This study sought to determine the degree to which individual research consultations with a librarian can improve the work of undergraduate students. Citation analysis was used to evaluate the quality of sources selected on draft papers before meeting with a librarian and on final papers after meeting with a librarian. The rating scale presented here offers guidelines for measuring the quality of sources used by students. Findings of this research begin to provide some quantitative evidence demonstrating the positive impact of individual research consultations.t is not unusual for librarians to interact with undergraduates during the beginning stages of the research process. Through relatively brief instruction sessions and reference desk encounters, we strive to guide students toward the use of information sources that are both high quality and appropriate for a collegelevel course assignment. However, in later stages, students do not seem to seek out assistance as readily, resulting in less interaction between student and librarian.Discussions with faculty and students confirmed suspicions that many students are using information sources considered to be inadequate for scholarly or professional work. Information may be from a source whose credibility is questionable or may be completely undocumented. Due to an interest in seeing more appropriate resources used in course projects, faculty/librarian partnerships were sought out in an effort to work more closely with students. One-on-one meetings, or research consultations, are one way to increase the level of interaction with students. This method of instruction can be quite effective and is used frequently by on-campus tutors and writing centers because these personal meetings allow for greater attention to detail and the ability to address unique concerns of each student in a way that is not possible in larger groups. When one-on-one consultations are offered by librarians, they not only provide an opportunity to assist students, they also allow librarians to benefit from learning more about how students select and use information sources. This approach is especially helpful since we rarely have the opportunity to closely review student work in progress or the final product.The present study is the first to explore a combination of one-on-one library recrl-261

Abstract:Publishers commonly use Article Processing Charges (APCs) to fund open access publications, and some libraries and institutions help local authors pay these costs. However, this strategy is expensive and can usually only address one article at a time. A number of relatively new publishing initiatives rely on a crowdfunding model and allow many libraries to share the cost of open access, often at a fraction of the cost of APCs. This article highlights several alternative publishing projects to help librarians think further about how library funds could be used to support open access.

The system of scholarly communication is a complex environment made up of various stakeholders including not only researchers, librarians, and publishers, but also academic administrators. This paper examines conditions each group faces while also noting barriers preventing movement toward open access. To further analyze interrelationships and interdependencies among groups, a discussion is presented using French & Raven’s bases of power to describe how members of each stakeholder group exert some degree of power upon all other groups while at the same time being influenced, either directly or indirectly, by external forces. A better understanding of the many existing interactions and dependencies can help those who work within this system navigate ongoing changes while more successfully positioning their organizations for the future

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Open Educational Resources (OER) represent a small but growing portion of the educational resources market, but the use of OER in engineering is limited. This study seeks to identify the current adoption patterns of OER in engineering mechanics courses and to identify barriers to adoption. Research questions are examined through the lens of Rodgers’ “Diffusion of Innovation” model. A survey of mechanics instructors across the United States, combined with publicly available data from university websites, helped identify instructor practices and opinions regarding OER. During the 2017-2018 academic year, widespread OER usage was found at only a handful of institutions. However, knowledge of OER among mechanics instructors was high, and many instructors reported an interest in OER for their courses. A lack of quality OER content for engineering mechanics courses seems to be the primary barrier to more widespread adoption.