NJLA-CUS/ACRL-NJ Research Committee Annual Report, 2017-2018

Membership

Cynthia Coulter served as chair for the year, 2017-2018.  Heather Dalal will take over as chair in July, 2018.

Meetings

There were no in-person meetings during 2017-2018.  Communications took place through email. All members were sent Research Award submissions after the NLJA Conference Committee collected then and sent them to Cynthia. Cynthia sent Showcase submission to committee members. Along with these nominations, Cynthia created a rubric for voting criteria that could be used by members if they wanted help with selection guidance. A deadline was set for final votes and an emailed tally of member votes for the three submission was counted to decide which two submissions would be selected to present at the Research Award & Showcase.

NJLA-CUS/ACRL/VALE User’s Conference

Cynthia submitted a poster proposal, which was accepted. The poster was displayed at the VALE Convention along with a new member enrollment sheet.

NJLA CUS Newsletter articles

Cynthia submitted an article for the Spring Newsletter calling for nominations for the 2018 Research Award & Showcase.

The Research Award & Showcase winner announcement was sent to NJLA/CUS Newsletter Committee. The NJLA/CUS Marketing & Communications committee were contacted, to place announcement on Facebook and Twitter. Cynthia posted announcement to NJLA CUS Drupal site.

Award and Nominees

In 2018, the Research Award announcement and subsequent applications were submitted to the NJLA Conference Committee, unlike past years when the Research committee chair managed this task. Submission where then sent to the chair of the Research Committee. In addition to the NJLA Conference Committee, Cynthia send additional requests for Research Award and also for the Research Showcase, previously the Research Showcase, to several library organization listservs, in November, December, January, February, and March for the April deadline.. The Showcase use to be part of the Award process, but since the Conference Committee only handled Awards, it was decided to split the two processes. Even though the Research Award winner was automatically asked to present at the NJLA Conference, s/he was not obliged to present at the conference. This call for submissions was also be sent to NJLA CUS Marketing & Communications Committee. It was also sent to the Spring Newsletter Committee.

There were two Award submissions and one Showcase submission.

The winners of the 2018 NJLA/CUS and ACRL/NJ Research Award & Showcase

Heather Dalal has been selected as the recipient of the 2018 NJLA CUS/ACRL-NJ Research Award. She will be honored at the NJLA Conference during the College and University Section Luncheon. Ms. Dalal will speak about her research during the Research Showcase to be held on Friday, June 1, 2018 from 11:30am to 12:20pm in the Wildwood 12 & 13 rooms of Harrah's Convention Center in Atlantic City, NJ.

 Heather A. Dalal is Associate Professor in the Moore Library at Rider University, specializing  in Instruction and Emerging Technologies. The title of the research article she co-authored  with Professor Arthur Taylor, also of Rider University, is, “Gender and Information Literacy:  Evaluation of Gender Differences in a Student Survey of Information Sources.” An online  version of this article can be found at: Taylor, Arthur, & Heather A. Dalal. "Gender and Information Literacy: Evaluation of Gender Differences in a Student Survey of Information Sources." College & Research Libraries 78.1 (2017): 90-113.  

 Dr. Michelle Kowalsky will also present at the 2018 Research Showcase, talking about her  ongoing research entitled, "Leveling Freshman Database Instruction Entry Points." She is a  Faculty Librarian at Rowan University and holds a doctorate in Education and a  Masters in  Business Administration. She, along with her co-author John Woodruff, was the 2017  Research Award recipient as well as being awarded the Rowan University’s Excellence in  Diversity Award for their book: Creating Inclusive Library Environments: A Planning Guide for Serving Patrons with Disabilities. 

The Research Showcase was held on June,1st from 11:30am to 12:20pm in the Wildwood 12 & 13 rooms of Harrah's Convention Center in Atlantic City, NJ.

NJLA 2018 Annual Conference

The 2018 conference was held at Harrah in Atlantic City, NJ. The theme was “Speak Freely.” New this year, Adriana Mamay, a conference organizer and member of the NJLA Honors & Awards Subcommittee, introduced the Research Award winner at the Thursday, May 31^st, 6:00pm to 8:00pm general NJLA Awards Ceremony. It had been discussed that the nominee (person who has nominated the Research winner) might present the NJLA Award, if possible.

Another formal presentation of the Research Award took place at the College and University Section’s luncheon on Friday, June 1st. The Research Award & Showcase presentation was held in a morning session from 11:30 to 12:20. Unlike last year, the Research presentation did not share a time slot with the Technology Award

ACRL Five-Year Goals and Objectives 

Through the presentation and explanation of their research, the speakers at the Research Award & Showcase help to promote ideas, practices, and current pedagogical theories, not only in librarianship, but in student learning and faculty instruction.

Thus, the NJLA/CUS ACRL-NJ College & University Section Research Committee has helped to address the following recommendations of the ACRL Plan for Excellence:

• Increase research that demonstrates the value of academic and research libraries.
• To improve outreach to higher education organizations in order to articulate the value of libraries in higher education.
• Increase partnerships with other organizations to advance the impact of Information Literacy on student learning.
• Increase understanding of new models of information fluency as pedagogy evolves.
• Increase the ways ACRL is an advocate and model for open dissemination and evaluation practices. 
• Influence scholarly publishing policies and practices toward a more open system. 
• Enabling programs and services for education, publication, advocacy, and member engagement.