Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Responding To Hate: How National And Local Incidents Sparked Action At The Unlv University Libraries, Brittany Paloma Fiedler, Rosan Mitola, James Cheng

Library Faculty Publications

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe how an academic library at one of the most diverse universities in the country responded to the 2016 election through the newly formed Inclusion and Equity Committee and through student outreach. Design/methodology/approach: This paper details the context of the 2016 election and the role of social justice in librarianship. It offers ideas for how library diversity committees can address professional development, recruitment and retention efforts and cultural humility. It highlights student outreach efforts to support marginalized students, educate communities and promote student activism. Finally, it offers considerations and suggestions for librarians …

The Data Framework: A Collaborative Tool For Assessment At The Unlv Libraries, Starr Hoffman, Ashley Hernandez-Hall

Library Faculty Publications

Keeping track of the data that academic libraries capture is a massive task. The University of Nevada - Las Vegas (UNLV) University Libraries developed a data framework as a tracking tool for data points. This framework is both a data dictionary and a manual that records data-gathering procedures. This ensures that the data is continually gathered and reported in the same way, and also ensures that institutional memory of those procedures is preserved, regardless of staff turnover. Additionally, the revised Data Framework, and the revision process, transformed staff attitudes about data reporting and strengthened the libraries' culture of assessment.

The Libraries They Are A-Changin’: How Libraries Reorganize, John Novak, Annette Day

Library Faculty Publications

This paper will report on the results of a study of library reorganizations in the literature. The authors identified five steps common to all library reorganizations, and this paper describes those steps as well as two management change theories most mentioned in the literature--the eight-step process of change by John Kotter and Reframing Organizations by Lee G. Bolman and Terrence E. Deal. The paper will draw conclusions formed by a comparison of these theoretical models to the practice and real life experience of reorganizations as described by libraries in the literature.

Reorganizing Through Lean Principles, John Novak, Richard J. W. Zwiercan

Library Faculty Publications

In August 2014, the director of the Collections, Acquisitions, and Discovery division within the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Libraries announced that the division would be reorganized to best use the skills and strengths of existing staff. This division, responsible for acquiring, organizing, maintaining, and making discoverable all needed and relevant materials would be composed of three departments, and the Resource Acquisition, Sharing, and Digital Scholarship department (containing the Resource Acquisition and Sharing Unit) would be one of them. To fulfill the goals of the reorganization, the acquisitions team used Lean principles and tools, specifically the value stream map, …

Ethnography In Action: Active Learning In Academic Library Outreach To Middle School Students, Samantha Godbey, Nancy Fawley, Xan Goodman, Susan Wainscott

Library Faculty Publications

This article describes an outreach activity developed and coordinated by academic librarians as part of a state program for low-income middle school students. Rather than offering a traditional library tour, the library organizers wanted to provide the middle school students with a meaningful experience that would encourage active participation, critical thinking, and alleviate library anxiety. As a spin on the traditional tour, students applied an ethnographic approach to learning about the library. The authors describe the development and implementation of the activity and provide recommendations for other librarians involved in outreach to K-12 students.

Library Instruction And Themed Composition Courses: An Investigation Of Factors That Impact Student Learning, Erin E. Rinto, Elisa I. Cogbill-Seiders

Library Faculty Publications

Many academic libraries partner with English composition in order to teach first year students skills related to academic research and writing. Due to the partnership between information literacy and first-year writing programs, it is important to evaluate how these programs can best support one another. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of two factors on student information literacy skill development: library instruction and section theme—defined here as class sections of the English 102 (ENG 102) program developed around a central topic selected by the instructor. A random sample of annotated bibliographies from 95 sections of ENG …

Engagement Of Academic Libraries And Information Science Schools In Creating Curriculum For Sustainability: An Exploratory Study, Maria A. Jankowska, Bonnie J. Smith, Marianne A. Buehler

Library Faculty Publications

In 2010, the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education released, “Sustainability curriculum in higher education: A call to action,” encouraging infusion of sustainability topics into universities' teaching and research. Since then, academic programs and research related to social, economic, and environmental sustainability have enriched university curricula. An exploratory study was conducted to determine the position and engagements of academic libraries and information science schools in their contributions to scholarly sustainability activities and curricular initiatives. This article presents the results of the study which reveals a number of engagements by library professionals in the areas of sustainability, such …

Ebook Lending Platforms, John Novak

Library Faculty Publications

For the purposes of this article, the definition of an eBook lending platform is one that contains eBooks from multiple publishers that patrons may browse and checkout. Though these platforms have eBooks that allow for multiple and simultaneous users, in general they have a one-book, one-user model. Details about the major eBook lending platforms for academic libraries, eBook lending platform characteristics, why and how an academic library would license one, and finally what the future of this rapidly changing environment may hold are explained in this article.

Expanding Library Support Of Faculty Research: Exploring Readiness, Jeanne M. Brown, J. Cory Tucker

Library Faculty Publications

The changing research and information environment requires a reexamination of library support for research. This study considers research-related attitudes and practices to identify elements indicating readiness or resistance to expanding the library’s role in research support. A survey of faculty conducted at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) finds that although a high percentage of faculty rate the library as important or very important to research productivity, perceived importance of specific support functions drops markedly, except for functions related to buying or providing access to resources.

Serving Those Who Serve: Outreach And Instruction For Student Cadets And Veterans, Nancy E. Fawley, Nikki Kyrsak

Library Faculty Publications

Student cadets and veterans new to college have unique academic needs, and the abrupt switch from civilian to Corps life for new students at a military university can be challenging. Likewise, transitioning from military life to civilian life as a veteran student can be overwhelming. The libraries at Norwich University and The University of Alabama are supporting programs to assist new students in the transition from civilian to Corps life and from military to civilian life, respectively. While these students are at different stages of their military careers, cadets and veterans have common attributes that inform library support and instruction, …

Guidelines For Media Resources In Academic Libraries (2012), Mary S. Laskowski, Cyrus Ford Zarganj, Nancy E. Friedland, Jacqueline Fritz, Jim Holmes, Lora Lennertz Jetton, M. Claire Stewart, Joe M. Williams

Library Faculty Publications

Technology used in teaching, learning, and research has created new challenges and opportunities for managers of college and university library media resource collections and services.

Moving images, sounds, and still images have become increasingly important in teaching, learning and research, and academic librarians are working closely with other agencies on campus to support faculty and student information needs. In some institutions, librarians have become true partners in the delivery of instruction, working with faculty, technologists, and instructional developers to create “new learning communities.”

Most academic libraries collect media, and these materials are as vital and diverse as any print collection …

Appearances Do Matter! What Libraries Can Learn From Clinton Kelly, Nancy E. Fawley

Library Faculty Publications

One could easily mistake Clinton Kelly’s closing keynote presentation at ACRL 2011 in Philadelphia last March as light fare. Kelly, cohost of TLC’s What Not To Wear, spoke enthusiastically about the importance of one’s appearance and the necessity of making an extra effort in the way individuals present themselves. His keynote address, and the fact that a fashion expert was a speaker at a conference for librarians, sparked debates on Twitter and in the blogosphere.

Do appearances matter? I say they do and add that this applies to buildings and objects, as well. Academic libraries, especially, could benefit from some …

Hitch Your Wagon To Institutional Goals, Anne E. Zald, Michelle Millet

Library Faculty Publications

The landscape of accreditation and accountability in higher education is in a period of rapid change, coalescing around issues identified in the 2006 report of the Spellings Commission, “A Test of Leadership: Charting the Future of U.S. Higher Education.” Information literacy librarians need to connect their instructional efforts to the institutional strategies and initiatives that address continuous improvement whatever their source, e.g. accreditation agencies, funding bodies such as state legislatures, institutional participation in the Voluntary System of Accountability (VSA), University & College Accountability Network (U-CAN), or internal initiatives of the institution’s administration. The challenge for instruction librarians is great, requiring …

Business Community Outreach: Exploration Of A New Service Role In An Academic Environment, Patrick Griffis, Sidney Lowe

Library Faculty Publications

A recent special issue of the Journal of Business & Finance Librarianship focusing on business librarianship and entrepreneurship includes many case studies detailing entrepreneurship outreach initiatives from academic libraries. The introductory article, "Entrepreneurship Outreach: A New Role for the Academic Business Librarian" by Karen MacDonald, outlines entrepreneurial outreach initiatives in the issue, stating that they “describe three very different approaches libraries have taken to align themselves with a key mission of the university – economic development” (MacDonald, 2010, p. 159). This chapter elaborates on this previous work in describing the exploration of a new role in business community outreach as …

Standards For Libraries In Higher Education, Patricia A. Iannuzzi, Tom Abbott, Jeanne Brown, Susan Gibbons, Lynne King, Sharon Mccaslin, Mary Reichel, Joan Ruelle, Lisa Stillwell, Mary Jane Petrowski, Lori Goetsch

Library Faculty Publications

The Standards for Libraries in Higher Education are designed to guide academic libraries in advancing and sustaining their role as partners in educating students, achieving their institutions’ missions, and positioning libraries as leaders in assessment and continuous improvement on their campuses. Libraries must demonstrate their value and document their contributions to overall institutional effectiveness and be prepared to address changes in higher education. These Standards were developed through study and consideration of new and emerging issues and trends in libraries, higher education, and accrediting practices. These Standards differ from previous versions by articulating expectations for library contributions to institutional effectiveness. …

The Educational Role Of Research Libraries In Higher Education: A White Paper For The Directors Of The Greater Western Library Alliance, Patricia A. Iannuzzi

Library Faculty Publications

This white paper provides background about the convergence of disparate undergraduate education movements in higher education that affect GWLA individual institutions, particularly those initiatives related to the reinvention of undergraduate education in research universities. It provides suggestions for how individual GWLA member libraries can take advantage of an unprecedented interested in education reform to assume leadership roles on our campuses, and in doing so, provide greater security for libraries during fiscal uncertainty as they position themselves, their collections, and their services as an integral part of the instructional agenda as well as the research agenda. Finally, it suggests some ways …

Cultivating The Librarian Within: Effectively Lntegrating Library Lnstruction Into Freshman Composition, Jesse Ulmer, Nancy E. Fawley

Library Faculty Publications

It has become common practice for library instruction to be included in lower-level college composition courses. Students are typically required to visit the library once or twice a semester to receive instruction on how to find books and journal articles for an upcoming writing assignment that incorporates formal research. But does this current model of instruction truly address course outcomes that seek to produce students who are information literate, critical thinkers and life-long learners? Faculty who teach such courses are often reluctant to surrender precious class time to a librarian, but this paper argues that the merging of bibliographic instruction …

Reforming The Undergraduate Experience, Diane Vanderpol, Jeanne M. Brown, Patricia A. Iannuzzi

Library Faculty Publications

This chapter examines common objectives in some of the major initiatives in higher education. It highlights the role of librarians and libraries in higher education reform

From Digital Library To Institutional Repository: A Brief Look At One Library’S Path, Marianne A. Buehler, Marcia Trauernicht

Library Faculty Publications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to give an overview of the initial transformation of one academic library’s digital media library into the institutional repository (IR) of its entire academic organization. Design/methodology/approach – Description of an academic digital library’s evolution into an institutional repository, accompanied by both practical and philosophical analyses. Findings – Materials supporting an academic institution’s scholarship (from colleges and from supporting organizations on campus) can play an important part in the success of an institutional repository. Standards for metadata content, data structures and hierarchies of collections must be followed consistently, and adequate storage for digital …

Integrating Student Information Competencies Into Library Services, Jeanne M. Brown

Library Faculty Publications

Many in the library field would argue that we have begun to perceive ourselves differently – especially in academic libraries. ALA’s Association of College and Research Libraries has been instrumental in creating or promoting a sea-change and much has gone into projecting an image of the librarian as an integral part of the educational enterprise. The message is that librarians are/ are becoming teachers.

The Evolving Impact Of Institutional Repositories On Reference Librarians, Marianne A. Buehler, Adwoa Boateng

Library Faculty Publications

Purpose – The paper's purpose is to share the insights that the staff of the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) Libraries (Wallace Library, RIT Archives, and the Cary Collection) gained into the role of reference librarians in establishing and operating an institutional repository (IR). Design/methodology/approach – The paper conducts a literature review on a range of published (1999-2005) works to research the background of IRs and to incorporate it with the authors' own experiences. Findings – The research findings, involving implementing IRs and specifically the effect on the role of the reference librarian in academic libraries, were found to be …

New Program Growth And Its Impact On Collection Assessment At The Unlv Libraries, Reeta Sinha, J. Cory Tucker

Library Faculty Publications

Purpose – Seeks to describe how Lied Library has responded to a rapid increase in the number of new academic programs and degrees at UNLV resulting from new strategic initiatives and tremendous growth of the university's student population during the past four years. Design/methodology/approach – The authors focus on the role of the Collection Development (CD) department in the university's approval process for new academic programs and the role of subject librarians in assessing how well the Libraries' collection meets the demands of new programs proposed by faculty. Findings – Detailed descriptions are provided of the process used by subject …

Policies Governing Use Of Computing Technology In Academic Libraries, Jason Vaughan

Library Faculty Publications

The networked computing environment is a vital resource for academic libraries. Ever-increasing use dictates the prudence of having a comprehensive computer-use policy in force. Universities often have an overarching policy or policies governing the general use of computing technology that helps to safeguard the university equipment, software, and network against inappropriate use. Libraries often benefit from having an adjunct policy that works to emphasize the existence and important points of higher-level policies, while also providing a local context for systems and policies pertinent to the library in particular. Having computer-use policies at the university and library level helps provide a …

University Library Partnerships: Promoting Economic Development, J. Cory Tucker

Library Faculty Publications

The article discusses an innovative partnership at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). The collaborative project involves the UNLV Libraries and the Nevada Small Business Development Center, which is affiliated with the College of Business. The partnership was created to assist the University's goal of promoting economic development in the Las Vegas and Southern Nevada region.

A Library’S Integrated Online Library System: System Assessment And New Hardware Implementation, Jason Vaughan

Library Faculty Publications

For more than a decade, a consortium of academic libraries in southern Nevada has shared a central integrated online library system (IOLS), Innovative Interfaces’ Innopac (Innovative when referring to the vendor, Innopac when referring to the software). At present, this consortium includes the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) (both the main university library system and the UNLV law library), the Community College of Southern Nevada, Nevada State College, and the Desert Research Institute. The last central-site server was purchased and installed in 1997. In the four intervening years, tremendous growth occurred with the system, necessitating a hardware upgrade. Prior …

Getting Down To Business: Library Staff Training, J. Cory Tucker

Library Faculty Publications

Develops a model for a library staff training program for business reference. The program identifies core business reference competencies for library staff and uses performance measure standards to meet Reference and User Services Association guidelines. Provides a training program that offers insight into the information-seeking habits of business students, general knowledge of the business discipline and assistance in identifying appropriate library resources. Covers all aspects of establishing a training program including planning, implementation and assessment. Effective training programs covering business and other disciplines provide library staff with an opportunity for professional development and give the library an avenue to improve …

Developing A Chat Reference Training Program, J. Cory Tucker

Library Faculty Publications

In the last few years, chat reference services have been implemented by public, college and university libraries. One important aspect of the chat reference service is library staff training. Literature shows that this is a vital step in offering a chat reference service. Library staff need to be well-trained in areas of chatting, reference interviewing in a digital environment and using electronic resources, such as the Internet and databases. This article discusses the chat reference training program at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The following text provides an outline for establishing a chat training program including planning, organization, implementation …

The Visual Learner And Information Literacy: Generating Instruction Strategies For Design Students, Jeanne M. Brown

Library Faculty Publications

In this presentation I will address three questions:

1. Who is the visual learner, and are our students – i.e. students in design disciplines – visual learners

2. Does the ACRL Information Literacy Program recognize alternate approaches to information

3. What strategies can we use to reach design students

Lessons Learned About Developing And Coordinating An Instruction Program With Freshman Composition, P. S. Mcmillen, B. Myagishima, Laurel S. Maughan

Library Faculty Publications

In the Spring of 2001, the Oregon State University Libraries began planning for a collaboration with the university's freshman composition program. In implementing this project, with no additional library resources, and with the majority of library faculty less experienced in working with freshman students, the coordinators of the program learned numerous lessons which highlighted both the steps needed in initiating and maintaining a new instruction program, and the functions and competencies vital to providing instructional leadership and coordination in an academic library. The following case study describes the process that the coordinators of this instruction program followed, and will discuss …

Journal Selections: Let’S Support Our Students’ Futures, Eva Stowers, Lesley J. Johnson, Susan L. Meacham

Library Faculty Publications

Dietetic educators concur that use of professional journals in the undergraduate curriculum promotes student reading skills, exposes students to current research, enhances computer skills and prepares dietetic students for the real world environment. Those of us in educational institutions are continually asked to review our university library holdings; prioritizing on the basis of department selections, cost, rate of inflation, use by faculty and students and availability through interlibrary loans and other document retrieval procedures. No doubt, those in industry and clinical and private practice are also watching their budgets and are asked to review expenses for professional publications.