Virtual Ritual, Real Faith : the Revirtualization of Religious Ritual in Cyberspace

Cheryl Anne Casey deals with Practicing Faith in Cyberspace: Conceptions and Functions of Religious Rituals on the Internet. She examines the emerging phenomenon of online religious rituals and their functions for participants in order to illuminate the relationship between changing technologies of communication and our changing conceptions of religion. Her case study considers an online Episcopalian church service within the framework of ritual theory. Keys to the analysis are the particular design chosen for the service (given the multifarious forms which rituals can take in cyberspace) and the relationship between choice of design and the tenets of the particular faith group. The objective of this study is to shed light on the relationship between conceptions of religion, religious experience, and changing media environments by examining online rituals and the meanings and functions these rituals hold for those who access them

Communicating Effectively in Rapidly Changing Times

This presentation explores communication in academic libraries that experienced rapid changes during the Great Recession and its aftermath. The investigator conducted a multi-case study, in which she interviewed library and university participants in three U.S. academic libraries in 2010. Results show that communication existed for the most part in the three libraries, all of which were maintaining strategic priorities while experiencing dramatic changes

The Knowledge Base as an Extension of Distance Learning Reference Service

This study explores knowledge bases as extension of reference services for distance learners. Through a survey and follow-up interviews with distance learning librarians, this paper discusses their interest in creating and maintaining a knowledge base as a resource for reference services to distance learners. It also investigates their perceptions about the feasibility and practicality of a reference knowledge base. Primary findings indicate that the majority of participants view a knowledge base as an extension of distance learning reference services positively but see issues related to workload and quality control, in particular, which might hinder the development and maintenance of this type of repository

Taking Our Seat at the Table [Part of the Article Titled, ACRL in Orlando: ACRL Programs at the ALA Annual Conference]

A summary about the program presented at the ACRL University Libraries Section meeting held during the 2016 ALA annual meeting in Orlando, Florida, June 23-28, 2016. The presentation for the section was titled, Taking Our Seat at the Table: How Academic Librarians Can Help Shape the Future of Higher Education

Strategic Priorities: A Roadmap through Change for Library Leaders

Twenty-first century academic libraries need to adapt on a regular basis because external forces such as increased pressures from the institution and accreditation organizations, emerging technologies, or budget reductions create new conditions. In a twenty-year period ending in 2008, academic library spending shifted substantially from physical to electronic resources and from staff and student salary lines to professionals, signaling profound changes in the way libraries do business. “Then just as academic … libraries were settling into these new behaviors, the worst recession in seventy-five years occurred, forcing many … to concern themselves with survival and making difficult decisions based on reduced levels of funding.” The Great Recession of 2007-2009 caused dramatic and recurring budget reductions in many colleges and universities in the United States. Public support for higher education declined overall by 3.8 percent from fiscal year (FY) 2007 to FY 2012.4 These reductions forced many academic libraries to focus on survival rather than improvement. Managers faced difficult decisions, which included the elimination of positions, cancellation of subscriptions, inability to replace technology, and reduced hours of opening. The results of these decisions vary widely depending on the ways libraries plan strategically and prioritize the work they do. Strategic planning is a formal process through which an organization envisions the future and develops the procedures and operations necessary to achieve it. Its essence is the allocation of resources to those opportunities most likely to move the organization to its ideal future position instead of across-the-board allocations or cutting support proportionately without regard to how closely an operation aligns with the mission or the ideal future position

Grassroots Strategic Planning: Involving Library Staff from the Beginning

Strategic planning is often considered a managerial tool. The management of an organization surveys the environment and develops a plan that they introduce to the organization as a whole. Most modern organizations seek employee involvement in the planning process and feedback to some degree with varied results. But for one academic library, employee involvement in the development and execution of the strategic plans has been a vital part of the processes. The Hunt Library at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has been developing strategic plans for several years with active input from the librarians and staff. This case study chronicles the different approaches the library staff have used to create new plans. One method was to hold a set of retreats where all library staff provided ideas for new initiatives to explore and old processes to retire. Another involved the SOAR approach, which uses appreciate inquiry to determine strengths, opportunities, aspirations, and results. A third method employed scenarios to encourage staff input into the next strategic plan. Each of the different approaches yielded interesting results; some failures and many successes. Some processes were more positive than others but they all included mutually agreed-upon strategies that the guided the library as it planned future innovations

Use of Academic Library Strategic Priorities during Severe Budget Reductions

Poster presentation of initial findings from doctoral dissertation research

Distance Learning Librarians: Their Shared Vision

Shared vision is a component of leadership that fosters innovation through buy-in at all levels of the organization. It is often evident in circumstances people see a need for innovation but do not have the power to make changes on their own. Many librarians in academic institutions that were early adopters of distance learning envisioned a need for new services that were tailored to off-campus students. This study examines shared vision among librarians through a content analysis of planning documents from early distance learning library programs. It offers a shared vision model relevant to the study and application of leadership

Phase Three Data

Most colleges and universities have courses or orientation sessions designed to help first-year (FY) students successfully transition to higher education. An introduction to the library is generally included. However, it may be difficult to discern whether the library introduction in a first-year orientation has an impact on student success. These datasets were derived from surveys conducted in 2018 and supplement a case study that describes the assessment of the library module in a semester-long FY orientation course (UNIV 101) at a private STEM-focused university

Communicating Effectively in Rapidly Changing Times

This paper investigates communication in academic libraries that experienced rapid changes during the Great Recession and its aftermath. The investigator conducted a multi-case study, in which she interviewed library and university participants in three U.S. academic libraries in 2010. Results show that effective communication existed for the most part in the three libraries, all of which were maintaining strategic priorities while experiencing dramatic changes