Information Literacy at the Intersection of Scholarly Communications and Social Justice

Undergraduate outreach about Open Access (OA) lies at the intersection of information literacy and Scholarly Communications. Reframing undergraduates as current and future scholars allows us to treat them as agents within the Scholarly Communications network. Students who have mastered fundamental research skills are prepared to view them through the critical lens of Scholarly Communications in order to learn both how to locate resources and how those resources are created. This educational approach highlights the various barriers scholars can face in the research process, as well as provides an awareness of information privilege. This poster will provide a model for how OA can be integrated into information literacy instruction by describing a one-shot session delivered to a 300-level Women and Gender Studies (WGS) course. For librarians looking to integrate OA into their teaching, WGS courses are a logical starting point. There is a moral imperative for WGS scholars to be aware of OA due to its corresponding values of equality, justice, and the belief in the capacity for all people to be participants in the scholarly conversation. Advanced WGS students are prepared to apply high level critical thinking to their own research practices. Situating their scholarly activity in the greater ecosystem of scholarly communications reveals how these students are agents within this system whose choices can have an impact on the larger network

Textbook Affordability is a Social Justice Issue: How Open Textbooks are Paving the Way to Equality in Higher Education

Textbook affordability is becoming a bigger and bigger problem for students. Access to textbooks is essential for students to be able to meet their learning needs and have equal opportunity to excel as their peers. Open Textbooks are one response to this issue, but while most library outreach is focused on faculty members, students are an underutilized voice in the open education conversation. This presentation aims to educate students on what open textbooks are, what their limitations are, and how all students can participate in advocating for more affordable course materials

The Four Factors of Fair Use

This poster was created in a collaborative effort by Musselman Library’s Copyright Committee as part of a display for Fair Use Week 2019. The poster was intended to get viewers to think about the 4 factors of fair use in the context of fan fiction and was paired with an interactive quiz game applying the four factors to a series of court cases over creators\u27 uses of copyrighted work. To take our quiz and see if you can determine whether each case is or is not an example of fair use, visit our Fair Use Week 2019 interactive website

Open Access, Social Justice, and the Moral Imperative: Why OA Publishing Matters to WGS

Students in the discipline of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies are uniquely positioned to critically engage with systems of power and apply academic theory to real world practice as a field that has a clear and implicit social justice angle to its scholarship. The Open Access movement can benefit from the critical theories used in WGS as a means of ensuring maximum inclusivity of the movement. Further, WGS students must acknowledge their privileged position within an academic institution and publish in ways that undermine the systems of power that lock up knowledge behind a toll in order to align their practices with the values of the discipline

2019 Gettysburg College Student Textbook and Course Materials Survey Executive Summary

We’ve all heard stories of students struggling with textbook costs, but how do our students cope when the price gets too high? Modeled after the Student Textbook and Course Materials Survey conducted by Florida Virtual Campus, Musselman Library’s course materials survey sought to uncover how textbook costs impact the success of Gettysburg College students. Results give insight into participants’ perceptions of how much money they spend, the strategies they use to reduce costs, and the effects of the cost of course materials on their academic success. The Executive Summary details our research questions, key findings, and main takeaways

Using a Student Textbook Survey to Advance an OER Initiative

Learn how one library created, administered, and used the results of a student textbook survey in order to advance an OER initiative. We will cover fundamental details, including how we modified an existing survey, chose an administration tool, and promoted the survey. Additionally, we will share our approach to analyzing data and sharing results with various campus stakeholders. This session will focus on the practical aspects of the project in hopes that other libraries will feel empowered to conduct local surveys that support programmatic goals

Scholarly Communications Report on Activities 2019-20

2019-20 annual report for Scholarly Communications work at Musselman Library, including Gettysburg College\u27s institutional repository, The Cupola: Scholarship at Gettysburg College. Covers June 2019-May 2020

I spent my whole summer\u27s wages... on books alone : Gettysburg College Student Textbook and Course Materials Survey

We’ve all heard stories of students struggling with textbook costs, but how do our students cope when the price gets too high? Modeled after the Student Textbook and Course Materials Survey conducted by Florida Virtual Campus, Musselman Library’s course materials survey sought to uncover how textbook costs impact the success of Gettysburg College students. Results give insight into participants’ perceptions of how much money they spend, the strategies they use to reduce costs, and the effects of the cost of course materials on their academic success. Attendees will leave the presentation with a greater understanding of the whole Gettysburg College community and ideas for next steps

Inequitable Impacts of Textbook Costs at a Small, Private College: Results from a Textbook Survey at Gettysburg College

Recognizing that higher education settings vary considerably, librarians at Gettysburg College sought to better understand textbook spending behaviors and the effects of costs on our students. We adapted the Florida Virtual Campus 2016 Student Textbook and Course Materials Survey to suit the context of our small, private, liberal arts college. Most students spent $300 in Fall 2019. Financial aid awards did not cover the cost of required books and course materials for most students receiving aid. Negative effects were more pronounced for first-generation students and Pell Grant recipients, who were more likely to not purchase required books, to not register for a course due to cost, and to struggle academically. Some reported negative effects beyond their academic lives, as well. We recommend adoption of Open Educational Resources as an equity-minded practice that addresses this academic success barrier