Team Of Librarians Research Articles

Collaboratively Creating a Programmatic Information Literacy Strategy: Challenges and Opportunities

In 2017, a team of librarians and archivists at Western University developed local Information Literacy Learning Outcomes (ILLOs). The resulting document outlined the skills and understanding that Western University students should demonstrate at the end of a four-year undergraduate degree—specifically, the skills relating to accessing, assessing, and applying information. This article focuses on the challenges and opportunities encountered during the collaborative process as well as the approach employed by the team in the development of these ILLOs.
 Six librarians and archivists in very different roles formed the project team. Despite coming from diverse backgrounds, the team recognized that there could be many benefits to developing these outcomes: they could be used as a benchmark for students to measure their own learning, as a conversation starter and leveler with faculty and other instruction partners, and as a stepping stone to develop a full instruction program and common understanding among the librarians and archivists at Western University and Huron University College.
 The ILLOs created also incorporate guidelines and ideas from various sources, including the Association of College and Research Libraries’ Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education and Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education, Western University’s undergraduate Degree Outcomes, and the university’s and library system’s strategic plans.
 To ensure the success of this complex venture, detailed project planning was vital. We consulted with our colleagues through multiple engagement activities: information literacy retreats, focused discussion meetings, and one-on-one consultations. The diversity of roles and experiences of our team members and colleagues added both a richness to our project and specific challenges in dealing with dissenting opinions, information overload, engagement and visioning fatigue, and collaborative writing. This article will discuss our approach to writing collaboratively and valuing diverse opinions to improve colleague and organizational buy-in. We have also included practical suggestions for implementing a similar process at the reader's own institution.

Budowanie relacji w zespole bibliotecznym

The article tackles the issues of working in a library team referring to building relations and mutual cooperation based on an example of the employees of the Scientific Information Department of the Pedagogical University in Cracow's Main Library. One of the most demanded competences has been underlined in the text, that being the ability to work in a team and taking care of the good working atmosphere by the team members, as well as reaching compromises. The article describes the positive features influencing the professional and life success of a person, for example the appropriate level of motivation, mental resistance, ambition, pull, the ability to make acquaintances, persistence, optimism, mental health and dynamism. Later in the article there is a description of the elements that enable a creation of a good team consisting of people with initiative, open to new solutions and not afraid of change. The summary includes a mature team characterized by: clearly described goals and division of activities, effective system of communication, ability of mutual support in both giving and taking, and having common values

Library data labs: using an agile approach to develop library analytics in UK higher education

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to give an overview of the Jisc and Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Library Data Labs project and its outputs. This collaboration involved bringing together cross-institutional library teams to produce proof of concept data-visualised dashboards using library analytics data that could be made available to others via the Heidi Plus service.Design/methodology/approachThe teams used an agile approach, which adapted the agile methodology for non-technical and disparate team members. The key agile elements were followed, including the Scrum approach, whereby teams had a product owner, several development team members, a data wrangler and a scrum master. Many of the dashboards took inspiration from some of the earlier Jisc work on library analytics.FindingsA wide variety of proof of concept dashboards were created addressing a range of library issues. These fell into two main categories for the cross-institutional teams, namely, comparing the Society of College, National and University Libraries (SCONUL) annual statistics results against the National Student Survey (NSS) data and collection management and analysis.Research limitations/implicationsSome of the HESA data were potentially sensitive. In effect, this created a walled garden as some of the data were not designed for sharing. Furthermore, the data that the Jisc team used were restricted by publisher agreements, meaning that specific institutions’ usage could not be identified to others.Originality/valueThe paper provides insight into the Library Data Labs project and discusses a number of implications from the outcomes of the project. These are now being investigated by HESA, Jisc and individual institutions.

Promoting Evidence-Based Practice Through a Live Online Nursing Journal Club: It Takes a Team

ABSTRACTJournal clubs have existed for 150 years for clinicians to discuss the latest evidence, yet multiple barriers exist. Rapid healthcare changes provide new opportunities for librarians to promote modern journal clubs. An interdisciplinary team of librarians, nursing faculty, and a continuing education program manager designed, conducted, and evaluated a live journal club for nurses located throughout the United States. Five sessions were conducted and 11 RNs participated. Participants’ Evidence-Based Practice Belief Scale scores and survey responses were encouraging. Journal clubs led by an interdisciplinary team are one way to embrace change while supporting clinicians.

Strength in Numbers: Encouraging Every Staff Member to Work to Capacity

ABSTRACTLibraries play a critical role in enhancing the learning landscape of the schools they support. In order for any library to become a powerhouse and a community meeting place, all library team members need to align with the library's vision, own it and begin to add their own strengths and talents purposefully. This article explores practical strategies for developing a visionary team, including supportive leadership, daily stand-up meetings, weekly staff meetings, special-focus teams, rostering and the “five conversations” approach. These effective strategies can be implemented across a broad range of library workforce contexts in order to ensure the most effective workforce teams are built.

What did the Disruptive Media Learning Lab ever do for us?

Picture this. The Lanchester Library, Coventry University, 2014. The Disruptive Media Learning Lab (DMLL) opens on the top floor amongst a flurry of raised eyebrows and unanswered questions. ‘What is it?’, ‘Why is it in the Library?’ and ‘Who designed the wooden hill?’ Our Academic Liaison Librarian team were asked to move in there alongside a DMLL team comprising educational researchers and principal project leads, each specializing in a flavour of teaching practice such as open, flipped and gamification. A learning technologist, project and admin staff and student activators add to the mix. Still not sure what that would mean for a library? Neither were we. This article will take you through the reasons behind this alien landing, past the hill and the grass and onto the plains of what the DMLL ever did for the Library and our students.

Virtual world global collaboration: an educational quest

PurposeThis research case study shares the partnership between librarians and educators to create a live digital literacy experience at The Quest (Camelot Project), a virtual world medieval simulation. The purpose of the partnership was to gain understanding of the learning elements addressed with a group of participants from across the globe, working at various skill levels and interacting with an immersive virtual world simulation.Design/methodology/approachUsing field notes, machinima and interviews (participatory action research), the study identifies learning elements within three contexts: technological, pedagogical and content. Learners cycle toward intended learning outcomes in a virtual-world treasure hunt game from the perspective of both designers and participants.FindingsFindings of the case study illustrate the value of collaboration in a digital game-based learning (DGBL) environment through scaffolding of knowledge and skills in a virtual world. Findings exemplify the experiential learning cycle within a virtual world for constructing learning, and support a proposed new theoretical framework of technology-mediated learning which may help educators in both design and implementation.Originality/valueAs virtual worlds and immersive learning opportunities continue to expand for learners and educators, this study shares the value of experiential learning from the perspective of both the teacher and the learner. Socially constructing knowledge and acquiring skills across distance with a team of librarians and educators are innovative examples of DGBL in an alternative reality setting.

Workflow Development for an Institutional Repository in an Emerging Research Institution

INTRODUCTION This paper describes the process librarians in the Albert B. Alkek Library at Texas State University undertook to increase the amount of faculty publications in their institutional repository, known as the Digital Collections. DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM Digital Collections at Texas State University is built on a DSpace platform and serves as the location for electronic theses and dissertations, faculty publications, and other digital Texas State University materials. Despite having launched the service in 2005, the amount of faculty work added to the repository has never been at the levels initially hoped for on launch. DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE WORKFLOW Taking a proactive and cooperative approach, a team of librarians developed and piloted a workflow, in which library staff would retain the already established protocol of gaining faculty permissions prior to uploading material while respecting publisher copyright policies. RESULTS Prior to the vita project, the repository archived 305 faculty publications total. Fifty-seven were added during the pilot, which represents an 18.5% increase. Of a total of 496 articles, seventeen titles were found in the blue category, which allows publisher pdfs to be archived. The majority of articles (233) were found in the green category, which allows either a pre- or a post-print copy of an article to be archived. One hundred ten of the identified titles were in the yellow and white journal categories, representing 22% of our total, and the team was able to archive only five of these. Finally, 16% (81) were not found in the SHERPA/ RoMEO database (color-coded beige). Only 18 of these articles were archived. ASSESSMENT We discovered that our faculty retain nearly none of their pre-print or post-print versions of their published articles, and so we are unable to archive those titles in the repository. Nearly 47% of the articles found were in green journals that allow only pre- or post-print copies. Most faculty were unable to produce versions of their work other than the publisher’s PDF, which many publishers restrict from upload into a repository.

Digitizing a massive dye library

A college of textiles is an unexpected place to find a chemist trained in high-resolution mass spectrometry. But the college of textiles at North Carolina State University had something that attracted Nelson R. Vinueza: It is home to the Max A. Weaver Dye Library. Weaver, a longtime researcher at Eastman Chemical, and his team collected dyes from the company over a period of more than 30 years. His efforts resulted in a treasure trove of about 98,000 vials of dye molecules dating from the 1960s to the 1980s, which Eastman donated to NC State in 2013, along with accompanying fabric swatches. NC State hired Vinueza that same year, and he’s now codirector, with Harold S. Freeman, of the dye library. The library team is working to make the collection publicly available, in part to encourage researchers to find new uses for the compounds other than as textile dyes. As a

Sitting on the same bench: complementing law learning outcomes

Academic skills are now an integral element of the Monash University Library‟s educational program, joining the more established library-taught skill of research. Librarians and learning skills advisers work to present combined classes, and jointly develop programs to deepen the educational experience of students, both through and alongside the curriculum (cocurricula). The Law Library team are fortunate in having a close association with the Monash Faculty of Law, thereby strengthening integration through the provision of shared classes in compulsory law units. Librarians and learning skills advisers have largely complementary skills: good academic writing is based on solid research, and academic argument and its expression are limited by inadequate research. On request from the Law Faculty, the Law Library team teach into a compulsory first-year unit which aims to improve students‟ research and writing skills. The learning skills adviser and the librarians planned, prepared and delivered classes jointly; starting with analysing the question, establishing a framework for the research, and ending with drafting the legal advice that utilises the research. Moreover, the recent educational drive to extend curricula and develop graduate attribute statements has consolidated the methodological foundation of the educational programs. In response to the 2011 curriculum review carried out by the Monash Law Faculty, the Law Library team drew on the draft Threshold Learning Outcomes for Law (Australian Learning and Teaching Council, 2010) combining these with the Research Skill Development Framework (Willison & O‟Regan, 2006) to map the classes currently offered and suggest further directions.

Every Reader Her Book: Creation of a Therapeutic Library at a Women’s Residential Treatment Facility

In July 2015, an interdisciplinary team of librarians, information professionals, and education specialists began development of a therapeutic library for the women residents of the Drug Abuse Comp...

Every Reader Her Book: Creation of a Therapeutic Library at a Women’s Residential Treatment Facility

In July 2015, an interdisciplinary team of librarians, information professionals, and education specialists began development of a therapeutic library for the women residents of the Drug Abuse Comprehensive Coordinating Office, Inc. (DACCO) in Tampa, Florida. This 88-bed alcohol and other drug (AOD) addiction treatment center’s mission is to provide counseling for substance abuse and co-occurring mental health conditions. Treatment lasts from 6 to 8 months. The residential population is racially, ethnically, and socio-economically diverse, with many residents referred through the criminal justice system with the stipulation that they cannot leave the treatment center without prior court approval. Prior to the establishment of this library, residents did not have access to the Internet or reading materials. With funding from a grant from the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA), the team began to design a therapeutic library for the women residents. The DACCO library now offers services to the center and its residents that focus on providing therapeutic outcomes consistent with their treatment goals. Service promises include circulation, reference services, and health literacy instruction. This article discusses the creation of a model therapeutic library and the future of providing services to special populations who reside in a restricted environment with little or no access to Web-based resources.

Asking Questions in the Classroom: An Exploration of Tools and Techniques Used in the Library Instruction Classroom

This study explores the tools and techniques used within the library instruction classroom to facilitate a conversation about teaching practices. Researchers focused on the questioning methods employed by librarians, specifically the number of questions asked by librarians and students. This study was comprised of classroom observations of a team of librarians working towards standardized learning outcomes; members of the team had the freedom to independently develop lesson plans and choose teaching approaches for each class. Observations measured the frequency of questions asked of and answered by librarians and students in library instruction sessions via oral discussion, worksheets, and polling. Researchers also noted the use of visual aids and storytelling as tools to engage students in conversation. The variety of tools and techniques observed in this study indicate that librarians exercise a great amount of autonomy in the classroom while working towards standardized learning outcomes.

Modifying researchers’ data management practices

Data is the new buzzword in academic libraries, as policy increasingly mandates that data must be open and accessible, funders require formal data management plans, and institutions are implementing guidelines around best practice. Given concerns about the current data management practices of researchers, this paper reports on the initial findings from a project being undertaken at Griffith University to apply a conceptual (A-COM-B) framework to understanding researchers’ behaviour. The objective of the project is to encourage the use of institutionally endorsed solutions for research data management. Based on interviews conducted by a team of librarians in a small, social science research centre, preliminary results indicate that attitude is the key element which will need to be addressed in designing intervention strategies to modify behaviour. The paper concludes with a discussion of the next stages in the project, which involve further data collection and analysis, the implementation of targeted strategies, and a follow-up activity to assess the extent of modifications to current undesirable practices.

A contribuição de biblioteca e salas de aula para ensino e pesquisa no ambiente hospitalar

Introdução: A Biblioteca Professor Wladimiro Ingiulla do Hospital da Mulher Prof. Dr. José Aristodemo Pinotti – Caism, criada na década de 1960, tem como missão disponibilizar informação aos usuários do Hospital, com foco em suas necessidades informacionais. O acervo é composto por livros, periódicos, dissertações e teses nas temáticas das áreas de Ginecologia, Obstetrícia, Oncologia, Neonatologia, Nutrição, Fisioterapia, Psicologia, Serviço Social, Enfermagem e Saúde Pública. A equipe da Biblioteca é composta por 01 bibliotecário e 02 técnicos. A partir de 2011, com a ampliação do Hospital, a biblioteca e mais duas salas de aula passaram a congregar a área de apoio didático, ficando a cargo da equipe administrar também as duas salas de aula que são utilizadas para o ensino do curso de medicina da Faculdade de Ciências Médicas; cursos de especialização, aprimoramentos e residência médica; reuniões científicas, entre outras demandas da comunidade do Caism. Materiais e métodos empregados: A biblioteca é aberta ao público em geral para consulta local e o empréstimo domiciliar é estabelecido pelo regulamento de circulação. As salas de aula, restritas à comunidade Caism, são gerenciadas por meio de formulário de agendamento disponível no site do Hospital, permitindo assim coleta de dados para controle e mapeamento do uso das salas. Resultados e conclusão do trabalho: No último ano, o fluxo na Biblioteca foi de 836 usuários, a circulação de materiais bibliográficos foi de 430 itens emprestados e o serviço de referência atendeu 121 solicitantes, e as salas de aula foram reservadas e utilizadas 1.040 vezes.

BAE nas engenharias: experiência da biblioteca da área de engenharia e arquitetura com foco no marketing dos produtos e serviços da biblioteca

O objetivo de uma organização, seja ela de qualquer natureza, é satisfazer as necessidades de seus clientes. E com a Biblioteca não ocorre diferente. Temos a missão de monitorar, avaliar e promover ações que incentive o uso de todos os recursos informacionais, físicos ou virtuais, dando acesso e auxiliando nossa comunidade no processo de reconhecimento tanto da Biblioteca quanto do trabalho do profissional bibliotecário, agente mediador da informação. O marketing é um desses meios e desenvolvê-lo é um desafio que se torna imprescindível na rotina do bibliotecário. A BAE - Biblioteca da área de engenharia e arquitetura já a tempos projeta ações nesse sentido e trouxe para a comunidade das Engenharias uma iniciativa que tira a Biblioteca da sua “zona de conforto”. Portanto, este trabalho relata a ação intitulada “BAE nas Engenharias”, realizada pela primeira vez pela equipe da biblioteca em 2015, em comemoração a Semana do Livro e da Biblioteca e teve como objetivo levar aos corredores das Faculdades das cinco engenharias (FEC, FEEC, FEAGRI, FEQ e FEM) e toda a sua comunidade um pouco dos nossos produtos e serviços, como treinamentos em recursos informacionais, material de apoio a pesquisa e divulgações de ações cientifico-culturais além de sorteios de brindes. Concluiu-se que esta foi uma estratégia muito proveitosa e promissora, que estimulou os alunos e docentes a pararem nos nossos stands para saber um pouco mais sobre a BAE e nos incentivou a projetar mais ações como esta, ainda para o ano de 2016.

Norming a VALUE rubric to assess graduate information literacy skills

Objective: The study evaluated whether a modified version of the information literacy Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education (VALUE) rubric would be useful for assessing the information literacy skills of graduate health sciences students.Methods: Through facilitated calibration workshops, an interdepartmental six-person team of librarians and faculty engaged in guided discussion about the meaning of the rubric criteria. They applied the rubric to score student work for a peer-review essay assignment in the ‘‘Information Literacy for Evidence-Based Practice’’ course. To determine inter-rater reliability, the raters participated in a follow-up exercise in which they independently applied the rubric to ten samples of work from a research project in the doctor of physical therapy program: the patient case report assignment.Results: For the peer-review essay, a high level of consistency in scoring was achieved for the second workshop, with statistically significant intra-class correlation coefficients above 0.8 for 3 criteria: ‘‘Determine the extent of evidence needed,’’ ‘‘Use evidence effectively to accomplish a specific purpose,’’ and ‘‘Access the needed evidence.’’ Participants concurred that the essay prompt and rubric criteria adequately discriminated the quality of student work for the peer-review essay assignment. When raters independently scored the patient case report assignment, inter-rater agreement was low and statistically insignificant for all rubric criteria (kappa¼[1]0.16, p.0.05–kappa¼0.12, p.0.05).Conclusions: While the peer-review essay assignment lent itself well to rubric calibration, scorers had a difficult time with the patient case report. Lack of familiarity among some raters with the specifics of the patient case report assignment and subject matter might have accounted for low inter-rater reliability. When norming, it is important to hold conversations about search strategies and expectations of performance. Overall, the authors found the rubric to be appropriate for assessing information literacy skills of graduate health sciences students.

Assessment of Service Desk Quality at an Academic Health Sciences Library

ABSTRACTDue to an identified need for formal assessment, a small team of librarians designed and administered a survey to gauge the quality of customer service at their academic health sciences library. Though results did not drive major changes to services, several important improvements were implemented and a process was established to serve as a foundation for future use. This article details the assessment process used and lessons learned during the project.

Norming a VALUE rubric to assess graduate information literacy skills.

The study evaluated whether a modified version of the information literacy Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education (VALUE) rubric would be useful for assessing the information literacy skills of graduate health sciences students. Through facilitated calibration workshops, an interdepartmental six-person team of librarians and faculty engaged in guided discussion about the meaning of the rubric criteria. They applied the rubric to score student work for a peer-review essay assignment in the "Information Literacy for Evidence-Based Practice" course. To determine inter-rater reliability, the raters participated in a follow-up exercise in which they independently applied the rubric to ten samples of work from a research project in the doctor of physical therapy program: the patient case report assignment. For the peer-review essay, a high level of consistency in scoring was achieved for the second workshop, with statistically significant intra-class correlation coefficients above 0.8 for 3 criteria: "Determine the extent of evidence needed," "Use evidence effectively to accomplish a specific purpose," and "Access the needed evidence." Participants concurred that the essay prompt and rubric criteria adequately discriminated the quality of student work for the peer-review essay assignment. When raters independently scored the patient case report assignment, inter-rater agreement was low and statistically insignificant for all rubric criteria (kappa=-0.16, p>0.05-kappa=0.12, p>0.05). While the peer-review essay assignment lent itself well to rubric calibration, scorers had a difficult time with the patient case report. Lack of familiarity among some raters with the specifics of the patient case report assignment and subject matter might have accounted for low inter-rater reliability. When norming, it is important to hold conversations about search strategies and expectations of performance. Overall, the authors found the rubric to be appropriate for assessing information literacy skills of graduate health sciences students.

Library Assessment and Quality Assurance - Creating a Staff-Driven and User-Focused Development Process

Objective – Gothenburg University Library has implemented a process with the goal to combine quality assurance and strategic planning activities. The process has bottom-up and top-down features designed to generate strong staff-involvement and long-term strategic stability.
 
 Methods – In 2008 the library started implementing a system in which each library team should state a number of improvement activities for the upcoming year. In order to focus the efforts, the system has gradually been improved by closely coupling a number of assessment activities, such as surveys and statistics, and connecting the activities to the long-term strategic plan of the library.
 
 Results – The activities of the library are now more systematically guided by both library staff and users. The system has resulted in increased understanding within different staff groups of changing external and internal demands, as well as the need for continuous change to library activities. 
 
 Conclusion – Library assessment and external intelligence are important for tracking and improving library activities. Quality assurance and strategic planning are intricate parts in sustainable development of better and more effective services. The process becomes more effective when staff-driven and built upon systematic knowledge of present activities and users.