In the Library with the Lead Pipe

In the Library with the Lead Pipe
An open access, peer reviewed journal
	Ethical Financial Stewardship: One Library’s Examination of Vendors’ Business Practices
By Katy DiVittorio and Lorelle Gianelli In Brief The evaluation of library collections rarely digs into the practices or other business ventures of the companies that create or sell library resources. As financial stewards, academic Acquisition Librarians are in a unique position to consider the business philosophy and practices of our vendors as they align... Read More
	We Need to Talk About How We Talk About Disability: A Critical Quasi-systematic Review
By Amelia Gibson, Kristen Bowen, and Dana Hanson In Brief This quasi-systematic review uses a critical disability framework to assess definitions of disability, use of critical disability approaches, and hierarchies of credibility in LIS research between 1978 and 2018. We present quantitative and qualitative findings about trends and gaps in the research, and discuss the... Read More
	Culturally Responsive Community Engagement Programming and the University Library: Lessons Learned from Half a Decade of VTDITC
By Craig E. Arthur, Dr. Freddy Paige, La’ Portia Perkins, Jasmine Weiss, and Dr. Michael Williams (Good Homie Signs’ “Hip Hop @ VT” mural 7/18) In Brief VTDITC: Hip Hop Studies at Virginia Tech is an award-winning series of experiential learning-focused, culturally responsive community engagement programs. It is deeply rooted in hip hop culture and... Read More
	Creating a Student-Centered Alternative to Research Guides: Developing the Infrastructure to Support Novice Learners
In Brief: Research and course guides typically feature long lists of resources without the contextual or instructional framework to direct novice researchers through the research process. An investigation of guide usage and user interactions at a large university in the southwestern U.S. revealed a need to reexamine the way research guides can be developed and... Read More
	Power and Status (and Lack Thereof) in Academe: Academic Freedom and Academic Librarians
In Brief Academic librarians do not experience full academic freedom protections, despite the fact that they are expected to exercise independent judgment, be civically engaged, and practice applied scholarship. Academic freedom for academic librarians is not widely studied or well understood. To learn more, we conducted a survey which received over 600 responses from academic... Read More
	The Library Commons: An Imagination and an Invocation
By Jennie Rose Halperin In Brief Commons theory can provide important interventions within neoliberal managerial information capitalism when applied to the library as an institution. The commons and its associated practices provide a model of abundance, sharing, and cooperation. Libraries can and should participate in alternative economic and management models to create an inclusive vision... Read More
	“Information Has Value”: The Political Economy of Information Capitalism
In Brief Information capitalism dominates the production and flow of information across the globe. It produces massive information institutions that are as harmful to everyday people as they are powerful. To this point, Information Literacy (IL) educators do not have a theory and pedagogy of information capitalism. This article appraises the current state of political... Read More
	Training Matters: Student Employment and Learning in Academic Libraries
In Brief Conceiving of student employment in academic libraries as an educationally purposeful experience requires adopting a learner-centered pedagogical approach to student employee job training. Adopting such an approach is triply beneficial: it makes that job training more effective; it identifies training as an opportunity to pursue learning goals that support the growth of students... Read More
	Creating a Library Wide Culture and Environment to Support MLIS Students of Color: The Diversity Scholars Program at Oregon State University Libraries
In Brief The work of social justice, equity, and inclusion is not a short-term investment by a limited number of people; instead, it should be a part of every library’s and librarian’s work. At the Oregon State University Libraries (OSUL), we felt that in order to create a program dedicated to employing MLIS students of... Read More
	It’s Not Imposter Syndrome:  Resisting Self-Doubt as Normal For Library Workers
In Brief Library workers, as with other professions, are quick to diagnose ourselves and others with imposter syndrome when we doubt or devalue our everyday work.  However, methods of coping with imposter syndrome have changed little in the forty years since the term was first theorized, and often centre on feel-good fixes which do not... Read More