Library and Information Science Commons^™

Along For The Journey: Graduate Student Perceptions Of Research, Alissa Droog, Kari D. Weaver, Frances Brady

Faculty Peer-Reviewed Publications

Graduate student identities and personal lives are heavily tied to their experiences of research, and many struggle to find, understand, and use information for research purposes. Using a drawing exercise rooted in visual research methods combined with semi-structured interviews, a research team in the United States and Canada explored graduate student perceptions of research with 19 participants. Thematic analysis identified six themes: research is abstract; research is an odyssey; social support makes or breaks the student experience; research is an emotional continuum; interplay between identity/values; information is problematic. The study has implications for how librarians support graduate student research.

Drawing To Conceptualize Research, Reduce Implicit Bias, And Establish Researcher Positionality In The Graduate Classroom, Alissa Droog, Kari D. Weaver, Frances Brady

Faculty Books & Book Chapters

Through reflection, coupled with literature to ground our thinking, this chapter discusses the experiences of three librarians with the use of conceptual drawings about research processes as an equitable pedagogical practice. This drawing technique has pushed each of us to understand research in different ways and reflect on our own positionality as researchers and as teachers in the classroom. First, Kari D. Weaver considers how drawing research shapes an individual’s understanding of themselves as a scholar. Second, Alissa Droog reflects on the use of drawing to understand how research relates to our identities. Finally, Frances Brady connects drawing to further …

Unpacking The Graduate Student Research Experience: Findings From A Drawing-Based Interview Study, Alissa Droog, Frances Brady, Kari D. Weaver

Faculty Peer-Reviewed Publications

What do graduate students think research is? How do they come to be scholars and how can we as information professionals better support their needs?

Using a drawing exercise rooted in visual research methods (Hartel, 2017; Doucette & Hoffman, 2019; Bryans & Mavin, 2006), a cross-institutional research team in the United States and Canada explore these questions through an interview-based study of graduate student perceptions of research.

At present, the existing body of knowledge examining student perceptions of research strongly focuses on undergraduates (Griffioen, 2019; Insua et al., 2018), leaving a critical gap in theory and pedagogy needed to support …

From Supercharging To Rewiring To Thriving: Dissertation Support And Partnerships, Alyssa Denneler, Anna Marie Johnson

ACRL New England Chapter Annual Conference

No abstract provided.

Leveling Up, Nearly Falling, & Getting Back On The Ladder: Differentiating Library Research, Apa & Endnote Instruction For Even More Online Students While Not Hurting Yourself In The Process, Josette M. Kubicki

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

Note to reviewers: This proposal is for a presentation that builds on what I meant to present at the 2021 conference. Due to a storm, a black-out occurred, and I couldn’t get back online in time to present most of it because my computer was so slow. The GICOIL moderator kindly offered me a break-out room at the end of the day, but only two people showed up, and an informal conversation was more suited. This proposal expands on that presentation and elaborates on what I did this year. I have a much faster computer now and will log in …

Scholarly Communications For Librarians: Developing A Mentoring Program To Support Tenure-Track Library Faculty, Anna R. Craft

Transforming Libraries for Graduate Students

Many academic libraries are increasingly called upon to support and provide training and instruction to graduate students on scholarly communications issues such as open access, copyright, research data, identifying legitimate versus predatory publishing opportunities, and related topics. Many of these areas align with needs librarians face in their own work, especially for those whose jobs offer opportunities (or requirements) to participate in tenure and promotion processes. In order to meet their own professional development and career needs while also preparing to support the specialized needs of graduate students, librarians must keep abreast of the changing scholarly communications landscape and seek …

Information Seeking Behaviors, Attitudes, And Choices Of Academic Physicists, Ian D. Gordon, Debbie Chaves, Dylanne Dearborn, Shawn Hendrikx, Rebecca Hutchinson, Christopher Popovich, Michael White

Western Libraries Publications

Physicists in academic institutions utilize a variety of resources and strategies to seek, find, and use scholarly information and news. Using a sample of physicists, researchers surveyed 182 students and faculty at seven Canadian university institutions to explore self-perceived success rates, resources consulted, databases used, and use of social media and citation management systems. To complement the survey, 11 follow up interviews/focus groups were completed with participants to further uncover information-seeking behaviors, choices, strategies, and feelings around keeping up to date with information needs. According to survey results, a minority of physicists (15.4%) acknowledged that they were successfully keeping up …

Leveling Up: Differentiating Library Research And Apa Instruction For Online Students Into Different Levels And Modes, Josette M. Kubicki

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

Over two and a half years, the Department of Teaching and Leading liaison librarian has evolved her virtual instruction to graduate online students by scaffolding it into different levels. What started as advocating for an optional one-shot webinar for groups of students in their asynchronous Master of Education program’s seminal course has organically grown into three different library instruction levels throughout the program: introductory (level 1), intermediate (level 2), and advanced (level 3), and a few levels for APA instruction. These days, all students start on the same level playing field by undertaking level 1 library instruction and level 1 …

Information Literacy Instruction For International Graduate Engineering Students: A Case Study At University Of Windsor, Guoying Liu

Leddy Library Publications

In recent years, the University of Windsor has seen a significant increase in international student enrolments, especially in the graduate engineering programs. Previous studies indicate that international students often have difficulties in developing information literacy skills. Furthermore, many engineering students lack library research skills essential for succeeding in academic study. However, there is a scarcity of studies focusing on information literacy instruction for international engineering students and existing research in this area seldom utilizes statistical analysis methods to determine the effectiveness of the instruction. This paper aims to fill in the literature gap by examining the impact of an information …

A Few Kind, But True Words: Using The Research Consultation To Empower Marginalized Grad Students Struggling With Imposter Syndrome, V. Dozier

Copley Library: Faculty Scholarship

Dozier, V. (2021). A few kind, but true words: Using the research consultation to empower marginalized graduate researchers struggling with impostor syndrome [Conference proceedings]. LOEX 2021.

Dissertations Content Analysis Data Set, "Diving Deep Into Dissertations" Article, College & Research Libraries, Mandy J. Swygart-Hobaugh M.L.S., Ph.D., Raeda Anderson, Denise George, Joel Glogowski

University Library Faculty Publications

We present findings from an exploratory quantitative content analysis case study of 156 doctoral dissertations from Georgia State University that investigates doctoral student researchers’ methodology practic es (used quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods) and data practices (used primary data, secondary data, or both). We discuss the implications of our findings for provision of data support services provided by the Georgia State University Library’s Res earch Data Services (RDS) Team and subject liaison librarians in the areas of instructional services, data software support and licensing advocacy, collection development, marketing/outreach, and professional development/expansion.

Examining The Education Dissertations At Andrews University, Bernard Helms, Cynthia Mae Helms

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Citations from the bibliographies of Andrews University education doctoral dissertations completed in 2013-2017 were analyzed to understand the needs of graduate education students for collection management purposes. The study looked at type, citation age, and availability of the sources cited. The citations from the 31 dissertations were mainly periodicals (47%) and books (37%), with smaller percentages of dissertations, Web sites, and other forms of resources. A majority of the sources had a citation age of less than 20 years. The findings showed a weakness in the book collection, as only 44.54% of book citations were held by the library. In …

Marginalia No. 45, Merrill-Cazier Library, Utah State University

Marginalia

• Dear Friends, page 2
• New Librarians, page 3
• New Library Position Bolsters First-Year Student Success, page 4
• Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion at USU Libraries, page 5
• Historical Document Transcription Project Engages Library Staff, page 6
• Supporting USU Graduate Student Scholarship, page 7
• Telling Our Story: 130 Years of Aggie Women, page 8
• Stay Safe, Stay Well, Stay Productive, page 9
• Digital Preservation at USU Libraries, page 10

Sharpgrads: Development And Assessment Of A Research Skills Workshop Program For Graduate Students At The University Of South Carolina, Stacy L. Winchester, Amie D. Freeman

Faculty and Staff Publications

INTRODUCTION Academic libraries are placing increasing emphasis on the provision of instruction for graduate students in non-traditional research skills and competencies such as scholarly communication concepts, data management and visualization, and text mining. Since proficiency in these concepts is often expected of graduate students but training may not be offered in the classroom, the library is a natural home for such instruction. DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM Librarians at the University of South Carolina created a two-day workshop series for graduate students called SHARPGrads. This paper describes the planning process, survey method used to develop and assess the program, and findings obtained …

Academic Libraries As Enablers To Prepare Graduate Students For Open Scholarship, Adrian K. Ho

Library Presentations

A plethora of digital tools have become available in the past decade to facilitate different tasks in the scholarly communication process. Meanwhile, research funders have established policies that require grant recipients to practice open scholarship by sharing their research deliverables online. Graduate students as junior scholars may feel overwhelmed due to their unfamiliarity with some digital tools and how to be in compliance with research funders’ requirements. To prepare them for academic success and open scholarship, academic libraries have partnered with graduate schools to educate students about scholarly communication issues.

With the focus on a public university in the U.S., …

Going The Distance: Flipped Classrooms And The Research Appointment

The Southeastern Librarian

This case study examines the use of online help guides and their potential impact in helping graduate distance students prepare for a scheduled meeting with a reference librarian. Students taking a dissertation planning course were surveyed to determine if a custom LibGuide and accompanying class assignments prepared them for in-depth research during their meeting with a reference librarian. Findings revealed that the majority of students believed that this flipped-classroom style approach had a positive impact on their research abilities and skills. Recommendations are provided for online help resources that can be adapted for use in online and hybrid courses.

Librarians In Dissertation Deposit: Infusing An Institutional Ritual With Scholarly Communication Instruction, Roxanne Shirazi, Jill Cirasella

Publications and Research

Most doctoral students are required to produce a dissertation that makes an original contribution to their field of study in order to fulfill their degree requirements. The scholarly nature of this requirement informs how students and faculty approach doctoral research, but universities often treat the dissertations themselves merely as student records, not scholarly contributions. Librarians, however, are uniquely situated to work with graduate students as emerging participants in the scholarly communication ecosystem and help them prepare their dissertations for an outside audience. Librarians have the expertise to advise students with questions regarding copyright, licensing, fair use, and authors’ rights, as …

Big Ideas, Individual Effort: Graduate Student Writing Retreats As Accelerator For Dissertation Completion, Michael Harris

Transforming Libraries for Graduate Students

The University of Memphis promotes itself as a major, urban, research institution, but it lacks one thing: Carnegie Research 1 classification. Recently, the University has set a goal to achieve such designation by the year 2023 and has created and supported numerous programs to assist with the success, recruitment, and retention of graduate students. In support of these efforts, the offices of the Graduate School, the Center for Writing and Communication, and the University Libraries have an important role to play. Separately, each represents a phase in process towards graduation, but together, they can serve as a powerful, holistic tool …

Tailoring Boot Camps To Graduate Student Needs, Tim Dodge, Adelia Grabowsky, Juliet T. Rumble, Elizabeth J. Weisbrod

Transforming Libraries for Graduate Students

In an effort to strengthen the academic and career preparedness of graduate students at their public land grant university, library faculty organized a one-day boot camp, featuring workshops focused on research and scholarly productivity skills. Organizers of the boot camp recognized that the needs of their graduate students extended beyond the discipline-specific curricula of graduate programs and the content of library orientations and one-shots. The workshop series they developed, informed by input from graduate students, focused on skills and strategies needed throughout the research lifecycle. Graduate student response to the weekend boot camp was overwhelmingly positive, and attendance has grown …

Assessing Education Needs Of Graduate Students For Data Management, Judith E. Pasek

Transforming Libraries for Graduate Students

Uncertainty remains as to areas of greatest need for instruction in research data management, and whether perceived needs differ between disciplinary faculty and graduate students. Data sharing requirements of research funders have provided the impetus in recent years for librarians to provide data management services. Instructional approaches ranging from workshops to credit courses are being developed, often without the benefit of first conducting a needs assessment.

A study of education needs in research data management was conducted jointly at the University of Northern Colorado and the University of Wyoming. Graduate students in science-based programs with research thesis or dissertation requirements …

Expanding Campus Peer-To-Peer Teaching & Learning: The Peer Scholars Program, Alexa Carter

Transforming Libraries for Graduate Students

In response to a growing need for training in advanced research and professional workplace skills, a team of research librarians at the NC State University Libraries have developed a platform to engage and enhance the expertise of early-career researchers on campus. The Peer Scholars Program offers graduate students and postdoctoral scholars a paid practical experience in creating and delivering effective instruction on core and emerging research skills to their peers. Participants are invited to suggest topics for library talks or workshops and partner with research librarians to develop and deliver interactive and engaging sessions in an informal teaching setting. Topics …

You Are Not Alone: Facilitating A Holistic Graduate Academic Experience Through A Dissertation Writing Workshop, Stan Trembach, Wendy Highby, Letha Mellman, Jane Monson, Maggie Shawcross

Transforming Libraries for Graduate Students

For graduate students, writing a dissertation can be an isolating experience. In 2018, librarians at the University of Northern Colorado (UNC) Libraries collaborated with the Graduate School to organize and host the campus’ first Dissertation Prep and Writing Intensive workshop. Inspired by the examples of Simon Fraser University and Concordia University libraries, we aspired to offer a dissertation workshop that would provide writing support to UNC doctoral students at a crucial stage of their academic journey. Initially, the workshop to students who had completed oral examinations and submitted committee proposals. However, this stringent stage-related requirement was subsequently eased. Over the …

One Workshop, Many Locations: Meeting The Needs Of Both On-Campus And Distance Students, Lisa Becksford

Transforming Libraries for Graduate Students

The diverse needs of graduate students can be difficult to gauge, and even when their needs are known, it can be difficult to develop programming that meets the needs of graduate students across disciplines and program levels. In spring 2018, a needs assessment survey was conducted by the graduate librarian at a large, comprehensive public university with graduate students at multiple campus locations. Based on respondents’ articulated needs for additional help in data management, research skills, scholarly publishing, and citation management, a workshop series, Research Tools for Graduate Students, was launched in fall 2019. The series sought to provide graduate …

Where They Lead, I Will Follow: Serving Remote Graduate Student Populations, Penny Scott

Gleeson Library Faculty and Staff Research and Scholarship

In 2012, the University of San Francisco's School of Management underwent a monumental change in both location and student access to academic services. In that year, all classes and most staff and student services for the MBA and other business graduate programs were relocated to a new site near the Financial District, which is across the city from the main campus. Suddenly, a major group of my service population was no longer on campus near me or near the library! In this poster, I will describe the process I undertook to remain visible and accessible to this important group of …

The Effectiveness Of Library Instruction For Graduate/Professional Students: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Adelia B. Grabowsky, Liza J. Weisbrod

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

Library instruction to improve information literacy (IL) is often considered essential only for undergraduates. However, students in graduate/professional programs do not always have the requisite skills needed for graduate level study and research, which suggests they may also benefit from library instruction targeted specifically to graduate students. This study used a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the effectiveness of library instruction for increasing IL skills and/or knowledge among graduate and professional students. The authors searched seven databases to identify studies published in English between 2000 and 2019 that reported on library instruction for graduate or professional students, and objectively …

Education Needs In Research Data Management For Science-Based Disciplines: Self-Assessment Surveys Of Graduate And Faculty At Two Public Universities, Judith E. Pasek, Jennifer Mayer

University Libraries Faculty Publications and Presentations

Research data management is a prominent and evolving consideration for the academic community, especially in scientific disciplines. This research study surveyed 131 graduate students and 79 faculty members in the sciences at two public doctoral universities to determine the importance, knowledge, and interest levels around research data management training and education. The authors adapted 12 competencies for measurement in the study. Graduate students and faculty ranked the following areas most important among the 12 competencies: ethics and attribution, data visualization, and quality assurance. Graduate students indicated they were least knowledgeable and skilled in data curation and re-use, metadata and data …

Natural Selection And The Workshop, Siobhan K. Mccarthy

Sprague Library Scholarship and Creative Works

In Fall of 2017, the Sprague Library began offering workshops for citation management software in response to the increasing number of 1-on-1 appointment requests. While workshops covering various topics had been offered in the past, attendance had been low. Casting this precedent into the wind, we offered additional workshops (using anecdotal evidence from library instruction classes, research appointments, and conversations with faculty to guide the topics), and targeted graduate students and faculty as our audience. Instead of using attendance as a way to measure success, we focus on participant feedback, follow up appointments, and word-of-mouth to advertise the guide topics …

Initial Development Of The Perception Of Information Literacy Scale (Pils), Matthew Doyle, Britt Foster, Mariya A. Yukhymenko-Lescroart

Communications in Information Literacy

The ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education has provided academic librarians a guiding document to facilitate the development of information literacy skills in students. Despite widespread adoption of the Framework in academic libraries, a lack of valid and reliable Framework-based scales for assessing students’ knowledge practices and dispositions hinders further understanding of student information literacy. The current article describes the development and testing of the Perception of Information Literacy Scale (PILS). The participants in this study were 443 graduate students. The resulting scale is made up of 36 items that measure seven distinct constructs of information literacy. …

Teaching Motivation That Works: Structuring Graduate-Level Research Support Workshops To Foster Centered, Focused Self-Sufficient Learners, Wendy C. Doucette

ETSU Faculty Works

All too frequently, instruction librarians’ only opportunity to teach students distills down to the fifty-minute, one-shot, make-or-break experience. We disseminate the essential information as requested—how to use the library, how to search the databases, and so on—with little time to explain why all the pieces fit together and why they are important. Worse, well-intentioned librarians often strive to cover as much as possible in these sessions, oversaturating and frustrating their student audience.

Even in settings of brief duration with no follow-up, another approach is possible. Rather than attempting to demonstrate everything at once, we can interject effective, real-life motivational tactics …

Health Information Behaviour Of Graduate Students On The Internet: Sources, Trust And Reliability Of Information, Setsoafia A. Y. Humphrey-Ackumey, Musah Adams, Michael Ahenkorah-Marfo

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The study sought to investigate the health information behaviour of graduate students on the internet. A quantitative method using a cross-sectional survey was used to solicit information from 256 graduate students studying courses related to health in the Arts, Social, and applied Sciences. The results showed that most of the respondents preferred the Internet because it is timely, fast and provides information from different sources simultaneously. The type(s) of health information mostly sought for were general information on healthy lifestyle, specific disease or treatment, side effects of medications, new development in the medical field among others. Majority (90.9 %) of …