Starting with the End in Mind: Using Student Learning Outcomes to Drive Information Literacy Instruction

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Hang Gliding from BI to IL

Information Literacy Librarians in Belk Library and Information Commons are mapping a new strategy in response to a new academic focus in General Education on the campus of Appalachian State University. Belk Library’s Information Literacy and Instruction Program is moving from the traditional one-shot bibliographic instruction (BI) session to a curriculum integrated information literacy (IL) approach, which begins with students in the first year and extends through their capstone experience. This presentation will outline the process, which includes a revision and implementation of the University’s General Education Program, the development of academically-centered First Year Programs, and the building of partnerships between librarians and classroom faculty

Beyond ‘peer pressure’: rethinking drug use and ‘youth culture’

The study of drug use by young people in the West has been transformed over the last decade by the development of sociological approaches to drug use which take serious account of the cultural context in which young people encounter drugs. One consequence is that the notion of ‘peer pressure’, as the primary articulation of the engagement between youth culture and drug use, has been displaced by that of ‘normalisation’, which envisages ‘recreational’ drug use as one expression of consumer-based youth cultural lifestyles. In stark contrast, academic discussion of drug use in Russia remains primarily concerned with the prevalence and health consequences of (intravenous) drug use while explanations of rising rates of drug use focus on structural factors related to the expansion of drugs supply and, to a lesser extent, post-Soviet social and economic dislocation. In this article, original empirical research in Russia is used to develop an understanding of young people's drug use that synthesises structural and cultural explanations of it. It does this by situating young people's narratives of their drugs choices in the context of local drugs markets and broader socio-economic processes. However, it attempts to go beyond seeing structural location as simply a ‘constraint’ on individual choice by adopting an understanding of ‘youth culture’ as a range of youth cultural practices and formations that simultaneously embody, reproduce and negotiate the structural locations of their subjects

Unfinished Business

Book Revie

Rev. of Practical Pedagogy for Library Instructors: 17 Innovative Strategies to Improve Student Learning, eds.

Book Revie

Rev. of The Successful Academic Librarian: Winning Strategies from Library Leaders, ed. By Gwen Meyer Gregory

Book Revie

The effect of using social pressure in cover letters to improve retention in a longitudinal health study: an embedded randomised controlled retention trial

BackgroundRetention of participants in cohort studies is important for validity. One way to promote retention is by sending a persuasive cover letter with surveys. The study aimed to compare the effectiveness of a covering letter containing social pressure with a standard covering letter on retention in a health cohort study. Social pressure involves persuading people to behave in a certain way by the promise that their actions will be made know to others. We implemented a mild form of social pressure, where the recipient was told that information about whether they responded to the current survey would be noted by the research team and printed on future correspondence from the research team to the recipient.MethodsThe design was an embedded randomised controlled retention trial, conducted between July 2015 and April 2016 in Salford, UK. Participants in the host health cohort study were eligible. They received either: (1) a covering letter with two consecutive surveys (sent six and twelve months after recruitment), containing a social pressure intervention; or (2) a matching letter without the social pressure text. The primary outcome was retention in the host study, defined as return of both surveys. Randomisation was computer-generated, with stratification by household size. Participants were blinded to group assignment. Researchers were blinded for outcome ascertainment.ResultsAdults (n = 4447) aged over 65 years, with a long-term condition and enrolled in the host study, were randomly allocated to receive a social pressure covering letter (n = 2223) or control (n = 2224). All 4447 participants were included in the analysis. Both questionnaires were returned by 1577 participants (71%) sent the social pressure letters and 1511 (68%) sent control letters, a risk difference of 3 percentage points (adjusted odds ratio = 1.16 (95% confidence interval = 1.02–1.33)).ConclusionA mild form of social pressure made a small but significant improvement in retention of older adults in a health cohort study. Investigation of social pressure across other research contexts and stronger social pressure messages is warranted

Modeling ACRL's Standards for Libraries in Higher Education

The article discusses how the Association of College and Research Libraries' (ACRL) Standards for Libraries in Higher Education provided a framework for the University of Libraries at Appalachian State to identify and document its role in institutional effectiveness. Topics discussed include the connection of the University Libraries with the standards and trends and issues critical in higher education that academic libraries should be aware of

The Research Advisory Program (RAP): Fostering Information Literacy Skills through Individualized Research Consultations Information Literacy Skills through Individualized Research Consultations

Librarians at Appalachian State University have developed a program offering individualized research consultations by appointment. The Research Advisory Program (RAP) was developed to provide students with the opportunity to meet individually with a librarian to acquire strategies and tools for identifying resources for a research topic. Through the use of RAP sessions librarians are able to equip students with the skills that not only allow them to find the information they need, but also to understand the importance and use of the information they find

Uso de la espectrometría de masas de relaciones isotópicas como técnica emergente en el análisis de aceites vegetales

As the practice of vegetable oil adulteration becomes more sophisticated, the possibility to subvert detection using established techniques such as capillary gas chromatography is increasing. One of the most powerful techniques to be used in food authenticity studies is stable isotope ratio mass spectrometry (SIRMS) which utilises differences in the natural abundance of the stable isotopes of the ‘light’ bio-elements hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon, oxygen and sulfur to detect food fraud. SIRMS has found application in the authentication of a wide range of foodstuffs, including fruit juices, wines, spirits, honey and to detect the adulteration of flavour compounds with synthetic analogues. This papers reviews the current state-of-the-art for the authentication of vegetable oils using SIRMS and highlights emergent techniques such as compound- and position specific-isotope mass spectrometry. These latter developments offer the potential to provide more rapid and improved detection of the economic adulteration of vegetable oils.A medida que la práctica de la adulteración de aceites vegetales se hace más sofisticada, las posibilidades de evitar la detección utilizando técnicas tradicionales como la cromatografía de gases en columna capilar aumentan. Una de las técnicas más poderosas que más se utilizan en los estudios de autentificación de alimentos es la espectrometría de masas de relaciones isotópicas, que utiliza diferencias en la abundancia natural de isótopos estables de elementos ligeros biológicos hidrógeno, nitrógeno, carbón, oxigeno y azufre para detectar fraude en los alimentos. La espectrometría de masas de relaciones isotópicas ha encontrado aplicación en la autentificación de una amplia gama de alimentos, incluyendo zumos de frutas, vinos, bebidas alcohólicas de alta graduación, miel, y en la detección de la adulteración de los compuestos aromáticos con sus análogos de origen sintético. Este trabajo revisa el estado actual de los conocimientos de autentificación de aceites vegetales utilizando la espectrometría de masas de relaciones isotópicas y las aportaciones de tecnologías emergentes tales como la espectrometría de masas de compuestos isotópicos. Estos últimos desarrollos ofrecen la posibilidad de suministrar una detección más rápida y mejorada de la adulteración de aceites vegetales