Digital Commons Network^™

President's Page, Matt Gully

Mississippi Libraries

Updates from the President of the Mississippi Library Association.

Front Matter

Mississippi Libraries

Front matter for Mississippi Libraries Vol. 87, Nos. 3 and 4.

Curriculum Materials Cataloged For Browsing, Michelle Emanuel

Library Publications

When the University of Mississippi Libraries acquired a collection of state-adopted school textbooks for K-12 from its School of Education, a decision was made to catalog the collection for browsing to anticipate the needs of its primary users, both “in service” and “pre-service” teachers. The textbooks would be grouped according to their grade level, and cuttered by subject area, instead of being classed according to its subject area. As the collection would be integrated into the regular circulating collection, and not into a curriculum materials center, issues arose for both technical services and access services throughout the process, from cataloging …

Integrating Zotero With Your Writing: From Research To Publication – Hslic Workshop Feb 2026, Evelyn Wang

HSLIC Faculty and Staff Instructional Resources

This HSLIC workshop presentation provides a practical, step‑by‑step guide to integrating Zotero into the research and writing workflow. Topics include installing and configuring Zotero and the Zotero Connector, collecting references from databases and web pages, organizing items with collections, subcollections, tags, and PDF attachments, inserting citations and generating bibliographies in Microsoft Word and Google Docs, managing and annotating PDFs, handling title case versus sentence case, detecting and merging duplicate records, and using advanced features such as Zotero sync, group libraries, collaboration tools, custom citation styles, and ZoteroBib.

Lanthorn, Vol. 60, No. 11, February 9, 2026, Grand Valley State University

Volume 60, August 4, 2025 – current

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

From The Stacks To Student Success: Findings From A Study Of Faculty Perceptions Of Collection Development, Jessica L. Swaringen, Alyshia K. Bagley, Payton Sapp, James Mayes

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

Effective collection development is essential for a library’s ability to support the evolving needs of its academic community. Faculty perceptions of library resources will undoubtedly influence how students engage with and benefit from these collections. This research explores how faculty at Georgia Southern University (GS) Libraries understand collection development practices and how their views shape teaching, research, and collaboration with librarians.

Following a review of existing literature, a mixed-methods survey was distributed to faculty via email. The survey combined quantitative and qualitative questions to capture faculty attitudes toward library collections, their use in course curricula, and their role in supporting …

Empowering Research Topic Development With Generative Ai Prompts - A Pilot Study For First-Year Writing Students, Yanling Liu, Yan He

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

As generative AI tools like ChatGPT become increasingly embedded in academic and everyday contexts, educators have a timely opportunity to leverage these technologies to support foundational research skills. In general education writing courses, students participate in library sessions with librarians to support their research projects. A central challenge is formulating a focused and relevant research topic, as many struggle to identify and develop ideas and refine them into viable research topics that are suitable for college-level writing and align with assignment requirements. This study explores how generative AI tools - specifically ChatGPT - can be integrated into library instruction to …

Addressing The Pitfalls Of Misinformation In The Classroom Through Game Based Learning, Taylor S. Strong, Jerome Bingham

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

As instruction librarians we must strive to strengthen students' literacy when it comes to research. Only a 3rd of American high school students are graduating with the necessary reading and math skills needed for college-level classes. In conjunction with these low reading levels.The current and incoming students are a part of the Gen-Z or Zoomer generation.One of the largest problems Gen Z students face in their daily lives is combating misinformation. The University of Virginia in conjunction with the University of Cambridge conducted a recent study about generations and misinformation. Only 11% of 18 to 29 year olds earned a …

Fostering Agency In Future Educators: Redesigning Instruction For Children's Literature Discovery Amidst Policy Changes, Rae Mair

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

Recent changes in Florida policy led to the removal of several locally developed library resources. These resources had supported the discovery of children’s literature reflecting a range of cultural and social perspectives, along with the lesson plans created by students and faculty to accompany them. The shift placed greater emphasis on helping undergraduate teacher education students locate books on their own using advanced search strategies and available tools. Strengthening these skills has become increasingly important for supporting student agency in selecting materials for their classrooms. However, motivating students to engage with advanced search techniques in library catalogs and databases can …

Leveling Up: Introducing High School Students To The College Library, Lisa Nichols, Helen E. Bischoff

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

For many high school students, visiting a college campus can inspire future aspirations and reduce anxiety by allowing them to visualize themselves as college students. This presentation highlights our experiences as academic librarians collaborating with local high school teachers and librarians to introduce students to the foundations of academic research and critical inquiry while also exposing them to both the college library and the campus environment. Through interactive workshops held on site in the high school library and then on a college campus in an academic library, students had the opportunity to engage with college-level research tools, explore the academic …

Teaching Ourselves Ai Literacy, Kelly Jones, Chandler Christoffel

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

To prepare to teach and support AI literacy, we organized an internal mini-conference for our Academic Engagement department. During each session, librarians taught one another various AI-related modules (e.g., ethics, prompt design, tools) as though leading a real class with students. We encouraged the use of active learning strategies and asked participants to submit session proposals in advance so we could offer feedback. This approach to professional development allowed us to rapidly test and refine our instructional methods and deepen our AI expertise. This mini-conference also helped us generate valuable content—including lessons, slides, assessments, and activities — for an AI …

Assessing The Information Literacy Skills Of Faculty And Students In Using Open Educational Resources In Nigerian Universities, Adeniran Adetoro

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

Access to Open Educational Resources (OERs) by university libraries and through online sources is trending among academics and students in Nigeria, particularly given the emphasis on it by the National Universities commission in recent times. Extant literature points to low level of use of OERs among faculty and students, and there is an urgent need to understand the extent to which their information literacy (IL)skills can explain this and how IL drives OERs practical use for academic purposes. Thus, the paper investigates the perceived information literacy of faculty and graduate students in using open educational resources in federal universities in …

Recreating The Magic: Designing Serendipitous Discovery Experiences In 100% Online Libraries, Stephanie Garrett

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

Traditional libraries excel at serendipitous discovery—patrons browse shelves, stumble upon unexpected titles, and make chance connections between materials. But how do we recreate this magic in purely digital environments? This presentation showcases a successful transformation of a 100% online library that achieved over 90% increased asset usage in just 12 months through strategic implementation of serendipitous discovery features.

Using Springshare's LibGuides CMS as the foundation, we redesigned the digital library experience around three core discovery spaces: Visual Course Reserve Guides that mirror physical browsing through thumbnail displays and thematic clustering, a comprehensive Reference Section that encourages exploration beyond immediate research …

The Generative Ai Game Is Afoot: A Workshop Series, Denise A. Wetzel, Elliott Rose

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming how we create, learn, and solve problems, making it essential for students to engage with these tools both skillfully and ethically. This presentation introduces “The Generative AI Game is Afoot,” a themed workshop series designed to explore generative AI through the lens of detective work inspired by Sherlock Holmes. Using the metaphor of digital sleuths and their trusted partners, the series invites participants to unravel the mysteries of generative AI with curiosity, critical thinking, and practical know-how.

The series consists of four interactive workshops followed by an open forum. The first workshop, "Writing Effective …

Teaching The Future: Incorporating Generative Ai Use In An Information Studies Course, Annette Bochenek

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

Generative AI has impacted the creation, consumption, and dissemination of information across disciplines. Information, Culture, and Society is an online undergraduate course that is foundational to the Information Studies minor at Purdue University. In this course, students examine how information, culture, and society have shaped and affected one another in the past, present, and how they might continue to influence one another in the future. In order to enhance the lessons pertaining to the future of information, culture, and society, specifically focusing on AI, the instructor participated in a university-led AI Academy program to learn about available AI tools and …

Beyond The Buzzwords: Working With Faculty To Create Ai-Informed Personal Information Literacy Frameworks, Scott E. Shumate, Jenny Harris, Stephanie Bandel

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools have become increasingly integrated into the classroom, requiring faculty across disciplines to reconsider how critical thinking skills are being impacted by AI. Academic libraries, long the centers of information access and literacy, are well positioned to confront the issues surrounding AI and address its influence on the wider information landscape. Three academic librarians have taken the lead at their university in encouraging faculty to be thoughtful and intentional about their own understanding of information literacy by developing a personal information literacy framework. This reflective process codifies the mental models all users create when interacting with information …

Beyond Traditional Services: University Libraries Launch An Information Studies Concentration, Vivian F. Bynoe, Katia Karadjova, Lisa Carmichael

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

The University Libraries launched a newly created Information Studies concentration in the Bachelor’s Degree of Interdisciplinary Studies (BIS). Developing such a program required navigating a complex administrative process, designing the concentration curriculum, and creating specific course content. This presentation details the multi-stage journey from idea to implementation.

The Information Studies concentration represents our continued commitment to empowering students. The information landscape offers abundant options. Students must know how to find and recognize credible information appropriate for different needs, navigate through data, utilize AI in ethical ways, and grow into responsible creators of information. This requires interlaced metaliteracy skills addressing the …

A Proposal For An Information Literacy Evaluation Plan For First-Year Writing (Fyw) Courses, Mohammed Z. Reza

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

It is very common for academic libraries to offer information literacy programs for first-year writing students. These programs have several goals and aim to equip students with information literacy skills, including evaluating and reflecting, interpreting, seeking, inquiring, and managing information. The primary goal of program evaluation is to drive improvement. (Fitzpatrick et al., 2011). Fitzpatrick et al. (2011) also noted that evaluation serves many purposes, including determining a program's merit or worth, supporting decision-making, organizing a program, and improving a program.

As an instruction librarian, I taught information literacy sessions for first-year writing students in the English department at both …

Best Practices In Virginia School Libraries, Audrey P. Church, Karla B. Collins, Carl A. Harvey Ii, Sheree Garrett

Learning Hub

The National School Library Standards for Learners, School Librarians, and School Libraries (AASL, 2018b) indicate that school librarians should function as teachers, instructional partners, information specialists, leaders, and program administrators, and numerous studies document the important role that the school librarian plays in the teaching and learning taking place in the school (Lance & Kachel, 2018). Strong school librarians positively impact student learning. The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify, explore, and describe traits and activities of award-winning school librarians in Virginia. Data collected from 18 participants through semi- structured interviews identified the common traits of leader, communicator, …

Practicing Archival Sustainability Through Degrowth, Hannah Pryor

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

As archives continue to face threats from global climate disasters and increased institutional pressure to accomplish more with fewer resources, there is a need to evolve archival practice through a sustainability lens. While archival literature has frequently discussed sustainability practices such as eco-friendly building standards, how to reduce energy consumption, and other green initiatives, less focus has been placed on the underlying structures of unsustainability. This article proposes degrowth as one framework for considering archival sustainability. Degrowth is an ecological, economic, and political theory that advocates for the deliberate reduction of activities that rely on non-renewable resources. This article draws …

The Information Edge - Library Newsletter - February 2026, Sarah Burns-Feyl, Jennifer Rosenstein

University Library Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Fy2025 Association Of College And Research Libraries (Acrl) Statistical Survey: University Of Rhode Island Data, Julia Lovett

University Libraries Reports & Statistics

The report contains FY2025 data as submitted by the University of Rhode Island Libraries for the 2025 Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Annual Survey.

Serials Spoken Here, Michelle E. Colquitt, Megan Horn, Jessica Berkana, Joni L. Addis, Michelle Sharla Navarro, Rachel E. Scott, Nancy A. Henke, Amy Kendrick, David Fiora, Uyen Nguyen, Kayla Kipps

Publications

No abstract provided.

[Bhm] Black History Month 2026 - Government Docs, Raquel Estrada

Library Display Posters

Poster showcasing U.S. Government documents relating to Black History Month.

[Bhm] Black History Month 2026 - Library Resources, Raquel Estrada, Emily Gomez

Library Display Posters

Collection of posters created celebrating Black History Month 2026. It highlights films, books, and archival materials that celebrate Black arts, storytelling, leadership, and local history. The posters also showcase streaming films with public performance rights, literature, biographies of influential figures, and archival profiles of African American educators from the Rio Grande Valley/

Georgia Library Spotlight Sir Elton John’S Gift To Emory University’S Library, Lily Brickmeier

Georgia Library Quarterly

No abstract provided.

Himmelfarb Headlines - February/March 2026, 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.

Olac Metadata Application Profile And Policy Statements For The Official Rda Toolkit, Sarah Hovde, John Dickson, Robert Freeborn, Peggy Griesinger, Jeannette Ho, Junghae Lee, Nicole Lewis, Treshani Perera, Madeleine Boyer, Liza Campbell, Sherab Chen, Jessica Hayden, David Norris, Diana Simpson

OLAC Publications and Training Materials

This document introduces a metadata application profile (MAP) and a set of policy statements (PS) for use with the Official RDA Toolkit, based on the OLAC Best Practices for Cataloging DVD-Video and Blu-ray Discs, Objects, Streaming Media, and Video Games Using the Original RDA Toolkit and MARC 21 (2023; hereafter OLAC Best Practices or Best Practices). These resources were developed by the OLAC Unified Best Practices in Official RDA Task Force (2022-2026).

Both the MAP and the PS are meant to be living documents, and it is expected that they will be regularly improved and updated to reflect the needs …

Building The Blueprint: Seven Years Of Laying The Foundation For Leadership And Community Impact, Karen Manning, Tamika Barnes, Angiah L. Davis, Priscilla Dickerson, Thomas Jackson Jr., Deon King Sr., La Loria Konata, Sarah Rodgers

Georgia Library Quarterly

This article presents a foundational blueprint for establishing and sustaining the Georgia Library Association (GLA) Black Caucus Interest Group. Drawing on seven years of documented activity, it highlights the group’s most notable programs, advocacy efforts, and community‑building initiatives that have shaped its identity and impact within the broader library profession. The article traces key events that strengthened the caucus’s mission, including professional development offerings, strategic partnerships, and leadership engagement across the state. A timeline of the caucus’s chair history illustrates the evolution of its governance and the contributions of successive leaders who guided its growth. Together, these elements offer a …

Winter 2026, Georgia Library Quarterly

Georgia Library Quarterly

No abstract provided.