Academic Library Setting Research Articles

Implementing Library Maker Projects Outside of the Makerspace

The popularity and relevance of the library makerspace has been well-established and documented in the previous decade of researcher and practitioner work, including numerous hands-on guides from a variety of dimensions relevant to starting and operating a makerspace. Less studied, however, and the focus of this work are the applications of maker technologies within wider library work. Prior qualitative research conducted by the author included interviews with librarians to understand and document their use of maker technologies, such as the Raspberry Pi single-board computer, to support broader library work outside of the makerspace. The findings indicated that common use cases included running library display screens and collecting patron traffic numbers and environmental data. The objective of this subsequent case study is to examine the potential for wider use of such projects by librarians in an academic library setting, by introducing these projects into a new library setting and assessing the related code and educational materials developed by the researcher. This work reports on the findings of the case study, in which the projects were successfully operated in several usage contexts, as well as the challenges and broader implications for adoption within libraries of all types.

Evidence of the conditions affecting knowledge hiding among librarians in academic libraries

PurposeThis study aims to identify and theorize the conditions affecting the formation of librarians’ knowledge-hiding behaviour in academic libraries.Design/methodology/approachThis study is a qualitative research based on the grounded theory approach. The data collection method involved in-depth, semi-structured interviews. The data was analysed using the MAXQDA software in three stages: open, axial and selective coding. The study included 22 faculty members and experienced librarians from academic libraries. The participants were selected using a combination of targeted and snowball sampling techniques.FindingsThe study yielded 96 open codes, 24 axial codes and 18 selective general codes related to the axial category of knowledge hiding (KH). The librarians’ KH axial coding paradigm pattern was developed in an academic library setting. The study also highlighted some general consequences of KH in academic libraries, such as lobbying and creating knowledge rents, deterioration of organizational relationships and interactions, reducing the competitive advantage of academic libraries and hindering individual and organizational learning.Originality/valueThis study has made a valuable contribution to the identification and explanation of the factors that affect KH. In addition, it has filled a research gap within the library and information science (LIS) field. The findings of the study may offer managers new strategies for addressing the occurrence of KH in academic libraries, and they also add to the existing literature on knowledge management in LIS.

Visualising knowledge: a survey of infographic perceptions and challenges in academic library settings

PurposeThis study investigates the perceptions and challenges faced by academic library professionals in utilising infographics as a communication tool. It aims to understand how infographics are perceived in libraries, their effectiveness in conveying information and the obstacles encountered during implementation.Design/methodology/approachThe research employed a descriptive survey design, collecting data through a closed-ended questionnaire distributed electronically to 144 library and information science professionals. Stratified random sampling was used to ensure representation from various types of libraries. Pilot testing was conducted to validate the questionnaire, and data analysis was performed using statistical software.FindingsLibrary professionals perceive infographics as valuable tools for conveying complex concepts quickly, promoting library events and appealingly presenting resources. They also believe that infographics simplify complex information and enhance the user experience. However, challenges include lacking design skills and resources, difficulty finding relevant data, integrating infographics into traditional library services and time constraints.Originality/valueThis study provides unique insights into the role of infographics in library communication, highlighting both their positive perceptions and critical challenges. It offers recommendations for enhancing the use of infographics, including training for library professionals, improved data management and integration into traditional library services. The study also suggests promoting best practices and exploring emerging technologies like 3D interactive infographics.

Student experience in academic libraries: analysis of intellectual structure and opportunities for future research

In recent years, student experience (SX) has drawn the attention of researchers and librarians due to its impact on student engagement and, eventually, academic success. This study aims to explore the intellectual structure of literature focusing on the student experience with academic libraries. Through bibliometric and thematic analyses, we analyzed a sample of 160 articles published between 1995 and 2022. The findings underscore the multifaceted nature of SX research regarding academic libraries. Its intellectual structure unveils six predominant themes: (1) international students' experience; (2) servicescape and service design; (3) impact of technologies; (4) information literacy; (5) psychological and emotional aspects; and (6) engagement and motivation. Additionally, we propose a future research agenda, shedding light on prevalent theories and underexplored topics. This study serves as a valuable resource for researchers and librarians seeking insights into the nuances of SX in academic library settings. In particular, the identification of research clusters and opportunities can assist researchers in better positioning their studies and finding connections across several theoretical lenses and approaches.

Torn Between Two Worlds: Perceptions of the Role, Status, and Career Progression of Librarians Working in University Libraries

Librarians working in university libraries are torn between the two dominant categories (academic and professional) of university staff. Belonging to either of the categories of staff has implications for the employees' roles and duties, status, and career progression in the academic setting. This study sought to understand the perception of librarians' roles, status, and career progression with the changing frontiers of knowledge and education in contemporary times. Using the qualitative approach, fourteen (14) librarians working in seven university libraries in Ghana were interviewed using a semi-structured interview schedule. These librarians were purposively selected because they possessed the qualifications of practice and were experienced in the academic library setting. The data collected from the interview was transcribed. Using Nvivo software version 14, the researchers used the Reflexive Thematic Analysis method to garner codes and themes from the data to understand the phenomenon under study. The findings from the study showed that librarians perceived their roles and responsibilities of academic librarians to be classified into three dominant categories: research support, teaching, and managerial/administrative roles. Again, academic librarians were assigned to either the academic or professional cadre in their universities based on the university's understanding of the library as a professional or academic unit irrespective of the Librarian's qualification, roles and responsibilities and the changing academic librarianship landscape. The study revealed the challenges librarians working in academic libraries face with their promotion and career progression, including long years of waiting (6 years) to qualify for the promotion, role inconsistencies, stagnation/lack of promotion, the presence of an unclear career path, and the inability to meet promotion requirements due to the lack of time for research, all of which have implications on their job satisfaction leading to demotivation and stress among academic librarians. The findings of this study have practical implications for policymakers in the Library and Information Science (LIS) field, Higher Education Institutions (HEI), and researchers to understand the perception of the roles, status, and career progression of the librarians working in academic libraries in Ghana and to inform policy decisions.

Collection Development and Management in the Academic Libraries in the Modern Era: An Overview

Every library collection ought to be created with a specific objective in mind. The collection may have been produced primarily for research and instructional purposes in an academic library setting. Information that is available electronically via the use of computer technology has increasingly complemented traditional media for information, such as books and microfilm, in recent years. This implies that the selection criteria and collection parameters for these new media forms must be included in the current collection development policy for an academic library. In order to match its collection development efforts with the evolving landscape of digital librarianship in the twenty-first century, an academic library must take into account a number of concepts and issues, some of which are examined in this paper.

More than ESL

International students are frequently consolidated into a monolith of students with language needs and information poverty, constituting a disservice to both students and the library staff who seek to better serve them. In this study we interview international students to better understand the potential for cultural collaboration in programming in an academic library setting, and the barriers that keep students from participating. Our findings broaden the view of international students from remedial library users in need of catch-up information literacy and language education, and position them more holistically as potential full partners in programming efforts moving forward.

Referral Strategies

Live chat services are now a commonplace communication channel in many libraries. This learning object is geared towards the academic library setting in particular and focuses on building two distinct skills among chat operators. First, recognizing when to refer and, second, strategies for making successful referrals. Utilizing the web-based platform Genially, this training resource is designed as an interactive presentation template that can be customized to suit local needs. The learning object includes four example chat scenarios, a review quiz, a collaborative bulletin board, and further readings. It is expected that chat operators will have varying degrees of familiarity with general reference work and aims to create a shared foundation of core referral skills on chat. This resource is envisioned as one part of what should be a broader training program, as opposed to a stand-alone resource.

Our Journey of Building Trust

This article showcases the authors’ personal journeys of building trust with their teams as BIPOC women leaders in the academic libraries. The article attempts to focus on trust-building with team members through changes either at personal level or at a larger professional context level. This paper elucidates challenges and opportunities that BIPOC leaders are experiencing in their roles in academic library settings as well as how junior and mid-level leaders develop their skill sets to facilitate their effort in trust-building. Literature searches show that study and research in the area of BIPOC leadership in the library context are sparse. The authors strive to contribute to the area, share the experience of building trust in their teams as a leader and invite BIPOC peers to explore possibilities of building trust and advancing their careers in the library leadership path.

Sex in the Stacks: Examining the Treatment of Explicit Materials in American Libraries

AbstractQuestions about whether and how American libraries should collect, describe, and share sexually explicit materials are a perennial source of discussion both within the profession and in the wider national public forum. This ever-present debate has led to book challenges and bans as well as legal action, and it remains a hot topic through the present day for those looking to critique the role and function of libraries in American society. By examining elements of this history and how these questions have been addressed in both public and academic library settings, we can start to uncover some of the deeper cultural biases at play in the American LIS profession’s failures to fully embrace sexually explicit materials as a meaningful part of our collections and, relatedly, our larger philosophical failures to treat our patrons holistically as human beings whose physical lives are inextricably linked to their intellectual ones. A critical reconsideration of the place of pleasure and embodiment in our libraries has deep implications for how we work with and for our communities.

End users satisfaction and academic library settings: Perspectives from tribal region's learning community

End users satisfaction and academic library settings: Perspectives from tribal region's learning community

A psychometric evaluation of the applicability of LibQUAL+® in a developing country perspective in Bangladesh

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to assess the psychometric validity of the LibQUAL+® instrument in a developing country context in Bangladesh.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopted a paper-version of the original LibQUAL 22 core-items to survey library users' perceptions of minimum, desired and perceived levels of service quality of university libraries in Bangladesh. The survey accumulated a total of 544 valid responses over a period of two weeks. The means and standard deviations for each service item were computed for the three service levels. The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to test the original three-factorial structure and to assess the psychometric validity of the LibQUAL instrument. A one-factor CFA and separate CFAs by gender and user group on perceived services were conducted to determine the original three-factor structure of LibQUAL scale. Exploratory factor analyses (EFAs) were also performed on the perceived scores to examine the potential factor structure of the scale. The descriptive statistics including EFAs and the CFA models were performed through IBM® SPSS® Statistics and IBM® SPSS® Amos, respectively.FindingsThe findings of this paper showed that all perceived services fell below the minimum scores. The confirmatory factor analyses found poor model fits for the original three-factor solution of the LibQUAL scale. The EFA results also showed no factorial structure similar to the original LibQUAL dimensions. The findings exhibited a low psychometric quality of LibQUAL in academic library settings in Bangladesh.Originality/valueThis study is the first of its kind to empirically examine the psychometric validity of the LibQUAL scale in a developing country perspective in Bangladesh.

Assessing the Impact of Academic Librarians upon Student Satisfaction through Reference Desk Interactions: A Preliminary Pilot Study

In the column below, the author discusses the process of developing a pilot project report as a working document to help assess the impact of academic librarians upon student satisfaction through reference desk interactions in an academic library setting. This preliminary study examines the process of developing a pilot project procedure that supports academic involvement in institutional learning. The author presents data and commentary on the procedures of designing the process, pilot testing the solution, and exploring any necessary enhancements for future success in an effort to improve library management and to impact student success. This pilot project was developed after research development stimulated by administrative encouragement to demonstrate and confirm which library practices and resources contribute to institutional priorities and impact student learning. This study includes potential considerations for library leaders and library staff as a result of changing practices and environments. The author’s conclusions discuss how academic library services, expertise and resources contribute to desired outcomes of faculty support and student success.

Academic Library Leadership in Nigeria and ICT Adoption

Leadership is vital to the accomplishment of librarianship in the modern era. This paper investigated academic library leadership in Nigeria and ICT adoption. A descriptive research design was used for the study. The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) was used for data collection. The population of the study was 402 librarians in academic libraries in South-west, Nigeria. It was found that library leadership plays a significant role in ICT adoption in academic libraries in Nigeria. The study found that though both transformational and transactional leadership styles are good in an academic library setting, the respondents rated their leaders as more transformational than transactional. The extent of the adoption of ICT in performing library operations is high. The libraries benefited enormously from the adoption of ICT, even though the libraries face a lot of challenges in the adoption of ICT. It was recommended that Library leaders should imbibe transformational leadership practices in the management of their libraries as it offers effective leadership and is acceptable to the subordinates. The academic libraries should also make full-scale adoption of ICT in performing their operations due to the numerous improvements ICT brings to job performance and service delivery

Using Evidence-Based Principles in an Academic Library to Increase Institutional Effectiveness: A Preliminary Study

In the column below, the author discusses the process of developing an evidence-based principle working document as a benchmarking technique to measure institutional effectives in an academic library setting. This preliminary study examines the process of developing a best practices procedure that supports academic involvement in institutional learning. The author presents data and commentary on the process of applying learning analytics practices to develop behavioral and academic interventions to improve library management and to impact student success. Library learning analytics projects and research have grown out of administrative pressure to demonstrate returns on investments and a desire to confirm which library practices and resources contribute to institutional priorities and impact student learning. The study outlines benchmarking techniques implemented to measure performance and demonstrate the library’s contributions to the academic learning process. This study includes potential considerations for library leaders and library staff as a result of changing practices and environments. The author’s conclusions discuss how academic library services, expertise and resources contribute to desired outcomes of faculty support and student success.

Autism training at a small liberal arts college: librarian perceptions and takeaways

While there has been some research about the intersection of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and larger research libraries, less work has been done in other academic library settings. To assess librarians’ knowledge of ASD, the authors administered an ASD training manual and subsequent survey to academic librarians at a liberal arts college library in the Southeast. The librarians found the training about ASD itself to be most valuable. Additionally, they gave positive assessments of their ability to serve students with ASD both at the individual and institutional levels. This suggests that librarians recognize the importance of serving this unique population.

A Critical Phenomenology of Whiteness in Academic Libraries

This exploratory qualitative study examines how whiteness functions in the field of library and information science (LIS) within higher education institutions. Utilizing a critical phenomenological approach, three questions guided the inquiry: (1) How is whiteness embodied by academic librarians, (2) What perceptions do academic librarians hold that contribute to the maintenance or disruption of habits of whiteness in libraries, and (3) How and where is whiteness embedded within academic library settings and the field of LIS?The aim was to begin understanding whiteness in libraries as an experientially-grounded and systemically reproduced phenomena. Four academic librarians participated in semi-structured interviews that explored participant identity and experiences with race, specifically whiteness, in their professional lives. Data were analyzed using a cyclical coding approach resulting in six themes. This research may contribute to a better understanding of the way libraries function as racial projects and can assist librarians in seeing the importance of adopting critical reflexivity as a tool for recognizing and disrupting systemic habits of white normativity in libraries.

A Digital Petting Zoo of Learning Objects: An Online Professional Development Program to Support a Community of Practice among Employees at an Academic Library

This article provides a detailed description of a professional development initiative taking place in a fully online modality. The project sought to share asynchronous learning objects and support a community of practice around online instructional design. Beyond the practical and theoretical underpinnings of the initiative, the strategies employed to develop and deliver the project are explained. Additionally, detailed analysis of participation and lessons learned are presented that may be applied to relevant online professional development initiatives in other academic library settings.

Embedded librarians in academic libraries: impact, assessment, and sustainability

Academic librarians are continually looking for ways to impact student learning. Embedded librarianship can be a method to connect with students in ways that cannot be accomplished with one-shot instruction sessions. The following eight articles were selected for their excellence in researching and sharing embedded librarian experiences in a variety of academic library settings.

Relationship Between Academic Library Workers’ Outlooks on Life, Personality, and Goal-Setting Behavior and Achievement

A Review of: Lo, L.S. & Anderson, A.M. (2020). Personal goal setting behavior and professional outlooks of academic library employees. Journal of New Librarianship, 5, 204-236. https://doi.org/10.33011/newlibs/9/21 Abstract Objective – To identify a correlation between academic library employees who set New Year’s resolutions and goal-setting behavior in professional contexts, and to explore practices, personal attitudes, and outlooks that influence goal-setting and goal-achievement Design – Non-experimental multiple choice questionnaire Setting – Online Subjects – 308 adult participants (over 21 years old) who work in academic library settings including staff, librarians, and administration Methods – The authors designed an online, non-experimental multiple choice questionnaire through Qualtrics. The authors distributed study invitations to multiple professional library listservs, though it is unclear which listservs were included and what geographic location was covered. The survey was available for roughly a month from February 1-26, 2016. The survey screened participant demographics to omit those under 21 years of age and all identifying information was removed in order to protect participant privacy. All participation was voluntary and participants who were interested in contributing to a follow-up research study were asked to share their contact emails. Main Results – Most participants (n=182, 59%) set no New Year's resolutions in 2015 and half (n=155, 50%) set no resolutions in 2016. When asked to explain, 23% noted that they hadn't considered setting resolutions in 2016, 9% did not prioritize setting goals, and 5% felt that they could not achieve their goals. Additionally, over 50% articulated other reasons including not prioritizing goal-setting for New Year’s, noting that setting goals around the academic year was timelier, and that some participants already had enough goals to achieve. In 2016, half of participants (n=153, 50%) set New Year’s resolutions. By far the most common resolution was physical fitness and healthy eating (n=64, 42%). About 19% set occupational goals including skill building, and 15% set emotional goals including cultivating optimism and mindfulness. When asked about goal-setting practices, 36% of the 2016 resolution setters described writing or typing out their goals, 59% shared their goals with others, and nearly 90% enacted changes in their daily routines in order to achieve their goals. 26 participants used all of the goal setting practices above. This group prioritized their top goals and felt confident about reaching those goals. Four participants did not practice goal-setting techniques, and also felt less confident about achieving their goals. 49% of 2016 resolution setters had somewhat optimistic outlooks, and 24% had very optimistic life outlooks. Of those with pessimistic life outlooks, nearly all believed it would be difficult to accomplish goals. Respondents who claimed to be very ambitious were likely to set occupational goals as their top goal. 81% of those in dean and director positions reported being very ambitious and 85% also reported being optimistic. All deans and directors felt confident about accomplishing their goals. For middle managers, 75% felt ambitious and 72% felt optimistic. Professional librarians were 66% ambitious and 72% optimistic. Conclusions – This study's findings align closely with United States national averages about the percentage of Americans who set New Year’s resolutions and achieve their goals. Data suggests some relationship between academic library workers’ outlooks on life and confidence in achieving their goals, as well as a correlation between goal setting strategies and achieving goals. The authors express optimism that 20% of participants who set New Year's resolutions chose to list occupational goals as their top goals, especially considering that resolution-setting comprises an incredibly broad array of options. The authors suggest that data can be used by academic library administrators to increase worker job performance, improve worker wellness, establish mentorship programs, and train workers to set attainable goals.