Learning In Academic Libraries Research Articles

Designing an axial code pattern for absorptive capacity of knowledge in academic libraries: examining the effect of individual and organizational learning

PurposeThe purpose of the present study was to identify the conditions that affect the absorptive capacity (AC) of knowledge, discover its consequences and design an AC paradigm pattern in public academic libraries. To do so, AC was investigated at the levels of individual and organizational learning.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, to answer the three major questions of this qualitative-survey study, the views of 24 experts were examined using an in-depth semi-structured interview and grounded theory strategy. The data were collected using a nonrandom combined targeted sampling procedure (targeted and snowball) and analyzed based on Strauss and Corbin’s (1998) approach and utilizing MAX Qualitative Data Analysis (MAXQDA) software.FindingsThroughout the grounded analytic stages, 121 open codes were identified. These were distributed around the AC axial category in academic libraries in terms of individual and organizational learning. The 33 axial concepts were then categorized into 16 selective general categories. The paradigm pattern was initially designed to explore the relationships between causal, intervening, strategies, context and consequences conditions. The transition from academic libraries to learning organizations, their increased functional value and the development of their innovation were identified as the consequences of AC development.Originality/valueThis qualitative research is the first in the field of Library and Information Science (LIS) to support AC both theoretically and empirically in terms of learning in academic libraries. This study thus not only addresses a key research gap in LIS but also provides significant insights and direction to interested librarians and researchers.

Learning management systems and online tools to support continuous workplace learning in academic libraries

In today’s evolving academic landscape, which has been made even more changeable by the COVID-19 global pandemic, library managers and administration must consider accessible and sustainable methods for providing continuous workplace learning programmes for library staff. Establishing sustainable continuous workplace learning and professional development initiatives is critical for library staff to remain confident in their service delivery and use of digital tools. It is possible for libraries to develop online continuous workplace learning programmes that employ an array of online tools that are already in use by the library, such as those used for course delivery, internal documentation and online communication. Specifically, as many libraries make use of learning management systems (LMS) to embed their information literacy programming for faculty and students, there is an opportunity to strategically use LMS to support professional development and continuous workplace learning for library staff. Drawing from examples for Carleton University Library, this paper explores how the use of an LMS and other online tools for continuous workplace learning can provide library staff with equitable online access to develop essential technical and practical skills, while helping to build a workplace culture that prioritises learning and skill development. Employing these tools in continuous learning and training programmes can allow libraries to become ‘learningful’ workplaces where staff at all levels are supported and are confident in their work.

The Library Is My Canvas: Art and Experiential Learning in an Academic Library

The literature concerning experiential learning in academic libraries generally pertains to opportunities for student workers and library and information science students, along with case studies of experiential learning integration into the classroom. This article details the successful partnership between an academic library and university art program, demonstrating the library’s progression from provider of traditional resources and space for displaying student artwork to experiential learning environment for project-based learning opportunities requiring total student involvement from conception to completion. These experiences provide for unique learning opportunities, beautification of the library, and expansion of the library’s identity on campus as a learning space.

The Pathway to Success: Facilitating First-Generation Student Learning in Academic Libraries Through Cross-Campus Collaborations

Due to the unique economic, cultural, and family background first-generation students possess, they often require holistic support to help bridge the achievement gap they encounter due to lesser preparedness for college. This article investigates the role of academic libraries in first-generation student learning and engagement in scholarly activities throughout college education. The author documents the work of a medium-sized regional university library to demonstrate how customized library service implemented through additional individualized research assistance for first-generation students positively impacts their confidence using the library, facilitates the acquisition of key research skills, and enriches their overall experience with the library.

A Foot in Both Worlds: Current Roles and Challenges of Academic Online Learning Librarians

This qualitative study explores how online learning is defined at academic libraries in the U.S. and examines the current roles and challenges of online learning librarians. Findings from in-depth interviews reveal that approaches to online learning in academic libraries vary in terms of audience and instructional strategies, and that online learning librarians perform several roles within the institution and often face challenges related to those roles. These findings suggest that while academic libraries have defined their approaches to online learning, the functional role of the online learning librarian should be clearly delineated and leveraged to support sustainable online learning initiatives at the institution. Based on these findings, the authors make recommendations for librarians and library administrators to support this evolving area of librarianship.

Children’s Studies, Archives Literacy, and Cultural Contexts: Designing Teaching for Academic Library Learning

This article examines the development of a bespoke primary source literacy module for the study of childhood in Ireland. The BA (Children's Studies) at National University of Ireland Galway is a unique interdisciplinary degree that equips students with a theoretical and practical understanding of the lives of children and childhood today. The course features an embedded archives literacy component, which is the first for an academic library collaboration in Ireland. This article traces the theoretical background to the bespoke design of the archives literacy framework, the pedagogical methodology, learning outcomes, and student feedback as part of the module delivery. It explains critical learning tools developed through an archives literacy learning prism and supported by a blended learning and “flipped assignment” methodology, designed specifically for the module. The article discusses the importance of the archive content within the course design and student assessment, which enabled diverse projects and collaborative learning through digital and print/manuscript content. Finally, it outlines how the program contributed to realizing the academic library and wider university academic learning mission as well as aiding student learning and critical thinking.

Data Management Practices in Academic Library Learning Analytics: A Critical Review

INTRODUCTION Data handling in library learning analytics plays a pivotal role in protecting patron privacy, yet the landscape of data management by librarians is poorly understood. METHODS This critical review examines data-handling practices from 54 learning analytics studies in academic libraries and compares them against the NISO Consensus Principles on User’s Digital Privacy in Library, Publisher, and Software-Provider Systems and data management best practices. RESULTS A number of the published research projects demonstrate inadequate data protection practices including incomplete anonymization, prolonged data retention, collection of a broad scope of sensitive information, lack of informed consent, and sharing of patron-identified information. DISCUSSION As with researchers more generally, libraries should improve their data management practices. No studies aligned with the NISO Principles in all evaluated areas, but several studies provide specific exemplars of good practice. CONCLUSION Libraries can better protect patron privacy by improving data management practices in learning analytics research.

Understanding millennial learning in academic libraries: Learning styles, emerging technologies, and the efficacy of information literacy instruction

Millennials, or Generation Y learners, are one of the largest constituencies academic libraries serve today. Understanding how and why these technology-savvy students learn increases the efficacy of information literacy instruction and ensures that libraries remain relevant in the digital age. This article addresses the complexity of the millennial learning phenomenon and its implications for instructional design and teaching in physical and virtual library environments. To situate millennial learning in the context of academic library instruction, this paper takes a large-scale, holistic approach that includes consideration of millennials’ learning styles, emerging technologies, and a multitude of other issues affecting Generation Y learning.

Peer-Assisted Learning in Academic Libraries. Erin Rinto, John Watts, and Rosan Mitola, eds. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Libraries Unlimited, an Imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2017. 220p. Paper, $65.00 (ISBN 978-1440846885).

Peer-Assisted Learning in Academic Libraries attempts to survey the variety of forms that peer-assisted learning can take within academic libraries. Librarians involved in reference, instruction, and outreach within academic libraries and who are looking to make an impact on undergraduate student learning will be interested in this text. Specifically, this title is recommended for those librarians who are interested in building or improving peer-to-peer learning in their libraries. The authors have broken the examples and institutions’ programs into three separate categories: information literacy instruction, cocurricular outreach, and reference services, even though many peer programs in the text do not fit neatly into these categories. The value in this book is the breadth of examples; simply by scanning the pages, readers can generate ideas for their own peer programs, similar to reading a literature review on this topic. Some chapters include materials for recruitment and training within the programs; while this is not a large part of the book, it can help guide librarians in developing their own programs.

Innovation and play to enhance learning in academic libraries An interview of Andrew Walsh

Andrew Walsh visited Helsinki in March 2017 and organized a workshop “Making educational escape room style activities” for Finnish library professionals together with The Finnish Research Library Association (STKS) and its Information Literacy group. The day was full of fun and expertise.

Learning Commons in Academic Libraries: Discussing Themes in the Literature from 2001 to the Present

ABSTRACTAlthough the term lacks a standard definition, learning commons represent academic library spaces that provide computer and library resources as well as a range of academic services that support learners and learning. Learning commons have been equated to a laboratory for creating knowledge and staffed with librarians that serve as facilitators of learning. Many of these spaces evolved over time with the addition of campus partners and services. In this article, the authors examined the literature on academic library learning commons to identify common themes. A qualitiative analysis of 103 articles identified five themes including: planning the learning commons, assessing the learning commons, benefiting from the learning commons, collaborating in the learning commons, and staffing the learning commons. Foremost, the review pointed to the increasing popularity of learning commons in academic institutions. To that end, it remains critical that librarians possess the capabilities necessary to support students, faculty, and staff in these next generation learning spaces. Some of these capabilities include traditional library skills, but librarians' computer literacy, including familiarity with web 2.0 technologies, and their knowledge of instructional design remains important too.

Planning and Designing Academic Library Learning Spaces: Expert Perspectives of Architects, Librarians, and Library Consultants

This paper identifies approaches, challenges, and best practices related to planning and designing today’s academic library learning spaces. As part of the Project Information Literacy (PIL) Practitioner Series, qualitative data is presented from 49 interviews conducted with a sample of academic librarians, architects, and library consultants. These participants were at the forefront of the same 22 recent library learning space projects on college and university campuses in the US and Canada between 2011 and 2016. Most library projects had allocated space for supporting at least one of these four types of academic learning activities: collaborative, individual study, tutoring by campus learning partners, or occasional classes taught by campus instructors. Successful collaboration between the architect and the librarian was fostered by their shared commitment to meeting users’ needs, though few stakeholders systematically collected input from users beyond standard usage statistics and gate counts. Most interviewees reported facing some common challenges during their project planning and implementations. One challenge was translating design goals into tangible designs while trying to resolve issues of noise mitigation, shared space allocations, and providing enough electrical power for IT devices. Another challenge was ensuring effective communication practices with planning teams as well as campus-wide constituents throughout projects. Additional challenges included building consensus, compensating for project interruption and inadequate knowledge about both architecture and library IT issues, and having too few a priori evaluation metrics for linking learning outcomes to goals of the library space projects. Taken together, the success of library learning space projects depends upon shared knowledge and understanding of the sweeping learning, pedagogical, and research changes facing the academy. Librarians and architects need to work together to apply that knowledge and understanding to the unique environment and learning and teaching needs of their specific institution.

Partners in Information Literacy: The Research Mentor Program at UNH Manchester

The Research Mentor Program is a partnership between the UNH Manchester Library and the College’s Center for Academic Enrichment whereby student peer tutors receive training in both practical writing and research strategies along with theoretical applications for peer-assisted learning. Research Mentors are able to holistically support the research process from brainstorming topics; developing effective search strategies; and evaluating sources to preparing outlines; developing thesis statements; and drafting through the writing/revision cycle. The Research Mentor Program originated in 2004 and evolved during the past decade in response to classroom assessment and program evaluation findings.In the current adaptation, the research mentor training curriculum aligns with the ACRL Frameworks for Information Literacy. Mentors engage with each of the Frames through class discussions, hands-on activities, role-playing exercises, and reflective writing entries. In one-to-one tutorials, research mentors are able to apply the Frames’ dispositions thereby guiding students to engage more effectively with scholarly inquiry, contextualizing authority, and acknowledging value in the research process. In this way, Research Mentors contribute to the effectiveness of information literacy instruction by recognizing gaps in students’ evidence, modelling the dispositions of the information literacy Frames in their interactions with students, and connecting students to the librarians for further research instruction.UNH Manchester’s Research Mentor Program impacts library instruction by extending the influence of information literacy principles beyond the librarian’s classroom instructional sessions into the research mentor led tutorials and circling back to the library for individually focused instruction. Our Creating Knowledge VIII conference presentation is available at http://libraryguides.unh.edu/partnersinfolit. This presentation is based on our forthcoming chapter in Peer-assisted Learning in Academic Libraries, edited by E. Rinto, J. Watts, & R. Mitola published through Libraries Unlimited, Santa Barbara, CA (anticipated publication date early 2017).

大学図書館における情報リテラシー教育の可能性 －現代社会におけるリテラシー概念の拡張と「つながる学習（Connected Learning）」－

大学図書館における情報リテラシー教育の可能性 －現代社会におけるリテラシー概念の拡張と「つながる学習（Connected Learning）」－

If you build it, will they sort it? Compost collection in the academic library learning commons

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to share one uncommon way that an academic library moved toward more sustainable library operations and to share lessons learned in the implementation of a compost collection program in an academic library. Design/methodology/approach Case study. Findings The right collaboration is critical to successfully implementing a library composting program and challenges like working around supply purchasing hurdles, reducing contamination in the collection bins, and working out appropriate assessment techniques may be encountered. Practical implications Academic libraries can implement compost collections program if the proper infrastructure exists and the appropriate partnerships are established. Social implications Academic libraries can be leaders in sustainable building operations and provide learning opportunities for the entire campus and surrounding community. Originality/value Very little published literature exists on implementing composting program in libraries of any kind. This case study helps to build that body of literature.

E-BOOK AS A PART OF E-LEARNING IN ACADEMIC LIBRARY

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to present the e-book as one of several information resources in academic libraries in the context of e-learning.Methodology/approach: Theoretical and research approach through the content analysis method and evaluation of services on the web pages of academic libraries of the University of Zagreb on the basis of selection criteria.Results: Findings showed that the e-book is a visible part of information resources, and as such, is an integral part of learning in academic libraries’ landscape. Research restrictions: No research restrictions.The originality: This is the first research of this kind.Contribution: The encouragement of other academic libraries to include this type of e-resources to the library website and thus contribute to increase the quality of library service.

Destroy Your Classroom! Re-conceptualizing the Instructor/Student Model in Academic Libraries

ASBTRACTPedagogies and technologies evolve, yet academic library learning spaces are unable to keep up with the change. Budgetary and space limitations, traditional teaching practices, and staid attitudes all contribute to tethered spaces hindering active learning. This is a documentation of the authors’ urgent need to break free from tradition while providing students and faculty interactive equipment meeting pedagogical needs in an un-tethered, flexible learning space in three library and non-library spaces at the University of Florida's George A. Smathers Libraries Education and Architecture and Fine Arts Libraries.

Commons consent

Purpose – Constructing academic library learning spaces involves ad hoc groups of agents often with fuzzy inter-relationships. Librarians and their user communities are initially hailed within these groups as prime-movers in realizing projects. Librarians bring to the table contagious ideas generated from their own profession in the hope of securing appropriate funding and planning pre-requisites. All other agents, be they internal community representatives or external architects, assist them in making sense of each other’s standpoints to co-create dynamic learning spaces in “commons consent”. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Using the community culture in The Chinese University of Hong Kong as existed in 2012 as a case study, this paper examines the reality of this process in terms of a new library for learning, teaching and research. Findings – Can librarians hold sway over the priorities of other individual agents, particularly architects, to gain consent to build their initial concept of the commons which they are vigorously promoting as professionally valid and educationally potent? In the co-creation of a building, individual preferences and organizational power structures in ad hoc groups drawn from the university’s distinct cultural environment fuel compromise and even tension around the librarians’ and architects’ original visions. Research limitations/implications – Many other case studies of library building learning commons projects would be useful to add to these findings in sensemaking, co-creation and community cultures. Practical implications – Assists library managers in their management of large buildings projects. Originality/value – An original case study of a major Asian academic library learning commons project which involves sensemaking, co-creation and community cultures ideas imported from construction science.

Bridges and Barriers: Factors Influencing a Culture of Assessment in Academic Libraries

In an environment in which libraries need to demonstrate value, illustrating how the library contributes to student learning is critical. Gathering and analyzing data to tell the library’s story as well as identify areas for improvement require commitment, time, effort, and resources—all components of a culture of assessment. This paper presents the results of a survey designed to understand what factors facilitate the development of a culture of assessment of student learning in academic libraries and what factors may hinder it. Unlike previous research in this area, which has focused on case studies and surveys with nonrepresentative samples, the authors conducted a systematic survey of academic libraries at four-year institutions in the United States and achieved a 42 percent response rate. The results suggest certain factors are highly associated with a culture of assessment and provide guidance to administrators and front-line librarians working to build such a culture.

Before There Was a Place Called Library – Library Space as an Invisible Factor Affecting Students' Learning

This paper presents a conceptual framework of space design principles and conditions for learning in academic libraries. The researchers reviewed relevant literature and identified several factors significantly affecting space and learning. Transmutation of the library into a completely digital library appears to be premature. However, the design of academic libraries has changed dramatically in recent decades as a result of digital technology and changes in pedagogy, and will undoubtedly continue to change. Flexibility is considered an imperative of design. The most successful designs have been developed by a collaborative process, involving all stakeholders from the delineation of the vision through to completion of the project, but with a project manager who can coordinate all players and drive the project.