Oya Y. Rieger, Danielle Cooper, and Kurtis Tanaka will present  on-demand programs during the 2021 ACRL Virtual Conference. For more information on their individual sessions, please visit this link.

Oya Y. Rieger, Danielle Cooper will discuss the impacts of Big Deal cancellations on patrons. Please see the abstract below:

“No deal, no problem? The Impacts of Big Deal Cancellations on Patrons”

Libraries are increasingly questioning the value of their Big Deal subscriptions, leading to a number of prominent cancellations in recent years. In this rapidly shifting resource landscape, how are patron strategies evolving for accessing the scholarly resources they rely on? Come learn about the largest cross-institution effort to date to assess how Big Deal cancellations affect patron experiences accessing content and their perceptions of the libraries’ role in supporting their research endeavors. This session shares what a cohort of eleven academic libraries learned from collectively interviewing patrons identified as most likely to be affected by their institutions’ Big Deal cancellation plans. By attending the session you will have the opportunity to consider how a holistic understanding of patron insights and experiences in the context of Big Deal cancellations can be best leveraged by libraries as they make strategic decisions about their collections.

Kurtis Tanaka will discuss the information needs of incarcerated students and the models some academic libraries have adopted to serve them. Please see the abstract below:

“When the Digital Divide is the Prison Wall: The Present and Future of Library Services for Incarcerated College Students”

Incarcerated college students face unprecedented challenges working with information resources compared to their peers on the outside – how can academic libraries help ameliorate this extreme digital divide? Come learn about the unique information needs of incarcerated students and the models some academic libraries have adopted to serve them. Participants will also explore the practical and ethical dimensions of working with prisons as well as identify strategies to secure buy-in from their own institution. Participants will leave with actionable ideas for how they can provide incarcerated college students more open and equitable access to information.