The different roles of ‘design process champions’ for digital libraries in African higher education

The concept of design stakeholders is central to effective design of digital libraries. We report on research findings that identified the presence of a key subset of stakeholders which we term ‘design process champions’. Our findings have identified that these champions can change interaction patterns and the eventual output of the other stakeholders (project participants) in the design process of digital library projects. This empirical research is based upon 38 interviews with key stakeholders and a review of documentary evidence in ten innovative digital library design projects (e.g. mobile clinical libraries) located in three African universities in Kenya, Uganda and South Africa. Through a grounded theory approach two different types of the ‘design process champions’ emerged from the data with varying levels of effectiveness in the design process: (i) domain champions and (ii) multidisciplinary champions. The domain champions assume a ‘siloed’ approach of engagement while the multidisciplinary champions take on a participatory engagement throughout the design process. A discussion of the implications of information specialists functioning as domain champions is highlighted. We conclude by suggesting that the multidisciplinary champions’ approach is particularly useful in supporting sustainability of digital library design projects

A collaborative design process for educational digital resources in African higher education

Within Africa, access to digital library systems is critical in supporting higher level teaching, learning and research. Currently there is a high demand with inadequate resources which often produces poorly supported learning outcomes. The effectiveness of current resources is further limited by poor design processes, which is worsened by stakeholders (academics, e-learning technologists and digital librarians and designers) often working in isolation. Ultimately, designed resources become less user-centred and sustainable. This thesis sought to provide empirically developed collaborative design process guidance for design stakeholders developing educational digital resources within African higher education. Following a Human Computer Interaction research approach, eleven best practice digital library projects identified from three case studies of African universities (in Kenya, Uganda and South Africa) were investigated. Data was drawn from interviews, observations and an examination of documents. This investigation identified three interrelated factors that impacted on the design process (i. e. human relationships, innovative technologies and policies). The human relationships factor comprised multidisciplinary design stakeholders and included a subset i. e. design champions (multidisciplinary and domain champions) whose role changed the facilitation and eventual output of the other stakeholders in the design process. The multidisciplinary champions took on a participatory approach to engagement while the domain champions assumed an approach that was less engaging. The innovative technologies factor comprised universal technologies and `flexible' technologies (i. e. Web 2.0 applications and the Open Source Software) which supported the design process and enhanced user-centeredness and sustainability of the projects. Existing institutional and national policies supported stakeholder collaboration and application of the innovative technologies. The absence of any of these factors in the digital library projects weakened the design process and reduced effectiveness of digital resources. These three factors have been used to develop the Collaborative Educational Resources Design (CERD) process model as a guidance tool to support multidisciplinary design stakeholders indesigning effective digital resources

Domestication of open educational resources by academics in an open distance e-learning institution of South Africa

The emergence of open educational resources has gained popularity and acceptance in higher education institutions and beyond the basic education sector. This brought a persisting shift in depending on information communication technologies for tuition and research provision. Information technology artifact was not treated in isolation to user perspective. The study established how academics accept, feel, perceive, and what skills, opportunities, challenges exist to hinder the domestication. The study context had no uniform guidelines or tools and policy in place for the domestication of open educational resources. The study adopted the exploratory approach guided by the interpretivism paradigm. The study employed Domestication theory. This study conducted in an heterogenous single case study, which is the open distance e-learning (University of South Africa). That was done for an in-depth investigation by relying on multi-methods for data triangulation such as semi-structured interviews, focus group interviews, document analysis, and actual artifact analysis. The total of participants were 52. The study found that most academics played a role in the domestication of open educational resources besides the minority who were unable. The experience and prior knowledge were found to be a factor hindering the domestication process. Open distance e-learning found to relevant space for open educational resources. Such institutions play a role in the adoption and development of open educational resources and mostly rely in information technology for tuition and research. Information technology infrastructure found to be an enabler and disabler in the domestication process. This study contribution to the world of knowledge is based on the theory and practice. Eight theoretical propositions were suggested. The study further contributed by extension of domestication theory as recommended two additional phases which are non-appropriation and dis-appropriation. The current proposed Domestication theory has five phases. Lastly, the study recommended the actual guidelines for adoption and development of open educational resources. This guideline can be adopted by higher education institutions by infusing them in policy development or for general guidance in actual adoption and developments

Open Education Policies in Irish Higher Education and the Role of Librarians: Review and Recommendations

This research aims to highlight the role librarians can play in OER policy, development, design, collaboration, publishing, teaching and management. This research will interview key experts, advocates, and librarians working in this area. Semi-structured interviews will be analysed using thematic analysis. The main results of the study for policy are that institutional culture and institutional buy-in are of paramount importance, pervading policy discussions, policy involvement, rewards and incentives, OER use and management. Recommendations from the study are that a national OER policy be created with a timeline for compliance to allow autonomy of the institution and consider institutional culture, librarians should be supported to up-skill, we should follow a Team Science model for reward and incentive, and that a national university press is a worthwhile idea in an Irish context

Enhancing online climate change education: distance and conventional university collaboration for a Master's curriculum

See also a longer version: ‘Expanding Citizen and Practitioner Engagement with the Climate Change Challenge Through Collaborative Masters Curriculum, Open Educational Resources, E-learning Communities and Virtual Mobility’, presented at a conference of European Association of Distance Teaching Universities (EDTU), Zermatt, Switzerland, September 2010 (www.eadtu.nl/.../Accepted%20Presentations%20for%20Newsletter.pd).This paper analyses the different ways in which both distance and conventional universities engage with learning and teaching. It argues that rather than seeing their roles as institutionally compartmentalised, there is much benefit in delivering online education through an institutional collaboration which develops synergies with a potential to contribute to citizen and professional practitioner empowerment, in this case, for debates about climate change. The example the paper draws on is that of a European Region Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students (Erasmus) project ‘The Lived experience of climate change (LECH-e): interdisciplinary e-module development and virtual mobility’. The project brings together five distance and three conventional universities across six EU countries, plus the European Association of Distance Teaching Universities (EADTU), to create a Master’s curriculum in the area of climate change. It argues that universities across Europe have complementary strengths, both in terms of their disciplinary expertise and the ways in which they engage with students. Understanding the complex, real-world challenge of climate change requires a holistic approach which draws on these complementary strengths through collaborative work. Keywords: conventional universities; distance-learning universities; Master’s curriculum in climate change; collaboration

Liberate my degree: How libraries can help students have influence over their services

Student engagement and student voice have become increasingly important in all aspects of university provision, including general and specific quality assurance and performance measurement of services, curriculum design, operational and strategic planning, and the design and continual improvement of facilities and services. Student engagement in university library and information services is no exception and there are increasingly many examples of student engagement initiatives being deployed to inform the planning and development of library services. Academic libraries in the UK have become very proactive in enabling partnerships with students in order that improvements to service design can be identified and discussed and that developments can take place in a collaborative manner. This includes: use of User Experience methods (UX); focus group discussions; interviews with students; student representation on project teams and boards. Student engagement relies on a continual discussion taking place so that students can have a meaningful voice into the development and improvement of all aspects of library service and provision. This paper will briefly review different student engagement methods, which will be followed with a more detailed case study from Goldsmiths, University of London. The case study highlights the benefits that have been realised through an embedded approach to student engagement, as well as lessons learned along the way, with particular focus on a Student Library Representatives project which went far beyond its initial objectives. The intended outcome from the initiative was to be able to engage students in the purchasing and acquisition of print library books, but as the project evolved, new outcomes emerged including those around students gaining employability skills and becoming more involved in diversifying the library collections. This in turn has had a significant influence on a college wide student voice initiative entitled ‘Liberate My Degree

The Social Justice Role Of School Librarians

This study builds on Rioux’s 2010 social justice metatheory in the library sciences as it looks at the practices of school librarians in the areas of collection development, policies, and instructional practices. The mixed methods study demonstrates that school librarians act as agents of social justice in the collection of materials based on diversity, inclusion, vantage points, and international viewpoints. The policies of unrestricted access to library materials, access to digital and print formats, critical reflection, school library as a safe haven, advocating for the freedom to read, and facilitating students to read a variety of materials were also examined. Additionally, the instructional practices of teaching all students, valuing democracy, challenging social inequities, and exploring global problems were surveyed. Seventy-three public school librarians in a Midwestern U.S. city answered survey questions pertaining to their social justice agencies. In comparing the social justice responses of secondary and elementary librarians, the survey found secondary librarians had an overall higher social justice mean score than elementary librarians. Both secondary and elementary librarians ranked having the library as a safe haven for students as an area of strong agreement. Access to a materials in all formats, diversity, and variety of materials were also in the top five for both instructional levels. Exploring global problems and international viewpoints were in the bottom four agreement categories for both educational levels. This study affirms Rioux’s assumption that providing information services is an inherently powerful activity. As the role of school librarians continues to shift due to educational advances and informational realities, a social justice framework is of value both in theory and practice. Social justice is the past, present, and future of school libraries

SPEC Kit 356 Diversity and Inclusion

Today, diversity is defined beyond racial and ethnic groups and includes gender, sexual orientation, ability, language, religious belief, national origin, age, and ideas. The increase of published literature about cultural competencies, microaggressions, and assessment of diversity issues, as well as the inclusion of social justice movements in libraries, suggests diversity-related activities have increased and evolved over the last seven years. Over this time span, several libraries have obtained funding to support strategies to increase the number of minority librarians on their staff and support their advancement within the organization. There also appears to be an increase in the number of diversity or multicultural groups at the local, state, and national levels. However, these changes have not been consistently documented. Therefore, it is important to re-examine this topic to evaluate the impact of evolving endeavors, to see if more ARL libraries are involved, to see how diversity plans have changed over the years, and to document the current practices of research libraries. The main purpose of this survey was to identify diversity trends and changes in managing diversity issues in ARL libraries through exploring the components of diversity plans and initiatives since 2010, acknowledge library efforts since the 1990s, provide evidence of best practices and future trends, and identify current strategies that increase the number of minority librarians in research libraries and the types of programs that foster a diverse workplace and climate. The survey was conducted between May 1 and June 5, 2017. Sixty-eight of the 124 ARL member institutions responded to the survey for a 55% response rate. Interestingly, only 22 of the respondents to the 2010 SPEC survey participated in this survey, but this provides an opportunity to explore the diversity and inclusion efforts of a new set of institutions in addition to seeing what changes those 22 institutions have made since 2010. The SPEC Survey on Diversity and Inclusion was designed by Toni Anaya, Instruction Coordinator, and Charlene Maxey-Harris, Research and Instructional Services Chair, at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. These results are based on responses from 68 of the 124 ARL member libraries (55%) by the deadline of June 12, 2017. The survey’s introductory text and questions are reproduced below, followed by the response data and selected comments from the respondents. The purpose of this survey is to explore the components of diversity plans created since 2010, identify current recruitment and retention strategies that aim to increase the number of minority librarians in research libraries, identify staff development programs that foster an inclusive workplace and climate, identify how diversity programs have changed, and gather information on how libraries assess these efforts

Rising to the Challenge: Re-envisioning Public Libraries

This report explores the essential role of public libraries in a networked world and begin to re-envision the 21st century library in a hyper-connected environment and dramatically changing world. The report is intended to raise the profile of public libraries to the center of the knowledge society, highlight the opportunities and possibilities, increase support for an expanded library role in a networked world and spark a national conversation and action to re-envision the 21st century library as a center of learning, innovation and creativity. While the report's focus is on public libraries, we acknowledge the importance of school and research libraries in the broader conversations around the future of libraries and communities