Social Science Space

The report ” Librarian Futures: Charting Librarian–Patron Behaviors and Relationships in the Networked Digital Age,” follows from a survey of 4,000 librarians and patrons and synthesizes those survey results with usage data from Lean Library, data from a range of librarian and library stakeholder interviews, and contributions from partners scite, Springshare, OpenAthens and OCLC.

As a global pandemic leaves many drowning in the digital, the pleasures of our analog past are ripe for re-discovery. This post from Kip Jones recounts his feelings about the joys of physical media.

In this post by Ruth Harrison, Yvonne Nobis & Charles Oppenheim they tell about the challenges that Sci-Hub presents to librarians who are advocating for open access to scholarly content. We published this post in recognition of lasts weeks Open Access Week around the country. The article highlights issues associated with open access and scholarly communications and the views reflect that of the authors.

WorldCat, an aggregate database of library catalogs worldwide, was primarily set up to aid libraries in carrying out their work in areas such as cataloging or resource sharing. Brian Lavoie offers an insight into the types of questions WorldCat data can provide answers to, and how research of this kind also amplifies the value and impact of library collections.

Last month the webinar “Battling Bannings- Authors discuss intellectual freedom and the freedom to read” saw Index on Censorship’s Vicky Baker moderate a discussion between historian Wendy Doniger and children’s book authors Christine Baldacchino and Jessica Herthel.

The printed book, though still part of the academic library ensemble, is being relegated to the role of supporting player rather than the lead actor, argues a University of California librarian.

Two Miami University librarians details how their school’s ‘faculty learning community’ cultivated awareness of the entire scholarly communication landscape and created stronger faculty advocates for change, but also highlighted key differences between established and newer faculty.

These aren’t the best of times for reference librarians, but the challenges leave only one option — to get with the times.

The latest iteration of a report on college and university libraries finds an institution with a clear sense that change is afoot but a slightly cloudier feel for how to address it.

Management INK would like to wish all of you a Merry Christmas! To celebrate the holidays, we’re reprising one of […]

Slides from the ALISS summer conference: QR codes and applications for libraries Mobile Phones and Libraries: experimenting with the technology […]