Library and Information Science Commons^™

Past Perceptions, Present Usage: Latinx Students And Academic Libraries, Niki S. Fullmer, Brittany Paloma Fiedler

Library Faculty & Staff Presentations

Over the last two decades, the population of Latinx students enrolled in higher education has increased by 142%, but they are still underrepresented overall. According to 2015 United States census data, only 16% of Hispanic adults have a Bachelor’s degree or higher compared to 54% of Asian Americans, 36% of (non-Hispanic) white people, and 23% of Black people. The needs of Latinx students in higher education are obviously not being met. Academic libraries have long seen themselves as integral to student success, but there is little research about how they are (or are not) serving Latinx students specifically. The IFLA/UNESCO …

Introduction To Western Archivists Meeting Special Issue, J. Gordon Daines Iii

Journal of Western Archives

Introduction to the special issue related to the Western Archivists Meeting.

It's Raining In The Archives: Practical Lessons And Impactful Results From Moving An Academic Archives, Maurice R. Blackson, Julia Stringfellow

Journal of Western Archives

This article explores the move of the Central Washington University Archives and Special Collections (CWUASC) to a new location from the fourth floor to the second floor of the James E. Brooks Library in 2018. The history of the CWUASC, reasons for the move, the planning and designing of the new space, the actual move of the collection by the archives staff, lessons learned, and the impact of the move in reaching a larger audience of faculty, staff, students, and the general public are described. A review of literature on other moves of archives and special collections is also provided.

Little Big Stories: Case Studies In Diversifying The Archival Record Through Community Oral Histories, Beth Mcdonald, Heather Lanctot, Natalia M. Fernandez

Journal of Western Archives

The use and development of oral history programs has become a popular way for archives to document events and communities, either as a supplement to traditional records or as discrete collections. In particular, projects that focus on involving groups traditionally underrepresented within the archival record are becoming increasingly common in both large institutions and small community archives. This article presents three case studies of oral history projects dedicated to forging ties in the community and increasing diversity in their collections. In these case studies, the authors discuss the inceptions of their projects and the ups and downs of developing community …

Using Visual Resources To Teach Primary Source Literacy, Daniel Davis

Journal of Western Archives

Historic photographs provide an excellent teaching tool for promoting primary source literacy. People like to look at photographs, we all take them, and they illustrate the strengths and limitations of analyzing and interpreting primary sources. In 2019 I spent six months on sabbatical taking a “deep dive” into the new primary source literacy standards as well as the literature for teaching with primary sources. I then created a lesson plan, “Exploring the West in the Golden Age of Photography,” that focused on teaching primary source literacy through historic images. While this lesson plan was aimed at instructors teaching U.S. West …

Archivist To Archivist: Employing An Ethics Of Care Model With Interns And Student Workers, Alexandra M. Bisio, Steve Duckworth, Helena Egbert, Emily Haskins, Gayle O'Hara

Journal of Western Archives

In their 2016 article, “From Human Rights to Feminist Ethics: Radical Empathy in the Archives,” Michelle Caswell and Marika Cifor posit four “affective responsibilities” for archives and archivists: “the relationship[s] between archivist and record creator, between archivist and record subject, between archivist and user, and between archivist and larger communities.” This paper posits an additional responsibility, between archivist and archivist. There is, as Caswell and Cifor put it, a “web of mutual responsibility” within the professional archives community that has become a central focal point in many discussions and, at the same time, continues to be ignored in maintenance of …

Community Of Practice At The California State University Special Collections And University Archives, Berlin Loa, Pamela Nett Kruger

Journal of Western Archives

The California State University Archives and Archivists’ Roundtable is a Community of Practice consisting of archivists that meet regularly online, and annually in person. Communities grow from shared interests, resources, concerns, or endeavors. Communities of practice can grow out of a need for connecting with other people who share the same issues, learning environment, or passions. In this article we describe how the CSUAAR group was founded, how it has evolved, and offers a potential model for other archivists to identify, create, and maintain a community of practice through common needs or interest.

Missing The Marc: Utilization Of Marc Fields In The Search Process, Liz Woolcott, Andrea Payant, Becky Skeen, Paul Daybell

Library Faculty & Staff Publications

Utah State University Cataloging and Metadata Services (CMS) unit analyzed MARC record discoverability within the libraries’ discovery layer, Encore, using web analytics, a web-scrapping tool, and a relational database to examine MARC records listed in users’ search results. MARC records were identified, isolated, and coded to pinpoint where search terms appeared, determine whether they were present in full or in part, and ascertain prominent fields not present in records. Analysis of results showed that notes and summaries were important for record retrieval and that users interacted with authorized name fields more frequently than authorized subject fields.

Presidential Records & Materials, Jen P. Kirk

Library Faculty & Staff Presentations

Research using presidential records can be quite complex. Presidential records are mix of public and private materials, and are located in a variety of archival, library, and museum settings. Understanding a little bit about the history of presidential records helps researchers understand where they can find information about the topics they seek to understand or explain. This display provides an overview of key institutions and a timeline of developments. An associated research guide provides direct access to key collections for each U.S. president.

Understanding The Transient Nature Of Stem Doctoral Students’ Research Self-Efficacy Across Time: Considering The Role Of Gender, Race, And First-Generation College Status, Kaylee Litson, Jennifer M. Blaney, David F. Feldon

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Developing research self-efficacy is an important part of doctoral student preparation. Despite the documented importance of research self-efficacy, little is known about the progression of doctoral students’ research self-efficacy over time in general and for students from minoritized groups. This study examined both within- and between-person stability of research self-efficacy from semester to semester over 4 years, focusing on doctoral students in biological sciences (N = 336). Using random intercept autoregressive analyses, we evaluated differences in stability across gender, racially minoritized student status, and first-generation student status. Results showed similar mean levels of self-efficacy across demographic groups and across …

Cataloging Broadsides & Posters, Becky Skeen

Library Faculty & Staff Presentations

Catalogers are increasingly responsible for creating metadata for a variety of unusual items. These may be part of a library’s special collections department or interfiled with the general collection. Luckily, technical services librarians have developed a number of guidelines for cataloging these special formats. This is the fourth installment of ULA’s technical service’s round table cataloging webinar series and will focus on how to catalog broadsides and posters following format specific guidelines and standards.

Communicating About Computational Thinking: Understanding Affordances Of Portfolios For Assessing High School Students’ Computational Thinking And Participation Practices, Deborah A. Fields, Debora Lui, Yasmin Kafai, Gayithri Jayathirtha, Justice Walker, Mia Shaw

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Background and Context: While assessment of computational thinking concepts, practices, and perspectives is at the forefront of K-12 CS education, supporting student communication about computation has received relatively little attention.

Objective: To examine the usability of process-based portfolios for capturing students’ communication about their computational practices regarding the process of making electronic textile projects.

Method: We examined the portfolios of 248 high school students in 15 introductory CS classrooms from largely underserved communities, using a formal rubric (top-down) to code computational communication and an open-coding scheme (bottom-up) to identify computational practices described.

Findings: Students demonstrated stronger …

Debugging By Design: A Constructionist Approach To High School Students’ Crafting And Coding Of Electronic Textiles As Failure Artifacts, Deborah A. Fields, Yasmin B. Kafai, Luis Morales-Navarro, Justice T. Walker

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Much attention in constructionism has focused on designing tools and activities that support learners in designing fully finished and functional applications and artifacts to be shared with others. But helping students learn to debug their applications often takes on a surprisingly more instructionist stance by giving them checklists, teaching them strategies or providing them with test programs. The idea of designing bugs for learning—or debugging by design—makes learners agents of their own learning and, more importantly, of making and solving mistakes. In this paper, we report on our implementation of “Debugging by Design” activities in a high school classroom over …

Marginalia No. 45, Merrill-Cazier Library, Utah State University

Marginalia

• Dear Friends, page 2
• New Librarians, page 3
• New Library Position Bolsters First-Year Student Success, page 4
• Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion at USU Libraries, page 5
• Historical Document Transcription Project Engages Library Staff, page 6
• Supporting USU Graduate Student Scholarship, page 7
• Telling Our Story: 130 Years of Aggie Women, page 8
• Stay Safe, Stay Well, Stay Productive, page 9
• Digital Preservation at USU Libraries, page 10

Challenges In Providing Reference Services In Small Archival Institutions, Aaron T. Preston

Journal of Western Archives

This paper describes, the results of a brief survey of archivists working for fifty five small archives nationwide. The purpose the survey was to examine to what extent smaller archival institutions are applying remote reference services, what type of remote services are being utilized and to identify common challenges faced by small archival institutions with different functions and audiences. It also and examine common challenges faced in the implementation of digitization efforts to support these reference services. The survey was posted via the Society of American Archivists Lone Arrangers Forum, and cross-posted it on the Reference, Access, and Outreach Forum. …

Project Management: A Library Perspective, Becky Skeen

Library Faculty & Staff Presentations

Agenda

▪ Basic terminology and concepts

▪ Project life-cycle phases

▫ Initiation

▫ Planning

▫ Executing

■ Monitoring and Controlling

▫ Closing

▪ Application/Conclusion

Review Of Developing And Maintaining Practical Archives: A How-To-Do-It Manual, Katie Ferrante

Journal of Western Archives

Review of Developing and Maintaining Practical Archives: A How-To-Do-It Manual (third edition).

Will The Last Archivist In Seattle Please Turn Out The Lights: Value And The National Archives, Megan E. Llewellyn, Sarah A. Buchanan

Journal of Western Archives

With the abrupt announcement in late January 2020 that the National Archives at Seattle–placed on 10 acres in the Sand Point neighborhood since 1963–would be "eventually" closed and the records moved to facilities in Riverside, California and Kansas City, Missouri, the surprised dismay from state archivists, researchers, and Native American tribal leaders and Alaska Natives who see their ancestors and heritage directly depicted in the records was quick and loud. The facility holds one million cubic feet of federal records which are accessed by over 700 people visiting its research rooms, and which grow by about 1300 cubic feet annually. …

Learning Analytics With Library Instruction Data And Student Data, Kacy Lundstrom, Britt Fagerheim

Library Faculty & Staff Presentations

USU Libraries has an on-going learning analytics project combining library instruction data with student data.

We are examining connections between:

• when and how often students receive library instruction
• during their college career student GPA and retention

Beyond Books 2: Cataloging Archival Materials, Nicole Lewis, Allison Mccormack, Becky Skeen, Rebecca A. Wiederhold

Library Faculty & Staff Presentations

Academic libraries aren’t the only institutions that care for archival materials. These unique items can often be found in public libraries, historical societies, and other cultural heritage organizations, many of which may not have trained special collections catalogers on staff. In this workshop, participants will learn how to catalog archival materials, including manuscripts, photographs, and audiovisual materials, so they can be discovered in online catalogs and databases. Both item and collection-level cataloging will be discussed, and participants will learn when and how to apply relevant metadata standards like RDA and DACS. They will then practice cataloging with examples provided by …

Iiwalaawiiloxhbakaa (How We Lived): The Grant Bulltail Absáalooke (Crow Nation) Stories Collection, Nick Gittins, Andrea Payant

Library Faculty & Staff Presentations

About Me & Why I Was Selected

• Trained in Classical History with emphasis on the oral tradition, theater, and storytelling in the ancient world • Folklore student of Grant Bulltail

• History of excellence at the Merrill-Cazier Library and interest in the Fife Folklore Archive and Special Collections

• Given an opportunity to intern in SCA beginning in the Summer of 2019 during which Randy Williams mentioned a collection of oral histories provided by Grant Bulltail, I jumped at the opportunity

• Little did any of us realize the immense size and scope of this amazing collection

Review Of Defining A Discipline: Archival Research And Practice In The Twenty-First Century: Essays In Honor Of Richard J. Cox, Dylan Mcdonald

Journal of Western Archives

Review of Defining a Discipline: Archival Research and Practice in the Twenty-First Century: Essays in Honor of Richard J. Cox.

Leveraging Local Resources And Contexts For Inclusive Computer Science Classrooms: Reflections From Experienced High School Teachers Implementing Electronic Textiles, Mia S. Shaw, Deborah A. Fields, Yasmin B. Kafai

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Background and context

Promoting open-ended projects presents new opportunities and challenges for inclusive teaching in CS classrooms. While efforts have been made to develop inclusive curricula, little research has focused on ways teachers apply curricula in their classrooms to promote inclusion.

Objective

To understand the challenges faced in facilitating an open-ended unit and the pedagogical strategies enacted to address those challenges, we analyze the self-reported teaching practices that experienced teachers developed in their implementation of a constructionist electronic textiles unit in Exploring Computer Science.

Method

We inductively analyzed and coded 17 experienced teachers’ weekly surveys and post-interviews.

Findings

Teachers …

Utah State University - University Libraries Metadata Application Profile For Contentdm Digital Collections, Version 2.0, Andrea Payant, Melanie Shaw, Anna-Maria Arnljots, Liz Woolcott

Library Faculty & Staff Publications

The Utah State University Libraries Digital Collections Application Profile outlines the metadata fields, mappings, definitions, and resources used to assign metadata for digital collections in the USU CONTENTdm repository. Utah State University is a collection partner of the Mountain West Digital Library (MWDL). Therefore, this profile pulls substantially from the MWDL application profile 3.0, which is available at this URL: https://github.com/mountainwestdl/mwdl-map/wiki/MWDL-Metadata-Application-Profile

Assessing Research Compliance For Federally Funded Projects: The Good, The Bad, And The Publicly Accessible, Rebekah Cummings, Lindsay E. Ozburn, Andrea Payant, Betty Rozum, Michael Shelton, Ryan Bushman

Library Faculty & Staff Publications

In 2016, Utah State University launched a program to ensure their campus’ federal grant recipients were in compliance with funder mandates to share any data or publications produced as a result of the award. This paper discusses how a cross-institutional team of librarians and administrators evaluated the success of this program using online asynchronous focus groups (OAFG) in conjunction with a traditional survey. The challenges and successes of using OAFGs to assess library services are also examined. An OAFG gave participants greater convenience, flexibility, participation, and time to craft answers, eliminating some of the hurdles to traditional focus group participation.

Finding A Fit: Biological Science Doctoral Students’ Selection Of A Principal Investigator And Research Laboratory, Michelle A. Maher, Annie M. Wofford, Josipa Roksa, David F. Feldon

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

In the laboratory-based disciplines, selection of a principal investigator (PI) and research laboratory (lab) indelibly shapes doctoral students’ experiences and educational outcomes. Framed by the theoretical concept of person–environment fit from within a socialization model, we use an inductive, qualitative approach to explore how a sample of 42 early-stage doctoral students enrolled in biological sciences programs made decisions about fitting with a PI and within a lab. Results illuminated a complex array of factors that students considered in selecting a PI, including PI relationship, mentoring style, and professional stability. Further, with regard to students’ lab selection, peers and research projects …

Utah State University: English Composition Library Instruction Program – A Program Within Programs, Katie Strand, Dory Rosenberg, Mckenzie Hyde

Library Faculty & Staff Publications

This case study book chapter presents missions, allocation of resources and labor, supervisory structures, prioritization approaches, and other processes and structures required to make the English Composition Library Instruction Program work. The program consists of an integration with Utah State University’s English 1010 and English 2010 courses. Both of these courses have their own separate objectives and learning outcomes, and the overall goal is that once students finish (or test out of) both courses, they will have developed foundational research and writing skills related to rhetorical argumentation. Our goal in describing our program is to showcase an example of an …

Towards The Effective Implementation Of Collaborative Problem Solving In Undergraduate Engineering Classrooms: Co-Designing Guidelines For Teaching Assistants, Saadeddine Shehab, Luettamae Lawrence, Emma Mercier, Anthony Salvatore Margotta, Elizabeth Renee Livingston, Mariana Silva, Taylor Tucker

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Typically, in higher education STEM classes, teaching assistants (TAs) perform teaching duties such as leading and running discussion sections where students apply concepts they have encountered in lectures. Nevertheless, research studies show that TAs struggle to effectively implement collaborative problem solving activities. One contributing factor is the lack of actual guidelines that can help TAs translate the theoretical ideas about implementing collaborative problem solving into concrete actions. This paper presents guidelines that can be used by TAs to implement collaborative problem solving activities in undergraduate engineering classrooms. Three researchers and two engineering teaching assistants participated in two, two-hour long workshops …

“How Well Does Your Structural Equation Model Fit Your Data?”: Is Marcoulides And Yuan’S Equivalence Test The Answer?, James Peugh, David F. Feldon

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Structural equation modeling is an ideal data analytical tool for testing complex relationships among many analytical variables. It can simultaneously test multiple mediating and moderating relationships, estimate latent variables on the basis of related measures, and address practical issues such as nonnormality and missing data. To test the extent to which a hypothesized model provides an appropriate characterization of the collective relationships among its variables, researchers must assess the “fit” between the model and the sample’s data. However, interpreting estimates of model fit is a problematic process. The traditional inferential test of model fit, the chi-square test, is biased due …

Finding Av Needles In Manuscript Haystacks: Conducting An Audiovisual Assessment/Audit In Manuscript Archives, Benjamin Harry

Journal of Western Archives

Many twentieth-century audiovisual formats are becoming obsolete or are physically degrading, warranting the need to digitally reformat this content. The first step is to expeditiously document where and what types of audiovisual materials are hidden within archival manuscript collections. This article describes the efforts of the L. Tom Perry Special Collections (LTPSC) at Brigham Young University to quickly audit manuscript collections to determine the location and format details of audiovisual materials, a crucial first step to inform decisions about personnel requirements, equipment purchases, and grant seeking to facilitate the systematic digitization of audiovisual content.