Academic Library Services for First-Generation Students by
Presenting strategies for improving academic library services for first-generation students, this timely book focuses on programs and services that will increase student academic engagement and success. Demographic data and secondary school graduation rates suggest that colleges and universities will enroll growing numbers of first-generation students over the next decade. Academic Library Services for First-Generation Students focuses on ways academic libraries can uniquely contribute to the successful transition to college and year-to-year retention of first-generation students. The practical recommendations in this book include a wide range of ideas for the design and modification of library services and facilities to be more inclusive of the needs of first-generation students. All of the recommendations are specifically aimed at addressing challenges faced by first-generation students. Topics covered range from study spaces and service points to information literacy instruction and campus partnerships. The book makes the case--both explicitly and implicitly--that academic libraries can help address known risk factors (e.g., by helping students build academic cultural competencies) and thereby improve success, persistence, and retention for first-generation students. Academic library professionals in both leadership roles and public service positions will benefit from the actionable strategies presented here. Includes practical strategies for modifying existing library services to be more inclusive of first-generation student needs Incorporates suggestions for new services targeted toward first-generation students Offers insight into first-generation students' perspectives on academic libraries Builds understanding of the role libraries can play in first-generation student success and retention
Usability Testing: a practical guide for librarians by
Do you want to improve the usability of your library website, but feel that it is too difficult, time-consuming, or expensive? In this book, you will learn that in-house usability testing on a budget is not only feasible, but it is practical, sustainable, and has the potential to lead to remarkable improvements of the content, design, and layout of your website. Usability Testing: A Practical Guide for Librarians will teach you how to: -Make the case for usability testing -Define your audience and their goals -Select a usability testing method appropriate for your particular context -Plan for an in-house usability test -Conduct an effective in-house usability test -Analyze usability test results and make decisions based on those results -Create and implement a plan for ongoing, systematic usability testing Step-by-step instructions, along with a myriad of examples, allow you to use this book as a practical guide, and adapt the techniques for your own context. Techniques are appropriate for libraries of all types, including academic, public, and special libraries.
Defusing the Angry Patron: a how-to-do-it manual for librarians by
How do libraries deal with angry comments on their websites, blogs, or social networks? Does having a security staff actually help defuse angry users? How can library staff members best respond to frustrated users who get angry in a chat reference setting? Here, renowned library consultant Rhea Rubin deals with these questions and more. New technologies for service delivery have ushered in new venues for frustration. To help librarians know how to react in the face of patron anger, Rubin adds five new coping strategies to the 20 basic ones she introduced in the first edition. All of them have been updated them in light of key changes, including virtual reference service and the Web 2.0 phenomenon. A whole new chapter addresses anger in the digital landscape. This very practical how-to shows how effective staff training and intentional behaviors can positively affect patron behavior, minimize altercations, and ease the stress of public services staff. Library staff members looking for effective ways to prevent and handle anger-driven confrontations with their patrons will find Rubin's revised text an exceptionally useful, applicable, and enlightening guide.
From at-Risk to At-Promise: academic libraries supporting student success by
Academic library workers will learn how to collaborate with staff in academic advising and student services to improve undergraduate student belonging, retention rates, and graduation rates for at-promise students. As the demographics of student populations change, many students require additional or different support to be successful in their college careers. Meanwhile, higher education is under pressure to reduce budgets and serve more students within certain areas of the university, including the library, academic advising, and other student services. Academic librarians and student success administrators can collaborate to create additional pathways for students who struggle to succeed. Authors Vecchione and McGraw provide a roadmap for library employees and student success administrators to initiate and develop discussions on college campuses to define and address these emergent student needs. Through a selection of case studies and historical context, readers will learn how to define what student success looks like and how to design custom services to address student barriers to that success. Library employees and student success professionals both serve students at the margins. These readers will acquire skills to enhance student success initiatives and strengthen collaborations with one another. Identify the barriers that limit undergraduate students' success in higher education Develop a plan for collaboration and partnership between library workers and student success administrators at any institution Obtain deeper knowledge and understanding regarding the history of student success and existing support structures at universities Understand the changing nature of higher education and how the system has perpetuated privileges, hegemonic knowledge, awareness, and skills
Serving Those Who Served: librarian's guide to working with veteran and military communities by
Practical advice on how best to serve veterans, service members, and their families in your community, including effective ways to develop new outreach partnerships and collaborations. Whether you work in a public library, an academic library, a school library, or any other type of library, you are likely to encounter members of the veteran and military communities. This book is a starting point to help librarians, library administrators, and all library employees understand how veterans, service members, and their families can be different from other patrons, recognize important elements of military and veteran culture, and identify strategies for effectively serving the veteran and military communities. In this book, you find tips to help you determine the size and the needs of the veteran and military communities in your local area. You'll learn about some common information requests and information-seeking behavior of veterans and service members. You'll discover how to take the needs and also the unique strengths of the veteran and military communities into account when developing library outreach efforts, programs, services, and collections. And you'll gain insights to help you harness the knowledge, strengths, and experiences of the veteran and military communities in order to help them fulfill their potential as an asset to the library and to the community. The first guidebook of its kind, intended to support librarians, administrators, and library employees of all types better serve the veteran and military communities Presents insights from authors who are both Army veterans as well as professional librarians engaged in working with the veteran and military communities in libraries Explains how to estimate the number of veterans, service members, and their families in your library community and provides an overview of the types of issues and questions they may have Provides recommendations to help librarians coordinate their efforts with existing military and veterans' organizations in order to provide the best, most efficient programs and services for veterans, service members, and their families Offers concrete ideas and suggestions related to outreach, programming, services, and collection development for the veteran and military communities
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