Topic: Libraries
Blog Post
January 30, 2023
A Librarian’s Perspective on Streaming Video in Educational Contexts
Almost exactly one year ago, I added “Streaming Video Coordinator” to my portfolio at Cornell University Library, a role which includes looking strategically at our streaming media offerings. In this capacity I started thinking about what a collection policy focused on streaming video might look like. In fact, libraries don’t collect streaming video at all, but rather prioritize timely access to films needed to support course instruction.
Blog Post
January 26, 2023
Teaching with Streaming Video
A New Report from Ithaka S+R Provides Insights from Instructors
Instructors from all disciplines have incorporated video into their syllabi, and—unsurprisingly—streaming video is now the dominant format to which they turn. Faculty and students appreciate the flexibility of streaming video, which students can access on a variety of platforms ranging from YouTube to subscription services licensed by university libraries. Libraries are now making significant investments to license streaming content for educational use and anticipate that their spending in this area will double over the next five years. As the…
Research Report
January 26, 2023
Teaching with Streaming Video
Understanding Instructional Practices, Challenges, and Support Needs
Ithaka S+R launched a project in collaboration with a cohort of libraries to identify challenges and develop strategies for streaming media acquisitions. We published the findings from the first part of this project—a comprehensive national survey that tracked the streaming media strategies libraries are adopting and the challenges they are facing—in June, 2022. This second report draws on a qualitative study of faculty practices and support needs with streaming video. Understanding these practices can guide libraries to make strategic acquisitions…
Blog Post
January 17, 2023
Re-Assessing the “Big Deal”
Views from Cornell University and Georgia Southern University
As publishers shift their business strategies to meet higher education’s open access priorities, universities must continually re-assess the extent to which their readers still require access to content behind paywalls, and by extension, whether the bundled subscription packages that provided a discount to that content still constitute a “big deal.” Understanding the costs of these subscriptions to institutions relative to the benefits to its readers is made complicated by the uneven pace of open access uptake across disciplines as well…
Past Event
February 16, 2023
Lost and Found: Supporting Student Navigation Through Library-Student Affairs Partnerships
Session at DREAM Annual Convening 2023
On Thursday, February 16 at 4:30 – 5:00 pm, Ithaka S+R’s Melissa Blankstein and Borough of Manhattan College’s Jean Amaral will present a session at Achieving the Dream’s DREAM Annual Convening 2023. The session will center on college fluency—a new term that describes the knowledge and corresponding set of abilities that enable students and staff to effectively locate and use relevant college services, programs, and resources, which can help students to successfully engage with and self-advocate within the culture…
Blog Post
January 11, 2023
The Library’s Role with Open Educational Resources
A Conversation with Librarians
Our latest US Faculty Survey examined faculty perspectives and attitudes about using and creating Open Educational Resources (OER). Not only were we able to track how these perspectives changed over time, but we were also able to understand how the pandemic affected OER consumption and creation. As expected, the adoption and creation of OER textbooks, course modules, and video lectures increased since the last national survey cycle, yet faculty indicated that they are less interested in creating and using…
Issue Brief
January 5, 2023
Copyright and Streaming Audiovisual Content in the US Context
Copyright law includes special rights for research and teaching, including the fair use right, which can help address gaps between the educational activities that technology facilitates and the exclusive rights copyright grants to authors. In this brief, we review how US copyright law currently applies to streaming content for educational and research purposes and explore the opportunities for academic libraries.
Blog Post
December 19, 2022
Collaborative Collection Development
A New IMLS-Funded Partnership
Ithaka S+R is proud to announce our participation in a new multi-institutional partnership to facilitate the cross-industry development of collaborative library collections. The project is generously funded through the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) National Leadership Grant for Libraries, 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.
Blog Post
December 13, 2022
Building a Thriving Student Support Ecosystem
An Action Plan for Community Colleges
Community colleges have developed a variety of services to support their students’ success, but too often these offerings are siloed in different campus units, minimizing their impact. Over the past four years, Ithaka S+R has conducted IMLS-funded research to surface the most effective collaborative strategies to break down those siloes. This action plan summarizes best practices for faculty, librarians, administrators, and others as they implement these services.
Blog Post
December 8, 2022
College Fluency Capacity Building
BMCC Library and Ithaka S+R Launch New Research Project
We’re excited to announce that the Borough of Manhattan Community College Library and Ithaka S+R are partnering on new IMLS-funded research exploring librarians’ role in college fluency. The College Fluency Capacity Building research project will equip library faculty and staff to address new and urgent challenges they are facing in their profession as they are called to meet the changing information needs of the students they serve.
Blog Post
December 5, 2022
Coordinating Research Data Support Services Across Campus
Announcing a Second Cohort
This fall, Ithaka S+R announced a new cohort-based research and consulting project to help universities coordinate research data support services across campus. Demand for the first cohort has been overwhelming, making it clear just how timely and important this topic is to university leaders. For this reason, we are pleased to announce that we are organizing a second cohort so that more universities can participate in this project.
Blog Post
November 18, 2022
Assessment Trends in the Late Pandemic Era
Reflections from the 2022 Library Assessment Conference
The COVID-19 pandemic has meant reevaluating approaches to, and the underlying goals of, assessment in academic libraries. Shifts to remote and hybrid work have accelerated digitization efforts and led libraries to rethink assessment, especially as perceptions of the library’s role and overarching purpose change. Against this backdrop, the Library Assessment Conference provided an important opportunity to take stock of how the field continues to evolve.
Playbook
November 9, 2022
Leading by Diversifying Collections
A Guide for Academic Library Leadership
Academic libraries build collections in the context of their parent institutions—primarily to support the institution’s research, teaching, and learning mission. They also build collections that document and preserve the cultural and scientific heritage of our society to represent a wide range of perspectives. In these efforts, universities and their libraries are developing approaches that address calls for greater diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) with a focus on creating space for and the perspectives of historically marginalized groups.
Past Event
November 3, 2022
Licensing and Learning
What New Research Suggests About How Streaming Video Can Support Student Learning
In a session at the 2022 Charleston Conference, Ithaka S+R’s Dylan Ruediger will share findings from large-scale research Ithaka S+R conducted this spring regarding instructors’ use of streaming video in pedagogical contexts, and libraries’ decision making regarding streaming media licensing. The mixed-method research project raises important questions about the necessity for alignment across campus around how video can meet pedagogical goals. Dr. Adam Frost and Lisa Forrest will also present, and the panel will be moderated by Michael Carmichael. The…
Past Event
November 2, 2022
A Tipping Point to OA in the US?
Mapping the Road to Implementing the ‘Nelson Memo’
On November 2 at 4:00 – 4:40 pm ET, Ithaka S+R’s Danielle Miriam Cooper will participate in a session at the 2022 Charleston Conference on the significance of the Nelson Memo and implications for libraries and publishers. The event will feature a mix of policy analysis, debate, and informed forecasting. Other speakers include Daniel Sepulveda and Robert Kiley, and the session will be moderated by Julia Kostova. Learn more about the event here.
Blog Post
October 12, 2022
The Library Director Survey 2022 is Live!
We are excited to announce the launch of the 2022 Ithaka S+R Library Director Survey. In order to track high-level strategic and leadership perspectives across the field, we conduct a national survey of academic library deans and directors every three years. Consistent with previous survey cycles, this iteration of the study will provide insights into issues of strategic priorities, budgeting, staffing, and collections, as well as introduce new questions designed to track emerging trends in the field.
Blog Post
September 27, 2022
Supporting Quantitative Learning in the Social Sciences
New Report Details Challenges and Opportunities
Social science classes play important roles in teaching quantitative literacy to students because they ground quantitative reasoning in contexts that resonate with undergraduates. Understanding how social science instructors teach quantitative skills and identifying instructional barriers can help libraries and other university units support faculty and students. Today, Ithaka S+R releases findings from one of the largest in-depth studies of teaching practices across social science disciplines, conducted in partnership with librarians from 20 colleges and universities in the United States.
Research Report
September 27, 2022
Fostering Data Literacy
Teaching with Quantitative Data in the Social Sciences
“Fostering Data Literacy: Teaching with Quantitative Data in the Social Sciences” explores why and how instructors teach with data, identifies the most important challenges they face, and describes how faculty and students utilize relevant campus and external resources. Full details and actionable recommendations for stakeholders are offered in the body of the report, which offers guidance to university libraries and other campus units, faculty, vendors, and others interested in improving institutional capacities to support data-intensive instruction in the social sciences.
Past Event
November 4, 2022
Aligning the Research Library with the University’s Organizational Strategy
2022 Charleston Conference Panel
On Friday, November 4 at 12:15 – 1:00 pm, Ithaka S+R Vice President of Organizational Strategy and Libraries, Scholarly Communication, and Museums Roger Schonfeld will chair a Charleston Conference session discussing an Ithaka S+R research report co-published with ARL and CARL, on aligning the research library with the university’s organizational strategy. The panel will feature perspectives from leaders at academic libraries about their institutional strategy and more, with K. Matthew Dames, Anne Houston, and Jennifer Fabbi. Learn more about the…
Blog Post
September 22, 2022
Better Serving Library Patrons Behind Bars
New Project to Expand Public, State, Law, Prison, and Academic Library Collaboration
Over the past several years, public, state, academic, and law libraries have increasingly sought to serve people in prison through a variety of services. Now, with a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Ithaka S+R is undertaking a planning project that will set the stage for future partnerships to develop and pilot wrap-around library services to meet the information needs of people who are currently incarcerated.