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.     

Training and Retaining Student Employees

Abstract

Like most academic libraries, Purdue University Calumet depends heavily on student workers for its daily operations. After the investment of time and effort involved in training student workers, it is important to retain them from one year to the next. This case study examines training procedures that are designed to cultivate a sense of mutual respect between library staff and student workers, with the goal of keeping those whose skills and work experience prove valuable. A training program developed with retention as a goal yields benefits to the student and the library. It can also be a recruitment tool for the profession.     

Procedures to Follow if a Law Enforcement Official Asks for Patron Information: A Checklist for Access Services Student Employees

ABSTRACT

Since the U.S.A. PATRIOT Act was signed into law in October, 2001, library administrators have become increasingly concerned that staff–especially student employees–continue to protect the confidentiality of patron records. Administrators have also become increasingly concerned that when law enforcement officials provide paperwork giving them legal access to patron records, staff take steps both to divulge no more information than is necessary and to protect the institution from liability. In response to these concerns, the University of Colorado, Boulder, created an easy-to-understand and easy-to-use document for its public services student employees. This article describes the process by which that document was created, how it was introduced to staff and student employees, and what additional steps are planned for the future. Finally, the document itself is included as a possible model for other institutions that may wish to create procedural guidelines for student employees.     

Making It Their Own: Creating Meaningful Opportunities for Student Employees in Academic Library Services

Library patrons have many requests for library services and resources. With limited budgets and library staff who are already stretched thin, how can academic libraries ever hope to understand and meet the growing variety of patron needs and desires? This article will outline a successful strategy of utilizing students to pitch, pilot, and implement academic library services as well as gather feedback from fellow students about their expectations for the academic library.     

More Than Just a Student Voice: Facilitating Student Leadership Development Through the Library Student Liaison Program

This article explores how the library-student liaison program at Eastern Washington University (EWU) Libraries has evolved into an opportunity for students to develop leadership skills. Originally designed to foster better communication between the EWU Libraries and students enrolled at the university, we recognized that the process of achieving established goals for the program provided a vehicle for students' leadership-skill development. To facilitate the leadership process, librarians employed the Social Change Model. Designed specifically for college students, this model engages the student to develop individual capacities to strengthen group activities that foster positive changes in the community and society.     

Student Journey Work: A Review of Academic Library Contributions to Student Transition and Success

This review aims to capture projects, services, and approaches that are being used to ensure student success and sustainability across the stages (or transitions) of the student experience of higher education, where these extend the traditional role of the library, in the UK and internationally. The article examines why the student journey (and supporting it) has become a central part of the contemporary academic library's repertoire. Fundamentally, through a student lifecycle perspective the author will attempt to show how academic libraries contribute to their university's bottom line? Finally, the article will reflect on strategic implications and areas for further investigation.     

Survey of Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery Student Assistants' Job Satisfaction: Communication,and Feedback

Abstract

The Texas A&M University Libraries' Interlibrary Services department (ILS) conducted a series of interviews and surveys to ascertain student employees attitudes toward their jobs, suggestions to improve working conditions, effectiveness of training, and other areas of concern. The results and suggestions for improvement are applicable to all interlibrary departments.     

Training Student Workers for Cross-Departmental Success in an Academic Library: A New Model

Many academic libraries rely on a student workforce for everyday operations, interacting with patrons, and assistance with larger projects. Training these students for such multifaceted and customer-service-focused positions can be a challenge. This article traces an overhaul of training procedures made during the transition to a centralized, services desk workflow. All aspects of training a large student workforce, from planning and presentation to assessment, are outlined. Interactive group sessions and peer-to-peer reinforcement of procedures have proven to be most effective in training student workers for varied roles in an academic library.     

READ-ing Our Way to Success: Using the READ Scale to Successfully Train Reference Student Assistants in the Referral Model

The Reference Services Department at Radford University's McConnell Library has been developing a training program in the reference referral system for student assistants (SAs) over 3 academic years. The program's goal is to effectively instruct SAs in balancing high quality customer service with the importance of appropriately referring users to librarians and to assess the accuracy of their referrals and responses. The trainers have met these goals with the successful incorporation of a modified version of the Reference Effort Assessment Data (READ) scale, a reference transaction assessment tool developed by Bella Karr Gerlich, into the student training program.     

Using ePortfolios to Assess Student Achievement within an Online Library and Information Studies Program

As a result of suggestions from the American Library Association (ALA) the Division of Library and Information Science (DLIS) program at St. John's University implemented an end-of-program electronic portfolio (ePortfolio) requirement. The purpose of this ePortfolio is to provide information on student proficiency in the eight ALA core competencies to our external accrediting agency—the ALA Committee on Accreditation (CoA). This article will discuss how a Library and Information Studies (LIS) faculty member and a New Media and Communications Specialist worked together in developing the ePortfolio as an assessment tool for ALA reaccreditation within an online LIS program.     

Books,Bytes, and Buildings: The Academic Library's Unique Role in Improving Student Success

Student persistence and completion are paramount in higher education, and institutions are employing targeted programs and initiatives to address these concerns. The academic library can play an especially important role in these efforts, given its unique interdisciplinary mission and its integrated instructional programs. With a foundation in both higher education and library and information science literatures, this article describes how one academic library engaged in cross-campus programs, partnerships, and initiatives to contribute to student success efforts. Other libraries may find these examples useful as they consider how to frame their work in the context of their institutions’ student persistence efforts.     

Retention of Adult and Traditional Learners: Library Strategies for Student Success

Nontraditional adult learners are often treated as separate and distinct in their needs and desires from more traditionally-aged college students. As retention continues to be a critical issue for colleges and universities, academic units and departments turn their focus to student success. This review article examines strategies that institutions have taken to increase students' self-efficacy and engagement, and compares their usefulness for both nontraditional and traditional learners. These strategies are viewed through the lens of the academic library with suggestions for how distance librarians can support the institution in its retention efforts and the students themselves in their own success.     

Using Mobile Technology to Observe Student Study Behaviors and Track Library Space Usage

Libraries have become increasingly interested in studying the use of spaces within their buildings. Traditional methods for tracking library building use, such as gate counts, provide little information on what patrons do once they are in the library; therefore, new methods for studying space usage are being developed. Particularly promising are mobile technologies, which make it possible to directly observe and track user behaviors throughout library spaces. We found that observation combined with mobile technologies enabled the library to assess user study behaviors and space usage patterns anywhere in the library. Observations were tracked using an iPad with two different types of mobile apps, CloudOn and Counter+. The results were compared to the more traditional statistics gathered by the study room reservation system. The findings showed that the mobile observations more accurately reflected actual library usage and provided additional details on specific study behaviors such as studying in groups and using technology while studying.     

Student Participation in Scholarly Communication and Library Digital Collections: A Case Study from the University of Washington Bothell Library

The University of Washington Bothell & Cascadia College Library recently partnered with a faculty member to develop a digital collection showcasing student-produced digital oral histories. This case study describes the role of the library as faculty partner, student resource, and repository/publisher. Archiving and publishing requirements—such as file formats, agreement forms, and metadata—were integrated into the assignment and included as part of each project's overall evaluation and grade. Librarians provided instruction to teach students about topics related to knowledge production and scholarly communication. Assessment included student feedback surveys and faculty feedback to librarians.     

The Benefits and Challenges of Working in an Academic Library: A Study of Student Library Assistant Experience

Many college students choose or need to work, and academic libraries offer a potentially convenient on-campus location for employment. Students serving in these roles may benefit from the experience both academically and socially. By examining students' experience as workers in the library, academic libraries have the opportunity to understand the benefits that such work might provide and intentionally plan to enhance learning and demonstrate library value in a novel way. This basic qualitative study sought to explore the experiences of student assistants working in an academic library and identify the benefits and challenges they perceived as a result of enacting the role. Individual interviews were conducted with seven undergraduate student library assistants at a doctoral-granting institution to determine benefits and challenges they noted that resulted from their experiences in this student employment role, and findings reveal opportunities for academic librarians in training and supervising student employees.     

充分发挥大学生的作用 开创构建和谐图书馆的新局面

建设和谐图书馆既是建设和谐高校的需要,也是构建社会主义和谐社会的重要内容,应从战略高度认识其重要性。构建和谐图书馆必须花大力气,必须充分发挥大学生的作用,没有大学生的参与,构建和谐图书馆就是一句空话;重点介绍了本馆构建和谐图书馆的特色工作。     

E-books for the Classroom and Open Access Textbooks: Two Ways to Help Students Save Money on Textbooks

ABSTRACT

To help students withstand the rising cost of textbooks and in turn support the mission of student success, the University of South Florida (USF) has implemented two electronic resources–based initiatives as part of the Tampa Library’s Textbook Affordability Project. Through the E-books for the Classroom program, the library purchases electronic versions of texts required for coursework, providing equitable access to needed materials at no cost to the students. For the past 5 years, this program has evolved into a highly successful textbook affordability measure, acquiring hundreds of e-books and serving thousands of students. Additionally, the library, with the support of the Office of the Provost and in collaboration with Innovative Education, is publishing a faculty-authored multimedia Open Access textbook to be used by hundreds of students each semester in USF’s children’s literature courses. The USF institutional repository, Scholar Commons, will host the textbook, making it freely available on a global scale. This program effectively uses library expertise and skills, coordinating university-wide faculty, professional, and technical resources, to create library-as-publisher for the benefit of the students and textbook affordability.     

Therapy Dogs in Academic Libraries: A Way to Foster Student Engagement and Mitigate Self-Reported Stress during Finals

More and more modern academic libraries are turning to student engagement activities designed to welcome students into Academia, join a community of scholars, and avail themselves of the full range of resources and services that a university library can provide. One unusual, but inexpensive and highly effective method of engaging students is bringing therapy dogs into the library. This article begins by explaining how therapy dogs differ from other types of dogs and how to counter objections to library engagement activities involving canines. It then offers a research-based rationale for human-canine interaction that is consistent with an academic library's mission. Next, the article addresses the planning/implementation phase a student engagement event involving handler/therapy dog teams, reviews the literature on successful programs at various institutions, and offers guidance to others seeking to initiate a similar program. A project of this type depends upon collaboration among faculty members, college students, support staff, volunteers, and the larger community. Finally, the article highlights results from a questionnaire administered to 449 students during a sequence of three “de-stress during exam week” events. Overall, the survey data suggest that: (1) social media was the most effective means of advertising, (2) students strongly supported the continuation of the event, and (3) 95% of the student participants considered interaction with the therapy dogs to be a means of stress reduction.     

Listening to Students: Customer Journey Mapping at Birmingham City University Library and Learning Resources

Birmingham City University's Library and Learning Resources’ strategic aim is to improve student satisfaction. A key element is the achievement of the Customer Excellence Standard. An important component of the standard is the mapping of services to improve quality. Library and Learning Resources has developed a methodology to map these “customer journeys” with students. The article considers themes in the published literature and provides an overview of a pilot project and its outcomes. The project's aims are evaluated including an assessment of the effectiveness of the mapping methodology in engaging students, the staff resource implications, and the identification of service improvements.     

To Lead to Learning,Not to Madness: E-Books and E-Serials at the Library of Congress

ABSTRACT

Building a library’s collection requires more than collecting print materials and shelving them in the stacks. The growth of e-books and e-serials over the past decade has been phenomenal. Given the scope of its collection building, the Library of Congress (LOC) has been required to actively pursue the acquisition and management of e-books and e-serials in its permanent collection. This article surveys how the LOC has taken advantage of existing structures and how it has pursued new paths to succeed in this undertaking. Finally, it lays out some of the outstanding problems that the LOC faces as it attempts to build a digital equivalent to its print collection.