The proliferation of quantitative research assessment has been accompanied by an increasing growth and diversification of digital infrastructure for evaluative bibliometrics. Since the beginning of ...the 2000s, insights into academic performance provided by a variety of new databases and devices significantly exceed the capacities of the former Science Citation Index and embedded metrics. Going beyond the research on the construction, uses, and consequences of bibliometric indicators, we therefore posit that a perspective on bibliometric infrastructure is crucial for understanding how evaluative bibliometrics is put into practice. Drawing on interviews with academic librarians on the increasing provision and implementation of bibliometric infrastructure in the years 2013 and 2014, we analyse how the entanglement of technology and its users shapes how evaluative bibliometrics is understood and practiced.
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In 2017, 120 University West nursing students wrote a scientific report as an examination. Merely 30 students passed on their first attempt and one of the identified shortcomings concerned ...information literacy. In collaboration with the course coordinators, the liaison librarian modified the course design adding new contents as well as new assignments to create a kickstart for the students who lack the information literacy required in higher education. The module in information literacy training was extended to provide the students with the skills needed for successful results and thus making them better equipped for the rest of their studies, as well as for lifelong learning. This best practice article accounts for the course development, focusing on library instruction. Furthermore, it posits that the principles of andragogy, student activating methods and the united effort to meet the students where they are, have enhanced their learning process and consequently their information literacy. In 2020 and 2021, the students who passed the scientific report examination on their first attempt more than doubled. Due to librarian involvement, new pedagogical approaches, and a fruitful collaboration with course coordinators, these students’ information literacy skills seem to have improved.
Based on the H-M model, the compensation incentive model is constructed under the inter-task cost function. The best compensation incentive contract is constructed by solving the incentive model, and ...the incentive characteristics are analysed. The results show that the best incentive intensity decreases as the subject service selectivity increases. The higher incentive intensity of university managers for specific tasks, the lower efforts of subject librarians for another specific task. Moreover, when the tasks are substituted for each other, the profit-sharing ratios corresponding to different tasks are complementary. Finally, we establish the econometric empirical models to test these results.
This study utilized dissertation bibliographies produced at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, a STEM-oriented university, to ascertain how well Purdue's Humanities, Social Sciences, and ...Education Library supports doctoral research. To examine a critical mass of data, the authors gathered all the bibliographies of dissertations written in 11 disciplines within the College of Liberal Arts in 2011 and 2015. Data for each citation included year of publication, language, format type, and local availability in print or digitally. Revealing disciplinary trends in using sources, this study provided critical information for reconceptualizing the library's orientation to learning and research and for engaging with faculty to understand where to strengthen the library's collections.
Demonstrating academic libraries' contribution to institutional outcomes and strategic initiatives can be challenging, particularly in determining what library activities can be consistently and ...accurately assessed in ways that empirically demonstrate library value and impact. To address this challenge, the Indiana University Bloomington Libraries conducted a time allocation study to quantify the activities of public services librarians with the goal of illustrating new ways to measure their contributions that are more standardized and methodologically rigorous. This report gives an overview of the Librarian Activity Project (LAP), including preliminary findings, and offers recommendations for other institutions interested in developing their own study.
The GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation) approach is a system for transparent evaluation of the certainty of evidence used in clinical practice guidelines and ...systematic reviews. GRADE is a key part of evidence-based medicine (EBM) training of health care professionals.
This study aimed to compare web-based and face-to-face methods of teaching the GRADE approach for evidence assessment.
A randomized controlled trial was conducted on 2 delivery modes of GRADE education integrated into a course on research methodology and EBM with third-year medical students. Education was based on the Cochrane Interactive Learning "Interpreting the findings" module, which had a duration of 90 minutes. The web-based group received the web-based asynchronous training, whereas the face-to-face group had an in-person seminar with a lecturer. The main outcome measure was the score on a 5-question test that assessed confidence interval interpretation and overall certainty of evidence, among others. Secondary outcomes included writing a recommendation for practice and course satisfaction.
In all, 50 participants received the web-based intervention, and 47 participants received the face-to-face intervention. The groups did not differ in the overall scores for the Cochrane Interactive Learning test, with a median of 2 (95% CI 1.0-2.0) correct answers for the web-based group and 2 (95% CI 1.3-3.0) correct answers for the face-to-face group. Both groups gave the most correct answers to the question about rating a body of evidence (35/50, 70% and 24/47, 51% for the web-based and face-to-face group, respectively). The face-to-face group better answered the question about the overall certainty of evidence question. The understanding of the Summary of Findings table did not differ significantly between the groups, with a median of 3 correct answers to 4 questions for both groups (P=.352). The writing style for the recommendations for practice also did not differ between the 2 groups. Students' recommendations mostly reflected the strengths of the recommendations and focused on the target population, but they used passive words and rarely mentioned the setting for the recommendation. The language of the recommendations was mostly patient centered. Course satisfaction was high in both groups.
Training in the GRADE approach could be equally effective when delivered asynchronously on the web or face-to-face.
Open Science Framework akpq7; https://osf.io/akpq7/.
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Using open educational resources (OERs) in collaborative online international learning (COIL) courses provides students and faculty the opportunity to share content, enhance knowledge, and develop ...intercultural competence across geopolitical and other boundaries. Faculty perceptions at the research site regarding benefits and challenges of using OER are consistent with positive findings of other OER research that validate its potential. This case study describes experiences of two college courses taught with different international partners. It shares the journey of co-planning, implementing, and revising assignments highlighting OER instructional materials. Technology and accessibility considerations influence the curricular decisions for each course. They demonstrate how the timely availability of relevant OER content can be particularly impactful for international learning environments like COIL. The article underscores the faculty-librarian-instructional designer collaboration throughout the project and offers suggestions for future study.
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Offering students synchronous research and reference help can be a challenge for libraries that offer services at a distance. Virtual office hours can be a means of overcoming this challenge, ...allowing patrons the opportunity to seek timely point-of-need assistance. The author implemented a librarian-led virtual office hours pilot project at her home institution, Athabasca University. The program was initially received enthusiastically, but fewer and fewer patrons availed themselves of the service as the pilot progressed. This paper explores the implementation of the virtual office hours pilot project and its outcomes, and concludes with a discussion of how the pilot could have been more successfully carried out.
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This study was carried out to investigate the effect of stress on professional librarian's job performance in University of Lagos, Akoka and Lagos State University, Ojo, Lagos.
It is well demonstrated that service-learning positively impacts a variety of student outcomes. However, methodological limitations have contributed to a lack of clear understanding of the mechanisms ...through which these effects occur. Additionally, little research has connected information literacy instruction explicitly with outcomes in service-learning courses. The present study used a pre-/post-test design to investigate cognitive outcomes, including critical thinking, using the Problem-Solving Analysis Protocol (P-SAP). Fifty-nine students from an undergraduate family services course participated. Results highlight the importance of library instruction to students' critical thinking skills and suggest implications for collaborations between discipline faculty and library faculty in service-learning courses.
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