Topic: Libraries
Blog Post
February 4, 2020
Student Success: One Goal, Many Definitions
While many colleges see enabling “student success” as a top priority, what actually defines the term can vary widely depending on who is defining it. As such, it is hard—perhaps impossible—to have a single, quantifiable, and operational definition. In this post, I unpack how a few key stakeholders—community college students and administrators—have conceptualized this seemingly loaded term in our research along with questions for further reflection as we embark on a new project. Over the past…
Blog Post
February 3, 2020
The Primacy of Print Is Past
OhioLINK recently shared its vision for the library system of the future in a white paper. That vision, developed by a group of library deans and directors whose work was facilitated by Ithaka S+R, involves two key elements that have garnered some attention for what they say about the future of the library and the work performed within it. The first element is centering the library system—just like the library itself—around the user. And the second involves enabling the…
Blog Post
January 30, 2020
Preprints in Biology and Medicine
ASAPbio Workshop and Roadmap
Preprint services have been getting a lot of attention recently. Last year saw a comprehensive review of the landscape by the Knowledge Exchange, two discussions at the Charleston Conference (why preprints, Hyde Park Debate), and a two-day preprints event organized by NISO. On January 20-21, the new decade opened with a preprints roadmap workshop…
Blog Post
January 23, 2020
A Vision for a New Library System
An Issue Brief from OhioLINK and Ithaka S+R
Library systems should be strategic enablers. Yet too often they serve as strategic impediments. Today, I am proud to share with you OhioLINK’s vision for the library systems that would unlock the strategic potential of its members. Over the past year, colleagues and I have been collaborating with a working group of OhioLINK members as they developed their vision for a library system that could truly support the strategic directions their libraries are taking. This week,…
Issue Brief
January 23, 2020
It’s Not What Libraries Hold; It’s Who Libraries Serve
Seeking a User-Centered Future for Academic Libraries
In 2018, OhioLINK engaged its membership to envision a constellation of platforms and applications that would take the next step beyond “next-generation” commercial integrated library systems (ILS). This paper is the result of that process. The business of higher education, as it relates to libraries, is amid continued and drastic change. Managing collections is now but one aspect of library management. Libraries support teaching, affordable learning, and innovative research. They are managing services and products, online and off, amid expanding…
Blog Post
January 22, 2020
Copyright Education for Cultural Institutions
A 21st Century Approach for Libraries, Archives, and Museums
Today, Ithaka S+R is co-publishing, with Columbia University Libraries, a summary report about a roundtable held over the summer about Copyright Education in Libraries, Archives, and Museums. This is the latest step by a group of copyright experts and educators towards strengthening and sustaining copyright education for memory institutions and the research and educational missions they serve. Ithaka S+R’s, in close partnership with Columbia’s Rina Elster Pantalony and Lyrasis’s Tom Clareson,…
Issue Brief
January 22, 2020
Copyright Education in Libraries, Archives, and Museums: A 21st Century Approach
A Summary Report of Roundtable Discussions at Columbia University
On July 11-12th, 2019, with the generous financial support of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and together with project partners Ithaka S+R and LYRASIS, Copyright Advisory Services at Columbia University Libraries held roundtable discussions as a second phase of research to determine how to structure and implement a professional development copyright education initiative for cultural heritage professionals working in libraries, archives, and museums. In particular, the purpose of these discussions was to examine whether there might be a way to…
Past Event
February 19, 2020
Data Communities: Empowering Researcher-Driven Data Sharing in the Sciences
Danielle Cooper at the International Data Curation Conference
On Wednesday, February 19, Danielle Cooper is presenting on “Data Communities: Empowering Researcher-Driven Data Sharing in the Sciences” at the International Data Curation Conference in Dublin, Ireland. For more information and to register, please see the conference website.
Past Event
March 12, 2020
The Data Disconnect
Kurtis Tanaka at the 2020 RDAP Summit
On Thursday, March 12, Kurtis Tanaka is presenting on “The Data Disconnect: How Changing Industry Data Sharing Policies Impact Business Research and Pedagogy” at the Research Data Access & Preservation Association’s 2020 Summit in Santa Fe, New Mexico. For more information and to register, please see the conference website. About the presentation Business represents the most popular undergraduate major in the United States and is a field that heavily relies on data for both research and instruction. This reliance…
Past Event
March 3, 2020
Shaping Up Services: Developing Prototypes for Student Success
Melissa Blankstein at the Educause ELI Annual Meeting
On Tuesday, March 3, Melissa Blankstein is presenting a poster on “Shaping Up Services: Developing Prototypes for Student Success,” at the Educause ELI Annual Meeting in Bellevue, Washington. For more information and to register, please visit the conference website. About the poster What methodologies can higher education institutions employ to develop new services that promote student success? This poster will share a data-driven approach recently implemented across a cohort of colleges: concept testing. Through concept testing, service providers can…
Past Event
February 20, 2020
Student Success Information Interventions: Helping Students Navigate College Services and Resources
Christine Wolff-Eisenberg at DREAM 2020
On Thursday, February 20, Christine Wolff-Eisenberg will be presenting on a panel, “Student Success Information Interventions: Helping Students Navigate College Services and Resources,” at DREAM 2020 in National Harbor, Maryland. Christine will be joined on the panel by Jean Amaral (Borough of Manhattan Community College), Christie Flynn (Pierce College), and Elizabeth Jardine (LaGuardia Community College). For more information and to register, please visit the conference website. About the panel Research recently conducted across seven community colleges has demonstrated the…
Blog Post
January 14, 2020
What Is Humanities Research Now?
Roundtable at the Modern Language Association 2020 Convention
Today, the discipline of modern languages and literatures faces both challenges and opportunities. Although humanities research and the liberal arts education model have come under public scrutiny, new methodologies and ways of disseminating information, including “public humanities” and “digital humanities,” hold out promise for reinvigoration of the discipline. On Friday, January 9, I had the pleasure of joining six participants from Ithaka S+R’s Supporting Research in Languages and Literature project, sponsored by the…
Blog Post
January 8, 2020
Quiet Spaces, Kids On Campus, and Academic Libraries
College students often crave quiet space for completing their coursework. Many have complex lives with various professional, personal, and academic demands — long commutes, multiple jobs, roommates, children, etc. The campus library is a place — and sometimes the only place — they can go for quiet, distraction-free space. It can be their respite from an otherwise noisy set of activities. Over the weekend,…
Past Event
January 10, 2020
Rebecca Springer at the Modern Language Association Annual Convention
On Friday, January 10, Rebecca Springer is taking part in a panel discussion on “What Is Humanities Research Now?” at the Modern Language Association Annual Convention in Seattle. She’ll be joined on the panel by Amanda L. Watson (New York U), John Tofanelli (Columbia U), Matthew Roberts (U of Illinois, Urbana), Ashley Champagne (Brown U), Darby Fanning (U of Utah), and Julie Frick Wade (MLA). The Modern Language Association’s Mary Onorato is moderating. For more information, please see the…
Blog Post
December 12, 2019
Teaching Business: New Report Explores the Needs of Business Faculty
Today Ithaka S+R is releasing the first report in a new program focused on supporting teaching practices. In it, we explore the needs of faculty teaching undergraduate business. We started with business as it is consistently one of the most popular majors in the United States, and understanding the needs of faculty in this field can have a large impact on undergraduate teaching and learning. Informed by interviews with 158 business…
Research Report
December 12, 2019
Teaching Business
Looking at the Support Needs of Instructors
Business represents the most popular undergraduate major at American colleges and universities and was seen as the ideal discipline to begin with, especially as the potential number of students to be positively impacted is correspondingly large. The goal of this report, therefore, is to provide actionable findings for organizations, institutions, and professionals who support the teaching practices of business educators. This report describes the teaching practices of business instructors, both those that are common to all college level instruction as…
Blog Post
December 10, 2019
Perspectives on the 2018 US Faculty Survey in Against the Grain
Every three years when we release findings from our national faculty surveys, we receive a plethora of reactions and responses to the results. There was no exception when we released the 2018 results in conjunction with the ACRL conference in April 2019. While these high-level quantitative results offer strong evidence toward understanding faculty practices and perspectives, particularly for tracking change over time, many who work in academic libraries, learned societies, and…
Blog Post
December 5, 2019
What Are the Larger Implications of Ex Libris Buying Innovative?
Earlier today, news began leaking out that Ex Libris will purchase Innovative Interfaces, one of its largest competitors. The deal, which is expected to close in early 2020, further cements Ex Libris as the leader in the library systems marketplace and can be expected to put added pressure on OCLC. It will also raise concerns about Ex Libris’s dominant market position. Library Systems Ex Libris’s core business is in library systems,…
Blog Post
December 5, 2019
Making the CCASSE for Support Services
When we interviewed dozens of community college students about their challenges and unmet needs, many reported struggling with navigating college resources. When we subsequently heard from over 10,000 students via survey about the services they need to achieve their vision of success, the overwhelming majority responded positively to a service centered around helping students navigate these resources. Last year, we embarked on the…
Research Report
December 5, 2019
Organizing Support for Success
Community College Academic and Student Support Ecosystems
The Community College Academic and Student Support Ecosystems (CCASSE) project examines how academic and student support services at not-for-profit associate-degree granting colleges are organized, funded, and staffed, and how these services can most effectively advance student success. In spring 2019, we surveyed 249 chief academic and student affairs officers at community colleges across the United States on success measures, services offered, resource challenges and constraints, and vision for future service provision.