Miami University, Ohio
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Making Sense: Can Makerspaces Work in Academic Libraries?
Get PDFMakerspaces are a growing service area for many
libraries in school, public, and academic settings.
Participants, or makers, can create digital and physical
items in common working spaces using shared
equipment and resources. The essential makerspace
elements of makers, tools, space, and shared expertise
are also often joined by a spirit of individual exploration
and discovery through creative activities.
One area of balance in makerspaces is in providing
group training on specific creative activities while
also offering open lab times in the makerspace for individuals
to work independently or in small collaborative
groups on their projects. This is particularly acute in the
academic environment, where lab spaces (whether for
computers, biology, chemistry, engineering, or nursing)
are often imagined for use by classes of students
working on an assignment or project. Can an open,
self-directed approach work in an environment where
much learning is encapsulated in semester-long courses
and student learning is assessed by assignments with
relatively rigid timelines and criteria? The alternative,
maker-focused mindset would allow for tinkering and
play to be utilized by makers as they create and learn.
Makerspaces can be a mechanism for encouraging
students to experiment and learn beyond the
classroom and outside of the normal structure of
their assignments. Students are encouraged to examine
new means of creation and in doing so they
strengthen and apply more broadly the learning they
experience in their courses. The following paper presents
a positive case for pursuing an academic library
makerspace and helpful steps to pursue
Small Samples, Broad Applications: Using Bibliographies to Support Instruction, Collections, and Budgets
Get PDFStudents in Organic Chemistry for Majors were required to write a paper as the culminating course assignment. Prior to completing this assignment, students were given the option of attending a library instruction session covering relevant databases and resources. Upon submission of their papers, bibliographies from 53 students were collected and evaluated. Bibliographies of students who attended an instruction session showed improvement in several key areas in comparison to the bibliographies of those students who chose not to attend.
Subsequently, calculations were made to attempt a holistic account of costs associated with completing the assignment. Factors such as the cost of journals, databases, and librarian time were all included in the overall cost estimate. Instruction librarians can use bibliographies to quantify their impact on student success, thereby justifying their value to potentially reticent faculty members. This method of comprehensive accounting can help justify collections and staff budgets to library and university administration, and with a larger sample size could also help guide collections decisions in the particular subject area
Traversing the Gap: Subject Specialists Connecting Humanities Researchers and Digital Scholarship Centers
Get PDFGibson, K., Ladd, M. & Presnell, J. (2015) “Traversing the Gap: Subject specialists connecting researchers and digital humanities centers.” Digital Humanities in the Library: Challenges and Opportunities for Subject Specialists. Arianne Hartsell-Gundy, Laura Braunstein, and Liorah Golomb (eds.). Chicago: Literatures in English Section, Association of College and Research Libraries
Resource Location Maps
Get PDFOur librarians needed an easy way to answer the question, “Which computer has X software?” Since some software packages are expensive, or require an above average machine to operate, not every software tool is available on every machine. To solve this, we created a web page that displayed an active map of each computer room and a list of available software. Hovering over a software title highlights every computer with that software. Clicking on a computer highlights every piece of software on that computer. Behind the scenes, we combined a spreadsheet of computer names correlated with the software on each machine with a map of computer locations. The process can also be used to answer other resources questions such as, “Where are study rooms with white boards?” and “What are the hours and services at each of the branch locations?
Improving the Effectiveness of LibGuides through Usability Testing
No full textPoster presentation at the 2011 American Libraries Association Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA.As information professionals, one of our primary responsibilities is to make information findable. As the amount of information continues to grow exponentially, the need to organize content and simplify the search process becomes imperative. We are eager to adopt any tools that can help us in this endeavor. Over 1,800 libraries throughout the world have adopted Springshare's LibGuides as a viable tool to organize resources. But how effective is our use of this powerful, highly-customizable tool? Have we structured content in a way that is intuitive and effective for our users? Miami University Libraries conducted formal testing on their LibGuides to determine the usability and effectiveness of the system. The results of these tests were used to compose a set of best practices for guides. This poster details the process and findings of our study
Research Brief - The Road to Balance: Two Decades of Progress in Providing Long-Term Services and Supports for Ohio's Older Population
No full textThis research brief documents two decades of progress in delivering long-term services in Ohio. In 1992, more than nine of the 10 older people in Ohio supported by Medicaid were in nursing homes. Today, the ratio is approaching 50/50.Ohio Department of Agin
A case study of professional change: The impact of the National Gerontological Social Work Competencies Survey
No full textOur society is aging and this demographic change necessitates that all social workers have basic competency in gerontology. This article describes the results of a competency survey conducted in 2000, and how these results helped transform basic social work curricula and enhance gerontology-related resources. Results were used to encourage and assist social work faculty to infuse gerontological content into social work curriculum, which helped practitioners to gain the necessary knowledge and skills to meet the needs of a growing aging population. This social work education framework can be replicated in an effort to infuse gerontology content throughout other disciplines
How Does Medicaid Reimbursement Impact the Quality of Ohio Nursing Homes
Get PDFStudy examines the changes in Medicaid nursing home
reimbursement between 2007 and 2012 as Ohio moved to a "new price system". Findings showed that the
quality of Ohio nursing homes did not change as a result of the system reimbursement changes