- Email: [email protected]
Keeping Current: Reviews and Analysis of Special Reports
The Journal of Academic Librarianship 39 (2013) 315–317
Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect
The Journal of Academic Librarianship
Keeping Current
Keeping Current: Reviews and Analysis of Special Reports
This column provides in-depth analysis of recently issued white papers, research studies, presentations, and special reports that the editor feels would be of greatest interest to academic librarians. This is a highly selective compilation, and the editor welcomes suggestions from readers. [email protected]. “How College Graduates Solve Information Problems Once they Join the Workplace,” by Alison J. Head. October 16, 2012. Project Information Literacy Report: The Passage Studies. Sponsored by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard. Available: http://projectinfolit.org/ pdfs/PIL_fall2012_workplaceStudy_FullReport.pdf. OVERVIEW This qualitative study investigated information-seeking behavior of recent college graduates in the workplace. Interviews and focus groups were conducted with recent graduates and employers. Most recent graduates interviewed reported finding it difficult to solve information problems in the workplace where the skills needed differed greatly from skills needed for completing research projects in college. Employers reported that though they hired recent graduates assuming they would have sophisticated searching skills, in fact, many of their new hires did not have basic competencies in solving information challenges, especially in terms of skimming through print reports, using the telephone to find information, and analyzing and interpreting research results. KEY FINDINGS • Employers reported that they were looking for new employees that had skills related to online searching, finding information with tools other than search engines, and being able to identify the best solution from the information they had gathered. • Newly hired college students were adept at quickly finding an answer, but lacked the skills needed to find the best answers to solve problems in the workplace; they lacked persistence and patience when searching for answers. • Employers were disappointed that newly hired employees tended not to use information seeking skills related to using a telephone or skimming through a report, but instead relied on information found on initial search screens. • Graduates reporting that they applied evaluation techniques learned in school and were able to synthesize large quantities of content. They also reported getting help and learning work processes through relationships with colleagues at work.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2013.03.001
ANALYSIS Project Information Literacy is a national research study and this report is one of a series of reports in a new research initiative called “The Passage Studies.” The purpose of these studies is to investigate how young adults search and use information as they transition from college to the workplace, and what information competencies are needed to excel in the workplace. It is important to note that this first report used data gathered from a small number of qualitative interviews and focus groups and that future studies will involve more rigorously testing these findings and turning up additional results. One of the most interesting findings from this initial study is that there is a large gap between the research skills undergraduates learn and use in solving information problems while in college and the strategies and competencies that are needed in the workplace. Newly hired college graduates have grown up in a world where information has always been easily available. When asked in this study how they solved their information problems at work most participants reported that they either used a search engine such as Google or asked a co-worker. Few reported using more sophisticated methods or resources to solve information problems. Recent graduates reported that they struggled with the sense of urgency found in the workplace, that research tasks were given with little structure or direction, and that information seeking was often “highly contextual” and social. The development of social connections in the workplace to help solve information problems was deemed especially important and students reported learning to do this, especially by tapping into their supervisor for assistance. At the same time these students reported that they did use information competencies learned in college such as checking for currency, determining if the author was credible, and evaluating the efficacy of scientific studies. Active reading and synthesizing large amounts of information were also used in the workplace. The study indicated that employers, on the other hand, expected that their newly hired graduates would have baseline information competencies that included knowing where to find information with little guidance, using search strategies that moved beyond Google, and figuring out the best solution from the information found. While the employers did not expect their new hires to understand the need at work to engage in more iterative problem-solving processes, they felt that if employees were open to learning, that these skills could be developed. Employers found that their newly hired graduates were not able to easily engage team members during the research process and lacked basic competencies relating to retrieving information in a variety of formats, finding patterns and making connections, and being able to have the patience and persistence needed to do more in-depth investigations and analysis.
316
L. Stebbins / The Journal of Academic Librarianship 39 (2013) 315–317
There is clearly a strong need for information literacy programs at the college level to address the skills gap discovered in this and other research. The use of project based learning and learning in authentic contexts generally would assist in providing students with skills that move beyond meeting the immediate needs of the undergraduate research paper. “Appraising our Digital Investment: Sustainability of Digitized Special Collections in ARL Libraries,” by Nancy Maron and Sarah Pickle. February 2013. Washington D.C.: Association of Research Libraries and New York: Ithaka S + R. Available: http://www.arl.org/ bm~doc/digitizing-special-collections-report-21feb13.pdf. OVERVIEW Recognizing their increasing value to the larger community, research libraries have focused recent efforts on digitizing Special Collections resources. This study investigates what ongoing supports are needed after Special Collections are digitized. These supports include best practices, costs, and revenue generation connected to digitized collections, as well as measuring attitudes towards these collections. Frequently it is easier to tap funds for new digitization efforts and more difficult to budget for ongoing support of collections that are already digitized. KEY POINTS • Most library administrators feel their digitized Special Collections do not receive enough funds and yet are critical to the future of the library. • Management of digitized collections is decentralized across several departments including either IT or the Special Collections department. In 20 percent of the cases, digital working groups or committees oversee digital collections. This vague management structure can make it difficult to plan and budget for sustainability and growth. • Libraries focus a great deal more attention on creating new digitized resources rather than supporting the collections that are already digitized. This new digitization work often receives outside funds, whereas the library is typically the sole support for older digitized collections. • Many libraries do not pursue outside revenue from their digitized collections due to their strong support for open access (OA) of digitized resources as well as the challenges involved and low return on investment of these types of activities. • Less than half of libraries gather information about their audience and those that do frequently rely only on web analytics. Roughly half of libraries conduct some type of outreach, and of those that participate in outreach activities very few measure the effectiveness of their outreach efforts. This report provides a first step toward opening a conversation about the sustainability of digitized special collections through planning and defining the broader goals, if any, for these collections. The recommendations include helping libraries determine what their larger goals are for specific digitized Special Collections. Is the purpose to preserve fragile originals? Or is the purpose broader involving connecting content to prospective audiences. The latter involves a greater role for the library and more strategizing relating to understanding user needs and ways to communicate to potential audiences. While oversight of these collections is distributed and this can present challenges, the involvement of different components of the library, IT, and larger university community provide essential supports for digitization, ongoing maintenance, and marketing to potential audiences and funders. Determining the value to potential users can be
well worth the effort, if this analysis might result in future avenues for funding and support. “Organization of Scholarly Communication Services,” by Rachel Radom, Melanie Feltner-Reichert, and Kynita Stringer-Stanback. November 2012. ARL SPEC Kit 332. Washington DC: Association of Research Libraries. OVERVIEW This survey investigates and reports on how research institutions organize staff to support scholarly communication services and what changes have occurred to this structure since 2007. Almost half of all ARL libraries responded to the survey, with almost all of these institutions (56 of 60) indicating that their library was involved in scholarly communication services. KEY POINTS • While the majority of libraries indicated that they were probably the leaders of scholarly communication efforts on campus, there was some reluctance to claim this leadership role. This may be partly because most libraries work with partners in providing these services, and also because it is unclear that the institution at large is fully aware or formally recognizes the strong role the library plays in scholarly communication services. • The staffing and structure of scholarly communications work in libraries is provided in a large variety of ways from single individuals, teams of two, and larger committees and task forces. For many libraries there was a combination of staffing structures and a great deal of transition and reorganization occurring making this question difficult to pin down. • Many respondents felt that throughout the library many staff members were involved to some degree in scholarly communications related work activities. • Scholarly communication work in libraries has grown significantly since the snapshot taken by ARL in 2007. • This SPEC kit contains useful examples of scholarly communication resolutions, OA policies, organization charts, and committee charges. ANALYSIS Libraries are involved in many exciting ways with services that support scholarly communication. Educational activities continue to be a prime focus and underlie much of the work that libraries do in the area of scholarly communication. In analyzing the responses, the authors of the study found that three prime areas emerged: outreach and support for author rights, hosting and preserving digital content, and digital scholarship support. Roughly three-quarters of respondents indicated that their libraries worked in each of these areas. Many of the findings from the current survey indicate that educational efforts by libraries around the area of scholarly communication are bearing fruit. Open access (OA) publishing, author activism and OA resolutions, the growth of institutional repositories, and the growing area of digital humanities work indicate significant work has been accomplished in expanding institutional awareness related to supporting new scholarly communication models. Going forward libraries will continue to take a leadership role in these efforts. Areas that will be developing and expanding further include digital research, data management plans, alt-metrics to determine research impact, and involvement of the design of new systems for access. “Scholarly Communications and the Role of the Liberal Arts College Library,” by Diane Graves. 2013. Library Faculty Research. Paper 23. Available: http://digitalcommons.trinity.edu/lib_faculty/23.
L. Stebbins / The Journal of Academic Librarianship 39 (2013) 315–317
OVERVIEW This paper by the University Librarian at Trinity University in Texas argues that collectively small liberal arts college libraries have the potential for taking a leadership role in finding new and viable models and solutions for Scholarly Communication issues including the search for alternative models and the need for advocacy. Small liberal arts college libraries can respond quickly and work collaboratively with faculty to build alliances across institutions. They can develop programs that benefit faculty and support institutional teaching and research missions. KEY POINTS • Due to economic factors relating to the balance of trade between the United State and Europe in the mid-1980s the price of journal articles in many STEM fields jumped by almost 25 percent. • Because each journal is, in a sense, its own monopoly, libraries continued to buy specific journals in order to support particular fields at their institutions regardless of the price increases. This led to journal publishers realizing that they could charge ever-increasing sums for top tier journals and prices continued to climb in the decades following the trade imbalance. • The assumption that only large research institutions can set the agenda for scholarly communications solutions is misguided. Faculty at small liberal arts colleges also need assistance understanding intellectual property rights and alternatives to copyright and the relationship of their publishing activities and choices to the issue of access. ANALYSIS The author makes a good case in arguing that collectively, libraries at small liberal arts institutions can have a strong voice in the debate over the future of scholarly communications. Their strength lies in their ability to respond quickly and to help build programs that will benefit their faculty and the teaching and research missions of their institutions. Perhaps small libraries have even more power as individual institutions and not solely in collaborative efforts. Smaller institutions can be viewed as first adopters or even “disrupters” in this area because they can be nimble and innovative with much less at stake than that of their larger university counterparts. Recent work such as Amherst College's new digital publishing initiative, Amherst College Press, suggests that small institutions present great opportunities for flexibly trying out different models
317
for scholarly communication. The press is located within the library and plans to publish peer-reviewed articles from scholars in a small range of disciplines. Other small institutions, such as the library at Rollins College, have created strategies for attacking scholarly communication issues on several fronts including migrating from print to digital, promoting the use of OA resources, and submitting work to the college repository. While only about 10 percent of small colleges have repositories, working to support scholarly society repositories and educating faculty and students about OA issues generally is an invaluable role libraries can play. On the collaborative front the Oberlin Group, representing 80 small liberal arts colleges, is strongly involved in OA education and the creation of new models of scholarly communication. Though the colleges that make up the Oberlin Group focus predominantly on teaching, there is also support for undergraduate research. Many faculty members from these institutions receive grants and conduct significant amounts of research that includes strong undergraduate participation. This provides a good avenue for libraries wanting to further the conversation about author rights, the public good, and related scholarly communications issues. By targeting an undergraduate population at institutions that send a significantly higher percentage of students on to graduate schools (what Graves refers to as the “nursery of the professoriate”), these college libraries can pave the way for helping students navigate the complexity of decisions they will face as they move into graduate schools. The Oberlin Group has been very active in advocating for OA including strong involvement with various OA organizations. In terms of institutional repositories versus housing digital collections within scholarly societies, small liberal arts college libraries have a diverse set of views with meaningful arguments on both sides of the fence. In some cases the needs of liberal arts colleges do not differ significantly from larger institutions, and in some areas it may be beneficial to work together. At recent example pointed out by Graves is the exciting new “Anvil” project (digital humanities publishing) that has brought together larger research institutions such as Stanford with smaller colleges such as Middlebury. There seems to be a future for collaborative efforts of all shapes and sizes in the area of scholarly communications as well as a potential and exciting “disruptive” role for solo initiatives carried out by small liberal arts colleges.
Leslie Stebbins Director for Research at Consulting Services 4 Education E-mail address: [email protected].
Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect
The Journal of Academic Librarianship
Keeping Current
Keeping Current: Reviews and Analysis of Special Reports
This column provides in-depth analysis of recently issued white papers, research studies, presentations, and special reports that the editor feels would be of greatest interest to academic librarians. This is a highly selective compilation, and the editor welcomes suggestions from readers. [email protected]. “How College Graduates Solve Information Problems Once they Join the Workplace,” by Alison J. Head. October 16, 2012. Project Information Literacy Report: The Passage Studies. Sponsored by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard. Available: http://projectinfolit.org/ pdfs/PIL_fall2012_workplaceStudy_FullReport.pdf. OVERVIEW This qualitative study investigated information-seeking behavior of recent college graduates in the workplace. Interviews and focus groups were conducted with recent graduates and employers. Most recent graduates interviewed reported finding it difficult to solve information problems in the workplace where the skills needed differed greatly from skills needed for completing research projects in college. Employers reported that though they hired recent graduates assuming they would have sophisticated searching skills, in fact, many of their new hires did not have basic competencies in solving information challenges, especially in terms of skimming through print reports, using the telephone to find information, and analyzing and interpreting research results. KEY FINDINGS • Employers reported that they were looking for new employees that had skills related to online searching, finding information with tools other than search engines, and being able to identify the best solution from the information they had gathered. • Newly hired college students were adept at quickly finding an answer, but lacked the skills needed to find the best answers to solve problems in the workplace; they lacked persistence and patience when searching for answers. • Employers were disappointed that newly hired employees tended not to use information seeking skills related to using a telephone or skimming through a report, but instead relied on information found on initial search screens. • Graduates reporting that they applied evaluation techniques learned in school and were able to synthesize large quantities of content. They also reported getting help and learning work processes through relationships with colleagues at work.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2013.03.001
ANALYSIS Project Information Literacy is a national research study and this report is one of a series of reports in a new research initiative called “The Passage Studies.” The purpose of these studies is to investigate how young adults search and use information as they transition from college to the workplace, and what information competencies are needed to excel in the workplace. It is important to note that this first report used data gathered from a small number of qualitative interviews and focus groups and that future studies will involve more rigorously testing these findings and turning up additional results. One of the most interesting findings from this initial study is that there is a large gap between the research skills undergraduates learn and use in solving information problems while in college and the strategies and competencies that are needed in the workplace. Newly hired college graduates have grown up in a world where information has always been easily available. When asked in this study how they solved their information problems at work most participants reported that they either used a search engine such as Google or asked a co-worker. Few reported using more sophisticated methods or resources to solve information problems. Recent graduates reported that they struggled with the sense of urgency found in the workplace, that research tasks were given with little structure or direction, and that information seeking was often “highly contextual” and social. The development of social connections in the workplace to help solve information problems was deemed especially important and students reported learning to do this, especially by tapping into their supervisor for assistance. At the same time these students reported that they did use information competencies learned in college such as checking for currency, determining if the author was credible, and evaluating the efficacy of scientific studies. Active reading and synthesizing large amounts of information were also used in the workplace. The study indicated that employers, on the other hand, expected that their newly hired graduates would have baseline information competencies that included knowing where to find information with little guidance, using search strategies that moved beyond Google, and figuring out the best solution from the information found. While the employers did not expect their new hires to understand the need at work to engage in more iterative problem-solving processes, they felt that if employees were open to learning, that these skills could be developed. Employers found that their newly hired graduates were not able to easily engage team members during the research process and lacked basic competencies relating to retrieving information in a variety of formats, finding patterns and making connections, and being able to have the patience and persistence needed to do more in-depth investigations and analysis.
316
L. Stebbins / The Journal of Academic Librarianship 39 (2013) 315–317
There is clearly a strong need for information literacy programs at the college level to address the skills gap discovered in this and other research. The use of project based learning and learning in authentic contexts generally would assist in providing students with skills that move beyond meeting the immediate needs of the undergraduate research paper. “Appraising our Digital Investment: Sustainability of Digitized Special Collections in ARL Libraries,” by Nancy Maron and Sarah Pickle. February 2013. Washington D.C.: Association of Research Libraries and New York: Ithaka S + R. Available: http://www.arl.org/ bm~doc/digitizing-special-collections-report-21feb13.pdf. OVERVIEW Recognizing their increasing value to the larger community, research libraries have focused recent efforts on digitizing Special Collections resources. This study investigates what ongoing supports are needed after Special Collections are digitized. These supports include best practices, costs, and revenue generation connected to digitized collections, as well as measuring attitudes towards these collections. Frequently it is easier to tap funds for new digitization efforts and more difficult to budget for ongoing support of collections that are already digitized. KEY POINTS • Most library administrators feel their digitized Special Collections do not receive enough funds and yet are critical to the future of the library. • Management of digitized collections is decentralized across several departments including either IT or the Special Collections department. In 20 percent of the cases, digital working groups or committees oversee digital collections. This vague management structure can make it difficult to plan and budget for sustainability and growth. • Libraries focus a great deal more attention on creating new digitized resources rather than supporting the collections that are already digitized. This new digitization work often receives outside funds, whereas the library is typically the sole support for older digitized collections. • Many libraries do not pursue outside revenue from their digitized collections due to their strong support for open access (OA) of digitized resources as well as the challenges involved and low return on investment of these types of activities. • Less than half of libraries gather information about their audience and those that do frequently rely only on web analytics. Roughly half of libraries conduct some type of outreach, and of those that participate in outreach activities very few measure the effectiveness of their outreach efforts. This report provides a first step toward opening a conversation about the sustainability of digitized special collections through planning and defining the broader goals, if any, for these collections. The recommendations include helping libraries determine what their larger goals are for specific digitized Special Collections. Is the purpose to preserve fragile originals? Or is the purpose broader involving connecting content to prospective audiences. The latter involves a greater role for the library and more strategizing relating to understanding user needs and ways to communicate to potential audiences. While oversight of these collections is distributed and this can present challenges, the involvement of different components of the library, IT, and larger university community provide essential supports for digitization, ongoing maintenance, and marketing to potential audiences and funders. Determining the value to potential users can be
well worth the effort, if this analysis might result in future avenues for funding and support. “Organization of Scholarly Communication Services,” by Rachel Radom, Melanie Feltner-Reichert, and Kynita Stringer-Stanback. November 2012. ARL SPEC Kit 332. Washington DC: Association of Research Libraries. OVERVIEW This survey investigates and reports on how research institutions organize staff to support scholarly communication services and what changes have occurred to this structure since 2007. Almost half of all ARL libraries responded to the survey, with almost all of these institutions (56 of 60) indicating that their library was involved in scholarly communication services. KEY POINTS • While the majority of libraries indicated that they were probably the leaders of scholarly communication efforts on campus, there was some reluctance to claim this leadership role. This may be partly because most libraries work with partners in providing these services, and also because it is unclear that the institution at large is fully aware or formally recognizes the strong role the library plays in scholarly communication services. • The staffing and structure of scholarly communications work in libraries is provided in a large variety of ways from single individuals, teams of two, and larger committees and task forces. For many libraries there was a combination of staffing structures and a great deal of transition and reorganization occurring making this question difficult to pin down. • Many respondents felt that throughout the library many staff members were involved to some degree in scholarly communications related work activities. • Scholarly communication work in libraries has grown significantly since the snapshot taken by ARL in 2007. • This SPEC kit contains useful examples of scholarly communication resolutions, OA policies, organization charts, and committee charges. ANALYSIS Libraries are involved in many exciting ways with services that support scholarly communication. Educational activities continue to be a prime focus and underlie much of the work that libraries do in the area of scholarly communication. In analyzing the responses, the authors of the study found that three prime areas emerged: outreach and support for author rights, hosting and preserving digital content, and digital scholarship support. Roughly three-quarters of respondents indicated that their libraries worked in each of these areas. Many of the findings from the current survey indicate that educational efforts by libraries around the area of scholarly communication are bearing fruit. Open access (OA) publishing, author activism and OA resolutions, the growth of institutional repositories, and the growing area of digital humanities work indicate significant work has been accomplished in expanding institutional awareness related to supporting new scholarly communication models. Going forward libraries will continue to take a leadership role in these efforts. Areas that will be developing and expanding further include digital research, data management plans, alt-metrics to determine research impact, and involvement of the design of new systems for access. “Scholarly Communications and the Role of the Liberal Arts College Library,” by Diane Graves. 2013. Library Faculty Research. Paper 23. Available: http://digitalcommons.trinity.edu/lib_faculty/23.
L. Stebbins / The Journal of Academic Librarianship 39 (2013) 315–317
OVERVIEW This paper by the University Librarian at Trinity University in Texas argues that collectively small liberal arts college libraries have the potential for taking a leadership role in finding new and viable models and solutions for Scholarly Communication issues including the search for alternative models and the need for advocacy. Small liberal arts college libraries can respond quickly and work collaboratively with faculty to build alliances across institutions. They can develop programs that benefit faculty and support institutional teaching and research missions. KEY POINTS • Due to economic factors relating to the balance of trade between the United State and Europe in the mid-1980s the price of journal articles in many STEM fields jumped by almost 25 percent. • Because each journal is, in a sense, its own monopoly, libraries continued to buy specific journals in order to support particular fields at their institutions regardless of the price increases. This led to journal publishers realizing that they could charge ever-increasing sums for top tier journals and prices continued to climb in the decades following the trade imbalance. • The assumption that only large research institutions can set the agenda for scholarly communications solutions is misguided. Faculty at small liberal arts colleges also need assistance understanding intellectual property rights and alternatives to copyright and the relationship of their publishing activities and choices to the issue of access. ANALYSIS The author makes a good case in arguing that collectively, libraries at small liberal arts institutions can have a strong voice in the debate over the future of scholarly communications. Their strength lies in their ability to respond quickly and to help build programs that will benefit their faculty and the teaching and research missions of their institutions. Perhaps small libraries have even more power as individual institutions and not solely in collaborative efforts. Smaller institutions can be viewed as first adopters or even “disrupters” in this area because they can be nimble and innovative with much less at stake than that of their larger university counterparts. Recent work such as Amherst College's new digital publishing initiative, Amherst College Press, suggests that small institutions present great opportunities for flexibly trying out different models
317
for scholarly communication. The press is located within the library and plans to publish peer-reviewed articles from scholars in a small range of disciplines. Other small institutions, such as the library at Rollins College, have created strategies for attacking scholarly communication issues on several fronts including migrating from print to digital, promoting the use of OA resources, and submitting work to the college repository. While only about 10 percent of small colleges have repositories, working to support scholarly society repositories and educating faculty and students about OA issues generally is an invaluable role libraries can play. On the collaborative front the Oberlin Group, representing 80 small liberal arts colleges, is strongly involved in OA education and the creation of new models of scholarly communication. Though the colleges that make up the Oberlin Group focus predominantly on teaching, there is also support for undergraduate research. Many faculty members from these institutions receive grants and conduct significant amounts of research that includes strong undergraduate participation. This provides a good avenue for libraries wanting to further the conversation about author rights, the public good, and related scholarly communications issues. By targeting an undergraduate population at institutions that send a significantly higher percentage of students on to graduate schools (what Graves refers to as the “nursery of the professoriate”), these college libraries can pave the way for helping students navigate the complexity of decisions they will face as they move into graduate schools. The Oberlin Group has been very active in advocating for OA including strong involvement with various OA organizations. In terms of institutional repositories versus housing digital collections within scholarly societies, small liberal arts college libraries have a diverse set of views with meaningful arguments on both sides of the fence. In some cases the needs of liberal arts colleges do not differ significantly from larger institutions, and in some areas it may be beneficial to work together. At recent example pointed out by Graves is the exciting new “Anvil” project (digital humanities publishing) that has brought together larger research institutions such as Stanford with smaller colleges such as Middlebury. There seems to be a future for collaborative efforts of all shapes and sizes in the area of scholarly communications as well as a potential and exciting “disruptive” role for solo initiatives carried out by small liberal arts colleges.
Leslie Stebbins Director for Research at Consulting Services 4 Education E-mail address: [email protected].