Accessible services in academic libraries: a content analysis of library accessibility webpages in the United States

2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon Ezell ◽  
J.J. Pionke ◽  
Jeremy Gunnoe
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
The United States ◽  
General Information ◽  
Assistive Technologies ◽  
Public Institutions ◽  
Sample Population ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Functionally Diverse

Purpose This paper aims to contribute to an understanding of current accessibility efforts and practice in librarianship by providing a broad overview of the information about services, resources and facilities on academic library accessibility pages. By compiling and analyzing data from 85 libraries, this study seeks to facilitate comparisons between current and past accessibility practice and to provide perspective on how libraries communicate to users about accessibility efforts across libraries.Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted a content analysis of 85 library accessibility pages from a sample population of 98 institutions, consisting of all members institutions of four US academic library consortia. Pages were coded for content elements regarding services, facilities, collections, staffing, assistive technologies and general information. Webpage features, architecture and accessibility/functionality were also assessed.Findings Libraries have broadened and strengthened efforts to publicize/provide services and resources to functionally diverse users. Pages most commonly prioritize information about assistive technologies, services and facilities. Pages varied greatly in size, complexity and detail, but public institutions' pages were more prevalent and informative than their private counterparts. Libraries can work to foreground accessibility pages and increase transparency and evidence of currency to improve communication to their users.Originality/value This study provides a large-scale content analysis of library accessibility webpages. It allows for comparison of the features and information most commonly featured on these important online points of service.

scholarly journals User agreements and makerspaces: a content analysis

2015 ◽  
Vol 116 (7/8) ◽  
pp. 358-368 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather Michele Moorefield-Lang
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Academic Libraries ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
The Body ◽  
Library Science ◽  
Learning Space ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Qualitative Data Analysis Software

Abstract – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the user agreements of makerspaces in public and academic libraries. User agreements, also known as maker agreements, user forms and liability forms, can be very important documents between library patrons, staff and faculty. User agreements are similar to the earlier creation of acceptable use policies for technology use in libraries. The author of this study will delve into the user agreements created for public and academic libraries across the USA. Design/methodology/approach – The researcher used content analysis to investigate 24 different user agreements written for public and academic library makerspaces. NVivo qualitative data analysis software was integrated into this research to aid in the breakdown of commonalities across terms, themes and purpose within the user agreements. Findings – Although makerspaces are a very exciting topic in the field of library science at this time, the implementation of a maker learning space is still new to many libraries. Creating a user agreement for a makerspace is newer still. Most user agreements in this study were six months to a year old. Some consistencies found across makerspace user agreements include liability waivers, permissions for minors, safety, copyright and technology replacement costs. Originality/value – At this time, most publications on makerspaces are held in the realm of popular publications (blogs, magazines, zines, etc.). The body of peer-reviewed and scholarly research on makerspaces is growing. Makerspace user agreements are new to this growing field of interest, and a content analysis of these documents will pave the way for the writing of future forms.

Gender differences in academic entrepreneurship: experience, attitudes and outcomes among NSF I-CORPS participants

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alanna Epstein ◽  
Nathalie Duval-Couetil ◽  
Aileen Huang-Saad
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Graduate Students ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Prior Experience ◽  
Entrepreneurial Intention ◽  
The United States ◽  
Technology Commercialization ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Team Interactions

PurposeExpanding access to entrepreneurship training programs can be a method to increase female involvement in technology commercialization only if these programs adequately address the specific challenges facing female faculty and graduate students. In the context of the US National Science Foundation's Innovation Corps (NSF I-Corps) program, this study examines gender differences in prior experience and attitudes towards the training in order to propose improvements to the program design.Design/methodology/approachThis quantitative study uses Pearson's Chi-Square and ANOVA tests on survey data from the I-Corps national program (n = 2,195), which enrolls faculty members, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers and industry experts.FindingsIn comparison to male participants, female I-Corps participants reported less entrepreneurial experience prior to the program, poorer team relationships during the program and lower entrepreneurial intention and technology commercialization readiness at both the beginning and the end of the program. However, no gender differences were found in positive or negative perceptions of the instructional climate or perceptions of program usefulness.Originality/valueThis study is unique as it is based on a large-scale dataset drawn from sites across the United States. The results support potential changes to I-Corps and similar programs, including providing more explicit instructions for tasks with which female participants have less prior experience than males (e.g. in applying for patents), offering guidance for team interactions, and providing mentorship to assess whether low self-efficacy is leading women to underestimate the potential success of their projects.

Public communication about home burglary prevention in Belgium

2007 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 567-586 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dave Gelders ◽  
Hans Peeraer ◽  
Jelle Goossens
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Public Communication ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Media Mix

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to gain insight into the content, format and evaluation of printed public communication from police officers and governments regarding home burglary prevention in Belgium.Design/methodology/approachThe content and format in this paper is analyzed through content analysis of 104 printed communication pieces in the Belgian province of Flemish‐Brabant in 2005. The evaluation is analyzed through five focus group interviews among professionals and common citizens.FindingsThe paper finds that police zones significantly differ in terms of communication efforts. The media mix is not diverse with poor collaboration between police officers and government information officers, while intermediaries (i.e. architects) are rarely used, culminating in poor targeted communication.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper shows that only printed communication is analyzed and more large‐scale empirical research is desired.Practical implicationsThe paper shows that a richer media mix, more targeted communication, more national communication support and additional dialogue between and training of police officers and communication with professionals are advisable.Originality/valueThis paper combines two empirical studies and methods (content analysis and focus group interviews), resulting in a series of recommendations for further inquiry and future action.

scholarly journals Evolution of IncA/CblaCMY-2-Carrying Plasmids by Acquisition of theblaNDM-1Carbapenemase Gene

2011 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 783-786 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandra Carattoli ◽  
Laura Villa ◽  
Laurent Poirel ◽  
Rémy A. Bonnin ◽  
Patrice Nordmann
Keyword(s):  
Host Range ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
The United States ◽  
Broad Host Range ◽  
New Delhi ◽  
Yersinia Ruckeri ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Photobacterium Damselae ◽  
Environmental Bacteria ◽  
Broad Host Range Plasmids

ABSTRACTTheblaNDM-1gene has been reported to be often located on broad-host-range plasmids of the IncA/C type in clinical but also environmental bacteria recovered from the New Delhi, India, area. IncA/C-type plasmids are the main vehicles for the spread of the cephalosporinase geneblaCMY-2, frequently identified in the United States, Canada, and Europe. In this study, we completed the sequence of IncA/C plasmid pNDM-KN carrying theblaNDM-1gene, recovered from aKlebsiella pneumoniaeisolate from Kenya. This sequence was compared with those of three IncA/C-type reference plasmids fromEscherichia coli,Yersinia ruckeri, andPhotobacterium damselae. Comparative analysis showed that theblaNDM-1gene was located on a widely diffused plasmid scaffold known to be responsible for the spread ofblaCMY-2-like genes and consequently for resistance to broad-spectrum cephalosporins. Considering that IncA/C plasmids possess a broad host range, this scaffold might support a large-scale diffusion of theblaNDM-1gene among Gram-negative rods.

An exploratory survey measuring burnout among academic librarians in the southeast of the United States

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (8/9) ◽  
pp. 703-715
Author(s):  
Monica Colon-Aguirre ◽  
Katy Kavanagh Webb
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Human Resource ◽  
Maslach Burnout Inventory ◽  
The United States ◽  
Academic Librarians ◽  
Sample Population ◽  
Human Resource Practices ◽  
Personal Factors ◽  
Academic Institutions ◽  
Content Type

PurposeThe main purpose of this work is to uncover and identify the issues that academic librarians consider important in the attainment of work–life balance. This work will focus on exploring their experiences with different dimensions of burnout.Design/methodology/approachThe topic of burnout is explored by analyzing the results of a survey based on the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), which was distributed among librarians at a group academic institutions that are members of the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL).FindingsThe findings of this study do not demonstrate evidence of burnout among the sample population. However, the results do present plenty of opportunities for further exploration such as the relationship between burnout and personal factors, including LGBTQA + status and race or ethnic minority status.Research limitations/implicationsFurther exploration of the topic of burnout should be followed up with more qualitative studies, especially those employing interviews.Practical implicationsImprovement of human resource practices, which reduces the incidence of burnout among academic librarians, is something that can only be accomplished at the organizational level. Human resource practices can create a work environment that enhances productivity by improving the quality of life of employees.Originality/valueThis work explores and assesses academic librarian burnout, among those working in academic institutions in the southeastern United States. To date, no study has been undertaken that looks at burnout across broad types of work performed by academic librarians and librarians at different institutions.

scholarly journals Investigating academic library responses to predatory publishing in the United States, Canada and Spanish-speaking Latin America

2020 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
pp. 625-652 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jairo Buitrago Ciro ◽  
Lynne Bowker
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
Scholarly Communication ◽  
The United States ◽  
Comparative Investigation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Spanish Speaking ◽  
The Us ◽  
Predatory Publishing

PurposeThis is a comparative investigation of how university libraries in the United States, Canada and Spanish-speaking Latin America are responding to predatory publishing.Design/methodology/approachThe Times Higher Education World University Rankings was used to identify the top ten universities from each of the US and Canada, as well as the top 20 Spanish-language universities in Latin America. Each university library's website was scrutinized to discover whether the libraries employed scholarly communication librarians, whether they offered scholarly communication workshops, or whether they shared information about scholarly communication on their websites. This information was further examined to determine if it discussed predatory publishing specifically.FindingsMost libraries in the US/Canada sample employ scholarly communication librarians and nearly half offer workshops on predatory publishing. No library in the Latin America sample employed a scholarly communication specialist and just one offered a workshop addressing predatory publishing. The websites of the libraries in the US and Canada addressed predatory publishing both indirectly and directly, with US libraries favoring the former approach and Canadian libraries tending towards the latter. Predatory publishing was rarely addressed directly by the libraries in the Latin America sample; however, all discussed self-archiving and/or Open Access.Research limitations/implicationsBrazilian universities were excluded owing to the researchers' language limitations. Data were collected between September 15 and 30, 2019, so it represents a snapshot of information available at that time. The study was limited to an analysis of library websites using a fixed set of keywords, and it did not investigate whether other campus units were involved or whether other methods of informing researchers about predatory publishing were being used.Originality/valueThe study reveals some best practices leading to recommendations to help academic libraries combat predatory publishing and improve scholarly publishing literacy among researchers.

A co-citation study of information security patents in the USPTO database

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elmira Janavi ◽  
Maryam Emami
Keyword(s):  
Information Security ◽  
Citation Analysis ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
The United States ◽  
Washington State ◽  
Upward Trend ◽  
Statistical Population ◽  
Content Type ◽  
States Patent

PurposeThe goal of this study was to investigate the co-citation of information security patents in the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) database.Design/methodology/approachThis research is a scientometrics study that has been conducted using the co-citation analysis. The statistical population of the present study includes all patents of information security filed in the USPTO database from 1971 to 2015. As a result of this search, 30,736 patents were retrieved. In this investigation, UCINET software and its complementary package (NetDraw) were employed to plot scientific maps.FindingsThe findings of this study indicated an upward trend of patents in the field of information security between 1971 and 2015. The “California State” has the top world rank in information security inventions, followed by “Japan” and the “Washington State.” “VAN WIE, DAVID M” is the most cited inventor in the field of information security. The analysis of inventors' co-citation data indicated that “ADAMS, NEIL- LITTLE” and “HERBERT ANTHONY” had the highest co-citation rates with each other and were ranked first. The survey of high-citation inventors based on centrality indices indicated that “LEACH, PAUL J” graded first in degree centrality, “BENALOH, JOSH D” in betweenness centrality and “BENALOH, JOSH D” in closeness centrality.Originality/valueThe co-citation analysis of patents can show the most important patents and the relationships between them. Such analyses can be useful for large-scale policymaking or identification of existing gaps and attempting to address them.

scholarly journals Reference service evaluation at an African academic library: the user perspective

2015 ◽  
Vol 64 (8/9) ◽  
pp. 552-566 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lili Luo ◽  
Viscount B. Buer
Keyword(s):  
Customer Service ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Evaluation Study ◽  
User Perspective ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Library Users ◽  
Reference Service

Purpose – This paper aims to provide a detailed discussion of a large-scale library reference evaluation study conducted at the University of Education, Winneba (UEW) in Ghana. The study seeks to evaluate the reference service from the user perspective, focusing on how users use and perceive the service. Design/methodology/approach – Self-administered survey was used as the data collection instrument. One thousand questionnaires were distributed to library users in a three-week period, and the response rate was 63.7 per cent. Findings – The reference service had a high non-use rate of 42.6 per cent, which was primarily attributed to library users’ self-sufficiency and lack of awareness of the service. The top three motivations for library users to use the reference service were class assignments, personal interests and using library facilities. Although their overall altitude was positive, users felt that reference librarians were more successful at exhibiting customer service qualities than performing tasks related to identifying users’ information needs and searching/locating relevant information to fulfill the needs. Practical implications – The knowledge gained from this study will deepen the understanding of how the reference service is utilised and perceived by library users and offer insights on how to enhance the services to optimise the user experience. Originality/value – This study yields an enriched view of reference service provision in the African context. Its findings will help other academic libraries in Africa successfully plan and implement their own reference evaluation efforts and ultimately encourage more evidence-based library practices in the developing world.

Environment and technology dominate the WEF agenda

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
The United States ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mitigation And Adaptation ◽  
The People ◽  
Impact Risk ◽  
Trade Deals ◽  
First Time

Significance For the first time in the eleven-year history of the survey, no economic risk makes the list of the top five most likely or biggest impact risks. In contrast, large-scale terrorist attacks make the top five most likely risks for the first time and weapons of mass destruction are cited as the highest impact risk. All five environment-related risks are ranked among the top ten highest impact risks for the first time -- four in the top five: extreme weather events; water crises; major natural disasters; and failure of climate change mitigation and adaptation. The survey cites strengthening global cooperation systems as a top five challenge, and says these environmental risks will be exacerbated if cooperation diminishes. Impacts Nearly a third of respondents think that increasing polarisation will be an underlying trend over the next ten years. More must be done to include the people left behind by technological change -- more than 4 billion lack internet access. The United States may withdraw from the Paris climate change agreement, and a number of free trade deals are at risk.

Exploring academic libraries’ use of Twitter: a content analysis

2015 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. 1002-1015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sultan M. Al-Daihani ◽  
Suha A. AlAwadhi
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Academic Libraries ◽  
Information Science ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
Library And Information Science ◽  
Science Literature ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Patterns Of Communication ◽  
Library Marketing

Purpose – This research aims to analyze academic libraries’ Twitter content and present a categorization framework for the study of their tweets. Design/methodology/approach – The research adopted a statistical descriptive analysis in addition to a content analysis of the tweets. Consequently, many categories and subcategories were created to classify the tweets according to different aspects. A total of 17 academic library accounts were examined. Findings – The findings show that academic libraries used Twitter as a multifaceted tool. “News and announcements” received the highest score as the type of information most often posted on Twitter by libraries, followed by “library collections” and “library services”. The subcategories that received the highest scores were “library marketing and news”, “answers and referrals” and “books”. Academic libraries showed a penchant for posting links more often than other content. Other results show different patterns of communication and interaction between libraries and their Twitter followers. Practical implications – The categorization of tweets provides a framework for understanding how academic libraries use Twitter. Originality/value – As little research can be found in the library and information science literature on Twitter content analysis, this research is expected to contribute significantly. It will also support academic libraries and librarians in using Twitter more efficiently and effectively.

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