University Libraries

Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/10

Browse

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 32
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Delay, Distract, Defer: Addressing Sabotage in the Academic Library
    (2019-10) Dohe, Kate; Pappas, Erin; Emmelhainz, Celia
    In 1944, the US Office of Strategic Services released the Simple Sabotage Field Manual. Originally intended to aid the WWII-era citizen saboteur in committing small, undetectable acts of sabotage within an enemy organization, the Field Manual developed a second life on social media after its declassification, as its advice to “make faulty decisions, to adopt an uncooperative attitude, and to induce others to follow suit” echoed the pitfalls of modern office work. In the context of academic libraries, seemingly neutral actions that actively work to delay production may include our insistence on following proper channels, creating committees, haggling over precise language, and holding unnecessary meetings. In this paper, we argue that academic libraries find themselves uniquely susceptible to unintentional and willful saboteurs alike. As higher education’s hierarchical culture meets professional norms that stress collaborative decision-making and emotional labor, we create an environment ripe for exploitation by those unhappy with the direction of an organization. As workers charged with the stewardship of information infrastructure, and as individuals who create and implement best practices in digital cultural heritage systems, library saboteurs have the potential to derail and impede the care work essential to information maintenance. This paper explores aspects of the Field Manual that apply to modern organizations, how academic libraries can fall victim to sabotage, and ways that individual librarians and staff can identify and resist the saboteur in the next cubicle--or in their own learned library behavior.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Doing More, With More: Academic Libraries, Digital Services, and Revenue Generation
    (Ithaka S+R, 2019-01-24) Dohe, Kate; Hamidzadeh, Babak; Wallberg, Ben
    The axiom to “do more with less” in university research libraries is increasingly untenable, as budgets continue to shrink and demand for novel services continues to rise. The impacts of such existential uncertainties are self-evident and widely discussed in the literature--staff burnout, lowered morale and increased toxicity, weakened local collections, and limited capacity for ambitious and genuinely innovative work. In response to calls for entrepreneurial initiatives from campus and library leadership, the Digital Systems and Stewardship (DSS) division of the University of Maryland Libraries has been engaged since 2015 in developing a revenue generation program known as Digital Data Services. This initiative tackles the challenging financial landscape of higher education and furthers our institutional mission by offering fee-based technological services to the campus community, to affiliated partners, and to the commercial sector. Conceived of as a means to generate steady revenue to support and sustain library initiatives, the program currently represents a significant source of income for the Libraries DSS division after three years of growth, and is envisioned to contribute to other divisions in the Libraries, as well. More than standard cost recovery programs, the Digital Data Services program generates returns that can be reinvested in staffing or equipment for the Libraries, and DDS projects represent unique opportunities to cultivate talent and expand expertise to benefit other library initiatives. While a large-scale revenue generating program may initially appear contrary to traditional models of library services, this program has enabled the Libraries to expand both our capacity and aptitude to improve many of our mission-driven services over time.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Exhibits as Scholarship: Strategies for Acceptance, Documentation, and Evaluation in Academic Libraries.
    (Society of American Archivists, 2017) Novara, Elizabeth A.; Novara, Vincent J.
    Producing exhibits is an important form of scholarly and creative activity for academic librarians, archivists, and curators. While other forms of scholarship such as publishing a book or a peer-reviewed journal article are unquestionably accepted, exhibits are typically viewed as less intellectually rigorous. Through a literature review and a review of appointment, promotion, and tenure policies of selected Association of Research Libraries institutions with faculty status, this study seeks to uphold the creation of exhibits as a critical scholarly endeavor in the academic library and to provide guidance in evaluating exhibits as scholarship for library faculty, especially those working in archives and special collections. An overview of strategies for documentation and evaluation of exhibits as noteworthy scholarly communication is included. The recommendations provided can also assist nonacademic library and archival institutions to create high-quality exhibits of enduring value. Exhibits, digital humanities projects, and other forms of scholarship and creativity should be considered for promotion and tenure if presented in a compelling way to review communities.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Starting with “Yes, And...”: Collaborative Instructional Design in Digital Scholarship
    (Library Orientation Exchange (LOEX), 2016) Dohe, Kate; Pappas, Erin
    Improv principles and techniques are applicable in any instance of teaching: respect your partner, know your audience, work the room, jump in with both feet, agree agree agree. These techniques take for granted that this form of instruction and collaboration is new for both partners, that neither person is the expert, and that the content and situations will have to be recreated anew in every classroom and workshop. In this workshop, two librarians and former improv and theater instructors lead workshop attendees through some of the fundamentals of improv, and reflect upon how these same activities and principles help create an environment of collaboration and openness necessary to support the diverse goals of digital scholarship.
  • Item
    Dataset for Instructor Use of Educational Streaming Video Resources
    (2017-07) Horbal, Andy
    Dataset for research project titled "Instructor Use of Educational Streaming Video Resources."
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Rooting skills and expertise in liaison work: Strategies for embedded librarianship
    (International Association of University Libraries (IATUL), 2017-06-19) Tchangalova, Nedelina
    As needs for teaching and research faculty evolve, librarians must possess certain knowledge and skills in delivering quick service and expertise. Among those are having a professional subject background, faculty status, commitment and flexibility to provide innovative services, understanding of the research needs of scholars, and technical proficiency in managing electronic records. Building strong librarian-faculty relationships is also a key factor in offering assistance when and where it is needed. The author reviews the current literature on embedded librarianship, identifies best practices and models in faculty-librarian collaboration, and examines successful strategies implemented at the University of Maryland, College Park. Participants will be introduced to effective technologies for providing instructional support, reference assistance, and collaboration with faculty on research projects. In addition, the author shares insight from the application of three approaches: (1) Embedding information literacy sessions into online and face-to-face courses along with offering Librarian’s Office Hours outside of the library; 2) Providing subject specific resources from the library collections for the observance of the Social Justice Day, a campus wide project led by the former dean of the School of Public Health, and 3) Executing literature searches, managing citations and co-writing for a research project consisting of scholars from the United States, Canada and Europe.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Crosswords as fun, useful and engaging tools for library instruction, training and more
    (2017-05-05) Markowitz, Judy; Tchangalova, Nedelina
    Using crossword puzzles in information literacy classes is an effective pedagogy. They can be used for reinforcing literacy concepts in one-shot instruction sessions, assessment, in library orientations for students and in training sessions for student assistants. This presentation offers examples for classroom use and training.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Collaborating for Success: A Case Study on Mentoring, Partnering, and Teaching
    (Collaborative Librarianship, 2017-01) Kellner, Megan N.; Tchangalova, Nedelina; Gammons, Rachel W.; Carroll, Alexander J.; Payne-Sturges, Devon C.
    Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) graduates seeking employment in academic libraries are often expected to possess user instruction and public service skills. However, it is difficult for students to achieve this experience through coursework alone. To address this disconnect, librarians at the University of Maryland (UMD) College Park Libraries created a Research and Teaching Fellowship to allow MLIS students at UMD to gain practical instruction experience. The authors present the experience of one MLIS student in collaboration with a subject librarian and a faculty member to plan, implement, and assess an information literacy instruction session for an undergraduate course in public health. The article discusses the benefits of mentoring for the MLIS student and subject liaison librarian, and the impact on the undergraduate student learning. This article addresses a gap in the literature on opportunities for MLIS students to gain instruction, collaboration, and assessment experience by presenting a successful model in place at UMD.​
  • Item
    Late Night Services at the University of Maryland Libraries
    (2014-06-29) Hackman, Timothy
    Presentation on Late Night Services at the University of Maryland Libraries, delivered as part of FEAST: Future and Emerging Access Services Trends at the ALA Annual Conference 2014 in Las Vegas, NV.
  • Item
    Microassessments of Public Services Usability: Improving Holds at UMD
    (2016-06-25) Hackman, Timothy; Bloom, Catherine
    Results of a survey to assess and improve the effectiveness of patron-placed holds at the University of Maryland Libraries.