Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Opening The Conversation: An Introduction To Open Educational Resources, Stacy Katz

Publications and Research

This column explores the concept of, and issues surrounding, Open Educational Resources (OER) for librarians.

What's Mine Is Yourls, Kimberly R. Abrams, Junior R. Tidal

Publications and Research

Hyperlink management is critical to website functionality because a site with dead links is not fully operable for the end user. In libraries, links used for marketing, course materials, electronic resources, social media, and other uses are laborious to maintain. Often, these links are long, unreadable, and unmemorable. In order to streamline link maintenance, improve link usability, and promote resources, an open source, short link manager called Your Own URL Shortener (YOURLS), was implemented at an academic library. This primer describes this process. Not only does YOURLS shorten links, it also acts as a database link manager. Long URLs are …

Transcription Activator Like Effector Nucleases (Talens): A New, Important, And Versatile Gene Editing Technique With A Growing Literature, Philip Barnett

Publications and Research

Transcription activator like effector nucleases (TALENs) is a new and powerful technique in genetic engineering that can delete deleterious genes or add beneficial genes to organisms. It is being widely studied to improve crops and livestock, and is also being investigated clinically. Comparing the details of how both TALENs and its competitor, CRISPR-Cas9, function, reveals the potential advantages of TALENs. The growing literature, besides covering the scientific and technical aspects of TALENs, also includes pertinent information on regulatory aspects and the public’s perception and acceptance of TALENs.

Amplifying Cuny Voices With Cuny Academic Works, Jill Cirasella, Adriana Palmer, Roxanne Shirazi

Publications and Research

While most conversations about open access literature center on journal articles and books, research takes many other forms. CUNY Academic Works provides a platform for, and public access to, a wide range of CUNY-created scholarship. In this presentation, we discuss the importance of including Women's Studies Newsletter (the predecessor of Women's Studies Quarterly), Latino Data Project Reports, and theses and dissertations in Academic Works, and report on a recent census of journals published by the CUNY community.

Mixed Methods Not Mixed Messages: Improving Libguides With Student Usability Data, Nora Almeida, Junior Tidal

Publications and Research

Objective – This article describes a mixed methods usability study of research guides created using the LibGuides 2.0 platform conducted in 2016 at an urban, public university library. The goal of the study was to translate user design and learning modality preferences into executable design principles, and ultimately to improve the design and usage of LibGuides at the New York City College of Technology Library.

Methods – User-centred design demands that stakeholders participate in each stage of an application’s development and that assumptions about user design preferences are validated through testing. Methods used for this usability study include: a task …

Accessibility In The Time Of Limited Resources, Robin Camille Davis, Mark Eaton, Stephen Klein, Junior R. Tidal

Publications and Research

In the spirit of this year’s theme of “opening access,” our panel highlights how library faculty are making technology more accessible for the CUNY community. Despite the rising costs of journal prices and the stagnation of library budgets, librarians have employed low-cost and free techniques to improve access to library services. The panelists’ projects provide helpful examples of CUNY librarians’ work to increase access for our communities through technology.

Graphic Activism: Lesbian Archival Library Display, Shawn(Ta) Smith-Cruz

Publications and Research

This chapter outlines the implementation of Graphic Activism, an exhibition of archival material from the Lesbian Herstory Archives, the oldest and largest lesbian archive in the world, located inside the display cases of the Graduate Center library of the City University of New York. The two-semester-long display stems from an institutional need to showcase material inside of the main library display cases, and the interest of including visual representations of Women's Studies material from the collection as well as those which represent the collection. The chapter discusses collaborative relationships outside of the academic institution, pointing to select challenges when …

The Value Of Libraries And Identifying Information Needs [Library], Silvia L. Lin Hanick

Open Educational Resources

This assignment was developed for students in LIF 101 – Liberal Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities who attend a 1-hour library session. The focus of this session and assignment is “information.”

Information possesses several dimensions of value, including as a commodity, as a means of education, as a means to influence, and as a means of negotiating and understanding the world. This session will help students engage with these values, positioning the library as a welcoming and accessible space, librarians as guides and translators of modern information landscapes, and library resources as a way to participate in disciplinary conversations and …

Cultural Competency In Health Sciences [Library], Silvia L. Lin Hanick

Open Educational Resources

This assignment was developed for students in HSF 090- Health Sciences who attend a 1-hour library session. The focus of this session and assignment is “research as inquiry.”

Research is iterative and depends upon asking increasingly complex or new questions whose answers in turn develop additional questions or lines of inquiry in any field. Students will practice this iterative process by experimenting with the trial and error necessary in the research process as they repeat and refine their searches. They will be encouraged to explore the way cultural competence changes depending on their field or topic focus.

This session will …

Exploring Careers And Industry Problems [Library], Galina Letnikova

Open Educational Resources

This assignment was developed for students in ECF 090- Engineering and Computer Science who attend a 1-hour library session. This session will give students the chance to develop integrative learning skills by connecting their prospective field with academic research.

LaGuardia’s Core Competencies and Communication Abilities

Main Course Learning Objectives:

• Students will be introduced to the concept of library academic resources
• Students will learn the strengths and weaknesses of different forms of information

Evaluating Reliability In Resources [Library], Christopher Mchale

Open Educational Resources

This assignment was developed for students in CJF 101 Criminal Justice who attend a 1-hour library session. This session is aligned with the Integrative and Global Learning core competencies.

This session seeks to introduce students to critical evaluation as the important skill that involves questioning different elements of an information resource to determine its authority on the topic it addresses. Students will practice this process by engaging in a discussion about the reliability of a specific resource. They will be encouraged to contribute to an in depth evaluation of a resource as a group.

This session will give students the …

Library Science Strategies For Natural Sciences [Library], Christopher Mchale

Open Educational Resources

This assignment was developed for students in NSF 100 Natural Sciences who attend a 1-hour library session. This session is aligned with the Inquiry and Problem Solving and Integrative core competencies in terms of exposing students to “Searching as Strategic Exploration.”

Strategy and exploration are the keys to effective research. Students often mistake academic research as similar to “Googling.” This session will stress the importance of mastering the research process in an academic context. It will encourage students to become familiar with the diverse tools and resources provided by the library.

This session will give students a quick outline of …

Concept Mapping For Focused Paper Topics [Library], Ian Mcdermott

Open Educational Resources

This assignment was developed for students in SYF 101 Psychology who attend a 1-hour library session. This session is aligned with the Inquiry and Problem Solving core competency in terms of exposing students to “Searching as Strategic Exploration” and the Integrative Learning core competency in terms of analyzing “Scholarship as a Conversation.”

In the first of two parts, this session will focus on building subject knowledge and finding background information in encyclopedias. Students will learn how encyclopedias can offer different perspectives on the same topic; they will also create an APA citation for an encyclopedia entry. In order to gain …

Library Science Strategies For Liberal Arts: Math And Science [Library], Christopher Mchale

Open Educational Resources

This assignment was developed for students in LMF 101- Math and Science who attend a 1-hour library session. This session is aligned with the Inquiry and Problem Solving and Integrative core competencies in terms of exposing students to “Searching as Strategic Exploration.”

Strategy and exploration are the keys to effective research. Students often mistake academic research as similar to “Googling.” This session will stress the importance of mastering the research process in an academic context. It will encourage students to become familiar with the diverse tools and resources provided by the library.

This session will give students a quick outline …

Profiling The Global Impact Of A Company [Library], Steven Ovadia

Open Educational Resources

This assignment, as part of a 1-hour library session, was developed for students in BTF 101- Business. The Inquiry and Problem, Integrative Learning, and Global Learning core competencies inform the content of the session. Searching for information is often nonlinear and iterative, requiring the evaluation of a range of information sources and the mental flexibility to pursue alternate avenues as new understanding develops. Business research frequently relies on using often-expensive information products to gain or protect some sort of market advantage or position. This lesson will introduce students to the idea that information is a valuable and essential tool for …

Parallels Of Unintentional Plagiarism And Predatory Publishing: Understanding Root Causes And Solutions, Monica Berger

Publications and Research

Plagiarism and predatory publishing share common attributes. Although students do not publish in predatory journals, both plagiarism and predatory publishing fall under the umbrella of academic integrity and scholarly ethics. Academic misconduct has many faces, ranging from student cheating on exams to purchasing a doctoral thesis and claiming it as one’s own work. Some forms of academic misconduct, such as the examples above are always intentional. However, many manifestations of academic misconduct are less clearly intentional. Students often plagiarize unintentionally because they lack writing skills including paraphrasing and citing. Faculty sometimes publish with predatory journals when they lack scholarly publishing …

Connecting Wikipedia And The Archive: Building A Public History Of Hiv/Aids In New York City., Ann Matsuuchi

Publications and Research

This is an overview of a project that was started in 2015 that was collaboratively designed by archivists and historians with the La Guardia & Wagner Archives and LaGuardia Community College’s faculty/librarians. It involves students in the production of a needed public history of the outbreak and impact of HIV/AIDS in New York City via writing and researching contributions to Wikipedia.

The Mystery Of The Schubert Song: The Linked Data Promise, Kimmy Szeto

Publications and Research

Linked open data promises global interconnectedness of a vast amount of data. Web technologies promise to lower the barriers to accessing information and to enable knowledge production of massive scale. But can the web of data answer a music reference question? Starting with a seemingly impossible search for a Schubert song, this article describes how linked data technologies could overcome some limitations of catalog searching. However, technical and conceptual challenges are intertwined in the library community’s effort to publish linked data. Through an analysis of contrasting data models, this article offers a linked data reading of medium of performance and …

Woman Energy: How Our Lesbian Past Informs Our Lesbian Future, Shawn(Ta) Smith-Cruz

Publications and Research

Sinister Wisdom Issue 3, published the year 1977 holds an essay by poet Adrienne Rich, titled, “It is the lesbian in us...”; The cover of the same issue has art by photographer Tee Corinne. Sinister Wisdom is a multicultural lesbian literary and art journal. This non-fiction creative essay written by Shawn(ta) Smith-Cruz reflects on the first year of Sinister Wisdom's publication as a celebration of 40 years through this special edition anniversary print for which only 1000 have been printed. The essay remarks on the shift in lesbian identity and community and the potential impact of the Sinister Wisdom journal …

Remotivating The Black Vote: The Effect Of Low-Quality Information On Black Voters In The 2016 Presidential Election And How Librarians Can Intervene, Andrew P. Jackson, Denyvetta Davis, James Kelly Alston

Publications and Research

In a phenomenon that was surprising to many, given the racially charged nature of the 2016 presidential election, black voter turnout was significantly lower than the previous two elections. Donald Trump’s victory is attributable to many factors, one of which was the lower participation of black voters in several swing states. To a lesser extent, black support for third-party candidates also aided Trump’s victory. The lower black turnout itself is attributable to several factors, but one factor specifically in the LIS realm was the prevalence of low-quality information and rhetoric and a susceptibility that some black voters had to this …

In Bed With The Library: A Critical Exploration Of Embedded Librarianship At The City University Of New York, Nora Almeida, Julia Pollack

Publications and Research

This project considers the efficacy and scalability of embedded librarianship initiatives within the City University of New York (CUNY) library system and presents findings of an original research study conducted in 2015. Through an analysis of recent LIS literature on embedment, response data from a survey of librarians, and a selection of library position descriptions, this article examines the implications of embedment practices for librarians and libraries. By shedding light on the extent and context of embedment, the platforms used in virtual embedment scenarios, and obstacles that librarians presently face, this study aims to pinpoint strategies for embedded librarianship initiatives …

Embedded In Technology Ecosystems: Graduate Students, Mobile Devices, And Academic Workflows, Lee Ann Fullington, Frans Albarillo

Publications and Research

This qualitative study uncovers how graduate students use multiple devices to support their academic pursuits, including coursework, group projects, and conducting research. Students often own several devices including smartphones, tablets, laptops, and desktop computers and use these devices in complementary ways to manage workflows, collaborate with colleagues, and support their academic pursuits.

Communicating Science Through A Novel Type Of Journal, Michelle T. Juarez, Chloe M. Kenet, Chiandredi N. Johnson

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Open Access Outreach: Smash Vs. Suasion, Jill Cirasella

Publications and Research

Some librarians became open access (OA) supporters because they were outraged—and budgetarily hamstrung—by certain commercial publishers' artificially inflated prices. (We know they are artificially inflated, unjustified by production costs, because these publishers have jaw-dropping profit margins, higher than those of Disney, Starbucks, Google, and even Apple.) Other librarians were won over to OA by its more altruistic aspects, by the promise of a world rich in knowledge. However, in their outreach to patrons, librarians cannot rely on the arguments that swayed them. What convinced a librarian to embrace OA may not convert a student, a faculty member, or an administrator. …

"Where Are The Bathrooms?": Academic Library Restrooms And Student Needs, Stephanie Margolin, Jennifer Poggiali

Publications and Research

This article investigates bathrooms, paying specific attention to those in academic libraries. The authors describe how bathrooms have been considered in the library literature for the past century and challenges to changing the status quo. Finally, this work sets the stage for future inquiry. Research materials come from a range of sources: historical library literature, building codes, social science theory and research that address the issues around bathroom taboos, and checklists for assessing bathrooms. The authors propose librarians and library administrators reconsider all aspects of their own bathrooms: location, features, equity/inclusiveness, and maintenance in service to their patrons.

Library Leadership In Open Educational Resource Adoption And Affordable Learning Initiatives, Laurie Borchard, Lauren Magnuson

Urban Library Journal

The library serves as a natural nexus for coordinating open educational resource adoption and facilitating the use of affordable learning materials. Librarians are knowledgeable about trends in scholarly communication, copyright, and publishing, and our connection to students is unique and positions librarians as key advocates for students. Library values of free and equal access to information aligns closely with affordable learning goals to reduce costs for students and increase the use of open access, freely available and/or low-cost high quality learning materials. This article reports on results from a student survey regarding textbook costs at a large, urban public university, …

Notes From The Editors, Anne Hays

Urban Library Journal

Editor's note for Volume 23, Issue 1.

Knowledge Systems And The Colonial Legacies In African Science Education, Edward Lehner, John R. Ziegler

Publications and Research

This review surveys Femi Otulaja and Meshach Ogunniyi’s (2015) Handbook of Research in Science Education in Sub-Saharan Africa, noting the significance of the theoretically rich content and how this book contributes to the field of education as well as to the humanities more broadly. The volume usefully outlines the ways in which science education and scholarship in sub-Saharan Africa continue to be impacted by the region’s colonial history. Several of the chapters also enumerate proposals for teaching and learning science and strengthening academic exchange. Concerns that recur across many of the chapters include inadequate implementation of reforms; a lack …

Understanding The Whole Student: Cuny Undergraduates’ Lived Experiences, Maura A. Smale, Mariana Regalado

Publications and Research

This paper presents a broad overview of research into how CUNY undergraduates fit their academic work into their lives, focusing on study locations, the technology they use, and how they do research in their courses.

Apis And Libraries, Robin Camille Davis

Publications and Research

This column introduces APIs (application programming interfaces) and discusses how APIs are used in various library projects. APIs allow developers to use and reuse information in new ways and on a larger scale. In the landscape of digital libraries, APIs are enabling exciting new endeavors and simplifying routine tasks. Included is a table of library-related APIs from organizations such as OCLC, Ex Libris, and the New York Public Library.