Decolonizing the Way Libraries Organize

Knowledge organization systems (KOSs) are social constructs that represent the needs and knowledge of specific communities at specific times and places (Olsen, 1998; Svenonius, 2000; Hunter, 2009). Libraries use knowledge organization systems like cataloging codes, classification schemes, and languages of aboutness to describe the information objects they hold. These structures are central to library cataloging (Farnel, 2017). Because library KOSs reflect the biases of the time periods and places they were created, applications of these systems outside of those contexts are potentially problematic in terms of gender, culture, and ethnic exclusion (Olsen, 1998; Alemu & Stevens, 2015). Many of the systems used in libraries throughout the world originated in the United States or Europe. It is time to consider the impact that these systems have outside of their designated contexts and how to integrate other perspectives. The purpose of this paper is to question the cultural suitability of the systems and procedures libraries have in place to organize materials. As stated by Berman, the systems and approaches that catalogers adhere to are “so slavish” (Berman & Gross, 2017). When librarians talk about changes to codes and standards that are currently in use, it is often at the micro-level. These micro-level changes include submitting a term addition or term change request to the Library of Congress Subject Headings; or adding/revising a rule to Resource Description and Access. What may be needed are not these micro-level changes, but changes at the macrolevel. Librarians need to feel empowered to go beyond the Euro-American models of library cataloging work, without feeling that they are violating the integrity of their relationships with networks and consortia. Structures need to be in place to allow libraries and catalogers to vary the way they apply the necessary guidelines. Specific examples—with an emphasis on Southeast Asia -- is presented to argue these points

Using Metrics to Make Repository Decisions

This program will describe methods repository managers can use to help understand repository activity by emphasizing metadata and metrics. The program will repository embedded tools as well as Google Analytics to create data sets that help individuals analyze: Processes for monitoring yearly, seasonal, and monthly download and visit patterns -How to systematically evaluate download spikes and identify their sources Methods for collecting and analyzing repository data to enhance basic download counts Using comparative data to communicate with faculty about the impact of their scholarship Check out Avery Le\u27s research guide on this topic: Bring Your Stats to Life: Data Visualizations to Address and Interpret Repository Statistics

User-Focused Mixed Methods Approaches to Assess Collection

Libraries must maximise their acquisitions funding to ensure that the materials in their collections match the particular needs of their users. This is especially important as budgets shrink and an increasing variety of information sources across a range of media are available. In order to manage these competing dynamics, a sustainable and systematic approach to collection assessment is imperative and will provide libraries with data with which to make informed decisions. This paper describes a unique and focused approach to collection assessment that involves mixed methods techniques. It demonstrates how a combination of quantitative and qualitative data sources relating to specific collection items can be used to consider both their statistical and practical significance. To identify the use of these items a range of quantitative data sources are identified, from standard borrower records to COUNTER statistics to Ezproxy logfiles. Alongside these data are the qualitative information gathered through lobby testing, qualitative surveys, and interviews. These qualitative user-experience approaches allow libraries to gain feedback directly from library patrons about collection items, their use, and their value. All approaches described in this paper are vendor and platform neutral that can be implemented in any library type. An overview of the data collection approaches and how to implement these in practice are discussed to enable libraries to adapt the methods to their specific collection assessment needs. The main body of the paper presents several cases, based on three types of collection items: newly acquired, high cost, and low use. The cases incorporate the different methodological approaches and demonstrate how to interpret the results of the assessment in order to reach informed acquisitions and collection management decisions

Thai Catalogers’ Use and Perception of Cataloging Standards

© 2019 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. Library-based metadata and knowledge organization standards, such as Resource Description and Access (RDA); Dewey Decimal Classification system (DDC); and Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), are called “international” or “universal” as they are increasingly adopted by countries around the world. Yet, library knowledge organizations systems are created within given contexts representing the limited needs of specific communities in certain time periods. This article presents results from a cataloging study of Thai libraries. A focus group and interviews were used to gather data on Thai catalogers’ use and perception of cataloging standards in Thai libraries and how well they meet their needs

Relationships between Metadata application and downloads in an institutional repository of an American Law School

© 2019, The authors. Background. The Duke Law Scholarship Repository is a successful digital repository of an American law school, with over 1 million downloads per year. A series of studies were conducted to understand the relationship between metadata work and downloads. Objective. The paper reports an analysis of the relationships between certain metadata elements and repository downloads. Methods. Quantitative statistical methods, specifically correlation, t-test and multiple regression analysis, were used. Results. Statistically significant relationships were found between download frequency and factors relating to abstract, co-authors, page count and discipline. Negative statistically significant relationships were found between download frequency and free text keywords, as well as controlled vocabulary subject terms. Contributions. This study is an example of how in-use repository system administrators can demonstrate the impact of metadata work for institutional scholarly outreach. Also, this study adds another dimension to the keyword and searching/download literature that has been building since the 1970s

Minding the gap: investigating the alignment of information organization research and practice,

Introduction. The issues that practitioners want researched and those that are studied by researchers are often considered not to align very well. This paper investigates the extent to which a gap between research and practice exists in the field of information or knowledge organization, using a novel index of topical overlap between research and practice discourses. Method. The degree of alignment was measured by comparing samples of research-oriented and practice-oriented discourse published between 2013 and 2017. Information organization research was represented by scholarly articles, Information organization practice by professional blogs, webinars and conferences. Analysis. The texts were analysed using software which identified the most frequently used terms; the number of top terms, following deletion of generic terms and normalisation, that overlapped between corpora constituted the index of topical overlap. Results. The number of overlapping terms between information organization research and practice corpora was about halfway between the number of overlapping terms between highly similar and unrelated corpora. Conclusions. The results suggest a fair degree of alignment between information organization research and practice. The index used needs further testing, but appears to be a promising, unobtrusive tool for comparing the degree of alignment between research and practice in different fields

Organizing scientific data sets: studying similarities and differences in metadata and subject term creation

According to Salo, the metadata entered into repositories aredisorganized and metadata schemes underlying repositories are arcane. This creates a challenging repository environment in regards to personal information management (PIM) and knowledge organization systems (KOSs). This dissertation research is a step towards addressing the need to study information organization of scientific data in more detail. METHODS: A concurrent triangulation mixed methods approach was used to study the descriptive metadata and subject term application of information professionals and scientists when working with two data sets (the bird data set and the hunting data set). Quantitative and qualitative methods were used in combination during study design, data collection, and analysis. RESULTS: A total of 27 participants, 11 information professionals and 16 scientists took part in this study. Descriptive metadata results indicate that information professionals were more likely to use standardized metadata schemes. Scientists did not use library-based standards to organize data in their own collections. Nearly all scientists mentioned how central software was to their overall data organization processes. Subject term application results suggest that the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) was the best vocabulary for describing scientific names, while Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) was best for describing topical terms. The two groups applied 45 topical terms to the bird data set and 49 topical terms to the hunting data set. Term overlap, meaning the same terms were applied by both groups, was close to 25% for each data set (27% for the bird data set and 24% for the hunting data set). Unique terms, those terms applied by either group were more widely dispersed. CONCLUSIONS: While there were similarities between the two groups, it is the differences that were the most apparent. Based on this research it is recommended that general repositories use metadata created by information professionals, while domain specific repositories use metadata created by scientists

Breakout Session: Law Repositories and Video

The integration of multimedia into the repository environment is currently an area of growth for many law schools. This breakout session will bring together law libraries at different stages in the video integration process. Group discussions will cover the following topics: Access, Streaming, & Content Management Digitization & Production Formats, Rights & Permissions Metadata & Presentatio

Improvisation as a Teaching Tool for Improving Oral Communication Skills in Premedical and Pre-Biomedical Graduate Students

Objective: To evaluate the relationship between training in theatre improvisation and empathy, communication, and other professional skills. Methods: Undergraduate and graduate students who were participants of a 10-week summer undergraduate research program engaged in theatre improvisation techniques during a 3-hour workshop. In Study #1, a de-identified, self-report questionnaire (known as the Empathy Quotient) was administered prior to and following the workshop. Paired sample 2-tailed t-tests were performed to evaluate pre- and post-test scores. To identify additional benefits of engaging in theatre improvisation techniques, Study #2 was performed. Here, a survey was administered to the participants following their completion of the workshop to assess the impact on their personal growth and professional skills. An additional survey was administered at the end of the 10-week program to evaluate all program activities. Results: Study #1. Paired t-test analyses indicated that pre-test versus post-test Empathy Quotient scores were not significantly different, implying that participation in the theatre improvisation workshop did not impact empathy. Study #2. Survey results indicate that participation in the theatre improvisation workshop encouraged feelings of support by peers and creative thinking as well as increasing communication skills. Conclusion: Incorporating a theatre improvisation workshop into educational programs for pre-medical and pre-biomedical students is of value for enhancing self-confidence, oral communication skills and ability to think creatively

The effects of robot assisted gait training on temporal-spatial characteristics of people with spinal cord injuries: a systematic review

Context: Robotic assisted gait training (RAGT) technology can be used as a rehabilitation tool or as an assistive device for spinal cord injured (SCI) individuals. Its impact on upright stepping characteristics of SCI individuals using treadmill or overground robotic exoskeleton systems has yet to be established.Objective: To systematically review the literature and identify if overground or treadmill based RAGT use in SCI individuals elicited differences in temporal-spatial characteristics and functional outcome measures.Methods:A systematic search of the literature investigating overground and treadmill RAGT in SCIs was undertaken excluding case-studies and case-series. Studies were included if the primary outcomes were temporal-spatial gait parameters. Study inclusion and methodological quality were assessed and determined independently by two reviewers. Methodological quality was assessed using a validated scoring system for randomized and non-randomized trials.Results: Twelve studies met all inclusion criteria. Participant numbers ranged from 5-130 with injury levels from C2 to T12, American Spinal Injuries Association A-D. Three studies used overground RAGT systems and the remaining nine focused on treadmill based RAGT systems. Primary outcome measures were walking speed and walking distance. The use of treadmill or overground based RAGT did not result in an increase in walking speed beyond that of conventional gait training and no studies reviewed enabled a large enough improvement to facilitate community ambulation.Conclusion: The use of RAGT in SCI individuals has the potential to benefit upright locomotion of SCI individuals. Its use should not replace other therapies but be incorporated into a multi-modality rehabilitation approach