Feed aggregator

Turn it off and on again: digital literacy in college students

ALA ACRL -

What happened to digital literacy and competency?  I’ll start this post with some examples of declining digital and computer literacy that me and my colleagues have noticed just in the past academic year with students.   I’m sure a lot of these, along with many other examples, sound very familiar to academic librarians. Although the IT … Continue reading "Turn it off and on again: digital literacy in college students"

The post Turn it off and on again: digital literacy in college students first appeared on ACRLog.

Dwindling Reference Questions

ALA ACRL -

“If you build it, [will] they will come[?]” As another season of baseball is just around the corner, I’ve been thinking about ways to get hits and avoid strikes—so decided to break out a classic quotation from Field of Dreams and apply it to academic libraries. In recent years, our library has seen dwindling reference … Continue reading "Dwindling Reference Questions"

The post Dwindling Reference Questions first appeared on ACRLog.

Achilles’ Heel?, or Coping Strategies Turned Strengths

ALA ACRL -

I stumbled across this article the other day. The gist is that leaders can and should embrace their confusion when confronted with illogical situations. Whereas some might see confusion as a liability to be concealed or let confusion debilitate them, strong leaders embrace their confusion as a productive tool. The author suggests that the Reflective … Continue reading "Achilles’ Heel?, or Coping Strategies Turned Strengths"

The post Achilles’ Heel?, or Coping Strategies Turned Strengths first appeared on ACRLog.

Unveiling the Deceptive Duo: Inclusive Access and Equitable Access – A Threat to Student Choice and Library Reserves

ALA ACRL -

Academic libraries have a new battle on the horizon: inclusive access and equitable access. These two models are the newest ventures of bookstore vendors to get students to purchase costly textbooks and other course materials. Stealing library jargon to disguise the truth, bookstore vendors are advertising inclusive access and equitable access as being a positive … Continue reading "Unveiling the Deceptive Duo: Inclusive Access and Equitable Access – A Threat to Student Choice and Library Reserves"

In search of community

ALA ACRL -

I’ve always felt a strong sense of professional community as a librarian. I had a close local cohort of friends in my distance MLIS program, a fantastic group of ALA Spectrum Scholars who helped me feel accepted and included, and great colleagues. I’ve been lucky to have worked at institutions that invest in the professional … Continue reading "In search of community"

What kind of institutional change are you encountering?

ALA ACRL -

To kick off our institutional change theme, we asked some librarians this question: In the New Year, what kind of institutional change are you encountering? Are you looking forward to it, dreading it, or some kind of in-between feeling? Given the subject matter, we opted to anonymize this post. If you have thoughts on institutional … Continue reading "What kind of institutional change are you encountering?"

Navigating an Uncharted Path in Liaison Librarianship

ALA ACRL -

Towards the end of fall 2023, the STEM Librarian stepped down from her position at CSU Northridge. Throughout her tenure, she covered liaison duties that spanned across many Science and Engineering departments. I heard about this news during a monthly department meeting. Our department chair requested support and asked us to reach out if interested … Continue reading "Navigating an Uncharted Path in Liaison Librarianship"

More Media, Less Social

ALA ACRL -

As the year comes to a close, I’m seeing more and more people and organizations leave Twitter behind. This is not a new trend by any means — many deactivated their accounts after the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and the increase in hate speech and harassment has only escalated since then (especially since the platform’s … Continue reading "More Media, Less Social"

Supervising a Makerspace: Musings from the Fall

ALA ACRL -

This semester, Stego Studio, our library’s makerspace, moved into the department I oversee. This makerspace opened up around the time I arrived at my institution (fall 2021) and I’ve watched, from a distance, as the studio has grown and evolved. I was excited but also slightly overwhelmed when I was asked to oversee this space … Continue reading "Supervising a Makerspace: Musings from the Fall"

Generative AI & the Evolution of Academic Librarianship

ALA ACRL -

During my first week as an academic librarian, many faculty discussions on campus were regarding the issue of generative AI software, such as ChatGPT. A majority of the faculty at a panel discussion held on campus about AI expressed concerns over plagiarism, copyright, academic integrity, etc. Those on the panel, however, commented on how beneficial … Continue reading "Generative AI & the Evolution of Academic Librarianship"

Contract Positions and Leave Coverage for Academic Librarians

ALA ACRL -

Contract and term positions are all too common for early-career academic librarians. Shrinking post-secondary budgets, demand for academic librarian positions, doing more with less, and persistent vacant positions means landing a permanent and continuing position can be challenging. Job precarity is a reality for many of our early-career colleagues. Sajni Lacey, in the article “Job … Continue reading "Contract Positions and Leave Coverage for Academic Librarians"

Focus on Institutional Change

ALA ACRL -

The transformation of Higher Education institutions has been an ongoing journey, gaining momentum due to the sweeping changes triggered by COVID-19 and a growing awareness of existential threats like climate change, inflation, housing insecurity, and institutional discrimination. These shifts have left a lasting imprint on the way academic libraries operate, offer services, and stay relevant. … Continue reading "Focus on Institutional Change"
Subscribe to NJLA College and University Section and Association of College and Research Libraries aggregator