Topic: Libraries
Blog Post
January 22, 2025
Announcing a New Report on Open Educational Resources
In the fall of 2023 we announced the launch of a new research project, funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, designed to assess the impact and implementation of open educational resource (OER) initiatives at public institutions of higher education. Today, we are publishing the resulting report, based on an initial literature review and interviews with OER leaders in four US states. In Charting the Course: Case Studies in OER Sustainability, we identify five key takeaways: There…
Research Report
January 22, 2025
Charting the Course
Case Studies in OER Sustainability
Over the past several years, OERs have gained significant traction across higher education, driven by a combination of grassroots campus efforts and state agencies of higher education or system-wide initiatives. The rationale behind these efforts has been clear: to alleviate the financial burden on students by reducing the cost of course materials. But OERs offer other advantages as well, serving as a catalyst for instructional innovation and helping to create a more inclusive learning environment. However, the question of sustainability…
Case Study
January 16, 2025
Empowering Students to Navigate College
Insights from the College Fluency Initiatives at Austin Community College
The third case study in this series looks at how Austin Community College in Texas has been developing college fluency programs with both their library and non-library faculty and staff. The college libraries play a critical role in promoting college fluency across 11 campuses. Other non-library initiatives at this college that also contribute to supporting students to navigate college underscore just how much of a college-wide effort it takes to promote greater college fluency.
Blog Post
January 15, 2025
Reflections on Creating a Cross-Campus Collaboration for Reproducibility
Challenges in reproducible research The ability to reproduce results is a cornerstone of scientific integrity in academic research. Reproducibility in research ensures that results can be independently verified, thereby enhancing the credibility and reliability of findings. However, achieving reproducibility is not without its challenges. Researchers often grapple with organizing their analyses, learning new computational tools, and diligently documenting their data and methodologies. These were some of the challenges raised during interviews with faculty at the University of Victoria (UVic) conducted…
Blog Post
December 12, 2024
Collaborating Towards Student Success
Insights from a National Survey of Community College Library and Campus Partners
Many college students face challenges that extend beyond the classroom, requiring holistic support that addresses both academic and non-academic needs. “College fluency,” which is the knowledge and a corresponding set of abilities that enable students and staff to effectively locate and use relevant college services, programs, and resources, can help students successfully engage with and self-advocate within the culture and bureaucracy of higher education institutions to achieve their goals. Through our College Fluency Capacity Building research initiative, undertaken with…
Blog Post
December 2, 2024
Library and Information Science First-Generation Professionals: Workplace Barriers and Cultural Assets
Call for Participants
What are the challenges faced by first-generation BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) professionals in the Library and Information Science (LIS) field? How do biases, policies, and practices impact their workplace experiences and career advancement? These are critical questions we aim to address through focus groups as part of a new, IMLS-funded research project, and we are now seeking participants to share their valuable insights. This study, conducted by Africa Hands, assistant professor in…
Blog Post
November 22, 2024
Exploring Workplace Experiences of BIPOC First-Generation Professionals in Library and Information Science
Announcing a New Collaboration
We’re excited to announce that the Department of Information Science at the University at Buffalo (UB) and Ithaka S+R are collaborating on an IMLS-funded research project to investigate the workplace experiences of first-generation BIPOC professionals in the library and information science (LIS) field. This three-year study will focus on understanding the challenges these professionals face and the cultural assets they bring to navigate and succeed in the workplace. The LIS workforce, like many professional fields, is grappling with…
Research Report
November 7, 2024
Fostering College Fluency
Results from a National Survey of Community College Library and Campus Partners
To better understand the current landscape of college fluency, and the challenges faced by institutions, Ithaka S+R and the Borough of Manhattan Community College, with support from IMLS, fielded a national survey to gather insights from administrators, librarians, and faculty and staff from academic and student affairs departments across community colleges in the US. This survey aimed to explore the perceptions of college fluency and evaluate the effectiveness of existing support and resource referrals.
Case Study
October 15, 2024
College Fluency Capacity Building
Insights from a Northeastern Community College
The Borough of Manhattan Community College and Ithaka S+R, with support from IMLS, are publishing a series of case studies to understand how institutions are currently addressing college fluency needs. The second case study in this series looks at a small northeastern community college that has been developing college fluency programs with both their library and non-library faculty and staff.
Blog Post
September 11, 2024
From Drawing to Doing
The Implementation of Cross-Campus Research Data Services Solutions
In February 2023, Ithaka S+R launched Building Campus Strategies for Coordinated Data Support, a project designed to help universities create viable strategies for delivering and sustaining research data service across campus. Following workshops to conceptualize new approaches or solutions to service delivery, cohort teams revisited some of the design thinking activities on their own campuses and honed in on a tangible idea or solution to implement.
Past Event
November 6, 2024
What’s on Your Website?
Findings From a Nationwide Inventory of Basic Needs Services on Library Websites
With funding from ECMC Foundation, Ithaka S+R launched the Maximizing Public-Academic Library Partnerships research initiative examining opportunities for collaboration between academic and public libraries and how they can best support basic needs and holistic student success. At the Library Assessment Conference in Portland, Oregon, Sindy Lopez, Sage Love, and Melissa Blankstein will share insights and findings from the project. Community members can act on this research by reviewing the findings to pinpoint potential information gaps within their own libraries…
Past Event
November 8, 2024
Empowering Librarians to Support Students Navigating College with College Fluency
College fluency—the knowledge and abilities enabling students to effectively access, and utilize, and advocate for needed college services and resources. In a session at the Library Assessment Conference in Portland, Oregon, Melissa Blankstein and Elmira Jangjou will share insights from an Ithaka S+R project empowering librarians to support students navigating college with college fluency. This IMLS-funded research initiative explores how leaders, faculty, and staff members both within and outside of the library respond to students’ non-curricular inquiries, how familiar…
Blog Post
August 22, 2024
Exploring the Landscape of College Instruction
Highlights from the 2024 US Instructor Survey
We are excited to announce the publication of the 2024 US Instructor Survey. This survey, adapted from our longstanding US Faculty Survey, provides a detailed snapshot of over 5,200 faculty members from different disciplines, institution types, ages, and titles across the US at four-year institutions. This new report offers a comprehensive overview of how college instructors across the country are navigating and shaping the current educational landscape. Overall, we heard that instructors are increasingly adopting innovative, technology-driven teaching…
Research Report
August 22, 2024
US Instructor Survey 2024
Findings from a National Survey
As we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, the landscape of higher education continues to evolve. Ithaka S+R's 2024 US Instructor Survey sheds light on how college instructors are adapting, with a renewed focus on diverse teaching and learning modalities. Adapted from the US Faculty Survey we have fielded regularly since 2000, this iteration offers a valuable snapshot of the shifting dynamics in college teaching.
Blog Post
August 2, 2024
The Role of the Law Library in Serving Incarcerated Individuals
Announcing a New IMLS-Funded Project
Access to legal information is both a legal right and crucial need for people who are incarcerated, yet little comprehensive data exists regarding how that information is provided or about the quality or accessibility of services available to individuals in prison. While anecdotal evidence suggests that law librarians are playing a key role in bridging this service gap, there is a lack of information about best practices and models, as well as about the state of the profession’s capacity to…
Blog Post
August 1, 2024
New Report on Library Collaborations in Collection Development
Although libraries have a long tradition of working together to improve their collections and related services, collaborations should not be viewed as a panacea. As the landscape of scholarly resources evolve, to be effective and tactical, collaborations need to carefully balance their collective and institutional priorities while remaining responsive to the user needs and behavior. Today, we share a new report on the governance and business characteristics of collaborative collection development initiatives. We intentionally focus on governance models as…
Research Report
August 1, 2024
Governance and Business Models for Collaborative Collection Development
To be effective, library collaborations focused on collection development need to be responsive to the changing landscape of scholarly resources as well as the evolving nature of research, teaching, and learning. The purpose of this report is to further increase our understanding of the governance and business characteristics of collaborative collection development initiatives, and how the attributes of different business models can affect the outcomes of collaborations.
Blog Post
July 16, 2024
Exploring Basic Needs Support Across Public and Community College Libraries
New Report Released
We are excited to announce the publication of a new report for the Maximizing Public-Academic Library Partnerships project, funded by ECMC Foundation. The project explores how community college and public libraries facilitate knowledge sharing and collaboration to create and sustain productive partnerships that promote basic needs services and information. The first phase of the project focused on examining the landscape of basic need services advertised on library websites. The inventory analysis of websites surveyed eight basic needs categories: Technology,…
Research Report
July 16, 2024
Exploring Basic Needs Support Across Public and Community College Libraries
Opportunities for Collaboration
There are many intersections between public and community college libraries, both in the populations they serve and their functions within their local communities. Both types of libraries play a crucial role in supporting the diverse needs of their communities, serving as hubs for education, information, and essential services. Maximizing partnerships between public and community college libraries therefore presents a significant opportunity.
Research Report
June 20, 2024
Generative AI and Postsecondary Instructional Practices
Findings from a National Survey of Instructors
Understanding how instructors are (or are not) using generative AI in their classrooms is vital because most college and university guidelines leave decision making about how, when, and if generative AI use is permitted to the discretion of individual instructors. To gain insight into evolving instructional practices, we included a short four-question section dedicated specifically to generative AI as part of a national survey of instructors.