Journal of New Librarianship

Review of Twenty-First-Century Access Services: On the Front Line of Academic Librarianship, 2nd Edition

Lorelei Sterling — Mon, 05 Feb 2024 00:00:00 -0700

Review of Twenty-First-Century Access Services: On the Front Line of Academic Librarianship, 2^nd edition, edited by Michael J. Krasulski and Trevor A. Dawes. Association of College and Research Libraries. 320 pp. ISBN: 978-0-8389-3931-4 $76

Review of Integrated Library Planning: A New Model for Strategic and Dynamic Planning, Management, and Assessment

Duane Strojny — Mon, 05 Feb 2024 00:00:00 -0700

This is a review of Integrated Library Planning: A New Model for Strategic and Dynamic Planning, Management, and Assessment by Myka Kennedy Stephens. Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries. 160 pp. ISBN 978-0-8389-3937-6 $62

A Content Analysis of News Analyses

Stacy Gilbert, Rebecca Kelley — Mon, 05 Feb 2024 00:00:00 -0700

While the news industry and news databases have changed over the last 20 years, little is known about the type of news content studied and how the ways researchers access content have evolved. This paper aims to identify trends in news analysis studies by examining 216 print and online news analyses published in communication, journalism, and media studies journals by U.S. authors between 2002 and 2020. Each publication was coded for their methodological attributes. Findings show most studies analyze text articles. Subscription-based news aggregator databases like LexisNexis, NewsBank/Access World News, ProQuest, and Factiva are the most popular resources to access news content, and there has been a statistically significant increase in the use of news websites and public databases. Librarians can use these findings to assess their news collections and advise researchers on resources to access news content for news analysis projects.

Belonging in the Urban Information Specialist Program

Benjamin Bradley — Mon, 05 Feb 2024 00:00:00 -0700

The Urban Information Specialist Program lasted only one year, from 1970-1971, at the University of Maryland School of Library and Information Service (SLIS). While short lived, the program raised big questions that resonate still today about who could become a librarian and what role a librarian plays. The program sought to diversify librarianship by recruiting students with experience working and serving diverse communities and eliminating barriers such as the requirement of a Bachelor’s degree. The program’s end was met with protest and debate about racism within the university and in the SLIS. This article looks at contemporary student publications to better understand how library science programs can improve to promote diversity within a primarily white profession and in Primarily White Institutions (PWI).

Free for All

Sat, 23 Mar 2024 00:00:00 -0700

Periodic website redesign projects have become essential -- though often complex and costly -- measures that libraries take to ensure users’ ease of access to resources. Though administrators often enlist university web designers or even outside contractors to undertake these projects, librarians themselves can and should be at the center of any library website redesign. This is easier for libraries with employees who have considerable web development-related skills, but it is also within reach for libraries with smaller staff and limited web development skills. Indeed, free UX testing applications, basic office software, and open source or freely available CMSes such as Drupal make library website redesign projects both feasible and affordable. Generating buy-in and recruiting content editors to help build the new site are two vital measures for a successful redesign, as well as ongoing, post-launch maintenance. During our library website redesign, we leveraged both the communication of UX testing results and periodic peer training activities to create support, invite feedback or input, and recruit partners for content creation on the new site. As our site launched, we sustained the momentum of our peers’ involvement with the site by providing training materials, tech support, and targeted documentation. By combining freely available, user-friendly applications with a strategic, inclusive implementation process, even libraries with limited resources can successfully complete significant website redesign projects.

A Tale of Two Studies

Gina Genova — Mon, 05 Feb 2024 00:00:00 -0700

In institutions where librarians hold tenure-track faculty status, they are expected to conduct and publish original research. Much attention is given to formulating ideas for research, but the recruitment process is equally important for common methods such as surveys, interviews, and focus groups. In this column, an early-career librarian discusses her experiences with recruitment for two IRB-approved research projects and offers some considerations for librarians planning survey- or interview-based research.

Integrating DEI in Public Library Book Clubs

Wei Ling Goh — Mon, 05 Feb 2024 00:00:00 -0700

The killing of George Floyd in 2020 propelled the Black Lives Matter movement into the global spotlight, calling attention to the racial inequities still persisting in America. In response, public libraries have hosted anti-racist book clubs as a way to address and discuss pressing issues of social and systemic inequity. These book clubs are often explicitly marketed as “anti-racist” and have been beneficial to the promotion of DEI within their communities. However, regular book clubs hosted by public libraries can and should still integrate DEI within their processes and discussions, even if they do not have an overt anti-racist theme. In this column, I will share the DEI strategies I have successfully embedded in the monthly book club I host at the public library where I work, including how I make title selections and how I have navigated the subsequent discussions. I hope this column is useful for library staff members who are interested in proactively embedding DEI in their libraries’ book club programming.