Education Commons^™

Participatory Action Research: Improving Professional Practices And Local Situations, Mary M. Somerville

University Libraries Librarian and Staff Articles and Papers

Participatory Action Research employs social sciences research methods to develop actionable local knowledge. In seeking meaningful and inclusive ways of generating knowledge together in the workplace, Participatory Action Research practitioner–researchers combine action and reflection with theory and practice to improve local situations and enhance professional practices. Working with and for others, co-researchers evolve learning cycles that are practical and emergent, participatory and collaborative, emancipatory and democratic, and interpretive and local. In this case, the cyclical ‘methods in action’ orientation of Participatory Action Research is illustrated through examples from a North American academic library facility renovation initiative. Practical advice is offered …

Toward Improved Discoverability Of Scholarly Content: Cross-Sector Collaboration Essentials, Mary M. Somerville, Lettie Y. Conrad

University Libraries Librarian and Staff Articles and Papers

By way of follow-up to earlier work in understanding and improving discoverability of scholarly content, this article reports on recent data and reflections that led to clearer definitions of discovery and discoverability, as well as deeper cross-sector collaborations on standards, transparency, metadata, and new forms of partnerships. Recent advances in discoverability are also described - from enhanced librarybased web-scale searching to serving researcher needs through the Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID) registry. The article points to a 2014 SAGE white paper that presents in greater detail opportunities for wider collaboration among libraries, publishers, service providers, and researchers in the …

A New Way Of Thinking And Working, Mary M. Somerville

University Libraries Librarian and Staff Articles and Papers

No abstract provided.

Stretching For Music Librarians, Veronica A. Wells

University Libraries Librarian and Staff Presentations

No abstract provided.

Discoverability Challenges And Collaboration Opportunities Within The Scholarly Communications Ecosystem: A Sage White Paper Update, Mary M. Somerville, Lettie Y. Conrad

University Libraries Librarian and Staff Articles and Papers

The prominence of mainstream search engines and the rise of web-scale, pre-indexed discovery services present new challenges and opportunities for publishers, librarians, vendors, and researchers. With the aim of furthering collaborative conversations, SAGE commissioned a study of opportunities for improving academic discoverability with value chain experts in the scholarly communications ecosystem. Results were released in January 2012 as a white paper titled Improving Discoverability of Scholarly Content in the Twentieth Century: Collaboration Opportunities for Librarians, Publishers, and Vendors. Following the white paper, this article explores the implications for these findings through review of commissioned studies, research reports, journal articles, conference …

Ipads To Enhance User Engagement During Reference Interactions, Michelle M. Maloney, Veronica A. Wells

University Libraries Librarian and Staff Articles and Papers

The University of the Pacific Library’s iPad project is a coordinated effort to implement and assess the use of iPads to enhance user engagement during reference interactions. The project aims to enrich reference transactions and increase student interactivity by allowing students to use iPads at the reference desk to search the library’s resources concurrently with the librarian. Chapter 2 of Library Technology Reports (vol. 48, no. 8) “Rethinking Reference and Instruction with Tablets” presents a review of the literature that pertains to both the service aims of academic reference and its relationship to technology. The chapter discusses the logistics of …

Hunting For Qr Codes: Linking Students To The Music Collection, Veronica A. Wells

University Libraries Librarian and Staff Articles and Papers

Libraries are exploring the use of Quick Response (QR) codes, to market to and connect users with libraries' services. The University of the Pacific has been experimenting with QR codes in an innovative way: to introduce first-year music majors to the physical music library materials via a QR code scavenger hunt. This article discusses the library literature on QR codes and scavenger hunts, as well as the University of the Pacific's QR code scavenger hunt from creation to assessment. Additionally, recommendations are given for designing a similar pedagogical tool at your library.

Appreciative Inquiry: A Transformative Approach For Initiating Shared Leadership And Organizational Learning, Mary M. Somerville, Marical Farner

University Libraries Librarian and Staff Articles and Papers

Auraria Library leaders at the University of Colorado Denver, USA employed Appreciative Inquiry (AI) principles, processes, and practices to inclusively redesign organizational structure, social relationships, knowledge systems, and workplace aspirations. Throughout the four year period, from 2008 through 2012,intervention activities employed life generating properties which were appreciative,applicable, provocative, and collaborative. Iterative application of the 4- Cycle intervention model (discovery, dream, design, and destiny) and associated AI principles advanced shared leadership and organizational learning capacities within a revitalized workplace culture. Iterative processes of reflection, reframing, and reinterpretation now sustain ongoing and inclusive inquiry that is appreciative,applicable, provocative, and collaborative.

Supporting Informed Learners In The 21st Century, Christine S. Bruce, Hilary Hughes, Mary M. Somerville

University Libraries Librarian and Staff Articles and Papers

This article elaborates the concept of informed learning and locates it in educational, workplace, and community settings. Drawing on existing research into people’s experience of information literacy, it identifies critical experiences of informed learners in each of these three settings. It also explores the support required in educational, community, and workplace contexts, which makes informed learning possible. Recognizing strong implications for policy makers in different sectors, the article presents a set of guiding principles for developing informed learning and learners. The idea of informed learning represents and advances understandings of information literacy that incorporate the broader concept of using information …

Yo Soy Colorado: Three Collaborative Hispanic Cultural Heritage Initiatives, Beverly B. Allen, Dana Echohawk, Rhonda Gonzales, Fawn-Amber Montoya, Mary M. Somerville

University Libraries Librarian and Staff Articles and Papers

Collaborative activities that reflect ‘ethnicity as provenance’ benefit from collaborative, interdependent relationships among archives, classroom, and community. Examples from Center for Colorado & the West at Auraria Library (University of Colorado Denver) and the Southern Colorado Ethnic Heritage and Diversity Archives and the Voices of Protest Oral History Project (Colorado State University-Pueblo) illustrate collection development practices that advance joint ownership of archival materials by the archives and the originating cultural population. Concluding reflections offer transferable principles for working collaboratively with cultural communities on creation, identification, interpretation, and preservation of photographs, videos, documents, oral histories and ephemeral material reflective of culture, …

Recuerdos Hablados /Memories Spoken: Toward The Co-Creation Of Digital Knowledge With Community Significance, Mary M. Somerville, Dana Echohawk

University Libraries Librarian and Staff Articles and Papers

Collaborative relationships among libraries, archives, and museums can fruitfully engage cultural community members in collaborative construction of digital knowledge. A continuum of co-creation approaches in the Center for Colorado & the West at Auraria Library illustrates the value of working together. The most mature community-generated initiative produces digital images with contextualizing metadata of cultural "significance." Examples suggest that inclusive, community-generated digital knowledge activities can shape interpretations and narratives of the past and present, thereby influencing construction of the future, as community members express their contexts, concepts, and truths. Concluding remarks consider implications for community-generated digital knowledge activities that give "voice" …

Information In Context': Co-Designing Workplace Structures And Systems For Organisational Learning, Mary M. Somerville, Zaana Howard

University Libraries Librarian and Staff Articles and Papers

Introduction. This paper discusses an 'information in context' design project at Auraria Library in Denver, Colorado which aims to collaboratively create organizational structures and communication systems with and for library employees.

Method. This action research project is founded within shared leadership, informed learning and organizational learning principles and implemented using participatory design processes. The first phase involved an appreciative inquiry process resulting in an organizational realignment of personnel and the introduction of shared leadership. The second phase involved the co-design of organizational information and communication systems and subsequent implementation of initiatives.

Results. This project resulted in several of the co-designed …

Rethinking Libraries In Terms Of Learning And Working Collaboratively: An Interview With Mary Somerville, Mary M. Somerville, Ivan Gaetz, Janet Lee

University Libraries Librarian and Staff Articles and Papers

No abstract provided.

Collaborative Design: An Ssm-Enabled Organizational Learning Approach, Anita Mirijamdotter, Mary M. Somerville

University Libraries Librarian and Staff Articles and Papers

Within the context of a three year applied research project conducted from 2003-2006 in a North American university library, staff were encouraged to reconsider organizational assumptions and design processes. The project involved an organizational leader and an external consultant who introduced and collaboratively applied Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) practice. Project results suggest the efficacy of using ‘soft’ systems thinking to guide interaction (re)design of technology-enabled environments, systems, and tools. In addition, participants attained insights into their new roles and responsibilities within a dynamically changing higher education environment. Project participants also applied SSM to redesign ‘in house’ information systems. The process …

An Interactive And Iterative Evaluation Approach For Creating Collaborative Learning Environments, Anita Mirijamdotter, Mary M. Somerville, Marita Holst

University Libraries Librarian and Staff Articles and Papers

Inspired by a three‑year Creative University 'arena' initiative at Luleå University of Technology in Sweden, an international team of faculty researchers conducted an exploratory study in 2005, which aimed to investigate the efficacy of an interactive design and evaluation process for technology‑enabled collaborative learning environments. This applied research approach was designed as a collaborative evaluation process for co‑creation of technology‑enabled, learning‑ focused physical and virtual 'learning commons.' Faculty researchers from Sweden and the United States used Soft Systems Methodology tools, including the Process for Organisational Meanings (POM) model, to guide sixty‑two students' participatory co‑design and evaluation activities. In this paper, …

Life After The Reference Desk: Co-Creating A Digital Age Library, Mary M. Somerville, Barbara Schader

University Libraries Librarian and Staff Articles and Papers

No abstract provided.

Route 66: From Beale To Bypassed, Michael J. Wurtz

University Libraries Librarian and Staff Articles and Papers

The route along the 35th Parallel of the United States Southwest has been an important transportation corridor for centuries. In the 20th Century it was also called Route 66 and created a unique cultural landscape for travelers.

The Seventh And Eighth Grade Library At Stockton High School Under The Six-Four-Four" Plan, Esther Laura Lipsey

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Is the seventh and eighth grade library of the Stockton High School adequate for the lower division of the school in the “Six-Four-Four” plan of organization?