As the need for librarians to provide instruction on information literacy and other teaching topics increases, masters of library science students, in turn, need to become better prepared to provide to serve in this role. A content analysis of courses offered by American Library Association accredited masters of library science programs seeks to determine whether course titles and descriptions for instruction-based courses map to the Association of College and Research Libraries’ Roles and Strengths of Teaching Librarians document.
{"title":"Preparing the Instructional Librarian: Representation of ACRL Roles and Strengths in MLS Course Descriptions","authors":"Sandra Valenti, B. Lund","doi":"10.5860/CRL.82.4.530","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5860/CRL.82.4.530","url":null,"abstract":"As the need for librarians to provide instruction on information literacy and other teaching topics increases, masters of library science students, in turn, need to become better prepared to provide to serve in this role. A content analysis of courses offered by American Library Association accredited masters of library science programs seeks to determine whether course titles and descriptions for instruction-based courses map to the Association of College and Research Libraries’ Roles and Strengths of Teaching Librarians document.","PeriodicalId":10686,"journal":{"name":"College & Research Libraries","volume":"32 1","pages":"530"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2021-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79400285","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
When I initially thought about this special issue on the evolving role of academic librarians, the idea was to demonstrate how librarians are moving forward, as though towards an ultimate goal or higher understanding. I wanted to show that librarians are getting smarter, more in tune with their patrons and more adept at reaching for that pinnacle. On reflection, more than a year after the pandemic started, I am convinced that this evolution is not toward some grandiose end of universal enlightenment—but rather it is, as Darwin would have it, a response to the environment. Librarians have weathered the pandemic in much the same ways they have weathered the growth of the Internet (and the doomsayers that it would replace libraries), seasons of austerity and accountability in higher education and other forces, external and internal.
{"title":"Adapt and Thrive","authors":"Wendi Kaspar","doi":"10.5860/CRL.82.4.472","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5860/CRL.82.4.472","url":null,"abstract":"When I initially thought about this special issue on the evolving role of academic librarians, the idea was to demonstrate how librarians are moving forward, as though towards an ultimate goal or higher understanding. I wanted to show that librarians are getting smarter, more in tune with their patrons and more adept at reaching for that pinnacle. On reflection, more than a year after the pandemic started, I am convinced that this evolution is not toward some grandiose end of universal enlightenment—but rather it is, as Darwin would have it, a response to the environment. Librarians have weathered the pandemic in much the same ways they have weathered the growth of the Internet (and the doomsayers that it would replace libraries), seasons of austerity and accountability in higher education and other forces, external and internal.","PeriodicalId":10686,"journal":{"name":"College & Research Libraries","volume":"15 1","pages":"472-473"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2021-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81438938","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Conference attendance can play an important role in supporting the professional development of subject librarians by offering opportunities that allow librarians to learn about new services, strategies, and technologies while growing and maintaining professional networks. However, barriers such as accessibility challenges, budgetary and resource restrictions, difficulty measuring learning gains, and difficulty measuring the value of professional development when applied to the job can restrict opportunities for many librarians. Specialized regional conferences have the potential to reduce many of these barriers. How can librarians, library administrators, and conference organizers quantify the value of regional conference attendance as an accessible means for fostering librarian professional development? This paper examines five years of assessment data and participant feedback from attendees of a specialized regional conference for STEM librarians and measures participant learning and participant motivation for conference attendance. We propose specialized regional conferences, such as the Great Lakes Science Boot Camp for Librarians, as accessible and affordable continuing education opportunities that support the professional development of subject librarians.
{"title":"Specialized Regional Conferences Support the Professional Development Needs of Subject Librarians: A 5-Year Analysis of the Great Lakes Science Boot Camps for Librarians","authors":"B. McGowan, J. Hart, Karen Hum","doi":"10.5860/CRL.82.4.548","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5860/CRL.82.4.548","url":null,"abstract":"Conference attendance can play an important role in supporting the professional development of subject librarians by offering opportunities that allow librarians to learn about new services, strategies, and technologies while growing and maintaining professional networks. However, barriers such as accessibility challenges, budgetary and resource restrictions, difficulty measuring learning gains, and difficulty measuring the value of professional development when applied to the job can restrict opportunities for many librarians. Specialized regional conferences have the potential to reduce many of these barriers. How can librarians, library administrators, and conference organizers quantify the value of regional conference attendance as an accessible means for fostering librarian professional development? This paper examines five years of assessment data and participant feedback from attendees of a specialized regional conference for STEM librarians and measures participant learning and participant motivation for conference attendance. We propose specialized regional conferences, such as the Great Lakes Science Boot Camp for Librarians, as accessible and affordable continuing education opportunities that support the professional development of subject librarians.","PeriodicalId":10686,"journal":{"name":"College & Research Libraries","volume":"130 1","pages":"548"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2021-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85719748","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Through a survey of more than 200 US academic science librarians, we investigated the perceived value of subject specialization; looked for trends toward or away from science subject specialization; and analyzed predictions about the future of science liaison librarianship. Results showed that science librarians perceive subject specialization positively and predict it will continue to be necessary in the future. They also perceive that liaison relationships will remain crucial. While functional roles appear to be growing, they were not seen as replacing traditional subject responsibilities. Results suggest a shift toward a more generalist approach; however, additional research is needed before stating this conclusively.
{"title":"The Value of Subject Specialization and the Future of Science Liaison Librarianship","authors":"L. Palumbo, Jeffra D. Bussmann, Barbara Kern","doi":"10.5860/CRL.82.4.584","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5860/CRL.82.4.584","url":null,"abstract":"Through a survey of more than 200 US academic science librarians, we investigated the perceived value of subject specialization; looked for trends toward or away from science subject specialization; and analyzed predictions about the future of science liaison librarianship. Results showed that science librarians perceive subject specialization positively and predict it will continue to be necessary in the future. They also perceive that liaison relationships will remain crucial. While functional roles appear to be growing, they were not seen as replacing traditional subject responsibilities. Results suggest a shift toward a more generalist approach; however, additional research is needed before stating this conclusively.","PeriodicalId":10686,"journal":{"name":"College & Research Libraries","volume":"33 1","pages":"584"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2021-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85538141","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Published as part of the University of Massachusetts Press series on Studies in Print Culture and History of the Book, Placing Papers: The American Literary Archives Market is a well-written and fascinating history of how various stakeholders—and their differing motivations—shaped the literary archives trade in the United States of America. Amy Hildreth Chen, who holds a PhD in English from Emory University, previously was an academic librarian at the University of Iowa and now is an independent scholar. She traces the largely overlooked history of the trade in literary papers from its post-World War II origins through to the mid-2010s. The book comprises an introduction, conclusion, and six chapters. After a brief first chapter on the various values implicated in archives (financial, scholarly, and public), Placing Papers examines the literary archives market from the perspective of several key stakeholder groups: authors and their families (chapter 2), agents and dealers (chapter 3), directors and curators (chapter 4), archivists and digital archivists (chapter 5), and, finally, scholars and members of the public (chapter 6).
{"title":"Amy Hildreth Chen. Placing Papers: The American Literary Archives Market. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2020. 192p. Paper, $33.95 (ISBN 978-1-62534-485-4).","authors":"Alexandra Wieland","doi":"10.5860/CRL.82.4.616","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5860/CRL.82.4.616","url":null,"abstract":"Published as part of the University of Massachusetts Press series on Studies in Print Culture and History of the Book, Placing Papers: The American Literary Archives Market is a well-written and fascinating history of how various stakeholders—and their differing motivations—shaped the literary archives trade in the United States of America. Amy Hildreth Chen, who holds a PhD in English from Emory University, previously was an academic librarian at the University of Iowa and now is an independent scholar. She traces the largely overlooked history of the trade in literary papers from its post-World War II origins through to the mid-2010s. The book comprises an introduction, conclusion, and six chapters. After a brief first chapter on the various values implicated in archives (financial, scholarly, and public), Placing Papers examines the literary archives market from the perspective of several key stakeholder groups: authors and their families (chapter 2), agents and dealers (chapter 3), directors and curators (chapter 4), archivists and digital archivists (chapter 5), and, finally, scholars and members of the public (chapter 6).","PeriodicalId":10686,"journal":{"name":"College & Research Libraries","volume":"14 1","pages":"616"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2021-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76080098","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
What is the most recent thing you searched for online? A recipe to try? A favorite brand of clothes on sale? Contact information for your dentist’s office? A movie to watch? Jutta Haider and Olof Sundin, Professors of Information Studies at Lund University, use this prompt in focus group studies with people of different age groups and professions, as one illustration of their central thesis: search engines and online search are deeply embedded in our daily lives, often without our recognition. The responses represent the array of information that is sought online throughout a given day, indicative of the search-ification of everyday life , a key concept explored in this book. Platforms such as Google gather personal data on an immeasurable scale, learning every monetizable component of our lives to more efficiently sell us things while maintaining our attention and driving our continued use. Search engines know so much about our interests, desires, and day-to-day existence. Shouldn’t we know more about them?
{"title":"Jutta Haider and Olof Sundin. Invisible Search and Online Search Engines: The Ubiquity of Search in Everyday Life. London, New York: Routledge, 2019. 160p. Hardcover, $160.00 (ISBN: 978-1-138-32860-0).","authors":"Eamon Tewell","doi":"10.5860/CRL.82.4.614","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5860/CRL.82.4.614","url":null,"abstract":"What is the most recent thing you searched for online? A recipe to try? A favorite brand of clothes on sale? Contact information for your dentist’s office? A movie to watch? Jutta Haider and Olof Sundin, Professors of Information Studies at Lund University, use this prompt in focus group studies with people of different age groups and professions, as one illustration of their central thesis: search engines and online search are deeply embedded in our daily lives, often without our recognition. The responses represent the array of information that is sought online throughout a given day, indicative of the search-ification of everyday life , a key concept explored in this book. Platforms such as Google gather personal data on an immeasurable scale, learning every monetizable component of our lives to more efficiently sell us things while maintaining our attention and driving our continued use. Search engines know so much about our interests, desires, and day-to-day existence. Shouldn’t we know more about them?","PeriodicalId":10686,"journal":{"name":"College & Research Libraries","volume":"35 1","pages":"614"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2021-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75443626","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
While many LIS publications have focused on Wikipedia, no LIS study has used intersectional class analysis to consider the site as a transmitter and reproducer of hegemonic ideology. Using both Antonio Gramsci and LIS theorist Michael Harris as starting points, this paper argues that Wikipedia is predicated on a philosophy of pluralism that serves as a transmitter of hegemonic ideology, thereby upholding the oppressive status quo. To counter this issue, the paper encourages librarians to embrace “critical editing”—an approach to Wikipedia editing built around an awareness of power, a penchant for critical literacy, a focus on desocialization, and an emphasis on self-education. The paper concludes with an example of critical editing praxis (dubbed the “Library Repository-to-Wikipedia” method) that research librarians and information professionals can replicate to counteract aspects of Wikipedia that inherently support the status quo and, thus, hegemonic ideology.
{"title":"Reverting Hegemonic Ideology: Research Librarians and Information Professionals as “Critical Editors” of Wikipedia","authors":"P. Thomas","doi":"10.5860/CRL.82.4.567","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5860/CRL.82.4.567","url":null,"abstract":"While many LIS publications have focused on Wikipedia, no LIS study has used intersectional class analysis to consider the site as a transmitter and reproducer of hegemonic ideology. Using both Antonio Gramsci and LIS theorist Michael Harris as starting points, this paper argues that Wikipedia is predicated on a philosophy of pluralism that serves as a transmitter of hegemonic ideology, thereby upholding the oppressive status quo. To counter this issue, the paper encourages librarians to embrace “critical editing”—an approach to Wikipedia editing built around an awareness of power, a penchant for critical literacy, a focus on desocialization, and an emphasis on self-education. The paper concludes with an example of critical editing praxis (dubbed the “Library Repository-to-Wikipedia” method) that research librarians and information professionals can replicate to counteract aspects of Wikipedia that inherently support the status quo and, thus, hegemonic ideology.","PeriodicalId":10686,"journal":{"name":"College & Research Libraries","volume":"65 1","pages":"567"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2021-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82763672","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
A content analysis of 62 job postings for East Asian studies librarians in the United States and Canada during 2008–2019 demonstrates that major job responsibilities have expanded to include collection development and management, reference and research assistance, instruction, liaison work, and outreach; relationship building and collaboration are emerging roles; skills and abilities have been progressively occupying a larger proportion than knowledge and experience in the required qualifications; top frequently required abilities and skills are generic and behavioral; and professional experiences are often preferred rather than required. The results of this research are of practical relevance to subject specialists in other areas.
{"title":"The Evolving Responsibilities, Roles, and Competencies of East Asian Studies Librarians: A Content Analysis of Job Postings from 2008 to 2019","authors":"Xiang Li, Tang Li","doi":"10.5860/CRL.82.4.474","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5860/CRL.82.4.474","url":null,"abstract":"A content analysis of 62 job postings for East Asian studies librarians in the United States and Canada during 2008–2019 demonstrates that major job responsibilities have expanded to include collection development and management, reference and research assistance, instruction, liaison work, and outreach; relationship building and collaboration are emerging roles; skills and abilities have been progressively occupying a larger proportion than knowledge and experience in the required qualifications; top frequently required abilities and skills are generic and behavioral; and professional experiences are often preferred rather than required. The results of this research are of practical relevance to subject specialists in other areas.","PeriodicalId":10686,"journal":{"name":"College & Research Libraries","volume":"16 1","pages":"474"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2021-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77719239","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Mary K. Oberlies, Maoria J. Kirker, Janna Mattson, J. Byrd
How do the personal epistemological beliefs of instruction librarians inform their teaching practices? By learning about their personal beliefs about knowledge acquisition, are librarians better equipped to create an environment more conducive to student learning? These questions informed a mixed-methods research study. Using the Approaches to Teaching Inventory, 283 teaching librarians answered 22 questions about their teaching practices and how they believe students learn. We interviewed 12 of these librarians to learn more about their teaching practices and epistemological beliefs. Seven themes emerged as influences on the instructional practices of librarians that ranged from learning biases to classroom tensions.
{"title":"Epistemology of Teaching Librarians: Examining the Translation of Beliefs to Practice","authors":"Mary K. Oberlies, Maoria J. Kirker, Janna Mattson, J. Byrd","doi":"10.5860/CRL.82.4.513","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5860/CRL.82.4.513","url":null,"abstract":"How do the personal epistemological beliefs of instruction librarians inform their teaching practices? By learning about their personal beliefs about knowledge acquisition, are librarians better equipped to create an environment more conducive to student learning? These questions informed a mixed-methods research study. Using the Approaches to Teaching Inventory, 283 teaching librarians answered 22 questions about their teaching practices and how they believe students learn. We interviewed 12 of these librarians to learn more about their teaching practices and epistemological beliefs. Seven themes emerged as influences on the instructional practices of librarians that ranged from learning biases to classroom tensions.","PeriodicalId":10686,"journal":{"name":"College & Research Libraries","volume":"54 1 1","pages":"513"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2021-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83166727","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Currently “Big Data” is an emerging field that presents several Information Technology challenges regarding the capture, storage search, structure, and visualization of this data. The real challenge for organizations is to find ways to extract value from it and provide better services to their clients. The data generated in academic and other institutions is vast and complex. Libraries face new challenges as they seek to determine their role in the handling of Big Data within their organization and use it to develop services. Thus, in most organizations, libraries will not have the knowledge to build new services unaided. Furthermore, libraries have always been information handlers and technology adopters; therefore, Big Data technologies will certainly affect their context. The purpose of this paper is to explore all these issues through a systematic literature review, unveiling the theories that underpin the paper’s argument. It attempts to answer several research questions, such as how librarians are involved in the Big Data era? And what are the future research developments of Big Data within the library context? The study considered only papers published between 2012 and 2018 in English and presents the collected literature by grouping them according to the type of library each paper refers to. Thus, it identifies new and evolving roles in the context of all types of libraries. In addition, the study presents several interesting tables, which aim to help librarians locate relevant articles that will inform their practice and guide service development for users of large and complex datasets.
{"title":"Big Data: Opportunities and Challenges in Libraries, a Systematic Literature Review","authors":"E. Garoufallou, Panorea Gaitanou","doi":"10.5860/CRL.82.3.410","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5860/CRL.82.3.410","url":null,"abstract":"Currently “Big Data” is an emerging field that presents several Information Technology challenges regarding the capture, storage search, structure, and visualization of this data. The real challenge for organizations is to find ways to extract value from it and provide better services to their clients. The data generated in academic and other institutions is vast and complex. Libraries face new challenges as they seek to determine their role in the handling of Big Data within their organization and use it to develop services. Thus, in most organizations, libraries will not have the knowledge to build new services unaided. Furthermore, libraries have always been information handlers and technology adopters; therefore, Big Data technologies will certainly affect their context. The purpose of this paper is to explore all these issues through a systematic literature review, unveiling the theories that underpin the paper’s argument. It attempts to answer several research questions, such as how librarians are involved in the Big Data era? And what are the future research developments of Big Data within the library context? The study considered only papers published between 2012 and 2018 in English and presents the collected literature by grouping them according to the type of library each paper refers to. Thus, it identifies new and evolving roles in the context of all types of libraries. In addition, the study presents several interesting tables, which aim to help librarians locate relevant articles that will inform their practice and guide service development for users of large and complex datasets.","PeriodicalId":10686,"journal":{"name":"College & Research Libraries","volume":"18 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2021-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75920268","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}