Library and Information Science Commons^™

How Granular Do You Want To Go? Analyizing Marcxml Data With Python, Rebecca Hyams

Publications and Research

While Alma Analytics can be quite powerful, it has its limits when it comes to providing answers to complex questions about bibliographic and holdings records. For those of us that do work that includes maintaining and enhancing records, having good quality data is vital in making informed decisions on the best way forward. You may find you want to know things like which additional identifiers are present in the record to help with deduplication efforts, or how many records have a particular formatting issue that needs addressing. The data is already there in the record and can be accessed via …

The Ultimate Privacy Field Guide: A Workbook Of Best Practices, Junior Tidal

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

What’S Missing? The Role Of Community Colleges In Building A More Inclusive Institutional Repository Landscape, Megan Wacha, Michael Kirby, Jean Amaral, Elizabeth Jardine, Meagan Lacy, Kate Lyons

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Toporadio: Mapping Research On Spanish-Languageradio In The United States, Eric Silberberg

Publications and Research

This article analyzes the construction of TopoRadio (toporadio.org), an interactive map that showcases publications and archives about Spanish-language radio in the U.S. The map aims to promote a more inclusive and comprehensive representation of U.S. radio history by improving the visibility of contributions from Latinx broadcasters. The article addresses how map-making historically suppressed Spanish-language radio programs and proposes using critical cartography as a framework for mapping back this history. The technical elements of TopoRadio, including publication selection criteria, metadata design, geocoding process, and the appraisal of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software, are described to provide scholars with a reproducible method …

What Are Library Graduate Students Learning About Disability And Accessibility?: A Syllabus Analysis, Jj Pionke

Urban Library Journal

A study was conducted that examined readily available syllabi from library and information sciences graduate programs to discover what their instructors taught library graduate students about accessibility and disability through an analysis of the structure and topics of their syllabi. Of the 149 courses identified, 77 syllabi were available to examine. Findings include a lack of consistency and accuracy across syllabi structure, as well as components like poor citations, an emphasis on digital accessibility above all other types as a topic, and a lack of learning assessment on the topics of accessibility and disability. This syllabi analysis indicates that while …

Conversations That Matter: Engaging Library Employees In Dei And Cultural Humility Reflection, Angel Truesdale, Kimberly Looby, Christin Lampkowski, Abby Moore

Urban Library Journal

The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Programs subcommittee at University of North Carolina (UNC) Charlotte’s Atkins library formed in 2019 and created a series of DEI-themed staff development programming to engage library employees. The programs, which included facilitated discussions, short presentations at staff meetings, and interaction with video or article content, were all intended to foster a culture of reflection and awareness. To accommodate changing necessities of virtual and in person work environments, the subcommittee transitioned their work to be applicable both online and in person with an educational hub to promote cultural humility practices. The subcommittee began assessing the …

Notes From The Editors, Derek Stadler

Urban Library Journal

I am very pleased to welcome you to the first issue of the 29^th volume of Urban Library Journal.

Where Do Community College Students Go For Their Reference Management Needs: Findings From A Survey Studymanagement Needs: Findings From A Survey Study, Ajatshatru Pathak, Sarah Johnson

Publications and Research

This research article reports the findings of a survey that was conducted at two community
colleges affiliated with a large public university system in the Northeast of the United States. A
survey was to explore community college students’ citation management help- seeking habits.
Findings suggest that respondents were more likely to utilize Purdue University’s Online Writing
Lab (OWL) website for reference management help than other resources. The results also show
the impact of various factors (i.e., institution, academic level, undergraduate class level, field of
study, age, gender, race/ethnicity, and user type) on students’ citation help -seeking practices.
Significant statistical associations …

Fostering Epistemic Equality With Library-Based Publishing In The Global South, Monica Berger

Publications and Research

This talk will consider the marginalization of scholars and other stakeholders in the Global South and how local publishing infrastructure is critical to recalibrating imbalances. The Latin American ethos and practice of bibliodiversity, or scholarly self-determination, is a precondition for the decolonialization of knowledge. Accordingly, predatory publishing is minimal in Latin America which has its own publishing infrastructures. Library publishing, which supports bibliodiversity, represents an important path towards much needed free to authors or diamond open access. Librarians play a critical role in educating editors and fostering publishing best practices.

A Genealogy Of Open, Betsy Yoon

Publications and Research

The term open has become a familiar part of library and education practice and discourse, with open source software being a common referent. However, the conditions surrounding the emergence of the open source movement are not well understood within librarianship. After identifying capitalism and neoliberalism as structures that shape library and open practice, this article contextualizes the term open by delineating the discursive struggle within the free software movement that led to the emergence of the open source movement. An understanding of the genealogy of open can lend clarity to many of the contradictions that have been grappled with in …

Effects Of Library Workshop Attendance And Library Website Visit Frequency On Health Professions Students’ Libguides Awareness, John Carey, Ajatshatru Pathak, Sarah C. Johnson

Publications and Research

This research article examines data from an in-person 2017 survey on LibGuides usage, perceptions, and awareness of health professions students seeking bachelor and graduate level degrees. Almost 45% (n=20, N=45) of participants who visited the library’s website at least once per week indicated awareness of library-created LibGuides. Nearly 90% (n=8, N=9) of health professions students who had not visited the library’s website were unaware of the guides. The statistical analysis shows significant associations between various variables (academic level, library workshop attendance, research guide type usage, research guide page usage) and library guide awareness. The data did not reveal any significant …

Drying Our Library’S Libguides-Based Webpage By Introducing Vue.Js, Mark E. Eaton

Publications and Research

At the Kingsborough Community College library, we recently decided to bring the library’s website more in line with DRY principles (Don’t Repeat Yourself). We felt we this could improve the site by creating more concise and maintainable code. DRYer code would be easier to read, understand and edit. We adopted the Vue.js framework in order to replace repetitive, hand-coded dropdown menus with programmatically generated markup. Using Vue allowed us to greatly simplify the HTML documents, while also improving maintainability.

Notes From The Co-Editor, Derek Stadler

Urban Library Journal

I am very pleased to welcome you to the second issue of the 28^th volume of Urban Library Journal, which is a collection of proceedings from the LACUNY Institute held on Thursday, May 12, and Friday, May 13, 2022. The theme of the Institute was “Built to Exclude: Confronting Issues of Equity and Otherness in Libraries.” The Institute highlighted how library workers, patrons, and scholars are grappling with questions about what it means to have access, to belong, and to feel welcome and included.

Imposter Syndrome In Academic Libraries: Indigenous Women Edition, Emilee Bews, Kaia Macleod, Bethany Paul

Urban Library Journal

This is a written proceeding of the LACUNY 2022 panel presentation “Imposter Syndrome in Academic Libraries: Indigenous Women Edition”. The authors discuss personal instances and feelings of the imposter phenomenon (also known as imposter syndrome) as it may relate to their Indigenous identities. Additionally, the authors describe how imposter syndrome may affect their ability to be successful in their careers, and the internal pressure they feel to present a more Indigenous identity (whatever that may entail) for scholarship and positions. The authors also share their experiences with external pressures to exhibit a more “stereotypical Indigenous” appearance for the sake of …

Taking Advantage Of Opportunities For Informal Leadership, Linda Miles, Susanne Markgren

Publications and Research

We contend that informal leadership (IL)—the type that does not come from an official title or decree—not only helps our organizations function, it can be vital in helping mid-career academic librarians grow and succeed, and such pursuits should be encouraged and supported no matter where they emerge within an organizational structure. We aim to define and explore IL and provide strategies for mid-career librarians who may want to identify, seek out, and step into IL opportunities. We begin our discussion by considering concepts emerging from the literature on leaders and leadership in general and what it means to lead when …

Pulling It All Together: Teaching Genre, Disciplinary And Career Literacies, And The Framework For Information Literacy In An Associate Degree Capstone Course, Linda Miles, Elisabeth Tappeiner

Publications and Research

We team teach a semester-long credit-bearing information literacy course for urban community college students in New York City’s South Bronx. It is a capstone course, designed to support students at the end of their first two years of college as they consider the next stage in their own development, be that transferring to a four-year institution or entering the workforce. For this course, we have constructed an approach to critical reading that combines explicit exploration of academic and disciplinary genres with an investigation into the processes of knowledge production and communication shared by the individuals who produce them. This chapter …

Working Towards Promotion To Full Professor: Strategies, Time Management, And Habits For Academic Librarian Mothers, Marta Bladek

Publications and Research

After briefly sharing my experience as an academic librarian mother, the chapter places it within the larger context of academia in which women, especially mothers, lag behind men in attaining the full professor rank. It then outlines the strategies that have enabled me to gradually make progress towards promotion. The chapter discusses strategies to use at the institutional level (familiarity with local requirements, personnel process and related trainings, as well as the availability of leaves and grants), at the departmental level (workflow adjustments, scheduling arrangements, and strategic choice of projects and service commitments), and then at the individual/personal level (seeking …

Amplifying Civil Rights Collections With Oral Histories: A Collaboration With Alumni At Queens College, City University Of New York, Annie E. Tummino, Victoria Fernandez

Publications and Research

Representing a shift in archival methods, oral history is increasingly used alongside more traditional methods of documentation to capture institutional and community histories. In this article, the authors demonstrate how the Student Help Lived Experience Project at the Queens College Library’s Special Collections and Archives (SCA) provided a vital supplement to more traditional methods of archival documentation. SCA was able to leverage resources provided by a partnering organization and a newly established graduate fellowship to bolster its relationship with other entities on campus and to engage alumni in a participatory, collaborative effort that centered their knowledge and interests. This article …

Writing The History Of Spanish Studies At Hunter College: A Case Study Of Original Archival Research By Undergraduate Students, Jennifer Newman, María Hernández-Ojeda

Publications and Research

This essay, a collaboration between an English and humanities librarian (Newman) and a professor of Spanish language and literature (Hernández-Ojeda), describes original archival research performed in an undergraduate course on early-twentieth-century Spanish literature in the fall of 2019. In this course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE), students engaged in both the reading and writing of institutional history at Hunter College-CUNY, using material from Hunter’s Archives along with other primary and secondary sources. Collaborating in research teams, the undergraduate scholars investigated topics related to Spanish studies at the college during the period covered by the course.

We Didn’T Know: How A Mid-Career Research Project Taught Us About Disability, Advocacy, And Ourselves, Lee Ann Fullington, Jill Cirasella

Publications and Research

We—Lee Ann and Jill—are mid-career faculty librarians at different campuses of the City University of New York (CUNY), and we are both hard of hearing. Lee Ann has bilateral hearing loss and uses two hearing aids; Jill has single-sided hearing loss and uses only one. However, even with hearing aids, which do not restore normal hearing, our hearing loss complicates our lives at work and in the broader world. This chapter describes how we found community in each other, how our conversations about hearing loss led to a mid-career research collaboration, and how that collaboration launched us into a larger …

Improving A Library Faq: Assessment And Reflection Of The First Year’S Use, Vanessa Arce, Michelle Ehrenpreis

Publications and Research

In 2020, the Leonard Lief Library created a searchable online knowledge base (FAQs) as a complement to virtual reference during the library’s pandemic-related closure. One year of search query data was used to assess the online knowledge base. This paper discusses the assessment’s findings and planned improvements to the FAQs.

A content analysis of user queries revealed what users are seeking in the knowledge base. The study examined the actions taken by users after conducting a search to determine the knowledge base’s success rate.

The knowledge base was successful in answering user questions almost half of the time. The top …

What’S Art Got To Do With Politics? Show Me The Evidence, Nandi Prince

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Insights: Qualitative Study To Reevaluate And Redesign Online Learning Self-Guided Tools For English First Year Writers Learning Self-Guided Tools For English First Year Writers, Nandi Prince

Publications and Research

The library faculty teaches approximately three hundred one-time instructional classes per year. This study explored the role of the library instructor in support of serving the needs of first-year writers (FYW) in a discourse community (DC). The English faculty teach English Composition I, the FYW develop their writing skills in a community with shared goals and an established means of communicating. This qualitative study explored: (1) in-depth experiences of the English faculty during library one-time instructional classes; (2) their perceptions of what students need most, in the new curriculum; (3) new findings that would guide the design of digital tools …

Coping With Constant Obsolescence: A Lifelong Task, Di Su

Publications and Research

Knowledge and skill obsolescence is a common obstacle in individual, organization, and society development. Thanks to the modern technologies, the rate of obsolescence accelerates rapidly in the information age. In the library workplace, obsolescence occurs constantly. We may be used to routines, but changes are inevitable as we have witnessed the evolution in library services and librarian workplace since the advent of the internet. To cope with obsolescence, it is crucial to have a lifelong learning mindset, make it a habit, and find ways to update our knowledge and skills to stay competent and serve the clientele effectively.

The Clash Of The Commons: An Imagined Library Commons Discourse, Emily Benoff

Urban Library Journal

The commons has been adopted by LIS as a metaphor for transformational library spaces. However, post-colonial scholarship exposes the material violence and exclusionary practices that coincide(d) with commons-making in Europe and North America. When weighing such assessments against the traditional role of American libraries as mechanisms of colonial values, it becomes necessary for library professionals to critique their continued evocation of commons discourse from a perspective that centers decolonization. Responding to this challenge, I historicize the commons as both an imagined ideology and an actual instrument of power to contextualize Indigenous and post-colonial assessments of commons-making in the settler colonial …

Neurodiverse Navigation And Disability Equity In A Nyc Doe Early College Library, Nava Bahrampour, Jess Decourcy Hinds

Urban Library Journal

The Bard High School Early College Queens (BHSEC Q) serves high school students who are simultaneously earning college associates degrees. The library works in partnership with a student affinity group called the Abled-Disabled Alliance (ADA). During the 2021-22 school year, the ADA has recommended a library renovation and a disability studies course, among other initiatives. The librarian taught “Disability and Equity in the Library,” to 13 students, many of whom identified as neurodiverse or disabled, and invited them to reflect on their learning needs. The course culminated in research-based proposals to redesign library space and services. This work complements one …

Notes From The Editors, Derek Stadler

Urban Library Journal

We are very pleased to welcome you to the first issue of the 28^th volume of Urban Library Journal. Currently, the new issue features one article.

An Interprofessional Public Library-Academic Partnership For Community Outreach On Women's Health, Lyndonna Marrast, Eun Ji Kim, Danielle Ezzo, Joseph Conigliaro

Urban Library Journal

This article describes a collaboration between a branch of the Queens Public Library in NY and an academic medical center that delivered a women’s health educational program with an interprofessional team of faculty, trainees, and students. The team delivered interactive 1-hour long monthly sessions in a Question and Answer format guided by a Powerpoint presentation. The overall goal was to deliver health education workshops on common medical conditions (i.e. diabetes, heart disease) and concerns of interest to women across the lifespan (i.e. infertility, dementia) to improve the health literacy of local community members. We outlined the steps in establishing this …

Libraries And The Problem Of Digital Humanities Discovery, Roxanne Shirazi

Publications and Research

Why is it so hard to find digital humanities projects? While digital humanities librarians emphasize their crucial role in producing DH work as partners in developing, sustaining, and preserving digital resources, scant attention is paid to the library’s role in resource description and discovery, their contribution to disciplinary formation that goes beyond technology stacks and campus service models. This chapter explores the implications of the producer/creator model of digital humanities librarianship and imagines alternatives in which the problem of DH discovery is understood as a broader issue for academic libraries curating open access digital scholarship. By attending to the discovery …

The Global Jukebox: A Public Database Of Performing Arts And Culture, Anna L. C. Wood, Kathryn R. Kirby, Carol R. Ember, Stella Silbert, Sam Passmore, Hideo Daikoku, John Mcbride, Forrestine Paulay, Michael J. Flory, John Szinger, Gideon D'Arcangelo, Karen Kohn Bradley, Marco Guarino, Maisa Atayeva, Jesse Rifkin, Violet Baron, Miriam El Haljli, Martin Szinger, Patrick E. Savage

Publications and Research

Standardized cross-cultural databases of the arts are critical to a balanced scientific under- standing of the performing arts, and their role in other domains of human society. This paper introduces the Global Jukebox as a resource for comparative and cross-cultural study of the performing arts and culture. The Global Jukebox adds an extensive and detailed global database of the performing arts that enlarges our understanding of human cultural diversity. Initially prototyped by Alan Lomax in the 1980s, its core is the Cantometric s dataset, encompassing standardized codings on 37 aspects of musical style for 5,776 traditional songs from 1,026 societies. …