Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Flowerings Project: A Library In Transformation, Jody Condit Fagan, Joanne V. Gabbin, Bethany Nowviskie, Lauren K. Alleyne, Aaron Noland

Libraries

This final report from the JMU Libraries and Furious Flower Poetry Center to the Mellon Foundation describes in detail the activities undertaken as part of a 2020-2021 planning grant, “Furious Flowerings: Developing a Partnership Model for Digital Library Support of a Living Center for Black Poetry,” funded by the Mellon Foundation. The grant explored and developed a partnership model for integrated library support of a living, academic center for the arts with archival, scholarly, digital, educational, and performance components. Nine key areas were addressed, including three overarching areas: development of cultural competencies, exploring how an exemplar project can be used …

A Practical Guide To Working With Copyrighted And Open Access Resources In Scholarship, Liz Thompson, Howard Carrier

Libraries

Powerpoints and conference presentations are often complemented by use of images or other media, and the academic content of a paper may draw from existing scholarly sources. In the traditional, in-person conference meeting room, the use of other rightsholders’ content is relatively risk-free but things change when academic conferences move online, as is increasingly the case today in the lamentable age of COVID-19. In this webinar, two librarians from JMU Libraries’ Scholarly Communication Unit share thoughts, ideas, and tips about staying on the right side of copyright law when presenting and disseminating scholarship.

The Discoverability Of Award-Winning Undergraduate Research In History: Implications For Academic Libraries, Jody C. Fagan, Malia Willey

Libraries

Making scholarly information visible to web search engines is an ongoing challenge, and undergraduate research is no exception. Using a sample of award-winning undergraduate history papers and journals, the authors searched Google, Google Scholar, Microsoft Academic, and the authors’ institutional repository to gauge the difficulty of locating these works. Given that many of these works were not easily found, results suggest that libraries and their institutions could be doing more to increase the discoverability of undergraduate research. Based on the success stories observed in this study, we offer strategies to libraries and librarians for increasing the visibility of undergraduate student …

The State Of Open Access In The Usa Today, Yasmeen Shorish

Libraries

This keynote presentation was given at the International Relations Round-table pre-conference at ALA Annual 2017. The session looked at the intersection between the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and ways that Open Access (OA) efforts can be used to further those goals. This presentation provided an overview of OA in the United States and what the global implications of that situation are.

An Evidence-Based Review Of Academic Web Search Engines, 2014-2016: Implications For Librarians’ Practice And Research Agenda, Jody C. Fagan

Libraries

Academic web search engines have become central to scholarly research. While the fitness of Google Scholar for research purposes has been examined repeatedly, Microsoft Academic and Google Books have not received much attention. Recent studies have much to tell us about the coverage and utility of Google Scholar, its coverage of the sciences, and its utility for evaluating researcher impact. But other aspects have been understudied, such as coverage of the arts and humanities, books, and non-Western, non-English publications. User research has also tapered off. A small number of articles hint at the opportunity for librarians to become expert advisors …

Building Professional Development Opportunities In Data Services For Academic Librarians, Suzanna Conrad, Yasmeen Shorish, Amanda L. Whitmire, Patricia Hswe

Libraries

Research data management represents a significant professional development area for academic librarians –significant for its growing importance to the profession, since researchers are increasingly expected to comply with research data management requirements, and for the extent of competence needed by librarians to support researchers in research data management practices and plans. This article recounts how the Association of College and Research Libraries is fostering professional development opportunities in research data management. The authors describe two key endeavors: (1) the development and deployment of a needs assessment survey, which allowed insight into the types of librarians expressing the most need; and …

Dataq: A Collaborative Platform For Answering Research Data Questions In Libraries, Yasmeen Shorish, Sarah Pickle, Christie A. Wiley, Megan Bresnahan, Andrew M. Johnson

Libraries

DataQ is an IMLS­-funded project led by the University of Colorado Boulder Libraries, GWLA, and GPN to develop an online knowledge-­base of research data questions and answers curated for and by the library community. Publicly submitted questions to DataQ are reviewed by an Editorial Team of experts from 15 institutions across the United States. The site also includes links to resources, best practices, and practical approaches to working with researchers to address specific research data issues. This update from members of the Editorial Team will discuss outcomes and future directions following the first year of the DataQ project.

Data Information Literacy And Undergraduates: A Critical Competency, Yasmeen Shorish

Libraries

As a primer on data information literacy (DIL), this column will cover the background of the field and why it is relevant to college and university libraries serving undergraduate populations. This article includes how data information literacy relates to information literacy, competencies associated with DIL, the relevance of DIL to undergraduates, DIL in library instruction, and the reasons for library engagement with DIL. Examining DIL within the larger framework of information literacy can help outreach and instruction librarians engage with a format that may be unfamiliar to them but whose underlying foundation is well-established.

Enriching Conference Participation Using Social Media At #Macmla2013, Carolyn Schubert

Libraries

Objectives: Social media's growing presence in personal interactions, news reporting, and education are just some of the ways this technology is changing our in-person and virtual interactions. While social media has been used in conjunction with the past few annual Mid-Atlantic Chapter (MAC) meetings, understanding who is participating and how they participate can help identify other patterns for year-round networking.

Methods: The meeting planning team created an outline identifying all key communication channels and groups, including the MAC Messages blog and Twitter, to promote the annual conference. The author used several quantitative methods to track social media posts related to …

Data Curation Is For Everyone! The Case For Master's And Baccalaureate Institutional Engagement With Data Curation, Yasmeen Shorish

Libraries

This article describes the fundamental challenges to data curation, how these challenges may be compounded for smaller institutions, and how data management is an essential and manageable component of data curation. Data curation is often discussed within the confines of large research universities. As a result, master's and baccalaureate institutions may be left with the impression that they cannot engage with data curation. However, by proactively engaging with faculty, libraries of all sizes can build closer relationships and help educate faculty on data documentation and organizational best practices. This article describes experiences from one master's comprehensive institution as it engages …