From the GAs: Congratulations, Publications, Presentations

Updates on USM SLIS alumni, faculty, and students

SLIS Notes: Censorship Turbulent Times

Just this past year in 2021, the American Library Association (ALA) had to release a statement in response to an increase in censorship of materials centered on LGBTQIA+ issues and books by Black authors, Indigenous authors, or other people of color. The statement in its entirety is found here: https://www.ala.org/advocacy/statement-regardingcensorship. The statement reaffirms that ALA and its Executive Board, Divisions, Roundtables, and other units stand firm in the freedom to read and against censorship

SLIS Notes: What is a library in crisis?

What is a library in crisis? One definition is that a crisis is an event beyond the normal situation that acts as a disruption to library operations and services and can damage the library’s reputation (Pedraza, 2010). These situations draw attention, usually negative attention, and scrutiny by the library’s user population, political/government entities, and even at times, the attention of the nation via outlets such as social media. Crisis management requires action in three phases—before, during, and after. The goal of crisis management is to prevent or reduce the impact of the crisis on the library. What can libraries do to be prepared before the challenge

Spotlights: Faculty, Alum, Kaigler Children\u27s Book Festival

Meet Dr. Brendan Fay, new Associate Director, and alumni Kristen Hillman, and get insights on the Fay B. Kaigler 2023 Children\u27s Book Festival

SLIS Director\u27s Report

Welcome to the Summer/Fall issue of SLIS Connecting

Taking a Closer Look at the CODES List-Cookbooks for Gender and Academic Holdings

It is time to consider if cookbooks hold this disparity and closely look at the gender of authors in the culinary world. This study explored gender within the CODES List-Cookbooks 2019-2022, a juried list of cookbooks published 2018-2021, as well as determined if Texas public colleges and universities carry these titles. By evaluating this juried list of recommended cookbooks, libraries can use the research to take a closer look at their cookbook collection. The purpose of this study was to examine and analyze cookbooks from the CODES List- Cookbooks, 2019-2022, and ownership of the books by public colleges and universities in Texas

A Bibliometric Study of the Research on Instructional Uses for Nonfiction Graphic Novels

The intention of this bibliometric study is to examine the research on the use of graphic novels in classrooms and libraries during the past two decades to highlight how this topic has changed and developed over time. The focus of the research is on the use of nonfiction graphic novels in the English Language Arts, Writing, Social Studies, History, Science, and Math classrooms. This study notes similarities in the research on uses for graphic novels and identifies the prevailing journals which have published articles on this topic. The authors who have written about this topic the most frequently are identified. This study also provides a list of some highly recommended nonfiction graphic novels cited in the research by authors for classroom use

The Expansion of digital services in Mississippi public libraries

A content analysis of 53 public library systems’ websites listed on the Public Library Directory of Mississippi Library Commission was conducted. The purpose of the study was to find types and levels of digital services offered by these library systems. The term “digital services” has been more used in recent literature, which suggests that more libraries started offering more since the start of COVID-19. This study intended to look closely how Mississippi’s public libraries follow the national trend