Topic: Libraries
Past Event
March 6, 2024
Unpacking Emerging Threats to the Culture of Learning and Academic Libraries
Ithaka S+R’s Roger Schonfeld will participate in the closing keynote panel at Camp ER&L, on March 6 at 11:00am – 12:00pm, alongside panelists John Chrastka, Kathleen McEvoy, and Nancy Kirkpatrick. Closing Keynote Panel The dangers making headlines for school libraries and public libraries are beginning to impact academic institutions and their content and technology providers. State-level threats to academic libraries come from mandated shifts from the social sciences and the humanities to STEM at state-funded universities, the elimination of…
Past Event
January 23, 2024
Project Management
Lyrasis Workshop
In this two-part live Lyrasis workshop, Ithaka S+R’s Oya Rieger will help attendees understand the basic processes and the lifecycle of project management, create and follow a work plan, manage personnel and team dynamics, and more. Project management is an essential skill set to achieve specific objectives, whether you are overseeing or participating in an initiative. Project management knowledge even applies to everyday work life, as we are often constrained to a finite timeline and budget and must work within…
Blog Post
November 16, 2023
Supporting College Teaching
Providing excellent instruction is a key priority across colleges and universities in the United States, but the on-the-ground experiences and needs of college teachers are often taken for granted. When approached thoughtfully, evidence about how faculty teach can be used to make meaningful interventions into their day-to-day activities, which in turn benefits their students. Today, we’re publishing a new issue brief intended to serve as a resource for institutions working to improve their support for college instruction through cross-unit…
Issue Brief
November 16, 2023
Who Cares About College Teachers?
An essential step to refining an institution's underlying strategy for advancing teaching and learning excellence is to understand the models for instructor support at universities and how evidence about teacher practices and needs is used to inform those services. This paper outlines which units on campus have instructional support mandates and how those units typically engage with teachers both at their own institution and nationally.
Blog Post
November 7, 2023
Suicide Prevention in the Library
Current Service Offerings and Future Opportunities
As an important frontline community center, libraries play a vital role in connecting people to resources, services, and materials that meet their holistic needs. Over the past decade library services have grown to address the acute need for mental health and crisis support, especially in light of the growing issue of college students’ mental health. With suicide a leading cause of death in the United States, now increasing after a period of decline, efforts to help…
Blog Post
November 2, 2023
Enhancing and Expanding Research Services at the Library of Congress
Assessing User Engagement
For nearly 20 years, Ithaka S+R has partnered with libraries to navigate change, measure impact, and better serve their users—with projects including coordinating data support services for researchers and exploring how research libraries can advance their institutions’ strategic priorities Today, we’re pleased to announce a new project with the Library of Congress that aims to assess how researchers are engaging with the library’s services and collections at the Capitol Hill campus, as well as to expand its…
Past Event
October 19, 2023
Break Bureaucratic Barriers Through College Fluency Collaborations
“For me the college is just so big. Sometimes you get bounced back and forth from department to department‚ and you get lost in bureaucracy.” Sound familiar? Students can struggle to navigate bureaucratic barriers harming their well-being and academic success. One solution is college fluency—the knowledge and abilities to effectively locate and use services, programs, and resources. Join us at the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) Conference on Thursday, October 19 at 12:10 – 1:00pm ET…
Blog Post
October 5, 2023
Pell Restoration for People in Prison
Webinar Recording and Additional Resources
On September 29, we hosted a webinar, “Pell 101: Information for Librarians and Those Serving People in Prison,” to share information about the restoration of Pell funding for students who are incarcerated. Panelists included prison education journalist and Open Campus reporter Charlotte West, Vera Institute of Justice Associate Initiative Director Ruth Delaney, and NASFAA Education Specialist Sheila Meiman. We’re pleased to share the recording here. Below, you will also find our panelists’ responses to questions raised during the…
Past Event
September 27, 2023
Transforming Metadata
Valuing metadata in changing environments
Transitioning to the next generation of metadata comes at a time of change in the social, political, and economic contexts in which libraries operate. This Transforming Metadata webinar features speakers whose recent publications help us better understand how these forces are shaping scholarly communication and metadata ecologies. Ithaka S+R’s Ioana Hulbert and Tracy Bergstrom share insights from recent studies that track perspectives and priorities among library deans and directors, focusing on challenges for articulating the value of technical and…
Past Event
September 29, 2023
Pell 101
Information for Librarians and Those Serving People in Prison
As of July 1, 2023, people who are incarcerated are once again eligible to receive the federal Pell grant, ending an almost 30 year ban. While this represents a long sought victory for advocates working to expand access to postsecondary educational opportunities inside, the process by which Pell restoration is being implemented is complex, involving many stakeholders across Departments of Corrections, colleges and universities, accreditors, and federal agencies. People who are incarcerated will be the critical stakeholders in ensuring access…
Past Event
September 27, 2023
Collaborative Collections Lifecycle Project (CCLP) Fall Public Update Webinar
In December of 2022, Ithaka S+R announced participation in a multi-institutional partnership to facilitate the cross-industry development of collaborative library collections, funded through the Institute of Museum and Library Services in a grant awarded to the National Information Standards Organization (NISO), the Partnership for Academic Library Collaboration & Innovation (PALCI), Lehigh University Libraries, and Ithaka S+R, along with 27 other partner organizations. The project aims to create a suite of best practices, prototype middleware, and improve standards in order…
Blog Post
August 28, 2023
Archives in the Anthropocene
An Interview with Eira Tansey
Cultural organizations and the government agencies that support them are increasingly devoting serious attention and financial resources to reducing their carbon footprints and climate-proofing their facilities. In a new addition to the growing body of literature on the topic, archivist and founder of the consulting firm Memory Rising, Eira Tansey outlines an ambitious policy agenda for mitigating the threats that climate change poses to archival collections and archivists. The agenda she proposes in A Green New Deal for…
Issue Brief
August 21, 2023
Redressing Relationships with the Historically Marginalized/ Redresser les relations avec les personnes historiquement marginalisées
This publication provides four focused examples about specific institutions that have worked to address the imperative to redress their relationships with historically marginalized communities/ Cette publication fournit quatre exemples ciblés d’établissements qui ont spécifiquement travaillé pour répondre à l’impératif de redresser leurs relations avec les communautés historiquement marginalisées.
Past Event
August 24, 2023
Generative AI for Library and Information Professionals
North American Voices in Developing an IFLA Resource
Generative AI is one of the most pertinent topics in any information setting nowadays. In response to the rise of generative AI, IFLA’s AI Special Interest Group has compiled a guide for library and information professionals. On Thursday, August 24 at 1-2:30pm ET, Ithaka S+R’s Dylan Ruediger will participate in a session at IFLA’s 88th World Library and Information Congress that will explore the opportunities, challenges…
Past Event
July 27, 2023
Librarians’ Role in Cultivating Data-Literate Citizens
National Forum on Libraries and Quantitative Data
In a session at the National Forum on Libraries and Quantitative Data, experts will share what we can do to cultivate citizens who understand and use data wisely. On Thursday, July 27 at 2:00-3:30 pm ET, professor Julia Bauder (Grinnell College), Lynette Hoelter (ICPSR), Steve Pierson (American Statistical Association), and Dylan Ruediger (Ithaka S+R) will provide practical advice and tools we can utilize and offer what they see for the future. Learn more and register for the session.
Blog Post
July 17, 2023
Draft Report for Community Input
Shared Infrastructure for Scholarly Communication
We’re thankful for all the comments the draft report received. We will publish a final revised version in October. A robust and nimble infrastructure is imperative to support the vital work of scholarly communication and effectively and efficiently meet the emerging service needs of different stakeholders. Publishers and other scholarly communication services and providers rely on this shared infrastructure in many key parts of their work, and it forms a foundational part of their technology stack and service…
Blog Post
June 29, 2023
Recentering Cultural Heritage with(in) the Community
The Haudenosaunee Archive, Resource and Knowledge Portal
In early June, we sat down for a virtual conversation with three researchers on a recent Mellon grant that brings together several topics of interest for Ithaka S+R: digital archives, preservation, open access, DEIA, and data sovereignty. In the following transcript, we discuss the development of the Haudenosaunee Archive, Resource and Knowledge (HARK) portal at the University of Buffalo with Theresa McCarthy (Principle Investigator (PI), Onondaga Nation Beaver Clan from Six Nations of the Grand River Territory, associate professor…
Blog Post
June 13, 2023
Should Academic Libraries Worry about Futureproofing?
If nothing else, the pandemic taught everyone the importance of the ability to manage change and pivot quickly. Now, three years after higher education institutions had to manage newly remote or hybrid operations, what will the next big change catalyst be, and how can we prepare for it? The what and how are at the heart of a new question we introduced in the latest cycle of the 2022 Ithaka S+R Library Survey. Nestled among questions about value proposition…
Past Event
June 26, 2023
Interdisciplinarity and Humanities Librarianship
Dylan Ruediger at ALA
On Monday, June 26, Dylan Ruediger is speaking at the ALA Annual Meeting on the “Interdisciplinarity and Humanities Librarianship: Are librarians (and Libraries) Keeping Pace, and What’s Next?” panel. About the panel Candice Dahl, learning support and liaison librarian at University of Saskatchewan, will moderate the discussion which is taking place at 9:00 AM CT at McCormick Place, W184a. Dylan will be joined on the panel by Glenda M. Insua, reference and liaison librarian at the University of Illinois at…
Blog Post
June 1, 2023
Coordinating Research Data Services
Key Barriers and Questions
This spring, 107 librarians, administrators, and staff from the 29 universities participating in Ithaka S+R’s Building Campus Strategies for Coordinated Data Support project began to identify barriers to streamlining their research data support services. The project’s first two meetings brought together representatives from university units involved in supporting academic researchers: librarians, senior administrators, research officers, and research computing staff. Working primarily in small groups roughly divided by professional capacity, participants described the ways that different university units—and different institutional…