Information Literacy: Developing Partnerships Across Library Types

This article describes a grant-funded project with the final goal of creating information literacy collaborative partnerships among academic, school, and public libraries. The objectives of the grant as well as an overall description of the project are stated. The emphasis of the article is on the process followed to create the collaborative partnerships and the partnerships created as a result of the grant

Serendipitous research process

This article presents the results of an exploratory study asking faculty in the first-year writing program and instruction librarians about their research process focusing on results specifically related to serendipity. Steps to prepare for serendipity are highlighted as well as a model for incorporating serendipity into a first-year writing course

Raise Your Profile: Build Your Program

To raise the library\u27s profile within the campus community, it is critical to create a strategic plan and align library goals with those of the university. At George Washington University\u27s Gelman Library, the instruction librarians gained internal and external support to hire two new instruction librarians to better support collaboration with the new university writing program. The library then used assessment data to successfully advocate for an additional two positions

The Relationship Between Service Learning and Research

In Fall 2006, a faculty member in George Washington University\u27s University Writing 20 (UW20) program began incorporating service learning into her theme-based first-year writing course. Along with her librarian partner, they linked two research assignments to the service work of the students. An end-of-semester survey was administrated over three semesters with one question asking if the student\u27s research process was affected by their service experience. In reviewing and analyzing student comments, four themes emerged: increased motivation, use of numerical data and primary sources, increased knowledge in approaching and limiting topics, and the potential for bias

We hope it helps : The impact of incentives on LibQual+ Response Rates

Purpose: Our research focuses on the question: what is the perception among librarians of the impact of lottery incentives on response rates to the LibQual+ survey? Design/Methodology/Approach: A LibQual+ incentives survey was developed by the researchers to find out why administrators do or do not offer incentives, what types of incentives are offered, and what the perception is of the impact of lottery incentives for the LibQual+ survey. The 25-item questionnaire was administered to all 124 US and Canadian (English language only) academic libraries (excluding community college) that participated in LibQual+ in 2010. Additionally, data for the LibQual+ data repository provided additional information on the 124 institutions including response rate broken down by population, potential respondent pool size, and survey used. Findings: We received a 31% response rate to the survey. While the results should be viewed with caution due to the sample, the findings are revealing in the type of advertising used, the amount and type of incentives offered, and if the LibQual+ administrators felt the incentives made an impact on their response rates. Incentives are only one variable to help increase response rate, especially among students. Based on extensive literature on incentives, alternatives are offered and suggestions made for combining different methodologies, including offered prepaid incentives. Practical implications/Value: Every LibQual+ administrator needs to determine whether they will offer an incentive(s) and if so, what kind of incentives and how much needs to be determined. Our research shows that LibQual+ administrators make the decision mainly based on past practice or a sense of competition with other surveys on campus. However, there is extensive literature on the use of incentives and what amounts can impact response rate. Our research can help LibQual+ administrators make more educated decisions about incentives before implementing LibQual+

Engaged Learning, Engaged Library

As questions of the value and importance of higher education continue to be raised by the media, politicians, parents, and students how can universities and libraries respond? One response is to become more engaged with their communities and supporting research and activities that directly benefit their town, city, and state. This keynote will highlight connections between universities and their communities, the role of engaged learning, and the importance of research and partnerships with librarians

How an outside facilitator helped us create a better strategic plan

Using a facilitator can enhance a library\u27s strategic planning process and lead to the creation of a more clearly articulated strategic plan. Santa Clara University Library used a facilitator for its strategic planning process, which resulted in new vision and mission statements, and a plan centered around five priorities. This article will provide a description of the environment, details of the strategic planning process, the role and benefits of using a facilitator and questions to consider before bringing in a facilitator

Paper Trail: One Method of Information Literacy Assessment

Assessing students\u27 information literacy skills can be difficult depending on the involvement of the librarian in a course. To overcome this, librarians created an assignment called the Paper Trail, where students wrote a short essay about their research process and reflected on what they would do differently. Through reviewing and grading these papers, librarians determined whether students understood the difference between the library catalog and article databases, evaluated the students\u27 search terms to see if they used effective topic keywords and Boolean operators, and learned more on how the students reflected on their research process

We thought it might encourage participation.” Using lottery incentives to improve LibQUAL+(TM) response rates among students

Libraries deploying the LibQUAL+™ survey can offer a lottery incentive and many do in the hope of increasing response rates. Other libraries may be prohibited from offering one because of Institutional Review Board restrictions, as is the case at [institution name]. We wanted to discover why libraries offer lottery incentives and what kinds and if they believe these incentives have a positive impact on their response rates. The responding libraries hold a general belief that lottery incentives are effective but base this on feeling rather than research. We examine what the literature says about lottery incentives and student populations