{"title":"Libraries and Library Professions in Africa, in Confront of the Emerging Trends and Challenges","authors":"Asmaa Bouaamri, F. Otike, Agnes Hajdu Barat","doi":"10.1080/02763877.2022.2147677","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/02763877.2022.2147677","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The rate at which the development of librarianship is advancing in African countries compared to developed countries is agonizing, which gives rise to many questions regarding the future trend of the library profession. This paper reviews current trends and emerging issues in libraries and the librarianship education profession in African countries. Challenges in the training of librarians are described. Disparities in advancement are explained through a comparison of the development of libraries and the librarianship profession in different African zones, that is, East, South, West, and the Northern part of Africa. Challenges that face libraries and librarians’ profession are summarized, and the authors offer some recommendations and practicable solutions to the emerging trends and challenges.","PeriodicalId":35386,"journal":{"name":"Reference Librarian","volume":"63 1","pages":"163 - 179"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45902364","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Mapping Information in the Wild: An Archivist’s Approach to Liaison Librarianship","authors":"Carly C. Dearborn","doi":"10.1080/02763877.2022.2111742","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/02763877.2022.2111742","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT How do archivists who find themselves in dual librarian/archivist positions approach library instruction and reference services? This case study examines the instructional experiences of an archivist serving in an interim role as a liaison librarian to a public affairs college at a large, public university in the United States. Utilizing action research methodology to study and inform their instruction approach and philosophy, the archivist created an instructional model which incorporates archival principles and concepts into a landscape mapping exercise. Archivists can make material contributions to library instruction through their unique knowledge, skills, and perspectives.","PeriodicalId":35386,"journal":{"name":"Reference Librarian","volume":"63 1","pages":"119 - 132"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42193697","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Adebowale Jeremy Adetayo, Khadijat Dayo Ajayi, R. Komolafe
{"title":"Wars and Sanctions: Do Libraries Have a Role to Play?","authors":"Adebowale Jeremy Adetayo, Khadijat Dayo Ajayi, R. Komolafe","doi":"10.1080/02763877.2022.2100559","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/02763877.2022.2100559","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This research sought to investigate the roles of libraries during and after wars, as well as Nigerian students’ support for sanctions against nations that start wars. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Of the 295 survey respondents, 73.9% supported sanctions, either strongly or partially, on nations that start wars anywhere in the world. However, 57.3% would prefer that sanctions be avoided if ordinary people will suffer as a result of the economic impact. Organizing war resolution seminars, distributing war resolution books, answering users’ questions about wars, judiciously sharing current war news with library users, and providing a venue for dialogs about ongoing war are the most useful roles that libraries may play during wartime. Libraries can provide up-to-date information on government aid eligibility and accessibility, financial information resources for financial stability, community rebuilding books, and a location for postwar conversation in the aftermath of a war. The study proposes that libraries in warring nations take proactive actions by conducting war resolution seminars and providing appropriate materials related to war resolution, as well as taking proactive actions in the aftermath of wars, such as collaborating with governments to ensure that libraries are regularly provided with information about aid and recovery.","PeriodicalId":35386,"journal":{"name":"Reference Librarian","volume":"63 1","pages":"102 - 117"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41590600","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"How do you meme?: Using memes for information literacy instruction","authors":"Christina Boyle","doi":"10.1080/02763877.2022.2084210","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/02763877.2022.2084210","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Memes, or image macros, have become a standard method of digital information sharing. This is especially true during times when current events ignite a heightened desire for information seeking among students. Memes can be sources of misinformation, such as during events of the past decade, including recent presidential elections, social justice movements such as Black Lives Matter, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Librarians need to address this format in their information literacy teachings. In this article, the author briefly outlines the rise of internet memes, discusses how higher education students are engaging with them, and highlights some problematic meme-sharing throughout some of the aforementioned events of the past decade. Within the modern information landscape, where misleading information and fake news abound, librarians can and should create and share their own educational memes designed to promote information literacy by example. These librarian-authored memes should also demonstrate source attribution and ethical information sharing practices. Resources for meme creation, tips on how to use them within information literacy instruction, and examples of how the author has included them in her own pedagogy are included.","PeriodicalId":35386,"journal":{"name":"Reference Librarian","volume":"63 1","pages":"82 - 101"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46992010","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Material-Mind-Method: On the Teaching of Reference Teaching Reference: Continuing to Learn","authors":"Loriene Roy","doi":"10.1080/02763877.2022.2042641","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/02763877.2022.2042641","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Teaching reference during the pandemic can lead to revising course content, management, and delivery. Contact with students leads to the greatest lessons learned.","PeriodicalId":35386,"journal":{"name":"Reference Librarian","volume":"63 1","pages":"62 - 66"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45227149","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Mindfulness Framework for Implementing Mindfulness into Information Literacy Instruction","authors":"S. Aytac, Diane Mizrachi","doi":"10.1080/02763877.2022.2030273","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/02763877.2022.2030273","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This paper presents the Mindfulness Framework for implementing mindfulness into Information Literacy instruction. The Mindfulness Framework is informed by findings from an original survey of the most preferred Information Literacy teaching strategies deployed by nearly 600 academic librarians in the United States and Canada, and grounded in the relevant literature from library and information science and education. Survey responses show that library instructors use a broad variety of teaching strategies, and the authors attempt to demonstrate how these strategies can support the integration of mindfulness into IL instruction. Using mindfulness strategies in other pedagogical contexts has been shown to improve learning and retention. This is the first paper to explore and discuss how librarians can use familiar strategies to integrate mindfulness into information literacy instruction.","PeriodicalId":35386,"journal":{"name":"Reference Librarian","volume":"63 1","pages":"43 - 61"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-02-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45285954","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Peer-led Database Training Program to Improve Reference Service","authors":"Annis Lee Adams","doi":"10.1080/02763877.2021.2009956","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/02763877.2021.2009956","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Librarians at a medium-sized public university library established a peer-led database training program to improve each librarian’s familiarity and utilization of the Library’s specialized databases. The impetus for the training program was to reduce the number of chat reference referrals to subject specialists and instead to try to answer reference questions at the point of need. A pre-training survey identified which databases should be included in the training series and invited librarians to indicate for which databases they would be willing to be the trainer. Six databases were covered over the course of the Fall 2020 semester. A post-training survey garnered feedback on how the training series was received and also included suggestions for improvement. The post-training survey results indicate the series was viewed positively. All participants learned something new during the training sessions and felt more confident using the resources demonstrated when assisting users during reference interactions and research consultations. Participants reflected on why having colleagues conduct the training sessions rather than vendors was important. Most participants wanted to continue the training program going forward.","PeriodicalId":35386,"journal":{"name":"Reference Librarian","volume":"63 1","pages":"29 - 42"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42687282","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Financial Literacy around the World: What We Can Learn from the National Strategies and Contexts of the Top Ten Most Financially Literate Nations","authors":"Ashley Faulkner","doi":"10.1080/02763877.2021.2009955","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/02763877.2021.2009955","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Despite the fact that the United States is one of the wealthiest nations in the world, it is not among the most financially literate. Individuals in the U.S., on average, have relatively large amounts of money about which they must make decisions, but they do not have commensurate levels of financial literacy. This research explores the financial literacy contexts and national strategies at play in the most financially literate nations in the world: Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. This article utilizes content analysis to explore the existing scholarly literature, national financial literacy strategies, and associated policy literature in these highly literate nations. This research will provide librarians in the U.S. with a broader context, both internationally and beyond library science literature, through which to view our own financial literacy participation, and to consider ways in which the financial literacy efforts at play in these other nations may provide us with ideas to expand or alter our efforts on national, local, and individual levels. Librarians in other nations may also benefit from this international view of financial literacy and be able to apply new concepts or ideas to their own financial education efforts.","PeriodicalId":35386,"journal":{"name":"Reference Librarian","volume":"63 1","pages":"1 - 28"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43103144","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Remaining Futureproof: Lasting Librarian Roles in Managing Digital Collections","authors":"P. Kiszl, J. Fodor","doi":"10.1080/02763877.2021.1979164","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/02763877.2021.1979164","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT From the students’ reactions, trainers recognize the changing technological, social, and economic context of library and information science (LIS) and the students’ competence expectations. They incorporate these experiences when updating the training program, and draw important conclusions therefrom regarding the future of libraries and LIS. This is crucial to providing students with a credible vision: where is LIS headed; what is the future library like; what roles will libraries have in the era of artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and data science? It is not enough to deny stereotyped predictions, for example, that robotics may take their jobs. In our study we rely on our experiences from courses on digital collections to refute incorrect assumptions and to introduce the four futureproof attributes of LIS: (1) human creativity remains essential; (2) the professional use of social media is crucial in accessing community knowledge; (3) collaboration competences have lasting value; (4) research-oriented attitude is increasingly important in the librarian profession.","PeriodicalId":35386,"journal":{"name":"Reference Librarian","volume":"62 1","pages":"165 - 192"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46888707","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"More Alike than Different: Student Perceptions of Academic Librarians by Genders and Subject Areas","authors":"Elizabeth Price, J. Fagan","doi":"10.1080/02763877.2021.2008580","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/02763877.2021.2008580","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This study explored differences in how undergraduate students of different genders and academic disciplines perceived academic librarians at a U.S. public university. No evidence indicated differences between students identifying as male or female, and few statistically significant differences were found among four Subject Areas (Arts, Humanities + Social Sciences, Business, Health + Education, and STEM). Our results have implications for local practice though they are not generalizable to other institutions. Despite a lack of significant findings, librarians should continue to explore ways to measure how students of different disciplines perceive academic libraries and/or librarians as valuable to their academic success.","PeriodicalId":35386,"journal":{"name":"Reference Librarian","volume":"62 1","pages":"221 - 263"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49326824","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}