American Library Association Journals
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Math and Aftermath: Impacts of Unbundling a Large Journal Package on Researcher Perceptions and Behavior
No full textThis study seeks to understand the effects on researchers’ work at a large research university in the wake of the university library’s shift from a near-comprehensive journals package with a single, large publisher to a selective list of individual journal subscriptions. Analyzing historical journal usage, along with turnaway and interlibrary loan trends from the years following the changes, the authors made use of structured interviews with local researchers to bring context and meaning to the quantitative data. The interviews highlighted researchers’ strategies for gaining access to literature in their fields to which the library does not subscribe, and revealed assumptions about timeliness of access, as well as relationships between library subscriptions and local researchers’ publishing behavior
Editor’s Note: A Mental Health PSA
No full textThe pop/country artist Jelly Roll recently popularized a song titled “I Am Not Okay.” The backs of T-shirts are read, “To the person behind me reading this, You Matter.”I recently traveled to the “happiest place on Earth” and still remained depressed. It’s been a challenging past few months, mired in divisive election emotions and confusion about the impact of the election on libraries
Revisiting Violence in the World of Peter Rabbit: Beatrix Potter’s Belief in the Capacity of Children
No full textAccording to a recent report from the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, the number of book titles targeted for censorship has reached the highest documented level in the last twenty years—more than 4,000 unique titles. While many of these books faced scrutiny “for representing the voices and lived experiences of LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC individuals,” more than half of the books targeted were found objectionable for other reasons
Politeness in Proactive Library Chat Reference
No full textLibraries have increasingly turned to a “proactive” model of chat reference as opposed to a traditional “reactive” static model. It is well documented that proactive chat leads to an increase in usage, and prior research suggests question complexity increases with proactive chat as well. At this time, no study has investigated politeness in proactive library chat reference. By better understanding how politeness functions in chat reference, librarians will be able to adapt to a changing reference environment
RDA in the Ghanaian Academic Library Cataloging Community: Awareness, Competencies, and Implications
No full textThis study investigated the awareness and competencies of Ghanaian cataloging practitioners and stakeholders regarding Resource Description and Access (RDA), a little over a decade after the standard was rolled out. Survey and interviews were combined to examine the entrenchment of the RDA standard in Ghana from the viewpoint of sixty-two cataloging managers and staff in selected academic libraries. The data analyzed though descriptive statistics and thematic content analysis revealed that while 82 percent of cataloging practitioners were aware of the RDA standard, knowledge and mastery of the RDA guidelines and application of the standard was established to be low and quite basic. Fellow catalogers within libraries, attendance at local conferences, and personal research emerged as major sources of RDA awareness. It was concluded that awareness of the RDA standard will not lead to widespread adoption and implementation of the standard
AI: Initial Responses, More Questions
No full textLibrarians working in technical services have long had opportunities to automate portions of their work. Attitudes about doing so, however, have been mixed. Automation comes with enhanced needs for human-mediated quality control. With this long-standing and somewhat fraught relationship in mind, we began discussing the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and large language model (LLM) tools and their implications for writing and reviewing in Library Resources Technical Services (LRTS) back in 2023
From the Chair
No full textAs I stepped out from my library in the evening last week,I heard a familiar sound that starts back up each Marchas Spring gingerly arrives. Most people in my area associateSpring’s return with the appearance of robins and other springbirds—but the clincher for me is when I hear the frogs singingin the marsh. Once I hear that, I’m pretty assured that no significantsnowfall will appear and Spring is on its way, despitewhat Punxsutawney Phil the groundhog may have predicted
Couples who Collaborate: Jessixa and Aaron Bagley
No full textCouples who collaborate to create children’s books together offer fascinating and inspiring lessons for collaboration in its many forms. Jessixa and Aaron are a creative, dynamic couple and the creators of several books for children, including the middle grade graphic novel, Duel (2023). They live together in Seattle, WA, with their son
Kittens, Community, Kids, and Classrooms: Exploring and Embracing Empathy
No full textThis story is not about a kitten. It’s about Randall de Sève’s book This Story Is Not about a Kitten (Random House, 2022) and how we used it to enhance a school community. De Sève’s story is a captivating and authentic tale of a diverse cast who acted with empathy and compassion to solve a problem. More than fictional elements, de Sève’s characters teach readers and listeners about building a culture of belonging