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An introduction is presented in which author discusses articles on topics including focuses on special collections librarians, archivists, and museum professionals could find useful to address their own microcosms.

Many academic libraries have implemented personal librarian programs, seeking to improve relationships with students and reduce library anxiety. This pilot study, in which a personal librarian was assigned to sections of a general education course, aimed to expand upon the personal librarianship literature by assessing whether a personal librarian influences student academic outcomes and information literacy confidence. Results from the pilot suggest that the presence of and engagement with the personal librarian had minimal and not statistically significant effect on academic outcomes, but engagement with the personal librarian somewhat correlated with growth in information literacy confidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article talks about the one-shot model of library instructions in special collections and archives. Topics include how the students interact during the one-shot session in this area, their reliance on the librarian or archivist leading the session to preselect the materials that they will examine, and how to provide students with meaningful and unmediated access to the materials in the special collections and archives.

I am a cis-gendered, white passing, able bodied, biracial settler woman of Sri Lankan and English ancestry. I currently live and work as an uninvited but grateful guest on the traditional territory of the Syilx Okanagan Peoples in what is now known as Kelowna, British Columbia. I am also grateful to have been a guest on the traditional territories of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, Lūnaapéewak, and Chonnonton Nations, on lands connected with the London Township and Sombra Treaties of 1796 and the Dish with One Spoon Covenant Wampum Nations, in what is now known as London Ontario where I was born and raised, and completed both of my degrees. I strive and commit to learning, unlearning, reflecting, and being humble as I grow in my knowledge, understanding, and actions towards my part in decolonization and reconciliation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article poses some ideas about mapping a vaccination metaphor onto one-shot model of library instruction drawing from librarian Wendy Holliday's use of metaphor to generate exploration around information literacy discourse. Topics include the mechanisms and implications of one-shot approach being viewed as common-sensical and unassailable and the use of the vaccination metaphor to examine damaging assumptions about one-shots investigated in "The Contested One-Shot" by N. Pagowsky.

Query letters may offer an effective way to increase author engagement in the scholarly communication process, yet they are not a common practice in library and information science (LIS). A survey and interviews were conducted with LIS journal editors to explore experiences, attitudes, and opinions concerning query letters. Results indicate query letters can be of great benefit to both authors and editors, if approached properly. Yet editors expressed varying levels of enthusiasm and offered some divergent opinions. Such editorial inconsistencies may contribute to authors' uncertainty and anxiety. Thus, this article concludes with ideas for empowering authors and improving editor-author communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a statement towards the condemnation of racial injustice after the death of George Floyd, Ramapo Catskill Library System (RCLS), located in the Hudson Valley of New York State, vowed to continue to provide educational opportunities to member libraries to play a part in devolving systemic racism.

In a literature survey on how reference collections have changed to accommodate patrons' webbased information-seeking behaviors, one notes a marked "us vs. them" mentality--a fear that the Internet might render reference irrelevant. These anxieties are oft-noted in articles urging libraries to embrace digital and online reference sources. Why all the ambivalence? Citing existing research and literature, this essay explores myths about the supposed superiority of physical reference collections and how patrons actually use them, potential challenges associated with electronic reference collections, and how providing vital e-reference collections benefits the library as well as its patrons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author discusses the entry of learning commons as a variation of information commons defined as the result of information commons resources organized in collaboration with learning initiatives sponsored by other academic units. Topics cited include the dependence of learning commons on actions and involvement of other units and the introduction of makerspacers in the academic library that inspires a mode of learning with immediate applications in the real world.

Through a survey of more than 200 US academic science librarians, we investigated the perceived value of subject specialization; looked for trends toward or away from science subject specialization; and analyzed predictions about the future of science liaison librarianship. Results showed that science librarians perceive subject specialization positively and predict it will continue to be necessary in the future. They also perceive that liaison relationships will remain crucial. While functional roles appear to be growing, they were not seen as replacing traditional subject responsibilities. Results suggest a shift toward a more generalist approach; however, additional research is needed before stating this conclusively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A content analysis of 62 job postings for East Asian studies librarians in the United States and Canada during 2008-2019 demonstrates that major job responsibilities have expanded to include collection development and management, reference and research assistance, instruction, liaison work, and outreach; relationship building and collaboration are emerging roles; skills and abilities have been progressively occupying a larger proportion than knowledge and experience in the required qualifications; top frequently required abilities and skills are generic and behavioral; and professional experiences are often preferred rather than required. The results of this research are of practical relevance to subject specialists in other areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the publication patterns of Library and Information Science literature related to mindfulness between 2010 and 2020. Questions answered include the number of articles published each year on this topic, the journals publishing these articles, the number of authors publishing and their countries of origin, and the specific subject of the articles. The results of this study show whether there has been a growth or decline of interest in the publication of journal articles related to this topic, how this topic has evolved, and where the interest is growing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teaching roles in academic libraries can be accompanied by a great deal of anxiety. This study surveyed librarian attitudes toward their teaching role and librarians' experiences with teaching anxiety. Sixty-four percent of librarians participating in the survey said they experienced teaching anxiety, including 65.10 percent experiencing physical symptoms and 73.43 percent of librarians who experienced teaching anxiety experiencing psychological symptoms. Findings indicate tension between sustaining a work-life balance and managing physical and psychological symptoms. Based on these findings, the researchers propose supports that can help mitigate the adverse effects of teaching anxiety on library instructors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the practice of embedded librarianship, a professor from the Graduate School of Education and the Education Librarian at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey collaborated to investigate its impact on the inherent transactional distance that exists in an online graduate course. Using Michael G. Moore's three relational distances existing in the online environment-"teacher-student," "student-student," "student-course content"-the authors added two areas-"instructor-librarian" and "student-librarian"-that can close the transactional distance in online courses. Through course activities, structure, and access to the embedded librarian and specific library resources, students had increased opportunities for engagement, thereby reducing transactional distance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores The first piece of advice I received when I started my first job in the library as a sorting shelver was to "stay true to yourself in everything you do." I was eighteen and fresh out of high school when my manager gave me that piece of advice. I had no intention of having a career in library services, so his words went right over my head.

The article explores The Wheeler School is a coeducational independent school located in Providence, RI, that works with students from Nursery through Grade 12. An estimated 33% of Rhode Islanders identify as Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC), and approximately 67% of Providence residents do. Only 29% of Wheeler's student body identify as BIPOC. The Prescott Library at the Wheeler School has four full time librarians.

The article explores Lisa Ladd has just recently become the library director at the Buck Memorial Library in Bucksport, Maine. Before becoming director, she worked as a library supervisor at Dartmouth College. While in library school at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Lisa concentrated in youth and public librarianship.

The article discusses, for many years, undergraduate success has been the central part of many conversations concerning academic libraries, and indeed about universities more broadly. Recently, though, there has been growing public interest in the fates of graduate students. From national discussions about job markets for Ph.D. students, graduate student mental health, and graduate student debt,1 the conversation has moved into the realm of academic librarianship.

This study measured the relative academic impact of articles by LIS practitioners by analyzing library and information science articles published between 2005 and 2014. The results revealed that, although practitioners were not the main knowledge contributors, the academic impact of articles by practitioners was not significantly lower than that of articles by academics. No significant differences in academic impact were present between any two types of coauthored articles. Articles from academic-practitioner collaboration were cited earlier than articles from practitioner-practitioner and academic-academic collaborations. This study suggests that LIS practitioners appear to benefit from collaborative scholarship with LIS researchers through more citations and higher impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The field of bibliometrics provides a lens through which to explore how a journal's environment is shaped by the professionals that contribute to its creation and maintenance. Despite a rich legacy of bibliometric studies in Library and Information Science scholarship more generally, to date no studies have explored bibliometrics related specifically to special collections library literature. This study considers the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section (RBMS) of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) journals, RBML and RBM, to explore what it is possible to learn about late twentieth and early twenty-first century American special collections librarianship as a profession through an aggregate consideration of the professional literature. This study uses existing tools from author affiliation studies to explore the professional literature and available data about the perspectives that shaped the RBMS journals, RBML and RBM, to gain a better understanding of the particular ecosystem that informs research and publication in the field of American special collections librarianship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Universities are pursuing learning analytics practices to improve returns from their investments, develop behavioral and academic interventions to improve student success, and address political and financial pressures. Academic libraries are additionally undertaking learning analytics to demonstrate value to stakeholders, assess learning gains from instruction, and analyze student-library usage, et cetera. The adoption of these techniques leads to many professional ethics issues and practical concerns related to privacy. In this narrative literature review, we provide a foundational background in the field of learning analytics, library adoption of these practices, and identify ethical and practical privacy issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper details the results of a mixed-methods study of first-year and upper-division students' information literacy (IL) competencies. The study used a rubric and a survey, seeking to answer two research questions: 1) Is there a correlation between National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) IL survey responses and IL rubric scores? 2) Are there any indicators that correlate to improved IL performance in first-year students? Results demonstrated that first-year students reported greater engagement with IL and also indicated that instructors placed greater emphasis on IL competencies than students in upper-division courses. They also show a statistically significant impact on first-year students' rubric scores when a librarian is in the class. This finding held even when controlling for other variables. Results provide an evidence-based foundation to spur conversations with faculty and university administration on the value of IL and the role of librarians in undergraduate student success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academic libraries are challenged to keep pace with major changes and trends in the fields of library and information science and higher education generally. Through a nationwide survey of information professionals and LIS faculty, this study explores the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) currently in demand for academic librarians and compares them to those expected of information professionals in other areas of the field. The results show a strong emphasis on interpersonal and communication skills as well as certain domain knowledge. The results also suggest some significant differences between expectations for academic librarians compared to other information professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our ability to make informed decisions about ebooks is constrained by our limited understanding of how students perceive and use them. A team of librarians and a professor in learning sciences asked graduate students to serve as informants on student experience with ebooks. We analyzed student work in two semester-long studies, focusing on barriers and affordances they identified. In the first cohort, students who chose to explore ebooks uncovered affordances. In the second cohort, student comfort levels with PDF formats increased, while comfort with ebooks decreased. We discuss strategies for minimizing challenges and increasing desirable difficulties to support ebooks as learning tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholarly publishing continues to be a prominent expectation for many academic librarians. This survey explores characteristics, behaviors, motivations, institutional supports, and educational opportunities that help library practitioners become successful authors. It also looks at perceived confidence in research skills of both novice and experienced librarians. Many librarians show confidence in research activities related to their overall job assignments (literature searching, writing, and such) but find more sophisticated research skills, such as statistical analysis, more challenging. Findings indicate that having additional graduate research experience beyond the library degree, time-management skills, and collaboration with other researchers may provide useful benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]