B Sides: FieldWork
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How and Why, Not What and Where: An Examination of Four Music Library Research Texts and their Relevance in the Digital Age
Full text linkIn a time when information expands at an exponential rate the idea that a university course could—or should—even approach comprehensive coverage of the resources in any field is unthinkable. Yet textbooks continue to be written with this approach of instruction. This article examines four texts in music library research instruction: A Guide to Library Research in Music by Pauline Shaw Bayne, Sourcebook for Research in Musicby Phillip D. Crabtree and Donald H. Foster, Music Library and Research Skills, by Jane Gottlieb and Music Research: A Handbook by Laurie J. Sampsel. Resources were analyzed based on their stated purpose, content and current applicability. The growing need for a new perspective on the instruction of library research skills that extends beyond the items themselves to the methods and strategies for information retrieval in a variety of contexts is proposed as an area for future examination
Librarians in the Midst: On the Need for Librarians with a Background in Science to Collaborate with Science Instructors in the Science Classroom
Full text linkThe Public As Collaborator: Towards Developing Crowdsourcing Models for Digital Research Initiatives
Full text linkDigital research projects often seek out large-scale data sets but have a small budget to achieve them. In their pursuit of using technology to discover something new, some scholars have turned to crowdsourcing strategies, where the efforts of individual volunteers can contribute to collective, significant data outcomes. How can examples of successful crowdsourcing projects inform future digital research initiatives? By looking at current examples of digital research projects using crowdsourcing, this research proposes new models for amassing data through the assistance of engaged publics. Inspired by the problems posed by building a large-scale database of metadata from mid-20th century small-press ephemera, this inquiry explores what outreach strategies work for different kinds of projects and with which publics. This research performs a qualitative content analysis of more than thirty digital research initiatives that rely on crowdsourcing strategies to amass data. Through their project websites, the initiatives were coded to determine the factors that motivated contributors and the electronic interfaces employed for digital delivery. The models created from this research fall along a spectrum with minimal requirements for technology and programming capacity to deploy strategies at one end and sophisticated requirements at the other. Motivational factors discovered include competition and reward systems inspired by games, personal contributions to discovery and historical narratives, and the pure entertainment of interest-driven learning. By identifying strategies that can inform approaches to scaling up digital research initiatives, these models provide a guide for scholars with boundless ideas and limited budgets
Promises to Keep: A Defense of Women's Studies in the Academy
No full textAs we move beyond the third wave of feminism, some question the need for separate departments and degree programs focused on the study of women. This paper argues that Women’s Studies programs are necessary to the academy. This argument is made through a review of the literature on the history and development of Women’s Studies programs in order to examine the past, and a survey of the presence of Women’s Studies and LGBT programs in 159 colleges/universities in 2012 in an attempt to examine the present. The battle Women’s Studies has fought and continues to fight in order to assert itself as a valid field of study in the university, complicated by the struggle of establishing itself as an entirely new discipline rather than a branch of a larger one has resulted in an identity crisis surrounding issues of purpose and disciplinary canon. I argue that the biases and prejudices built into the structure of the university are still at play, and though they are subtler, they are no less insidious than before. Considering this structure is important for academic librarians who often work as liaisons for departments that each have internal and external structures and politics to navigate while working to provide the best possible service to faculty and students
Where’s the “T”?: Improving Library Service to Community Members Who Are Transgender-Identified
Full text linkWhile efforts have been made in recent years to improve library service to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) identified library users, these efforts have generally overlooked the particular needs of transgender communities. As LIS professionals, we are called to provide library service to all members of our communities, particularly those who have traditionally been marginalized. This bibliographic essay provides a look at the unique information needs and barriers to library service which library users who are trangender-identified commonly face, as well as those resources which can assist libraries in ensuring they are adequately meeting the needs of these communities
Established, Emerging, or Phantom? The State of the Film Studies Discipline
Full text linkDespite decades in the university, the state of the film studies discipline is still much contested. This paper aims to trace film studies—albeit in a limited manner—from the minuscule stirrings of the discipline to its current state of uncertainty. By evaluating the establishment of the discipline’s boundaries and their subsequent shifts, film studies is revealed to have been most unfortunate in its timing. Just as film studies could have emerged as a fully-fledged discipline, the university’s own definition shifted, from an institution centered on culture to one centered on excellence. This shift in the university left film studies struggling to contend with a new objective—one which lacked empathy toward disciplines that cannot bring wealth or status to the university. Thus, film studies became a phantom discipline and its future is uncertain. Film studies may either gain credibility and strength, or it may become broken up into so many fragmented pieces that film will either exit the university in a hushed moment of defeat or be absorbed into various disciplines in the form of topics classes as well as a tool to bolster discussion. If film studies wishes to remain within the university, its best option may be to gradually redefine itself
Library 2.0: How Did We Get Here? A Resource Guide
Full text linkTechnology has changed the resources and the ways libraries do business. It has also changed the ways in which library patrons seek information. In order to build discussion around this topic the term Library 2.0 was coined. Library 2.0 is a term and theory in which many librarians have an opinion. Whether it is an opinion that embraces the idea or not, understanding the range of definitions and theories behind Library 2.0 is key to understanding where this concept diverges from traditional library services and/or simply having new technology available or used in the library space. This resource guide points to a wide range of voices that have shaped the discussion of the term Library 2.0. It encompasses the variety and depth of the subject and suggests new areas that have been left untapped by much of the current work available on the topic
Free as in Freedom, Not as in Beer: Free and Open Source Software ILS and the Library Community
Full text linkOver the past decade there has been an increasing interest in Free and/or Open Source Software (FOSS) in libraries— especially in FOSS Integrated Library Systems (ILS). Libraries across the globe are implementing programs such as Koha and Evergreen. Like any topic in the Library and Information Science (LIS) field today, there are several voices weighing in on FOSS ILS, coming from differing epistemologies based in theory and philosophy, and practice. In an ideal world, these voices would inform each other in a circular pattern, perpetuating a fruitful development of practice based in theory and theory based in practice. In real life, there are always tensions. This paper will explore FOSS ILS using the philosophical as well as practical perspectives present in the larger discussion
A Conceptual Framework Model for Information Literacy Instruction: Pedagogical Tool and Guided Student Framework
No full textA survey of college level information literacy textbooks and instructional materials reveals a focus on context specific, skills-based lessons that introduce students to library-based, academic research. While this narrow focus can promote success within an academic context, it does not prepare students with transferrable skills. It fails to equip them with flexible concepts and definitions applicable to new media technologies and inventions (i.e., Twitter, Facebook, web development tools, etc.) and to many of students’ future professional activities and environments.
Through pedagogical inquiry and an analysis of information theory literature, a conceptual framework was developed that provides students a learning model that supports development of college specific information literacy skills, while also providing a framework for investigating the social construction and dynamics of information use in various information environments. Combining theories of information seeking (Dervin 2003 & Chatman 1996, 2001), information behavior modeling (Wilson 1999), situated learning (Lave and Wenger 1991), and the concept of semiotic domains (Gee 2003), this framework defines and situates concepts of ‘information resources,’ ‘information technologies,’ ‘information assumptions and beliefs,’ and ‘information actors and agents’ within socially constructed ‘information environments.’
Situating these concepts within an information environment prompts students to investigate the social construction of information resources, and encourages them to ask critical questions regarding structural constraints on information use and production. Understanding information use environments as socially constructed and using the concepts included in this framework, students can understand information use situationally, both within and without the college environment
Open Source Software Libraries
Full text linkOpen source software is not something to be afraid of! It's software that you can modify, fix, add to, and distribute to others. Benefits are numerous, including having the ability to create good software that works for you and your library, all while paying a fraction of the cost that you might spend on proprietary software. This website introduces librarians to using open source software and provides tips for implementing and evaluating your transition, ideas for funding, and suggestions for open source software to use in your library. Website can be viewed online at http://slis.uiowa.edu/~slochhaas/osslibraries