Recent ucsb_library_postprints items

Global Infrastructures and Methodological Literacy in the Digital Humanities. The Case of TheProgramming Historianin Spanish

Wed, 27 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Global Infrastructures and Methodological Literacy in the Digital Humanities. The Case of TheProgramming Historianin Spanish

Reflective by Design: A Metacognitive Template for Information Literacy Assessment

Fri, 14 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The ACRL Framework for Information Literacy describes the dispositions of an information literate student, but how can we assess if students are developing these dispositions? This presentation explores how the University of North Carolina Wilmington Library developed a flexible, reflective assessment template to evaluate dispositions in information literacy. Drawing inspiration from the Information Literacy Reflection Tool – a metacognitive self-assessment aligned with the ACRL Framework's threshold concepts – the library’s Academic & Research Engagement department created a bank of reflective prompts mapped to the university's information literacy student learning outcomes and benchmarks for first-year, intermediate, and graduating students. The tool was first piloted in English Composition courses as pre- and post-research reflections and encouraged students to consider how their information behaviors maintained or evolved over time. Now implemented programmatically across...

The “Dulcie Lives On” Podcast Series: Sparking Students’ Intellectual Curiosity Through Library Instruction

Tue, 4 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The “Dulcie Lives On” Podcast Series: Sparking Students’ Intellectual Curiosity Through Library Instruction

Understanding the value of curation: A survey of US data repository curation practices and perceptions

Mon, 1 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Data curators play an important role in assessing data quality and take actions that may ultimately lead to better, more valuable data products. This study explores the curation practices of data curators working within US-based data repositories. We performed a survey in January 2021 to benchmark the levels of curation performed by repositories and assess the perceived value and impact of curation on the data sharing process. Our analysis included 95 responses from 59 unique data repositories. Respondents primarily were professionals working within repositories and examined curation performed within a repository setting. A majority 72.6% of respondents reported that "data-level" curation was performed by their repository and around half reported their repository took steps to ensure interoperability and reproducibility of their repository's datasets. Curation actions most frequently reported include checking for duplicate files, reviewing documentation, reviewing metadata, minting...

Attitudes and norms affecting scientists data reuse.

Thu, 16 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The value of sharing scientific research data is widely appreciated, but factors that hinder or prompt the reuse of data remain poorly understood. Using the Theory of Reasoned Action, we test the relationship between the beliefs and attitudes of scientists towards data reuse, and their self-reported data reuse behaviour. To do so, we used existing responses to selected questions from a worldwide survey of scientists developed and administered by the DataONE Usability and Assessment Working Group (thus practicing data reuse ourselves). Results show that the perceived efficacy and efficiency of data reuse are strong predictors of reuse behaviour, and that the perceived importance of data reuse corresponds to greater reuse. Expressed lack of trust in existing data and perceived norms against data reuse were not found to be major impediments for reuse contrary to our expectations. We found that reported use of models and remotely-sensed data was associated with greater reuse. The...

Puerto Rico’s Archival Traditions in a Colonial Context

Thu, 23 Sep 2021 00:00:00 +0000

This chapter examines the historical antecedents of recordkeeping and archives in Puerto Rico, during both Spanish and U.S. colonial rules. It also explores the history and current issues of the Archivo General de Puerto Rico (General Archive of Puerto Rico). This historical analysis is made within the context of colonialism, examining the effects of Puerto Rico’s colonial status (during the Spanish colonial period and the current period under United States colonial management) on the mission and work of the AGPR. We argue that while the Archivo General was created to address the chaotic management of government records, its founding reflected the conflicting realities of Puerto Rico’s colonial status as a U.S. territory on the one hand, and on the other, the efforts by the new ELA government to shape a Puerto Rican identity connected to the island’s colonial past with Spain as a deterrent against U.S. assimilation.

La nación del porvenir: La visión de la nación puertorriqueña dentro del marco del romanticismo, el cosmopolitismo y la modernidad de Alejandro Tapia y Rivera

Thu, 23 Sep 2021 00:00:00 +0000

La nación del porvenir: La visión de la nación puertorriqueña dentro del marco del romanticismo, el cosmopolitismo y la modernidad de Alejandro Tapia y Rivera

The Community-Led Open Publication Infrastructures for Monographs (COPIM) project: A transformative open access monograph initiative

Mon, 11 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

In an era of transformative agreements for journals, the article examines the Community-Led Open Publication Infrastructures for Monographs (COPIM) project through a transformative lens. How might we apply transformativeness to open access monograph publishing? Is transformativeness measured in strictly financial and transactional terms, or should more qualitative measures be considered; and, if so, what might those measures be? Centering academic values, scaling small, fostering communities of practice, production efficiencies, and collaboration are characteristics of the COPIM Project. Libraries and universities committed to academic values are called on to align both the direction of their scholarly communication programs and the principles underlying their collection development policies around a reimagined and transformative open access monograph publishing system that aims higher, beyond transaction-based cost transparencies.

From Slavery to College Loans

Wed, 17 Jun 2020 00:00:00 +0000

My story begins back in 1793 when November Caldwell was “gifted” to Helen Hogg Hooper (whose father-in-law, William Hooper, signed the Declaration of Independence), the wife of the first president of UNC–Chapel Hill, Joseph Caldwell. November Caldwell is my great-great-great-grandfather. Currently, I owe over six figures in student-loan debt to the very institution that enslaved my ancestors. We are at a particular place in the political history of our nation. White supremacy is morally corrupt. It requires that we deny the humanity of human beings for one reason or another. It is hard to stand up against white supremacy because folks who do are often ostracized from their families and communities. We have all been socialized to believe in white supremacy—it was one of our nation’s founding principles. In this essay I hope to break open a dialogue about the white supremacist hegemony institutionalized within our neoliberal university system. Connecting the past atrocities of slavery...

Doing the work you want your library work to do: reflections of an academic librarian

Mon, 1 Oct 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Doing the work you want your library work to do: reflections of an academic librarian

Darkseid's Ring: Images of Anti-Life in Kirby and Tolkien

Thu, 28 Jun 2018 00:00:00 +0000

What is the nature of ultimate evil? Answers will vary, but it is logical to say that they will depend on what one considers to be the core of humanity: that which attacks that core is the ultimate evil. Evidence in Jack Kirby's "Fourth World" mythos and J. R. R. Tolkien's "Middle-earth" mythos suggests that they both saw free will at the core of humanity, and that ultimate evil lies in the domination and subjugation of the will of others. Kirby symbolized this evil in the "Anti-Life Equation"; Tolkien in the One Ring of Sauron. This paper will compare the images of evil in the two authors' works.

Evaluation of Academic Library Residency Programs in the United States for Librarians of Color

Tue, 24 Apr 2018 00:00:00 +0000

The purpose of this research was to evaluate academic library residency programs that successfully recruit and retain academic librarians of color. This study examines library residencies in the United States and discusses findings of two nationwide surveys. One survey posed questions to residents about the structure of their residencies, aspects residents found most helpful for career advancement, and their thoughts on diversity initiatives. The coordinators were asked many of the same questions as the residents but also about the administrative aspects of their programs. The survey responses reveal a need to provide residents with structured mentoring, along with a sense of belonging and value. Library residency programs can play an integral part in the larger recruitment, retention, and diversity initiatives in the profession.**

Arnhold-Punctum Publishing Lab at UCSB Library: A Case Study in Library-Publisher Collaboration

Tue, 24 Apr 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Blog post: At the Arnhold-Punctum Publishing Lab at UCSB Library, undergraduate students are doing the work of publishing scholarly monographs. The unusual cohort of academics responsible for the launch and success of this Lab believes that the future of scholarly publishing is a collaborative, community-based, mission-driven, and service-oriented endeavor that engages teams with a range of skills, knowledge, expertise, and resources.

Latinas in the United States: A Historical Encyclopedia

Tue, 30 May 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Review of Latinas in the United States: A Historical Encyclopedia, edited by Vicki L. Ruiz and Virginia Sanchez Korrol

The Rights of Women: The Authoritative ACLU Guide to Women’s Rights

Tue, 30 May 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Review of The Rights of Women: The Authoritative ACLU Guide to Women’s Rights, edited by Lenora M. Lapidus, Emily J. Martin and Nmaita Luthra. 4th ed.

Black Women Misbehavin': A New Politics of Sexuality

Mon, 11 Jul 2016 00:00:00 +0000

A review of THE BLACK BODY IN ECSTASY: READING RACE, READING PORNOGRAPHY, by Jennifer C. Nash; UNBOUGHT UNBOSSED: TRANSGRESSIVE BLACK WOMEN, SEXUALITY, AND REPRESENTATION, by Trimiko Melancon; and A TASTE FOR BROWN SUGAR: BLACK WOMEN IN PORNOGRAPHY, by Mireille Miller-Young.

Are Abortion Politics Relevant to Women of Color?

Mon, 11 Jul 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Review of four books on women of color and reproductive justice: Jennifer Nelson, WOMEN OF COLOR AND THE REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS MOVEMENT; Jael Sillimen, Marlene Gerber Fried, Loretta Ross, & Elena R. Gutierrez, UNDIVIDED RIGHTS: WOMEN OF COLOR ORGANIZE FOR REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE; Dorothy Roberts, KILLING THE BLACK BODY: RACE, REPRODUCTION, AND THE MEANING OF LIBERTY.

Are Abortion Politics Relevant to Women of Color?

Fri, 25 Mar 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Black Women Misbehavin': A New Politics of Sexuality

Fri, 25 Mar 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Essential Handbook of Women's Sexuality

Thu, 22 Oct 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Review of "Essential Handbook of Women's Sexuality" by Donna Castañeda, ed.,

Building Faculty Support for Remote Storage: A Survey of Collection Behaviors and Preferences

Tue, 19 Nov 2013 00:00:00 +0000

A seismic retrofitting project required the UCSB Library (University of California, Santa Barbara) to permanently reduce its on-site collections by 120,000 volumes. To accomplish this successfully, a strong collaboration with the faculty was essential. This article describes a planning process in which the library worked with a faculty committee to implement a campus-wide survey of faculty and graduate students regarding their behaviors and preferences in accessing and using the collections. The survey outcomes informed a common understanding of which physical materials should re- main on-site and which could be moved to storage with the least impact on research and teaching.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Habitat Selection in Female-Calf Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) Pairs on the Hawaiian Breeding Grounds

Wed, 8 May 2013 00:00:00 +0000

The Au'au Channel between the islands of Maui and Lanai, Hawaii comprises critical breeding habitat for humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) of the Central North Pacific stock. However, like many regions where marine mega-fauna gather, these waters are also the focus of a flourishing local eco-tourism and whale watching industry. Our aim was to establish current trends in habitat preference in female-calf humpback whale pairs within this region, focusing specifically on the busy, eastern portions of the channel. We used an equally-spaced zigzag transect survey design, compiled our results in a GIS model to identify spatial trends and calculated Neu's Indices to quantify levels of habitat use. Our study revealed that while mysticete female-calf pairs on breeding grounds typically favor shallow, inshore waters, female-calf pairs in the Au'au Channel avoided shallow waters (<20 m) and regions within 2 km of the shoreline. Preferred regions for female-calf pairs comprised...

Developing a Training Program for Collection Managers

Tue, 7 May 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Training new collection managers (bibliographers) in an academic research library is an enduring challenge, especially in the modern collections environment. Many bibliographers come to the job with limited subject expertise, and must also master a constantly evolving collection development environment featuring interdisciplinary collecting, aggressive cooperative purchasing, and a myriad of technological issues. This paper examines collection manager training at UC Santa Barbara. It describes a new program of training sessions, and the concurrent creation of a "Collection Managers' Manual" (http://www.library.ucsb.edu/collman) of advice and information for the subject bibliographer.