Student Journey Work: A Review of Academic Library Contributions to Student Transition and Success

This review aims to capture projects, services, and approaches that are being used to ensure student success and sustainability across the stages (or transitions) of the student experience of higher education, where these extend the traditional role of the library, in the UK and internationally. The article examines why the student journey (and supporting it) has become a central part of the contemporary academic library's repertoire. Fundamentally, through a student lifecycle perspective the author will attempt to show how academic libraries contribute to their university's bottom line? Finally, the article will reflect on strategic implications and areas for further investigation.     

Mandatory Student Fees and the Academic Library

As academic libraries' budgets remain flat while their expenditures rise, library leaders must seek out alternative sources of funding. One option is a mandatory student fee dedicated to the library. This article presents the results of a survey of 152 deans and directors of public R1 and R2 research universities that were asked whether their libraries benefit from mandatory student fees. While a library-specific fee is unusual, nearly half of responding libraries are eligible to receive some portion of another mandatory student fee. Study results can serve as evidence for libraries preparing to make a case for the significant, positive impact possible through even a modest library fee.     

Our Experience with User Experience: Exploring Staffing Configurations to Conduct UX in an Academic Library

ABSTRACT

A research project was undertaken by a university library system to develop a sustainable user experience strategy. A task force was convened to conduct a pilot project with members from both libraries in the system to assess staffing responsibilities, guidelines, processes, and data-gathering procedures. The team tested an electronic resources list common to both libraries. In describing the methods employed by the task force in their research, this article outlines the benefits and drawbacks of staffing configurations to initiate user experience practices in an academic library setting.     

Out with the Old,In with the New: Best Practices for Replacing Library Signage

Abstract

Creating Web research guides is an effective way to distribute the research expertise and resource knowledge of reference librarians. Using a Web reference guide for Pittsburgh history resources, the author demonstrates that reference librarians can play an integral role not only in the promotion of community resources, but also in the teaching and research of local history. Examples of the Web pages are included, as well as the rationale for the arrangement and inclusion of particular resources and research tips.     

Growing Readers: A Critical Analysis of Early Literacy Content for Parents on Canadian Public Library Websites

ABSTRACT. A critical analysis of 20 urban public library systems’ websites in English-speaking Canada, this study critiques the prevailing messages about early literacy found on these websites and pays particular attention to content aimed at parents of young children. By seeking examples of attention to both diversity and inclusion, the researcher concluded that public library websites are not being used to their full potential to portray, include, and invite participation in early literacy learning opportunities for diverse families in urban communities, particularly those whose children may have disability labels as well as those who are new to the English language.     

Evaluating Academic Library Outreach to Determine Return on Investment for Student Success

Campus outreach is a key part of an academic library’s service mission. However, the literature demonstrates a lack of assessment around library outreach, particularly from an institution-wide or programmatic perspective. The University of Houston Libraries assembled a team to evaluate return on investment for the Libraries outreach activities in service of meeting student success goals. This article shares the methodology, results, and recommendations made as a result of this project, with implications for outreach programs at other academic libraries.     

Library Learning Spaces: Investigating Libraries and Investing in Student Feedback

ABSTRACT

We examine how students in academic libraries work; their furniture, technology and space needs; research methods used to determine these; and the results and evolution of our space design and assessment efforts. From the creation of a new collaborative center at Mann Library at Cornell University in 2007 to our latest space redesign in 2015, we've used a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods—including surveys, interviews, usability tests, and participatory design exercises—to discover the study behaviors and needs of users, applied this data to help redesign our collaborative study spaces, and assessed the results.     

More Than Just a Student Voice: Facilitating Student Leadership Development Through the Library Student Liaison Program

This article explores how the library-student liaison program at Eastern Washington University (EWU) Libraries has evolved into an opportunity for students to develop leadership skills. Originally designed to foster better communication between the EWU Libraries and students enrolled at the university, we recognized that the process of achieving established goals for the program provided a vehicle for students' leadership-skill development. To facilitate the leadership process, librarians employed the Social Change Model. Designed specifically for college students, this model engages the student to develop individual capacities to strengthen group activities that foster positive changes in the community and society.     

Supporting Student Success in the First-Year Experience: Library Instruction in the Learning Management System

This article discusses how the Library and Office of Institutional Research at a public college measured the relationship of an online information literacy module in the learning management system with student success metrics in a first-year experience course. Specifically, the authors examine the relationships of an online instruction module, online module completion status, library use sessions, and student success metrics, such as semester grade point average (GPA), one-year retention, and academic standing. The results suggest that students who participated in the online information literacy module had better student outcomes than those that did not participate in the module. Research assignment grade and library use sessions are found as significant predictors of student semester GPA and one-year retention, controlling for high school GPA, student characteristics, and utilization of student support services. Practice implications are discussed.     

Redesigning Spaces for Effective Learning: Challenges Facing Riyad Nassar Library in Meeting Users' Perceptions and Expectations

In 2017, the Riyad Nassar Library of the Lebanese American University – Beirut, Lebanon – conducted a student survey as part of its assessment plan to evaluate all functions offered to its stakeholders including space design. The results of said survey are discussed in this paper to ensure if the executed redesign of the library space, carried out during the last 5 years, helped in meeting students' perceptions and expectations. The authors will discuss the methods used to assess space change such as survey, behavioral observation and statistics as well as the challenges faced by the library during this process.     

Supporting Our Troops: Library Services and Support for Veterans

Veterans are a unique population that can be found in libraries across the United States. Libraries of all types are developing new approaches to the veterans in their patron populations in the wake of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This study identifies several common strategies that libraries, especially public and academic libraries, are employing to support their patrons who are veterans, as well as distinctions in strategy according to library type. It further explores whether libraries are relying upon library staff who are veterans when developing services and programming for patrons who are veterans.     

Comics and the Modern Library Catalog: New Rules for Breaking the Rules

Scholarly and curricular uses of comics extend to many disciplines in higher education, resulting in increased demand for institutional access to such materials. Despite nearly twenty years of justification in the literature for inclusion of such materials in libraries, there are not widely adopted conventions or models for engaging in the business of a comics collection. At San Diego State University, this presented an opportunity to pioneer new modes of access, from cataloging and organization to storage and retrieval. This article explores the process of making a collection of floppy comics accessible alongside a theoretical discussion of cataloging shortcomings and opportunities.     

Training,Supervising, and Evaluating Student Information Assistants

Abstract

Training, supervision, and evaluation of student assistants is not a topic covered in most library school curricula; it is a skill that it is assumed one will have or acquire through on-the-job experience. This article focuses on the hiring, supervision, training, and evaluation of student information assistants in the reference/electronic resource setting. Student Information Assistants are known by many names-reference assistants, peer counselors, research assistants, and database assistants, to name a few-but within this article I will use the name Student Information Assistants (SIAs).     

Designing User-Centered Discovery and Access Services for Enhanced Virtual User Experience

In 2010, the Technical Services Department at the University of Nevada, Reno Libraries established its top strategic direction to understand users’ workflows and strive to build seamless information access services around their workflows. To advance this strategic direction, an innovative reorganization was implemented within Technical Services by creating a new Knowledge Access and Discovery (KAD) Librarian position and forming a new Design and Discovery (DD) department from existing staff. In this session, the presenters discussed the shift to user-centered services, the roles of the KAD Librarian and the new DD department, their projects and initiatives, and how they work with the library-wide cross-departmental Virtual User Experience Committee to meet the Internet-fueled do-it-yourself (DIY) mindset of today’s library users.     

The Perfect Storm: Examining User Experience and Conducting a Usability Test to Investigate a Disruptive Academic Library Web Site Redevelopment

Abstract

The researchers conducted a task-based usability test of the effectiveness of online research beginning on the library Web site homepage. The participants included five university faculty members, six graduate students, and six undergraduate students. All participants reported feeling satisfied with their overall research experience, though most were unable to effectively complete all the research tasks of the test. The researchers identified weaknesses in the approach and process of many participants, and overall usability issues of the library discovery tool and other library Web site pages and research interfaces. Findings indicate the need to strategically incorporate self-service information literacy and research skills help into the library Web site, and to implement navigation and design changes to the library homepage, discovery tool interface, online catalog, and across all the library's Web services.     

Do-It-Yourself for Course Reserves: A Student-Driven Service in an Academic Library

Texas A&M University Libraries has been hard at work putting the power of course reserves in the hands of its users. Reserves services have traditionally been restrictive, granting only faculty the authority to place items on reserve or allowing students access to items only after they have been checked out. From faculty adding streaming content to their e-reserves to students having hands-on access to their course reserves, this article tells the story of how an academic library system is allowing its patrons to “do-it-themselves.”     

Toward a Usable Academic Library Web Site: A Case Study of Tried and Tested Usability Practices

Usability testing is an important element when designing useful, usable academic library Web sites. Since 2001, members of the Florida International University Libraries Web team have worked toward establishing a process that identifies user needs through usability testing. Starting with the libraries’ first Web site redesign project in 2001, the team has taken an active part in improving Web site user experience. After engaging in multiple redesign efforts, the Web team has developed a process that supports awareness of user experience through continual usability testing and feedback gathering. This article presents strategies and practices to measure Web site user experience, including classic usability testing methods (e.g., card sorting activities, focus groups, and task-based user testing), as well as the team's latest effort to assess Web site analytics and content to identify Web site usage patterns and areas of concern. A history of the Florida International University Libraries’ Web site redesign process is presented to illustrate lessons learned and best practices to facilitate future redesign and testing efforts. Taking a longitudinal look at usability testing at one institution, the study aims to inform the development of an effective strategy for user research and content management.     

Retention of Adult and Traditional Learners: Library Strategies for Student Success

Nontraditional adult learners are often treated as separate and distinct in their needs and desires from more traditionally-aged college students. As retention continues to be a critical issue for colleges and universities, academic units and departments turn their focus to student success. This review article examines strategies that institutions have taken to increase students' self-efficacy and engagement, and compares their usefulness for both nontraditional and traditional learners. These strategies are viewed through the lens of the academic library with suggestions for how distance librarians can support the institution in its retention efforts and the students themselves in their own success.     

Open Educational Resources (OER) and Textbooks: Opportunities for Academic Libraries

Librarians have a role in working with faculty to provide low-cost alternatives to textbooks. Open educational resources (OER) are an alternative to textbooks in college courses, but there can be barriers to using OER. Are students successful in OER courses? Do faculty see librarians as collaborators in designing courses using OER? What are some alternatives to OER that libraries and library consortia can take advantage of to make college more affordable for students? The following articles address these issues, and the work of the following authors can benefit all types of academic librarians as they contemplate their role in the OER world.     

Web-Scale Discovery in an Academic Health Sciences Library: Development and Implementation of the EBSCO Discovery Service

Funds made available at the close of the 2010–11 fiscal year allowed purchase of the EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS) for a year-long trial. The appeal of this web-scale discovery product that offers a Google-like interface to library resources was counter-balanced by concerns about quality of search results in an academic health science setting and the challenge of configuring an interface that serves the needs of a diverse group of library users. After initial configuration, usability testing with library users revealed the need for further work before general release. Of greatest concern were continuing issues with the relevance of items retrieved, appropriateness of system-supplied facet terms, and user difficulties with navigating the interface. EBSCO has worked with the library to better understand and identify problems and solutions. External roll-out to users occurred in June 2012.