Friendship and Politics in Post-Revolutionary France

In Friendship and Politics in Post-Revolutionary France, Horowitz brings together the political and cultural history of post-revolutionary France to show how French society responded to and recovered from the upheaval of the French Revolution. The Revolution led to a heightened sense of distrust and divided the nation along ideological lines. In the wake of the Terror, many began to express concerns about the atomization of French society. Friendship was regarded as one bond that could restore trust and cohesion. Because trust and cohesion were necessary to post-revolutionary parliamentary life, politicians turned to friends and ideas about friendship to create solidarity. Relying on detailed analyses of politicians’ social networks, new tools from the digital humanities, and examinations of behind-the-scenes political transactions, Horowitz makes clear the connection between politics and emotions in the early nineteenth century, and reevaluates the role of women in political life

So You Want to be a Leader? Examining Pathways to Special Collections Administration

This article seeks to understand the current state of the field of special collections library administration in the United States. Using a dataset gathered through publicly available information about special collections directors from the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), Independent Research Libraries Association (IRLA), and the Oberlin Group institutional members, the authors explore the educational backgrounds of directors, the types of positions they held prior to taking on their current roles, and the effect of gender on leadership advancement. This article also discusses the similarities and differences between institution types as well as promotions within institutions and across types of institutions

Beyond Search: Information Literacy, Special Collections, and the First Year

Recent research in information literacy (IL) suggests librarians should shift the emphasis of IL instruction toward higher-level concepts rather than search mechanics. This session describes how the Augustana library drew upon the results of local assessments and national research to re-imagine its first-year learning outcomes so as to focus on higher-level skills and recognize the importance of special collections in teaching IL in the college’s required first-year sequence. We address transforming IL pedagogy throughout the library as well as designing special collections as a hands-on learning laboratory

Service Equality in Virtual Reference

Research is divided about the potential of e-service to bridge communication gaps, particularly to diverse user groups. According to the existing body of literature, e-service may either increase or decrease the quality of service received. This study analyzes the level of service received by different genders and ethnic groups when academic and public librarians answer 676 online reference queries. Quality of e-service was evaluated along three dimensions: timely response, reliability, and courtesy. This study found no significant differences among different user groups along any of these dimensions, supporting the argument that the virtual environment facilitates equitable service and may overcome some challenges of diverse user groups

Evaluating the User Experience: Classes in Special Collections

Presentation at the MARAC conference in Philadelphia, PA on November 7-9, 2013. S2 - Evaluating the User Experience: What to Ask, How to Measure, and What to Learn from Assessmen

Reflecting on the Past

150 years of Augustana storieshttps://digitalcommons.augustana.edu/ahsreflecting/1000/thumbnail.jp

Reflecting on the Past

150 years of Augustana storieshttps://digitalcommons.augustana.edu/ahsreflecting/1000/thumbnail.jp

Assessing Hands-On Learning in Special Collections: A Pilot Study

This Assessment in Action project addressed the effect of using original primary materials on first-year students’ information literacy (IL) and critical thinking skills. IL and critical thinking are among Augustana College’s college-wide student learning outcomes. More than 25% of Augustana first-years use Special Collections each year, yet we had little data on how this affected student learning. The study evaluated a worksheet given as a pre- and post-test around class visits to work in Special Collections, and papers by students who did and did not visit Special Collections with class