Digital Commons Network^™

Enhancing Research Communication With Visual Tools, Sonya Fogg

Library Class: Lunch & Learn

Understand the role of visual communication in medical research. Distinguish between data visualizations, infographics, and visual abstracts. Identify best practices and some resources and tools for creating effective visuals.

Exploring The Experiences And Challenges Of Librarians In Cataloguing Academic Resources In Public University Libraries In The Volta Region Of Ghana, Hawa Osman Dr, Joana Dango Mrs., Hannatu Abue Kugblenu-Mahama Dr

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Purpose: This study explored the experiences of librarians involved in cataloguing academic resources and examined the challenges they face in public university libraries in the Volta Region of Ghana.

Methods: A qualitative research approach was adopted to gain in-depth insights into librarians’ lived experiences. The study was conducted at the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) Library and Ho Technical University (HTU) Library. A total of 30 participants were selected using purposive sampling, guided by Yamane’s formula for sample size determination. Data were collected through semi-structured face-to-face interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis with NVivo software. Ethical standards, including …

An Analysis Of Public Library Services For The Tribal Community In Rayalaseema Region With A Special Reference To Healthcare And Hygiene, P Ramu Naik, V. K. Dhanyasree

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Public libraries have long been recognised as critical societal institutions, serving as information, education, and community engagement centres. In the context of tribal communities, their role in disseminating health information is particularly significant. Tribal populations often face unique health challenges and disparities, making access to accurate and reliable health information vital to their well-being. This study examines the pivotal role that public libraries play in disseminating health information to tribal people. The study is conducted among 13 branch libraries in the tribal areas of Rayalaseema region. A structured questionnaire was used for the survey. The results show that even though …

A Guide To Change Management Using The Sarah Model, Sara Kern, Sarah Barbrow, Sarah Jane Dooley, Sarah E. Lester, Sarah Over

Library Scholarship

Academic libraries are the heart of colleges and universities and, as such, are often centrally involved in and impacted by changes in the greater higher education landscape. For those working in these spaces, familiarity with strategies for managing change is essential to support yourself and others during especially turbulent times. The SARAH model, described below in bullet points with our modifications in brackets, offers a memorable way to understand responses to change, be they our own or others.

S - Shock or Surprise
A – Anger [Anxiety, Alert, or Anticipation]
R – Resistance or Rejection [Re-engagement, or Rationalization]
A - …

Disaster Preparedness, Prevention And Management In Lagos State University Library, Mausi A. Bokoh, Sophia V. Adeyeye Dr, Oluwaseun Adeola Abiodun-Asanre, Mrs

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Disasters pose significant threats to human lives, infrastructure, and national socioeconomic development. Effective disaster preparedness, prevention, and management are therefore vital for mitigating their impact and ensuring continuity of operations. This study examined disaster preparedness, prevention, and management practices at Lagos State University Library. A survey research design was adopted, and data were collected through a structured questionnaire covering key aspects of disaster management. Frequency counts, percentages, mean, and standard deviations were used to analyze data.  The findings revealed that the library employs basic preventive strategies such as turning off electricity after work hours and ensuring timely evacuation during emergencies. …

Library Worker, Heal Thyself? Collaborative Coping Strategies For Those Facing Burnout In Academic Libraries, Michelle Colquitt

Presentations

No abstract provided.

Sustainable Evidence Synthesis Services: Have We Figured It Out?, John J. Meier, Anne E. Rauh, Amy Van Epps

Librarian Publications

No abstract provided.

From Crip Time To Care Time: How Library Administrators Can Support Professional Development Of Disabled Employees, Leah T. Dudak, Rhys Dreeszen Bowman Dr.

School of Information Studies - Post-doc and Student Scholarship

Building on our 2025 In the Library with the Lead Pipe article "Cripping Conferences", this piece moves from naming the problem to offering solutions to library administrators. Disabled library workers face significant barriers to professional development, including the financial cost of attendance, the physical and mental toll of navigating inaccessible spaces, and the conflict between crip time and the neoliberal clock time that governs academic and library culture. While accommodations are needed, they are not enough; we need to interrogate the systems that exclude disabled employees. Written by two disabled LIS scholars, this piece offers library administrators practical guidance, from …

Academic Library Staff And The Use Of Social Media: Survey Of Academic Library Staff At Pakpatan And Sahiwal City., Dr.Shahid Mehmood Dr., Muhammad Faisal Mr., Ahmad Nawaz Dr, Bakht Yar Zafar Mr., Whaid Buksh Mr.

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The research libraries have benefited a lot with the aid of the social networking sites and this can hardly be overestimated. Due to the spread of the information technology in the university libraries, the user’s expectations, the type of services that the library can offer and the role of the library staff have all been changed. The research objective in general was to be familiar with the extent of familiarity and comfort of Pakpatan City library and Sahiwal City library staffs in Pakistan with the social media. The method of descriptive surveying was used to obtain these findings. The sample …

Virtual Lunch And Learn: Enhancing Research Communication With Visual Tools, Sonya Fogg

TMC Library Newsletter (2015-)

Virtual Lunch and Learn: Enhancing Research Communication with Visual Tools on June 26, 2026 at noon.

Understand the role of visual communication in medical research. Distinguish between data visualizations, infographics, and visual abstracts. Identify best practices and some resources and tools for creating effective visuals.

Register to attend this virtual session!

Resource Highlight: Accessdermatologydxrx, Joanne Romano

TMC Library Newsletter (2015-)

Try AccessDermatologyDxRx! It is your go-to Access collection in dermatology featuring core texts, review questions, cases, videos, 3D modules, and more, including: Fitzpatrick’s Dermatology Flashcards, Weinberg’s Color Atlas of Pediatric Dermatology and Taylor and Kelly’s Dermatology for Skin of Color.  Try it today!

Upcoming Holidays, Katie Prentice

TMC Library Newsletter (2015-)

No abstract provided.

Queer, Hybrid Participatory Design: Relational Practices And Norms For Coalition Building With Rural, Lgbtq+ Communities, Luettamae Lawrence, Maureen Boyle, Chasity Mayo, Catherine A. Rushworth, Moira Anderson, Dorothy Wallis, Jayme Walters

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

This paper examines the first year of collaboration between the Bear River Region LGBTQ+ Community Coalition and queer residents in rural northern Utah, United States, using a hybrid participatory design (PD) approach. Using Yep’s queer relationality theory, we examine how hybrid spaces were designed and iteratively adapted to support inclusion, care, and collective agency among LGBTQ+ community members. Drawing on Community Coalition Action Theory and queer PD, we analyze four cases from May 2024 to June 2025 including workshops and regular meetings to explore how relational practices evolved across different formats and phases of coalition development. In this paper, we …

Maintaining Student Support During A Library Restructure, Ashley Purvis, Jenn Ann Monnin

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

This talk presents a brief, collaborative autoethnography of a health science library downsizing due to budgetary constraints. Prior to Fall 2024, the library consisted of five librarians, with one liaison to each school on the Health Sciences Campus. After staff downsizing, a functional model was instituted with two librarians serving students, faculty, and research. One librarian focuses on support of the research enterprise, while the other focuses on student success, completing the majority of health sciences instruction. Presenters will briefly describe the new library structure and spend the majority of time presenting their reflection on the division of labor; deciding …

Role Of Libraries As Sources Of Information On Organic Farming In Oyo State Nigeria, Sobalaje Adewale Joel A. J, Oyetola Solomon Olusegun S. O, Ayano Kekinde Oluwaseun K. O.

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

ABSTRACT: This study provided the role of libraries as sources of information on organic agriculture to the farmers in Oyo State, Nigeria. Organic agriculture/farming is the process of producing food naturally. Two hundred (200) questionnaires were distributed for administration, but only one hundred and eighty-five (185) questionnaires were returned, representing 92.5%, and were found useful for this study. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyse the returned questionnaires. The data was analysed using frequency tables, simple percentages, and regression analysis tests for dependent and independent variables. The study discovered that 90.8% of the respondents used …

Evolving Roles And Realities In Canadian Academic Law Libraries, Yemisi Dina, Sharon Wang, Sooin Kim, Alexia Loumankis

Librarian Publications & Presentations

Canadian academic law libraries are undergoing profound transformation, shaped by shifting university funding models, restructured institutional reporting lines, and the accelerating move toward digital legal information. This plenary session will explore how law libraries across Canada are responding to these pressures while continuing to support legal education, research, and access to justice.

Ai In Education And Information: Tool, Threat, Or Teammate? How Academia Is Shaping The Future Of Intelligent Work, Essraa Nawar

Library Presentations, Posters, and Audiovisual Materials

Artificial intelligence is rapidly changing the future of intelligent work across education, healthcare, leadership, communication, workplace culture, and health information management. Yet while AI adoption continues accelerating, institutions and professionals are still trying to understand what this transformation actually means for people, learning, careers, ethics, trust, governance, and human judgment. This interactive and forward-thinking panel brings together voices from higher education and healthcare information management to explore how AI is reshaping classrooms, workplaces, healthcare systems, professional identity, and future workforce expectations across generations.

Rather than focusing only on technology itself, the conversation will examine the broader cultural and organizational shift …

Assessment Of The Status Of Open Access Publications In Central Universities Of India: A Review Of Literature, Gulam Jilani, Swapna Banerjee

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Unrestricted access to research outputs and increased exposure and distribution of academic information are two benefits of Open Access (OA) publication, which has emerged as a revolutionary method to scholarly communication. With an emphasis on its economic models, international and Indian publishing trends, institutional activities, regulations, and researcher attitudes, this study explores the literature on open access publishing. The paper examines many OA models, such as gold, green, hybrid, bronze, and diamond access, emphasizing their benefits, drawbacks, and implications for the fair distribution of information. The expansion of open access publication in India and throughout the world is also covered, …

Closing Keynote: Publishing In 2026: How We Got Into Such Trouble And How We Get Out Of It, Virginia (Ginny) Barbour

FORCE 2026

It would be hard to find anyone who is currently involved in scholarly publishing who think it works well for them, or who think that the system is underpinned by the values they care about. And all of this is at a time when trust in what is published has never been more important.

We are at a time when what we do now will shape the future of scholarly publishing, and the choices we make will shape how open, trustworthy and reproducible that future system is. These choices provide both opportunities and challenges for everyone involved in the system …

Connected, Traceable And Trusted Identifier In China, Jia Liu, Xiaolei Xia, Lijuan Wang, Shu Wang, Yuanchun Zhou

FORCE 2026

Persistent Identifiers (PIDs) has been recognized as a critical infrastructure for the Open Science. The Chinese National Standard GB/T 32843-2016, Science and Technology Resource Identification was launched in 2016 which specifies the numbering schema of the Science and Technology Resource Identification(CSTR). The standard systematically defines the identification objects, encoding rules, and applications for science and technology resources, establishing a robust technical foundation and operational guidelines for their complete lifecycle management. CSTR Identification Platform（https://www.cstr.cn/en） based on the Standard, providing unique identification service for global science data, papers, patents and other science and technology resources.
Connected
CSTR platform services cover …

Promoting Crisis-Ready Data Policies In Science Publishing: Implementing Unesco’S Open Science Guidance For Resilient Preservation, Response, And Recovery, Francis P. Crawley

FORCE 2026

Crises disrupt not only societies but also the continuity of scientific data and publications essential for evidence-based decision-making. Preserving the integrity, accessibility, and long-term usability of these resources during disruptions has become a global priority. In response, UNESCO, with the support of CODATA, has developed a suite of Open Science Toolkit instruments (Factsheet, Guidance, and Checklist) on ‘Developing Data Policies for Times of Crisis Facilitated by Open Science’. This presentation examines how these instruments can strengthen data preservation, response, and recovery within scholarly communication. By promoting crisis-ready data policies supported by AI-enabled systems in science publishing, the UNESCO approach connects …

Panel Discussion: Recognizing Research Data In Tenure & Promotion: Turning Policy Principles Into Practice, John Chodacki, Kristi Holmes, Sean Mooney, Su Nee Goh

FORCE 2026

Despite growing attention to open science and data sharing, most institutional reporting processes as well as assessment guidelines (e.g. for tenure and promotion) still fail to recognize research data as a first-class scholarly output. This gap hinders progress in open data practices and efforts to make research outputs more open, reusable, and reproducible.

This session builds on the work of the Implementing Data Evaluation in Academia initiative, which has developed a maturity model for data evaluation at institutions, template policy language for data recognition, and case studies from early-adopter universities. The panel will bring perspectives from institutions at varying stages …

Asian Open Research Data And Its Potential For Ai: Bridging The Digital Divide Through Strategic Data Sharing, Mark Hahnel, Simon Porter

FORCE 2026

The growing momentum for open research data in Asia intersects with global advances in artificial intelligence (AI). Open data policies and infrastructures are increasingly recognized as critical enablers of research equity, reproducibility, and innovation. This talk examines the current state of open academic data, highlights economic and scientific arguments for its adoption, and explores the transformative potential of Asian open data ecosystems in powering AI-driven discovery. Drawing on global examples such as the Protein Data Bank and emerging health datasets, the discussion positions Asian institutions to leverage open strategies that simultaneously meet compliance mandates, enhance visibility, and accelerate breakthroughs in …

Assessment Beyond Transactions: Measuring Library Impact In Knowledge Synthesis And Research Support, Shameem Nilofar Maideen

FORCE 2026

As newer forms of research assessment emerge that move away from narrow bibliometric indicators toward holistic evaluation of scholarly contributions, academic libraries face both an opportunity and a challenge to articulate their value beyond transactional metrics. Traditional library assessments such as circulation statistics, database logins, and reference transactions fail to capture libraries' increasingly sophisticated roles in knowledge synthesis, research integrity support, and fostering interdisciplinary collaboration.

This session explores emerging and possible assessment methodologies that align library evaluation with broader research assessment reform movements. Through examples from Singapore Management University Libraries' transformation toward knowledge partnership models and an analysis of innovative …

Diamond Open Access Journals In India: Status, Sustainability And Challenges, Mallikarjun Dora, Kanagasabai K, Raj Kishor Kampa

FORCE 2026

Open-access publishing has transformed scholarly communication in recent decades. The share of OA articles between 2014 and 2024 increased by 26%, from a modest 14% in 2014 to 40% in 2024. OA journals have evolved over time and exist in various models based on funding mechanisms, including the Gold, Green, Hybrid, and Diamond models. While OA publishing emerged in response to scientific inequality, middle- and low-income countries face the barrier of high Article Processing Charges (APC), which hinder them from publishing in those journals (Alperin, 2022). The Article Processing Charges are part of the Gold and Hybrid OA models, where …

Oxa: An Open Exchange Architecture For Modular And Computational Scientific Content, Nokome Bentley, Rowan Cockett, Tracy Teal

FORCE 2026

Scientific communication remains bound by legacy formats designed for print, even as research itself has become computational, collaborative, and continuous. The Open Exchange Architecture (OXA, https://oxa.dev), is a community-driven schema and specification for representing scientific documents as structured, interoperable JSON. Developed in collaboration/participation with projects such as Jupyter, MyST, Stencila, Curvenote, Posit (Quarto), openRxiv, PLOS, eLife, Octopus, Creative Common, and the Continuous Science Foundation, OXA defines typed, linkable nodes (text, math, code, figures, metadata) that together form a shared “bedrock” for interoperable, modular, machine-readable, and executable research.

OXA allows for the exchange of scientific content across authoring environments (MyST …

Archiving In Advance Of Mission Completion, Molly Stothert-Maurer

Journal of Western Archives

This paper presents a detailed case study of the born-digital archiving efforts associated with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security–Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) Asteroid Sample Return Mission at the University of Arizona Libraries Special Collections. From the perspective of an archivist, the project exemplifies the integration of digital archiving into an active scientific mission, conducted in collaboration with multiple departments across the university. By preserving mission-critical content, including project management documents, social media interactions, and web content, this initiative serves as a model for resource light digital products utilizing batch descriptive techniques. The paper …

Enhancing Digital Literacy Programmes For Advanced Search Skills Of Adult Public Library Patrons, Santel Smit Ms., Nikiwe G. Momoti Dr

Urban Library Journal

Digital literacy enables individuals to confidently engage with electronic devices and digital resources. While many adults use these tools to search for information, some still lack the essential skills to do so effectively. This pragmatic paper investigates the basic digital literacy skills of adult patrons at Adriaanse Public Library in Cape Town. Framed by SCONUL Seven Pillars of Information Literacy through a Digital Literacy “lens”, we employed a sequential mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative pre- and post-tests with qualitative interviews among 30 purposively selected participants. Quantitative data was analyzed statistically while thematic analysis was used for qualitative data. The findings revealed …

Mapping Themes, Aligning Strategies: Institutional Research Analytics With Bertopic And Genai, Danping Dong, Pin Pin Yeo

FORCE 2026

Libraries and research offices are increasingly tasked with making sense of unstructured institutional data, such as research publications and strategic documents. These insights help inform decision-making and leadership planning. This session shares how SMU Libraries leveraged BERTopic, an open-source topic modeling tool, together with generative AI tools such as ChatGPT and Claude, to extract meaningful insights from faculty publications and support institutional sensemaking.

In one use case, we applied BERTopic to university-authored publications to surface thematic groupings related to research about Asia. Generative AI tools were then used to summarize each cluster into human-readable narratives, enabling research landscape mapping, identification …

Researcher Impact Framework: Building Audience-Focused Evidence-Based Impact Narratives, Giovanna Lima

FORCE 2026

While a wealth of resources has been developed to help researchers plan for and communicate their projects anticipated impact when applying for funding proposals, not many resources have been developed for researchers when communicating their own impact as researchers at an individual level.
To support researchers in doing this Dr Giovanna Lima and Sarah Bowman have developed the Researcher Impact Framework (RIF). This framework helps to better share a broad spectrum of the researcher’s achievements in generation of knowledge, development of individuals, forming collaborations, supporting the research community and broader society.
The RIF provides a structure for crafting audience-focused evidence-based …