Digital Commons Network^™

Promoting Sustainable Environments Through Urban Green Spaces: Insights From Kenya, Arnold Mwanzu, Joseph Mwangi, Winnie Nguyu, Jacob Nato

Libraries

Kenya has experienced rapid population growth and urbanization in recent years leading to major changes in its natural environment. Urban infrastructure has a significant influence on carbon emissions and environmental degradation. Urban green spaces are some of the interventions that demonstrate how the impact of increased urbanization can be managed. An exploration of the current state of urban green spaces in Kenya is essential to identify equitable and sustainable development strategies. Kenya has a few green spaces and community gardens for relaxation and recreational activities. These spaces’ continued renovation and preservation strongly indicate Kenya’s commitment to maintaining urban green spaces …

Creators For The Earth: The Academic Library’S Role In Supporting Sustainability Creators And Practitioners Across All Disciplines, Jennifer K. Embree, Neyda V. Gilman

Library Scholarship

The image of a creator often brings to mind individuals that can take an abstract or unique idea and transform it into an impressive, tangible creation. Whether it’s an architect crafting a new building design, an artist painting on canvas, or an interior designer mapping out a new room layout, creators are generally seen as those who can formulate conceptual ideas that are then realized to showcase amazing ingenuity. In the world of higher education, this type of work is often first associated with disciplines like art, design, architecture, and engineering—fields where acts of “making,” “creating,” or “building” are integral …

Amplifying Civil Rights Collections With Oral Histories: A Collaboration With Alumni At Queens College, City University Of New York, Annie E. Tummino, Victoria Fernandez

Publications and Research

Representing a shift in archival methods, oral history is increasingly used alongside more traditional methods of documentation to capture institutional and community histories. In this article, the authors demonstrate how the Student Help Lived Experience Project at the Queens College Library’s Special Collections and Archives (SCA) provided a vital supplement to more traditional methods of archival documentation. SCA was able to leverage resources provided by a partnering organization and a newly established graduate fellowship to bolster its relationship with other entities on campus and to engage alumni in a participatory, collaborative effort that centered their knowledge and interests. This article …

A Tale Of Two Migrations: A Medical Library Case Report, Lisa Palmer, Tess Grynoch, Sally Gore

Medical Institutional Repositories in Libraries (MIRL)

Launched in 2006, the eScholarship@UMassChan institutional repository has been an important digital platform at UMass Chan Medical School, hosting faculty research, student research, and unique original publications and scholarship. In June 2021, UMass Chan’s Lamar Soutter Library decided to migrate eScholarship@UMassChan from the bepress Digital Commons platform to two separate hosted platforms. Most content – over 25,000 items representing faculty and staff publications, theses and dissertations, conference proceedings, and departmental and project collections – moved to Open Repository, a DSpace repository platform hosted by Atmire. The Janeway publishing platform became the new home for the open access, peer-reviewed journals and …

Fulcrum, Newsletter Of The Furman University Libraries. Issue 17, Kathie Sloan, Kathy Hamlin

Libraries Institutional Records

Table of Contents

• From the Director
• Tribute to Jenny Colvin
• Welcome New Librarians: Brittany Champion and Alyssa Nance
• Americans and the Holocaust Traveling Exhibition
• Portrait to Honor Sarah Reese '71
• Patricia Sasser Receives Carol June Bradley Award
• Paige Dhyne Faculty Scholar in Northern Ireland
• Special Collections and Archives: Art History Assignments; New Medieval Manuscripts
• Nancy Sloan Retires after 25+ Years at Furman
• Students Help the Libraries Improve Their Inclusive Descriptive Practices
• Two Library Student Assistants Receive Prestigious Furman Fellows Award
• Interested in Publishing Open Access?
• Pilot Program: Library Digital Accessibility Students
• Senior Spotlight: Furman Libraries' Newest Student Worker Alumni
• 2022 …

Enhancing Learners Participation In The Use Of Libraries Through Digital Literacy In Rivers State, Nigeria, Bala Ogu, Gloria Olori, Stella Nwizu, Christian Olori

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

No abstract provided.

Librarians’ Attitudes Toward Providing Environmental Education Services In Georgia, Xiaoai Ren

Georgia Library Quarterly

This article reports on the findings from a survey of the Georgia Library Association (GLA) members on their attitudes toward providing environmental education services in libraries, and their perceptions of the role libraries should play in developing environmentally sustainable community. Information on the environmentally sustainable practices within libraries was also collected, along with the libraries' environmental education services. Most respondents agreed that it is vital to integrate environmentally sustainable practices into library operations and provide environmental education services. However, the study also identified a gap between librarians’ attitudes and the actual environmentally sustainable practices and environmental education services in their …

Spring 2022, Georgia Library Quarterly

Georgia Library Quarterly

No abstract provided.

Building A Culture Of Collaboration And Shared Responsibility For Educational Equity Work Through An Inclusive Teaching Community Of Practice, Francesca Marineo, Chelsea Heinbach, Rosan Mitola

Collaborative Librarianship

For libraries to be equitable spaces as educational institutions and places of employment, it is necessary that educational equity be a shared, collaborative goal. Unfortunately, equity and inclusion work in libraries has historically been an individual pursuit that falls disproportionately on the shoulders of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) library workers. Communities of practice employ social learning principles to facilitate praxis and offer opportunities to develop shared goals, language, and responsibility. This article explores how we developed and implemented an inclusive teaching community of practice with members of our instruction department in order to foster a culture of …

Utilization Of Open Source Software In University Libraries In The South-South Nigeria, Chukwuemeka Chukwueke

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The study investigated the utilization of open source software in university libraries in the South-south geopolitical zone of Nigeria using descriptive survey research design. Five research questions were answered. The population of the study is 1,716 comprising all library staff in the university libraries in South-south Nigeria. Purposive sampling technique was used to select two hundred and three (203) library staff from the three universities in south-south Nigeria that are presently making use of OSS in the university libraries. The sole instrument of data collection is the questionnaire. Out of the 203 copies administered to the respondents, 195 copies were …

Uri Libraries' Ai Lab--Evolving To Meet The Needs Of Students And Research Communities, Harrison Dekker, Angel Ferria, Indrani Mandal

Technical Services Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Innovating During Times Of Disruption: A Project Management Framework For Transforming A Student Research Symposium To Serve Virtual Communities During Covid-19, Theresa G. Burress, Allison N. Symulevich

USF St. Petersburg Campus Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Proactive Public Libraries For Community Resilience And Ecological Sustainability, Alex Crowley

Student Theses

Public libraries are key institutions for dealing with crises in communities. In the midst of a devastating global pandemic and a continual wave of social uprisings, it is necessary for library workers to more seriously reckon with the need for drastic changes in the ways that public libraries respond to and operate within these conditions. It is unclear to what extent libraries have adopted significant changes recommended by organizations and professionals in the field to become resilient and ecologically sustainable. These changes include the abandonment of neutrality discourse, a democratic restructuring of workplaces, and the relocalization of library programs and …

An Investigation Of Anti-Black Racism Libguides At Arl Member Institutions, Gemmicka Piper, Mahasin Ameen, M. Sara Lowe

Communications in Information Literacy

This study sought to analyze anti-Black racism LibGuides created by ARL member institutions to determine strengths and weaknesses of the guides based on LibGuides best practices. Institutional and LibGuide author demographic information were also gathered to determine correlations or trends, if any. Rubric evaluation of LibGuides found that guides were strongest in areas related to guide design, materials included on the guides, and links to resources. Guides were weakest in areas related to the framing of social justice and pedagogy. Results from this study have the potential to inform the structure and revision of social justice LibGuides at a time …

Museums & Environmental Sustainability: Are They Doing Enough?, Alexandra M. Dwyer

Museum Studies Theses

As the world continues to be affected by the rapid rates of climate change, institutions from every sector are transitioning to become more sustainable by reducing or eliminating their harmful habits on the ecosystem. Whether by their own accord or external pressure from current legislative action to cut carbon emissions, institutions are shifting towards a sustainable future. For museums there are additional unique reasons to adopt sustainability into various aspects with their institution. The most influential reason is that museums have a responsibility as community leaders and change makers. However, looming questions remain: Are museums doing enough? Are these cultural …

Knowledge Conversion On Naracerita: The Students’ Inheritance Of Digital Folklore Based On Media, Riche Cynthia Cynthia, Isah Cahyani, Yudi Wibisono, Rayhan Musa Novian

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Educational efforts to maintain national culture can provide learning resources in readings obtained from certain regional cultures. With intangible cultural wealth, such as folklore or fairy tales, Indonesian culture will experience extinction or cannot be found again if the story is not collected. The narrator's folklore writing platform is a digital platform as a local cultural heritage, in this case, folklore, by converting implicit knowledge into explicit knowledge to be passed down to students as a source of learning and reference. This study uses an ex-post-facto descriptive survey approach to 95 respondents during the socialization of the storytelling platform by …

Rural Resiliency Hubs: An Integrated, Community-Centered Approach To Addressing The Resiliency Divide Through Rural Public Libraries, Marcia A. Mardis, Eren E. Ozguven, Faye R. Jones, Mark Horner, Ellen Piekalkiewicz, Scott Pickett, John Mathias, Jessica De Leon

New Librarianship Symposia Series: Fall 2021

Resilience is often treated as a single-dimension system attribute, or various dimensions of resilience are studied separately without considering multi-dimensionality. The increasing frequency of catastrophic natural or man-made disasters affecting rural areas demands holistic assessments of community vulnerability and assessment. Disproportionate effects of disasters on minorities, low-income, hard-to-reach, and vulnerable populations demand a community-oriented planning approach to address the “resilience divide.” Rural areas have many advantages, but low population density, coupled with dispersed infrastructures and community support networks, make these areas more affected by natural disasters. This paper will catalyze three key learnings from our current work in public librarians’ …

Making Memes: Teaching Visual Literacy In A (Fun) Remote Environment, Jillian M. Ewalt, Bridget Retzloff

Roesch Library Faculty Presentations

How can you use humor to relieve pandemic fatigue while teaching visual literacy? At the University of Dayton, librarians developed an asynchronous session on visual literacy and internet memes. The session introduced students to fair use, public domain and Creative Commons images and tools for determining how they could be remixed or reused. The interactive tutorial included an active learning component where students created their own fun and lighthearted memes. Memes were shared with permission via the library’s social media channels and not only showcased student work but built community through humor in spite of pandemic isolation. This poster covers …

Connecting During Covid: Creating And Sustaining Communities In Hyflex And Virtual Settings, Annette Bochenek

Midwest Business Librarian Summit (MBLS)

Librarians have approached community engagement and outreach in many different ways. Whether presenting to members of community groups or hosting events and tours, librarians have actively worked to promote and inspire the use of information resources in the communities they serve. Due to the impact of COVID-19, methods of community engagement and outreach have changed immensely, calling for new and innovative approaches to creating, connecting, and engaging communities. This session highlights emerging and evolving approaches to engagement and outreach for librarians, offering attendees a variety of methods to consider as they work to safely and creatively connect with their communities.

Advancing Knowledge Sharing In Development Organisations: Barriers, Enablers And Strategies, Peter Gatiti

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This paper aims to examine the obstacles and enablers of knowledge sharing in development organisations and determine how each factor affects knowledge sharing in different organisations. It also highlights strategies for successful deployment of knowledge sharing techniques.

The paper opted for a mixed-method approach with a sequential explanatory design. Data were collected using semi-structured questionnaires administered to development practitioners (n=331) and in-depth interviews with key informants (n=11).

The paper provides empirical insights on different knowledge sharing barriers and enablers encountered in development organisations. Overall, eight categories of knowledge sharing enablers emerged from the study. These include culture, strategy, reward system, …

Advancing Knowledge Sharing In Development Organisations: Barriers, Enablers And Strategies, Peter Gatiti

Libraries

This paper aims to examine the obstacles and enablers of knowledge sharing in development organisations and determine how each factor affects knowledge sharing in different organisations. It also highlights strategies for successful deployment of knowledge sharing techniques.

The paper opted for a mixed-method approach with a sequential explanatory design. Data were collected using semi-structured questionnaires administered to development practitioners (n=331) and in-depth interviews with key informants (n=11).

The paper provides empirical insights on different knowledge sharing barriers and enablers encountered in development organisations. Overall, eight categories of knowledge sharing enablers emerged from the study. These include culture, strategy, reward system, …

Where Is The Social Democracy In Subscription Paywalls? Effects And Impact Of Transitioning Journals From Subscriptions To Open Access On Researchers In Developing And Transition Economies, Colleen Campbell, Rick Burke

Digital Initiatives Symposium

Nearly 20 years after the Budapest, Berlin and Bethesda Declarations on open access, the global academic community continues to struggle toward realizing its objective of an open information environment in which the world’s scholarly and scientific literature is freely available and at the service of society to accelerate research, enrich education and lay the foundation for a common, global intellectual exchange. Championing the cause, stakeholders in some geographic contexts have succeeded in delivering open access publishing options for their research outputs by fostering highly-regarded, locally-developed journals, platforms and repositories, yet a an enormous portion of the world’s scholarly literature continues …

Planning Batch Cataloging Projects, Rebecca B. French

Libraries

Many libraries have uncataloged collections or backlogs which could benefit from batch processing, and much professional development for metadata specialists focuses on software tools that can facilitate this work, but it is not always clear how to get started putting those new skills into action. This webinar will introduce the basics of planning a batch cataloging project. Attendees will be led through a series of questions to help them identify appropriate projects for a batch cataloging approach, evaluate available technological and personnel resources, and assess their starting point based on a batch cataloging framework. The webinar will cover designing a …

Don's Conference Notes- Shopping The New Status Quo: The 41st Society For Scholarly Publishing Meeting, Donald T. Hawkins, Leah H. Hinds

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

Is “Just Googling It” Good Enough For First-Year Students?, Maureen Richards

Publications and Research

This study analyzes citations by first-year students to determine what content they were citing and whether it was available through the open web or the library. Examining the role of these two places as content providers for academic work fills a gap in the literature. Most of the cited works were available through the library and the open web. As the line between content providers continues to blur, these results can help academic libraries prioritize what to teach students about information literacy, where to focus collection development efforts and how to promote the discovery of library resources.

Feminist Co-Mentoring As Advocacy: Collaborative Reflective Practice For Professional And Personal Growth, Alyssa Berger, Nicole Gustavsen, Penelope Wood

Foley Library Scholarship

This chapter serves as a case study describing three science, technology, engineering, and mathematics librarians' processes, reflections, and growth through co-mentorship. The authors discuss the processes and limitations of traditional, hierarchical mentorship structures in academic libraries and outline their work moving beyond this model to create and maintain a feminist co-mentorship community. The peer mentorship model is intentionally non-hierarchical and works as a complementary support system alongside formal mentorship relationships. They outline the benefits of this model, which include the provision of support around the emotional labor inherent in working in higher education, balancing professional and personal growth, and navigating …

Relevance Of Availability Of Information Resource Centres On Rural Development In Akure North Local Government Of Nigeria, Adewusi Akinola, Felix Akinola Adewusi Mr

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Abstract

This study attempts to x-ray relevance of availability of information resource centres on rural development in Akure North Local Government, Ondo State, Nigeria. The study reveals that information resource centres are not available in the communities under the local government. The essence of rural development, appraisal of various initiatives in Nigeria, information needs of rural dwellers and information resource centre were discussed in the study. The need for provision of information resource centres in rural communities was also discussed. It is revealed that with valuable up-to-date information resources in the centres it would empower and enable the people irrespective …

Comparison And Review Of 17 E-Book Platforms, John Lavender, Courtney Mcallister

Charleston Library Conference

The University of Michigan Press, with support from the Mellon Foundation, asked John Lavender, of Lavender Consulting, to conduct a review of the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) Humanities E-Book collection (HEB) following its launch on Michigan’s new Fulcrum platform. ACLS-HEB is an online collection of over 5,400 high-quality humanities books from over 100 publishers. Now that the market for e-books has matured, part of the review was a comparative study of e-book platforms run by publishers, university presses and e-book vendors; 17 platforms were selected. The review looked at the key features offered by each platform, how they …

Can You See Me Now?: Engaging Distance Learners Through Virtual Reference Consultations, Lauren Puzier, Camille Chesley, Amanda M. Lowe

University Libraries Faculty Scholarship

Research consultations continue to be a valuable service offered by academic libraries for students who are able to visit the library, however, most students enrolled in online degree programs or considering enrollment have limited access to campus services. To address this, the authors designed and tested a virtual reference consultation service in their library for distance learners and graduate students. This article outlines a practical approach for designing and initiating a virtual research consultation service pilot, providing equitable access to library services and a positive user experience for distance learners.

The Roles Of Library And Information Services In Achieving Sustainable Development Goals (Sdgs) In Uganda, Walter Omona

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The world is currently faced with various challenges which have become a major drawback in achieving sustainable development across the developing world. One way to address these challenges is to ensure that countries work towards achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which require a number of stakeholders to intervene if these challenges must be reduced for the benefit of humanity, and one such stakeholder is the library and information sector. This paper uses insights from the Development and Access to Information (DA2I) framework to thematically examine and synthesize the contribution of library and information services in achieving SDGs …