scholarly journals Building Trust: How Understanding Users Can Lead to Inclusive and Equitable Library Services

2021 ◽  
pp. 196-203
Author(s):  
Rebecca Donald

In the fall of 2020 interviews were conducted with students of color at Trinity International University. The goal was to better understand the experiences students of color have had with the library, how the library can be more welcoming, and ways that librarians can work toward anti-racism. This paper reports key themes from the interviews. It also describes the lessons learned about having these discussions and provides suggestions for other librarians wishing to connect more with their students of color. Engaging in intentional conversations with students of color can help librarians build relationships with students and gain valuable insights into how the library can better serve students.

2016 ◽  
Vol 77 (3) ◽  
pp. 269-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luke Swindler

E-books constitute major challenges for library collections generally and present fundamental problems for consortial collection development specifically. The Triangle Research Libraries Network (TRLN) and Oxford University Press (OUP) have created a mutually equitable and financially sustainable model for the consortial acquisition of e-books coupled with print titles needed to support instruction and research across the disciplinary spectrum within a transitional framework that is acceptable to users while moving both libraries and publishers to a decidedly electronic environment for monographs. Working with YBP Library Services, TRLN and OUP developed a flexible vending model for systematically increasing e-books acquisitions in tandem with reducing print intake over time and keeping net costs constant that other consortia and publishers would find useful. This article focuses on creating an acceptable and sustainable model that allows libraries to shift to e-books and the implications for traditional cooperative collection development. The research reports on the principles undergirding the pilot, how it developed, challenges encountered and lessons learned, librarian and user reactions to this format shift, and resulting philosophical and practical evolutions in consortial approaches to monographic acquisitions and understandings of what constitutes cooperative collections success in a digital environment.


Author(s):  
Anali Perry ◽  
Karen Grondin

In this case study, we reflect on our journey through a major revision of our streaming video reserve guidelines, informed by an environmental scan of comparable library services and current copyright best practices. Once the guidelines were revised, we developed an implementation plan for communicating changes and developing training materials to both instructors and internal library staff. We share our navigation strategies, obstacles faced, lessons learned, and ongoing challenges. Finally, we map out some of our future directions for improving and streamlining our services.  


Author(s):  
Ayanda Agnes Lebele

In the quest to develop more innovative customer-focused library services, the Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST) Library embarked on the development of robust initiatives that involved the engagement of various stakeholders. The emerging consultative and engaging trend is premised on the key values of facilitating access to information and demand-driven inclusive library services. The paper presents how the BIUST Library engages stakeholders in the development of multiple and flexible opportunities to access and use information. In doing so, it describes the recreation of internal library structures, space, and processes in a way that accommodates and demonstrates the categories and functional roles of different types of library stakeholders. The paper further points to how the stakeholders’ cultures and systems create a divide or imbalance in the access and usage of library services. The paper also argues for a need to define library stakeholders and develop engagement strategies that are entity and initiative specific.


Author(s):  
Jennifer Congyan Zhao ◽  
Nazi Torabi ◽  
Sonia Smith

This study sought to determine whether offering multilingual orientation sessions to non-native English-speaking students at the beginning of an academic year would improve their knowledge of library services and resources. In September 2015, McGill Library offered 11 orientation sessions in five different languages—English, French, Mandarin Chinese, Persian, and Spanish. A total of 74 students attended the sessions. Noticeable attendance patterns included: (1) sessions offered earlier in the semester had high attendance and (2) the Chinese sessions received the most participants. This study also evaluated students’ learning via an assessment questionnaire at the end of each session. The assessment results suggest an increase in students’ awareness of services and resources offered by McGill Library. This article reports on the planning, implementation, and assessment of this program; discusses the challenges encountered and lessons learned in organizing and delivering these sessions; and provides recommendations on organizing similar multilingual library orientation programs to address the needs of a diverse student population on campus.


2021 ◽  
pp. 286-289
Author(s):  
Timothy Lincoln ◽  
Mandy Deen ◽  
David Schmersal ◽  
Kristy Sorensen ◽  
John Vinke

Library renovation caused the staff of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary to plan a move of library services to a temporary location. The staff selected a subset of books to remain available to users; 90,000 volumes were placed in storage. Records for unavailable volumes were suppressed so that users would only see information about books available to them. The staff chose 6,000 books for a temporary library, based on faculty needs and past usage. Books were moved in January 2020. Staff were continuously involved in refining design and furniture decisions during the construction process, scheduled for completion in September 2021. The new Wright Learning and Information Center will feature a large collaborative space and a digital learning center. Lessons learned include the necessity for constant communication among staff members and keeping in mind that users want normal library services, despite the disruptions of a construction project.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin Schell ◽  
Meghan Sitar

Information literacy at the graduate level can happen at the intersection of research method education and mentorship into a disciplinary community of practice with its own traditions of inquiry, communication, and knowledge creation. Funded by the Institute for Museum and Library Services, the Library as Research Lab Project at the University of Michigan enables graduate students, academic librarians, and information science faculty to engage in a series of research activities together, illuminating tacit knowledge in information studies and librarianship, both as a discipline and as a profession. In the project, three interconnected labs pursue authentic research questions emerging from challenges faced by the Library while providing School of Information students with mentorship, new skills, and a fellowship stipend. A common curriculum across the labs includes research ethics, publishing, project management, and current issues in higher education research. Engaging with the frames of “Research as Inquiry” and “Scholarship as Conversation” from the Association of College and Research Libraries Framework for Information Literacy in Higher Education​, students also learn how to effectively discuss, iterate upon, and present their research activities to different audiences. At the end of the fellowship, students enter the profession with an understanding of complex challenges facing libraries and with new strategies for responding to ambiguity and pursuing new solutions through research. As we complete the final year of the grant, the librarians from the Design Thinking for Library Services Lab will reflect on lessons learned and share student perspectives as a way of discussing how similar initiatives might facilitate positive and critically engaged research projects at other institutions. Attendees will be able to describe strategies for developing similar environments in support of authentic research experiences and will be able to apply strategies documented in a mentoring handbook from the project in their own work.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-88
Author(s):  
Elaine Dong

This paper describes the author’s experience with automating and streamlining cataloging workflows of traditional materials at the Florida International University Libraries using a combination of various cataloging tools, including MarcEdit, a local batch loading tool GenLoad, as well as OCLC services including WorldCat Updates service, OCLC Connexion’s batch process searches and Local File Manager. The paper addresses the old cataloging processes of these traditional materials, the developing process of new workflows and their impacts, and concludes with lessons learned and success factors. The new workflows have improved work efficiency and metadata control. The hope is that this paper will be of interest to libraries desiring to automate their cataloging workflow of traditional materials.


2020 ◽  
pp. 019394592098333
Author(s):  
Heather M Young ◽  
Sheridan Miyamoto ◽  
Stuart Henderson ◽  
Madan Dharmar ◽  
Margaret Hitchcock ◽  
...  

Patient engagement in research improves trustworthiness of the research findings, increases relevance, and ensures designs include the most meaningful outcomes for patients living with targeted health conditions. The Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) requires engagement of patient stakeholders. There is limited description of both the context and the processes used to engage patients effectively. This paper discusses engagement activities, roles and responsibilities, value of a Patient Advisory Board (PAB), and lessons learned. Data include program notes, research team reflections, PCORI reporting, and an advisor survey. Facilitators of meaningful engagement included creating a learning community, co-defining clear roles, reimbursing advisors, establishing clear avenues for communication, and welcoming unique contributions. Lessons learned were the value of time, the importance of building trust, and the benefits of diverse perspectives. The approach to meaningful engagement of patient advisors in research has the potential to enhance the relevance and usefulness of research for improving lives.


2021 ◽  
pp. 237-245
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Young Miller

Moravian’s seminary liaison librarian utilizes existing frames and standards to map to the seminary’s curriculum and existing services in order to paint a complete picture of all the library offers. Using lessons learned from mapping the curriculum of the MATS program to the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education, the current curriculum mapping iteration has expanded to focus on courses required across degree programs. The curriculum mapping across degree programs not only provides ideas on how to scaffold library instruction, but it also serves as a stepping stone for mapping instruction and library services to the ATS and Middle States standards.  Aligning the library’s projects, resources, and services to standards that matter to seminary administration and faculty can generate awareness of the important role the library serves.


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