities addressing their health questions and concerns and explored strategies for public libraries to tackle them.

Design/methodology/approach. Forums followed the World Café format to facilitate collaborative knowledge development and promote participant-led change. Data sources included collaborative notes taken by participants and observational researcher notes. Data analysis consisted of emic/etic qualitative coding.

Findings. Results revealed that barriers experienced by LGBTQIA+ communities are structurally …

Creating An Inclusive Metadata Policy, Nicole Lewis, Jeremy Myntti

Faculty Publications

The BYU Library is creating an Inclusive Metadata Policy for metadata creators to use when creating and remediating descriptions to be more inclusive. Accompanying the policy is a companion document with recommendations and examples, including links to many external resources. In addition to working with stakeholders in the library to develop the policy, we consulted with the University’s Office of Belonging. This presentation describes the process we used to undertake the creation of the library policy and recommendations document.

Could Our Universe Have Been Initiated Intentionally: An Epistemological Framework, Dan Broadbent

Faculty Publications

The possibility that our universe was initiated intentionally is a compelling philosophical and scientific question that can be evaluated probabilistically based on four primary considerations: fine-tuning in our universe, hypotheses about the multiverse, the likelihood that intelligent life may be able to initiate a universe, and the possibility that we live in a simulation. This paper offers an equation analogous to the noteworthy Drake equation that is intended to be used as a structured thought experiment to help identify factors related to the initiation of our universe and to facilitate examining each in terms of what we know, do not …

Utilizing Student Workers For Digital Commons Projects, Ellen Amatangelo, Elizabeth Parret

Faculty Publications

This lightning talk was presented by the Scholarly Communications Coordinator and the Scholarly Communications Student Supervisor from Brigham Young University at the Digital Commons North American Conference 2023. It provides an overview of how student workers at the BYU Library are involved in Digital Commons projects and discusses the types of projects and processes that students work on, including an outline of student supervisor responsibilities. The purpose of the presentation is to get other Digital Commons administrators excited about expanding the possibilities of their repositories by collaborating with student workers.

Discovering Your Family In Digital Libraries, Jeremy Myntti

Faculty Publications

Presentation on using digital libraries in family history research for the BYU Family History Library webinar series.

Key Elements Of A File Format Strategy, Tyler Thorsted

Faculty Publications

Within the Digital Preservation Community there are many references to policies on file formats, acceptable file formats, preservation policies and strategies, risk matrices, and action plans. All have the intention of defining and describing file formats and guiding decisions on which formats to preserve how, and when. My team and I originally created a File Format Action Plan, which was later migrated from OneNote to Confluence and then included more strategic plans for hundreds of file formats. This paper explores which key elements should be included in an effective file format strategy and the different ways such data can be …

Semi-Automated Techniques And Tools For Efficiency: The Case Of Etd Cataloging, Nicole Lewis

Faculty Publications

Technological advances in the library industry have opened doors for new approaches and techniques for efficiently managing, manipulating, and remediating metadata. However, the thought of automation can often bring visions of garbage in the catalog or, worse, job consolidation or loss. With the right balance of automation and manual review, catalogers and metadata experts can optimize workflows for efficiency and quality. This frees up time for other essential projects. Developing efficiency skills may also help increase productivity and excellence in current job duties and provide job advancement opportunities regardless of background. Using an ETD cataloging workflow as a case study, …

Caveat Emptor: Scan Quality Of Elsevier's Digital Backfile Pdf Collection, Gregory M. Nelson, Paul K.J. Robbins, Dennis L. Eggett

Faculty Publications

Scans of journal articles originally published in print, otherwise known as digital journal backfiles, benefit library patrons by providing near instantaneous access to important older information and full-text searchability. Digital backfiles can serve as a reliable surrogate for their corresponding print journals which could be removed from the library, freeing up space for other patron services. Both benefits are realized when the scanned articles are of sufficient clarity to replace the print versions. Several studies have analyzed small and subject-narrow sections of Elsevier’s digital backfile. This article contains a scan-quality analysis from 1578 journals that contain nearly four million articles …

Tibetan And Himalayan Library, Katherine Van Arsdale

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Leveraging The Power Of Wikipedia And Wikidata For Your Library, Nicole Lewis, Rachel Helps

Faculty Publications

Wikipedia is one of the most popular sources of information on the internet. As information professionals, we can change information on Wikipedia to be more accurate and complete. By using Wikidata, librarians can affect information searches at a deep, machine-readable level. This session will discuss some ways that librarians can increase the accessibility of the media and information in their libraries and bring their hidden collections to light.

Unlocking The Mysteries Of Serials, Nicole Lewis, Sharolyn Swenson

Faculty Publications

Serials cataloging can be confusing with its unique properties. This session will discuss some of the challenges involved in cataloging serials including choosing a title, what to do if you do not have the first issue or an early issue of the serial, determining the dates of serials, frequency changes and cataloging serials in languages that are unfamiliar to the cataloger.

Mathematics Library News, Aaron Lercher

Faculty Publications

Mathematics Library News is an LSU Libraries newsletter for members of the Mathematics and Experimental Statistics Departments, published roughly once each semester.

Beyond Reading And Writing: Information Literacy In Higher Education For Lifelong Success, Marta A. Mercado-Sierra, Sarah H. Northam

Faculty Publications

Information Literacy is critical to finding, evaluating, using, and creating information. It also influences how we navigate daily life, workplace environments, and civic participation. Several Information Literacy standards state that it is a human right. Everyone should have access to the necessary tools to develop their information literacy skills. We argue that students transitioning from high school to college are not college prepared for practicing information literacy. Faculty and Librarians both undertake the work to teach information literacy. Still, it would be more effective for Faculty-Librarian partnerships to utilize strengths in their discipline areas to teach information literacy skills.

Librarians Present Panel At Asdah Conference, Katherine Van Arsdale

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Jwl Living Library Event: Borrow A Human Book And Read, Margaret Adeogun

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Data Literacy In The Social Sciences: Findings From A Local Study On Teaching With Quantitative Data In Undergraduate Courses, Patricia B. Condon, Eleta Exline, Louise Buckley

Faculty Publications

Objective – The University of New Hampshire (UNH) Library conducted an exploratory study of the pedagogical practices of social science instructors at UNH who teach using quantitative data in undergraduate courses. This study is connected to a suite of parallel studies at other higher education institutions that was designed and coordinated by Ithaka S+R.

The four aims of this study were to explore the ways in which instructors teach and engage undergraduates in the social sciences using quantitative data; understand the support needs of these instructors; develop actionable recommendations for campus stakeholders; and identify opportunities for the development of resources, …

White House Memo And Faculty Cvs, Ellen Amatangelo

Faculty Publications

This information was presented to the Subject Librarians Council. The "Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies" from the Executive Office of the President concerning "Ensuring Free, Immediate, and Equitable Access to Federally Funded Research" was discussed. The presentation also includes a portion on how faculty publications are added the BYU's institutional repository.

Cultivating A Data Literate Workforce: Considerations For Librarians, Wendy G. Pothier, Patricia Condon

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Visual Literacy Unframed: Planning An Oer To Improve College-Level Visual Analysis Skills, Marty Miller

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.