John Green, the celebrated young adult author and vlogger, has been an advocate for TB treatment access since 2019, when he met Henry, a teenager with TB, during a trip to Sierra Leone. Henry gave Green “the view from below,” he says, quoting his late friend and global health pioneer Paul Farmer, who described the … Continue reading Newsmaker: John Green
The event was RPL’s second Flip the Fair, introduced in 2022 to help graduate students develop skills to effectively communicate their research while engaging local elementary students with STEM topics and the library. It’s an example of how libraries are seeking innovative ways to share science and research with new audiences. “We wanted to give … Continue reading Shaking Up Science
These findings contribute to the notion that scholarly knowledge comes from a homogenous group of researchers, thereby overlooking the contributions of other groups. This phenomenon has been referred to as epistemological racism or screening, among other terms. In 2017, I read about the “Cite Black Women” campaign founded by Christen A. Smith, an anthropologist whose … Continue reading Citational Justice
Sarah, what made you want to turn your academic research into a comic? Peitzmeier: I do a lot of different types of research on topics like cancer prevention and gender-based violence prevention. But this work on binding has received the most public interest. I’m often getting emails from trans teens who, for example, want to … Continue reading Newsmakers: Maia Kobabe and Sarah Peitzmeier
While examining academic library websites in 2022, researchers Danielle Maurici-Pollock and Rebecca Stallworth noted they found 80 different definitions for FGS. The most common definitions refer to the first person in a family to go to college or a student whose parents didn’t attend college, but a range of lived experiences can make the terminology … Continue reading Eliminating Barriers, Meeting Needs
That quote from a ninth grader was collected as researchers studied the effects of large-print books on youth literacy. In collaboration with Thorndike Press, Project Tomorrow—a national nonprofit supporting K–12 education—found positive results after introducing large print to students in grades 3–12, particularly those who struggled with reading. Project Tomorrow CEO Julie Evans discussed the … Continue reading Big Print Helps Young Readers
Our investigation of student habits used a simulated set of Google search results to identify how 175 students, from 4th grade through graduate school, selected and judged resources for a research project. We found that, while students have been generally discouraged from using Wikipedia as a source, it remains a popular starting point. We also … Continue reading Stop Source-Shaming
Going Virtual: Programs and Insights from a Time of Crisis By Sarah Ostman Going Virtual is a timely, practical guide that offers pragmatic advice and creative examples of programs for communities of all sizes and types. Divided into four sections—learning, conversation, connection, and entertainment—this book provides a wealth of ideas for programs that can be … Continue reading Pandemic Pivoting, Continued
A new American Library Association (ALA) survey of US libraries, “Libraries Respond: COVID-19 Survey,” documents a shift in services to support students, faculty, and communities at large during the crisis and phased preparations for the months ahead. While virtually all libraries (99%) report limited access to the physical building, survey respondents shared leaps in the … Continue reading ALA Survey Shows Effects of Pandemic on Library Services
“The census is a living document,” says David Thibodeau, head librarian and project manager, of the survey that has been conducted every 10 years since 1790. “People find something in the 1980 Census and they want to find the exact same data going back decades, but it doesn’t really work like that. In every manifestation, … Continue reading Bookend: The Science of the Census
In this multipart series, American Libraries presents case studies and interviews with thought leaders looking at research trends in academic libraries. We’ll be covering the topics of social justice, information literacy, digital archives, faculty outreach, and new technology. This is the fourth story in the series. Also referred to as scholar sprints, the intensive forums are … Continue reading Ready, Set, Research!
“How can libraries best serve populations during a global economic crisis or make sense of government data?” was the question posed by Jim Church, librarian for economics and international government information at UC Berkeley and chair of IFLA’s Government Information and Official Publications section, which sponsored this program. Thanos Giannakopolous, director of the United Nations … Continue reading IFLA: Libraries, Data, and the Global Financial Crisis
