Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Programming As Pedagogy In The Academic Library, Kathleen Kasten-Mutkus

Library Faculty Publications

This paper considers library programming as a means of extending and enhancing the academic library’s pedagogical mission and role in student success. Scholarly programming in the form of faculty speakers, film screenings, or other kinds of research-based events creates opportunities for students to join an academic community and to practice critical thinking skills learned in class. These presentations inscribe the library within the students’ journey from student to scholar, highlighting its importance as a nexus for scholarly exchange. At the same time, this programming strengthens the library’s mission by encouraging engagement with the campus, interdisciplinary research, and efforts to support …

Copyright Assessment In The Trenches: Workflow, Tools, Metadata, And More, Megan De Armond, Victoria Pilato, Greg Cram, Rina Elster Pantalony

Library Faculty Publications

Assessing copyright varies from institution to institution along with the specific workflow and end-user notices. This article looks at tools used in art libraries in a range of contexts along with pragmatic perspectives on copyright evaluation from a museum art library, a public research library, a university copyright advisory office, and a public university. Pain points for determining copyright presented by various formats, ownership issues, and digitization are addressed through cases encountered by the authors. Helpful tools and workflow strategies for moving forward, including widely available charts and resources, as well as software for copyright determination, are shared. Finally, the …

The Library As Safe Space, Rachel S. Wexelbaum

Library Faculty Publications

Purpose: This chapter will explain how libraries define safe space through policies, procedures, and professional codes of ethics. The chapter will generate a history of the concept of libraries as safe space, will explain how libraries attempt to create safe spaces in physical and online environments, and will show how library practices both help and harm patrons in need of safe space.

Design/methodology/approach: This chapter provides a review of the literature that illustrates how libraries provide safe space—or not—for their patrons. The author will deconstruct the ALA Code of Ethics and Bill of Rights to demonstrate how libraries remain heteronormative …

Harnessing Yik Yak For Good: A Study Of Students’ Anonymous Library Feedback, Mark Robison, Ruth Connell

Library Faculty Publications

This study explores academic libraries’ potential uses of the mobile application Yik Yak, with particular focus on patrons’ anonymous feedback about library services and spaces. Over a 232-day period, the authors observed the Yik Yak feed for their university and recorded all yaks related to the library. A content analysis of the 249 library-related yaks found six distinct purposes that these library-related yaks served, from the perspective of the patron, that are of interest to the library: asking questions about library services; reporting problems with library spaces; reprimanding violations of and encouraging adherence to library policies; sharing compliments about library …

Reorganizing Through Lean Principles, John Novak, Richard J. W. Zwiercan

Library Faculty Publications

In August 2014, the director of the Collections, Acquisitions, and Discovery division within the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Libraries announced that the division would be reorganized to best use the skills and strengths of existing staff. This division, responsible for acquiring, organizing, maintaining, and making discoverable all needed and relevant materials would be composed of three departments, and the Resource Acquisition, Sharing, and Digital Scholarship department (containing the Resource Acquisition and Sharing Unit) would be one of them. To fulfill the goals of the reorganization, the acquisitions team used Lean principles and tools, specifically the value stream map, …

Creating Computer Availability Maps, Scott Bacon

Library Faculty Publications

During the fall semester of 2012, the Kimbel Library and Bryan Information Commons conducted a LibQUAL+ survey to gauge how patron needs were being met. Many survey respondents commented that there were not enough computers for use in the library buildings. This issue was remedied by the addition of over 70 percent more computer workstations in the new commons building, a move that was well received by patrons. However, these desktops still filled up quickly, especially during midterms and finals, so the library decided to create a dynamic system to show patrons which computers were available for use at any …

Investing In The Student Staff Development Process, Jeremy Mcginniss, Joshua B. Michael

Library Faculty Publications

This paper argues for the need for librarians to invest in the student staff development process, particularly in the context of biblical higher education. The foundational pieces of hiring, training, development and assessment which inform the student staff development process are defined and explored to see how they should fit into the library context. Examples from the library literature coupled with practical experience provide a framework that encompasses theoretical and pragmatic application. This paper narrates how a particular library worked through this process while providing principles from which libraries of varying sizes of collections and staff can benefit.

Ebook Lending Platforms, John Novak

Library Faculty Publications

For the purposes of this article, the definition of an eBook lending platform is one that contains eBooks from multiple publishers that patrons may browse and checkout. Though these platforms have eBooks that allow for multiple and simultaneous users, in general they have a one-book, one-user model. Details about the major eBook lending platforms for academic libraries, eBook lending platform characteristics, why and how an academic library would license one, and finally what the future of this rapidly changing environment may hold are explained in this article.

Information Literacy Opportunities Within The Discovery Tool Environment, Nancy E. Fawley, Nikki Krysak

Library Faculty Publications

Discovery tools such as Primo, EBSCO Discovery Service, Summon, and WorldCat Local aim to make scholarly research more intuitive for students in part because of their single interface for searching across multiple platforms, including the library, fee-based databases, and unique digital collections. Discovery tools are in sync with the way many undergraduates look for information because they offer a more “Google-like” experience in contrast with previous methods of research that required first knowing which database to use, then searching each one differently according to its specifications. However, broad searches across multiple formats with different systems of controlled vocabulary force instructors …

Moving Forward With Electronic Content Procurement, J. Cory Tucker, Emilie Delquie

Library Faculty Publications

Over the last several years, libraries have experienced a myriad of changes that have affected the marketplace and changed the way they purchase electronic resources. With the move from print to electronic, the variety of options available to purchase library materials has increased. Acquisitions in libraries have further been complicated by decreasing budgets, fewer staff, new technology, and user behavior. The issues related to electronic content purchasing will be discussed in this article, including an overview of how academic libraries currently purchase materials, a review of issues facing libraries, and a summary of new business models being introduced in the …

Do Libraries Still Need Book Vendors And Subscription Agents?, Stephen Bosch, Christopher Sugnet, J. Cory Tucker, Lauren Corbett

Library Faculty Publications

Digital content blurs the lines of traditional library acquisition workflows and organization. For example: link resolvers and the loading of order confirmation record files may be handled by systems staff in one organization and by technical services staff in another. Lines are being crossed between acquisitions and interlibrary loan functions, notably with electronic versions of theses and dissertations. Regardless of this blurring of lines, library staff use vendors still in acquiring content for the library collection. The reasons for using vendors have stood for decades, but are changes in the information industry having an impact? In the current environment, what …

Strategic Planning For Sustaining User-Generated Content In Digital Collections, Cory K. Lampert, Su Kim Chung

Library Faculty Publications

Experimentation and exploration are hallmarks of innovative libraries, but as experiments become on-going projects and investigations become long-term commitments, it is important to gain perspective on how the roles of librarians, archivists, and information professionals are changing. As social computing becomes routine for computer users, libraries of all types are responding to these new expectations by building interactive communication features into their on-line collections. Social features and user-generated content raise several compelling issues as organizations strive to balance agile adaptation to the ever-evolving user environment with the realities of limited staff resources and greater administrative expectations. This paper examines the …

Selection And Cataloging For An Automated Retrieval Collection: Viewpoint Of A Cataloger, Debra G. Skinner

Library Faculty Publications

In the summer of 2004, Georgia Southern University began a library construction project that was to last 4 years. An important aspect was the installation of an Automated Retrieval System (ARC) to house a substantial portion of the library collections so that more space could be available for students, faculty, and the services to meet their needs. This paper traces the development of the use of the ARC to house collections, with emphasis on how materials were selected for the two phases of the project and how catalogers have adapted to the idea of collections that can only be browsed …

Cultivating The Librarian Within: Effectively Lntegrating Library Lnstruction Into Freshman Composition, Jesse Ulmer, Nancy E. Fawley

Library Faculty Publications

It has become common practice for library instruction to be included in lower-level college composition courses. Students are typically required to visit the library once or twice a semester to receive instruction on how to find books and journal articles for an upcoming writing assignment that incorporates formal research. But does this current model of instruction truly address course outcomes that seek to produce students who are information literate, critical thinkers and life-long learners? Faculty who teach such courses are often reluctant to surrender precious class time to a librarian, but this paper argues that the merging of bibliographic instruction …

Us Academic Libraries: Today’S Learning Commons Model, Susan Mcmullen

Library Faculty Publications

In 2007, the author examined existing academic libraries in the United States to determine best practices for the design, implementation and service of learning commons facilities. A primary objective of this study was to discover how to create a higher education learning environment that sustains scholarship encourages collaboration and empowers student learning. This article explains how to plan for a modern learning commons and presents the various components that comprise the space.

Improving Student Training Through Computer-Based Tutorials, Joshua B. Michael

Library Faculty Publications

The use of computer-based training for student employees was explored through a recent project. Tutorials were designed and created using a free software program, Wink. The tutorials covered use of electronic resources and circulation programs and were used in training newly hired and continuing student employees. Written exercises requiring use of the information covered in the tutorials were administered subsequently. The advantages of computer-based training for aspects of student library employment were contrasted with its disadvantages. Computer-based training was found to be an effective part of training student employees.

Use And Satisfaction Of Library Resources And Services By Hospitality Patrons: An Exploratory Study, Faye Hall Jackson, Heidi Sung, Lateka Grays, Joyce K. Thornton

Library Faculty Publications

A great challenge for present day libraries is to move from the thought process of being a destination location with a captive audience to positioning its services to meet the needs of its users. This paper explores the frequency of library use and satisfaction of library resources and/or services by hospitality education patrons. Using data collected with patrons (N=368) of five Hospitality Management programs across the country, the study found significant differences in library access, use, and satisfaction based on gender, academic status, and international versus non-international patrons.

Review Of Dismantling The Public Sphere: Situating And Sustaining Librarianship In The Age Of The New Public Philosophy By John E. Buschman, W. Bede Mitchell

Library Faculty Publications

This review was published in College and Research Libraries.

Review Of The Enduring Library: Technology, Tradition, And The Quest For Balance By Michael Gorman, W. Bede Mitchell

Library Faculty Publications

This review was published in College and Research Libraries.

Review Of Interpreting And Negotiating Licensing Agreements By Arlene Bielefield And Lawrence Cheeseman, W. Bede Mitchell

Library Faculty Publications

This review was published in College and Research Libraries.