Library and Information Science Commons^™

"To Be Honest I’M Not Sure If We Have A Textbook:" Undergraduate Access To Course Reading, Maura A. Smale

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Anecdotes, Barriers, Cooperation: The Abc's Of A Library/It Collaboration, Lee Ann Fullington, Mariana Regalado, Jane Cramer

Publications and Research

Aim Our library’s three main computing areas are the primary computer labs on campus, with two of them managed by librarians. Our staff mediated sign-in system made for long lines, delays, and more than a few misplaced student ID cards. After several semesters of monitoring issues and securing funding, the library implemented a new sign-in system for computers in the library’s labs. This presentation discusses the types of evidence we collected and used over several stages of this transition to launch and continually improve the self sign-in process.

Methods After selecting and deploying the new self sign-in software, library staff …

Evidence-Based Library Instruction For Nutrition Research: Librarian And Faculty Collaboration, Lee Ann Fullington, Melissa Fuster, Margrethe Horlyck-Romanovsky, Susan Jakuboski

Publications and Research

Aim Undergraduate nutrition and dietetics students need to develop research skills and professional competencies to identify evidence-based nutrition and food studies research. Research skills are essential for student success in dietetic internships, graduate school, and future professional practice as nutrition and dietetics professionals. In a collaborative effort to improve student research skills, teaching faculty, the program director, and the liaison librarian developed a series of research skills one-shot sessions for an accredited undergraduate program in Foods and Nutrition at a public liberal arts college. Using a scaffolded approach, the library sessions were designed to help students build research skills essential …

Promoting Discipline Specific Literacy For Law & Paralegal Studies Students: Libguides As Transitional & Professional Tools, Marissa Moran, Kimberly Abrams

Publications and Research

Developing LibGuides for Law and Paralegal Studies students at New York City College of Technology arose from the following question: how do we change the way legal studies students think of the Library as a resource to better assist them in their transition to college level-research and a future career as a paralegal. At the heart of this question is the importance of discipline-specific information literacy at the college and professional levels. Many students have difficulty with locating relevant information to complete course assignments partly because library resources are both fragmented and cohesive. Thus, while part of the transition to …

Flexi Discs: The Audio Format That Time Forgot And Remembered Again, Junior R. Tidal

Publications and Research

Flexi discs, also known as phonosheets and Soundsheets, are “flexible” plastic sheets that can be played on turntables. This audio format was used for a wide variety of purposes including promotional materials, giveaways, and inserts into magazines, stemming from their origins in playable chocolate discs in the early 1900s (Parks, 2018). At one point in time it was a $9 million dollar business, with the U.S. government as one of the top users of the technology (Penchansky, 1979). Their disposable nature, weight, ability to print directly on material, and affordable manufacturing made the flexi disc an alternative to vinyl pressings. …

Partnering For Social Justice: Social Work Students’ Placement At Public Libraries, Sarah C. Johnson

Publications and Research

While the collaborative trend among professional social workers and librarians is garnering much deserved attention, literature about social work students partnering with public libraries is virtually nonexistent. Public librarians can advocate for social justice by initiating partnerships with master-level social work (MSW) students to enhance small- and large-scale programs to address the unique needs of patrons. In this chapter, I highlight existing collaborations among public libraries and student social workers to raise awareness of possibilities.

Critical Information Literacy, Emily Drabinski, Eamon Tewell

Publications and Research

This encyclopedia entry presents a brief introduction to critical information literacy, an approach to teaching people how information is produced, organized, circulated, and preserved.

Listening To What Students Are Asking: The Role Of An Academic Library In Institution-Wide Knowledge Management, Elizabeth Jardine

Publications and Research

Students at our public, urban community college were experiencing difficulties finding correct, consistent answers to their questions about navigating college processes, information students needed to succeed in school. These difficulties were fueled not only by our students’ backgrounds—they are often the first generation in their family to attend college, may require additional academic preparation, or lack support for their higher education dreams—but also by the siloed information environment prevalent in academia. When our college president realized the extent of student challenges in this area, she looked to the college’s librarians, campus experts in knowledge organization and provision, for direction with …

Wikipedia, Socialpedia, And Randompedia: How Could One Play By The Rules When There Aren’T Any?, Junli Diao

Publications and Research

This article documents a cataloging librarian’s personal narrative that reflects his experience of organizing Wikipedia-Edit-thon. This experience leads to a journey of self-education about Wikipedia, a divergence to preconceived notions about it, and an embrace for a change in the future.

Partnering For Social Justice: Msw Interns In Public Libraries, Sarah C. Johnson

Publications and Research

While the collaborative trend among professional social workers and librarians continues to grow, literature about the utilization of student social workers partnering with libraries is non-existent. Over 64,000 students are currently enrolled in M.S.W. programs through the United States and nearly all are required to complete approximately 900 hours of fieldwork. Such students provide the skills, knowledge, and values that can help take diversity in public libraries to the next level. Public librarians play a critical role in advocating for social justice and change. By reaching out to MSW programs, they invite budding social workers to help advance tolerance for …

The Living Archive In The Anthropocene, Nora Almeida, Jen Hoyer

Publications and Research

This paper presents the concept of the living archive as a system which reflects how social behavior and cultural production are part of the Anthropocene. The authors explore how dominant narratives of both the Anthropocene and the archive work to consolidate power and maintain cultural and disciplinary divisions. The authors refute conceptions of the Anthropocene as a purely biophysical phenomenon that is alienated from cultural practice and of the archive as a comprehensive and nostalgic space. They then introduce the living archive as an alternative representational, creative, and reactive space and illustrate how the living archive can intervene in ecological …

Insights From Library Information And Resource Sharing For The Future Of Academic Library Collections, Beth Posner

Publications and Research

The successes and challenges of library resource sharing offer important lessons for librarians considering the future of academic library collections.

What Is Critical About Critical Librarianship?, Emily Drabinski

Publications and Research

Library work structures intellectual worlds as library workers collect, organize, make accessible, and preserve materials for use. This work is not neutral. Libraries, like all institutions, are produced in and through systems marked by racism, patriarchy, and capitalist modes of production. Critical librarianship offers a framework for thinking about our work that asks how library structures came to be and what ideologies underpin them. Viewing librarianship through this frame allows us to imagine new and better worlds on our way to making them.

Library Use Survey: November 26 - December 9, 2018, J. Silvia Cho, Diana Teeter, Polly Thistlethwaite

Publications and Research

In this self-study, we observed occupancy rates and patterns at the Graduate Center Library over two weeks in November and December of 2018. The mean occupancy at the Library was 26%, or 117.5 occupants. Occupancy on all three floors ranged from 13% or 60 occupants (a Sunday at 1pm) to 38% or 170 occupants (a Saturday at 6pm).

Aligning The Curriculums For College Success: High School And College Library Collaborations, Carl R. Andrews, Dickens Saint Hilaire

Publications and Research

In today’s highly competitive global economy, City University of New York (CUNY) graduates need strong critical thinking skills. More New York City students than ever before are applying to college and enrolling into CUNY schools. This is especially the case with high schools throughout the Bronx, a good portion of these schools are feeder schools for Bronx Community College (BCC). Unfortunately, many of the students who matriculate into BCC come un-prepared for college level work, where information literacy skills are essential. A strong body of published scholarly literature discusses the importance of information literacy instruction at the high school level, …

Opening The Conversation: Getting Started, Stacy Katz

Publications and Research

This column explores the concept of Open Educational Resources and how it relates to librarianship

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Eighteen Blind Library Users’ Experiences With Library Websites And Search Tools In U.S. Academic Libraries: A Qualitative Study, Adina Mulliken

Publications and Research

Telephone interviews were conducted with 18 blind academic library users around the U.S. about their experiences using their library and its website. The study uses the perspective that blind users’ insights are fundamental. A common theme was that navigating a webpage is time consuming on the first visit. Issues identified include the need for “databases” to be defined on the homepage, accessibly coded search boxes, logical heading structure, and several problems to be resolved on result pages. Variations in needs depending on users’ screen reader expertise were also raised. Suggestions for libraries to address these issues are offered.

A Question Of Space: Surveying Student Usage Of Lgbtq Resources In The Lgbtq Student Center Library And The Campus Library, Anne Hays

Publications and Research

This article explores how self-identified lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) students use the library located within a culture center on campus serving LGBTQ students, compared to the ways those students use the main campus library. In particular, this study asks how LGBTQ students’ needs of library collections may differ based on where those collections are located. While much has been written about pluralism, diversity, and multiculturalism in the library, there have been strikingly few studies by librarians attempting to work with minority student cultural centers on campus. Through an in-depth survey, this study directly asks LGBTQ students …

Building Bridges: Fostering Dynamic Partnerships Between The Library Department And Office Of Student Disability Services In Higher Education, Nilda Alexandra Sanchez-Rodriguez, Joseph Logiudice

Publications and Research

Building effective communication and interdepartmental partnerships are essential components of strengthening services, policies, and procedures to meet the individual information needs of students, faculty, and the college community. Despite major advancements in library services for users with disabilities, there are ongoing challenges, which need to be addressed. It is essential to develop inclusion and accessibility frameworks that serve mutual departmental interests to share and document lessons learned along the way.

This article explores the evolving shared leadership between an Architecture Librarian/Liaison to the AccessAbility Center; and the Director of Student Disability Services at the City College of New York to …

Addressing The Technical Challenges Of Open Educational Resources, Steven Ovadia

Publications and Research

As open educational resources (OER) becomes a more established concept, its growth and continued success not only center around the creation of new content but also depend upon the development and evolution of existing content, licenses permitting. The evolution of and persistent access to existing content requires easily editable works and the ability to download local copies of OER files so that no technical limitations hinder what the license permits. Such measures as text files, OpenDocument formats, and version control present a way to keep OER content editable and shareable, in compliance with licenses. Librarians are uniquely positioned to help …

The Cuny Dominican Studies Institute Library: Bringing The Community To The Academic Library, Nelson Santana, Sarah Aponte

Publications and Research

The Dominican Library is a haven where a diverse group of users congregate not only to learn about Dominican-related sources, but also to become information literate. This chapter provides an overview of the history and development of the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute Library since its inception in 1994 to its transformation from a local resource to an internationally recognized resource. In addition, this chapter seeks to establish the work the Library has done in making a unique contribution to Dominican studies scholarship and to the preservation and dissemination of Dominican history and culture in the United States and beyond. The …

Visualizing Archives And Library Collections, Thomas Cleary

Publications and Research

Archivists and special collections librarians have struggled for a long time with how to show patrons what we have in our holdings. Collections have been made accessible through container lists, finding aids, and collection and content management systems such as ArchivesSpace, Islandora, and CONTENTdm. Each of these documents and systems also has its own learning curve and different functions, but even then the scale of some topics in collections or the connectedness between collections is not always apparent.

This article showcases two projects the author has worked on to assist in creating data visualizations in a library/archives context. The GLAMViz …

A Promising Partnership: An Undergraduate Intern And Librarian Collaborate On Research Guides And Collection Development, Lee Ann Fullington, Alexandra Torres

Publications and Research

Though library science internships for undergraduates are not as well documented as those for MLIS students, internships for undergraduates can be impactful for both the intern and the library. Undergraduate students have firsthand, immersive experience with their major curriculum, and this expertise can benefit science librarians making collection development decisions and creating content for research guides. This article discusses two such projects undertaken by an undergraduate mathematics major as part of a science librarianship internship.

Contingent Appointments In Academic Libraries: Management Challenges And Opportunities, Marta Bladek

Publications and Research

Academia’s overwhelming reliance on non-tenure track, or contingent, faculty is a well known fact. While the status and working conditions of contingent classroom faculty have been well studied and documented, the corresponding trend in academic libraries has not been explored as deeply. As this paper reviews the limited LIS literature on the subject, it aims to provide administrators and managers with a deeper understanding of the benefits and drawbacks of contingent appointments. It also offers strategies for fostering a workplace culture that recognizes contingent librarians’ contributions and promotes their professional growth.

Latino Students And The Academic Library: A Primer For Action, Marta Bladek

Publications and Research

As the growth in Latino college enrollment is expected to continue for years to come, academic libraries at Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) and beyond will be serving increasing numbers of Hispanic students. Since Latino educational attainment remains lower than than of other groups and academic libraries’ impact on retention, GPA and related educational outcomes has been well documented, it is crucial that academic libraries actively foster Latino students’ success. A review of the literature on Hispanic students and library use, the article also includes recommendations for practice and offers a local example to illustrate strategies libraries may implement to better …

Leveraging Library Expertise In Support Of Institutional Goals: A Case Study Of An Oer Initiative At Lehman College, Stacy Katz

Publications and Research

Incentivizing faculty adoption of Open Educational Resources (OER) as a method for reducing textbook costs to increase access and affordability of higher education has been an area of development in academic libraries. This manuscript describes the experience at Lehman College, CUNY, the only four-year public college in the Bronx, NY. The OER initiative involves the creation of a new program, which includes assisting faculty with adopting and adapting OER, as well as training and discussion around issues pertinent to OER, such as finding and evaluating OER. The case study explains local conditions and provide an overview of the financial implications …

Engaging The Framework For Information Literacy For Higher Education As A Lens For Assessment In Eportfolio Social Pedagogy Ecosystem For Science Teacher Education, Wesley Pitts, Alison Lehner-Quam

Publications and Research

This article highlights a case study that assesses how graduate-level, in-service science teachers engage in an ePortfolio social pedagogy ecosystem to document their growth in knowledge practices and dispositions in information literacy. The ePortfolio social pedagogy ecosystem and this study are situated within the context of the Catalyst Framework. The three modes of interrelated social learning activities include: (1) authoring the written ePortfolio in an online ePortfolio digital media platform, (2) presenting the ePortfolio in the webinar platform, and (3) presenting the ePortfolio in- person in a physical setting. We used case study methodology to systematically investigate how each participant …

Student Textbook Purchasing: The Hidden Cost Of Time, Stacy Katz

Publications and Research

Choice in textbook purchasing has been portrayed as beneficial to students. However, the time spent exploring options for purchasing textbooks takes students away from other obligations in their lives. This research is a study of student textbook purchasing. In this paper, the literature regarding the textbook acquisition process is explored. Students were surveyed regarding their textbook purchasing habits. I found that most students visited multiple stores or websites, but those who purchased textbooks ultimately only purchased from the campus bookstore/bookstore website or Amazon.com. Approximately twenty percent of students reported spending more than two hours purchasing textbooks. The ways in which …

What's The Real Cost Of Your Textbook?, Sharell Walker, Kathryn Anastasi

Publications and Research

A presentation on a Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) initiative that collected the narratives of students who faced financial difficulty as a result of the high cost of textbooks. The project is meant to shed light on the benefit of zero textbook cost courses and urge faculty to convert their courses to ZTC courses.

From Women-Staffed To Women-Led: Gender And Leadership In Academic Libraries, 1974-2018., Marta Bladek

Publications and Research

This article reviews post-1974 scholarly literature on women’s leadership in academic libraries, with the emphasis on the United States. The purpose of this synthesis is to highlight research areas and themes that have significantly expanded the profession’s knowledge about gender and its impact at the top administrative level. The article starts with a brief overview of theories of gender and leadership before tracing scholarship on the gendered career patterns singled out in Schiller’s work (1974). The article then focuses on additional issues related to gender and library administration, including leadership styles, perceptions of differences between male and female leaders, and …