Volume 14, Number 3, 2019

EN:

Objective – The purpose of this study was to examine relationships among student library visits, library resource use, library space satisfaction (e.g., quiet study space), and students’ academic performance (i.e., Grade Point Average or GPA) using quantitative data and to better understand how the academic library has an impact on students’ learning from students’ perspectives using qualitative data.

Methods – A survey was distributed during the Spring 2018 semester to graduate and undergraduate students at a large public research institution. Survey responses consisted of two types of data: (1) quantitative data pertaining to multiple choice questions related to the student library experience, and (2) qualitative data, including open-ended questions, regarding students’ perceptions of the library’s impact on their learning. Quantitative data was analyzed using Spearman’s rank correlations between students’ library experience and their GPAs, whereas qualitative data was analyzed employing thematic analysis.

Results – The key findings from the quantitative data show that student library visits and library space satisfaction were negatively associated with their GPA, whereas most students’ use of library resources (e.g., journal articles and databases) was positively associated with their GPAs. The primary findings from the qualitative data reveal that students perceived the library as a place where they can concentrate and complete their work. Additionally, the students reported that they utilize both the quiet and collaborative study spaces interchangeably depending on their academic needs, and expressed that the library provides them with invaluable resources that enhance their coursework and research.

Conclusions – While the findings show that the student library experience was associated with their academic achievements, there were mixed findings in the study. The findings suggest that as a student’s GPA increases, their in-person library visits and library space satisfaction decrease. On the other hand, as a student’s GPA increases, their library resource usage increases. Further investigation is needed to better understand the negative relationship between students’ library visits, library space satisfaction, and their GPAs.

EN:

Objective – Cultural heritage institutions with digital images on Wikimedia Commons want to know if and how those images are being reused. This study attempts to gauge the impact of digital cultural heritage images from Wikimedia Commons by using Reverse Image Lookup (RIL) to determine the quantity and content of different types of reuse, barriers to using RIL to assess reuse, and whether reused digital cultural heritage images from Wikimedia Commons include licensing information.

Methods – 171 digital cultural heritage Wikimedia Commons images from 51 cultural heritage institutions were searched using the Google images “Search by image” tool to find instances of reuse. Content analysis of the digital cultural heritage images and the context in which they were reused was conducted to apply broad content categories. Reuse within Wikimedia Foundation projects was also recorded.

Results – A total of 1,533 reuse instances found via Google images and Wikimedia Commons’ file usage reports were analyzed. Over half of reuse occurred within Wikimedia projects or wiki aggregator and mirror sites. Notable People, people, historic events, and buildings and locations were the most widely reused topics of digital cultural heritage both within Wikimedia projects and beyond, while social, media gallery, news, and education websites were the most likely places to find reuse outside of wiki projects. However, the content of reused images varied slightly depending on the website type on which they were found. Very few instances of reuse included licensing information, and those that did often were incorrect. Reuse of cultural heritage images from Wikimedia Commons was either done without added context or content, as in the case of media galleries, or was done in ways that did not distort or mischaracterize the images being reused.

Conclusion – Cultural heritage institutions can use this research to focus digitization and digital content marketing efforts in order to optimize reuse by the types of websites and users that best meet their institution’s mission. Institutions that fear reuse without attribution have reason for concern as the practice of reusing both Creative Commons and public domain media without rights statements is widespread. More research needs to be conducted to determine if notability of institution or collection affects likelihood of reuse, as preliminary results show a weak correlation between number of images searched and number of images reused per institution. RIL technology is a reliable method of finding image reuse but is a labour-intensive process that may best be conducted for selected images and specific assessment campaigns. Finally, the reused content and context categories developed here may contribute to a standardized set of codes for assessing digital cultural heritage reuse.

EN:

Objective – As information literacy instruction is an increasingly important function of academic librarianship, it is relevant to consider librarians’ attitudes about their teaching. More specifically, it can be instructive to consider how academic librarians with different educational backgrounds have developed their thinking about themselves as educators. Understanding the influences in how these shifts have happened can help librarians to explore the different supports and structures that enable them to experience such perspective transformation.

Methods – The author electronically distributed a modified version of King’s (2009) Learning Activities Survey to academic librarians on three instruction-focused electronic mail lists. This instrument collected information on participants’ demographics, occurrence of perspective transformation around teaching, and perception of the factors that influenced said perspective transformation (if applicable). The author analyzed the data for those academic librarians who had experienced perspective transformation around their teaching identities to determine if statistically significant relationships existed between their education and the factors they reported as influencing this transformation.

Results – Results demonstrated several statistically significant relationships and differences in the factors that academic librarians with different educational backgrounds cited as influential in their teaching-focused perspective transformation.

Conclusion – This research offers a starting point for considering how to support different groups of librarians as they engage in information literacy instruction. The findings suggest that addressing academic librarians’ needs based on their educational levels (e.g., additional Master’s degrees, PhDs, or professional degrees) may help develop productive professional learning around instruction.

EN:

Objective – This qualitative study sought to delineate and understand the role of the library in addressing the barriers transfer students experience upon acclimating to their new campus.

Methods – A screening survey was used to recruit transfer students in their first semester at Brooklyn College (BC) to participate in focus groups. The participants discussed the issues they encountered by answering open-ended questions about their experiences on campus, and with the library specifically.

Results – Transfer students desired current information about campus procedures, services, and academic support. They often had to find this information on their own, wasting valuable time. Students felt confused and stressed by this process; however, strategic library involvement can help alleviate this stress.

Conclusion – Involving the library more fully in orientations could ease students’ confusion in their transitional semester. Students desired local knowledge, and the library is in a key position to disseminate this information.

EN:

Objective – Understanding students’ approaches to studying and their experiences of library spaces and other learning spaces are central to developing library spaces, policies, resources and support services that fit with and meet students’ evolving needs. The aim of the research was to explore how international students approach academic assignments and how they experience the spaces they use for studying to determine what constituted enablers or barriers to study. The paper focuses on how the two ethnographic methods of retrospective interviewing and cognitive mapping produce rich qualitative data that puts the students’ lived experience at the centre and allows us a better understanding of where study practices and study spaces fit into their lives.

Methods – The study used a qualitative ethnographic approach for data collection which took place in April 2016. We used two innovative interview activities, the retrospective process interview and a cognitive mapping activity, to elicit student practices in relation to how they approach an assignment and which spaces they use for study. We conducted eight interviews with international students in the Business School, produced interview notes with transcribed excerpts, and developed a themed coding frame.

Results – The retrospective process interview offered a way of gathering detailed information about the resources students draw on when working on academic assignments, including library provided resources and personal social networks. The cognitive mapping activity enabled us to develop a better understanding of where students go to study and what they find enabling or disruptive about different types of spaces. The combination of the two methods gave students the opportunity to discuss how their study practices changed over time and provided insight into their student journeys, both in how their requirements for and knowledge of spaces, and their use of resources, were evolving.

Conclusion – The study shows how ethnographic methods can be used to develop a greater understanding of study practices inside and outside library spaces, how students use and feel about library spaces, and where the library fits into the students’ lives and journey. This can be beneficial for universities and other institutions, and their stakeholders, looking to make significant changes to library buildings and/or campus environments.

EN:

Objective – When teaching Information Literacy (IL) concepts, instructors often have no knowledge about the background or previous IL exposure of the students they are teaching. This study aims to create a holistic picture of the students at a large Midwestern United States university in a first year introductory course on the design process for solving engineering problems.

Methods – Institutional data and course level data were traced and linked to individual students in an introduction to design thinking first year course. This course is at a major high research activity institution in the Midwestern United States. From a total course size of 650, institutional and course level data of 127 students were selected randomly and analyzed. Some data points are self-reported and some data points are performance-based.

Results – Underrepresented minorities (URMs) had a higher increase in IL score from assignment 1 to assignment 3 than non-URM students. However, non-URMs performed higher on both the first and the last assignments. Students in concurrent IL designated courses had a higher increase from assignments 1 to 3 than those not in simultaneous IL designated courses. Black and international students had the highest increases from assignments 1 to 3 of any demographic. Regarding IL, the fact that none of the students had been exposed to much IL instruction justified continued collaboration in the course between the instructor of record and the IL specialist. There were significantly negative correlations between the final grade and first-generation status. Legacy students also performed more poorly from assignments 1 to 3.

Conclusion – Students are more diverse in a single classroom setting than presumed prior to research; therefore, our instructional practices should be diverse and inclusive, as well. More preparation work and fact finding should be conducted by library faculty and instructors to facilitate the learning of the students, and not just the act of teaching. Librarians could ask for more information about the course demographics and respond accordingly. Librarians should also be properly trained in instructional practices to be better equipped to meet the expectations and challenges of teaching a diverse class.