Library and Information Science Commons^™

Using Gis To Facilitate Data Driven Decision Making, Jason Glatz

University Libraries Faculty & Staff Presentations

This poster presents two methods for using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to assist in data driven facilities management, with a primary focus on space planning and use. One method focuses on using GIS to analyze new book additions to the collection and their relationship to existing storage capacity. By treating each shelving range like a street, and each book like an address, the added books can be plotted on the range. This allows for a convenient visual analysis of the spatial growth of new books. GIS is also used to represent the remaining storage capacity of each section within a …

Textual Appropriation And Attribution In Engineering Theses And Dissertations: An Exploratory Study, Edward J. Eckel

University Libraries Faculty & Staff Publications

This exploratory study seeks to build a clearer picture of the extent to which engineering graduate students use and attribute unquoted verbatim source text in the literature review sections of their theses and dissertations. In addition, it explores whether or not there are differences between master’s and doctoral engineering students in these patterns of copying and attribution and what this might indicate about their potential skill levels in source use.

The study asks the following research questions: (1) Do the literature review sections of engineering master's theses contain longer average verbatim text matches than the corresponding sections of engineering doctoral …

Textbook Alternatives: Library Supported Options For Students And Faculty, Michele D. Behr, Julie Hayward

University Libraries Faculty & Staff Presentations

The issue of course textbooks continues to be a challenge in higher education. For students the primary concern is the skyrocketing costs: spending several hundred dollars for required textbooks per semester at a time when tuition and fees continue to rise. Consequently, students are borrowing, renting or simply forgoing purchasing textbooks to alleviate some of the financial burden. For those students who are unable to purchase textbooks, are they still receiving the same high quality education? Although faculty members empathize with students’ frustrations concerning textbook prices, they may not be aware of the alternative resources and services offered by the …

The Choice Is Yours! Researchers Assign Subject Metadata To Their Own Materials In Institutional Repositories, Maira Bundza

University Libraries Faculty & Staff Publications

The Digital Commons platform for institutional repositories provides a three-tiered taxonomy of academic disciplines for each item submitted to the repository. Since faculty and departmental administrators across campuses are encouraged to submit materials to the institutional repository themselves, they must also assign disciplines or subject categories for their own work. The expandable drop-down menu of about 1,000 categories is easy to use, and facilitates the growth of the institutional repository and access to the materials through the Internet.

Avoiding Curricular Combat Fatigue: Embedding Librarians In E-Learning To Teach The Teacher, Kathleen Langan

University Libraries Faculty & Staff Publications

As information literacy (IL) becomes more accepted as a core mission for a comprehensive post-secondary education, efforts on many campuses to universally integrate it into the curriculum are thwarted by logistical and pedagogical obstacles. Using the embedded librarian model in the e-learning environment can remove many of the hurdles that present themselves in the academic library. Librarians can use e-learning to “teach the teacher” on how to provide IL education. This chapter looks at many aspects of an embedded teach-the –teacher program, and provides examples of teaching content and assessments for teacher training. A teach-the-teacher approach is not to be …

Vignette: Clear Communication And When To Say "No", Kathleen Langan

University Libraries Faculty & Staff Publications

This is an essay in the book One-shot Library Instruction Survival Guide and talks about the importance of good communication between librarians and course instructors with a clear understanding of the assignment so the instruction session at the library can be productive.