Student responses to an animated character in information literacy instruction

Purpose: This paper reports on a grant-funded project to create a hand-drawn, custom-made animated character named Jasmyn. Drawing on animation theory, the paper uses qualitative research to investigate student responses to the medium of animation, the character’s design, and three presentation strategies. Design/methodology/approach: The researchers held three student focus groups to investigate the following research questions: 1. Will students endorse animation as a medium for library instructional videos on the grounds of its entertaining, subversive, or playful qualities? 2. Is Jasmyn designed and8 written in a way that engages students and compels them to respond to her as a character? 3. How will students respond to three presentation strategies: a lecture-style video, a video with supplemental animations, and a real-time, interactive lesson. Findings: The researchers found that students expressed broad enthusiasm for animation as a medium, though responses to Jasmyn’s personality were mixed. The only presentation strategy that prompted unique responses was the interactive session, although though all three focus groups provided revealing commentary about online learning. Students also identified aspects of the animation and character that could be improved, and reflected on ways Jasmyn might be integrated into online learning. Research limitations/implications: This study, performed as part of a pilot project, was deliberately small in scale. Clearer implications would emerge from repetition with a larger group of students. Originality/value: Jasmyn may be the only hand-drawn, custom-made animated character created for library instruction. No research studies on the use of animation in libraries have been published to date

Comics to the Rescue: Finding Innovative Applications for Library Digital Learning Objects

When faculty were asked to use online assignments to make up the class time lost due to Hurricane Sandy, librarians at Lehman College\u27s Leonard Lief Library spotted a new opportunity for the Library\u27s Web comics. This article describes the partnership between the Library and the College\u27s Art Department that led to the development of the Web comics, provides readers with a model for responding to circumstances creatively, and puts forward an approach for combining digital learning objects with writing assignments to meet faculty needs

A Low-Hassle, Low-Cost Method to Survey Student Attitudes about Library Space

This article discusses how two members of the space planning committee at Lehman College library created a brief paper survey, distributed it to students in the library, and designed a Google spreadsheet to enable the committee to work as a group to compile results. We provide our survey tool as an example; explain how we simplified data compilation through a “quick and dirty” coding process; outline step-by-step instructions on how to design a Google spreadsheet that enables many librarians to input survey results consistently; and describe our mistakes and “lessons learned.” We believe our practical approach could be easily implemented as a space planning tool in any number of libraries—even those with small staffs and budgets

Incorporating Ethical Consumption into Electronic Device Acquisition: A Proposal

This essay proposes that librarians practice ethical consumption when purchasing electronic devices. Though librarians have long been engaged with environmentalism and social justice, few have suggested that such issues as e-waste and sweatshop labor should impact our decisions to acquire e-readers, tablets, and other electronics. This article presents a philosophical framework for evaluating the ethics of these acquisitions, as well as guidelines for librarians considering specific purchases. Ultimately, the article argues that librarians should consider curtailing the purchase of new electronics on the basis of the environmental and social justice impact of the manufacture and disposal of such devices

Where Are the Bathrooms? : Academic Library Restrooms and Student Needs

This article investigates bathrooms, paying specific attention to those in academic libraries. The authors describe how bathrooms have been considered in the library literature for the past century and challenges to changing the status quo. Finally, this work sets the stage for future inquiry. Research materials come from a range of sources: historical library literature, building codes, social science theory and research that address the issues around bathroom taboos, and checklists for assessing bathrooms. The authors propose librarians and library administrators reconsider all aspects of their own bathrooms: location, features, equity/inclusiveness, and maintenance in service to their patrons

Leading from the Library Loo: An Illustrated, Documented Guide to New York CIty Academic Library Bathrooms

What students need from academic libraries has changed dramatically in recent years. We are reminded of this by each new article on library space design, which may emphasize movable furniture, Wi-Fi connectivity, class-room technology, and group study spaces. What is less frequently noted is that in all these years of change and adaptation, at least one need has remained the same: the need for a working bathroom. Bathrooms are fundamentally important; nevertheless, we are often uncomfortable talking about these spaces (and the activities that take place within them) in public contexts. In this conference proceeding, the authors build on their prior research discussing why bathrooms are missing from the literature, and they share findings from their Library Bathroom Tour

Flipping the classroom in business and education one-shot sessions: a research study

In response to the challenge of maximising the effectiveness of one-shot information literacy (IL) sessions, library faculty at Lehman College experimented with the flipped classroom model. This research paper reports the results of a multi-semester quantitative study of the flipped classroom in business management and education one-shot sessions. Researchers explored two research questions: Do students in a flipped session demonstrate greater knowledge before their session than students in a control session? and Do flipped and control students demonstrate significant, positive improvement in knowledge after their session? The researchers used pre- and post-tests to evaluate two crucial aspects of the flipped model: pre-class homework assignments and in-class active learning. A significant finding supports the usefulness of homework assignments in preparing students for these library sessions. Both education and business classes also reported high degrees of satisfaction with the flipped model. The article provides evidence that the flipped classroom, especially those using the pre-class homework assignments, can be effective for student learning in IL one-shot sessions