Books & Book Chapters

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  Designing for Neurodiversity in Web Spaces

  Kelly Getz and Kimberly Shotick

  In this chapter, we share how we carried out library website usability studies with neurodivergent students. The research is situated within the Social Model of Disability and places value on students' experiences challenges. Through usability studies and inclusive web service redesign plans, we center the opinions and expectations of neurodivergent student users in ways neurotypical users have been centered and designed around in the past. The chapter will share methods and best practices for conducting usability studies with neurodivergent individuals as well as findings from our own study.

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  Dodging Truths and Burning Facts: Visual Literacy and Critical Thinking in the Photography Classroom

  Larissa K. Garcia and Jessica Labatte

  This chapter describes a collaboration between a librarian and photography professor to integrate visual literacy instruction into two courses of the photography program with activities, connected to specific course assignments, that emphasize an acute understanding of the photographic choices used to create a message as foundational to artistic practice.

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  Designing for Everyone: Accessibility, Inclusion, and Equity in Online Instruction

  Kimberly Shotick

  This chapter introduces practices that promote equity and inclusion in online learning spaces through the lens of Universal Design for Learning.

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  Drawing to Conceptualize Research, Reduce Implicit Bias, and Establish Researcher Positionality in the Graduate Classroom

  Alissa A. Droog, Kari D. Weaver, and Frances Brady

  Through reflection, coupled with literature to ground our thinking, this chapter discusses the experiences of three librarians with the use of conceptual drawings about research processes as an equitable pedagogical practice. This drawing technique has pushed each of us to understand research in different ways and reflect on our own positionality as researchers and as teachers in the classroom. First, Kari D. Weaver considers how drawing research shapes an individual’s understanding of themselves as a scholar. Second, Alissa Droog reflects on the use of drawing to understand how research relates to our identities. Finally, Frances Brady connects drawing to further social justice discussions in the classroom. We conclude with instructional materials for others who may wish to adopt such a practice. We also acknowledge that all three of us identify as white, cisgender female librarians in a field where that is the norm. Through the interplay between communal reflection, existing literature, and lived experience, we address how drawing and discussing conceptions of research can support the growth and diversification of the next generation of scholars.

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  From Rookie to Researcher: Integrating Information Literacy into Undergraduate Research

  Larissa K. Garcia, Dee Anna Phares, and Kimberly Shotick

  Undergraduate research is a specific pedagogical practice with an impact on teaching and learning, and the definition of what counts as research continues to expand to include different types of projects, mentors, and institutions. Diversity, equity, and inclusion in librarians’ work with students and faculty are present and growing. Collaborations between faculty, librarians, and students are furthering student knowledge in new ways. This community and an awareness of students’ non-academic challenges demonstrate the library’s contribution to students’ overall sense of belonging within their institutions. This chapter describes the involvement of an academic library with an undergraduate research program.

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  Research in the Studio, Artists in the Stacks: Mapping Information Literacy and the Library in a Studio Arts Program

  Larissa K. Garcia and Jessica Labatte

  This chapter describes the collaboration between a studio arts faculty member and an art librarian to integrate information literacy into the photography program through curriculum mapping. What began as a one-shot library session for students soon developed into multiple, scaffolded sessions in several classes and eventually resulted in a formalized information literacy curriculum map. The authors adapted curriculum mapping concepts, first identifying information literacy objectives for students throughout the program and then matching them to specific courses, using the Framework as a guide to develop assignments and lesson plans. Through a fully integrated, disciplinary information literacy program in the photography curriculum, the authors have contextualized information literacy as an important part of the creative process while also underscoring the value of the library and its various resources.

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  Retreating to advance together: communicating through internal and external retreats

  Gwen Gregory

  It can be challenging to step away from our daily work in technical services. There are always invoices to be paid, licenses to be reviewed, and books to be cataloged. However, when we take a deep breath and “escape” together as a group, we can build new bonds and come up with fresh ideas. Leaving the day-to-day behind, spending time together in a different environment, and participating in thought-provoking activities can lead to many positive results. This chapter describes how a library technical services department held several staff retreats over a period of years.

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  Challenging the Stigma: Mental Health and Wellness in College

  Larissa K. Garcia, Carrie Kortegast, and Jessica Labatte

  Mental health and wellness are concerns for all people in direct and indirect ways. This catalogue accompanies the exhibition of the same name held on February 1-28, 2019, at the Founders Memorial Library of Northern Illinois University, which seeks to provide insight into how mental health affects college students. Each of the artworks presented show ways NIU students challenge the stigma of mental health issues on campus. Through the artwork presented, the hope is to the challenge the stigma of mental health issues on campus.

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  Top Ten Questions and Answers about Digital Preservation for Special Collections and Archives

  Jaime Schumacher and Lynne M. Thomas

  Chapter 14 from New Directions For Special Collections: An Anthology of Practice. The authors take a pragmatic approach to common digital preservation challenges faced by caretakers of unique digital materials in libraries and archives.

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  Unseen Influence: Lucretia Blankenburg and the Rise of Philadelphia Reform Politics in 1911

  Drew VandeCreek

  Lucretia Blankenburg successfully made women a crucial element of her husband Rudolph's successful campaign to become Mayor of Philadelphia in 1911. Although the reform candidate did not enjoy the use of the type of political organization provided to major-party candidates, he benefited from the efforts of many of the city's club women. Many lobbied their husbands and other male relatives on behalf of Blankenburg's candidacy. The candidate also employed maternalist themes of good city management and civic purity in his campaign. Most significantly, women's clubs provided Rudolph Blankenburg with a large number of volunteers who made house-to-house canvasses, raised funds, and organized motor pools to bring voters to the polls. Although Lucretia Blankenburg played a large role in organizing these activities, she downplayed her influence so as to insulate her husband from potential charges of unmasculine ineffectuality. Machine Republicans and male municipal reformers in Philadelphia largely failed to notice the contributions of Lucretia Blankenburg and the city's club women, even after the election of 1911.