Hackathons and Libraries: The Evolving Landscape 2014-2020

Libraries foster a thriving campus culture and function as “third space,” not directly tied to a discipline. Libraries support both formal and informal learning, have multipurpose spaces, and serve as a connection point for their communities. For these reasons, they are an ideal location for events, such as hackathons, that align with library priorities of outreach, data and information literacy, and engagement focused on social good. Hackathon planners could find likely partners in either academic or public libraries as their physical spaces accommodate public outreach events and many are already providing similar services, such as makerspaces. Libraries can act solely as a host for events or they can embed in the planning process by building community partnerships, developing themes for the event, or harnessing the expertise already present in the library staff. This article, focusing on years from 2014 to 2020, will highlight the history and evolution of hackathons in libraries as outreach events and as a focus for using library materials, data, workflows, and content.Publisher allows immediate open acces

An Analysis of Hybrid/Remote Work Eligibility in Academic Librarian Job Advertisements

This paper seeks to capture changing policies and approaches to hybrid and remote work in academic libraries following the COVID-19 pandemic. For this study, job advertisements were gathered and those hiring managers surveyed. Results show hybrid/remote positions have competitive salaries, many types of academic library positions have hybrid eligibility, and campus and library policies regarding hybrid/remote work and their inclusion in job postings continue to evolve. Despite the potential recruitment benefits of these flexible work arrangements, many who offer them are not including this information in their job advertisements; therefore, job candidates should ask or negotiate for this benefit

Accessibility and Disability Services for Libraries: a Survey of Large, Research-Intensive Institutions

As academic libraries prioritize accessibility for all individuals, they have carried out transformations of their physical and virtual spaces. For example, they have purchased new hardware, software, and furniture; adjusted websites for screen readers; modified handouts used in instruction; and advocated for change with vendors of leased and purchased content. Whether driven by campus mandates, state regulations, lawsuits, or other motives, libraries have reviewed and improved the delivery of their content to better serve the needs of all users. Several surveys cover the disability and accessibility services available at libraries and how they have changed over time, but few studies examine who within the library provides support to users and how changes in campus and state requirements impact the delivery of these services. This article summarizes the results of a survey of Association of Research Libraries (ARL) institutions in October 2020 related to what services the library provides, whether they have changed due to campus or state requirements, which positions within libraries provide support, and what the impetus was for offering services. The authors also discuss implications for scalable support of disability and accessibility services at university libraries.Publisher allows immediate open acces

Consider "HACKS" when designing hackathon challenges: Hook, action, collaborative knowledge sharing

Our world's complex challenges increase the need for those entering STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) disciplines to be able to creatively approach and collaboratively address wicked problems – complex problems with no "right" answer that span disciplines. Hackathons are environments that leverage problem-based learning practices so student teams can solve problems creatively and collaboratively by developing a solution to given challenges using engineering and computer science knowledge, skills, and abilities. The purpose of this paper is to offer a framework for interdisciplinary hackathon challenge development, as well as provide resources to aid interdisciplinary teams in better understanding the context and needs of a hackathon to evaluate and refine hackathon challenges. Three cohorts of interdisciplinary STEAM researchers were observed and interviewed as they collaboratively created a hackathon challenge incorporating all cohort-member disciplines for an online high school hackathon. The observation data and interview transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis to distill the processes cohorts underwent and resources that were necessary for successfully creating a hackathon challenge. Through this research we found that the cohorts worked through four sequential stages as they collaborated to create a hackathon challenge. We detail the stages and offer them as a framework for future teams who seek to develop an interdisciplinary hackathon challenge. Additionally, we found that all cohorts lacked the knowledge and experience with hackathons to make fully informed decisions related to the challenge's topic, scope, outcomes, etc. In response, this manuscript offers five hackathon quality considerations and three guiding principles for challenge developers to best meet the needs and goals of hackathon sponsors and participants.Publisher allows immediate open acces

How interdisciplinary collaboration helps communicate engineering research to community audiences

Does interdisciplinary collaboration make a difference when it comes to communicating engineering concepts to community audiences? This research focuses on the effect of communication strategies on community attitudes toward engineering research. Two cohorts of four academic researchers each, representing eight different disciplinary backgrounds (aviation planning, cancer research, math education, musicology, chemical/biomolecular engineering, material science, soil science, and theater) developed research communication outputs for the public by creating: 1) an individual video presenting their research through the lens of their discipline alone; and 2) a convergent video where they collaboratively discussed their research with others in their cohort around a common theme, integrating all of their disciplinary lenses. Using a panel of respondents (n = 2,938) procured through Qualtrics, and purposefully recruited to create a diverse sample in age and racial/ethnic background, the research team randomly assigned respondents to watch one of three video treatments: one individual video, multiple individual videos, or a convergent video. Then, respondents answered a series of questions about their interest and knowledge of several STEM topics, both before and after watching the video(s). This retrospective pre/post questionnaire technique helps to alleviate response-shift bias present in self-assessed changes in learning attitudes. Our findings show that collaborative presentation videos increased self-reported audience interest in engineering, and perceptions of disciplinary relatedness more than the non-collaborative, individual presentations made by the same researchers. These results suggest a beneficial role for collaborative communication strategies to foster interest in engineering among public audiences, even among people without a background in STEM. Further, collaborative communication led to an increased sense of relatedness among different disciplines, which may be useful for effective public research communication about interdisciplinary engineering projects.Publisher allows immediate open acces

Capturing Snapshots in Time: Environmental Scanning as an Ongoing Process

Environmental scanning—the practice of taking a step back and reviewing the context of a system, the key players, similar services available elsewhere, and how information/resources/ money flows through the system—provides a holistic view upon which recommendations can be made. Although this approach has been a mainstay in library strategic planning processes,1 it is less prevalent in planning ongoing work. This process has many different names depending on the field: a traditional SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis from the business world,2 capture planning in the realm of research development offices,3 landscape analysis for entrepreneurs,4 or competitive intelligence for our colleagues in special libraries.5 Overall, an environmental scan typically has both an internal and external focus. It concentrates less on what the competition is doing and more about a snapshot of current practices. It is an approach used to inform local strategic planning and provides a way to gather information about the local environment to make more informed decisions.6 In libraries, there are many stakeholder perspectives to keep in mind while designing services, delivering collections, or planning future projects. For this reason, having a clear understanding of the environment will allow those developing strategies to stay informed of their users’ needs as well as anticipate any barriers present that may interfere with a successful implementation of the vision. For example, in my work as a liaison, scanning the environment helped inform my collection development to know the research specialties of my faculty as well as program offerings at the graduate and undergraduate levels. I gathered information about the courses where I offered instruction, examined the course catalog to identify additional areas for inroads, and compared with colleagues at other institutions who were partnering in similar courses.Publisher allows immediate open acces

An Analysis of Hybrid/Remote Work Eligibility in Academic Librarian Job Advertisements

This paper seeks to capture changing policies and approaches to hybrid and remote work in academic libraries following the COVID-19 pandemic. For this study, job advertisements were gathered and those hiring managers surveyed. Results show hybrid/remote positions have competitive salaries, many types of academic library positions have hybrid eligibility, and campus and library policies regarding hybrid/remote work and their inclusion in job postings continue to evolve. Despite the potential recruitment benefits of these flexible work arrangements, many who offer them are not including this information in their job advertisements; therefore, job candidates should ask or negotiate for this benefit.Publisher allows immediate open acces

Globally Inclusive Information Literacy Handouts

This file contains handouts to reflect on library information literacy instruction for single class visit planning. Both reflecting on the conversation with the instructor prior to the session and planning contextualizing content of the session.Two handoutsNo embarg