Knowledge and Dignity in the Era of “Big Data”

Private companies and government agencies are now creating and tapping into vastly more data than ever before. These data flows include enormous amounts of personal information and raise questions about privacy and intellectual policy that could have profound impacts on our lives. While data collection and creation are nearly ubiquitous, the instruments of collection and analysis are often hidden in order to track more natural behavior. Recent revelations of massive governmental data collection offer the country, and librarians in particular, an opportunity to discuss and question the societal implications of “Big Data,” and the policies that govern them.     

The practical paradox of technology: The influence of communication technology use on employee burnout and engagement

Technological advancements in the workplace frequently have produced contradictory effects by facilitating accessibility and efficiency while increasing interruptions and unpredictability. We combine insights from organizational paradoxes and the job demands–resources model to construct a framework identifying positive and negative mechanisms in the relationship between communication technology use (CTU) and employee well-being, operationalized as work engagement and burnout. In this study of Dutch workers, we demonstrate that CTU increases well-being through positive pathways (accessibility and efficiency) and decreases well-being through negative pathways (interruptions and unpredictability). We highlight the importance of (1) investigating CTU resources and demands simultaneously to grasp the relationship between CTU and employee well-being, and (2) considering CTU's downsides to successfully implement new communication technologies and flexible work designs.     

You can’t ignore us: what role does family play in student engagement and alienation in a Ghanaian university?

Much of the existing literature on student engagement focuses on what happens within the higher education environment or what the institution has direct control over, restricting understanding of how issues outside of the institution affect engagement. This paper argues that efforts to improve student engagement should be broadened to incorporate issues relating to the family. It employed a case study design in order to develop a broad and more in-depth understanding of how family influences the amount of time and effort students invest in their learning in a large public university in Ghana. It was established that engagement is influenced by family expectation, financial and social support, as well as monitoring of students’ academic performance. The unique contribution of the study is that it broadens current understandings of engagement because it adds an aspect that has not been highlighted in current work on engagement, making a case for institutions to work more with families to get a broader understanding of challenges students face in order to provide comprehensive support.     

Why do christian churches,and not universities,facilitate intercultural engagement for Chinese international students?

The paper offers new, significant insights into the Church engagement experiences of Chinese international students in the UK. Based on a mixed-method research and focusing on a group of international Chinese students participating in local Christian churches, it explores the motivations (for), dynamics and types of connections students establish and maintain with the church communities, and the implications for stakeholders in facilitating intercultural engagement with the local community. The limited cross-cultural interactions alongside other structural and contextual factors often deprive meaningful engagement between international students and host nationals within the campus. According to the research participants, internationalised university is promising and promoting intercultural experiences but not delivering them. Chinese students of usually non-Christian background gravitate towards Christian churches as alternative places to gain desired intercultural experiences. The findings encourage universities to reflect on the quality of intercultural engagement for international students and draw from the reciprocal and respectful intercultural connections that some students discovered through engaging with Christian churches.     

Investigating the quality of interactions and public engagement around scientific papers on Twitter

This study explores science communication on Twitter by investigating a sample of tweets referring to academic papers in five different scientific fields. The specifications of science communicators on Twitter, the characteristics of those who initiate actions (by tweeting), the extent and quality of reactions (retweeting), individual and group interactions, and the distribution of tweets across types of engagement in the process of science communication (i.e., dissemination, consultation, and evaluation) were explored. A broad array of actors is involved in the communication of science on Twitter, with individual citizens and individual researchers playing an important role. In principle, this is promising for creating direct interaction, which can be difficult through more traditional mass media. The vast majority of communication activities regarding academic papers is undigested dissemination with almost no sign of debate, contestation, or collective reflection. Another general finding of this study is that bot accounts play a major role in the science communication landscape on Twitter.     

The Relationship Between Trait Affect and Job Attitudes in Library Employees

This research explores the relationship between employees’ disposition and several important job attitudes. Dispositional affect is a personality trait that describes people's emotional responses to situations. This study explored how affective disposition influences the job attitudes of work engagement, organizational commitment, and job satisfaction. Data were collected from a sample of librarians, and the results show that affective disposition strongly predicted the three job attitudes in the expected directions. The findings contribute to knowledge of the role of personality in the workplace and provide guidance for library managers on how best to facilitate positive job attitudes.     

Integrating Undergraduate Peer Mentors into Liberal Arts Courses: A Pilot Study

This article presents research and narratives on the integration of course-based peer learning assistants into seven courses. A new curricular peer mentoring program was piloted in the 2005–2006 academic year in an interdisciplinary liberal arts college at a large Canadian research university. Undergraduate students enrolled in a practicum course which supported their learning while they collaborated with the “host instructor” of the course in which they served as peer mentor. Assistants’ roles varied and included individual tutoring, help via email, online discussion facilitation, small group facilitation, in-class presentation and discussion facilitation, and extracurricular study groups. Their integration into scheduled class activities resulted in participating students’ perception of enhanced learning. Data included peer mentors’ assignments, host instructor feedback, and student surveys.

Proclaiming Library Worth in a Program Prioritization Process at a Mid-Sized Public University

Abstract

In an economic climate when colleges can no longer presume that legislators see institutions of higher learning as tacit public goods, institutions around the country are facing budget cuts. This article presents a case study of the experience of a mid-sized public state university and its Library in a budget crisis undergoing a university-wide program prioritization process. The authors review the process of writing three reports on the Library’s value, along with the approach to engaging staff in the process including a retreat. This article raises questions about what every library should consider assessing and provide tools for libraries navigating similar terrain.     

A pillar of the Youngstown community: The Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County engages in the Harwood practice

ABSTRACT

The Harwood Institute arrived in Youngstown, Ohio, in 1999; and today, over 18 years later, its teachings have made a profound effect upon the city. The Youngstown Public Library, through the leadership of Carlton Sears and Heidi Daniel, has wholeheartedly embraced the methods and ideology of the Harwood Institute, helping to reinvigorate and power a city working its way back to prosperity.