Data on demand: A model to support the routine use of quantitative data for decision-making in Access Services

Rapid analytics and visualization software such as Tableau provide an opportunity for Access Services staff to utilize quantitative data on a routine basis to support decision-making about services and staffing. Data visualization tools make analyzing, updating, and sharing data analysis easier and faster than ever before. However, fullest utilization of these tools requires consistent, on demand access to data. This article discusses a strategic initiative at NYU Libraries to support data-driven decision-making by establishing a robust data warehouse paired with front-end access for library staff via Tableau Desktop. Specific application of this model to reporting, usage visualization, and workflow analysis in Access Services is discussed.     

Voicing Resistance: Adolescent boys and the cultural practice of leisure reading

This article describes a theoretically informed methodology for eliciting the voices of adolescent boys identified by their teachers and parents as reluctant leisure time readers. Similar methods have also been used to draw out the voices of the boys’ parents to understand their efforts to guide and maintain their sons’ literacy practices, within the context of one middle class Australian school community. The concept of “voice” in our research of boys as capable but differently committed leisure time readers is informed by a socio-cultural theory that foregrounds the processes of enculturation, appropriation, and agency as fundamental to identity formation. In this regard the varied ways in which the boys in the study have taken up the reading practices valued in their families is illustrative of the mutuality of individual agency and cultural processes. In describing both the theoretical and conceptual framing of a methodology designed to investigate in particular those boys who have resisted their families’ reading dispositions we hope to highlight how individuals struggle to construct new values within patterns of cultural practice.     

Irreplaceable: Exploring identity and relationships through the discussion of invaluable personal objects

Courses: Interpersonal Communication, Family Communication, Relational Communication.

Objectives: Students reflect on and discuss how personal objects are connected to their identity and relationships with others. This activity illustrates the ways course concepts such as relational metaphors, stories, rules, rituals, and other patterns of communication influence the meaning we ascribe to an object and how that object helps to construct beliefs about ourselves and important others. This exercise can also help students connect with each other in a supportive environment.     

Analysis of Motivational Orientations in Science Education

Pupils' motivation and interest are identified as important influences on learning. Motivational orientation is a construct that links motivation and epistemology. This study attempted to explore motivational orientation as it relates to science education and two different instructional approaches. A published instrument standardized with a population from the United Kingdom that purports to identify students' preferred motivation orientations as social, consciousness, effort, or curiosity was applied to two instructional contexts (traditional school program and field centre program) in primary schools in Slovakia. Results indicated that a very high percentage of the pupils could not be classified into one of the four categories, that the traditional classroom sample differed significantly from the United Kingdom population, and that the preferred motivational orientations expressed by the pupils in the field centre sample did not differ significantly from those expressed by the pupils in the traditional classroom sample.     

Multiple Representations in Computational Thinking Tasks: A Clinical Study of Second-Grade Students

Journal of Science Education and Technology - Computational thinking requires high cognitive load as students work to manage multiple tasks in their problem-solving environment. Through research in...     

Neuroscience as a Contemporary Science Domain to Contextualize Nature of Science Instruction

Science & Education - The purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate if neuroscience, a contemporary example of science-in-the-making, provides a useful domain for contextualized...     

Ethics Considerations Related to Legal Research Practices: A Selective Annotated Bibliography

This selective annotated bibliography is a helpful guide to an issue that is regularly encountered by all who do, and teach, legal research: What are the ethical obligations of the legal researcher?     

Chat Widgets: Placing Your Virtual Reference Services at Your User's Point(s) of Need

The senior population in America is expected to double from 35 million in 2004 to 70 million by 2030, creating an ever-growing need for libraries to provide quality senior services and programs. This article discusses the services and programs that the San Antonio Public Library (SAPL) offers for senior groups, the issue of additional services that the SAPL can provide in the future to accommodate the needs of seniors groups and those with disabilities, and what services other public libraries provide to senior citizens.