Jennifer E. Nutefall

The Timing of the Research Question: First-Year Writing Faculty and Instruction Librarians‘ Differing Perspectives

Faculty and librarians agree on the qualities of a good research question. However, in an exploratory study, they differed on when students should develop their research question. While librarians stated that students should develop their question early, first-year writing faculty advocated for delaying the development of the research question. The timing of the research question is an important issue because it has implications for the structuring of research assignments and library instruction, as well as having an impact on the students who get differing messages.

Information literacy: Developing partnerships across library types

Abstract This article describes a grant-funded project with the final goal of creating information literacy collaborative partnerships among academic, school, and public libraries. The objectives of the grant as well as an overall description of the project are stated. The emphasis of the article is on the process followed to create the collaborative partnerships and the partnerships created as a result of the grant.

Structuring a Successful Instruction Internship

Internships and practicums allow MLS students the opportunity to gain knowledge of and experience with information literacy instruction. These experiences can supplement the theoretical information learned in graduate information literacy classes. Yet, the literature on structuring and creating a successful internship experience is sparse. This article reports on a survey of interns who completed an instruction internship at George Washington Universitys (GWU) Gelman Library and provides seven recommendations for creating a successful internship program.

Mysteries in the Night: An Exploratory Study of Student Use and Perceptions of 24/5 Hours

The Oregon State University Valley Library has been open 24 hours per day, five days per week, during regular academic terms since 2010. The authors collected survey data during 2012 to explore how students used the hours and whether they perceived that the provision of 24/5 hours contributes to their academic success. Nearly 90% of the respondents believed that their use of the overnight hours made a difference in their performance. The demographic, usage, and perception of value data collected provide a useful snapshot of overnight usage in this exploratory study.

Raise Your Profile: Build Your Program.

ABSTRACT To raise the librarys profile within the campus community, it is critical to create a strategic plan and align library goals with those of the university. At George Washington Universitys Gelman Library, the instruction librarians gained internal and external support to hire two new instruction librarians to better support collaboration with the new university writing program. The library then used assessment data to successfully advocate for an additional two positions.

Is Everything All Right At Night? Measuring User Response to Overnight Library Services

ABSTRACT A multiple methods study was conducted over three academic terms during the 2015 fiscal year at Santa Clara University Library to assess the impact and value of overnight library hours. A survey was conducted after midnight during times the Library was open 24 hours, five days a week (24/5), the last two weeks of the quarter. The survey was further informed by patron counts conducted hourly by library floor and type of activity. Survey questions were based on Sowell and Nutefalls study (2014); activity counts used categories similar to Johnson and McCallisters overnight study (2015). This SCU research queried service needs in overnight hours, finding, as others studies have, that late-night users are primarily seeking a quiet space with comfortable amenities conducive to concentrated study. This conclusion was supported by patron count data that documented user activity between midnight and 7 a.m. showing patrons overwhelmingly working on personal laptops (53%) or library PCs (14%). Over 90% of respondents strongly agreed (66%) or agreed (27%) with the statement that “having the ability to use the Learning Commons/Library during the overnight hours (midnight-7 a.m.) has made a positive difference for me academically.”

Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Managing Government Document Collections in a Digital World

An Oregon State University Libraries (OSUL) study groups review of its current policies, practices, and costs provides an illustrative case study of the challenges in managing government documents during this period of transition from print to digital. In its exploration of more aggressive approaches to greatly increasing access to electronic collections and reducing the size of the print footprint, OSUL learned that the current requirements of the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) hamper such efforts. This case study provides background on prior internal studies, OSULs participation in a shared housing agreement, statistics on size and current usage of its government documents, and the costs to receive, process, and provide access to its document collection. It concludes with the recommendations for OSUL to be as proactive as it can be under the current FDLP rules and regulations while bringing projected costs to manage government documents more in line with higher priorities.