Exploring Research Support by Academic Librarians to Faculty Members

Abstract This article explored the availability and relevance of research support offered by academic librarians to faculty members within the Colleges of Health Sciences and Basic and Applied Sciences at the University of Ghana, with the background that current technological changes in librarianship have made research support a critical function of academic libraries. Mixed methods research design was adopted for the study. Data was collected from faculty members and academic librarians through self-designed questionnaires and semi-structured interviews respectively.  The study concluded that research support activities by academic librarians existed and is seen as very relevant to faculty members.  However, in as much as there is an upsurge in technological advancement in academic library services, only the Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) was mostly utilised for research support whereas Selective Dissemination of Information (SDI) by academic librarians to faculty, news alerts and list of new arrivals were the least utilised services.  It was observed that academic librarians had not utilised the use of social media in communicating research support to faculty members although they had a positive mind-set about its use.  Other ways of communicating research support to faculty members were through “ask the librarian” system on university websites, presentations by academic librarians at workshops for faculty members, notices on notice boards and one-on-one interactions.  Identified research support needed by faculty members were article request services; training in reference management software such as Mendeley and Endnote; Faculty Research Commons for faculty members alone; effective maintenance and update of the institutional repository and training on the use of electronic databases.  The study recommended the need for academic librarians to periodically update their knowledge on current trends of research support as well as ascertain the research needs of faculty members which keep on changing because of technological advancements

Best Practices for Serving LGBTQ+ Library Users in the 21st Century: A systematic literature review

In order to best serve LGBTQ+ library users, it is necessary to develop a list of best practices. While there is ample literature on the topic of the needs of LGBTQ+ library users and how to address those needs, there is no readily accessible list of evidence-based best practices for general implementation. To address this need, the author identified an initial pool of 210 articles published in library journals between the years of 2000 and 2022. Of those 210 articles, 109 articles met all conditions for further review. A total of 21 articles within the review pool contained specific recommendations for serving LGBTQ+ library users. Those 21 articles were assessed, and their findings compiled to create a list of evidence-based best practices for serving LGBTQ+ library users

The English Conversation Group: A Library-led Virtual Program for International Students

Academic libraries play a key role in helping international students adjust to a new learning environment. The abrupt halt to in-person activities due to COVID-19 meant that many libraries had to find new and creative ways of utilizing technology to continue serving patrons. In fall 2020, the English Conversation Group (ECG) at the University of Windsor’s Leddy Library pivoted to offering virtual sessions for the first time in the program’s history due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The sessions have been successful in continuing to support international students and have allowed for students to engage with the university, the library, and each other despite being physically separated. The authors detail the process, challenges, and outcomes of hosting English Conversation Group using Blackboard Collaboratory for international students. This case study provides limited empirical evidence for libraries who have an interest in offering a   web-based English conversation program in order to support international students

Others-Oriented Reference: Employing Cultural Humility in the Reference Interview: * WINNER OF THE 2023 PRACTICAL ACADEMIC LIBRARIANSHIP AWARD *

Cultural humility has become a popular phrase in many contexts.  Despite its popularity, cultural humility retains some ambiguity, particularly for professional application.  This essay aims to resolve some of that by providing a brief overview of the term and specifically aiming to define cultural humility in the context of Library and Information Science. After providing a definition, this essay aims to assess a foundational component of librarianship, the reference interview, through this refined lens of cultural humility.  The essay progresses to provide two examples showing how cultural humility can enrich reference services: referrals and relational integration.  The authors of this essay argue that cultural humility may play a critical role in reviving the reference interview

Which Libraries are Open?: How to Quickly Map Library Reopening Statuses and Service Updates Using CARTO

This article outlines how libraries can quickly map library information such as location and service updates using the free version of CARTO, an online mapping platform that provides both free and subscription-based accounts. Institutions with multiple library locations and different COVID-19 site reopening statuses can quickly map which library locations are open, partially opened or closed and indicate what services are currently available. Mapping this data requires minimal technical expertise and time, and the map itself can be helpful for patrons, librarians and staff

Introduction to Volume 12, Issue 1

Introduction to Volume 12, Issue 1 of Practical Academic Librarianship: The International Journal of the SLA Academic Division

The Research Support Needs of Emerging Researchers Employed at the Education Faculty of a University of Technology

ABSTRACT Globally academic institutions are under pressure to improve their research outputs, both in terms of quality and quantity. The library plays an important role in providing research support services to its community of researchers so that they can contribute to research. As a young research institution, CPUT has a large cohort of emerging researchers, among those, teacher educators in its Education Faculty.  This study, based on research for a master’s degree (Oosthuizen, 2019), set out to determine their research support needs by using a mixed methods approach which included collecting mostly quantitative data from researchers and qualitative data from support staff. It found that this group of researchers needs the library’s support at all stages of the research life cycle, but to varying degrees. The information gathering stage is where the library’s support is considered necessary by almost all, while the majority of respondents did not consider support in the planning stage as necessary. It was found that many respondents were neutral about some services, indicating their unfamiliarity with what the library does or might offer. The study recommends that the library improve the awareness for the research support services it offers and that it works more collaboratively with other research support entities at the university for a more streamlined approach to research support. While this study investigated a small sample of researchers, its findings can be used by the library to tailor services to a particular group of users. &nbsp

Introduction to This Issue

Introduces this issue and announces the recent merger of the SLA Academic and Education Communities

Weeding Ebooks at an Academic Library * WINNER OF THE 2022 PRACTICAL ACADEMIC LIBRARIANSHIP AWARD *

This paper reports on an ebook weeding project conducted by the Franklin University Library. It discusses the library’s reasons for weeding its ebooks, how the library weeded its DDA pool, and the challenges the library encountered weeding ebooks. The library ultimately conducted a more limited weeding of its ebook collection than initially planned, and this paper explains the reasons for this, the decisions the library made and the method used to conduct the limited ebook weeding project. * WINNER OF THE 2022 PRACTICAL ACADEMIC LIBRARIANSHIP AWARD

Material Format Preference of Music Faculty at Kennesaw State University

Historically, collection development has focused on what material to purchase. However, with the maturation of web-based music audio databases, web-based video databases, online music scores, electronic books and reference material, and commercial audio/visual streaming services, the format of material is also now an important collection consideration. Faced with difficult collection development decisions due to the Performing Arts Library’s (PAL) limited space being filled beyond capacity with physical material, PAL librarians at Kennesaw State University (KSU) sought to discover the material and format preference of music faculty. This was done to see if faculty would use digital material, requiring no physical library space, in place of physical material. To discover preferences, music faculty completed two material format preference surveys. The first survey was completed May 2016 and the second was completed April 2019. Both surveys sought to discover format preferences, physical or digital, for the following music library material: books, music scores, journals, reference, audio, and video. The 2019 survey also included questions about digital material used in instruction, the format of music scores used, and the method of music score use. The surveys found music faculty prefer print books and print music scores. In contrast, music faculty prefer digital, web-based journals, web-based reference material, and have a strong preference for web-based audio and video material. In addition, music faculty are using non-library streaming services, such as YouTube and Spotify, in their instruction. Also, acceptance of digital music scores and digital display devices is growing as half of music faculty survey respondents use digital devices to display music scores. Keywords: material format, format preference, music faculty, collection development, digital material, books, music scores, journals, reference, audio/video materia