Library and Information Science Commons^™

Primary Vs. Secondary Sources: A Brief Introduction (Lesson), Alexandra Hamlett, Meagan Lacy

Open Educational Resources

Use this lesson to help students distinguish between primary and secondary sources and use them in them in the appropriate context.

The Cuny-Shanghai Library Faculty Exchange Program: Participants Remember, Reflect, And Reshape, Sheau-Yueh J. Chao, Beth Evans, Ryan Phillips, Mark Aaron Polger, Beth Posner, Ellen Sexton

Publications and Research

This chapter recounts the outcomes and experiences of six American librarians who participated in an international librarian exchange program that ran from spring 2010 through fall 2011. The exchange brought together the City University of New York (CUNY) and two universities in Shanghai, China: Shanghai University (SU) and Shanghai Normal University (SNU). The program was inspired, in part, by recognition of the diversity of CUNY’s student body and growing awareness of the increasing globalization of information and education. For the Chinese librarians, the exchange offered an opportunity to learn from the West and showcase their own innovations. The traveling participants …

Website Evaluation Lesson, Alexandra Hamlett, Meagan Lacy

Open Educational Resources

This activity helps students evaluate their own authority on a particular subject so that they can begin to understand how authority is created and effectively evaluate the authority of other sources they encounter. Additional evaluation criteria is also introduced.

Walk The Future Like A Landscape: Theorizing An Interdisciplinary Approach, Jeremy Mcginniss

Urban Library Journal

Locating the place of the academic library in the current socio-political, economic environment is a fraught task. Being able to visualize library function in the future is even more difficult. The three concepts of maintaining perspective, creating context and building connections serve to anchor this presentation. Informed by the writings of John Stilgoe, Keller Easterling, James Scott, and related library literature, this presentation locates these three concepts in two different metaphors. The first is that of a giant; the second that of the ant. These metaphorical views provide and are dependent upon perspective, context, and connection. Employing the giant and …

What Can Libraries Learn From The Future Of Public Media?, Chris Kretz

Urban Library Journal

The world of public media has much in common with the world of libraries. Both are made up of outward-facing, civic-minded people and systems, mission-driven to educate, serve, and engage a diverse community of users. This paper examines the current state of public media, both radio and television, to outline the problems being faced, the debates within the profession, and the strategies being pursued to ensure relevance and effectiveness for the industry. Understanding how public media is adapting and innovating in response to changing user behaviors and technological disruption can help inform decision-making in libraries of all types. This paper …

Complementary Therapies In Libraries: A Future Perspective, Kellie Sparks

Urban Library Journal

Academic libraries can assist in the efficacy of student learning by offering specialized programming, spaces, and knowledge opportunities that delve into the use of complementary practices and techniques. By regularly offering resources that may be considered non-traditional such as meditation and yoga, libraries can assist students in gaining a greater awareness of themselves and their environment. Libraries can provide these services at the point of need and not limit these methods to only particular times of the academic year. Libraries can also become spaces for further research since much is still being examined regarding the effects of complementary practices on …

Libraries As Pivotal Community Spaces In Times Of Crisis, Renate L. Chancellor

Urban Library Journal

Over the past several years, society have witnessed an unprecedented number of tragedies. From the Paris bombings to the shooting of an unarmed man in Tulsa, Oklahoma, civil unrests has become a part of our everyday life. Consequently, these disturbances have had a far-reaching impact on our global and local communities. In communities in the United States, police shootings and public protests in urban cities have resulted in crises that have been particularly hard-felt, but more significantly, they live vividly in our memories. Libraries in these communities often serve as safe havens in times of crisis. This paper presents two …

Egalitarian Teams In Action: Organizing For Library Initiatives, Linda Miles, Miriam Laskin, Kate Lyons

Urban Library Journal

In 2006 Peter Senge, who coined the term the learning organization, wrote, “As the world becomes more interconnected and business becomes more complex and dynamic, work must become more ‘learningful’... It’s just not possible any longer to to figure it out from the top, and have everyone else following the orders of the ‘grand strategist’” (p. 4). Senge documented the need for professions and organizations that can change, that can quickly adapt, be nimble, learn, and find new opportunities in the changing information landscape. Libraries are not immune from this kind of pressure. In this case study, first presented at …

Notes From The Editors, Cheryl L. Branche

Urban Library Journal

No abstract provided.

Always A Novice: Feminist Learning And Leadership Practice, Maura A. Smale

Publications and Research

Learning about the theory and practice of intersectional feminism played an important role in my development as a librarian and a library director, and the ongoing study of feminism continues to be integral to my leadership work. Th e definition of feminism that I prefer is the concise and powerful statement by bell hooks: “feminism seeks to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression.” While I did not attend a library and information science graduate program with the express intention of becoming a library director, that is where I find myself. And while I have always considered myself a feminist, I …

Beyond Ada Compliance: The Library As A Place For All, Jj Pionke

Urban Library Journal

In 2015, the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) celebrated its 25^th anniversary. While libraries have instituted ADA compliance initiatives since the law came into effect in 1990, and new libraries are generally designed with compliance in mind, to be truly accessible for all people, libraries must incorporate principles of universal design not just into the physical building but into all aspects of the library, including our web presence and the services we provide to patrons. This paper argues that libraries are falling far short of true accessibility and that there needs to be a serious mental shift in how …

Libraries, Knowledge, And The Common Good: The Cultural Politics Of Labor Republicanism In Progressive-Era Wheeling, West Virginia, Jonathan Cope

Publications and Research

An analysis of the Ohio Valley Trades and Labor Assembly's campaign to defeat a proposed Carnegie library in Wheeling, West Virginia in 1904.

Painless Portal Partnerships: Collaboration And Its Challenges For Small Organizations, Christine Mcevilly

Publications and Research

This article addresses challenges inherent in collaborative archival projects involving both large institutions and small historical societies. It identifies these unique problems and outlines potential solutions to overcome these issues. Examples are drawn from the Portal to American Jewish History project and contextualized within the professional literature on ethnic or community archives and archival collaboration. This project collected metadata from a wide range of Jewish history archives and aggregated the records in a single searchable website.

Choose Your Own Adventure: The Hero's Journey And The Research Process, Mariana Regalado, Helen Georgas, Matthew J. Burgess

Publications and Research

In Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey, the hero of the story embarks on an adventure and returns transformed, empowered, and enlightened. Two academic librarians and the research process itself were incorporated into the curriculum of an undergraduate composition course that was structured around the research and writing process as a hero’s journey. The experience, which was student/hero-centered, self-directed, self-defined, investigative, and exploratory, was transformative for the students and the librarians as well.

Review Of The Book Harmful And Undesirable: Book Censorship In Nazi Germany, John A. Drobnicki

Publications and Research

Review of the book Harmful and undesirable: Book censorship in Nazi Germany.

The Absence Of Public Libraries In Imperial China: An Alternative Interpretation Of Chinese Writing, Junli Diao

Publications and Research

The purpose of this article is to explore Chinese writing and its connection with libraries in Imperial China. From the perspective of analyzing Chinese writing and its cultural, social and political impact, this article attempts to deliver a tentative and speculative exploration concerning why public libraries did not automatically emerge from Chinese civilization. This article discusses how Chinese writing, characterized by the art form Calligraphy, was intimately associated with Chinese classical texts, knowledge classification, bibliographers and imperial libraries, and eventually with an elite culture empowered by the socio-political repertoire of scholar-officials. It particularly focuses on the discussion of how “public” …

Academic Library Innovation Through 3d Printing Services, Galina Letnikova, Na Xu

Publications and Research

Purpose – One of the most innovative library services recently introduced by public and academic libraries, the technology of 3D printing, has the potential to be used in multiple educational settings. The goal of the project described in this article was to examine how this novel library digital service motivates students’ learning, and to investigate managerial issues related to the introduction of 3D printing services at a medium-size urban community college library with restricted funding.

Design/Methodology/Approach - Since fall 2014, the LaGuardia Library Media Resources Center has been offering a portable consumer-end 3D printer for classroom use. This paper provides …

Applying Instructional Design Principles To An Internship Curriculum, Lee Ann Fullington, Matthew Harrick

Publications and Research

Ch.22 from Creative instructional design : Practical application for libraries. Our chapter discusses applying backwards design, reflection, other instructional design concepts to improve on our library and information science internship program for undergraduates.

The Development Of An Academic Library’S Mobile Website, Junior R. Tidal

Publications and Research

Mobile devices have become more ubiquitous among academic library users. It’s now common to see through analytics that smartphones, tablet computers, e-readers, and even portable gaming consoles are connecting to online library services. This chapter is a case study of how a small academic library supported its users through the creation of a mobile-optimized library website. It documents the chronological changes from the website’s humble beginnings on a shared Windows IIS server to its current configuration on a Linux-based cloud server. Throughout its existence, the website was developed with adaptability in mind, and flexibility, in order to respond to unpredictable …

A Collaborative Intervention: Measuring The Impact Of A Flipped Classroom Approach On Library One-Shots For The Composition Classroom, Maureen Garvey, Anne Hays, Amy F. Stempler

Publications and Research

Instruction Librarians teaching one-shot information literacy (IL) sessions to freshman composition classes at academic universities across the U.S. experience a familiar set of issues. In response, librarians have produced a bounty of literature detailing flipped instruction approaches, collaborative case studies with outside departments, and critiques of the library one-shot, but there is little research describing attempts to combine these three approaches in one study. Both a case study and an impact-assessment study, this article describes a collaborative intervention between the Library Instruction team, the Writing Across the Curriculum program, and the English Department, with the purpose of studying the intervention’s …

The Chief Learning Officer: A Model Role For Integrating Hr And Strategic Planning Functions In Libraries, Robert Farrell

Publications and Research

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to put forward the position of chief learning officer (CLO) as a potential new role or models for new roles in libraries wishing to integrate human resources, strategic planning, and budgeting.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews the history and present functions of the CLO role in the corporate world, correlating work within the library field with key aspects of the position as way by which to conceptualize the integration of disparate library operations.

Findings – The position of CLO has not yet entered the library and information science (LIS) discourse.

Practical implications …

Learning The Basics Of Scholarly Communication: A Guide For New Subject Liaison Librarians, Madeline Cohen

Publications and Research

Academic librarians are playing a greater role in scholarly communication at their institutions. Scholarly communication has become a part of every academic librarian’s work. In particular, the role of subject liaison librarian often includes responsibilities related to advising discipline faculty on scholarly publishing, open access, institutional repositories and copyright. Liaison librarians might take on these responsibilities without having a firm grasp of the landscape of scholarly communication due to lack of experience or education in this area. This article is a guide to the key issues and concepts of scholarly communication for librarians new to this facet of academic librarianship. …

Open Educational Resources And Rhetorical Paradox In The Neoliberal Univers(Ity), Nora Almeida

Publications and Research

As a phenomenon and a quandary, openness has provoked conversations about inequities within higher education systems, particularly in regards to information access, social inclusion, and pedagogical practice. But whether or not open education can address these inequities, and to what effect, depends on what we mean by “open” and specifically, whether openness reflexively acknowledges the fraught political, economic, and ethical dimensions of higher education and of knowledge production processes. This essay explores the ideological and rhetorical underpinnings of the open educational resource (OER) movement in the context of the neoliberal university. This essay also addresses the conflation of value and …

Librarians Building Digital Learning Objects Supporting Cultural Understanding: Fulbright-Hays Seminar Abroad In Morocco And Tunisia, Michael J. Miller

Publications and Research

Chapter explores a 2011 Fulbright- Hays Seminar experience in Morocco/Tunisia related to comparative religion. The grant process is explained, Seminar is detailed, and the curriculum project is detailed.

New Outreach Initiatives At A Community College, Sharell Walker

Publications and Research

This article explores the development and initiation of new outreach programs by the Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) Library department after the hiring of a new librarian. The literature review will address current research that was used in the decision making process whilst putting together outreach initiatives and literature used to develop future ideas. The article discusses the development of these outreach initiatives, the problems encountered during their initial implementation, the outcomes of the programs that were offered, feedback, and the future goals of the library department.

Cataloging Backlogs: Perennials, Seaweeds, Or Others?, Junli Diao

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Measures Of Greatness: A Lotkaian Approach To Literary Authors Using Oclc Worldcat, Alon Friedman, Jay H. Bernstein

Publications and Research

This study examines the productivity, eminence, and impact of literary authors using Lotka's law, a bibliometric approach developed for studying the published output of scientists. Data on literary authors were drawn from two recent surveys that identified and ranked authors who had made the greatest contributions to world lit- erature. Data on the number of records of works by and about selected authors were drawn from OCLC WorldCat in 2007 and 2014. Findings show that the distribution of literary authors followed a pattern consistent with Lotka's law and show that these studies enable one to empirically test subjective rankings of …

Many Hats, One Head: Considering Professional Identity In Academic Library Directorship, Maura A. Smale

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Information Literacy And Institutional Effectiveness: A Longitudinal Analysis Of Performance Indicators Of Student Success, Miriam Laskin, Lucinda Zoe

Publications and Research

This article reports on an analysis of data that tracks close to 2000 students in an urban public community college over a five year period to gather baseline data on the potential impact of information literacy instruction on standard indicators of student success—retention, graduation rates, pass rates on required proficiency exams in math, reading, and writing, GPA and credits earned. The data show a statistically significant trend that favors the students who have taken information literacy workshops, showing a higher rate of success in every category than students who did not participate in our information literacy program.

Faculty Visions For Teaching Web Accessibility Within Lis Curricula In The United States: A Qualitative Study, Adina Mulliken, Mireille Djenno

Publications and Research

This qualitative study explores the understanding and perspectives of faculty in US library and information science (LIS) programs about teaching web accessibility. “Web accessibility” can be defined simply as making websites accessible for all, including people with disabilities. Eight LIS professors and two graduate LIS students or recent alumni with interests in accessibility were interviewed for the study. Results showed that, although some faculty were novices, most interviewees thought it would be beneficial to teach web accessibility in a variety of LIS courses. However, despite the seeming consensus, discussion of incorporating web accessibility into curricula was rare. This study explores …