Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Workplace Information Needs Of Engineering And Technology Graduates: A Case Study On Two Continents, Margaret Phillips, Michael Fosmire, Marco Schirone, Christina Johansson, Frederick Berry

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

In this research category, work-in-progress study, the authors conducted eleven semi-structured interviews of employers (five from the United States and six from Sweden), in order to determine the information literacy skills and habits needed by engineering and technology graduates. The authors found similar information needs at both the Swedish and American corporations. They found that, while the core information literacy principles of identifying an information need, locating, accessing, evaluating, integrating, and documenting are valuable skills for students to have, they need to be translated to accommodate the socially constructed information landscapes of each corporation and the more fluid and subtle …

Initial Study Of Information Literacy Content In Engineering And Technology Job Postings, Margaret Phillips, Dave Zwicky, Jing Lu

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

The goal of this research category work-in-progress study is to investigate the information literacy needs and expectations of employers who hire new engineering and technology graduates, through content analysis of job postings. It seeks to answer two questions: (1) Which information sources do employers expect engineering and technology graduates to know and to use on the job and (2) in what ways are new engineering and technology hires expected to interact with information?

A collection of 1502 entry-level job postings aimed at undergraduate engineering and engineering technology students was gathered from a university career center database for the time period …

An Early Look At A Scoping Review Of Systematic Review Methodologies In Engineering, Jason Reed, Margaret Phillips, Amy Van Epps, Dave Zwicky

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

This research work-in-progress paper is a scoping review of published systematic literature reviews (SLRs) in engineering. SLRs are considered one of the highest levels of proof for evidence based decision making, but they are only as good as the methods used, starting with the search strategy. With studies described as “systematic literature reviews” proliferating through engineering disciplines, including engineering education, it is necessary to examine how well these studies reflect a methodologically sound understanding of established SLR processes. The initial search returned 4,992 results, after removing duplicates. After completing the abstract review, we included 2,674 results for full text review. …

Literature Review: How U.S. Government Documents Are Addressing The Increasing National Security Implications Of Artificial Intelligence, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

This article emphasizes the increasing importance of artificial intelligence (AI) in military and national security policy making. It seeks to inform interested individuals about the proliferation of publicly accessible U.S. government and military literature on this multifaceted topic. An additional objective of this endeavor is encouraging greater public awareness of and participation in emerging public policy debate on AI's moral and national security implications..

Fundraising In Academic Libraries: Looking Back And Defining New Questions., Kathryn Dilworth, Erla Heyns

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

This is the first study since the 1990’s that solicits information about fundraising activity from a broad representation of academic libraries in the United States. Survey questions were adapted from previous studies to identify how this practice has evolved over the last twenty-five years. Results provide insight into prevalent conditions including the investment made in fundraising, common giving opportunities, the level of involvement of academic partners and leaders and the most common constituency groups who give and volunteer. This high-level view of fundraising activity in academic libraries establishes a foundation that can guide further research on this topic and points …

Specialized Regional Conferences Support The Professional Development Of Subject Librarians: A 5-Year Analysis Of The Great Lakes Science Boot Camps For Librarians, Bethany S. Mcgowan, Jennifer Hart, Karen Hum

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Conference attendance can play an important role in supporting the professional development of subject librarians by offering opportunities that allow librarians to learn about new services, strategies, and technologies while growing and maintaining professional networks. However, barriers such as accessibility challenges, budgetary and resource restrictions, difficulty measuring learning gains, and difficulty measuring the value of professional development when applied to the job can restrict opportunities for many librarians. Specialized regional conferences have the potential to reduce many of these barriers. How can librarians, library administrators and conference organizers quantify the value of regional conference attendance as an accessible means for …

Australian National Audit Office: Evaluating Australian Army Program Performance, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) evaluates the management and financial performance of Australian government programs for the Australian Parliament, Australian government agencies, Australian taxpayers, and individuals interested in the performance of these programs globally. This article examines how ANAO has examined the performance of Australian Army programs and strengths and weaknesses found in these programs while recommending changes to improve program performance. It also examines how government agencies and corporations which have been the subject of ANAO analyses have reacted to ANAO findings. This assessment also examines how Plan B (the possibility that Australia might have to rely less …

Adding Data Literacy Skills To Your Toolkit, Megan R. Sapp Nelson

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

DEVELOPING SELECTED SKILLS IN DATA LITERACY AND MANAGEMENT CAN HELP LIBRARIANS MAKE A SUBSTANTIAL CONTRIBUTION TO THE STABILITY AND LONG-TERM PRESERVATION OF DATA AT THEIR ORGANIZATION.

On-The-Job Information Literacy: A Case Study Of Student Employees At Purdue University Archives And Special Collections, Tracy Grimm, Neal Harmeyer

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

This chapter presents Purdue Archives and Special Collections as a case study in growing an organizational culture committed to teaching information literacy parallel to classroom learning through student worker experiential learning. While student employment or internships may not traditionally be considered co-curricular activities, Purdue University Archives and Special Collections provides an environment not only for students to gain pre-professional experience but also expertise, confidence, and competence in information; for many students, this preparation has resulted in careers in museums, archives, libraries, and cultural heritage institutions. The result is a new approach to student employment: one designed to establish an environment …

Congressional Committee Resources On Space Policy During The 115th Congress (2017-2018): Providing Context And Insight Into U.S. Government Space Policy, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Article 1 of the US Constitution assigns the US Congress numerous responsibilities. These include creating new laws, revising existing laws, funding government programs, and conducting oversight of these programs' performance. Oversight of US Government agency space policy programs is executed by various congressional space policy committees, including the House and Senate Science Committees, Armed Services, and Appropriations Committees. These committees conduct many public hearings on space policy which invite witnesses to testify on US space policy programs and feature debate on the strengths and weaknesses of these programs. Documentation produced by these committees is widely available to the public, except …

The Gender Wage Gap In Research Libraries, Heather A. Howard, Meara Habashi, Jason B. Reed

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

The gender wage gap impacts millions of women throughout the US and world, with women in the US making on average 82% of men’s salaries (US Census Bureau, 2018). In research libraries, a field dominated by women, this has historically been true as well, with men rising to top positions at a higher rate and making more money than women in the same positions. Over the decades following the implementation of Affirmative Action, the number of women in administrative positions in research libraries has increased dramatically. This article explores the issue of women’s salaries in research libraries in five job …

Using Qualitative Methods To Supplement Quantitative Research: A Case Study In Evaluating Student Usage Of Facilities, Thom Gerrish, Matthew M. Benzing, Susan Hurst

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Quantitative research is an important tool in understanding library users; quantifiable data is objective and can be processed and analyzed in ways that bring about new insights. Unfortunately, it is better at telling us where and when than it is at telling us the whys. Our library, the Business, Engineering, Science, and Technology library at Miami University, did a headcount study to see how many people were using which rooms at what times of the day and night. There were many things we learned from that data, but in order to flesh it out and make it more of a …