Spatial information literacy for digital humanities: The case study of leveraging geospatial information for African American history education

ABSTRACT

The rise of “digital humanities” and the “spatial turn” in the humanities has generated many new insights in the study of culture, history, literature, and arts. Within this research trend, the library's geospatial service can play an active role by introducing spatial information literacy and technology. In this article, we use the information literacy framework to explore the library's role in supporting digital humanities by introducing a successful collaboration involving a librarian and history and education researchers in hosting a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)-funded summer institute for school teachers. Our results suggest that the framework has opened a new way to facilitate collaborations between librarians and multidisciplinary researchers.     

The devil in the details: An academic library acquires a video collection

What happened when an educational video collection arrived on an academic library's doorstep? Decisions about cataloging, processing, shelving, and circulation inevitably followed, but equally important was providing uninterrupted access for the collection's borrowers. Although the relocation plan devised by the library director and circulation librarian retained the “new” collection's unique classification scheme and kept it shelved apart from the library's video collection for at least 1 year, after Technical Services librarians joined the discussion, they proposed immediate and full integration. Their strategy included extensive communication with the videos' borrowers as the collection arrived in the library. Relocating the videos to the library dramatically improved access and circulation.     

Building capacity in a health sciences library to support global health projects

This paper describes how a large, academic health sciences library built capacity for supporting global health at its university and discusses related outcomes. Lean budgets require prioritization and organizational strategy. A committee, with leadership responsibilities assigned to one librarian, guided strategic planning and the pursuit of collaborative, global health outreach activities. A website features case studies and videos of user stories to promote how library partnerships successfully contributed to global health projects. Collaborative partnerships were formed through outreach activities and from follow-up to reference questions. The committee and a librarian''s dedicated time established the library''s commitment to help the university carry out its ambitious global agenda.     

Collection Development Strategies for Community Engagement

This article documents a survey used at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, to answer the question: “How do I know the library's collection is successful as a partner-collaborator to a local, vibrant art scene that favors performative and installation art?” A literature review evaluates changes in collection development praxis from the championing of approval plans by the R2 Consulting team to the emerging ways the collection specialist may direct collaborative use in the community and academy. A carefully conceived acquisition process complemented by engagement strategies ensures the libraries’ role as a partner to teaching, learning, and research.     

Cataloging Telephone Directories

Telephone directories often cover many geographic entities. Small geographic entities commonly are included in directories of larger entities, thereby limiting access to the location of the smaller unit. Finding telephone directories for some geographic areas can be very difficult at times. Cataloging all telephone directories in a library's collection is one way to help the patron and reference librarian. This article discusses how to catalog telephone directories in order to provide maximum access to this information.     

Enhancing Bibliographic Records with Tables of Contents Derived from OCR Technologies at the American Museum of Natural History Library

ABSTRACT

This paper reports on a project undertaken at the American Museum of Natural History Library in 1997 and intended to enhance access to materials in the library's collection by using scanning and OCR software to digitize and add monograph tables of contents to the OPAC bibliographic records. Initially, conference proceedings already in the collection were used, but, as the project developed, other types of materials were also used. The rationale for the project is explained, the procedure developed is described, and the lessons learned from using this particular technology are outlined.     

BCL3 and notis: An automated collection analysis project

The availability of the third edition of Books for College Libraries in machine-readable format opens up new possibilities for using computer technology for collection analysis, particularly if a library's holdings are also in machine-readable format. Preliminary results from a collection analysis project at the Kent State University Libraries are presented. The project features a database created from the Books for College Libraries file that includes local subject categories and holdings status. Initial automated matching of records from the database against the Libraries' holdings was performed by a microcomputer workstation wired to the online catalog. Nonmatching records are being searched manually as a follow-up.     

Perception Matters: What Message Are We Sending to Faculty with Departmental Book Allocations?

Perception can be everything. As librarians consider the ever-changing nature of the library's role on campus, they may want to adopt a philosophical approach to restructuring the traditional library materials budget from the perspective of perception rather than from the perspective of cost-cutting, creating staff efficiencies, or even collection development. By looking at the role faculty play in building the library's collection, conclusions can be formed about what the library's budget structure and budgetary interaction with faculty convey about the library's priorities as an institution and with regard to its role within the campus community as a whole.     

Accessing the Old and the New

Summary

The University of Arizona Library's tradition of outreach to the surrounding community is reflected in two examples of projects detailed here. The first project is a series of Web exhibits created by librarians and individuals from the community that explore the history of Tucson and southern Arizona. Some of the Web exhibits detail the experiences of immigrant and Native American cultures in the area while other Web exhibits deal more generally with the history of the area. The second project involves a Federal grant that will make certain parts of library's Special Collections more accessible to the community by building new facilities that are open longer hours, digitizing some of the materials and adding computer workstations for users.     

Building Community: Partnering with Students and Faculty to Design a Library Exhibition Space

ABSTRACT

An academic library's space has traditionally operated as a repository, but with the proliferation of new media and interactive technologies, libraries now also serve as incubators of ideas. Architecture students at Auburn University recently took part in renovating the design library. With the librarian acting as client, they were asked to investigate diverse materials and design methods to create a dynamic and interactive exhibition wall which would showcase the creation of new knowledge and facilitate the dissemination of new information. This article discusses how the plug-in wall acted as a catalyst for the school's renewed communal investment in the library.     

The evaluation,selection, and acquisition of legal looseleaf publications

Many legal library materials appear in looseleaf format. The cost of these publications strains already tight library budgets. It is essential to scrutinize potential acquisitions of this type, learning as much about these expensive sets as possible before purchasing them. The evaluation criteria used in this paper—publisher, cost, bibliographical value, physical quality, and relevance to the library's collection—help the librarian make an informed selection decision. This article also addresses the practices of telemarketers and publisher's representatives.     

“Click Here to Order This Book”: A Case Study of Print and Electronic Patron-Driven Acquisition in University College Dublin

University College Dublin became the first library in the Republic of Ireland to trial patron-driven acquisition (PDA) as a collection development tool in 2013. A total of 42% of UCD Library's book budget was allocated to the project, which included both electronic and print books. This article describes the twelve month project from the tender stage, through evaluation and selection of supplier, to the final money being spent. We analyze which disciplines spent the most money, and how usage of PDA titles compared to non-PDA orders placed in the same time period. Finally, we assess the impact of PDA on the library's workflow.     

Reinvisioning and redesigning “a library for the fifteenth through twenty-first centuries”: a case study on loss of space from the Library and Center for Knowledge Management,University of California,San Francisco

The University of California, San Francisco, is an academic health sciences campus that is part of a state public university system. Space is very limited at this urban campus, and the library building''s 90,000 square feet represent extremely valuable real estate. A planning process spanning several years initially proposed creating new teaching space utilizing 10,000 square feet of the library. A collaborative campus-wide planning process eventually resulted in the design of a new teaching and learning center that integrates clinical skills, simulation, and technology-enhanced education facilties on one entire floor of the building (21,000 square feet). The planning process resulted in a project that serves the entire campus and strengthens the library''s role in the education mission. The full impact of the project is yet unknown as construction is not complete.     

Coalition Building to Build Collections

A collection development project to assess the African American materials in a medium-sized academic library is described. Techniques are presented for examining a library collection from an interdisciplinary point of view. Results of the assessment were used in such a way that the project took on a life of its own and is now an ongoing process to develop this part of the collection. This article presents a view of a continuing strategy of collaboration to develop a collection by incorporating efforts from various elements of the university community, as well as the larger community. Elements influencing the process inlcude: individual and gruop initiatives, the particular library environment, and funding support. The role of the librarian as a generalist, adding a broad perspective to the process, emerges.     

Developing a general practice library: a collaborative project between a GP and librarian

The authors report on a self‐completed questionnaire study from a North Yorkshire based general practice regarding the information needs of its clinicians. The work was carried out with a particular focus on the practice library, and the findings identified that a new approach to maintaining and developing the library was needed. The literature regarding the information needs of primary care clinicians and the role of practice libraries is considered, and compared to those of the clinicians at the practice. Discussion follows on how a collaborative project was set up between the practice and a librarian based at the local NHS Trust library in order to improve the existing practice library. Difficulties encountered and issues unique to the project are explored, including training implications presented by the implementation of electronic resources. Marketing activities implemented are discussed, how the library will operate in its new capacity, and how ongoing support and maintenance of the library will be carried out. It is concluded that although scepticism still exists regarding librarian involvement in practice libraries, collaboration between clinicians and librarians is an effective approach to the successful development and maintenance of a practice library, and recommendations are therefore made for similar collaborative work.     

National Museum of African American History and Culture: A New Integration?

The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) marks a milestone moment in American history; the project has taken almost a century to come to fruition. Beginning with the first glimpse of the new monumental building on the National Mall, a NMAAHC visitor encounters complex symbols and histories. This review explores NMAAHC's historical context alongside its symbolic capital and its inaugural exhibitions, focusing on the central topic of the museum's efforts to embody “a new integration,” a space wherein all Americans can see their country through the lens of the African American experience.     

A Multicultural Studies Collection Enhancement Group:

Librarians in small academic libraries rarely have the time or personnel to develop their collections adequately. All too frequently their holdings lag behind the research needs of faculty and students. To offset this tendency Dickinson College funded a faculty summer study group with the specific charge of enhancing the library's holdings in the area of Black of African American Studies. The results were impressive. For once faculty were forced to consider research materials when they created new courses or embellished old ones, while the library received the extra plus of high profile purchasing with a strong likelihood of use. This article suggests that such preemptive collection development-the focused purchasing in specific areas prior to their introduction to the curriculum-could serve as a useful model in other cross-disciplinary endeavors.     

A Graphic Interface to Online Reference Sources

Librarians at the Arnold Bernhard Library of Quinnipiac University were at a crossroads with electronic reference books. At first they had added the titles to the library's web page, generated records to individual titles in the online catalog, and even established links to their content using the link resolver in the online catalog. It was still felt that the collection was not living up to its potential. In 2007, the automation librarian began a project to add one more level of access to these titles – a graphic interface that simulated the process of walking into a reference room and picking out a title – all of this done with no programming beyond basic HTML. Early usage reports beginning in the Fall of 2007 prove that the concept has found an audience.     

Organizing a Local History Collection in a Small Public Library

When attempted on a modest scale, local history col- lections can offer a unique component to the library's repertoire of reference services. Establishing a local history collection has both short- and long-term implications concerning library policies, space allocation, staff time, staff training, and budgets. Because of this, -. the small public library should clearly and realistically establish a collection policy which will not place an undue burden on its re- sources. Assessing community needs is a critical part of this pro- cess. Small public libraries should not attempt to duplicate or com- pete with other institutions for local material. Rather, the library should seek to fill the void in public service in cases where there is no extant collection available to the public.     

Library Facts from International Business Machine Cards

Our classic article for this issue represents one of the first if not the first working application of punched cards in a public library. It is interesting to compare some of the characteristics of the state of the art in 1941 with those of today's "automated" circulation systems. This early system isn't really much different from some of the more recent "newer" systems. This article also illustrates how important it is to carefully select the library's board of trustees (see paragraph two). The IBM Corporation installed the equipment without charge and covered all costs during the long period of experimentation. Margery Quigley was librarian of the Endicott (New York) Public Library from 1918 to 1924, and since 1927 had been librarian of the Montclair (New Jersey) Public Library when she wrote this article in 1941.