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University faculty members, librarians, and support staff developed hands-on, consumable, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) curricular materials that could be inexpensively provided to large audiences. Goals included fostering STEM interest, teaching STEM principles, and encouraging continued exploration in home and school settings. This case describes design processes to realize these goals through basic circuits with paper airplanes and simple origami. Following several design implementations, kits costing ~$0.33 each were created and distributed to learners. Within these kits, learners created a back-lit paper airplane as they explored concepts regarding circuit definitions; open, closed, series, and parallel circuits; shorts; polarity; and current. Additional activities included LED bracelets, cubes, and greeting cards. Within this paper, we document successive design decisions, failures, reflections, and iterations that moved goals to reality. We also describe new design challenges, including waste management, sustained exploration, and advanced concept introductions.

This paper analyses the role of libraries in the development of Open Educational Resources (OER) and, more specifically, the impact and level of implementation of UNESCO's (2019) OER Recommendation in Higher Education libraries. This study, the result of a joint undertaking between a national R&D project and SPARC Europe, is based on an online survey, disseminated amongst the European Network of Open Education Librarians (ENOEL) and uses a descriptive research methodology. The results highlight the implementation actions being taken by university libraries (n = 136) in each of the five areas of action of UNESCO's Recommendation. We find that the main contributions are being made in the areas of capacity building and Open Education policies, but that considerable work has yet to be done in terms of promoting inclusiveness and the sustainability of OER. Thus, the full implementation of UNESCO's recommendation requires a greater commitment on the part of librarians to joint actions undertaken via international networks and projects, as well as greater institutional commitment and the building of interdepartmental alliances.

This study demonstrates that a library instruction observation instrument can effectively foster critical self-reflection among academic library faculty and staff on their teaching practices. The paper outlines the instrument's design, which gathers low inference observations on instructors' use of questioning as a pedagogical strategy based on recommendations from the LIS and education literature. To test and refine the instrument's design, the instructors' utilised the instrument to collect data from classes taught by five participating instructors, who, during post-observation interviews, engaged in thoughtful reflections on their class planning, student participation, and teaching philosophy. They also provided valuable critiques of the usefulness of the instrument. Through analysing the observee reflections and the data from the observation instrument, this study aims to provide academic libraries with a method to incorporate an observation instrument in a peer observation program.

This essay uses the reprocessing of the "Luis Alberto Sánchez papers," the collection of a prominent Peruvian politician and author housed at Penn State University, to argue that ethical and reparative processing needs should be prioritized within an archives' overall extensible processing program. The author explores the tension between two differing threads within the archival literature of: (1) using minimal or extensible processing practices to efficiently process backlogs; and (2) of acknowledging the power of archivists in shaping the historical record and their ethical responsibilities towards communities represented within their collections. This essay argues that archivists should prioritize collections where archival practices have perpetuated in obfuscating or marginalizing the records of traditionally underrepresented communities. It also argues that prioritizing this work capitalizes on the inherent flexibility within an extensible processing framework.

An increasingly complex and demanding research landscape has seen university libraries rapidly evolve their services. While research data management, bibliometrics, and research impact services have predominantly featured in the literature to date, the full scope of support libraries are currently providing to their institutions is unknown. This paper aims to present an up-to-date view of the scope and extent of research support services by university libraries across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. A coding process analyzed content data from university library websites. Eleven research support areas were identified. Service delivery is split between synchronous and asynchronous modes. This paper describes a lived experience of an evidence-based library and information practice approach to improving research support services at two Australian university libraries, and while it highlights continued maturation of research support services, more research is needed to better understand influences on service development.

This paper investigates the moderating influence of library size on the relationship between library space attributes and learning satisfaction. Employing a quantitative methodology, a sample of 196 university library users in Ghana was selected to investigate the perceived impact of repurposed library spaces on learning satisfaction. The author conducted an empirical analysis to examine how organizational size (the total number of workers at a particular location) moderates the association between library space attributes (including access and linkages [physical location and proximity to campus resources], usage patterns [highlights the hours when users are most active and displays when a specific app is utilized during the day], sociability [the propensity and corresponding abilities to look for friendship, interact with others, and take part in social activities], and comfort [a state of physically ease and freedom from pain or constraint]) and the learning satisfaction of users. The research, administered through a closed-ended questionnaire, underscored the significant influence of access and linkages, usage patterns, sociability, and the physical environment on users' satisfaction levels. These four library space attributes together accounted for 13.1% of the variance in learning satisfaction, according to a multiple regression study conducted with SPSS version 27. Nevertheless, moderation analysis showed that there was no statistically significant relationship (p = 0.3370) between the characteristics of the library space and learning satisfaction through organizational size. The paper recommends adaptations to library designs to better align with the evolving learning needs of university library users in Ghana. A notable suggestion is the transformation of university libraries into dynamic physical spaces known as "learning commons" on campuses.

This paper is based on the findings of a doctoral study that aimed to examine the role of continuing professional development (CPD) in enhancing digital transformation in selected university libraries in Uganda. One of the ways of effecting digital transformation is to continuously build the technological competencies of the librarians working in academic institutions through attending technology-related CPD. The study adopted a mixed methods approach with a convergent parallel design for collecting qualitative and quantitative data from six universities in Uganda. Quantitative data were collected from 76 librarians with a minimum degree-level qualification from the six selected universities. Qualitative data were obtained from six University Librarians working in these universities. The study findings indicated several challenges hindering librarians from participating in technology-related CPDs such as lack of management support, lack of personal interest, limited funding, and lack of opportunities, among others. The implementation of digital transformation within university libraries in Uganda was also reported to be beset by a lack of competent staff, limited management support, lack of funds, and technological gaps. Therefore, this paper presents a proposed model to address challenges hindering the digital transformation and the participation in technology-related continuing professional development activities within academic libraries. The proposed model is based on the study findings, and it draws from Watkin and Marsick's learning organisation model, andragogy theory, the technology-organisation-environment framework, and extant literature. The model will guide academic libraries in the implementation of a conducive environment to necessitate staff development and implementation of digital transformation.

This paper introduces a Patron Counting and Analysis (PCA) system that leverages Wi-Fi-connection data to monitor space utilization and analyze visitor patterns in academic libraries. The PCA system offers real-time crowding information to the public and a comprehensive visitor analysis dashboard for library administrators. The system's development was driven by the need for occupancy restrictions during the pandemic, ensuring a spacious environment for library visitors as well as balancing between efficient utilization and adhering to social distancing regulations. Traditional methods of patron behavior performance and library spatial analysis, such as manual head counting or card-swiping systems, often incur additional costs for labor, hardware installation, or software subscription. The PCA system, however, utilizes existing Wi-Fi-connection data, providing a cost-effective solution to represent patron demographics and spatial usage. Limitations may arise when patrons do not carry Wi-Fi-enabled devices or during periods of low Wi-Fi service functionality. Implemented in Node.js and integrated with Python Flask framework and related libraries, the PCA system was piloted at the King Library in Miami University, successfully demonstrating a high validity compared to manually collected data. It filters out noise and redundancy, visualizes the occupancy index meter in real time, and generates statistical reports by linking user IDs with demographic information. The PCA system's reliability was validated through manually head counting data collected at the King Library in Miami University, establishing it as a reliable tool for library space management and patron analysis.

Estimates of the price or value of the individual journals within a full-text database may be useful to librarians engaged in serials reviews or other collection development projects, to scholars investigating the determinants of journal prices, and to publishers seeking to rationalize their pricing strategies. This paper evaluates six methods of apportioning the cost of a full-text database among the individual journals in the database--methods based on variables such as journal size, total citations, Journal Impact Factor (JIF) percentile, and single-journal list price. Each method is evaluated based on how well the resulting prices can be predicted by the determinants of journal prices identified in previous research. Although the six methods yield similar results, the single best option is to use price estimates that account for JIF percentile. If citation data are not available and cannot be estimated, the best alternative is to rely on the equal-value assumption--to split the total price equally among the wanted journals in the database.

Academic libraries are experiencing drastic changes due to unprecedented advancements in technology. This advancement has caused changes in users' information-seeking behavior, increased information competitors, and easy access and availability to free information on the internet. It is unfortunate that all this is happening amidst the dwindling financial support libraries receive from their parent organization. These variations, such as the digital shift and remote access, changing user expectations, open access movement, the need for data management and preservation models are causing havoc and disruption to academic libraries; therefore, academic libraries need to justify their position and relevancy. This paper discusses the conundrum academic libraries face and suggests why and how they should adopt entrepreneurial practices.

This paper discusses perceptions regarding the roles of PhD- and MLS (or MLIS)-holding librarians within academic libraries in the United States gathered via a survey conducted in 2019. Based on a review of previous literature and the results of the survey--which present mixed opinions about PhD holders as librarians--the authors provide recommendations for ways libraries can effectively address some of the tensions regarding the role of PhD holders within academic librarianship. This article is useful for librarians of all educational backgrounds, PhD holders who are considering the transition to a library career, and library administrators involved in the hiring process.

To improve customer service, some academic libraries have used a service philosophy statement to foster a shared understanding of service standards. The authors conducted semistructured interviews with heads of public services at academic libraries to understand how the service philosophy statement was used in practice and its impact on staff behavior and service quality. Findings indicated that the statement indeed helped staff cultivate a shared understanding, that public service leaders displayed a macro-level understanding of how a statement influences their service culture, and that there is no agreed-upon model for implementation.

In a faculty-focused, or "teach the teachers" (TTT) model of information literacy (IL), librarians would spend a significant portion of their time on faculty development. To support the adoption of this approach, there needs to be evidence that librarians can act effectively as faculty developers and that faculty development (also referred to as academic or educational development) can produce positive changes in teaching practices and student learning. This paper explores the faculty development literature in order to better understand the potential of the faculty-focused model of IL. Two research questions guided the review. What can the literature on the effectiveness of faculty development tell us about the potential of the faculty development approach to IL? Additionally, what insight can the literature on the background, experiences, and identity of faculty developers provide to our understanding of librarians acting as faculty developers? The analysis provides indications that a model of IL instruction focused on faculty could support increased integration of IL into the curriculum, as well as additional evidence that faculty development should be considered a viable role for librarians. However, the review also surfaced concerns about the identity and status of developers and the challenges of assessing faculty development that are relevant to librarians' adoption of the faculty-focused model of IL. By exploring the faculty development literature as part of a consideration of the TTT approach to IL, this paper provides a valuable perspective to the ongoing debates about the future of IL.

This paper focuses on the opportunities and challenges associated with the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in academic library operations. In the quest to render fast, effective and efficient services, academic libraries have adopted different technologies in the past. Artificial intelligence technologies is the latest among the technologies currently being introduced in libraries. The technology which is considered an intelligent system, come in the form of robots and expert systems which have natural language processing, machine learning and pattern recognition capabilities. This paper examined the features of AI, the application of AI to library operations, examples of academic libraries with AI technologies in Sub-Saharan Africa, the need for AI in libraries and the challenges associated with the adoption of AI in libraries. The study concluded that AI holds a lot of prospects for the improvement of information services delivery in African academic libraries. Consequently, its adoption is a sinequanon to delivering robust library services in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).

The purpose of this study was to assess students' satisfaction with the practices and implementation of nonregular education programs (NREPs) with particular regard to Haramaya University (HU), Ethiopia. To achieve the aim of the study, an explanatory sequential mixed methods research design, which initially allows collecting quantitative data and then qualitative data for elaboration on the quantitative data, was used. The study used a 5-point Likert scale questionnaire for quantitative inquiries from 741-students belonging to different centres, and follow-up with 20 interview participants purposefully selected to elaborate those results in more detail. In the quantitative phase, four features were considered as predictors of students' satisfaction with service quality: (a) academic issues, (b) administrative issues, (c) resources/facilities, and (d) assessment and feedback issues. In the qualitative follow-up, the semi-structured interviews outlined three major themes: (a) overall teaching-learning, (b) administrative and management issues, and (c) learning support facilities. The paper used descriptive statistics to interpret the quantitative data and thematic content analysis to interpret the qualitative data. The findings are presented sequentially following the order of the analysis of quantitative and qualitative data presented in the paper. The conclusions and relevant recommendations are also stated at the end of the paper.

The paper presents an evaluation of History and Korean Studies WIL internships at Monash University Library, focusing on past students' views of the program in relation to their future career, and past host-supervisors' perceptions of its benefits. Data collection for the qualitative research was conducted through semi-structured interviews with past students and host-supervisors. The results revealed that both past students and host-supervisors expected the internships to facilitate students to gain hands-on experiences and develop 'soft-skills.' There was a gap where past host-supervisors consistently mentioned teamwork in their expectations, yet none of the past students had teamwork as one of their expectations. Both past students and host-supervisors view the program as beneficial for students, therefore, they suggested that the programs continue to be offered. Upon being asked what the benefits of internships were for themselves however, the host-supervisors put forward benefits that were more related to the library.

Information literacy is critical to finding, evaluating, using, and creating information. Information literacy also influences how we navigate daily life, workplace environments, and civic participation. This paper argues that students transitioning from high school to college lack skills in information literacy. In Higher Ed., faculty and librarians are charged with teaching students to research, create and add to the body of knowledge of their corresponding disciplines. Students must have solid information and digital literacy skills to achieve this goal. Based on the premise that Faculty-Librarian partnerships can utilize their respective discipline assets to strengthen students' information literacy skills, the authors engaged in a project to foster these abilities in post-secondary students. The authors approach this collaborative academic endeavor from a human rights approach recognizing that students need information literacy skills to engage in lifelong learning and civic engagement.

The graphic edition of Snyder's "On Tyranny" (2021) states "truth dies in four modes," which is a contemporary synthesis connected to Klemperer's "Language of the Third Reich" (1957). The researchers connected these four modes to information literacy (IL) instruction - but would others? The researchers surveyed academic librarians engaged in IL instruction on whether they felt they addressed any of the modes in their work. The researchers also asked whether they believe the ACRL "Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education" works to circumvent any of the four modes. Nearly 150 librarians responded and, while most respondents were unfamiliar with the two texts referenced and their thoughts were mixed, many saw their work and the "Framework" as antagonistically related to Mode 1 (Open Hostility to Verifiable Reality). This paper discusses survey results and their implications for better understanding of how academic librarians engaged in IL instruction view their work in a socio-political context.

This paper focuses on finding the criteria adopted by users to select free information retrieved from the Web for academic use. A close-ended questionnaire was formulated to record the opinions of the respondents. A survey for various categories of users such as post graduate students, research scholars and faculty members from five universities of Chandigarh, Haryana, and Punjab was administered. The category-wise and discipline-wise analysis depicted that quite a good number of respondents applied various parameters while referring to Web resources, but a reasonable number of users did not apply certain parameters to verify the nature of free information being used for educational purposes. The convenience factor leads them to depend on free Web resources which can be accessed anywhere and saves time. The findings of the study suggest that user education programs should be conducted to create awareness regarding the credibility of the subscribed library resources and their effectiveness in enhancing the quality of teaching, learning, and research.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the perception of female employees regarding workplace empowerment. The study also emphasized the alleged advantages of employee empowerment in the workplace and pinpointed the barriers to empowerment. Design/methodology/approach: This paper is based on qualitative data collected, through the semi-structured interview with female library professionals working in the higher education commission's recognized universities of Punjab- Pakistan, as a part of doctoral studies. Findings According to the study, respondents most frequently defined "workplace empowerment" as having the freedom to do duties as they see fit. They also emphasized the benefits of workplace empowerment on both the personal and professional levels. Three categories - managerial, organizational, and individual factors - are used to categorize the obstacles cited by the participants. Originality: Although there is no study of this kind on the topic of workplace empowerment of female employees in the local context of Pakistan, this work adds significantly to the paucity of literature on the subject. Research limitations: This study is extracted from the Ph.D. thesis of the researcher. This study is limited in terms of its population as the data was collected from female library professionals in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Practical/managerial implications and/or social/economic implications: The results may aid stakeholders and higher authorities in eradicating workplace empowerment concerns and in formulating evidence-based strategies or policies to enable women to execute their jobs more effectively. This qualitative study adds value to the literature by showing the actual situation of female employee empowerment in a developing country like Pakistan.

This paper explores the connection between critical theory, information evaluation, and the instructional practice of critique for STEM students and librarian instructors. Using an emerging theory and instructional method, the authors examine how to more deeply include voices that have historically been excluded from STEM information critique. The foundational ideas, pedagogical approaches, and scaffolded curriculum used to engender a more inclusive approach to information within third- and fourth-year engineering design classes are discussed to contextualize the application of theory to the practical setting. Rooted in critical theory, this case considers how student information behaviors can ultimately perpetuate or subvert social structures and expectations.

Science communication has taken center stage in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) disciplines in the context of public outreach and citizen science. Developing practical communication skills is imperative for all scientists to be highly successful in their careers and more so for underrepresented and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) professionals in STEM. The program, led by the Engineering and Science Librarian at the University of Victoria (UVic) Libraries, aimed to equip students and early career scientists with critical communication skills by leveraging the unique voices and lived experiences of BIPOC speakers in STEM disciplines. Through this program, a unique toolkit with engaging modules consisting of 30 short videos, each three minutes long (30 x 3) by BIPOC speakers was created to provide broad foundational skills in verbal and visual communication, using an Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Justice (EDISJ) lens. A two-day conference offered networking and communication development opportunities to students and early-career scientists in STEM disciplines by connecting them with BIPOC STEM leaders and visionaries who promote STEM advocacy. This paper will discuss the methods used in the creation of the toolkit and conference using an EDISJ lens.

In contrast to the traditional library instruction aim of finding and evaluating information, critical library pedagogies aim to teach students to analyze and challenge the power structures that determine what kind of information is deemed valuable. STEM librarians have been slower to take up these approaches than our colleagues with other disciplinary focuses, yet I argue that critical teaching is one of the most important ways that we can support social justice goals in our work. In this paper, I review the existing literature on critical pedagogies in STEM librarianship and suggest ways for us to develop our practice in this area.

This paper reports on the perceptions of Spanish academic libraries regarding Open Science (OS). OS is irrupting into academia and academic librarians need to support researchers. On the other side, researchers need to be ready to change their scientific behaviour in relation to publications and research data. We conducted a focus group with 8 academic librarians. We also sent a survey to (N = 67) academic libraries, obtaining a response rate of 71.6%. In the survey, we asked for drivers and constraints for OS services as well as for any training taking place. Our results show that facilitators are the system relationships (SD = 4.74) and internal promotion of systems relationships (SD = 4.54). In relation to the level of knowledge of OS, both researchers (SD = 3.27) and librarians have a high level in terms of the OA area (SD = 4.15) but little development of the rest of the components of OS. On the other hand, in relation to training librarians, results indicated that OA (SD = 4.79), Open Data (SD = 4.79) and new evaluation models (SD = 4.79) should be part of the training for researchers. The results of the focus group reinforce some of the indicators mentioned. We conclude that academic libraries may train researchers in OS through the acquisition of new skills and trainers-training and with the strategic support of the university. We argue that academic incentives and a change in research accreditation are also needed to shift researchers' perceptions in relation to OS.

This paper provides a snapshot of United States academic libraries in 2020 and explores longitudinal trends in staffing and expenditures for 1996 to 2020. The authors merged and analyzed academic library data from the National Center for Education Statistics from over 4,000 postsecondary institutions. Characteristics are explored by region and maps are provided. Total inflation-adjusted library expenditures have increased steadily for all regions from 1996 to 2020, including in the two major expenditure categories of staffing and collections. In the Northeast and West, averages are markedly higher in staffing and total expenditures than the other two regions.

Writing skills are an important part of a student's academic success. Literature suggests that incorporating research into the undergraduate curriculum will not only strengthen their academic writing, but also the quality of the academic experience (Ho, 2011). Thus, allowing students to be active participants through an entire research lifecycle will not only enhance the curriculum but increase student engagement. The research lifecycle, including publication, requires both individual and group based efforts and both are essential to producing a classroom-produced journal. Class-based projects such as this can introduce students to methodologies surrounding original research (Matty, 2005). For publishing research, this includes identifying, evaluating and analyzing an issue and then interpreting and disseminating the results. Not only will students still write the traditional student research paper individually, but the class as a group, will create a professional journal issue that is preserved and indexed in a real online repository. Many studies have shown writing skills have improved due to the back-and-forth nature of journal writing, an aspect of the publication process that is not typically a part of the curriculum or assignment. This article describes how an upper level undergraduate course can enhance the student experience and academic output by creating a professional journal as the semester's culminating class-project. There are many benefits to a class producing and experiencing the research lifecycle through a genuine publication: (1) Students feel pride in their journal being accessible online, in catalogs, search engines, etc., where their work is discoverable by others; (2) Students gain a sense of ownership of their individually authored works that pass the peer-review and editorial decision process of the journal; (3) Identify with being more than just a student, but also a researcher, editor, reviewer, author, etc.; (4) Develop a heightened sense of the research and publication process; and (5) Stimulates higher quality research due to competitive selection of articles to be published.

First-generation college students (FGCS) in engineering bring a wealth of knowledge to their academic and social experiences in higher education, in contrast to deficit-based narratives that students are underprepared. By listening to FGCS' own experiences navigating higher education and using information literacy in their project-based work, librarians and educators can better understand students' funds of knowledge, social capital, and identities, as well as the institutional barriers that must be removed. This paper shares interview findings with (n = 11) FGCS and suggests implications for professional practice that are relevant to information literacy for design, project-based, or practitioner focused disciplines.

Comics and cartoons are valued in twenty-first century popular culture and are increasingly used as 'Applied Comics' to help communicate key messages and information in society. However, there is less evidence of cartoons and comics being used to communicate with and engage library users in learning, information literacy (IL) and research support. This paper explores case studies of how several different projects have utilised comics as a medium to deliver key messages about library services to support teaching and research at Cambridge University Libraries. The paper examines the use of comics and cartoons in a library context framed in a theory of comics and visual learning. The reception and output of the comics and cartoons with different audiences at Cambridge University Libraries is explored and the paper proposes that further research could be done to examine the potential of comics in communication and IL.

Chatbots have experienced significant growth over the past decade, with a proliferation of new applications across various domains. Previous studies also demonstrate the trend of new technologies, especially artificial intelligence, being adopted in libraries. The purpose of this study is to determine the current research priorities and findings in the field of chatbots in libraries. A systematic literature review was performed utilising the PRISMA checklist and the databases Scopus and Web of Science, identifying 5734 records. Upon conducting the first screening, abstract screening, full-text assessment, and quality assessments guided by the CASP appraisal checklist, 19 papers were deemed suitable for inclusion in the review. The results of the review indicate that the majority of the existing studies were empirical in nature (primarily adopting qualitative methods) and technology reviews with a focus on reviewing the implementation and maintenance, design, evaluation, characteristics, and application of chatbots. The chatbots of interest were mainly text-based and guided chatbots, with closed-source tools with access portals mostly built on library web pages or integrated with social software. The research findings primarily concerned the development models and necessary tools and technologies, the application of chatbots in libraries. Our systematic review also suggests that studies on chatbots in libraries are still in the early stages. [This paper was presented at the 2023 Libraries in the Digital Age (LIDA) International Conference (Osijek, Croatia, May 24-26, 2023).]

This paper describes a project undertaken at Grand Valley State University in which a co-creative model was used to develop a rubric for assessing student learning in library instruction. It outlines the design process as well as the training and support provided throughout implementation. It concludes with the authors' reflections on the successes and challenges of the process and provides recommendations for future projects.

Creating information literate students and future employees is an expected outcome of a tertiary education. This paper shares insights from a successful collaboration between an academic and three university librarians to create an online learning module designed to develop students' professional information literacy capability: identifying business information types, searching online databases, and evaluating quality using a new indigenous-informed evaluation approach. Student learning was measured using reflective tasks and assessments. The paper challenges teachers and librarians to consider ways they can collaborate to explicitly embed information literacy (IL) skills development into large disciplinary courses, particularly during the transition into tertiary learning, to enhance lifelong learning capability and meet future workplace IL demands.