Academic literature on the topic 'Community college libraries Academic libraries Library use studies Libraries and students'

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe how the Hudson County Community College Library hosted a Super Smash Bros. for Wii U Tournament as part of its Fall 2015 and Spring 2016 programming, and discuss what it learned from hosting the event. Design/methodology/approach This paper details how a community college library planned, hosted and learned from its experience running a Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U Tournament. It will also describe how the library continued to use this experience to plan additional video game-based programming. Findings The Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U Tournament was generally well received by student attendees. However, student feedback revealed a preference for less-competitive “friendly” events instead of tournaments. Students also requested the option of having several games available instead of one. Originality/value Thus far, there has been little research on academic or community college libraries organizing video game-based programming and activities event. There have also been few studies about whether gaming events work better in libraries as tournaments or “free play” activities.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to seek to ascertain how many electronic resource troubleshooting LibGuides are in use and what level of support they tend to provide. LibGuides have become quite popular in academic libraries as a tool for subject and college liaison librarians to deliver library-mediated content to colleges and individual classes. Another promising area for their use is to provide electronic resource troubleshooting support to students and faculty, as well as to other library staff. Design/methodology/approach – A sample of electronic resource troubleshooting LibGuides was obtained through a Google advanced search augmented by additional searches in the limited LibGuides community search utility. These LibGuides were selected according to a standard definition of troubleshooting and were analyzed for content on 36 support variables. Findings – A relatively small number of LibGuides were located, and a thorough treatment of electronic resource access issues was present in only a limited number of the LibGuides found. Research limitations/implications – While some LibGuides may have gone undiscovered owing to an incomplete search strategy for discovery, subsequent efforts to find overlooked pages were mostly fruitless. The relatively small number of electronic resource troubleshooting LibGuides discovered coupled with their simplicity may indicate that the use of LibGuides platform in this capacity has not gained traction. Originality/value – While there have been many case studies discussing the use of LibGuides as a subject and course guide platform, relatively few have explored the use of LibGuides outside of their traditional subject-focused implementation, and none have looked at LibGuides as a potential platform to aid in electronic resource access troubleshooting.

A review of:
 Rowland, Ian, David Nicholas, Hamid R. Jamali, and Paul Huntington. “What do Faculty and Students Really Think about E-books?” Aslib Proceedings: New Information Perspectives; 59.6 (2007): 489-511.
 
 Objective – To assess academic users’ awareness, perceptions and levels of use of e-books. Also to discover the purposes for which e-books were used and identify the most effective library marketing strategies for e-books.
 
 Design – Survey.
 
 Setting – University College London (UCL).
 
 Subjects – 1,818 UCL staff and students.
 
 Methods – In November 2006, staff and students of UCL were asked to participate in an online survey, administered using SurveyMonkey software. The survey ran November 1-18, 2006. Survey results were analysed using Software Package for Social Sciences (SPSS).
 
 Main Results – The response rate to the survey was at least 6.7%. A total of 1,818 completed surveys were received from approximately 27,000 potential respondents, although it is not known whether all e-mails announcing the survey were successfully delivered. No statistically significant differences were found between the demographic profile of the survey sample and the profile of the total UCL population. Data regarding e-book usage were collected from the sub-group of respondents who were existing e-book users, and data regarding use of print collections and book discovery were collected from all respondents.
 
 Forty-four per cent of respondents had used e-books, with age a good predictor of usage. However additional data analysis revealed complex demographic interactions underlying e-book usage, making broad generalisations too simplistic. Of existing e-book users, 61% sourced e-books independently of the UCL library. Deeper analysis showed that men were more “library independent” than women and doctoral students were more so than other students and staff. Forty-eight per cent of existing e-book users preferred reading from a screen rather than paper, with men more likely to read from a screen than women, and undergraduates more likely to do so than other groups. Responses to questions about the purpose of reading showed that existing e-book users consulted e-books primarily for work and study, and tended to obtain these from libraries. They were less likely to use e-books for leisure, but if they did so, were likely to obtain them from non-library sources.
 
 E-books were compared to traditional print across a range of factors and scored very favourably for ease of copying, currency, space requirements, 24/7 accessibility, convenience and ease of navigation. However e-books scored poorly compared to print for ease of reading, ease of marking a place and ease of annotation. 
 
 Regarding use of library print titles, data from all respondents indicated that women (42%) were more likely to be regular users of print than men (35%). Print book discovery behaviour is complex, and age, gender and subject area all influenced book discovery preferences. Analysis of data regarding satisfaction with UCL’s current provision of print library books showed that 41% rated this service as “excellent” or “good,” but further analysis by gender, age and subject area revealed pockets of low satisfaction which warrant further attention.
 
 Students were much more aware of e-book availability through the UCL library than academic and research staff, with differences in awareness also displayed between different faculties. The library’s Web site and catalogue were the main channels for e-book awareness, with respondents themselves suggesting the library Web site and e-mail user guides as the most effective e-book awareness mechanisms.
 
 Conclusion – This study reveals a significant level of interest in and use of e-books in one academic community, but with differences determined by age, gender, academic sub-group and subject area. It builds on the findings of previous studies of e-book usage and indicates key areas for further study. These include whether real-life information behaviour correlates with the self-reporting of respondents, and the intersection of gender and self-reported information behaviour. This information, plus the patterns of book discovery behaviour emerging from this study, will be of interest to publishers, booksellers and libraries.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to answer the questions: What challenges do students face in an information commons and how does roving reference help?. Design/methodology/approach The author recounts her work roving in her community college information commons and supplements this with an analysis of 1,500 records from her detailed reference log that compares roving reference results with conventional references and with reference questions as a whole. Findings Her autoethnography and data reveal that roving substantially increases the number of reference encounters. In addition, her data sheds light on students’ struggles with common, productivity software, academic packages and malfunctioning hardware. More importantly, these findings show that roving reference data identify problems that librarians, as stakeholders, can solve. Research limitations/implications Roving reference in a community college information commons brings students in one library into sharper focus. Roving reference increases the number of reference encounters and the reach of reference service. It also exposes a use-based digital divide that calls for collaboration in the long run and increased point-of-need service immediately. Practical implications Even data that points to digital divides, hardware issues or other shortcomings and offers empirical evidence of problems for which library staff, unlike student workers, can find long-term solutions. This study shows that it is possible to gather rich and extensive data with minimal personnel and off-the-shelf software. Social implications A college degree is vital to social mobility and easing inequality. Fluency with academic technology and information is necessary for completing college. Roving reference means more opportunities to teach information and computer fluency at point of need and more opportunities for librarian stakeholders to find and remove obstacles to student learning. Originality/value This is one of the few, recent studies, autoethnographic or otherwise, on roving reference in a community college library’s information commons.

A Review of:
 Albarillo, F. (2018). Super-diversity and foreign-born students in academic libraries: A survey study. portal: Libraries and the Academy, 18(1), 59-91. https://doi.org/10.1353/pla.2018.0004
 Abstract
 Objective – To evaluate the relationship between academic and public library usage and various characteristics of foreign-born students.
 Design – Survey questionnaire.
 Setting – Medium-sized public liberal arts college in the northeastern United States.
 Subjects – 123 foreign-born students enrolled at the institution in fall 2014.
 Methods – The researcher emailed a five-part survey to participants who indicated on a screening survey that they were foreign-born students currently enrolled at the college. Of the participants emailed, 94 completed the survey. The survey used a super-diversity lens to assess academic and public library use by foreign-born students in relationship to multiple variables, including student status, race and ethnicity, immigration status, first-generation student status, gender, age, age of arrival in the United States (US), years living in the US, and ZIP Code (used to approximate median income based on the US Census Bureau’s 2014 American Community Survey). Respondents reported frequency of use on a Likert-type scale of 1=Never to 6=Always. The author adapted items from the In Library Use Survey Instrument (University of Washington Libraries, 2011). Usage types included: computer, Wi-Fi, staff assistance, electronic resources, physical resources, printing/scanning/photocopying, program attendance, and physical space. Independent sample t-tests were used to evaluate mean differences in reported library usage based on demographic variables. The author used Somers’ d statistical tests to explore the relationship between library use and age, age on arrival in the US, years lived in the US, and median income. The survey asked participants to describe both academic and public libraries in five words. To show term frequency, the author used word clouds as a visualization technique.
 Main Results – The study reported on the results of the library use survey section. Overall, foreign-born students used college libraries more frequently than public libraries. The author reported on findings that were statistically significant (p ≤ 0.5), focusing on those with mean differences ≥ 0.5. Key findings included: undergraduate students used public libraries and Wi-Fi/e-resources onsite at college libraries more often than graduate students; first-generation students gathered at the library with friends more frequently; no significant difference was reported in library resource use by gender; and non-white students used the college library more frequently as a study space and for printing. The author was surprised no significant differences in usage were found between participants with permanent vs. temporary immigration status. Somers’ d associations showed an inverse relationship between age and Wi-Fi use and age of arrival in the United States and likelihood of eating in the library. Overall, both library types were positively described in open-ended responses as places with social and academic value.
 Conclusion – The author suggested the concept of super-diversity equips librarians with a more inclusive approach to studying library user perspectives and behaviors. The author used survey data and the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Diversity Standards (2012) to highlight library service considerations for foreign-born students. Examples of suggested service improvements included supporting printing in Unicode non-English fonts, cultivating a diverse library staff, and providing culturally appropriate library orientations and outreach. The author recommended that more research with foreign-born students was needed to assess culturally appropriate areas for eating and socializing, unique information needs, and expectations and awareness of library services. The author suggested first-generation students’ use of the library for socializing and non-white students’ higher use of libraries for studying as two areas for further qualitative study. The author also suggested creating services and partnerships between public and academic libraries could support foreign-born students, even recommending cross-training of library staff.

This study analyses the status of electronic resources facilities and services provided by the Engineering Colleges in Chennai. It also discusses the purpose of using e-resources, benefits, subject coverage, students satisfaction, problems that are faced by the Engineering College students while accessing e-resources .The study was limited to only four engineering colleges situated on the line to OMR road, Chennai. Majority of the students are accessing the e-resources from their Central Library followed by their home (17%), Internet centre (13%) and from their department libraries (10%). Since the student community has to depend on the e-resources for their academic endeavour, the libraries should subscribe the e-resources as per the required norms to fulfill the academic needs of the student community.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine the information literacy skills and needs of incoming and current transfer students. Design/methodology/approach Three studies are discussed, two of which were generated from ACRL’s Assessment in Action program. In the first, incoming transfer students were asked basic demographic questions and were tested on several basic information literacy skills. A combination of quantitative analysis and rubrics was used to assess results. A pre-test, post-test method was used in a basic introduction to campus life course for transfer students. Finally, the 2014 cohort of transfer student were resurveyed to test research skills and report interactions they had with reference librarians and library instruction during the previous year. Findings Initial observations suggested older transfer students, and students transferring from community colleges were least knowledgeable about basic information literacy concepts, and that students who had attended library instruction sessions were more knowledgeable. In the pre-test, intervention and post-test study, students did not show significant improvements in knowledge, but did show a significantly improved comfort level with library research. In the follow-up survey, second year transfer students who had library instruction during the previous year were significantly more likely to have sought out their subject liaison for consultations. Originality/value Research studies that focus on the information literacy needs and skills of transfer students and adult learners is somewhat scarce, compared to that of incoming freshmen. It is of use to both academic librarians in institutions that accept incoming transfer students, and to community college librarians who may be designing handoff library instruction.

A Review of:
 Mbabu, L.G., Bertram, A. B., & Varnum, K. (2013). Patterns of undergraduates’ use of scholarly databases in a large research university. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 39(2), 189-193. http://dx.doi.org/10.10.1016/j.acalib.2012.10.004
 
 Abstract
 
 Objective – To investigate undergraduate students’ patterns of electronic database use to discover whether database use increases as undergraduate students progress into later stages of study with increasingly sophisticated information needs and demands.
 
 Design – User database authentication log analysis.
 
 Setting – A large research university in the Midwestern United States of America.
 
 Subjects – A total of 26,208 undergraduate students enrolled during the Fall 2009 academic semester.
 
 Methods – The researchers obtained logs of user-authenticated activity from the university’s databases. Logged data for each user included: the user’s action and details of that action (including database searches), the time of action, the user’s relationship to the university, the individual school in which the user was enrolled, and the user’s class standing. The data were analyzed to determine which proportion of undergraduate students accessed the library’s electronic databases. The study reports that the logged data accounted for 61% of all database activity, and the authors suggest the other 39% of use is likely from “non-undergraduate members of the research community within the [university’s] campus IP range” (192).
 
 Main Results – The study found that 10,897 (42%) of the subject population of undergraduate students accessed the library’s electronic databases. The study also compared database access by class standing, and found that freshman undergraduates had the highest proportion of database use, with 56% of enrolled freshman accessing the library’s databases. Sophomores had the second highest proportion of students accessing the databases at 40%; juniors and seniors had the lowest percentage of use, with 38% of enrolled students at each level accessing the library’s databases. The study also found that November was the peak of database search activity, accounting for 37% of database searches for the Fall 2009 semester. Database use varied by the schools or colleges in which students were enrolled, with the School of Nursing having the highest percentage of enrolled undergraduates using library databases (54%). The authors also report that the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts had the fourth highest proportion of users at 46%, representing 7,523 unique students, more than double the combined number of undergraduate users from all other programs. Since the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts accounts for more than 60% of the total undergraduate enrollment, the authors suggest that information literacy instruction targeted to these programs would have the greatest campus-wide impact.
 
 Conclusion – Although the library conducts a number of library instruction sessions with freshman students each Fall semester, the authors conclude that database use patterns suggest that the proportion of students who continue to use library databases decreases as level of study progresses. This finding does not support the study’s hypothesis that database use increases as students advance through their undergraduate studies.

A Review of:
 Ciszek, M. P. (2011). Out on the web: The relationship between campus climate and GLBT-related web-based resources in academic libraries. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 37(5), 430-436. doi: 10.1016/j.acalib.2011.06.007 
 
 Objective – To explore whether academic institutions that score highly on the LGBT-Friendly Campus Climate Index also have well-developed Web-based library resources to support GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender) students. 
 
 Design – Website analysis, percentage, and binary logistic regression analysis. 
 
 Setting – Library websites of colleges and universities in four American geographic regions: Northeast, Midwest, South, and West.
 
 Subjects – There were 259 colleges and universities that participated in the 2010 LGBT-Friendly Campus Climate Index.
 Methods – The author visited the library websites of all institutions and surveyed available GLBT-related resources. The criteria for online resources included: 1) A research guide for GLBT studies or geared toward GLBT students, 2) An individual identified within the research guide as a contact for GLBT-related resources, and 3) A subscription to EBSCO’s GLBT Life database.
 
 Whether or not the academic libraries had the above resources was then analyzed with each institution’s score on the climate survey scale. The author controlled for geographical location, religious affiliation, and campus setting of the college or university. 
 
 Main Results – There is a positive direct relationship between whether a library makes GLBT resources available on the Web and campus climate. However, only 25% of libraries surveyed published a research guide, 18% named a contact individual, and 31% subscribed to GLBT Life. 
 
 Conclusion – While parent institutions commit to GLBT students by taking the LBGT-Friendly Campus Climate Index survey, academic libraries lag behind providing online resources for this community. 
 
 The author recommends academic libraries: 
 
 • Create a top-level GLBT research guide.
 • Provide contact information for a staff person assigned to provide GLBT-related research assistance.
 • Assign a resource selector for GLBT-related resources.
 • Subscribe to GLBT-related databases.
 • Partner with GLBT organizations on campus to improve collections.
 • Promote GLBT-related collections to the campus community.
 • Perform an assessment of the information and resource needs of GLBT campus community members.
 • Ensure the GLBT community is included in programming and services.

Purpose Academic libraries continue to invest in eBooks to ensure access to content in various formats. This paper aims to examine eBook acquisition models, including patron-driven acquisitions, one-time purchases, focused collection subscriptions or large-scale subscriptions, to better understand how users engage with this content based on usage data. Design/methodology/approach Usage data provide insights into eBook acquisition and how access models influence use. This study defines the acquisition model for each eBook purchase. Data were examined to determine usage by acquisition model and cost-per-use. Findings This paper finds that for a large suburban community college, a large-scale subscription model has the lowest cost-per-use and serves the largest portion of students. Focused collection subscriptions supported small, specialized programs in the Allied Health, Emergency Services, and Nursing fields. Originality/value This paper examines how eBooks are acquired to determine which model best serves an academic library community, specifically a community college library, which is currently underrepresented in the literature.