Making Higher Education More Affordable, One Course Reading at a Time: Academic Libraries as Key Advocates for Open Access Textbooks and Educational Resources

Open access textbooks (OATs) and educational resources (OERs) are being lauded as a viable alternative to costly print textbooks. Some academic libraries are joining the OER movement by creating guides to open repositories. Others are promoting OATs and OERs, reviewing them, and even helping to create them. This article analyzes how academic libraries are currently engaged in open access textbook and OER initiatives. By drawing on examples of library initiatives across the United States, the author illustrates how libraries are facilitating the adoption and implementation of these affordable resources

Terrorism: A Guide to Resources

Prior to 9/11, terrorism was subject to political, scholarly, and media debates. A large body of literature on the topic reflected researchers’ long-standing interest in the topic. In the near decade since 9/11, terrorism and its threat have only gained urgency. This paper aims to provide a selected bibliography of resources, in print and electronic format, that focus on terrorism. Public and academic libraries have been providing access to terrorism-related resources, but no thematic bibliography has been published in professional journals since 2001. This guide aims to aid librarians in making decisions about developing and maintaining collections on the topic

Who\u27s spinning the library? Responsibilities of academic librarians who promote

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the responsibilities and challenges faced by academic librarians whose major responsibilities include the overall promotion of the library. Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire was sent to seven library listservs asking respondents to describe their work duties, promotional activities, academic background, and professional challenges and concerns. Findings – This study garnered 215 responses. Respondents who completed the questionnaire identified as academic librarians whose major responsibilities include the overall promotion of the library. Librarians who promote face a plethora of challenges, including time restraints, lack of funding and limited support for their promotional efforts. These barriers place a strain on promotional work in academic libraries. Practical implications – The paper illustrates the roles and responsibilities of librarians who promote and the challenges and obstacles they deal with on an institutional and departmental level. Originality/value – This study provides a unique snapshot of marketing initiatives across various academic libraries, in the midst of a global economic recession

Off to Market We Go: A Content Analysis of Marketing and Promotion Skills in Academic Librarian Job Ads

This exploratory study analyzed the presence of marketing and promotional responsibilities and qualifications listed in selected job advertisements for academic librarians. A content analysis was employed to analyze job advertisements for academic librarians who possessed marketing,promotion, public relations, outreach, and liaison skills. Job advertisements were selected from January 2000 to December 2010. A total of 149 advertisements were analyzed. The authors found that promotional responsibilities were advertised across the 10-year period, but marketing responsibilities were not. Prior promotional and marketing experience was not widely required. Some libraries advertised marketing librarian positions with responsibilities such as branding and social networking. The findings from this study may be useful for librarians and those in management positions who are interested in creating positions with promotion and marketing duties as this study outlines job responsibilities and required qualifications

Blending, Mixing, and Processing: Strategies Used to Engage Students in the Classroom

Two of the biggest challenges in the provision of library instruction are memory retention and student engagement. How can students retain all of the information they receive in a “one shot” library instruction class and how do librarians engage them in a memorable way? A Library instruction class provides a unique opportunity to not only educate students (and even teaching faculty) but promote valuable services and resources. Librarians must be creative and must use a variety of teaching strategies that will help promote critical thinking, memory retention, and student engagement. Our presentation will provide numerous teaching examples from our library instruction classes

What is being done with open government data? An exploratory analysis of public uses of New York City open data

In 2012, New York City Council passed legislation to make government data open and freely available to the public. By approving this legislation, City Council was attempting to make local government more transparent, accountable, and streamlined in its operations. It was also attempting to create economic opportunities and to encourage the public to identify ways in which to improve government and local communities. The purpose of this study is to explore public uses of New York City open data. Currently, more than 1300 datasets covering broad areas such as health, education, transportation, public safety, housing and business are available on the City’s Open Data Portal. This study found a plethora of maps, visualizations, tools, apps and analyses made by the public using New York City open data. Indeed, open data is inspiring a productive range of creative reuses yet questions remain concerning how useable the data is for users without technical skills and resources

Licensed to Share: How Libraries are Handling Electronic Journal Article Requests

This questionnaire-based study examines how libraries are now handling electronic journal (e-journal) article requests in both lending and borrowing. With an increasing number of publishers and e-journal content providers permitting interlibrary loan (ILL) sharing, and with the availability of new license management tools and services, many respondents stated that they share e-journal articles. However, problems persist. Respondents cited is- sues such as restrictive licenses, automatic deflection of e-journal article requests, and the lack of information from libraries about what e-journal titles they are licensed to ILL

Electronic Document Delivery: A Survey of the Landscape and Horizon

The authors examine, based on a survey of users, the electronic document delivery methods currently in place as well as changes in the recent past and future developments. Interlibrary loan and document delivery staff were surveyed from institutions across the United States in order to ascertain what document delivery mechanisms are currently in place, how they are being used, and why. Findings from this study should lead to an increased awareness of electronic delivery options in libraries across the country and elucidate the dynamics involved at individual sites. This, in turn, will assist librarians in making decisions, based not only on their individual circumstances, but on the experience and trends found across a broad sampling of institutions

Oxygen and Cation Ordered Perovskite, Ba2Y2Mn4O11

A three-step route has been developed for the synthesis of a new oxygen-ordered double perovskite, BaYMn2O5.5 or Ba2Y2Mn4O11. (i) The A-site cation ordered perovskite, BaYMn2O5+d, is first synthesized at d ~ 0 by an oxygen-getter-controlled low-O2-pressure encapsulation technique utilizing FeO as the getter for excess oxygen. (ii) The as-synthesized, oxygen-deficient BaYMn2O5.0 phase is then readily oxygenated to the d ~ 1 level by means of 1-atm-O2 annealing at low temperatures. (iii) By annealing this fully-oxygenated BaYMn2O6.0 in flowing N2 gas at moderate temperatures the new intermediate-oxygen-content oxide, BaYMn2O5.5 or Ba2Y2Mn4O11, is finally obtained. From thermogravimetric observation it is seen that the final oxygen depletion from d ~ 1.0 to 0.5 occurs in a single sharp step about 600 C, implying that the oxygen stoichiometry of BaYMn2O5+d is not continuously tunable within 0.5 < d < 1.0. For BaYMn2O5.5 synchrotron x-ray diffraction analysis reveals an orthorhombic crystal lattice and a long-range ordering of the excess oxygen atoms in the YO0.5 layer. The magnetic behavior of BaYMn2O5.5 (with a ferromagnetic transition at ~ 133 K) is found different from those previously reported for the known phases, BaYMn2O5.0 and BaYMn2O6.0.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures, to appear in J. Solid State Che