Academic Librarianship and Career Adaptability

The inspiration for this essay is Barbara Fister’s assertion that librarians must embrace functions that have not traditionally been part of the academic librarian’s portfolio. We shall examine the need for career adaptability in librarianship and use a case study to illustrate the four attributes librarians need to develop to ensure career adaptability. The case study involved collaboration between Kansas State University (KSU) Libraries, an agronomy professor, and the Global Research Alliance to develop an open access croplands research database. We will draw upon the field of vocational psychology to discuss career adaptability and ways librarians can develop the traits needed for good career adaptability: career concern, career control, career curiosity and career confidence (4 Cs) (Savickas, 2005)

Framing Collaboration: Archives, IRs, and General Collections

Collaborative collecting highlights the opportunity for liaison librarians and archivists in academic libraries to develop an integrated and holistic approach to the successful collection of library materials. Yet as academic libraries become the central location for general collections, institutional repositories, university archives, manuscript collections, and other special collections, the world of collecting in academic libraries becomes more siloed. The profession stands to benefit from a stronger realization of shared collecting practices. Liaison librarians have the potential to provide critical information to archivists in support of faculty collecting and research. Archivists have the opportunity to provide liaison librarians with context about university units and the organization’s broader history. Shared information can result in more robust collecting policies and practices across the library

The Forgotten Population: Using Assessment to Uncover the Library Needs of Graduate Students

Graduate student library needs often differ from those of undergraduates and faculty. Focus groups at three separate institutions seek to better understand the needs of a user population whose demands are often great, but whose voices are not always heard. Presenters will highlight commonalities and differences in the findings, identify opportunities for libraries to better serve this population and suggest methods for taking what is learned about graduate student needs and translating them into action.https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/lib_present/1007/thumbnail.jp

Making ereference works findable

The Internet has significantly changed how libraries provide and library users access information. Libraries increasingly acquire electronic reference (eReference) books while collection of their print counterparts is diminishing. eReference books are not found on libraries' reference shelves and may easily go unnoticed. Libraries face the dilemma of how to make eReference books more accessible to patrons since they are buried in the catalog. K-State Libraries are addressing this challenge by utilizing enhanced metadata behind OPAC records to create browseable eReference lists. The lists are also published as RSS feeds which can be pushed to users. The article describes an approach that does not require programming skills and may be used by subject librarians and catalogers to make eReference books more accessible to patrons

Making E-Reference Books Findable

The Internet has significantly changed the ways in which information is provided, particularly in libraries. Libraries are buying increasing numbers of electronic reference (e-Reference) materials which are buried in the catalog or on web pages, not to be easily found by the user. Unlike print reference books, e-Reference books are not found on libraries’ reference shelves and, therefore, are underused. Libraries face the dilemma of how to make e-Reference books more accessible to patrons. Kansas State University Libraries are addressing this challenge by using the powerful metadata behind OPAC records to create browsable e-Reference lists. These lists are also published as RSS feeds which can be pushed to users. This article describes the low tech approach used by subject librarians and catalogers to make e-Reference books more accessible to patrons

Developing an open access croplands research database through global collaboration

This article describes the processes, challenges, and outcomes of a project undertaken by Kansas State University (K-State) Libraries and a global community of researchers. The project, initiated by librarians in the newly created Faculty and Graduate Services Department, involved collaboration with a K-State agronomist. The initial concept was to create an open access database of croplands research submitted by researchers from the Global Research Alliance Croplands Research Group, a consortium of over 30 countries. Due to the project’s complexity, it was determined that a more manageable approach would be to pilot the project by including research from only the United States and Australia to resolve problems before scaling up to include all 34 countries in the GRA Croplands Research Group

Planning, creating, and evaluating eMuseums: a step by step handbook for museum professionals

Doctor of EducationDepartment of Educational LeadershipGerald D. BaileyThe purpose of this study was to create a handbook that would support museum professionals through the stages of planning, creating, and evaluating a user-centered eMuseum. Planning, Creating, and Evaluating eMuseums: A Step by Step Handbook for Museum Professionals was developed using the research and development methodology (R&D) developed by Borg and Gall (1989). The seven steps in the R&D cycle used in this study included: 1) research analysis and proof of concept, 2) product planning and design, 3) preliminary product development, 4) preliminary field testing, 5) revision of the prototype, 6) main field testing, and 7) revision of the final product. A prototype of the handbook was developed and then evaluated by experts in digital libraries or museum informatics in the preliminary field test. Revisions were made to the handbook based on their feedback. The handbook was then distributed to museum professionals for the main field test. Feedback from the main field test was used to create the final product. Major conclusions from the study were: 1. There was a need for a handbook to guide museum professionals through the steps of developing an eMuseum. Museum leaders indicated a desire to create a stronger online presence for their museums, but did not know how to begin the process. 2.The handbook was most useful to museum professionals. Originally, the handbook was intended for an audience broadly defined as "information professionals", which included both library and museum professionals. 3.Museum leaders and community stakeholders could partner to create eMuseums. Stakeholders included educators who wanted to use eMuseums to incorporate standards-based curriculum into their classroom or graduate students in education looking for collaborative projects to advance their study. 4.Finding new ways to reach audiences was important to museum leaders. Museum leaders were aware that the majority of their visitors expected to find information about their museum on the Internet and wanted to find ways to reach these audience members. 5.Museum professionals found resources listed in the book to be useful. The handbook worked effectively as a reference guide for creating an eMuseum

A 17-Year Systematic Content Analysis of Social Class and Socioeconomic Status in Two Counseling Journals

We conducted a qualitative, systematic content analysis of articles from 2 counseling journals (N = 636), Counselor Education and Supervision and Counseling and Values, to understand social class and socioeconomic status (SES) term usage and operationalization. Through PRISMA procedures, electronic text data mining, and consensual coding processes, we found a high number of social class and SES terms (N = 537) present; however, terms were used infrequently and problematically, including term conflation and term misuse. Additionally, we uncovered high rates of problematic social class and SES term use and variable application (86.67%) in the empirical article subsample. Variable application issues in the empirical subsample were related to data analysis, data collection, data reporting, or term operationalization. Based on the study findings, we offer recommendations to counseling researchers to strengthen their social class and SES terminology usage and variable operationalization and suggest how such strengthening has the capacity to affect counselor education research and counseling practice