It's Academic

Throwing events in an academic library has always been a tricky proposition for librarians.  How can you make a place devoted to (relatively) quiet research and study a welcoming spot for fun and socialization?  Libraries have tried several solutions, such as having escape rooms for students, scavenger hunts, book clubs, and countless others. 

At my library, I’ve recently tried a different approach by working with student clubs to arrange events at the library.  My college requires that official student clubs have a staff person to act as their advisor.  At the start of the year, I decided to fill this role with our Games Club.  The Games Club is made of up students who enjoy video games and board games. By having one foot in the library, and another within this student club, I’ve been able to arrange joint events called Gaming Night in the Library where we hook up a few game consoles and make board games like Dungeons and Dragons available to students.  We provide some pizza and soda for students too. Between members of the Games Club who attend, and other students who drop by, we’ve had steady attendance each time. 

I don’t see why this approach wouldn’t work with other types of student clubs as well.  The partnership provides the club with a space to have meetings and events, while the library gets to engage with students and encourage use of the library.  I also find that once students get in the habit of using the library as a social space, using it as a place for research often follows.

The session recording for the February Connect & Communicate Series presentation on collecting Pennsylvania political Twitter data is now available on the C&CS YouTube channel. Thanks to Carmen Cole, Emily Mross, and Andrea Pritt from Penn State University Libraries for an informative session.

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Theme: Academic Library Collaborations: Working Together for Better

Description: Academic libraries are an integral part of their home institutions, engaging patrons through ever evolving services and resources. By collaborating with people and departments outside of the library, academic libraries can leverage the work done to engage students and have a greater impact within their campus communities. Collaboration can be initiated formally or informally, and partnerships can take a variety of forms between colleagues. Some examples (but not meant to be limiting): collaborating to design a new research project with a faculty member, programming an event for a campus partner, or curating a list of resources to support a student-led cultural event. On May 2, 2023, the College and Research Division of the Pennsylvania Library Association will explore how academic libraries partner with others in our home institutions to provide fulfilling experiences for our students and our campus communities.

To facilitate this exploration, we are seeking proposals that showcase your scholarship and/or your academic librarianship to showcase these collaboration efforts at your institution. CRD encourages librarians to think creatively and share their experiences with colleagues!

Proposals should broadly fit the theme of collaboration within higher education and may relate to instruction, programming, collection development, library processes, or any other area your library supports. 

Proposal Requirements: Proposals for 40-minute virtual sessions must include a title, an abstract of no more than 250 words, and 2-3 learning objectives. Please refrain from including identifiable information in your abstract and other materials to help ensure a blind evaluation. PaLA CRD members will be given preference in session evaluation and selection. 

Submissions are due by Friday, March 31, 2023.

Submit your proposal here: https://pennstate.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1AMw2kXT6WoD5Wu 

Virtual workshop registration and additional conference information will be coming soon!

Questions? Contact Kristin Green at kristin.green@psu.edu

If someone had told me that three years ago that I would be working with clinical staff to help them support research in an effort to provide better clinical care, I would have not believed it would have been possible. However, here I am in the very beginning stages of learning how to better support clinical staff with their research. Little did I know that I would indeed be asked to support such rigorous and systematic processes as evidence-based synthesis research. In order to be in a place to help, I had to reach out for assistance with learning how to best do this. This blog post is a listing of resources that have helped me in me learning journey. I have to date, become more confident in my advanced searching abilities through these trainings  and have made some wonderful fellow librarian colleagues who are great support.

Happy Reading and feel free to reach out with any questions you may have!

Marlowe

bogino@rowan.edu

Networking and Learning  Opportunities

Medical library Association Caucus List servs

              Systematic Review, African American Library Alliance Discussion group, Evidence-based Practice

American Library Association – Interest Groups

              ALA Evidence Synthesis Interest Group

Training and Education

University of Minnesota Evidence Synthesis Institute

Duke University Evidence Based Practice training (freely available to view library guide but there is also a workshop)

University of Michigan Systematic Review Workshops

New York Medical College Critical Appraisal Institute