Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

A Call For The Library Community To Deploy Best Practices Toward A Database For Biocultural Knowledge Relating To Climate Change, Martha B. Lerski

Publications and Research

Abstract

Purpose – In this paper, a call to the library and information science community to support documentation and conservation of cultural and biocultural heritage has been presented.

Design/methodology/approach – Based in existing Literature, this proposal is generative and descriptive— rather than prescriptive—regarding precisely how libraries should collaborate to employ technical and ethical best practices to provide access to vital data, research and cultural narratives relating to climate.

Findings – COVID-19 and climate destruction signal urgent global challenges. Library best practices are positioned to respond to climate change. Literature indicates how libraries preserve, share and cross-link cultural and scientific knowledge. …

Working Knowledge: Catalogers And The Stories They Tell, Amanda Belantara, Emily Drabinski

Publications and Research

Cataloging librarians make myriad choices every day as they create the metadata necessary for information retrieval. Each record represents an interaction between the cataloger and the systems they work within and, sometimes, against. Their work is highly constrained by standardized machine-readable fields and codes, controlled subject terms, and classification schema. In the exploratory research project Catalogers at Work, the authors use sound recording to reveal the complex yet hidden negotiations embedded in library catalog records.

How Do You Meme?: Using Memes For Information Literacy Instruction, Christina Boyle

Publications and Research

Memes, or image macros, have become a standard method of digital information sharing. This is especially true during times when current events ignite a heightened desire for information seeking among students. Memes can be sources of misinformation, such as during events of the past decade, including recent presidential elections, social justice movements such as Black Lives Matter, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Librarians need to address this format in their information literacy teachings. In this article, the author briefly outlines the rise of internet memes, discusses how higher education students are engaging with them, and highlights some problematic meme-sharing throughout …

An “Anti-Handbook Handbook” For Unexpected Changes In A Library Organization, Stephanie M. Margolin, Malin Abrahamsson

Publications and Research

Library employees face countless changes, big and small, in their workplaces every day: not only the COVID-19 pandemic but also such commonplace events as open positions, renovations, budget cuts, and new library systems. No single handbook can anticipate all the changing needs. This case study discusses how one particular library responded, in a specific time and context. The librarians and staff created a model of self-leadership in an effort to articulate a shared purpose and to establish cohesion and well-being in a group that was sometimes divided and stressed. Lessons learned include the importance of ways of thinking, rather than …

Advocating For Social Justice And Diverse Voices In The Virtual World, Annie E. Tummino, Jo-Ann Wong

Publications and Research

Queens Memory is a local community archiving and oral history project, co-administered by Queens Public Library and Queens College, CUNY. Due to COVID-19 safety protocols, all projects and programs were required to move to a virtual setting. While under these restricted measures, members from both institutions found an opportunity to embark on a collaborative virtual event series for our respective library communities. The programs covered current events and their historical contexts, social justice, and creating positive social change. Key ingredients fueling the success of this initiative included building relationships with multiple co-sponsors; bringing together multigenerational, diverse panelists; and creative use …

“How Can We Do Better?”: Empowering Diverse Voices Through An Academic/Public Library Partnership, Annie E. Tummino, Jo-Ann Wong

Publications and Research

Queens Memory is a local community archiving and oral history project, co-administered by Queens Public Library and Queens College, CUNY. During COVID-19, members from both institutions collaborated to create a series of virtual roundtables hosted on Facebook Live, centered on social justice, current events, and creating positive social change. Specific examples include xenophobia and Asian Americans during COVID-19; the Black Lives Matter movement; student activism and political engagement; and equity/inclusion in archives. In selecting these topics and speakers, we made sure that the diversity and lived experiences of our communities were represented, and that speakers included both scholars and students. …

It's About Time: Open Educational Resources And The Arts, Ian Mcdermott

Publications and Research

The price of textbooks and other learning materials hinder students’ ability to pursue higher education. Open educational resources (OER) provide one answer to this problem. Though well established in STEM disciplines, OER are less common in art history and other arts courses. The College Art Association (CAA) and the Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA) hosted panels on OER at their 2019 annual conferences. This article summarizes those panels and analyzes the speakers’ experiences within the context of OER initiatives in higher education.

Getting Your Bearings: Understanding Organizational Culture, Linda Miles, Susanne Markgren

Publications and Research

What do you know about your institution’s organizational culture? How do individuals, collaborative partners, and teams get work done? How are decisions really made? How is change introduced and implemented? How do you know when to go with the flow and when and how to resist or stand your ground? Every workplace is different, but awareness of some common challenges, a set of questions to help librarians interpret what they observe around them and profiles of organizational dynamics in action will support those working to cultivate a professional practice in often complex library environments.

The Public Library As Resistive Space In The Neoliberal City, Sofya Aptekar

Publications and Research

With reduced hours, decaying infrastructure, and precariously positioned staff, local public libraries provide much needed services in cities devastated by inequality and slashed safety nets. In this article, I draw on ethnographic research of a small public library in a diverse, mostly working class neighborhood in Queens, New York. I show that in addition to providing an alternative to the capitalist market by distributing resources according to people’s needs, the library serves as a moral underground space, where middle class people bend rules to help struggling city residents. Although the library occasionally replicates hegemonic ideologies about immigrant assimilation, it provides …

Anecdotes, Barriers, Cooperation: The Abc's Of A Library/It Collaboration, Lee Ann Fullington, Mariana Regalado, Jane Cramer

Publications and Research

Aim Our library’s three main computing areas are the primary computer labs on campus, with two of them managed by librarians. Our staff mediated sign-in system made for long lines, delays, and more than a few misplaced student ID cards. After several semesters of monitoring issues and securing funding, the library implemented a new sign-in system for computers in the library’s labs. This presentation discusses the types of evidence we collected and used over several stages of this transition to launch and continually improve the self sign-in process.

Methods After selecting and deploying the new self sign-in software, library staff …

Eighteen Blind Library Users’ Experiences With Library Websites And Search Tools In U.S. Academic Libraries: A Qualitative Study, Adina Mulliken

Publications and Research

Telephone interviews were conducted with 18 blind academic library users around the U.S. about their experiences using their library and its website. The study uses the perspective that blind users’ insights are fundamental. A common theme was that navigating a webpage is time consuming on the first visit. Issues identified include the need for “databases” to be defined on the homepage, accessibly coded search boxes, logical heading structure, and several problems to be resolved on result pages. Variations in needs depending on users’ screen reader expertise were also raised. Suggestions for libraries to address these issues are offered.

Visualizing Archives And Library Collections, Thomas Cleary

Publications and Research

Archivists and special collections librarians have struggled for a long time with how to show patrons what we have in our holdings. Collections have been made accessible through container lists, finding aids, and collection and content management systems such as ArchivesSpace, Islandora, and CONTENTdm. Each of these documents and systems also has its own learning curve and different functions, but even then the scale of some topics in collections or the connectedness between collections is not always apparent.

This article showcases two projects the author has worked on to assist in creating data visualizations in a library/archives context. The GLAMViz …

Leveraging Library Expertise In Support Of Institutional Goals: A Case Study Of An Oer Initiative At Lehman College, Stacy Katz

Publications and Research

Incentivizing faculty adoption of Open Educational Resources (OER) as a method for reducing textbook costs to increase access and affordability of higher education has been an area of development in academic libraries. This manuscript describes the experience at Lehman College, CUNY, the only four-year public college in the Bronx, NY. The OER initiative involves the creation of a new program, which includes assisting faculty with adopting and adapting OER, as well as training and discussion around issues pertinent to OER, such as finding and evaluating OER. The case study explains local conditions and provide an overview of the financial implications …

A Blueprint On Self-Exploration To Justice: Introduction To “Referencing Audre Lorde” & “Lesbian Librarianship For All”, Shawn(Ta) Smith-Cruz

Publications and Research

My approach to social justice problematizes the profession by challenging the librarian to focus inwardly to a space concentrated with identity and self-exploration. To galvanize justice, the librarian may impose her or himself into the reference interaction as an element of praxis.

Referencing Audre Lorde, Shawn(Ta) Smith-Cruz

Publications and Research

This chapter is close a reading and textual analysis of canonical texts, speeches, and archived audio recordings of Audre Lorde. It embraces Lorde’s many identities, including her identity as a librarian who chose to depart from the library as a means of survival. The author urges reference librarians to study Lorde’s example and learn from Lorde’s choice to act in a space where silence can be transformed into language and action. Acknowledgment of the limitations and opportunities that Lorde teaches us in reference service and institutional structures, may allow for librarians to move toward a realm of justice.

Lesbian Librarianship For All: A Manifesto, Shawn(Ta) Smith-Cruz

Publications and Research

This essay intends to bridge the gap between two under-appreciated communities by committing to ways that each enhances the other. The complications for being a lesbian librarian outlined here may be applied to any librarian or any lesbian by acknowledging how the two communities mirror each other in positions of marginality, struggle, and implication for silence, each active in a movement toward justice. I intend for this chapter to act as a type of autobiographical manifesto, coupled with an invitation for both lesbians and librarians to stake a claim as lesbian librarian.

Only Connect: Graduate Students, Mobile Devices, And Academic Workflows, Lee Ann Fullington, Frans Albarillo

Publications and Research

Students often own multiple devices, including laptops, smartphones, and tablets, and work within these personal device ecosystems for academic purposes. This qualitative study explores the research question: how are graduate students using mobile technologies in their academic practices? Rather than simply counting how many devices a student uses, we delve into how they use the devices and how their workflow for completing academic tasks emerged and is adapted throughout the course of their studies. We selected graduate students, as this group is underrepresented in the literature and their responsibilities for employment and family life are often different than those of …

Developing In-House Digital Tools In Library Spaces: Introduction, Meredith Powers

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Open Educational Resources: Why Libraries Are Incentivizing Open Content Creation, Curation, And Adaptation, Stacy Katz

Publications and Research

The movement toward Open Educational Resources is challenging and changing the paradigm of academic libraries. Libraries are leading and innovating in the movement for the creation and adaptation of openly licensed content, whereby the creator can retain, reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute content. There are large-scale library or librarian-led projects that are broadening library services, such as SUNY Affordable Learning Solutions, the Achieving the Dream OER degrees, Affordable Learning Georgia, as well as smaller campus initiatives. These projects shift the library’s role in education and increase measurable retention rates, such as engagement, student satisfaction, grade performance, and successful completion of …

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 …

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.

Documenting Documentaries: Flotsam Of Prejudice, Rebecca Schiff

Publications and Research

As an academic librarian working on a research paper dealing with the collection development of documentary films about the Romani people and whether such films can dispel or deconstruct many of the cultural, historical, sometimes fanciful distortions and stereotypes confronting them today, I was nonetheless still surprised at the misconceptions I came across floating around in the popular imagination. The encounters I had with students, faculty, and librarians further alerted me as to how pervasive the misunderstandings of the dominant culture and its projected fantasies onto the Roma continue to be. The incidents span from the student who, after a …

Open Access And Global Inclusion: A Look At Cuba, Elizabeth Jardine, Maureen Garvey, J. Silvia Cho

Publications and Research

Is the Open Access movement meeting its goal of equalizing access to research worldwide? What we learned in libraries and archives during a delegation to Cuba inspired us to pursue this question. Latin America has long used OA to share its research, but it still has not achieved parity in access and contribution with the developed world. We consider what the OA movement can do to relieve some of these global inequities.

Applying Instructional Design Principles To An Internship Curriculum, Lee Ann Fullington, Matthew Harrick

Publications and Research

Ch.22 from Creative instructional design : Practical application for libraries. Our chapter discusses applying backwards design, reflection, other instructional design concepts to improve on our library and information science internship program for undergraduates.

"Afterword" In Library Information And Resource Sharing: Transforming Services And Collections, Beth Posner

Publications and Research

The concept, practice, challenges and opportunities of information sharing through libraries is explored. Traditional interlibrary loan lending and borrowing remain essential, as do new ways of sharing information among libraries and information seekers.

Introduction To Library Information And Resource Sharing, Beth Posner

Publications and Research

This is the introduction to a book that I edited: Library Information and Resource Sharing: Transforming Services and Collections. It presents the thesis that with enough staff and budgetary support, interlibrary loan specialists can work with others in their libraries to provide many innovative services to their library users. Chapters covered include, "Interlibrary Loan Services Today", "From Discovery to Delivery: Providing Access to Library Collections", "Thinking Locally and Sharing Globally: The Impact of Library Policies on Collection Sharing", "Library Collection Building: The Interlocking Functions of ILL, Acquisitions and Collection Development", "Facilitating Information Sharing Through Library Collection Maintenance and Preservation", …

Hackathons For Libraries And Librarians, Robin Camille Davis

Publications and Research

Hackathons can be ideal opportunities for libraries and librarians to promote new services and tools. In these social events, attendees form teams and work on a project together within a given time limit. This article explains hackathons, provides a brief history, and details how libraries and librarians can get involved. Similar event structures, like hack days and edit-a-thons, are also considered.

Adopting Universal Design In Libraries: Collaborating For Student Success, Stefanie Havelka, Rebecca Arzola

Publications and Research

Faculty grapple with resources such as skill (experience with accessible features and devices), time (teaching students how to navigate software and devices in the library), and expense (software, hardware, eBooks, databases). This presentation will provide an overview of accessible features in library research databases, computer technology, mobile devices, and apps. The presenters will report on their collaboration with Lehman College’s Access and Technology Center (ATC) and Student Disability Services to share how to better approach issues and challenges in order to more successfully support students’ access needs. We will also consider the following questions:

• As librarians and faculty, how can …

Community College Library 2030 Focus Group Protocol, Jean Amaral

Publications and Research

This protocol was used in focus groups with students, faculty, staff, administrators, and librarians at BMCC in 2016-17.