Digital Commons Network^™

Friends Of The Library Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2026, Hillary Richardson

Fant Library News and Reports

No abstract provided.

Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, And Access Annual Report, Fiscal Year 2026, Joshua Altshuler, April Anderson-Zorn, Elizabeth Babin, Karmine Beecroft, Chad E. Buckley, Leah Gutierrez, Ellie Harman, Laura Killingsworth, Heather Koopmans, Joshua Newport, Ryan Peters, Seth Peterson, Lindsey Skaggs, Caitlin Stewart, Eric Willey, Angela Yon

Reports and White Papers - Milner Library

Report of Milner Library's activities and initiatives related to Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access in Fiscal Year 2026. Compiled by the IDEA Committee.

Finding And Using Validated Surveys In Health Science Research, Tracy Ashby

Library Class: Lunch & Learn

Join us as we introduce techniques for identifying and using validated surveys in health sciences research. Learn strategies for finding reliable, evidence-based measurement tools in the databases and gain tips on how to evaluate their quality and relevance.

Lecturers' Academic Self-Concept And The Use Of Artificial Intelligence Tools On Scholarly Output In Lagos State University Of Education, Adesanya Oyeleye Olusegun Phd, Cln, Nneka Gift Lazarus Phd, Cln

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The study investigated lecturers’ academic self-concept and use of artificial intelligence tools on scholarly output in the Lagos State University of Education, Nigeria. This is to ascertain lecturers’ academic self-concept and the use of artificial intelligence tools in their scholarly output. The descriptive research design was adopted, and total enumeration was used for the study; a total of 179 lecturers participated in the study. A structured questionnaire tagged ‘Academic Self-concept, Artificial Intelligence, and Lecturers’ Scholarly Output (ASAILSO) with a reliability coefficient of 0.81 was used for data collection. Four research questions were answered from the data collected; the results showed …

Acquisitions Unit Annual Report 2025-2026, Andrée J. Rathemacher

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

Annual Report of the Acquisitions Unit, University Libraries, University of Rhode Island for FY2026. Covers personnel, work flow, special projects, and serial, monograph, and e-resource acquisitions. Supplemental files include data on library materials expenditures by a number of variables as well as important working documents from the year.

A Phenomenological Study Of The Faith-Based Advocacy Experiences Of Leaders Of Christian Academic Libraries, Melanie Lewis Croft

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the faith-based advocacy experiences for library leaders at Christian institutions of higher education. The theory guiding this study is spiritual leadership theory, which demonstrates how library leaders connect library resources and services to the advancement of the mission and goals of a Christian institution of higher education. The central research question asked, What are the lived experiences of library leaders in Christian institutions of higher education who have engaged in faith-based advocacy? Participants in this study were those who served as the primary administrator of an academic library within a …

Application Of Assistive Technologies And Rendering Assistive Services To Students With Special Needs By Federal University Libraries: A Survey, Emmanuel Chidiadi Onwubiko

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The world as of today, is being said to be witnessing what one may tagged a technological revolution as never before and is transforming for the better, the future of global education in which case, every learner is considered. These newly created technological tools and plans did place librarians as information managers and digital literacy drivers in better position to come up with environments that are inclusive for all learners to achieve their desired goals. The study therefore is a survey on the application of assistive technologies and rendering assistive services to students with special needs by federal universities libraries …

Consciousness And Knowledge Organization In Lis: Online And Offline Bubbles Of Experience, Arwa Alsultan

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Knowledge organization (KO) systems such as the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) structure human knowledge primarily through disciplinary subject relationships, leaving the subjective, experiential dimension of knowledge engagement largely unexamined. This conceptual study extends David Gamez's (2018) distinction between "online" (environmentally-coupled) and "offline" (environmentally-decoupled) bubbles of experience into Library and Information Science (LIS), proposing that DDC's ten main classes can be interpreted as differing in the dominant mode of conscious engagement they require. Drawing on Integrated Information Theory, Global Workspace Theory, and Default Mode Network research, the study maps each DDC class onto this experiential spectrum and examines the cognitive capacities …

Research Competence, Technology Skills As Correlates For Job Satisfaction Among Librarians In Universities In Delta State, Oghuvbu Blessing

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Librarians perform academic and professional functions in universities, which require them to have job satisfaction for effective job performance. This study worked at the intersection of research competencies, technological skills and job satisfaction among librarians in universities in Delta State, Nigeria. The population of the study was the entire 81 librarians in universities in the state. A total population sampling was adopted. Data collected using a structured questionnaire was analysed using mean and standard deviation. The study found a high level of research competence, technology skills, and job satisfaction among the librarians in the universities. Conclusion the study found that …

Bibliography For "Faculty Publications Book Display", Sally Park

Library Displays and Bibliographies

A bibliography created to support a display about faculty publications during summer 2026 at the Leatherby Libraries at Chapman University.

From Gap To Growth: Academic Librarian Perspectives On Why Collaboration And Curriculum Matter, Stephanie Hallam

Library Faculty Scholarship

Incoming undergraduate students possess information literacy skillsets impacted by several factors, such as prior development of information literacy skills, librarian-faculty collaboration, and GenAI advancements. Academic librarians’ perspectives on undergraduate students’ library use and information literacy skills were examined via a 2025 survey of 337 undergraduate academic librarians. Using the Pearson bivariate method, the authors identified themes pertaining to the challenges students face as well as librarian-proposed solutions. Open responses from librarians provide additional insights. The results showed that librarians desire faculty partnerships and collaborative library instruction to improve information literacy skills and library use.

Southeastern Librarian 74(2) Summer 2026 (Full Issue)

The Southeastern Librarian

Complete issue of the Southeastern Librarian, Volume 74 Number 2, Summer 2026

Second Acts In Academic Librarianship: Trends, Impacts, And Implications, Tiffany Davis Norris, Phill Johnson

The Southeastern Librarian

This study investigates the increasingly common phenomenon of academic librarianship as a second career. Survey data from more than 500 academic librarians found that nearly 70 percent of respondents did not begin their professional lives in the library field. These findings challenge the long-held perception of librarianship as an early or primary career choice and highlight significant trends with implications for library education, recruitment, leadership development, and burnout prevention. The study explores patterns in first careers and examines demographic trends, age distributions, and correlations between career background and current leadership roles. By framing librarianship as a deliberate career pivot rather …

Library Anxiety: A Mixed-Methods Comparison Between Honors And University Learning First-Year College Students, Anthony L. Paganelli, Larry Sean Kinder

The Southeastern Librarian

This study examines the results from a mixed-methods comparison study that explored library anxiety between first-year Honors students and first-year students enrolled in a University Learning course. The study explores the levels of library anxiety, overconfidence, barriers, and behavioral factors. Findings indicate that Honors students had higher levels of library anxiety and associated perfectionism and self-esteem more closely with library use. University Learning students worked longer and more independently to use resources before seeking help. Knowing these results, teaching librarians could create tailored instruction sessions to address and alleviate library anxiety and its effects.

Empowering Emotion: Illustrating And Affirming The Affective Dimensions Of Research, Joshua Altshuler

Faculty and Staff Publications – Milner Library

This poster intends to enrich instructional librarians’ methods and practices for emphasizing the affective contexts of interacting with information. Rather than concentrating on library anxiety, this work is grounded in uplifting a broader spectrum of user emotional capacities, including determination, empathy, grief, and wonder. Specific course-integrated examples, with exhibited representations, will help attendees apply practical classroom exercises: introducing connections to information through close readings of graphic memoir and journalism comics panels; producing personal research disposition collages for a gallery walk; exemplifying the affective journey of acquiring and passing down knowledge using map visualizations. Whether they are run separately or collectively, …

Can We Add A New Language Of Love? Freedom…, Essraa Nawar

Library Articles and Research

"

More than thirty years later, the Five Love Languages remain part of our everyday vocabulary. We ask spouses, friends, and family members, 'What’s your love language?' We have learned that people experience love differently and that meaningful relationships require understanding how others feel seen, valued, and appreciated.

The framework has helped millions.

Yet I wonder whether the conversation is incomplete.

Can we add a new language of love?

I believe we can. I believe there is a sixth language.

Its name is Freedom."

Branding, Catalogs, And Institutional Identity: The Libraries Of Edfu And Alexandria In Historical Perspective, Patrick Roughen

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This article examines library catalogs as brand artifacts in the context of two ancient libraries: the Library of Alexandria and the library of the Temple of Horus at Edfu, Egypt. Drawing on Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of symbolic capital and brand theory, this research argues that the catalogs of these two institutions functioned as early branding instruments. The Pinakes, the catalog of the Library of Alexandria, projected a brand of universal knowledge and intellectual prestige, and the inscribed wall catalog at Edfu reflected a brand focused on sacred authority and the sustaining of cosmic order (Ma'at).  Together, they illustrate two opposing …

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 - …

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 …

Non-Negotiable Responsibilities Of Librarians Despite The Presence Of Generative-Ai Powered Chatbots: An Overview, Emmanuel Chidiadi Onwubiko

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The presence of AI-Chatbots as linguistic models of Generative AI is one that has sent cold in the spines of librarians for the fear of the unknown.  Against this backdrop, it is received with mixed feelings.  To some librarians, it poses threats to their traditional responsibilities hence the fear of losing their jobs.  This paper conceptualizes the place of generative-AI Chatbots in libraries and their limitations, identifying some non-negotiable responsibilities of librarians regardless of the emergence of AI-Chatbots as well as clearing some doubts as expressed by librarians by reconciling the impacts of Chatbot and how librarians can leverage the …

The Impact Of Social Media Use For Service Delivery By Library Personnel In Nigeria., Jamiu Adewale Abdulsalam, Soliudeen Idowu Sanni, Shasil Adedoyin Opoola

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This study examined how social media is impacting service delivery by the library personnel in two universities of Ogun State, Nigeria. A descriptive survey design, correlational type was followed and a total enumeration sampling technique was applied to get all 105 members of the library staff from the two selected universities. Data were gathered using a structured questionnaire, which was developed to capture the social media patterns of users and service delivery. Descriptive statistics (frequency counts, percentages, means, and standard deviations) and inferential statistics (Pearson correlation) were used for data analysis. It was found that the most common library services …

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 …

Values Driven Priming: Engaging Ai With Reflective, Purposeful Interaction, Carrie Fry, V. Dozier, Amanda Makula

Copley Library: Faculty Scholarship

This librarian-led immersive session seeks to set the human at the center of Generative AI use, beginning by exploring the themes and connections between the foundations of Catholic higher education and the integration of emerging technologies, and then moving to a practical exploration of how the tools can be primed to give outputs that reflect those values.

Librarians are uniquely positioned in AI discussions because of our background in information literacy, and our training in the evaluation of data including provenance of data, reducing misinformation, and bias awareness. Librarians are also interdisciplinary mediators with cross-curricular reach, and connections with student …

Southeastern Librarian 74(1) Spring 2026 (Full Issue), John H. Barnett

The Southeastern Librarian

Complete issue of the Southeastern Librarian, Volume 74 Number 1, Spring 2026

Character Demographic Assessment In An Academic Library's Graphic Novel Collection: Implications For Collection Development, Bridgette L. Whitt

The Southeastern Librarian

This article presents an analysis of the main character demographics across a graphic novel collection housed at the Paul Meek Library, University of Tennessee at Martin. The study evaluates the presence of specific identified character traits such as race, ethnicity, ability, emotional or psychological themes, and the settings of the 451 evaluated titles. The assessment also evaluates the genre distribution of fiction, nonfiction, and biographical content and how often the novels were set outside of the United States. The goal of this study was to better understand the narrative scope and representation within the graphic novel collection, with a focus …

Who Benefits? Assessing The Author Experience And Impact Of Open Access Agreements, Lindsey Skaggs, Rachel E. Scott

Faculty and Staff Publications – Milner Library

In this session, we share findings from surveys and interviews conducted with ISU authors who have published under transformative agreements as corresponding author. The presenters provide insight into authors’ awareness of library OA agreements, authors’ experience navigating various publishers’ OA platforms and processes, how OA agreements impact author venue selection, author order, and selection of corresponding author, and whether authors perceive OA agreements to be an endorsement of a publisher. The presenters also explore how their university’s transformative agreements benefit researchers at other institutions and investigate the impact of these agreements on inter-institutional collaboration. In doing so, the presenters share …

Exploring Information Literacy Skills, Attitudes, And Barriers Among Medical And Nursing Students In Bahrain: A Mixed-Methods Perspective, Asif Altaf, Suchita N. Dsilva, Simple Sibi Joseph, Fida Mukhtar, Muhammad Zeeshan, Bindhu Nair

Communications in Information Literacy

Information literacy is essential for evidence-based medical education, yet Gulf-region studies rarely examine student competencies and barriers. This study examines the information literacy skills, attitudes, and challenges faced by medical and nursing students at RCSI Bahrain. A mixed-methods design was employed, combining a quantitative survey (n = 343) with qualitative focus groups (n = 10). Students reported high self-perceived information literacy across domains. Time constraints and information overload were identified as the primary barriers to effective communication. Focus group findings highlighted the late introduction of curricula, technical access challenges, and inequities between medical and nursing programs. Library training attendance, academic …

Application Of Information Literacy Skills To Everyday Life Information Seeking In College Students: Implications For Instruction, Stephanie Ward, Rachel Dineen, Darren Ilett

Communications in Information Literacy

Academic librarians who teach information literacy (IL) skills hope students will transfer those skills to their information seeking in everyday life. However, there is little evidence that students are transferring what they learn about research to their lives outside college. This study aims to find out what search and evaluation strategies college students who have had IL instruction apply to their own personal information seeking behaviors. To do this, a talk-aloud protocol was used to record participants’ thoughts and actions as they navigated scenarios that required them to select a source that met a non-academic information need. The findings indicate …

"An Open Mind And A Critical Stance": A Content Analysis Of Information Literacy Integration Into A Course About Poverty And Discrimination, Ashley Shealy, C. Rebecca Oldham, Clay Oldham, Tara L. Griffith

Communications in Information Literacy

The ACRL Framework argues that infusing curriculum with information literacy concepts can improve students’ attitudes and abilities to navigate complex information landscapes. This paper describes how a librarian and a faculty member integrated an information literacy curriculum into an undergraduate upper-division course about poverty and discrimination. Curriculum efficacy was assessed through directed content analysis of student responses to open-ended questions about engaging with news and social media, forming opinions, and having conversations about controversial topics. Responses were analyzed using a coding scheme based on course objectives derived from Framework dispositions and knowledge practices. Results indicated that exposing students to an …