Library Research Project for First-Year Engineering Students: Results from Collaboration by Teaching and Library Faculty

SUMMARY

This article will discuss three years of collaboration between the Freshman Engineering Program and the Engineering Library of the University Library System at the University of Pittsburgh. This collaboration has resulted in a library research project that is integrated into the freshman curriculum. The project ultimately provides the students with a research structure for presentations in an annual mock professional conference. The mission of the Freshman Engineering Program's academic and advising components is to create a first-year experience that promotes the student's continued pursuit of an engineering degree through commitment to clearly understood and self-declared goals. The goal for the Engineering Library is to introduce library research as a necessary skill-set for successful engineers. The successful outcome of all of these goals requires the collaboration between “teaching” faculty and “library” faculty and results in better prepared, more focused students. Developing and integrating a library research project into the freshman engineering academic curriculum is a significant opportunity for library instruction, and the approach demonstrated here may be transferable to other disciplines.     

Facebook as a Communication Tool for an Academic Library: East West University Library,Bangladesh Perspective

The primary objectives of this research article are to explore the concept of communication tools using Facebook, and to evaluate the performance of the East West University (EWU) Library Facebook page as a communication tool. The EWU Library Facebook page uses a variety of strategies and techniques to engage with its patrons. The author's intention is to examine this library Facebook page, which is explored using a case study method. This article also focuses on how Facebook facilitates collaborations between the library and the patron's community, as well as the implications for academic libraries in the future. This case study reviews the literature on the use of social networking while focusing on Facebook as a communication tool and engaging libraries in social networking. The article emphasizes the author's experience of working in an academic library to identify the main trends in providing services based on posting various topics through the Facebook page of the EWU Library, Bangladesh. The numerous issues in adapting Facebook as a communication tool and an exploration of the opportunity and drawbacks of the use of the Facebook application in academic libraries are also discussed.     

Orality in the library: How mobile phones challenge our understandings of collaboration in hybridized information centers

The domestication of mobile phones and a changing articulation of academic libraries as collaborative spaces present an opportunity for digitally-mediated collaboration—or do they? The intersection between the academic library's dynamic space and governing policies and guidelines, and the omnipresent mobile phone user is examined. Data was collected through document analysis and 46 ethnographic observations and interviews. How historical precedents, communication incongruence, and a lack of user studies can result in inconsistencies between academic libraries' visions and users' information practices is illustrated. Recommendations for policy-makers and managers of hybridized information centers are made. Specifically, guidelines regarding mobile phones should be revised to reflect a more in-depth understanding of mediated collaboration through mobile phone use.     

Good IDEA: Instructional Design Model for Integrating Information Literacy

The demand for instructional design librarianship is increasing. The trend is due to higher education's focus on integrating information literacy content in academic disciplines. The generic ADDIE (analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation) design model is traditionally used to develop information literacy instruction and content. The IDEA (interview, design, embed, assess) Model is a library-specific systematic approach to integrating information literacy instruction and resources within academic courses. The process is based upon instructional design best practices and cognitive and behavioral learning theories. Close collaboration between library and academic faculty is evident throughout. Flowcharts, forms, and rubrics guide librarians not formally trained in instructional design through the process.     

What makes a “happy” workplace for librarians? Exploring the organizational functions of academic libraries in South Korea

Academic libraries are facing the need to closely examine the effectiveness of current organizational functions in response to rapid changes in technology and the information environment. The purpose of this study is to explore the functions and issues of the academic library organization in South Korea based on the librarians' perceptions. We conducted a literature review about the changes in the role of academic libraries and organizational functions. In-depth interviews with 19 librarians and a content analysis of those interviews were conducted. As a result, we identified organizational characteristics pertaining to 1) internal functions of the library, such as communication, leadership, motivation, and team system, and 2) external functions, such as collaboration with external administrative departments, and utilization of personal networks. We also discovered mutual relationships among the functions. In particular, leader's support is important to continuously motivate librarians and increase the effectiveness of the team system, resulting in a positive effect on the reputation of the academic library. This study contributes to the academic library literature by comprehensively and empirically exploring functions affecting the services of academic libraries.     

Electronic Reserves: A Centralized Approach to the Scanning Process

ABSTRACT

Electronic reserves are being offered at colleges and Universities across the country creating an opportunity for collaboration between the library units of academic libraries. Library units with course reserves in medium and large academic libraries can capitalize on the benefits working with a centralized scanning unit, thus consolidating the scanning process of electronic reserves processing. The cooperation between library units to provide better service results in a positive relationship between course instructors, students, and the library.     

Academic library performance measures and undergraduates' library use and educational outcomes

This study investigated the relationship between an institution's academic library performance measures and undergraduates' library use and educational outcomes. The sample consisted of 7,958 undergraduates attending 36 colleges and universities representing four institutional types. Regression analyses determined the relationship between academic library performance measures and library use and self-reported gains in critical thinking while controlling for undergraduates' background characteristics and college experiences. Greater utilization of academic library services had a negative relationship with undergraduate library use at two institutional types. However, undergraduates attending research universities with greater academic library resources had higher self-reported gains in critical thinking. Regressions for the four institutional types explained 25% to 32% of the variance for library use and 22% to 27% of the variance for self-reported gains in critical thinking. The results provide a better understanding of how academic library resources and services affect both library usage and educational outcomes.     

高校图书馆信息资源共享平台建设

从网络共享、存储与检索、资源与服务协作等方面构建高校图书馆信息资源共享平台,并分析其共享平台建设涉及的相关影响因素及应注意的问题,以提升高校图书馆的信息服务能力与水平。     

A long article about short videos: A content analysis of U.S. academic libraries' use of TikTok

TikTok, a social media platform that focuses on short form videos, has gained a high level of popularity, particularly among young adults. Because libraries are always looking for ways to engage with their patrons, the popularity among this demographic provides an opportunity for college and university libraries to do so. This study analyzed and categorized the videos within 15 academic library TikTok accounts in order to answer two questions: 1) How do academic libraries use TikTok? and 2) Is there a correlation between content category and user interaction on academic library TikTok accounts? The results show that humanizing or fun videos were most utilized by academic libraries, followed by videos including or highlighting collections and spaces. Results also demonstrated that humanizing and fun videos received the highest amount of user engagement. This differs from previous studies on other types of social media wherein news and announcements or events were often the dominant categories.     

The future of electronic reserves and the presence of librarians in content management systems: A case study at Manhattan College

This article addresses the development of electronic reserves within academic libraries. Libraries have been offering electronic reserve services on separate platforms since the 1990s (Austin, 2013). However, since the integration of campus-wide content management systems (CMSs), the need for a library reserves platform that is independent from an institution's CMS has decreased, and independent e-reserves systems have potentially become obsolete (Maddison & Kumaran, 2017). This article presents the steps taken between 2015 and 2017 by the O'Malley Library to streamline the electronic reserves services so that they are accessible through the college's CMS, Moodle. Through careful study, the library decided to eliminate electronic reserves services in the future. This will be replaced with encouraging faculty to add the course content traditionally placed on electronic reserves in Moodle while librarians provide guidance in avenues such as copyright and Fair Use.     

Access Pricing to a Digital Broadcasting Platform

This article studies a television market where operators can sell access to programs and to advertising time. First, we determine the retail prices paid by viewers and advertisers to a monopoly platform when there are externalities between these two markets. We compare the prices that an unregulated platform would establish with the welfare maximizing prices. Second, we obtain the access charge that an independent programmer should pay to a television platform for using one of his channels. We show that the optimal access charge takes into account the direct cost of access and the platform's opportunity costs in the viewer and advertiser markets, which are affected by the externalities between the two markets.     

Do Job Advertisements Reflect ACRL's Standards for Proficiencies for Instruction Librarians and Coordinators?: A Content Analysis

This study investigates the extent to which the skills and proficiencies mentioned in ACRL's Standards for Proficiencies for Instruction Librarians and Coordinators are represented in a current sample of instruction librarian job advertisements. Advertisements from U.S. academic institutions posted on the American Library Association's JobLIST site were collected over a period of six months. Results from a content analysis of these advertisements as compared to the Standards reveal trends in those skills which are in-demand. These results add support for the importance of collaboration, instructional design, leadership, and subject expertise as they relate to instruction and demonstrate that not all skills identified as crucial for instruction librarians within the Standards are typically indicated within the content of a job advertisement. This research will be of interest to library science students, job seekers, LIS faculty, and employers hoping to attract qualified candidates to fill library instruction-related positions.     

Reaching Beyond Library Employees: Assessing IT Student Workers

ABSTRACT

This article examines a collaboration between academic librarians and campus IT to provide library training and assessment for computer lab consultants who work in the library. Pre- and post-tests were used to gauge lab consultants’ ability to answer frequently asked library questions using online guides. This research project also served as a pilot for collaborations between the library's Coordinator of Outreach and Peer Learning and supervisors of student workers in the library.     

Reaccreditation at Nova Southeastern University

Abstract

Reaccreditation offers academic libraries concerned about improving library services to distance students with an important opportunity to obtain support from their academic institutions. Nova Southeastern University (NSU) Libraries provides a case study of how one library has used the reaccreditation process to increase both the administration's cooperation and funding for document delivery, online resources, bibliographic instruction, and local library resources to distance students.     

Crossing Three Bridges: Linking Librarianship and Teaching Across the P-16 Educational Continuum

SUMMARY

Georgia State University Library's Education and Communication liaisons teamed up to teach a graduate course on the selection and use of reference resources for the College of Education's Library Media Technology Program. The collaboration between these two librarians can serve as a model for collaboration on three levels: collaboration between two librarians as co-teachers; collaboration between university librarians and academic department faculty; and, finally, “collaboration across work places” between academic librarians and school media specialists in P-12 settings. Unique challenges, benefits, and possibilities for this type of collaborative effort are examined.     

Orienting Neighborhood Youth to an Academic Library

Summary

Early in 1997, full Web access was added to Babson Library's public workstations. In a few short months, library computers became a mecca for neighborhood youth. The library's “open door” philosophy and Springfield College's strategic vision to strengthen campus/community ties brought the library to the forefront of actively developing services for community youth. An outreach program for community youth was designed to address the issue of computer access. The development of the program involved the entire library and provided an opportunity for collaborative interaction among the library, related campus programs, and community agencies. Its impact on the library brought to the forefront the debate between “academic service” and “community service.”     

Connecting the Libraries and Athletics through Instruction and Outreach

This column describes the approaches taken by librarians and staff at James Madison University (JMU) Libraries & Educational Technologies (LET) to extend library support to university athletics. The model resembles that used for outreach to academic programs and was first adapted to the semi-clinical, nonacademic Strength & Conditioning Department, then to JMU Athletics as a whole. Librarians offered targeted instructional sessions, orientations, and asynchronous learning modules embedded in the learning management system. This new relationship has provided an opportunity for broader collaboration, increasing LET’s presence across campus.     

Transitioning from Marketing-Oriented Design to User-Oriented Design: A Case Study

The transition to a new architecture and design for an academic library Web site does not always proceed smoothly. In this case study, a library at a large research university hired an outside Web development contractor to create a new architecture and design for the university's Web site using dotCMS, an open-source content management system. The library participated in the design and development process along with other campus units. Because the university-wide process focused on marketing the university to prospective students, parents, and donors, the contractor's fact-finding process focused on how the library's site design could incorporate Web 2.0 technologies. The resulting library Web site showcased Web 2.0 technology more than it provided users with access to library resources. The library's users quickly communicated their dissatisfaction and confusion, which led to some immediate changes and a commitment to redesign the site based on expressed and demonstrated user needs. The library then hired another contractor to conduct iterative usability testing on both the new site and prototypes for a redesigned version. The testing showed that Web 2.0 technology that does not meet existing user needs creates obstacles for both novice and experienced users. In collaboration with the university's information technology unit, the library developed and launched a revised Web site, which helped users connect to the resources they needed. In the upgrade, Google Search Appliance replaced the native dotCMS search functionality. The authors of this case study demonstrate that libraries may need to advocate for different Web design priorities than those used at the university-wide level and that working with outside contractors presents different challenges and opportunities depending on the contractor's hiring unit. These experiences also demonstrate that libraries can do a better job learning about their users when they lead the fact-finding process. Following these experiences, the library committed to conducting iterative usability testing on a regular basis.     

Library as a Partner in Co-Designing Learning Spaces: A Case Study at Tampere University of Technology,Finland

This article presents a case of co-designed temporary learning spaces at a Finnish academic library, together with the results of a user-survey. The experimental development of the multifunctional spaces offered an opportunity for the library to collaborate with its parent organisation thus broadening the role of the library. Hence, library can be seen as a third player facilitating learning spaces. Additionally, the library's own expertise was strengthened through successful cooperation with the undergraduate students and other actors. The results support prior research, where studying in the library is target-oriented differing from other learning spaces in providing support and resources.     

Pakistani University Library Web Sites: Features,Contents, and Maintenance Issues

ABSTRACT

This study explores the current status and features of Pakistan's academic library Web sites. A checklist describing features and content was prepared based on a review of the literature related to academic libraries’ Web sites. Then, all 85 library Web sites of Pakistani universities and degree-awarding institutions recognized by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan were surveyed and analyzed using the checklist. Interviews with library professionals were conducted to learn more about the problems and issues with building and maintaining library Web sites. Results indicate that Pakistani academic library Web sites have effective features such as contrasting color schemes, easily readable text, minimal use of horizontal scrolling, and English-language text. Staff information, OPACs, and navigation features are also widely found on the Web sites. Features found less frequently include the use of Web 2.0 technologies, Web site aid tools, information about library buildings, and general library information. By offering information about the status of Pakistani academic library Web sites, the study can serve as a foundation for discussion between libraries and other parts of the university, as well as a benchmark for evaluating the progress of academic library Web sites in Pakistan