KBART Phase III: Unresolved questions

During the “NISO update” session at the NISO Plus 2021 conference, which took place online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, members of the KBART (Knowledge Base and Related Tools) Standing Committee presented their plans and work toward KBART Phase III, a revision of the KBART Recommended Practice. In an interactive breakout session, they sought input from attendees on how KBART is being used and what new content types it should support. Presenters from the KBART Standing Committee were Noah Levin (Independent Professional), Stephanie Doellinger (OCLC, Inc.), Robert Heaton (Utah State University), and Andrée Rathemacher (University of Rhode Island). Assisting them in preparing the presentation were Jason Friedman (Canadian Research Knowledge Network), Sheri Meares (EBSCO Information Services), Benjamin Johnson (ProQuest), Elif Eryilmaz-Sigwarth (Springer Nature), and Nettie Lagace (NISO).

The practical and the aspirational: Managing the student employee experience in library publishing efforts

Student employees are a critical component in the workforce of academic libraries. While more established library services have the benefit of attracting student employees specifically interested in their work, scholarly communication programs, and library publishing efforts in particular, have more difficulty describing and garnering interest in their work. This article describes the journey of the Digital Initiatives Unit at Utah State University Libraries as we navigated the particular trials that come with library publishing—specifically delving into the work of our institutional repository (IR) and the role of student employees in those efforts. The labor of our program is variable and largely project-based, which has presented a number of challenges related to our student employees: understanding the larger context of their work; retention of knowledge and skills alongside their ability to prioritize; and a struggle to transfer skills from one project to another. Addressing these problems involved more intentional gathering of student feedback, colleague brainstorming, and trial and error; through which process and results we are gaining a more developed understanding of the critical importance of the student experience. When student employees see their work as more than just a job, and recognize the skills they are learning, they come away with greater satisfaction and our unit benefits from improved outputs. Using what we have learned, we will be able to continue our efforts for a better student experience as well as creating future goals for our unit.

Performing the Lived Experiences of LGBTQIA+ Individuals From Religious Backgrounds

This article shares the playscript of an ethnodrama by and about people from religious backgrounds who identify as LGBTQIA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, and Asexual/Aromantic; “+” refers to the multitude of other identities included within Queerness and/or Transness) that was devised and performed at Utah State University. The applied theater project sought to understand, value, and share these peoples’ experiences, including the myriad roles religion played in their lives. Applied theater works to inspire social change through the performance of live productions. This project strove to help amplify the participants’ voices as they explored topics and issues that they uniquely face. The central research question for this project was “How do people from religious backgrounds who identify as LGBTQIA+ understand, process, and interact with individuals and institutions they encounter on a regular basis?” Specific themes and topics included familial responses to participants’ queer and religious identities, how participants sought to find and create community, how they experienced acceptance and rejection, and ways religious belief intersected with their queer identities.

Motivational Interviewing Confidence and Perceived Competence Among Undergraduate and Graduate Dietetics Students

BACKGROUND Motivational interviewing (MI) aligns with the scope of practice and competency standards for Registered Dietitian Nutritionists; however, few dietitians receive adequate training. Furthermore, little is known about MI training within dietetics curricula. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to determine differences in undergraduate and graduate-level dietetics students’ confidence and perceived competence before/after taking a MI course. METHODS A 38-item pre–postsurvey was completed by students enrolled in a Basic and Advanced MI course at Utah State University. The survey included demographic questions and questions related to confidence and perceived competence using MI techniques. Paired t-tests were used to compare pre/post results and analysis of variance was used to compare groups. RESULTS Increased confidence and perceived competence were observed for Basic MI students (n = 72) ( P < .0001) and Advanced MI students (n = 32) ( P < .0001) after course completion. In the presurvey, Advanced MI students had higher confidence in 5 of 14 MI skills, higher competence in 2 of 11 MI skills, and higher overall MI competence scores ( P = .008) than Basic MI students. Following completion of the course, Advanced MI students had higher overall MI confidence scores ( P = .03). CONCLUSIONS Students’ confidence and perceived competence with using MI increased after taking a college-level MI course. Incorporating MI courses into dietetics curricula may be an effective way to increase confidence and perceived competence of using MI techniques and therefore improving communication between dietitians and patients.