Groundbreaking Partnerships for Engaged Learning: A Review of "Service Learning, Information Literacy, and Libraries"

Reviewed in this article: Service Learning, Information Literacy, and Libraries. Edited by Jennifer Nutefall. Libraries Unlimited, Santa Barbara, CA. 2016. ISBN: 978-1440840913. 155 pages

The Best Cheeseburger Ever

This flexible recipe about evaluating sources can be done with minimal time, preparation, and equipment. It helps students think about sources in a different way than they likely have before, encouraging careful consideration of various source evaluation criteria without using an oversimplified checklist approach. The recipe can apply to any level or discipline and primarily targets students’ dispositions related to source evaluation

Modulation of the host Th1 immune response in pigeon protozoal encephalitis caused by Sarcocystis calchasi

Pigeon protozoal encephalitis (PPE) is an emerging central-nervous disease of domestic pigeons (Columba livia f. domestica) reported in Germany and the United States. It is caused by the apicomplexan parasite Sarcocystis calchasi which is transmitted by Accipter hawks. In contrast to other members of the Apicomplexa such as Toxoplasma and Plasmodium, the knowledge about the pathophysiology and host manipulation of Sarcocystis is scarce and almost nothing is known about PPE. Here we show by mRNA expression profiling a significant down-modulation of the interleukin (IL)-12/IL-18/interferon (IFN)-γ axis in the brains of experimentally infected pigeons during the schizogonic phase of disease. Concomitantly, no cellular immune response was observed in histopathology while immunohistochemistry and nested PCR detected S. calchasi. In contrast, in the late central-nervous phase, IFN-γ and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) α-related cytokines were significantly up-modulated, which correlated with a prominent MHC-II protein expression in areas of mononuclear cell infiltration and necrosis. The mononuclear cell fraction was mainly composed of T-lymphocytes, fewer macrophages and B-lymphocytes. Surprisingly, the severity and composition of the immune cell response appears unrelated to the infectious dose, although the severity and onset of the central nervous signs clearly was dose-dependent. We identified no or only very few tissue cysts by immunohistochemistry in pigeons with severe encephalitis of which one pigeon repeatedly remained negative by PCR despite severe lesions. Taken together, these observations may suggest an immune evasion strategy of S. calchasi during the early phase and a delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction as cause of the extensive cerebral lesions during the late neurological phase of disease

Ambitious Student Seeks Valuable Internship: Will You Mentor Me?

How does a random email become a graduate student internship and what can be learned from the mentoring experience? What started as email correspondence from an MLS student seeking librarian mentors in her home state turned into meeting in person, and eventually an internship at University of Dubuque\u27s Charles C. Myers Library. Spring 2011 is the first time library staff have had the opportunity to welcome a MLS graduate student intern. The internship primarily focuses on information literacy, involving the student in a thriving, curriculum-integrated program that consists of over 500 class sessions per year, delivered by five librarians. Staff created a mutually-valuable experience, helping the student develop her professional voice. Presenters will share the planning process, including how communication and shared goals are key elements of a successful match. They will reflect on their learning and teaching experiences, sharing examples of personal and professional growth. Participants will engage in discussion of their own institutions\u27 mentoring practices, sharing ideas that can be applied broadly to develop interns, student workers, paraprofessionals, and librarians new to the profession. Many libraries may not have opportunities for MLS-level interns, so practical recommendations to support meaningful mentoring and valuable partnerships within any library instruction program will be discussed

50 Shades of Green: Promoting Campus Sustainability through Library Partnerships

The Charles C. Myers Library at University of Dubuque is a campus leader in sustainability. The library staff makes sustainable choices and are a key part of campus conversations. Going green fits directly with both the library’s mission to support lifelong learning and the institutional mission to encourage stewardship of our natural resources

Modeling Scholarly Inquiry: One Article at a Time

Librarians and the Director of the Writing Center at the University of Dubuque describe how they teamed with English faculty to create and implement an assignment that incorporates critical thinking, ethical inquiry, and information literacy in a beginning composition and rhetoric class. In the assignment, a team of faculty, librarians, and writing tutors lead student peer groups as they write a research paper using common journal articles in support of a single thesis. Because a recent campus-wide ethics initiative frames this assignment, students examine topics that may challenge their existing beliefs. Librarians will also analyze qualitative data collected during the first three semesters

Evidence and Empathy: Library Support for Service - Learning in the Arts

In this unique curricular service-learning project, two librarians collaborated with an art professor in a foundational art course by providing an information literacy session, hosting a panel discussion in library space, and archiving student projects in the institutional repository. University art students partnered with a local youth writing project to create short films based on participants’ writings. Through shared journal exercises, youth writers and university students developed topics and shared written work. The art students created short, stop-motion films based on the writers\u27 works. A faculty-coordinated hip-hop literacy group made up of area youth created a film soundtrack, providing another level of campus-community collaboration. This project highlighted the importance of community engagement, diversity, and citizenship, demonstrating academic library potential within service-learning projects. Early in the process the instructor and two librarians collaborated to guide student’s preparatory research, exploring the value of the arts, the arts as citizenship, and the local community/agency. Researching helped students contextualize the project by encouraging them to confront stereotypes with evidence and empathy; the presenters hoped students would have a clearer sense of the community partners and the value of collaborating to create works of art. The research grounded students in data about the community, public arts, citizenship, and the community partner. As part of layered library involvement, the Digital Media Hub (located in the library) provided technology support, youth participants visited the library, a culminating panel discussion was held in the library’s ScholarSpace, and librarians provided guidance for archiving films, event photos, and original artifacts in the University’s institutional repository. In this presentation, presenters will discuss information literacy in service-learning, leveraging library space for campus-community engagement, and benefits to all stakeholders. We will also make recommendations for how attendees might adapt this project in their communities to highlight library value beyond traditional research assignments

Addressing wicked problems in practical ways: Empowering ethical action in higher ed and beyond

Session Outcomes: ● Participants will be able to identify areas related to social responsibility ● Participants will develop an understanding of how to best approach systemic issues and take concrete action in collaboration with key allie

Moving Words: Building Community through Service-Learning in the Arts

In this unique project, college students in a first-year Three-Dimensional Concepts art course are partnered with a local youth writing project to create short films based on participants’ writings. This experience was born out of a campus Service-Learning Institute (SLI) to train faculty on best practices. The mutual goals included giving voice to area youth and connecting college students to the community. All participants explored and reflected on the importance of community engagement and citizenship by acknowledging their similarities and differences through creative lenses. Participants from both groups generated ideas through shared journal exercises that the youth writers then used as inspiration for their written works. Art students at the University of Northern Iowa created short, stop-motion films based on the writers’ works using Rod Library’s Digital Media Hub. A faculty-coordinated hip-hop literacy group made up of area youth created the soundtrack for one film, providing another level of campus-community collaboration. The goal of the information literacy portion of the service-learning project was to ground the university students in facts and data about the community, public arts, citizenship, and the community partner. By confronting stereotypes or lack of information with evidence and empathy, the authors hoped students would have a clearer sense of who their community partners were and the value of collaborating to create works of art. This chapter will describe the project, its inception, and its exploration of social engagement as fine arts practice, learning objectives, lessons learned, and supplemental sources, including final projects. Student, youth participant, instructor, and librarian reflections will be highlighted, with emphasis on the areas of motivation, engagement, and learning outcomes, both formal and informal