Come on Down!”: Gaming in the Flipped Classroom

This session will discuss the experience of librarians at the University of Northern Iowa who have incorporated gaming into their library credit course to increase student engagement and learning both in and out of the flipped classroom. The session will demonstrate how using Kahoot, Quizlet and “Team Challenges” in the classroom facilitated individual learning and peer teaching. Attendees will learn about free and easy to use web gaming apps (i.e., Kahoot, Quizlet), and learn how to incorporate gaming into any of their classroom environments (i.e, one shot sessions, credit course, embedded classroom). This session is targeted towards any library, and for library users of all ages

You say goodbye, I say hello: Seeking Sustainability by Cancelling Our Credit Class

Budget and personnel constraints in recent years, coupled with initiatives to reach more students and faculty, left the presenter\u27s library facing a challenge: How can we build an instruction program that is collaborative, far-reaching, and, perhaps most importantly, sustainable? The library\u27s instruction team, including the presenters, came together to critically evaluate their work with a credit-bearing information literacy course, lower level general education courses, and the training of student workers who staff the combined library services desk. The team identified parts of their workload that while time intensive, did not produce a commensurate impact in terms of the number of students and faculty reached. With these considerations in mind, the team explored the adoption of commercially produced tools that offer a greater level of automation, make it easier to reach more students, and yet do not devalue the important role of librarians. Coinciding with the library\u27s internal dialogue was a growing discussion on campus of the need to integrate information literacy skills into the university\u27s general education program. In addition, the leadership of the Undergraduate Studies\u27 peer mentor program expressed a similar interest in supporting information literacy. The confluence of the library\u27s instruction program re-tooling and the increasing campus interest in information literacy have provided and continue to provide a fertile environment for librarians to help shape the development of information literacy initiatives on campus. To this end, a newly revitalized liaison program offers librarians an informal means of listening to and speaking with faculty and students about the information literacy in specific disciplines. At a more formal level, the service of librarians on important campus committees has provided a literal seat at the table from which to contribute to high-level conversation about information literacy on campus. The presenters will discuss how they and their instruction librarian colleagues came together to critically assess unsustainable, relatively low-impact instruction initiatives. Further, they will discuss their plan to use the Credo Information Literacy modules to better meet the campus need for information literacy instruction and assessment in a sustainable and scalable manner

Examining an Employee Awards Information System: A Qualitative Study

The U.S. military is an organization that uses an automated system to process its members’ awards for approval, similar to other organization. Awarding members for performance has been identified as a great way to escalate job motivation and increase the feeling of inclusion and loyalty to organization and even lead to job retention. In the midst of the current environment and COVID-19 working conditions, it is even more important to show appreciation and gratitude. The U.S. military uses what is known as Global Electronic Approval Routing System (GEARS) to process these awards.  Notwithstanding the perceived advantages of utilizing the type of framework, people have communicated uncertainties about its ability to process the administrative documentation effectively and sufficiently, and in turn leading to the opposite effect, decreased motivation and job satisfaction.  The study examines the effect that the GEARS has on processing awards on time while applying three theories that set the conceptual framework: Herzberg's Two Factory theory, Technology Acceptance Model, and Task Technology Fit Theory.  The study used the qualitative descriptive method in its overall approach to answer research questions regarding how GEARS is affecting the submission and approval of service members’ awards for commendable performance and behavior and how GEARS is perceived to fit the requirement to complete tasks and activities associated with processing awards. The researchers used three instruments to gather data.  Data were collected from 15 participants using a questionnaire and interviews.  Relevant information was also gathered from archived data and five themes emerged from the analysis of the data, which support the theories and help to provide recommendations for future success

Students Helping Students: Creating and Evaluating a Collaborative Service Model in the Library

This study identifies the successes and challenges associated with the addition of a nonlibrary service desk in a university library’s learning commons. The authors wanted to know whether a training and service collaboration with an outside unit could reliably and efficiently connect students to the librarians, academic support services, and other resources that they need; and if advanced skills (including information literacy) training could be successfully built into the existing infrastructure of academic support departments. The authors identified strategies to address barriers when maintaining and improving a collaborative relationship and a dual-desk service model

Sox2 Uses Multiple Domains to Associate with Proteins Present in Sox2-Protein Complexes

Master regulators, such as Sox2, Oct4 and Nanog, control complex gene networks necessary for the self-renewal and pluripotency of embryonic stem cells (ESC). These master regulators associate with co-activators and co-repressors to precisely control their gene targets. Recent studies using proteomic analysis have identified a large, diverse group of co-activators and co-repressors that associate with master regulators, including Sox2. In this report, we examined the size distribution of nuclear protein complexes containing Sox2 and its associated proteins HDAC1, Sall4 and Lin28. Interestingly, we determined that Sox2 and HDAC1 associate with protein complexes that vary greatly in size; whereas, Lin28 primarily associates with smaller complexes, and Sall4 primarily associates with larger complexes. Additionally, we examined the domains of Sox2 necessary to mediate its association with its partner proteins Sall4, HDAC1 and HDAC2. We determined that Sox2 uses multiple and distinct domains to associate with its partner proteins. We also examined the domains of Sox2 necessary to mediate its self-association, and we determined that Sox2 self-association is mediated through multiple domains. Collectively, these studies provide novel insights into how Sox2 is able to associate with a wide array of nuclear proteins that control gene transcription

Examining an Information System Used to Process Employees Award: A Qualitative Study

The military is an organization that uses an automated system, Global Electronic Approval Routing System (GEARS), to process service members’ awards for approval. Despite the recognized benefits of using the system, some individuals expressed concerns about its impact on the approval process because documents such as awards are not processed on time. This has the potential to impact an individual’s motivation and job satisfaction. The study applied the Herzberg’s Two Factory theory, Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), and Task Technology Fit (TTF) theory to investigate whether GEARS was effectively processing awards promptly. Using the qualitative descriptive method, 15 participants perspectives were captured on a questionnaire through interviews. Archived data relevant to the topic of discussion was collected as well. The data analysis revealed the emergence of 5 themes, which supports the theories. The paper concludes with key implications and recommendations for businesses, military, and practitioners

Ubiquitous LibGuides: Variations in Presence, Production, Application, and Convention

The LibGuides platform, a content management system (CMS) from Springshare, has become an integral part of the online presence for many academic libraries. Neither Springshare nor other recent studies have provided an in-depth look at the evolving nature of LibGuides adoption, production and application across university and college categories. This study compared the prevalence and production of LibGuides to other forms of library guides at 799 academic libraries throughout the United States. LibGuides naming conventions were recorded and compared. The use of LibGuides CMS software to create library websites was also documented. This study found that there are clear differences in LibGuides adoption and production across various types of institutions. LibGuides naming conventions were fairly consistent across all types of institutions. Institutions using LibGuides software produced substantially more library guides than institutions without this software. A small but significant portion of all non-R1 libraries in this study are now utilizing LibGuides software to create the majority of their library websites

FIRE (facilitating implementation of research evidence) : a study protocol

Research evidence underpins best practice, but is not always used in healthcare. The Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services (PARIHS) framework suggests that the nature of evidence, the context in which it is used, and whether those trying to use evidence are helped (or facilitated) affect the use of evidence. Urinary incontinence has a major effect on quality of life of older people, has a high prevalence, and is a key priority within European health and social care policy. Improving continence care has the potential to improve the quality of life for older people and reduce the costs associated with providing incontinence aids