Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Reconsidering Literacy, Audrey Powers, Marc Powers

Charleston Library Conference

Literacy, until recently, was defined as the ability to read printed text and to understand the nuances of both the form and content of that printed text. More recently there has been a focus on subsets of literacy – data literacy, numeracy, visual literacy, media literacy, etc. – that recognizes the means of communicating ideas and facts are not limited to the printed text and that there are multiple means which may be more powerful ways of communicating in our world. In recent years, higher education has been redefining what it means to be educated – from a focus on …

Has American Exceptionalism Made The United States An Outlier On The Global Academic Stage?, Michèle V. Cloonan

Charleston Library Conference

This paper considers whether American exceptionalism has reduced the standing of the United States in the world—and whether it has impacted our ability to remain innovative. The paper is based on my presentation on a panel on this theme at the Charleston Conference 2018. The panel considered key international social issues in which Americans have become outliers, such as climate change, health care, and gun control. It also focused on research in the cultural heritage sector. Here I expand on my remarks about the origins of exceptionalism and its possible impact on libraries, archives, and museums. This issue is not …

The Digital Monograph And Primary Source Databases: Agenda Toward A Unified Conversation, James Kessenides

Charleston Library Conference

In the realm of scholarly research and publishing in the humanities, much interest and activity has focused on the impact of digital technology on the academic monograph, and on the application of this technology to archival collections. In terms of the former, this paper addresses the discourse of the “future of the monograph,” focusing on statements made about the digital monograph assuming new online forms. In terms of the latter, this paper comments on primary source databases. Whereas the “future of the monograph” has been approached mainly as a question of form, the matter of primary source databases has been …

One Root, Many Trees: Reviving Collections Practices, Kevin Farley, Emily Davis Winthrop, Ibironke Lawal, Patricia Sobczak

Charleston Library Conference

Collections are undergoing intense change and pressure from technology, budgetary uncertainties, and emerging perspectives on future approaches. Our case study—drawn from our experiences as collections librarians—examines these complex issues facing academic collections, large or small, across the profession. Through the development of “collections of distinction” within the local collection, collaborations and scholarly partnerships with colleagues and faculty, and advocacy for the importance of dedicated oversight to ensure that collections investments fulfill the academic mission, we explore possible solutions to the complicated issues defining contemporary collections practices.

Housing Diversity In Children’S Literature, Carla Earhart

Charleston Library Conference

Previous studies have examined diversity in children’s literature: Gender diversity, racial diversity, religious diversity, and diversity in family composition. This project examines an often overlooked diversity issue in children’s literature: Housing diversity. In the stories they read and the accompanying images, children need to see a variety of housing environments and need to see the settings and the people portrayed in a positive manner.

Renting an apartment is an increasingly popular housing option for many families. However, many children’s books glamorize living in a traditional house. Using a rubric designed by the course instructor, students in a university immersive learning …

Apples To Oranges: Comparing Streaming Video Platforms, Steven Milewski, Monique Threatt

Charleston Library Conference

Librarians rely on an ever-increasing variety of platforms to deliver streaming video content to our patrons. These two presentations will examine different aspects of video streaming platforms to gain guidance from the comparison of platforms. The first will examine the accessibility compliance of the various video streaming platforms for users with disabilities by examining accessibility features of the platforms. The second will be a comparison of subject usage of two of the larger video streaming platform providers (Alexander Street Press and Kanopy) done at Indiana University Bloomington, a large public university.

One Library’S Successful Venture In Providing Comprehensive Streaming Media Services, Allyson Mower, Mary Ann James, Catherine Soehner, Maria Hunt, Dave Heyborne, Joni Clayton

Charleston Library Conference

Thoroughly understanding what professors and instructors needed to accomplish their teaching goals with streaming video was the first step enabling one academic library to successfully manage a rapid increase in demand for streaming media. The second element was incorporating an expert understanding of copyright law and the nature of the video marketplace.

This paper will strive to educate librarians and other professional library staff on how they can best integrate media streaming into mainstream library services for their campus faculty, as well as how to provide a full range of streaming services. The paper also will address workflow, communication with …

Cooperative Collection Development Requires Access: Saltoc—A Low‐Tech, High‐Value Distributed Online Project For Article‐Level Discovery In Foreign‐Language Print‐Only Journals, Aruna P. Magier

Charleston Library Conference

Foreign‐language journals are an essential component of interdisciplinary area studies collections at research libraries but are, by definition, low‐use materials. Librarians who select them seek to broaden these collections, reduce duplication, and enable shared access to them. The challenge is lack of article‐level discoverability: these are print‐only journals, not covered in online indexing/abstracting services. If users cannot discover these articles, then how can cooperating libraries share them, and distribute responsibility for collecting them, which is essential to coordinated collection development?

The SALToC project collaboratively address this issue by creating simple, centrally browsable tables of contents for target journals, through a …

Using Augmented Reality As A Discovery Tool, Jolanda-Pieta Van Arnhem, Jerry M. Spiller

Charleston Library Conference

Layar is an augmented reality (AR) platform that enables creators to tie online resources to physical objects or locations via mobile technologies. The authors detail their exploration of Layar’s geolocation and interactive print abilities to aid the discovery of various resources in and around the College of Charleston campus pertaining to revered local artists William Halsey and Corrie McCallum. They explore opportunities for the added value of contextually situated information linking to vetted library and museum holdings. They detail some of the technical and technological requirements involved with coding and multimedia creation for AR, including the successes and pitfalls revealed …

Contemplating E-Scores: Open Ruminations On The E-Score, The Patron, The Library, And The Publisher, Lisa Hooper

Charleston Library Conference

For several years now, libraries, publishers, and vendors have worked out a means of creating, licensing, and delivering e-books in academic settings. While the art of the academic e-book is perhaps not quite yet perfected, conservatively speaking, today’s students and faculty will find and use at least one e-book in the course of their academic career and be more or less satisfied with the experience. E-scores, however, are only now coming to occupy the attention of librarians and not a moment too soon as commercial e-score vendors with subpar quality content manage to meet the functionality needs of most users. …

A Foray Into Library Digital Publishing: The British Virginia Project At Virginia Commonwealth University, Kevin Farley

Charleston Library Conference

The British Virginia project involves a collaboration between Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Libraries and faculty members in the departments of English and History at VCU, with the project led by Dr. Joshua Eckhardt (English). As of April 25, 2013, the project has published its first title: an online edition of a sermon preached to the Virginia Company by William Symonds. To ensure the success of this project, a number of details required careful planning, including library outreach, IT involvement, and digital publishing protocols. Our example has deepened a move toward a dynamic and creative digital environment for researchers across campus. …