A Novel Application: Using Mobile Technology to Connect Physical and Virtual Reference Collections

This chapter describes an innovative implementation of the use of iPad kiosks to blur the lines between physical and virtual library collections. Providence College’s Phillips Memorial Library + Commons began lending iPads to students, faculty, and staff in 2012. In addition to lending the devices, library staff dedicated time to learning about both task-based and subject-based mobile applications that would be of use to our community. A small group of library staff tested, discussed, and vetted a variety of apps that would be deployed on the iPads to be lent out. Efforts were made to promote the use and discovery of various apps on the devices through thoughtful organization of the apps on the devices themselves, programming around applications, and the creation of an online research guide designed to teach more about the apps. Despite these initiatives, assessment data from the iPad lending program collected over the course of five semesters suggests that patrons borrowing the iPads are using them primarily for accessing the Internet (Safari, Chrome, etc.), social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), and consuming media (YouTube, Netflix, Pandora, Spotify, etc.). With this data in mind, library staff began to think of alternative ways to connect our patrons with useful, content-based, mobile applications. Drawing on research around the Internet of Things and the integration of digital technologies with our physical lives, the Digital Publishing Services Coordinator suggested positioning iPad kiosks strategically within the library’s physical book collection as a means to connect patrons browsing a given area of the stacks with the library’s online resources related to that subject area. The library’s Commons Technology Specialist had experience with iPad kiosks and programming the iPads as he had managed the logistics of the iPad lending program since its inception. Working collaboratively, these colleagues devised a way to image the iPads for public use and load them with subject-specific apps as well as links to library databases and open web resources. The team chose to use Scalar as the primary content management tool for kiosk content. This chapter provides details about the selection and deployment of content for the Theology Kiosk, signage and communications created to attract patrons to the kiosk, and initial data about kiosk use. The piece concludes with a review of the kiosk project and an outline of future planning related to the project (staff time, hardware and software requirements, usability testing, scaling the project, etc.)

Theology Collections Portal: First Iteration 2016

This document presents an archive of the first iteration of the Theology Collections Portal, a tool designed to connect library patrons doing theology research with electronic resources available through the library. The Theology Collections portal was built using Scalar. To view the Portal in its current form visit: http://scalar.usc.edu/works/theology-collections/inde

The 2020+ Project: Using WordPress to Organize, Evaluate, & Discuss the College of the Future

The provost of Providence College asked the Library+Commons to compile scholarly materials on the future of higher education in order for the Academic Affairs Committee to prepare for the college of 2020. The committee needed an easily accessible, annotated bibliography that would allow for commenting and more. The research and education librarians focused on topics like teaching and learning, accountability, and student and faculty characteristics. The research end was challenging, and the librarians continue to explore avenues to find appropriate resources online. They experimented with many platforms before choosing WordPress as the best open-source vehicle to organize and present the multimodal scholarship

Introduction to TEI Workshop

This workshop introduced the basic ideas of text encoding with the TEI. We presented about what text encoding is, what tools are available for encoding texts, and how to get started encoding documents. We did some hands-on, and talked further about how to use the code to illustrate ideas, index concepts, and find out new things

RILA 2017_ Opening Up about Open Textbooks_ Accounts of Real Work around OER

The cost of college textbooks has skyrocketed. Students pay, on average, $1200 a year just for textbooks for their courses. This means that many students opt out of even buying the textbook, much to the detriment of their own grades, but also to the class as a whole since their voices are frequently taken out of the classroom discussion. Open Education Resources (OERs) offer value to students in terms of cost savings and also more flexibility and customization for faculty. OERs are resources that are openly licensed meaning that users have the option to retain their own copy, reuse, revise as needed remix and redistribute to any other interested party. Students save money when faculty assign open resources, and some studies suggest that the use of open resources also increases student engagement. OERs are the future of education, and Rhode Island College and Providence College have been working with faculty to assist them in finding resources that their students can use in lieu of traditional textbooks and to educate them on the OER movement. RIC’s Adams library is the leading partner in the RI Office of Innovation’s Open Textbook Initiative. Dragan Gill will talk about that partnership, how it works and what has been done so far as well as what is planned for the future

Rising Textbook Costs: Meeting the Challenge

Slides from a presentation on open textbooks and open educational resources presented at Providence College\u27s Center for Teaching Excellence on November 1, 2016. The talk opened with a description of the current state of textbook costs and the textbook market, a definition of OER and open licensing, and some discussion of challenges, opportunities, and supports for OER on the local, PC-campus level. The second portion of the session included James Campbell\u27s discussion of his experiences teaching with an open textbook, as well as his research on the economics of open access