Digital Commons Network^™

National Immunization Awareness Month, Sandra Yvette Desjardins

TMC Library Newsletter (2015-)

August marks National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM)—a time to spotlight the vital role vaccines play in protecting people of all ages.

Explore the Power of Vaccines with Trusted Resources from the TMC Library

Tmc Library Holiday Hours, Beatriz Varman

TMC Library Newsletter (2015-)

The TMC Library will be closed Monday, September 1^st 2025 in observance of Labor Day. Regular hours resume Tuesday, September 2^nd 2025.

Texas Medical Center Library Webinar Series, Sandra Yvette Desjardins

TMC Library Newsletter (2015-)

The TMC Library is excited to announce the launch of its Fall 2025 Webinar Series, beginning August 29 with the first session: Advanced Database Searching.

Register here to attend the session.

Looking for more learning opportunities? Click here to view the full schedule of webinars offered throughout the fall semester.

Pre-Emptive Analgesia For Periodontal And Implant-Related Surgery: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Christos Gousias, Zainab Alsuwaiyan, Alissa Fial, Shengtong Han, Dimitris N. Tatakis, Vrisiis Kofina

Library Faculty Research and Publications

Objective

This systematic review aimed to answer the question: In patients undergoing periodontal and peri-implant surgery, gingival augmentation, implant site development or placement, are pre-emptive analgesics effective in controlling post-operative pain compared with patients not receiving pre-emptive medications?

Materials and Methods

After comprehensive electronic and manual literature searches, randomised placebo-controlled clinical trials on adults undergoing the aforementioned surgeries were included. A meta-analysis was performed comparing pain (standardised mean difference) between pre-emptive medication and placebo at post-operative hours 1, 3, 6, 8, 24 and 72.

Results

Two reviewers screened 1995 titles, included 18 studies in the systematic review (open flap debridement, …

Summer 2025, Georgia Library Quarterly

Georgia Library Quarterly

No abstract provided.

The Day I Unlearned Everything I Thought I Knew About Yoga, Essraa Nawar

Library Articles and Research

"For years, I thought yoga wasn’t meant for someone like me. I believed it belonged to a certain body type, a certain lifestyle, a certain image that didn’t reflect my own. As a visibly Muslim woman, I rarely saw anyone who looked like me in yoga spaces — let alone leading or being celebrated in them. That first class at Shaanti changed everything. It was inclusive. Grounding. Free of mirrors, expectations, and ego. I finally saw that yoga wasn’t about bending into shapes — it was about returning to myself."

The Seamlessaccess Audit Toolkit: A Framework For Librarians To Audit Resource Access, John W. Felts, Heather Staines, Michelle Urberg

Library Faculty Publications

To help navigate complex issues caused by changes in technology, regulations, and user expectations, SeamlessAccess is producing a toolkit that gives librarians a framework for auditing their resource access. Structured into four key areas—Usability, Privacy, Reliability, and Security—the toolkit enables library staff the ability to identify the risks and opportunities that inform decision-making and advocate for future investment. In this paper, the authors explore the usability and privacy sections of the toolkit. In addition, the paper features feedback from a librarian about how the toolkit helped them identify and address access-related issues, assess potential ethical or legal exposure, and identify …

Let Them Have Books, And Ebooks Too! Establishing And Expanding An Academic Ebook Lending Program, Kourtney Blackburn, Jenny Bigenwald

Lavery Library Faculty/Staff Publications

Introduction - Motivation for Ebook lending - Research & Implementation - Our first year in review - Where next?

Making Alma Analytics Work For Resource Sharing: A Discussion & Demo, Tokunbo Adeshina, J. Silvia Cho

Publications and Research

In this workshop, we explored how to query, reconcile, and create visualizations for Alma statistics, both separately and in combination. Key takeaways included techniques for building queries to obtain actionable data that could be used in conjunction with data from other platforms.

5th Dlsp Librarians' Conference Proceedings : Unbound And Unstoppable Libraries : Reimagining Access, Embracing Innovation, De La Salle Brothers, Inc.

DLSP Librarians' Conference

No abstract provided.

Letter From The Editor V2, Jj Pionke

Disability in LIS (DisLIS)

2025 updates from the editor of DisLIS.

Review Of Teaching Primary Source Research Skills To 21st-Century Learners, Alexandra Y. Bush

Journal of Contemporary Archival Studies

In Teaching Primary Source Research Skills to 21st-Century Learners, Julie Thomas offers guidance and encouragement to instructors of primary source research skills. Largely without sacrificing detail or quality of analysis, Thomas provides information on existing resources, required literacies and competencies, pedagogical theory, and advice on programmatic sustainability that are accessible to readers at a wide range of professional levels. Drawing on benchmarks and taxonomies across disciplines, this book outlines the components and considerations needed to sustain a primary source research skills teaching program. The text offers an accessible and extensible method of deepening one’s understanding of the field while …

Review Of Comic Books, Special Collections, And The Academic Library, Nicholas Wantsala

Journal of Contemporary Archival Studies

Comic Books, Special Collections, and the Academic Library is a pioneering scholarly work by Brian Flota and Katie Morris that documents the integration of comic books into archival special collections and academic libraries. This book, inspired by the donation of Flota's father's extensive comic collection to James Madison University, traces the growth of comic books as scholarly resources and library holdings. Featuring contributions from 35 scholars across 20 chapters, it explores key questions such as the value of collecting comics and their role in library instruction. The essays, enhanced with suggestions for further reading and informative footnotes, offer a comprehensive …

Networking From Afar: Making Meaningful Connections As A Remote Lis Student, Kelley Hummingbird

POC in LIS Summit

The rise of online Library and Information Science (LIS) programs has made library school more accessible, particularly for working professionals and those balancing multiple responsibilities. However, remote attendance presents challenges in forming meaningful connections. Networking is a vital skill in the LIS field, and for LIS students of color, building a supportive community is especially important. So, how can remote students foster connections and grow their professional networks?

This session will offer practical strategies for remote LIS students to build and maintain a strong community. The presenter will share personal experiences, highlighting approaches that have been effective in forming professional …

"Fulfilling Work With A Sufficient Salary": Resident Librarians' Perceptions On Compensation, Courtney Shareef

POC in LIS Summit

Because of its low pay and slow salary growth, the master’s in library and information science was once ranked by Forbes.com as the worst degree for jobs. For the resident librarian, this can be particularly troubling, given the precarious nature of the temporary position. Although there is a growing body of literature on various aspects of resident librarian experience, virtually nothing exists on views of their compensation. How does the resident librarian’s perception of compensation impact their residency experience? How does that perception also impact the librarian’s decision to remain in librarianship at the residency’s conclusion? This lightning talk will …

Building Community In The Workplace, Jawahir Javaid

POC in LIS Summit

Using research in relational sociology and personal experience, I would like to present on how relational interactions help prevent alienation and isolation in the workplace. I chose to work at an academic library due to its commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), yet the absence of empathy and mutual respect in workplace culture made it increasingly difficult to feel valued. Department transactions felt dehumanizing and exploitive, and DEI principles felt abstract rather than lived experiences. I turned to relational sociology for a broader understanding of why I felt excluded in a work environment priding itself in DEI values.

Relational …

Interesting Times And Interesting Internships: A Case Study Of Mlis Internships, Megan Bauerle

POC in LIS Summit

Library and information science professionals work in diverse sectors, from academic, corporate, and data management fields, each requiring specific professional knowledge alongside librarianship skills. While an MLIS degree often provides a strong theoretical understanding of librarianship, many degree programs do not require internship or practicum experience (Torres et al., 2022). The COVID-19 pandemic additionally changed the format of many library internships, which became hybrid or virtual. This presentation reflects on student outcomes in a case study of three library science internships held between 2024 and 2025, including a remote academic library OER internship (Loyola Marymount University), an in-person corporate library …

Teaching Black Digital Humanities: Making Space In The Age Of Big Tech, Kiran Mohammadi-Williams

POC in LIS Summit

In the age of "Big Tech", where companies like Amazon, Google, Meta, and Apple own a joint monopoly over most tech products, tools, and digital interfaces, data by and about Black people are stolen and erased or used in ways that actively target and harm them. In order to defray this, we must create more Black spaces on the Internet, more digital projects centering Black people and Black experiences, and make digital tools and methods for research accessible to Black students and communities. In this talk, I will briefly discuss three approaches to teaching about/with Black Digital Humanities and their …

Using Inclusive Language In Library Instruction To Foster Equitable Spaces, Dominique Dozier

POC in LIS Summit

In this session, I’ll share how I’ve used the inclusive language strategies I learned in the ACUE Inclusive Teaching for Equitable Learning course to improve library instruction and create more equitable spaces for students. Language is powerful, and the way we speak can either open doors or unintentionally create barriers for students from diverse backgrounds. By using inclusive language, we can ensure all students feel respected, valued, and supported in the library.

I’ll walk through simple, practical examples of how inclusive language can be applied in library workshops, one-on-one research appointments, and everyday interactions with students. Whether it’s using gender-neutral …

Immediate Sites For Change: Transforming Librarian Burnout Into Hope And Finding Liberation, April Ibarra Siqueiros

POC in LIS Summit

As a tenure-track librarian specializing in user experience, I have faced significant barriers contributing to burnout and mental health challenges. Placing hope in library-wide or systemic level changes often left me feeling powerless and hopeless. However, exploring and focusing my attention to the “immediate sites” where I do have agency (the spaces, relationships, and practices within reach) opened pathways to possibility and hope.

In this presentation, I will share how identifying and working within these immediate sites and pairing them with radical imagination, creative practice, joy, curiosity, and the support of collaborative allies allowed me to begin reclaiming a sense …

Glimmer Gathering: Healing And Reciprocity, Maria Rios

POC in LIS Summit

Glimmer gathering is a trauma-informed list making practice; an excavation and unearthing of what already exists inside of you. As library and information science professionals--we, especially Black, Indigenous, POC women-- are tasked with being the expert, exceptional, and overextended---and ultimately led to burn out. Capitalism relies on us being disconnected from our bodies so that we remain pliable to extractive, depleting, and harmful cycles. Rather than giving you a prescriptive list of "what to do" to heal and break these cycles; I will offer a few suggestions and invite us to co-create a shared body of creative knowledge. Gather for …

Power Mapping: A Personal Tool For Navigating Hierarchy Power Structures, Noelle Leong

POC in LIS Summit

It can feel particularly overwhelming to keep track of and read dynamics between colleagues, especially when it comes to being strategic about who you can rely on for support or not. Ideally, we wouldn’t have to consider subtext, passive aggression, or empty politeness, but as we know, the people around us do not all have our best interests at heart. This knowledge can make or break any of the changes you are trying to make, big or small, to better serve your patrons or to improve your workplace. For those who can benefit from an organizational tool to best analyze …

From Guesswork To Great Collections: Using Ai To Build Engaged, Faculty-Informed Libraries, Tracy Gilmore, Tiffini Travis

POC in LIS Summit

Struggling to build collections that truly reflect your campus’ teaching and research needs? You’re not alone. With limited face time with faculty, hybrid schedules, and shrinking budgets, librarians often work in the dark—relying on guesswork, legacy requests, or one-size-fits-all tools.

This hands-on workshop introduces an innovative, AI-powered method developed at CSU Long Beach for creating faculty user profiles using publicly available data and tools like ChatGPT. Inspired by customer profiling strategies in the business world, this approach helps librarians move from reactive to proactive collection development.

Learn how to turn online faculty biographies, Curriculum Vitas, and publication data into actionable …

Navigating Diversity Residencies: Overcoming Challenges And Making The Most Of It, Nada Abdelrahim, Haley Norris

POC in LIS Summit

This session offers an informal discussion and comparison between a current diversity resident and a former resident from the same R1 academic library. Despite the efforts of previous residents to create a toolkit aimed at transforming diversity residencies from performative to transformative, there is a lack of accountability in implementing these changes. Our experiences reveal that the support provided often goes unrecognized as labor from colleagues. The current landscape of defunding and banning DEI initiatives further strains support for diversity residencies, making it challenging for individuals to list their contributions on their CVs. This issue extends to post-residents who must …

Partnerships For Preservation: Building Capacity In The Archival Community, Lizeth Ramirez, Azalea Camach

POC in LIS Summit

Community-centered collecting and community archives have become central to the work of archives in academic institutions, especially those located in areas with diverse communities. Los Angeles and the broader Southern California region are culturally rich, representing a multiplicity of peoples whose stories have been excluded from the traditional historical record. Efforts to remedy this exclusion are underway in the special collections departments at various academic institutions, including California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA) and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). This important work is currently impacted both by limited institutional resources and the changing political landscape.

In order to …

It’S A Different World: #Hillmantok And New Frontiers Of Information Sharing In Bipoc Communities, Michael Mungin

POC in LIS Summit

HillmanTok is a free online learning community featuring Black educators and experts using TikTok to create video lectures and livestreams that teach a vast array of topics, from practical skills like gardening, cooking, hair care, and wealth building, to humanities, like histories, Black arts and entertainment, and mental health. Beginning, almost accidentally, on Jan. 20, 2025 with a 3-minute TikTok video by Dr. Leah Barlow, welcoming her students to her African American Studies class, HillmanTok rapidly became an educational movement with a massive following in the hundreds of thousands.

Simultaneously, the Trump administration began issuing numerous directives and executive orders, …

Student Work In The Evolving Library Landscape, Amy Pham, Jordan Kobayashi, William Tran

POC in LIS Summit

This presentation shares a work-in-progress from the Technical Services department at the University of San Diego Copley Library as we work to retool our student worker program to center student skills and interests, provide a job experience that is fulfilling and transferable, and act as a gateway for future potential librarians.

Student workers are integral to library operations, and student positions are valued both by the library and by the students themselves. For many students, working at the library may be one of their first jobs. However, resources related to supervising and mentoring student workers are typically centered around student …

Unequal Access: The Challenge Of Palestinian Representation In Libraries, Yael Noble, Raida Gatten, Rani J

POC in LIS Summit

This presentation brings together four librarians from public and academic institutions who have navigated significant challenges while developing collections, programs, and resources focused on Palestine during the past year. As information professionals, these panelists will share their experiences and the experiences of others with institutional resistance, external pressures, and threats that emerged specifically around Palestinian-focused work.

Presenters will explore the stark contrast between institutional approaches to Palestinian narratives compared to other diversity initiatives. Why are Palestinian perspectives subject to what scholars call the "Palestine Exception" in otherwise progressive spaces? How does this censorship and intimidation reflect a form of neo-McCarthyism …

Welcome

POC in LIS Summit

No abstract provided.

Teaching In Authentic Ways: Exhibit Work And Student Curators In Special Collections, Rebecca Fitzsimmons

Faculty and Staff Publications – Milner Library

Engaging students in exhibit work offers them a chance to learn new skills and grow as scholars while producing a tangible and public-facing project outcome from their coursework. From learning to communicate complex ideas to making research connections between rare and primary sources, exhibit curation relies on building research skills, sharpening writing and communication techniques, and developing critical thinking skills. Pushing and refining ideas is an essential part of the iterative process of research, and exhibit curation invites students to learn this practice in a real-world, project-based way. More specifically, it requires students to read, review, compare, and analyze more …