Managing Remote Projects Effectively with an Action Dashboard

Abstract

During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, the College’s library, learning center, & archives and the office of institutional research & training (OIRT), along with all departments of our college, shifted to working from home (WFH) during the COVID-19 pandemic. As we continue to work from home, in this column we share with you a follow-up to our previous column, specifically what worked and didn’t work in regards to the techniques and tools we continue to use to manage our staff remotely with communication tools (Slack, Zoom Calls, FlipGrid) and a project management tool (Notion) during the early stages of the pandemic. We added a new technique to the mix since our last publication—an Action Dashboard in Notion, and describe how we built it, and our plans for next steps using Notion as a comprehensive project management tool moving forward.     

The impact of COVID-19 on reference services: a national survey of academic health sciences librarians

Objectives:The aim of this study was to gain a better understanding of the scope and adaptive nature of reference services provided by academic health sciences librarians over a one-year period (between March 2020 and March 2021) during the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods:In March 2021, academic health sciences librarians in the United States were invited to participate in an anonymous online survey about their experiences providing reference services during the COVID-19 pandemic. The online survey was developed, pretested, and distributed to various listservs.Results:A total of 205 academic health sciences librarians and other information professionals with health sciences liaison responsibilities in the US (N=205) responded to the online survey. The scope of reference services provided during the COVID-19 pandemic included email-based reference services (97%), virtual reference (89%), telephone (80%), text-based (33%), and in-person (31%). The most common types of COVID-related reference questions included COVID-19 treatments (53%), safety precautions (46%), vaccines (41%), and prevalence (38%). Additionally, the identification of challenging reference questions and examples of misinformation were provided by respondents.Conclusions:The results of the survey characterize the evolving nature and scope of academic health sciences reference work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Librarians reported an increase in reference questions during the pandemic and are answering them in creative ways despite barriers (e.g., limited time and reduction in resources). There is an opportunity for librarians to continue to address COVID-related misinformation. Overall, these findings provide useful insight for library practitioners and administrators planning reference services during public health crises.     

A health education outreach partnership between an academic medical library and public library: lessons learned before and during a pandemic

Background:Public libraries serve as community centers for accessing free, trustworthy health information. As such, they provide an ideal setting to teach the local community about health and health literacy, particularly during public health crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2018, an outreach partnership between an academic medical library and public library has developed, delivered, and continuously evaluated a health education program targeting public library users.Case Presentation:Health education activities were integrated into three existing public library programs: adult workshops, child and family programming, and circulating family activity kits. Prior to COVID-19, events were held at the public library, which then pivoted online during the pandemic. An interprofessional team approach combined the expertise of academic medical and public librarians, medical school faculty and staff, and medical students in developing the educational programs. Twelve in-person and five virtual programs were offered, and five circulating health education family kits were launched. Activities were assessed using program evaluation surveys of the adult and children''s programs and circulation statistics of the kits.Conclusions:This case report showcases the lessons learned from implementing a longitudinal outreach partnership between an academic medical library and public library before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The interprofessional team approach and flexibility in program design and delivery in both the in-person and virtual environments proved critical to the success of the partnership. This partnership could serve as a model for other libraries interested in pursuing interprofessional collaborations in educating local communities on healthy behavior and health information–seeking practices.     

Announcement Information Provided by United States’ Public Libraries during the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic

ABSTRACT

This study synthesizes timely information about the COVID-19 virus and examines how public libraries have responded to the pandemic in real-time through their online announcements to the public. A content analysis of library announcements relating to the COVID-19 pandemic posted during the period of March 14–April 12, 2020, was performed. Over 90 percent of libraries announced a closure due to the pandemic and 98 percent libraries indicated programs were suspended. Over half of libraries posted about COVID-19 and general hygiene practices. Many announcements changed in terms of content from March 14 to April 12, demonstrating the rapidly evolving nature of the pandemic. This study suggests that libraries can and do play an important role in providing reliable information about pandemics like COVID-19 for patrons.     

Redesigning library orientation for first-year medical students during the pandemic

Background:Prior to 2020, library orientation for first-year medical students at Weill Cornell Medicine took the form of an on-site treasure hunt competition. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the orientation for the MD class of 2024 was shifted to an all-virtual format. This shift mandated a full redesign of the library orientation.Case Presentation:The Samuel J. Wood Library sought to preserve the excitement and fun of the treasure hunt in the new virtual format. The competition was redesigned as a Zoom meeting using breakout rooms, with library faculty and staff serving as team facilitators. Tasks were rewritten, shifting the focus from the library''s physical spaces to its virtual services and online resources. The redesigned orientation was evaluated using two data sources: a postsession survey of student participants and a debriefing of the library employees who participated. Student evaluations were positive, while the faculty and staff provided numerous suggestions for improving future virtual orientations.Conclusions:A successful virtual library orientation requires careful preparation, including testing the competition tasks, full rehearsal with library facilitators, and a thoughtful approach to technology and logistics. We have chosen to share the materials we developed for other academic health sciences libraries that may wish to take a similar approach to their own virtual orientations.     

Transformation of libraries during Covid-19 pandemic: A systematic review

PurposeThis study analyze academic library services during Covid-19 pandemic (2020 and 2021), as well as the challenges they face, emerging library roles, and the most effective communication tools.MethodA systematic review of the relevant literature was undertaken following PRISMA guidelines. The relevant literature was retrieved from four major scholarly databases (Scopus, Web of Science, Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts (LISTA), and Library and Information Science Abstracts (LISA)). The relevant 23 studies were included fulfilling inclusion criteria. A quality assessment of the included studies was also performed.FindingsThe findings revealed that Covid-19 pandemic is certainly effecting and transforming libraries, their services and management. The library services during Covid-19 pandemic, their fundamental challenges, emerging roles, and available preferable communications tools are the categories in this study to better understand the pandemic-transformation.ImplicationsThe practical and policy implications are that libraries must establish infrastructure and improve accessibility in order to provide the best possible support to modern library users who access resources remotely in this rapidly evolving digital environment. Organizational policymakers and library directors should prepare emergency and disaster management plans. The libraries should ensure their presence on social media and make use of their library websites.     

Back on campus: How New Jersey academic librarians are adapting to the new normal

In March of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic upended the world and changed the way people worked, lived and coped. In addition to pandemic restrictions and social distancing measures, academic libraries suffered budget cuts, layoffs, and closures. This paper explores the effect the pandemic had on New Jersey academic librarians during the Fall 2021 semester re-openings. Respondents were asked questions pertaining to their experiences working during the Fall 2021 semester: if they had returned to campus, if they were experiencing challenges, if they were affected by austerity measures, and if their view of the profession–and their intention to stay–had changed.     

Contemplating library instruction: Integrating contemplative practices in a mid-sized academic library

In recent years there has been growing interest in the integration of contemplative practices into higher education, but little has been published regarding contemplative practices or contemplative pedagogies in academic libraries. Nor have explicit links been made to critical librarianship (critlib), particularly regarding the stress associated with the profession and the “resilience narrative” of “doing more with less”. In this paper, we review the literature and describe our experiences introducing a variety of contemplative elements into our library instruction program, most recently in the virtual environment. Building on the three levels of “intervention” modeled by Barbezat and Bush (2014) to include librarians, and incorporating critlib theory, we describe the contemplative practices we have used with a view to alleviating librarian, student, and faculty stress and burnout, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Anecdotal reports suggest a broad interest in such practices and their potential effectiveness in reducing distraction and stress. However, future study is needed to systematically evaluate the outcomes of CP during library instruction.     

COVID-19 impact on the Chinese top academic libraries: Libraries' response to space,collection and services

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic was a major public health emergency on a global scale. The literature regarding the pandemic and its impact on academic libraries is still rising. This article examines the two-year process of developing a flexible service scenario and the broader picture by analyzing data on Chinese top university libraries' programmes and outreach initiatives prior to, during, and the normal COVID-19 pandemic (Sept. 2019–Sept. 2021). COVID-19 is found to have a significant impact on the physical space, collection development, and service of the library, demonstrating the characteristics of space access restricted by security measures, collection digitization, and online service. This research also examines the previous year's initiatives and programmes and discusses the next phase of “new normal” procedures. Hopefully, this study will give insight on how Chinese libraries responded to the recent pandemic, informing libraries' outreach and efforts to be better prepared to take imperative, swift, and decisive action in the post-COVID-19 era and beyond.     

Bringing a Small Academic Library Back from the Brink

Abstract

When Villa Madonna College moved from Covington to Crestview Hills, Kentucky in 1968 to become Thomas More College, the designers of the new campus knew that the library would be a vital component of academic success for future students. As Thomas More transitioned from “College” to “University” in 2018, the library had unfortunately endured a long slow decline. With a recent renaming to the “Benedictine Library” in 2017, administration knew that more substantial changes were needed. In April 2018, the library started a new course with the 16^th Library Director in institutional history. This column illustrates the ambitious first two years of the new library administration, and details the work completed in the library’s “digital modernization plan”.     

Health sciences librarian research and instruction services in pandemic information environments

This study examined research and instruction services provided by academic health sciences librarians in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 205 respondents (N = 205) completed an anonymous online survey about academic health sciences librarian involvement in providing research and instruction services during the global pandemic. In-depth literature searching services (86%, n = 176), curated COVID-19 research through guides (66%, n = 135), and systematic review consultations (53%, n = 109) were reported as the top three research services in demand. Librarians supported online teaching and learning at their institutions by providing online instruction for a course (92%, n = 189), facilitating access to licensed resources (73%, n = 150), and identifying open access and open educational resources (62%, n = 127). Overall, this study contributes to understanding pandemic-responsive academic library services to meet the unique needs of health sciences education and research in evolving COVID-19 pandemic information environments.     

Remaking academic library services in Zimbabwe in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic

The outbreak of the global COVID -19 pandemic has affected all aspects of life, access to higher education has not been out of danger as evidenced by the enforcement of official closures, enforcement lockdown and social distancing rules by governments throughout the world. However, while the COVID-19 pandemic has presented the world with numerous socioeconomic challenges, it has also helped to spur creativity and information as evidenced by the responses of academic libraries that have seen a heighted use of digital platforms to support education, teaching and research. The study sought to establish how librarians in Zimbabwe responded to the outbreak of COVID-19 and the implications of the pandemic on library service delivery. A qualitative research was adopted for the study. Using snowballing, interviews were used to gather data beginning with the library association's branch leadership. The researchers ensured that the questions were aligned to the research objectives. The interview schedule included open and closed questions to enable participants to provide further details relating to the phenomenon under study. The participants were guaranteed their rights to consent, privacy and anonymity in the introduction of the interview schedule. An The study reveals that there has been an increase in the use online platforms for accessing information especially library's webpages, electronic books and journals. The use of library online resources from distance locations also rose following closure of campuses. Library patrons' perceptions towards electronic resources significantly improved as they realized that they were equally useful as the print. Findings from the study provide useful recommendation on how librarians can remodel their services to match new demands presented by the COVD-19 pandemic. The study provides a starting point upon which further research on the effect of COVID-19 or other similar pandemics have on library service delivery.     

A health literacy analysis of the consumer-oriented COVID-19 information produced by ten state health departments

Objective:The COVID-19 pandemic highlights the public''s need for quality health information that is understandable. This study aimed to identify (1) the extent to which COVID-19 messaging by state public health departments is understandable, actionable, and clear; (2) whether materials produced by public health departments are easily readable; (3) relationships between material type and understandability, actionability, clarity, and reading grade level; and (4) potential strategies to improve public health messaging around COVID-19.Methods:Based on US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics from June 30, 2020, we identified the ten states with the most COVID-19 cases and selected forty-two materials (i.e., webpages, infographics, and videos) related to COVID-19 prevention according to predefined eligibility criteria. We applied three validated health literacy tools (i.e., Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool, CDC Clear Communication Index, and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level) to assess material understandability, actionability, clarity, and readability. We also analyzed correlations between scores on the three health literacy tools and material types.Results:Overall, COVID-19 materials had high understandability and actionability but could be improved in terms of clarity and readability. Material type was significantly correlated with understandability, actionability, and clarity. Infographics and videos received higher scores on all tools.Conclusions:Based on our findings, we recommend public health entities apply a combination of these tools when developing health information materials to improve their understandability, actionability, and clarity. We also recommend using infographics and videos when possible, taking a human-centered approach to information design, and providing multiple modes and platforms for information delivery.     

College students' perceptions on sense of belonging and inclusion at the academic library during COVID-19

This paper demonstrates how university students experienced and perceived inclusion in a public research university library context during COVID-19. Both quantitative (n = 3379) and qualitative data (n = 575) from the 2021 student survey were examined to explore students' library experiences and their perceptions of inclusion. The quantitative data revealed that students using both the physical and online library had the greatest sense of belonging, whereas students who never used any library resources had the least sense of belonging. The qualitative data further revealed that when students used the in-person library space they felt a sense of belonging, as well as feeling accepted and valued; on the other hand, it was hard for them to judge inclusion when they had not been in the library due to COVID-19. This finding suggests how academic libraries need to prepare for the hybrid environment (in-person and online) so that students using online resources and services feel connected to the library.     

Assessing the Accessibility of Library Tools & Services When You Aren’t an Accessibility Expert: Part 2

Abstract

There are a few studies in library literature that explore accessibility issues from the perspective of students who use assistive technologies for accessibility. As we shared in part one of this two-part series in our column, librarians have extensively explored through usability studies with WAVE and other audit tools how accessible library websites and databases are when using assistive technologies like JAWS. In this column, we asked our blind student worker to journal his experiences navigating our library’s databases. We found this student navigated the databases better than we anticipated. While his experiences regarding the accessibility of the libraries’ electronic services varied, common issues he experienced included navigational issues from menus with expanding capabilities, documents that were not scanned with OCR, and images without alternative text.     

Online health information seeking and digital health literacy among information and learning resources undergraduate students

BackgroundDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, students have trouble coping with the available health information regarding the coronavirus in their daily lives because of misinformation.ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to evaluate online health information seeking and digital health literacy among information and learning resources undergraduate students at Taibah University during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsTo investigate the primary goal, this study used a simultaneous exploratory mixed methods design. Seventeen students participated in phone interviews, and 306 were invited to complete an online survey.AnalysisThe collected data was analyzed using both quantitative (SPSS) and qualitative (NVivo 10) methods.ResultsSearch engines, social media, and YouTube were most often used by the respondents as sources to search for COVID-19-related information. COVID-19 symptoms, restrictions, and the current spread of COVID-19 were the most searched topics by the respondents. Significant and relevant differences emerged for the digital health literacy subscales “information search” and “adding self-generated content”. However, there were no significant differences in the digital health literacy subscale “determining relevance”.ConclusionUsing the internet to provide health information tailored to the needs and interests of students to seek health information online and thereby improve their health literacy.     

COVID-19 Evidence Reviews website: a VA effort to catalog and curate COVID-19 evidence reviews

Background:The COVID-19 pandemic has sparked a wave of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 research that organizations around the world have been synthesizing in evidence reviews to provide high-quality evidence to support policymakers and clinicians. The urgency of these efforts opens these organizations to the risk of duplicated efforts, which could waste valuable time and resources.Case Presentation:The VA Evidence Synthesis Program (VA ESP) formed a COVID Response Team that launched an online catalog of COVID-19 evidence reviews in March 2020 (https://www.covid19reviews.org/). The goal of this website is to capture the work of evidence synthesis groups in the US and around the world to maximize their collective contributions to patients, frontline clinicians, researchers, and policymakers during the COVID-19 pandemic and avoid duplicating efforts.Conclusions:This ongoing and evolving project provides a helpful catalog of evidence reviews at various stages of production; in addition, the website provides further value with informational icons, review collections, and links to similar resources. The VA ESP will maintain this website to continue to support the needs of policymakers, clinicians, and researchers both within the VA and around the world throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.     

Promoting Library Visibility Through Creative Programing

Abstract

Digital libraries and their librarians face a challenge to remain visible to users since almost all their resources can be accessed without having to visit the library space. Libraries with a primarily electronic collection can promote their visibility through creative programing that draws people into the library space or provides opportunities for users to engage with librarians. A new, primarily digital academic health sciences library shares its experiences with developing creative user events and programs to promote the library’s visibility.     

Library Experience Matters! Touchpoints to Community Engagement

ABSTRACT

This article explores the concept of service branding in the context of libraries and information organizations. We discuss community perceptions of library brand value from the librarian's perspectives in the context of public and academic libraries. Librarians’ thoughts and viewpoints in improving the community's library experience are also discussed. The findings highlight the importance of improving the library's visibility, creating appealing ambience, and developing a strategic branding plan in order to provide robust, compelling, and meaningful experiences for their community.     

Complex Questions,Evolving Answers

SUMMARY

Since 2001, librarians at Oregon State University's Valley Library have been working to build a “teaching library” supported by a clearly articulated instruction program. From the start, we believed that we needed to assess the teaching library's impact, not only to determine the success or failure of our efforts but also to demonstrate the need for intentional, proactive information literacy instruction on our campus. No single assessment tool or method proved adequate to effectively measure student learning happening both inside and outside the library. We describe our evolving, multi-pronged approach to measuring the impact of the library on student learning in the context of current assessment practices in academic libraries and higher education.