Library, Museums and Press Staff Publications/Presentations

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    It Takes a Village: A Distributed Training Model for AI-Based Chatbots
    (Information Technology and Libraries, 2024-09-23) Twomey, Beth; Johnson, Annie; Estes, Colleen
    The introduction of Large Language Models (LLM) to the chatbot landscape has opened intriguing possibilities for academic libraries to offer more responsive and institutionally contextualized support to users, especially outside of regular service hours. While a few academic libraries currently employ AI-based chatbots on their websites, this service has not yet become the norm and there are no best practices in place for how academic libraries should launch, train, and assess the usefulness of a chatbot. In summer 2023, staff from the University of Delaware’s Morris Library information technology (IT) and reference departments came together in a unique partnership to pilot a low-cost AI-powered chatbot called UDStax. The goals of the pilot were to learn more about the campus community’s interest in engaging with this tool and to better understand the labor required on the staff side to maintain the bot. After researching six different options, the team selected Chatbase, a subscription-model product based on ChatGPT 3.5 that provides user-friendly training methods for an AI model using website URLs and uploaded source material. Chatbase removed the need to utilize the OpenAI API directly to code processes for submitting information to the AI engine to train the model, cutting down the amount of work for library information technology and making it possible to leverage the expertise of reference librarians and other public-facing staff, including student workers, to distribute the work of developing, refining, and reviewing training materials. This article will discuss the development of prompts, leveraging of existing data sources for training materials, and workflows involved in the pilot. It will argue that, when implementing AI-based tools in the academic library, involving staff from across the organization is essential to ensure buy-in and success. Although chatbots are designed to hide the effort of the people behind them, that labor is substantial and needs to be recognized.
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    Poetry as Activism: Creative Engagement with Digitized Archival Materials
    (University of Delaware Library, Museums & Press, 2024-06-27) Birrell, Lori; Schollaert, Jeannette
    This presentation was presented as a part of the panel, "Expanding Public Knowledge: New Methodologies for Contemporary (Poetry) Archives." The panel brought together recipients of Mellon Foundation's Public Knowledge grant who are developing new methodologies to address the contemporary archival lifecycle: Emory University's The Virtual Reading Room: Consortia Access to Digitized Literary and Poetry Archives, University of Delaware's Poetry as Activism, and Washington University in St. Louis's Born-Digital Poetry: Planning for the Future of Literary Archives. Practitioners shared their progress exploring and implementing models to confront the challenges of the contemporary archival lifecycle as part of an effort to push the profession forward.
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    Associations between anthropometry, body composition, and body image in athletes: a systematic review
    (Frontiers in Psychology, 2024-05-13) Webb, Mary D.; Melough, Melissa M.; Earthman, Carrie P.; Katz, Sarah E.; Pacanowski, Carly R.
    Introduction: Poor body image is a potent risk factor for disordered eating and eating disorders. Athletes are a population at increased risk for eating disorders despite reports of lower body image concerns compared to non-athletes. Body size and composition may influence an athlete’s susceptibility to poor body image. Methods: Five electronic databases (PubMed, Cochrane Library, PsycINFO, Web of Science, SPORTDiscus) were searched to systematically evaluate the literature regarding the association between body measures (i.e., anthropometric and body composition indicators) and body image in athletes. The systematic review was completed following PRISMA guidelines and 27 cross-sectional studies were identified for inclusion and evaluated using the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklist for Analytical Cross-Sectional Studies. Results: Studies differed in methodological assessment of anthropometry or body composition (i.e., self-reported versus researcher-measured), methods for evaluating aspects of body image, geographic location, and sport type. Higher body mass index (BMI) or percent body fat (%BF) was significantly associated with greater body dissatisfaction in 16 of 22 studies (72.7%). Positive associations between body measures and aspects of negative body image were most consistently observed among studies that assessed BMI based on self-reported heights and weights, while significant associations between body composition measures (e.g., %BF, fat mass, fat-free mass) were less common. Four of seven studies assessing relationships between BMI and an aspect of positive body image reported significant inverse relationships, while three revealed insignificant associations. Discussion: Overall, higher BMI and body fat were associated with body dissatisfaction among athletes. Future studies are needed to confirm these findings within focused populations and utilizing body composition methods (e.g., bioelectrical impedance techniques). Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, CRD42023446518.
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    More Than Just Boxes and Lines on a Page: Stories from a Special Collections Department Reorganization
    (Library Leadership and Management, 2024-04-15) Birrell, Lori
    Interested in leveraging a reorganization to bring about sustained and meaningful organizational and cultural change, the author developed a multi-step process anchored by three decision-making drivers that guided the work. These drivers helped the author articulate to herself and the department the “why” behind the reorganization and to keep focused on those drivers during even the messiest parts of the process. The case study presented here describes the author’s process and lessons learned.
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    Partnering with North American University Presses to Open and Preserve Humanities and Social Sciences Scholarship
    (Association of College and Research Libraries, 2023) Pucci, Alicia; Johnson, Annie
    University presses play a crucial role when it comes to advancing scholarship in the humanities and social sciences. The Association of University Presses, for example, has over 150 members around the world and publishes 12,000 new books annually. Despite this output, university press content is largely missing from institutional repositories. While presses and institutional repositories each make their own unique contribution to the scholarly publishing landscape, this chapter argues that academic libraries with institutional repositories can and should partner with university presses and other mission-driven publishers. Indeed, such partnerships are key to rethinking institutional repositories, which for too long have focused on providing access to scientific journal articles.
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    Test Item For Subscription Notifications
    (2021) Morgan, Paige
    This is to test the notifications for community/collection subscriptions.
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    The Relationship between University Presses and Academic Libraries: Past, Present, and Future
    (The Association of College and Research Libraries, 2023) Johnson, Annie
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    Show Me the Money!?? Applying an Equity Lens to the Budget Process
    (2023-06-07) Birrell, Lori
    In this participatory session, attendees will learn the key components of and how to implement that toolkit within their organizational context. The four components include 1) Knowing where your money is and what it can be spent on; 2) Developing a budget strategy to support your program and key objectives; 3) Communicating both internally within your unit and externally to key stakeholders how you’ve spent your funds; 4) Writing a funding proposal to gain additional support from library administration or outside funders. Using a series of guiding questions made available through discussion boards, participants will begin to apply the components of the toolkit to their own practice.
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    Connecting Institutional Repositories and University Presses to Open and Preserve Humanities and Social Sciences Scholarship
    (2023-05-10) Johnson, Annie; Pucci, Alicia
    University presses play a crucial role when it comes to advancing scholarship in the humanities and social sciences. Yet despite their considerable contributions, university press content is largely missing from institutional repositories. Presenters will discuss their recent research on the existing relationships between North American university presses and institutional repositories and explore what these might look like in the future. In considering the main types of press-produced content that can currently be found in institutional repositories, one crucial role that will be examined is how institutional repositories can help presses preserve born-digital scholarship, a rapidly developing area of university press publishing. Recommendations will be presented for how academic libraries with institutional repositories can and should partner with university presses to increase access to important scholarship as well as potentially help to normalize openness among humanities and social science scholars. Suggestions will also be offered for how libraries without their own university press can still contribute to this effort.
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    Forging the Future of LIS Researchers Through Community
    (2023-03-16) Bhat, Nimisha; Fargo, Hailley; Heinbach, Chelsea; Powell, Charissa
    This session will share lessons learned from a current grant to create free educational LIS research training and share the hidden information and complexities that a project like this entails. Panelists will provide data from a needs assessment and identify the major barriers and solutions for LIS workers interested in pursuing and conducting research, identify how collaborations and relationship-building across the LIS community can help create the infrastructure for shared learning, and describe the process of identifying and creating a curriculum through online modules. Attendees will get a unique look inside the process of navigating a current grant project, understand the needs of LIS researchers, and learn how to involve the LIS community in the grant process.
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    On Potential and Progress: Using OD to Transform our Organizations
    (2023-03-17) Carey, Maisha Duncan
    Using theory and examples drawn from practice, this presentation considers the role of organizational development (OD) in the vital work of dismantling oppressive systems and building diverse, equitable, and inclusive academic libraries and research organizations. Participants should be able to identify OD practices common in academic libraries and evaluate their potential for transformational EDI work; describe principles and theories related to EDI, social justice, and antiracism and apply these concepts toward an academic library environment; engage in deep practice to self-reflect and take personal action.
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    DH Decoded: Designing a Digital Humanities Training for Academic Librarians & Researchers
    (2023-03-16) Abner, Kayla; Cooper, Lauren
    At a digital humanities training institute, two librarians designed and taught a weeklong workshop geared towards academic librarians and new researchers rather than advanced DH practitioners. Presenters will share the process of developing this program, and how they have implemented lessons learned during that development into their regular library instruction work at mid-to-large public four-year institutions. Using the presenters' experience and takeaways, attendees will be able to compare approaches to DH consulting and teaching, sustain instruction through collaboration, and foster DH communities through allowing safe spaces for experimentation.
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    Opening Doors: From Library Residencies to Open Education
    (2023-03-16) Barrientos, Quetzalli; Dai, Jessica Y.; Hill, Natalie; Santiago, Ariana
    Four former resident librarians will draw connections between their past residency experiences and their current work in open education. They will specifically discuss how power, labor, and community have informed their approaches to librarianship and discuss how equity, diversity, and inclusion work can directly translate to open education work within academic libraries. The panelists will make recommendations for those who are considering writing up open education position descriptions and those who are developing residency programs focused on open education. Learning Outcomes include 1) Reflect upon the career progression of former resident librarians in order to analyze library residency efficacy, 2) Explore connections between library residencies and open education in order to establish common values and transferable skills, and 3) Critically examine institutional and ongoing support for library residencies and open education initiatives in order to ensure equity and sustainability in program development.
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    First-year Student Source Evaluation: Methods, Misunderstandings, and Madness
    (2023-03-17) Barefoot, Maria; Cao, Yuqiao; Wallis, Lauren
    This poster shares the results of a study about the source evaluation practices of first-year college students: how students describe source types and the criteria they apply when evaluating the usefulness and credibility of scholarly and popular sources. Results indicate that students relied on surface-level indicators. Student voices showed misconceptions about the creation of scholarly information, confusion around the peer review process, and difficulty identifying source types. Results help justify the need for librarians to work with faculty to develop lessons toward in-depth discussion of information creation, types of information designations, and evaluation strategies that go beyond a single source.
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    Understanding the Organizational Value of Post–Master’s Degree Residency Programs
    (Research Library Issues, 2010-10) Brewer, Julie
    Post–master’s degree research library residency programs have been in place for many years, primarily in ARL libraries.1 A number of research libraries have hosted residency programs for several decades.2 Accounts of residency programs are most often presented from the residents’ perspectives or discussed in terms of how participants benefit. Many former residents enthusiastically report on their residency experiences at professional conferences and in various publications. It is clear these early- career development opportunities greatly benefit participants. However, the decline in the economy of the past few years has challenged research libraries to assess how residency programs benefit the organization. How do residency programs further the mission and strategic goals of the library? Providing early-career development may not be enough of a rationale to start or continue a residency program when library budgets are being reduced.
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    Interim Management During a Hiring Freeze, Salary Freeze, and Salary Reduction
    (Association of College & Research Libraries, 2022-06-06) McCoy, Shelly
    It's common for libraries to use visiting, interim, temporary, and acting roles to solve a variety of personnel vacancies. And with the current, widespread retirements and turnover at the most senior levels of library leadership, more and more libraries are being led by interim leaders. Interim Leadership in Libraries: Building Relationships, Making Decisions, and Moving On draws on evidence-based research, professional expertise, and personal experience to address the practical implications that arise from the decision to appoint interim leaders. Authors from a variety of institutions who have served in many different interim roles explore this unique type of leadership in five thorough sections: Building Relationships for Interim Leaders; Leading with Confidence; Making Long-Term Decisions as an Interim Leader; Leading Through Contraction: When No One Can Be Hired; and Moving On: When the Dust Settles. Chapters cover topics including serving as a non-librarian interim, leading through a hiring freeze, strategic planning and reorganization as interim, and developing future library leaders. Individuals asked to step into interim or acting leadership roles face personal and professional challenges. This book will help leaders, and those who work with them, learn from the successes and failures of others who came before them in order to have a lasting impact on their organization.
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    Effects of prebiotics, probiotics, and synbiotics on the infant gut microbiota and other health outcomes: A systematic review
    (Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 2022-01-04) Ferro, Lynn E.; Crowley, Liana N.; Bittinger, Kyle; Friedman, Elliot S.; Decker, Jessica E.; Russel, Kathryn; Katz, Sarah; Kim, Jae Kyeom; Trabulsi, Jillian C.
    The primary aim of this review was to systematically evaluate the literature regarding the effect of pre-, pro-, or synbiotic supplementation in infant formula on the gastrointestinal microbiota. The Cochrane methodology for systematic reviews of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was employed. Five databases were searched and 32 RCTs (2010–2021) were identified for inclusion: 20 prebiotic, 6 probiotic, and 6 synbiotic. The methods utilized to evaluate gastrointestinal microbiota varied across studies and included colony plating, fluorescence in situ hybridization, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, or tagged sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. Fecal Bifidobacterium levels increased with supplementation of prebiotics and synbiotics but not with probiotics alone. Probiotic and synbiotic supplementation generally increased fecal levels of the bacterial strain supplemented in the formula. Across all pre-, pro-, and synbiotic-supplemented formulas, results were inconsistent regarding fecal Clostridium levels. Fecal pH was lower with some prebiotic and synbiotic supplementation; however, no difference was seen with probiotics. Softer stools were often reported in infants supplemented with pre- and synbiotics, yet results were inconsistent for probiotic-supplemented formula. Limited evidence demonstrates that pre- and synbiotic supplementation increases fecal Bifidobacterium levels. Future studies utilizing comprehensive methodologies and additional studies in probiotics and synbiotics are warranted.
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    Perspectives on Precarity: A Multifaceted Look at the Status of Project Archivists
    (2020-08-05) Johnson Melvin, L. Rebecca; Sayles, Sheridan; Vo, Amy C.
    Presented at the 2020 Research Forum at the annual meeting of the Society of American Archivists (a virtual meeting), these are preliminary findings and a description of the research methodology of a national dual survey of project archivists and their employers about issues and practices related to term-limited positions.