Library and Information Science Commons^™

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. …

Women Of Colour And Black Women Leaders Are Underrepresented In Architectural Firms Featured In Key Trade Publications, Nandi Prince

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Library Tautology: A Reenactment Of The One-Shot, Nora Almeida

Publications and Research

If there’s one thing you learn today, let it be this: keywords. Not specific keywords but the idea of them. If you whisper the correct keywords into the algorithm, you will achieve relevance. If you don’t achieve relevance on the first try (which is super common), imagine you’re an academic with a specialization in a super-niche disciplinary area who wrote a research article. Then imagine keywords you (they) would use and try those.

Automation, Abstraction And Building It Ourselves, Mark E. Eaton

Publications and Research

This paper argues that indexers should work collaboratively to build software tools that support our profession. As technology automates the procedural aspects of our work, we need to respond by building tools that support the conceptual labor of indexing.

Your Discomfort Is Valid: Big Feelings And Open Pedagogy, Liz Pearce, Silvia L. Lin Hanick, Amy R. Hofer, Lori Townsend, Michaela Willi Hooper

Publications and Research

This article explores the affective reactions of 13 community college students engaged in an open pedagogy textbook creation project. The instructor and first author, a human development and family services faculty member and department chair at a community college in Oregon, received feedback from her students that the project impacted them differently than past learning experiences. Student engagement with research and the diverse personal experiences of their classmates fostered both personal challenges and growth. This article groups these experiences into themes and explores different theoretical lenses, including scaffolding (constructivism), transformative learning, threshold concepts and safe spaces/brave spaces. We discuss the …

Students Speak: Animating Stories About The Value Of Information, Vanessa Arce, Rena D. Grossman

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Using A Standards Crosswalk To Adapt Resources For Teaching With Primary Sources Across K–12 And Higher Education, Jen Hoyer

Publications and Research

This article explores the work of archivists and special collections librarians in teaching with primary sources (TPS) for K–12 and higher education audiences and argues that the resources created for this work have largely targeted either audience, but not both. Building on a trend in the TPS literature toward skills-based instruction efforts, this article introduces a crosswalk between skills-based standards typically used in higher education (the SAA/RBMS Guidelines for Primary Source Literacy) and K–12 education (Common Core State Standards). This crosswalk demonstrations how resources created with one audience in mind can be adapted for use with other audiences. Examples of …

National Data Sets And Calculating Percentile Ranks: A Guide For Benchmarking Library Collection Spending, Christine Mcevilly

Publications and Research

National data sets can be used by a librarian to compare library collection (materials) spending to that of similar schools, even if the librarian has little or no experience in statistics or database management tools. Percentile rank is a simple descriptive statistic that provides a way to present data with maximum impact on faculty and administrators who make funding decisions. Librarians must combine knowledge of their local circumstances with a basic understanding of the structure of the datasets. The article will focus on step-by-step methodologies, illustrated as they were used at the College of Staten Island, City University of New …

Cochrane Library, Sonali Sugrim

Publications and Research

Cochrane Library (ISSN 1465-1858) is owned by Cochrane and published by Wiley. The library includes the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR), Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), and Cochrane Clinical Answers (CCAs). Cochrane Library is an online collection of databases that provides high-quality, independent, peer-reviewed systematic reviews, trials, and Clinical Answers on health care–related topics. Much Open Access content is available as well. The database is sophisticated and allows for multiple facet searches, including title, title abstract, abstract, author, and trial registry number. There are options for Basic Search, Browse by Topic, Browse by Cochrane Review Group, and …

Communicating Changes Throughout The Electronic Resources Lifecycle To Library Staff And Users, Sonali Sugrim

Publications and Research

Electronic resources undergo various changes during their lifecycle from evaluation, to acquisitions, to renewal or cancelation. To keep users abreast of these changes, effective communication is necessary between the electronic resources librarian and the library team. Effective communication is equally important between the electronic resources librarian and library users. At Queens College Library, the Library Team consisting of faculty librarians and staff are alerted to electronic resources changes through emails and posts to a Microsoft Teams library channel. Those lifecycle changes communicated to the Library Team are also featured on a public Electronic Resources Status (ERS) Dashboard, accessible to anyone. …

User, How Do I Know You? User-Centered Research For Library Websites, Robin Naughton

Publications and Research

Websites are ubiquitous. They are everywhere and everyone seems to be using them. Thus, user experience has become popular, but not everyone uses user-centered research and design principles to design websites. Libraries are beginning to use the tools of user experience, design thinking, and user-centered research to improve library websites. User-centered research places the user at the core of the research and seeks to understand the user so that the resulting solutions can better respond to the needs of users. Who are your users? How do you learn more about your users? What are your users doing? How do you …

The Personal Papers Of American Sailors, 1890s–1940s, Annie E. Tummino

Publications and Research

Personal papers in the archives at Maritime College, State University of New York, document the lives of alumni from the school’s founding in 1874 through the early decades of the 20th century. Journals, diaries, memoirs, and reminiscences located in these collections provide evidence of what it was like to work on a ship, far from home, travelling to foreign lands. In this article, I explore first-hand accounts of maritime life by Van Horne Morris, my maternal grandfather and a 1938 graduate of the Massachusetts Nautical School (now known as Massachusetts Maritime Academy), and several alumni of the New York Nautical …

Evaluating Sources - Laguardia Cc Library, Ian Mcdermott

Open Educational Resources

This presentation is used with students for evaluating sources. It covers the differences between popular, scholarly, and news articles. The information cycle is used to inform students about how and why topics are covered in different publications. The presentation ends with an activity where students read a snippet from a publication and are asked to guess the source.

Library Wayfinding And Esol Students: Communication Challenges And Empathy-Based Intervention, Nora Almeida, Junior R. Tidal

Publications and Research

This article describes a wayfinding study conducted in an urban, academic library to better understand the experiences of multilingual student populations. The study, which incorporated traditional user experience methods and video ethnography, exposed communication obstacles and spatial challenges encountered by students of English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) when attempting information retrieval tasks. After outlining the methodology and examining qualitative findings, the authors discuss how study findings prompted a reevaluation of local practices, service models, and staff training protocols. Finally, the authors explore the potential for qualitative, empathy-based wayfinding studies to transform library practices and spaces.

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. …

Health Sciences First Year Seminar Library Lesson Plan (Hsf90), Ian Mcdermott

Open Educational Resources

This lesson plan, and accompanying slides, is for the library instruction session for HSF90, LaGuardia Community College's health sciences first year seminar course. The lesson details the importance of college-level research for students who will enter various health sciences professions. The lesson also covers the importance of citation in academic research, covering what to cite and how to do it using library subscription databases.

Combating Burnout: Positive/Transformational Leadership And Organizational Culture, Linda Miles, Susanne Markgren

Publications and Research

This chapter provides an overview of different styles of leadership as these relate to burnout among academic librarians, illustrating some of the contexts where these problems manifest. The authors discuss recent research related to leadership practices, both negative and positive/transformational, and discuss how these may impact academic librarians’ experiences of fatigue/exhaustion, hopelessness, frustration, and a lack of work-life balance. They present specific case studies of leadership behavior in burnout situations, representing positive/transformational management practices in different academic library contexts, and examine specific challenges faced; the varied leadership behaviors in play; the ways organizational cultures and structures can be built, influenced, …

Research In The Digital Age, Sarah B. Cohn

Open Educational Resources

Syllabus for LIB 10000: Research in the Digital Age. Spring 2022.

Incorporating Race-Centered And Trauma-Informed Practices Into The Reference Interview, Nicole N. Williams, Emma Antobam-Ntekudzi

Publications and Research

Libraries are not race-neutral spaces; from an equity standpoint, treating all students the same does not assist those who may begin at a deficit, such as those from historically underrepresented groups. As supporters of the student body, academic librarians are charged with responding appropriately to their student body in a changing world. Librarians can make a concerted effort not to allow stereotypes and biases to dictate how we interact with students and other library visitors during the reference interview. This begins with taking a critical look at the components of reference service and outlining frameworks and practices that can allow …

Emphasizing The Economic: Nancy Fraser, The Cultural-Redistributive Divide, And Social Justice’S Pr Crisis, Michael Kirby

Publications and Research

The philosopher Nancy Fraser defines two paradigms for social justice: the economic and the cultural. These two paradigms often find themselves at odds (the familiar struggle between class politics and identi- ty politics), but only when working in conjunction, according to Fraser, can they reach their emancipatory potential. Contra Fraser, this paper argues that there exist some historical moments in which it is neces- sary for one paradigm to take precedence over the other. In our current political moment, both the Right and the Left can be said to be fixated on culture, and this fixation ultimately disadvantages the Left: …

Diversifying And Transforming A Public University’S Children’S Book Collection: Librarian And Teacher Education Faculty Collaboration On Grants, Research, And Collection Development, Alison Lehner-Quam

Publications and Research

An education librarian and faculty member collaborated on research grants to study teacher education student’s experiences with diverse books and to develop library collections. This study explores the development of internally grant-funded linguistically and culturally sustaining children’s book collections and assesses the impact of the grants with a model that analyzes research guide use, library instruction sessions, and reflection on grant-funded research, among other components. Intentional collection practices, including grant-funded collection development; faculty partnership; nontraditional bibliographic tools; and alternative forms of access, discovery, and shelving led to a vital and linguistically and culturally sustaining collection which reflects education student’s diverse …

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.

Black Feminist Citational Praxis And Disciplinary Belonging, Bianca C. Williams

Publications and Research

What does a Black feminist citational practice look and feel like? This contribution to the #CiteBlackWomen colloquy focuses on two arguments: First, that Black feminist citational praxis is one of the major interventions Black women scholars contribute to the academy; and second, that anthropology’s neglect and erasure of Black feminist anthropologists relates to disciplinary (un)belonging. I explore how citation and “disciplinary belonging” influence hiring practices, doctoral training, intellectual genealogies, and what is valued as anthropological knowledge.

Implementing A Chatbot On A Library Website, Michelle Ehrenpreis, John P. Delooper

Publications and Research

A library’s website is a virtual point of contact for interacting with its patrons. Ensuring a library’s website has easily findable content is critical for providing access to library resources and highlighting services and events. One tool for assisting with content findability is a chatbot, a form of artificial intelligence software. In this case study, Lehman College's Leonard Lief Library implemented Ivy, a proprietary educational software chatbot on its website, the first of its kind for an academic library. This chatbot functioned as a new tool that assisted users seeking information and provided insight to librarians about the kinds of …