Library Connection, v4n1, Fall 2016/Winter 2017

Inside this issue: --New Librarians Join Rod Library Staff--CFPL@UNI Collection--Help Us Tell Your Story in Special Collections--TRAC Collaboration--Elsevier ScienceDirect Freedom Collection--Tech Desk--New Bean Bags--IRTS--UNI Museum Tuskhttps://scholarworks.uni.edu/libcon/1007/thumbnail.jp

Statistics-Bierce Library Study

This is a report from two surveys that I created and administered to students and faculty at Bierce library who came to the Circulation Desk or the Tech Desk, as well as some of my other findings when periodically looking around the library to see where students like to study or hang-out. There was a written survey given at the Circulation Desk, and a different survey given at the Tech Check-Out Desk. The project is for Melanie Smith-Farrell, the head of Access Services, and is based on a similar study Ian McCullough did in the science library. While this is the Statistics Honors Project, it is more in the vein of a data management/information management project, as data is gathered that reflects the needs of students and faculty and will be given to library decision makers to get materials to serve students. This means there is unfortunately not much room for me to use my stats chops, instead there was a lot of planning going into the survey (with some shortfalls) and a lot of manipulation to get meaningful information from the surveys, and simple demographic information rather than statistical analysis

The Beginning of Digital Wisdom

Marc Prensky, who popularized the term “digital natives” more than ten years ago, now emphasizes the need for “digital wisdom”: using digital technologies wisely to become wiser. Recent research reveals that so-called digital natives are often “digital naïves”—familiarity with digital technologies does not translate into facility with them. Incoming college students report declining confidence in their computer skills and report very modest improvements by the time they graduate. Employers report deficiencies in the technological skills of college graduates and, perhaps most troubling, studies of youth and young adults show that ethical and moral reasoning does not extend much beyond self-protection. The more we learn about our future, current, and recent students, the clearer it is that many are not equipped to use digital technologies wisely to become wiser people. In 2011, the Seattle Pacific University Library established a new service area for students called the Tech Desk. Initially intended as a place where students could get help with and access to new technologies needed for academic work, this program area quickly became an incubator for ideas and innovations around meeting students’ technological needs. Responding to observations and feedback, including important insights gained through a survey conducted in 2014, the authors have been evolving a conceptual and practical approach to digital wisdom to enhance our students’ academic, vocational, and spiritual development. This paper summarizes what we have learned about our students’ needs and interests, the theological framework we are using to respond to these, and the curricular and co-curricular changes we are pursuing