Academic literature on the topic 'Umeå University Library'

The coronavirus pandemic changed the days rather dramatically for the universities in March this year and still does. In the Medical Library at Umeå University we had to change the library service in many ways from one week to another. This article shows how we managed to have the library open for our customers; while keeping students, faculty and hospital staff safe. We did not close down as libraries in many countries did and also many university libraries in Sweden.

<span style="font-size: x-small;"><p align="justify">The datafile is established at the library at Skogshögskolan, Umeå, Sweden (The Swedish University of Agriculture, Department of Forestry).</p></span>

Our presentation discusses the practices and findings from a PhD workshop series at the Academic Resource Centre, Umeå University Library, Sweden. The partnership between librarians, writing tutors/researchers in supporting PhD research has recently become a new reality with Information Literacy courses offered as tools for resources and searching (Hassani, 2015; Paasio & Hintikka, 2015; Garson,2016). The insights from our course contribute to this literature by re-conceptualizing “academic literacy”, including Information Literacy, in doctoral education.
 Adopting Academic Literacies (Lea & Street, 1998, 2006) as our workshops’ underlying framework, we propose literacy beyond individual, transferable cognitive skills of writing and reading. Rather, it is an interrelated, dynamic, and situated set of knowledge, skills, and personal attributes that help PhD students acculturate into disciplinary discourses, the academic community, and wider social contexts.
 Our course approaches literacy holistically as comprising Research competence, Information literacy, and Academic English, with consideration to social processes (power, identity, and authority). The workshops cover critical reading, the literature review, writing abstract, communicating research and writing papers, but the PhD students are also encouraged to make sense of their writing by having critical, inquiry-based reflections about themselves, academia, and social discourses.
 The results from the first three workshop seasons emphasize knowledge co-creation – between academic librarians and researchers, and between workshop instructors and PhD students, as one key principle in developing academic literacies. The findings indicate that Information Literacy can be seen beyond tools and resources but rather a springboard that stimulates PhD students’ critical thinking in their becoming researchers. The positive feedback from the participants also gives the rationale for the expanding roles of the library (Delaney and Bates, 2018). These workshops have strengthened our belief that collaboration is one important strategy for librarians and writing tutors/researchers to acquire the skills of the future.
 Authors
 Mai Trang Vu, PhD, works at the Academic Resource Centre, Umeå University Library, and Department of Language Studies, Umeå University, Sweden, trang.vu@umu.se.
 Magnus Olsson, Academic Librarian, Academic Resource Centre, Umeå University Library, Sweden, magnus.olsson@umu.se.
 
 References
 Delaney, Geraldine, & Bates, Jessica. (2018). How Can the University Library Better Meet the Information Needs of Research Students? Experiences from Ulster University. New Review of Academic Librarianship, 24(1), 63-89.
 Garson, D. S. (2016). Doctoral students becoming researchers: An innovative curriculum. Nordic Journal of Information Literacy in Higher Education, 8(1).
 Hassani, A. E. (2015). The role of Information Literacy in higher education: An initiative at Al Akhawayn University in Morocco. Nordic Journal of Information Literacy in Higher Education, 7(1).
 Lea, M. & Street, B. (1998). Student writing in higher education: An academic literacies approach. Studies in Higher Education, 23(2), 157–72.
 Lea, M. & Street, B. (2006). The ‘Academic literacies’ model: Theory and applications. Theory into Practice, 45(4), 368–77.
 Paasio, A-L, Hintikka, K. (2015). An Information Literacy course for doctoral students: Information resources and tools for research. Nordic Journal of Information Literacy in Higher Education, 7(1).

Many academic libraries are asked to do more for less money. By reaching out to other academic services, for example, the writing centre, might make it easier to fulfil the expected goals placed upon the library by the University administration (Ferer, 2012). However, there are also pedagogical reasons for collaboration. Academic librarians and academic writing tutors who transcend the traditional organizational boundaries within a university can together provide a more integrated picture of information seeking and the writing process for their students. This team approach, which emphasizes helping students become independent and active learners, can strengthen their academic skills, such as information literacy, that are essential when attending university.Nevertheless, in Sweden the few university libraries that house writing centres simply share a location rather than collaborate on a routine basis. Umeå University Library is unusual because the Library and Writing Centre are organized in the same unit, Scholarly Communication, and work as a team. Collecting this expertise into one location allows students more comprehensive support and convenient access: "one-stop shopping" (Cooke & Bledsoe, 2008). Drawing on our practices, we will describe Umeå University Library’s collaborative approach to teaching information literacy.Academic librarians are taking a greater role as literacy educators in helping students create personal knowledge (Elmborg, 2006). This personal knowledge is then transferred into writing where students demonstrate their evaluation and understanding of sources and through writing enter the conversations in their field, thereby finding their own voice. Rather than compartmentalizing these information seeking and writing processes, librarians and writing tutors can work together with students to help them navigate and come to understand that these processes are intricately linked.

Background At the Faculty of forestry sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, we have actively worked to outline a strategy for implementing generic skills in our programmes. It started out as a project in March 2010, but was made permanent in July 2011. The work is a cooperation between the Learning resource centre/Forestry library and the faculty. My position as LRC-pedagogue is a combined position (financed 50% by the library and 50% by the faculty). My work comprises of educational development of teaching staff and researchers, and also includes teaching students at basic, advanced, and doctoral level. Workshop In the workshop, we take some basic questions as a starting point in order to get a clear picture of what generic skills are, and why and how we can work with them: What? Short introduction on what generic skills are. Why? The importance of working actively with generic skills. How? Presentation of how the work is done at the Faculty of forestry sciences, SLU, Umeå. Who? Discussion of how generic skills can be implemented at your own faculty/programme/course, in cooperation between different institutions. We work with practical examples, adapted to your experience and needs.

Information technology is playing a vital role in our every field of life. The most common use of information is in the field of education. Use of information technology in libraries is very important. People from differents works of life extract information from these libraries. In this paper, we have tried to identify how can we facilitate the Umeå university library users for better interaction with the information? We have used different methods for collection of data to identify the Umeå university libray problems and then we analysed the whole library system with the help of Engeström Activity theory, to find out which factors are effeting the interaction between users and library and creating main problems. In the end we have given some suggestions for the improvement of interaction between users and Umeå library to facilitate them for accessing information.

<p>The aim of this Master’s thesis is to investigate Umeå University Library’s provision for its visiting international students. Questions addressed include: whether this library considers its international students to have specific needs which are different from those of domestic students; what kind of provision is offered to international students; and whether and what kind of affective barriers international students experience in this academic library.</p><p>For this case study two semi-structured interview questionnaires were designed, one for librarians and the other for international students. Three contact librarians and five international students were interviewed. The students differ as to nationality, gender, and level of education. They are non-native English speakers and have stayed in Sweden longer than six months.</p><p>The theoretical framework for this study is partially based on Budd’s library instruction model and partially on Bostick‘s five dimensions of library anxiety: barriers with staff, affective barriers, comfort with the library, knowledge of the library, and mechanical barriers.</p><p>The empirical findings are that apart from a library introduction and a library tour the library does not provide any special services for international students. The library appears to work on a one-size-fits-all assumption, sprinkled with a feel-free-to-ask-me attitude, rather than offering course-integrated library instruction sessions. At best, international students might get one timely library instruction opportunity. At worst, they use the library only for studying in it rather than for information searching. The study confirms the findings from the literature that the international students experience library anxiety. In order to overcome this anxiety, this thesis proposes that library instruction sessions are introduced into all international programmes and courses; that a liaison librarian should be appointed; and that a library website tailored to the needs of international students should be designed.</p>

<p>Syftet med denna uppsats är att utvärdera täckningen av studentuppsatser gentemot de målsättningarUmeå Universitet har för databasen DiVA (Digitala Vetenskapliga Arkivet). I utvärderingen görs dels en bakgrundsstudie av DiVA och Open Access samt en lokal studie av Umeå Universitetsdeltagande. Vid universitetet är det i dagsläget obligatoriskt för avhandlingar att publiceras, men något liknande krav finns inte på studentuppsatser.</p><p>Jag gjorde även en undersökning över hur frågan om obligatorisk publicering, av materialproducerat vid lärosätet, hanterats vid andra lärosäten i Sverige, vilket visar att man vid mångalärosäten valt att göra det obligatoriskt även för studentuppsatser att registreras. Bland orsakerna till detta nämns att det ökar spridningen, tillgängligheten och citering (eller användning) av arbetet, samt att det har ett pedagogiskt värde och ökar möjligheterna för kvalitetsgranskning.</p><p>Slutligen gjordes en undersökning av täckningen av studentuppsatser från institutioner vidSamhällsvetenskapliga fakulteten, där jag jämförde hur många uppsatser som skrevs totalt 2007 och hur många av dem som fanns registrerade i DiVA.</p><p>Resultaten visar att täckningen i överlag är dålig, något som inte motsvarar målsättningen att sprida information om vad universitetet producerar, och fakulteten eller universitet bör överväga attgenomföra en mer ingående utredning av möjligheterna att göra det obligatoriskt att studentuppsatser ska publiceras elektroniskt i DiVA.</p>