Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Beam Me Up Some Sci-Fi: Building And Promoting Popular Science & Climate Fiction Book Collections In Academic Libraries, Jennifer Embree

Upstate New York Science Librarians Conference

Academic libraries often focus most, if not all, of their collection development efforts on supporting resources that directly support their campus research or course curricula (with good reason!). However, there is a growing call in the library literature that highlights the benefits of recreational reading collections in academic library settings. These collections, also frequently referred to as pleasure reading, leisure reading, or popular reading collections, are sometimes dismissed as frivolous and out of scope in academic libraries, with some attitudes seemingly even going so far as to disparage their need or existence in these more “serious” settings (Brookbank et al. …

I'M Responsible For What?: Selecting For Topics You Know Nothing About, Eric Buckenmeyer

Georgia Library Quarterly

This case study details the author’s experiences selecting books for a subject he knew nothing about. Most librarians are asked at some point in their career to take on responsibilities that they do not feel prepared for, so the author hopes this article will help readers adapt to those unfamiliar duties. The author discusses the challenges he faced within Kennesaw State University’s team-based liaison model, his attempts to do evidence-based selecting, and the lessons he learned along the way. In the end, librarians tasked with selecting on unfamiliar topics may benefit simply from doing their best, relying on the available …

The Threat To Academic & Intellectual Freedom, Christopher M. Jimenez, Melissa Del Castillo, Stephen Thomson Moore, Lowell Bryan Cooper, Jacqueline Radebaugh, George Pearson

Works of the FIU Libraries

The Academic and Intellectual Freedom Ad Hoc Committee presented a First Thursday discussion on May 4 about academic and intellectual freedom. Starting with a brief definition of these terms, they traced the history of Academic Freedom and how current events affect us at FIU. The committee posed several real-life scenarios threatening Academic/Intellectual Freedom in libraries. All library staff were invited to attend this lively discussion.

Quality As A Component Of Value: Using Resources For College Libraries To Assess Course Assigned Texts, Julie A. Murphy, Rachel E. Scott

Faculty and Staff Publications – Milner Library

Although potential student savings is perhaps the most meaningful measure of the success of any textbook affordability initiative, as librarians we are nonetheless interested in considering how a significant shift in collections strategy might impact our collections. We demonstrated in the first semester of the project that usage of ebooks assigned in courses is much higher than those that are not currently assigned. We also confirmed that usage is greatly increased when faculty members notify their students that an assigned text is available to them through the library. But beyond savings to students and demonstrated high usage, we wanted information …

Critical Collections: Bringing A Critical Eye To Law Library Collection Development, Nicholas Norton

Cornell Law Librarians' Publications

Law schools throughout the United States are considering strategies to embed the concepts of antiracism, diversity, equity, and inclusion into legal education. How does the work of their law libraries intersect with this effort? One potential point of intersection is through law library collection develpment. This article offers an overview of strategies to both curate and bolster representation of diverse voices in an academic law library collection using the theories of critical legal information literacy and epistemic injustice.

Exploring Faculty Perspectives On Text Selection And Textbook Affordability, Rachel E. Scott, Mallory Jallas, Julie A. Murphy, Rachel Park, Anne Shelley

Faculty and Staff Publications – Milner Library

This paper reports the results of a pilot project conducted Spring 2021 in which Milner Library licensed 75 assigned texts to 52 courses at Illinois State University. The authors used the pilot as a springboard to explore faculty perspectives on textbook selection, textbook affordability, and the role of the academic library in addressing the rising cost of textbooks. The results highlight the strong, and often deeply personal, beliefs faculty hold about textbook selection and textbook affordability, reveal several obstacles to achieving affordable access to course readings, and demonstrate the willingness of some faculty to partner with librarians and other institutional …

If It Pleases The Court, I Present Exhibit One: An Evidence-Based Law Collection Evaluation, Chad M. Kahl

Faculty and Staff Publications – Milner Library

Describes the evidence-based evaluation of a law collection supporting a paralegal program.

It applies the Koufogiannakis & Brettle's Evidence Based Library and Information Practice (EBLIP) framework to review the law collection development evaluation process.

Applications Of Diversity Language To Descriptions Of Collection Development Activities At Academic Libraries: An Exploratory Analysis Of Strategic Plans And Diversity Information Webpages, David Macaulay

UNL Libraries: Faculty Publications

Diversity is commonly invoked as a goal for libraries in a variety of domains, including collections. This study explores how diversity language is used to characterize collection development efforts at a sample of large North American academic libraries, through content analysis of strategic planning documents as well as library webpages providing information about diversity efforts. The topic of collection diversity was found to be not consistently addressed in these documents. While 90% of the institutions whose strategic plans were examined mentioned diversity in some way, less than half of these did so in relation to collections; about one-third of the …