Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Academic Libraries And Writing Centers: Collaborations At Us Public Research Universities, Mary K. Bolin

School of Information Student Research Journal

The websites of 71 US research universities were the source of data on the relationship of academic libraries and campus writing centers, which provide support for developing written communication skills. All 71 institutions have writing centers, generally administered by the academic success operation, the English department, or a college such as arts and sciences. Just under half (n=35) of the institutions have a writing center located in the library. In 16 of those institutions, the library is the only location of the writing center. The general issues of academic success and “library as place,” as well as the space that …

User Experience Desires Personalization From Academic Library Websites, Sarah Wilson

School of Information Student Research Journal

No abstract provided.

The Evolving Information Needs And Behaviors Of Undergraduates, Brianna Limas

School of Information Student Research Journal

Undergraduates comprise a highly complex information community, composed of many identities and with a range of interests and skills. Emerging technologies continue to play a critical role in undergraduates’ information behaviors. While prior literature has focused on the academic information needs of students, emerging technologies have brought to light the considerable role of their everyday life information behaviors. This paper seeks to explore the information needs and behaviors of undergraduates, in particular the current and incoming graduating classes. With increased focus on meeting everyday life information needs and continued appreciation and understanding of the versatility of emerging technologies in the …

Classification Methods In Context At Theological Libraries: A Case Study, Chloe G. Noland

School of Information Student Research Journal

This case study explores issues of interoperability and shared collection management between two libraries – one community and one academic – located within the American Jewish University (AJU). AJU’s choice to use two separate classification systems, Library of Congress and Elazar, respectively, provides a necessary separation of academic and religious context, but limits record access between the two collections. Specifically, this study aims to answer the following core research question: is consolidation into one classification scheme both a realistic and helpful solution for increased interoperability? Examining the history, patron needs, and principles of arrangement in both systems provided further insights …

Faculty Response To Deselection In Academic Libraries: A Psycholinguistic Analysis, Ann Agee

Faculty and Staff Publications

Deselection is a necessary but politically sensitive part of an academic librarian's responsibilities. To provide an overview of the emotional dynamics involved in weeding an academic collection, this article analyzes editorials, articles, and book chapters chronicling faculty response to weeding from a psycholinguistic viewpoint. Using computer-based text analysis, these accounts are examined for the amount and type of emotional content they contain. These findings provide a template for what librarians can expect when beginning a deselection process and point to best practices for working effectively with faculty to create a robust and healthy collection.

Three Years Of Unmediated Document Delivery: An Analysis And Consideration Of Collection Development Priorities, Emily Chan, Christina Mune, Yiping Wang, Susan Kendall

Faculty and Staff Publications

Like most academic libraries, San José State University Library is struggling to meet users’ rising expectations for immediate information within the financial confines of a flat budget. To address acquisition of nonsubscribed article content, particularly outside of business hours, San José State University Library implemented Copyright Clearance Center’s Get It Now, a document delivery service. Three academic years of analyzed data, which involves more than 10,000 requests, and the subsequent collection development actions taken by the library will be discussed. The value and challenges of patron-driven, unmediated document delivery services in conjunction with traditional document delivery services will be considered.

Piloting Interactive Exhibits In The Academic Research Library, Erin Fletcher, Meris Madernach, Arnab Nandi, Alex Oliszewski

ASIS&T Student Chapter Events Archive

Presentation by Erin Fletcher, Meris Mandernach, Arnab Nandi, and Alex Oliszewski at the Symposium on Information and Technology in the Arts and Humanities (April 22 & 23, 2015). The Symposium was sponsored by the Special Interest Groups for the Arts and Humanities (SIG AH) and Visualization, Images, and Sound (SIG VIS) of the Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T).

All of the Symposium recordings can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2v-vQy9W5DePg7QSKABGmuVzCXpVkeTh

Slides can be downloaded from: http://figshare.com/authors/Symposium_on_Information_and_technolology_in_the_arts_and_humanities/740215

Erin Fletcher is the Exhibits Coordinator at The Ohio State University Libraries. She entered the world of academic libraries from a background in contemporary …

Jal In The Past Decade: A Comprehensive Analysis Of Academic Library Research, Lili Luo, Margaret Mckinney

Faculty Publications

A content analysis is conducted to examine the peer-reviewed articles published in the Journal of Academic Librarianship (JAL) from 2004 to 2013. Five key variables are studied: authorship, article type, topic, research methods/design, and research theories/models. About three-fourths of the articles were authored by at least one librarian, and over half of the articles were co-authored. More than two-thirds of the articles were primary research articles, and a total of 24 topics related to academic libraries were covered, among which information literacy was the most popular one. Survey and content analysis are the two most frequently used research methods in …

Reference Service Evaluation At An African Academic Library: The User Perspective, Lili Luo, Viscount Buer

Faculty Publications

Purpose – This paper aims to provide a detailed discussion of a large-scale library reference evaluation study conducted at the University of Education, Winneba (UEW) in Ghana. The study seeks to evaluate the reference service from the user perspective, focusing on how users use and perceive the service. Design/methodology/approach – Self-administered survey was used as the data collection instrument. One thousand questionnaires were distributed to library users in a three-week period, and the response rate was 63.7 per cent. Findings – The reference service had a high non-use rate of 42.6 per cent, which was primarily attributed to library users’ …

Copyright, Fair Use And The Digital Age In Academic Libraries: A Review Of The Literature, Amanda Mccormick

School of Information Student Research Journal

Copyright law in the United States has gained a certain notoriety for its complexity and ambiguity, which has only been compounded by the evolution (or, some would say, revolution) of print resources to electronic resources. The purpose of this literature review is to review the current understanding of copyright law within the context of academic libraries in universities and colleges. Additionally, this review will describe what issues academic librarians face in complying with copyright law in this new digital age while continuing to perform duties such as processing course reserve materials, developing an institutional repository, and maintaining a digital collection. …

Information Literacy Instruction For Upper-Year Undergraduate Students: A Stratified Course-Integrated Approach, Stacey Nordlund

School of Information Student Research Journal

Undergraduate students face many potential barriers to learning about the process of conducting research. Information literacy instruction provided through faculty-librarian collaboration in an effort to expand the abilities of the “novice researcher” can ease the experience of undergraduate students. In addition, information literacy instruction may invoke increased student participation in the scholarly discourse of their chosen discipline. The implementation of a stratified course-integrated approach may be particularly valuable to upper-level undergraduates in preparation for completing a thesis or other culminating project in their final year of study. This claim is examined within the context of an instruction session observed as …

#Socialtagging: Defining Its Role In The Academic Library, Annalise Ammer, Katherine Bertel

School of Information Student Research Journal

The information environment is rapidly changing, affecting the ways in which information is organized and accessed. User needs and expectations have also changed due to the overwhelming influence of Web 2.0 tools. Conventional information systems no longer support evolving user needs. Based on current research, we explore a method that integrates the structure of controlled languages with the flexibility and adaptability of social tagging. This article discusses the current research and usage of social tagging and Web 2.0 applications within the academic library. Types of tags, the semiotics of tagging and its influence on indexing are covered.

Discovery Tools And Local Metadata Requirements In Academic Libraries, Mary S. Wood

School of Information Student Research Journal

As the second decade of the twenty-first century commences, academic librarians who work to promote collection access must not only contend with a vast array of content available in a wide range of formats, but they must also ensure that new technologies developed to accommodate user search behaviors yield satisfactory outcomes. Next generation discovery tools are designed to streamline the search process and facilitate better search results by incorporating metadata from proprietary and local collections, then by providing relevancy-ranked results. This paper investigates the implications of discovery tool use for accessing materials housed in institutional repositories and special collections, in …

Building And Designing Bridges - Enabling Bilingual Academic Learning Experiences, Eileen Bosch, Valeria Molteni

Faculty and Staff Publications

Attendees will have an opportunity to learn and discuss with two librarians from California State University System about the challenges and issues experienced in implementing bilingual services in reference and instructional sessions to bilingual speaking students on their campuses. In addition, attendees will be able to learn about a strong partnership developed between both librarians as well as empowering a curriculum relationship with faculty in Foreign and Romance Languages Departments. Presenters will also address how to create an ambiance of support to first generation students who often experience a lack of confidence necessary to be academically successful.

After the presentation, …

Is It Really Sink Or Swim For Tenure Tracks?, Crystal Goldman, Valeria Molteni, Yuhfen Diana H. Wu

Faculty and Staff Publications

A panel consisting of a mentor and two mentees will share their experiences and tell their stories. They seek to exchange ideas on surviving a fast-changing environment with librarians from other academic libraries where librarians have faculty status. The San Jose State University (SJSU) experience is easy to duplicate and aims to help junior librarians achieve her/his full potential, to design/develop personal goals that fit into personal career expectations, to take one step at a time to reach those goals, to better support organizational goals and objectives, to develop leadership within the organization, to boost morale and productivity, and finally …

Synergies Sparked: A Research Agenda For Practicing Professionals, Anita Coleman

Faculty Publications

This is a presentation (of 50 slides) at the University of California, Irvine sponsored by the Libraries' Department of Education and Outreach and by the LAUC-I (Librarians Association of the University of California, Irvine) Professional Development Committee. The title is picking up on the 2005 ASIS&T Annual Conference theme of Sparking Synergies: Bringing Research and Practice Together. Coleman discusses her research agenda which spans both sides of the information coin - she tries to examine representations of information and information usage in a unified program of inquiry. The research goal is to expand and integrate knowledge about uses and users …

Information Competencies Checklist: A Resource For Intersegmental Collaboration, Susan Klingberg

Faculty and Staff Publications

The paper provides a model checklist of information competencies for two- and four-year colleges and universities.