Digital Commons Network^™

Tips On The Prisma Flow Diagram & Methods Section Write-Up, Sandra Y. Desjardins, Jenny Stockton

TMC Library Newsletter (2015-)

Clearly communicate your research methodology with a well-crafted PRISMA flow diagram. This 30-minute class provides practical tips and a step-by-step guide to creating a clear and informative methods section for your research papers. Related LibGuide: Where to Publish Your Research by Tracy Ashby. Come learn the foundational skills needed for successful research in a welcoming and practical "Lunch & Learn" environment. Register here to attend the session.

Open Access Fee Waivers And Discounts, Joanne Romano

TMC Library Newsletter (2015-)

Open Access Publishing at No Cost

PubMed Central (PMC) Eligible authors can deposit accepted manuscripts free of charge. Visit the PMC website for details.

TMC Library Publisher Agreements Affiliated authors may qualify for waived or discounted open access fees through select publishers.

Library Holiday Hours, Beatriz Varman

TMC Library Newsletter (2015-)

The TMC Library will observe the following schedule for the winter holidays.

Regular library hours resume on Saturday, January 3rd, 2026. Happy Holidays!

Information Literacy In The Artificial Intelligence Era: A Proposed Framework, Radwan Ali, Matthew L. Wilson

Communications in Information Literacy

Artificial intelligence (AI) systems and applications have become ubiquitous across daily life. While AI offers numerous positive opportunities, it also presents numerous challenges. Information literacy (IL) advocates are concerned about the risks that accompany AI systems. Given the universal reach of AI with its potential pitfalls and perils, researchers and practitioners from various fields and disciplines should inform the dialogue on AI’s development and application. A critical aspect of this dialogue comes in the form of information literacy. Our paper aims to answer the question “How can information literacy guide users in navigating and shaping artificial intelligence technologies?” by establishing …

The Art Of The Review: A 9-Step Guide For Beginning Researchers, Sandra Y. Desjardins, Jenny Stockton

Library Class: Lunch & Learn

Master the systematic review process from start to finish. This 30-minute course provides a comprehensive overview of nine essential steps. Learn how to plan, execute, and report on your systematic review with confidence.

Museums In Public Libraries: An Ethnographic Case Study Of The Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library, Yadira Y. Quintero

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Access to information is a human right, and this thesis explores the benefits and challenges of integrating museums into public libraries by conducting an ethnographic case study of the Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library. The study's findings highlight the complexities of integration. The biggest benefit is the increased access to museum collections, information, and resources. However, challenges arise from the lack of cohesion within the museum and library disciplines, as well as strained community relations. Engaging the community is crucial for successful collaboration, emphasizing the importance of a bottom-up approach that allows for active participation. Integrating museums into public libraries …

Lessons From Tiktok: Using Popular Social Media Platforms To Engage Gen Z, Debra Bernstein

Urban Library Journal

This study looks at how academic libraries in the New York City metropolitan area are using TikTok to engage with their communities, particularly students. It analyzes the most popular videos from five active library accounts, categorizing content types and measuring engagement through TikTok’s built-in metrics. Results indicate that humorous and lighthearted content consistently receives the highest engagement, while instructional or “how-to” videos tend to underperform. These findings suggest that while TikTok may not be the most effective platform for instructional outreach, it holds potential as a tool for visibility, community engagement, and humanizing the library’s presence. As students increasingly turn …

Rebuttal To Winn Et Al. (2024) ’S “Redefining Searching In Non-Medical Sciences Systematic Reviews”, Laura Lipke, Jenn Monnin, Catherine Marie Fonseca

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Letter to the Editor and Rebuttal to Winn et al. (2024)

To the Editor and Readership of the Journal of Librarianship and Information Science:

We are writing to express concerns regarding the article, Redefining searching in non-medical sciences systematic reviews: The ascendance of Google Scholar as the primary database (https://doi.org/10.1177/09610006241256393). Our concerns are numerous, and include issues involving the research questions, data availability and validity, representations of evidence synthesis methods, and the disregard for established scholarship which refutes the reliability, transparency and reproducibility of Google Scholar searches for evidence synthesis reviews.

Rebuttal To Winn Et Al. (2024)'S "Redefining Searching In Non-Medical Sciences Systematic Reviews", Laura Lipke, Jenn Monnin, Catherine Marie Fonesca

Library Scholarship

Letter to the Editor and Rebuttal to Winn et al. (2024)

We are writing to express concerns regarding the article, Redefining searching in non-medical sciences systematic reviews: The ascendance of Google Scholar as the primary database (Winn et al., 2024a). Our concerns are numerous, and include issues involving the research questions, data availability and validity, representations of evidence synthesis methods, and the disregard for established scholarship which refutes the reliability, transparency and reproducibility of Google Scholar searches for evidence synthesis reviews.

Partnering For International Student Success: Opportunities For Academic Librarians And Esl Faculty To Support Research And Information Literacy Skills, Rachel E. Trnka

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Presentation at the Graduate Student Forum of the TESOL Virtual Conference

With the growing number of international students attending American universities in recent years, academic librarians recognize the importance of serving the needs of that population. However, many librarians acknowledge that they feel unprepared to support international students, due to a lack of training or experience working with multilingual or second-language learners. This presentation offers a review of the literature exploring collaborations between librarians and instructors to better support ELLs in a college and university setting and presents recommendations for both librarians and faculty. While this session focuses on academic …

University Of Alabama At Birmingham's Research Data Catalog, Amy Reese

Libraries Professional Work

A dataset catalog can be a quickly implemented solution when hosting an institutional dataset repository simply isn’t possible. These resources can make institutional research data more locally discoverable, accessible, and reuseable. A dataset catalog (composed of metadata records) connects users with the institution’s research datasets and can be hosted on any repository platform. At the University of Alabama at Birmingham, our Research Data Catalog does not directly include or store datasets but is a functional directory that assists with discovery of datasets that researchers have deposited in external data repositories (such as Zenodo, Dryad, ICPSR, and Figshare), self-hosted, or a …

Getting Started In Graduate School: An Online Tutorial For New Graduate Students, Jill Mcmillan, Elana Geller, Angie Gerrard, Nazreen Beaulieu

Journal of Graduate Librarianship

In August 2024, our library launched an asynchronous online tutorial, Getting Started in Graduate School. The purpose of the tutorial was fourfold: to complement existing student orientation programming at the library and the university; to situate the library as a valuable resource for graduate student academic success; to align with a similar library-designed online tutorial for new undergraduate students; and to provide practical information about graduate school expectations, framed through existing library resources and programming. The tutorial was created using the Springshare LibGuide and LibWizard platform and features a mix of static and interactive elements, which were developed and …

When Cpu Is Worse Than A Stick In The Eye: Better Kpis For Strategic Journal Collection Management, Evan Rusch, Heidi J. Southworth, Nat Gustafson-Sundell

Library Services Publications

A video of this presentation is available as an Additional File and also available at https://link.mnsu.edu/kpis-video. 

Libraries frequently rely on variously calculated cost-per-usage (CPU) metrics, but there are other key performance indicators (KPIs) often more strategic for journal collection assessment. These other KPIs can also be more effective for communicating the value of journals. While CPU, in a variety of forms, will probably always be important for evidence-based decision-making, CPU can sometimes obfuscate the real value provided by journal packages and individual journals. We will discuss how CPU can lead to false impressions, especially at the package level. We’ll …

Evaluating And Supporting Transformative Agreements: Five Institutional Perspectives In Discussion, Anna R. Craft, Peggy Kain, Danica Lewis, Camille Mccutcheon, William Joseph Thomas

Libraries Professional Work

Transformative—or Read and Publish—deals are impacting the open access (OA) publishing landscape, allowing libraries to test new models for funding and incentivizing OA publishing, while also providing direct benefits for authors, including discounts and waivers on article processing charges (APCs). But how sustainable are transformative deals in light of library materials budgets and workloads for personnel who negotiate these deals, manage the implementations, and support campus authors? And how can libraries evaluate the perceived value of these deals in relation to the specific needs of their institutional users?

Adventures In The Archives: How Archival Research Shaped Activities In Special Collections, Abbie Weiser Olivas

Scholarship Day 2025

No abstract provided.

Creating The Future Together: Librarians And Arts Practitioners Revising The Research Paradigm, Amy Jackson, Stephanie Beene

Scholarship Day 2025

No abstract provided.

Unm Library Scholarship Day: Schedule Of Presentations, Unm Health Sciences Library & Informatics Center, Unm Law Library, Unm University Libraries

Scholarship Day 2025

No abstract provided.

2025 Unm Library Scholarship Day Collcted Abstracts, Unm Health Sciences Library & Informatics Center, Unm Law Library, Unm University Libraries

Scholarship Day 2025

This booklet compiles citations and summaries of recent scholarly works (and works in progress) authored by librarians from all three campus libraries. UNM authors’ names are bolded. It offers readers a snapshot of the ideas, innovations, and collaborations shaping the information science discipline today. Consider it an invitation to connect with colleagues whose work reflects the intellectual vibrancy of UNM’s libraries.

Designing And Evaluating A Pubmed Metadata Text Mining Software Program, Leah A. Everitt

Scholarship Day 2025

A presentation about a program to propose new MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) terms in a specific subject area based on author keywords.

Transforming Public Services For Stem Students And Faculty, Tessa Withorn, Robert Detmering

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Despite institutional priorities to expand STEM education and research activity, some academic libraries struggle to engage faculty and students in these disciplines with library resources and services. This column shares and reflects on how strategic liaison librarianship can address the needs of STEM programs at a large, public university. Implementing new services around research impact and data management and building fruitful connections with STEM researchers has reinvigorated and increased engagement with the library. In the future, a team-based liaison model shows promise for sustaining relationships and forging new paths that communicate the value and impact of the library.

Lanthorn, Vol. 60, No. 07, November 10, 2025, Grand Valley State University

Volume 60, August 4, 2025 – current

Lanthorn is Grand Valley State's student newspaper, published from 1968 to the present.

Investigating The Relationship Between Noun Classes And Plant Folk Taxonomy In Chasu Language Of Kilimanjaro Region In Tanzania, Peter Rabson Mziray

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

The current study investigates the relationship between noun classes and plant folk taxonomy in Chasu (G 22). The study focuses on two objectives: the first objective is to describe the plant folk taxonomy in Chasu and the second objective is to determine the relationship between noun classes and plant folk taxonomy in Chasu. Data were collected from rural villages in Same and Mwanga districts by using free listing, field interviews (jungle-walk-and-identify), and written texts containing Chasu plant names. The findings reveal that Chasu folk taxonomy reflects different ethnobotanical categories; including a unique beginner which is mmea/mimea ‘plant(s)’, and three life …

Understanding Ai Literacy: Implications For Practice​, Devon Olson, Janet Anderson, Sara Westall

Librarian Publications

Presentation from the 2025 Mountain Plains Library Association Tri-Conference, held in Grand Forks, ND. This presentation provides an overview of basic AI concepts and frameworks for AI literacy, discussing the impact of different patron and learner demographics on learner needs, competencies, and instructional strategies.

November 2025 Library & Learning Newsletter, Minnesota State University, Mankato. Library & Learning Dean’S Office Communications Team

Library & Learning Newsletters

PDF version of the November 2025 (Volume 4, Issue 4) Library & Learning Newsletter.

Himmelfarb Headlines - November/December 2025, The George Washington University, Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library

Himmelfarb Headlines (2009 - present)

News, information, and resources relating to Himmelfarb Library that is of interest to patrons.

Enhancing Food Security Sustainability Through Digital Information Extension Services In Rural Uganda: Maize Postharvest Evidence-Based Strategies, Jackline Estomihi Kiwelu, Patrick Ngulube

Libraries

Background Postharvest losses caused by poor drying and storage practices lead to maize waste, reduced food availability, unsafe food due to aflatoxin contamination, and income loss for farmers. This exacerbates food insecurity and threatens the livelihoods of rural communities. Leveraging digital solutions to provide quality maize postharvest handling information is critical to mitigating these challenges.

Objective This study examined maize postharvest handling extension information services provided by rural agricultural extension officers in selected districts of Uganda, focusing on how evidence-based practices supported by information sources, expert knowledge, and ICT infrastructure ensure the quality and relevance of the information delivered.

Methods …

New Library Ai Research Tool, Joanne Romano

TMC Library Newsletter (2015-)

To access Consensus, go to A-Z Databases and click on C, scroll down to find Consensus

From Unfamiliar To Indispensable: Supporting Systematic Reviews With Free Tools, Ai, And Evidence-Based Thinking Across Disciplines, Kathryn Junco

Georgia Library Quarterly

As systematic reviews become increasingly common in graduate education—particularly in health sciences programs—librarians are often called upon to support students and faculty undertaking these complex research projects. This article outlines a practical, evolving approach to building librarian support for systematic reviews, developed in response to program needs and professional learning. It highlights strategies for designing low-barrier instruction, guiding students through foundational concepts like structured research questions and transparent search methods, and introducing free tools such as Rayyan and Mendeley to streamline the process. The article also explores the emerging role of artificial intelligence in evidence synthesis, offering a cautious but …

Informed Learning In Place: Tales From A Field Station, Thom Gerrish, Rachel K. Fundator, Clarence D. Maybee, Karen A. Reiman-Sendi

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

This study investigates how students learn to use information at a remote field station to prepare for roles as environmental researchers, climate advocates, and citizens. Using a semi-structured interview approach, the researchers examined the perceptions of twelve field station instructors on how their students engage with information to learn in a place-based educational context. Three interrelated themes emerged that demonstrate the varied ways in which students need to learn to use information: (1) Leveraging interdisciplinary lenses, where students integrate diverse perspectives to interpret environmental information; (2) Acculturating to field research practices, where students gain practical research and data skills through …

Pioneering Education In Holland, Michigan: The History Of Hope’S Preparatory School; Rare Books As Art And Artifacts, Rhian Machiela, Charlotte Ulloa

Archives and Special Collections Quarterly

Pioneering Education in Holland, Michigan: The History of Hope’s Preparatory School

Column: From the Director of Archives and Special Collections

Rare Books as Art and Artifacts