Newsletter of the University of Kentucky

School of Information Science Volume 38 Number 1 Spring 2016

UK Director and Professor Named 2016 Lucretia W. McClure Excellence in Education Award Recipient

By Harlie Collins School of Information Science

(March 8, 2016) – Jeff Huber, University of Kentucky School of Information Science director and professor, was selected by the Medical Library Association (MLA) to re-ceive the 2016 Lucretia W. McClure Excellence in Educa-tion Award for his contributions to the field of health sci-ences librarianship. The award was established in 1998 and honors professionals “who demonstrate skills in one or more of the following ar-eas: teaching, curriculum development, mentoring, research, or leadership in edu-cation at local, regional, or national levels.” “We are honored to be awarding the Lucretia W. McClure Excellence in Edu-cation Award to Dr. Jeffrey Huber, Di-rector and Professor at the University of Kentucky, School of Library and Infor-mation Science. The award is given to outstanding library educators in the field of health sciences librarianship and in-formatics,” said MLA President, Michelle Kraft. “The many letters of support from former students exemplifies Dr. Huber’s dedication and focus to developing the next generation of health sciences librari-ans. His commitment to the profession is reflected through his service to MLA as an editor for JMLA, member of MLA juries including the Janet Doe and Lindberg Research Fel-lowship Jury, and his many publications. It is a privilege to honor Dr. Huber’s devotion to his students as well as to the profession with this award.” Huber joined the School of Information Science in 2008 as an already established leader in the health information profession. By 2013, the School held a Top 5 ranking in Health Librarianship according to U.S. News & World Re-port. Huber has done extensive research about information

access for public health professionals and health care con-sumers, community health informatics, health literacy, and HIV/AIDS information and communication. Dan O’Hair, Dean of the College of Communication and Information, said, “It is a distinct honor for Dr. Huber to be

named as this year’s recipient of the pres-tigious Lucretia W. McClure Excellence in Education award by the MLA. The college is very proud of Dr. Huber’s many accomplishments and knows that this award is well deserved.” This year marks Huber’s fifteenth year serving as a member on the Editorial Board for the Journal of the Medical Li-brary Association (JMLA), a peer-re-viewed quarterly journal authored by field professionals to advance the practice and research of health sciences librarianship. His most recent contribution to the jour-nal, Enhancing the care navigation model: potential roles for health sciences librarians (2014), outlines the adaptation and evolution of the health sciences li-brarian role and responsibilities as health disparities in the United States increase.

Huber co-authored the article with mentee, MLA colleague, and award nominator, Robert Shapiro. “Dr. Huber continues to inspire countless students, at UK and across the country, to use the knowledge developed in library and information science programs to impact the health of individuals and communities - I can think of no greater achievement in our field,” said Shapiro. Huber will be recognized at the MLA Presidents’ Awards Dinner at Mosaic ’16 in Toronto, Canada on Tuesday, May 17, 2016 at 6:30 p.m.

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“Today, the effective delivery of healthcare requires an informed citizenry at multiple levels and I have strived to contribute to that effort,” said Huber. “I am honored to be named the 2016 recipient of MLA’s Lucretia W. McClure Excellence in Education Award.” Huber received his Master’s of Science in Library Sci-ence from the University of Kentucky School of Library and Information Science in 1987 and his doctorate from the Uni-versity of Pittsburgh in 1991. He joined MLA in 1990 and became an active committee member in 2001. The Medical Library Association (MLA) believes that quality information is essential for improved health. MLA aspires to be the association of the most visible, valued, and trusted health information experts. To that end, MLA fosters excellence in the professional practice and leadership of health sciences library and information professionals in or-der to enhance the quality of health care, education and re-search throughout the world. The School of Library and Information Science in the College of Communication and Information at the Univer-sity of Kentucky became the School of Information Science on July 1, 2015. The name change follows the expansion of programs at the School (both at the graduate and under-graduate level) and the increasing diversity of professions in the information field. The Instructional Communication and Research program became a part of the school in 2013, and the Information Communication Technology program de-buted in 2014. The School offers a M.S. in Library Science, School Media Certification, M.S. in Information Communi-cation Technology, B.A./B.S. in Information Communica-tion Technology and an undergraduate minor in Information Studies.

Dr. Sean Burns Receives Norman Horrocks Leadership Award

In December, the School’s website reported the following:

Dr. C. Sean Burns (Assistant Professor, Library Science and Information Communication Technology, UK School of Information Science) has been named the 2016 recipient of The Association for Library and Information Science (ALISE) Norman Horrocks Leadership Award. The award recognizes a member of ALISE “who has dem-onstrated outstanding leadership qualities in professional ALISE activities.” Recipients of the award typically have shown service to ALISE beyond just academia, including service on committees, in organizing conference events, and showing similar commitments to the organization. A detailed description of the award, nomination process, and list of pre-vious winners may be found on ALISE’s website. “I have been a member of ALISE for nearly six years, and I am so thankful to this association for providing so many great opportunities to be a part of the library and informa-tion science community. I have learned so much about my discipline and our members by participating in ALISE, and I hope to continue to participate for the rest of my career,” says Dr. Burns.

Dr. Lisa O’Connor Wins ALA/RUSA Emerald Research Grant Award

Dr. Lisa O’Connor, Associate Professor in the School’s Library and Information Science program, has won the ALA/RUSA Emerald Research Grant Award. The press release announcing the award reads:

The Emerald Research Grant Award winner is Lisa O'Con-nor, associate professor, School of Library and Information Science, University of Kentucky, for her study, “Why Aren't Millennials Taking Stock?: Assessing the Role of Informa-tion Literacy in Market Avoidance.” O’Connor will attempt to develop and test an instrument to measure behavioral intent, designing and testing instructional content and per-suasive message campaigns, and measuring the impact of those interventions. The findings of this study will derive valuable information for business librarians to use in the design of their own financial literacy programs for millenni-als. This award is sponsored by Emerald Group Publishing and consists of one $5,000 grant awarded to an individual or team seeking funding support to conduct research in busi-ness librarianship.

In her grant proposal Prof. O’Connor explains:

“By 2018, millennials will control $9 trillion in assets, but major studies … all agree they are significantly less likely than other generations to invest those assets in the stock market, preferring to save cash instead.” After showing the dramatically different results, after 30 years, of $1,000 placed in a bank savings account and in-vested in the stock market, Prof. O’Connor notes, “Clearly, the risk of lost opportunity for the individual is substantial.” After describing the three phases of her project, the re-sults of which “will be reported in one or more scholarly journal articles,” Dr. O’Connor summarizes the project’s contributions to the field of business librarianship:

“This research will contribute to the field of business li-brarianship in several ways. First, it will help us understand if and the extent to which information literacy contributes to financial literacy, so that we can design instruction that combines them in a manner that has the greatest impact on millennials’ intent to invest in the stock market. The re-searcher will make recommendations for best practices in instruction based on the pilot interventions. Second, the findings will demonstrate what behavioral beliefs interfere with millennials’ intent to invest in the stock market, which will allow the researcher to create and recommend the most effective persuasive messages to address and alter those beliefs. Third, the researcher will have created an effective tool for measuring behavioral intent in the area of personal financial management. This tool can be adapted and used widely by business librarians to better understand their own local populations of all ages. Finally, this exploratory re-search will provide a foundation for future research that will address these same questions on a larger scale, producing results generalizable to the broader millennial population.”

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2015-2016 College Awards Dinner The College of Communication and Information held its 16th annual Awards Dinner on April 22, 2016, at the Hilary J. Boone Center on the UK campus. Each year the awards dinner recognizes the College’s outstanding faculty, staff, graduate students, alumni, and friends. In the photos (clockwise from top left): Dean Dan O’Hair presents the Faculty Teaching Excellence Award to Prof. Namjoo Choi. Director Jeff Huber presents the Alumni Scholarship to Ashley Householder, the Hallie Day Blackburn Scholarship to Aaron Williams, the En-dowed Fellowship Fund to Lucy Whalen, and the Alumni Scholarship to Lauren Farmer. Not shown: Heather Burke, Outstanding Staff Award, and Prof. Patric Spence, Faculty Research Award.

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Danny Overstreet presents the Highly Commended Paper Award to Dr. Choi.

Dr. Namjoo Choi, LIS Faculty Member, Promoted to Associate Professor

In early May Dr. Namjoo Choi learned he had been pro-moted to Associate Professor with tenure. Prof. Choi joined the University of Kentucky faculty in August 2011, as As-sistant Professor in the School’s Library and Information Science program, following completion of the doctoral pro-gram in the Department of Informatics, College of Com-puting and Information, University at Albany, State Univer-sity of New York. The title of his dissertation is “How Loyal Are Your Users? Loyalty, Ideology, Identification: An Empirical Study in the Free/Libre Open Source Software Context.” In 2005 Prof. Choi earned an MA in the Department of Telecommuni-cation, Information Studies and Me-dia, College of Communication Arts and Sciences, Michigan State Univer-sity; and in 2002 he completed a BA in the Department of Mass Commu-nication, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea. At the 2015-2016 College of Com-munication and Information Awards dinner, Prof. Choi received the Faculty Teaching Excellence Award. The Award “recognizes faculty who not only demonstrate mastery of the subject matter, but also awareness of current developments, and a vision of what is to come. Recipients demonstrate the ability to effectively communicate that knowledge to students in ways that foster understanding, intellectual growth and a broadening of per-spectives.” In the fall 2015 newsletter it was reported that an article Prof. Choi co-authored with Aaron Palmer (’13), The Current State of Library Open Source Software Research: A Descriptive Literature Review and Classification, that appeared in Library Hi Tech in 2014, was chosen as a Highly Commended Paper by the journal's editorial team. According to information sent to Prof. Choi, the journal published 46 articles that year, and selected one Out-standing paper and three Highly Commended papers. Information to Dr. Choi explained that:

The Library Hi Tech Editorial Team were asked to nominate an Outstanding Paper and up to three Highly Commended Papers. The Current State of Library Open Source Software Research: A Descriptive Lit-erature Review and Classification … is one of the most impressive pieces of work the team has seen through-out 2014.

In the spring 2015 newsletter it was reported that a paper written by Dr. Choi and two colleagues had been accepted by the Journal of the Association for Information Systems, one of the most prestigious management information sys-tems journals. The paper, Choi, N., Chengalur-Smith, I., &

Nevo, S. Loyalty, Ideology and Identification: An Empirical Study of Passive Users of Open Source Software, is more than 16,000 words and went through three rounds of re-views over a period of 20 months. Concerning the paper, Dr. Choi said he and his colleagues “identified a research gap, that extant research on open source software (OSS) has primarily focused on software developers and active users, but has paid limited attention to the less visible ‘passive’ users who form the silent majority of OSS communities. “Passive users play a critical role in the adoption and dif-fusion of OSS, and more research is needed to understand their behaviors and motivations. Drawing on the sociologi-cal theory of community markers as well as marketing lit-

erature, this study theorizes and em-pirically examines the impact of three community markers (i.e., loyalty, ideology, and identification) on four contributory behaviors of passive OSS users (i.e., users brand-exten-sion, word-of-mouth, endorsement, and community involvement).” Using the _ENREF_107 Mozilla Firefox Web browser as a specific OSS application, Prof. Choi conducted a paper-based survey with 346 college students. “I found that the three community markers have a positive impact on the four contributory behaviors. I also found that ideology

and identification have a stronger im-pact on the demanding behaviors (i.e., endorsement and community in-volvement), relative to loyalty.”

Concluding, Dr. Choi suggested “to the extent that OSS communities understand the factors that influence passive users’ willingness to engage in certain behaviors, they can focus their limited resources on the factors that better moti-vate their users to engage in those behaviors.” At the spring 2011 University at Albany/State University of New York Graduate Commencement, Dr. Choi received a Distinguished Dissertation Award from the University. Informing Dr. Choi that he had been selected for the recog-nition, Dean Peter A. Bloniarz wrote: “This is well-deserved recognition for the fine job that you did in your research. There were a number of strong nominees this year, and it is truly a credit to your work to recognize you in this way.” In 2009 his article, Knowing is doing: An empirical valida-tion of the relationship between managerial information secu-rity awareness and action, was the Outstanding Paper Award Winner at the Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excel-lence. The article also received the Donn Parker Award pre-sented by Information Management & Computer Security, in which the paper was published: 16(5), 484-501. That same year his article, An Exploratory Study on the Two New Trends in Open Source Software: End-Users and Service, received the Best Paper Award Runner Up of Track and Best Paper Award Winner of Mini-Track at the Hawaii Interna-tional Conference on Systems Sciences.

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Drs. Sean Burns, Denice Adkins Receive RUSA Reference Service Press Award

Student Affairs Officer Heather Burke made the following available to the newsletter.

Dr. Sean Burns (Assistant Professor, UK SIS) and his co-author Dr. Denice Adkins (Assistant Professor, University of Missouri School of Information Science and Learning Technologies) have been awarded the 2016 Reference Service Press Award by the American Library As-sociation’s (ALA) Ref-erence and User Ser-vices Association (RUSA) for their arti-cle “Arizona Public Libraries Serving the Spanish-Speaking.” The article delves into Spanish-speaking library services for Arizona’s growing Latino community and how those relate to the values of the library profession as a whole. It was first published in the Fall 2013 issue (Volume 53, No.1) of Reference and User Services Quarterly , RUSA’s research journal. ALA released a news brief about the 2016 award on March 3, 2016. Dr. Burns said this about receiving the award: “When you publish, I think your main hope is that someone will read your work, and so it was a wonderful surprise to learn that we received this award, all the more so because it recog-nizes the importance of diversity in libraries with respect to the collections and the services librarians provide. I'm proud that the Reference and User Association of the American Library Association and the library and information science field continue to promote research in this area.”

Springer Publishes Dr. Sherali Zeadally’s Textbook on Privacy Research

Springer has published Privacy in a Digital, Networked World: Technologies, Implication and Solutions, edited by Dr. Sherali Zeadally, Associate Professor in the School’s ICT program, and Dr. Mohamad Badra, Assistant Profes-sor, College of Technological Innovation, Zayed University, Dubai, UAE. The book is part of Springer’s Computer Communications and Networks series. According to information on the Springer website: “This comprehensive textbook/reference presents a focused review of the state of the art in privacy research, encompassing a range of diverse topics. The first book of its kind designed specifically to cater to courses on privacy, this authoritative volume provides technical, legal, and ethical perspectives on privacy issues from a global selection of renowned experts.

Features: examines privacy issues relating to databases, P2P networks, big data technologies, social networks, and digital information networks; describes the challenges of addressing privacy concerns in various areas; reviews topics of privacy in electronic health systems, smart grid technology, vehicular ad-hoc networks, mobile devices, location-based systems, and crowdsourcing platforms; investigates approaches for protect-ing privacy in cloud applications; discusses the regulation of personal information disclosure and the privacy of individuals; presents the tools and the evidence to better understand con-sumers’ privacy behaviors.”

Dr. Seungahn Nah Organizes Spring Semester Lunch N Learns

Dr. Seungahn Nah, Associate Professor in the School’s In-formation Community Technology (ICT) program, organized three Lunch N Learns during the spring semester. Discussion of the three follows.

Dr. David Nemer Examines Gender Differences in Use of Information

Communication Technologies In the first Lunch N Learn, on February 5, Dr. David Nemer, Assistant Professor in the ICT program, spoke on “LAN Houses are for Boys and Telecenters are for Girls: Commu-nity Technology Centers as Gendered Spaces.”

After telling the audience that his talk reflects findings of research he has con-ducted in his home-town of Vitoria, which is the capital of the state of Espírito Santo in southeastern Brazil, Prof. Nemer ex-plained: “In every culture men and women dif-fer in their informa-tion needs and views about technology.

These views, in turn, have an impact on how men and women access and use information communication tech-nologies [ICTs.] My talk focuses on the uses of ICTs in the favelas, or urban slums, of Brazil, and develops the idea of technological space beyond the physical, into the domain of space as socially constructed and negotiated, exposing how space can be defined by socially explicit and implicit boundaries. It focuses on the gender differences in using community technology centers [CTCs] while highlighting the experiences of the local favela women.” After noting that CTCs provide access to the Internet, Prof. Nemer distinguished between two kinds of CTCs:

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• LAN houses, which are for-profit Internet cafes, exten-sions of homes, and popular for gaming; • Telecenters, which are public places that provide access

to computers and the Internet. According to Prof. Nemer, “While an argument can be made that ICTs are gender-neutral, the fact remains that insti-tutional frameworks and formal and informal social structures have a profound impact on the different ways in which new technologies are deployed and used by women and men.” LAN houses and telecenters reveal the differences. “Brazil is a very sexist society,” Prof. Nemer explained, “women are already accustomed to being seen as sex objects and housewives. Girls have been given a ‘mission’ over the decades, and this mission is: marry, raise children, satisfy the sexual desires of their partners and all without losing the composure of a good girl and a ‘family’ girl. Hence, girls inside the LAN houses meant to challenge the social con-straints and go beyond their ‘given mission.’” The sexism that pervades the society is apparent in LAN houses, where the notion of male dominance is on display, and where the availability of video games that are seen as male-oriented is the main attraction. The LAN house envi-ronment is not inviting to females, and the males who fre-quent LAN houses make clear their attitude that LAN houses are not for females. The telecenter environment differs considerably from the LAN house environment. According to Prof. Nemer, “Tele-centers are inclusive spaces, welcoming, and safe places for women, and as a result are the CTCs that are much more likely to be used by females than are LAN houses.” Females also like video games, but in telecenters only those Face-book or flash-based games are available that are seen as appropriate for women and families. Prof. Nemer emphasized that mores prevail in telecenters. “Telecenters empower women, but only within social norms and their ‘given mission.’” Concluding, Prof. Nemer told the audience that, whereas LAN houses are profit-oriented and privately funded, tele-centers are funded with tax money. As one consequence, a change in city administration may mean the withdrawal of funding for telecenters. He is trying to get a law passed that would guarantee tax funding of telecenters, independent of the city administration. Dr. Soohyung Joo Proposes that Academic Libraries Develop Research Data Services

In the second Lunch N Learn, on March 4, Dr. Soohyung Joo, Assistant Professor in the School’s Library and Infor-mation Science program, spoke on “Data Services in Aca-demic Libraries: A Research Agenda.” Prof. Joo’s research areas include digital libraries, information technology, inter-active information retrieval, and data mining; and in his Lunch N Learn presentation he discussed a research agenda for developing research data services in academic libraries.

Christie Peters, Head of the Science Library & eScience Initiatives at University of Kentucky Libraries, is Co-Principal Investigator. According to Dr. Joo: “The research data services that we propose are designed to support researchers in data collection, management, analy-sis, and presentation. In the research community, the para-

digm has recently shifted to computational science across different disciplines, which deals with complicated, large datasets that require advanced techniques to manage and analyze them. As computational methods emerge as central to the research community, re-searchers can expect to benefit from new types of data services offered by academic research libraries. In this project, research data services

refers to a range of library services to assist academic re-searchers to collect, manage, analyze, present, visualize, and distribute data in their research activities. For example, re-search data services can potentially include a wide variety of services, such as: data collection; data reference services; data refinement; data storage and management; data analy-sis; big data analysis; data visualization; relevant workshops or tutorials; and other services.” Also, according to Prof. Joo: “We suggested three specific research topics at the initial stage of the project: (1) current status of research data ser-vices; (2) researcher community needs assessment; and (3) perceptions and opinions of heterogeneous stakeholders. Based on the findings from this initial investigation, we plan to suggest a research data service model, which will identify types of data services, associated resources necessary for services, service platforms, knowledge and skills needed by librarians, and corresponding librarian training and educa-tion plans. Additionally, we discussed the issues of research data repositories as one of the services in the service model. We believe that the research data services model and practical guidelines, which will be the outcomes of the pro-ject, will facilitate data services practice across research universities.” Concluding, Dr. Joo told the audience: “In this study, we explore a range of data services applicable in academic library environments and discuss the opportu-nities and challenges in new data services. Based on case studies and user surveys, a comprehensive data service model will be proposed to better support researchers’ data collection, analysis, and management activities involving various types of data.”

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Dr. Amy Gaffney Discusses Importance that Faculty Provide Feedback Correctly

In the final Lunch N Learn, on April 1, Dr. Amy Gaffney, Assistant Professor in the Instructional Communication and Research program, discussed “Improving the Potential Im-pact of Feedback.” Dr. Gaffney’s research focuses on as-sessment, communication across the curriculum, and com-munication pedagogy and curriculum. She teaches in the UKCore (CIS 110 and 111, Composition and Communi-cation I and II) as well as in the Instructional Communica-tion graduate program. Prof. Gaffney began her presenta-tion by noting that “feedback given by instructors or su-pervisors has the potential to greatly improve perform-ance, but the actual impact is often lim-ited. In this talk, I will explore ongo-ing research on the impact of feedback structure and con-tent on the develop-ment of students’ communication abilities.” She said, fur-ther, that, although her interest is concerned with feedback and students, she would initially discuss a theoretical framework, Feedback Intervention Theory (FIT), which has to do with feedback in general. FIT had its origins in psy-chology about 20 years ago and was a response to the dis-covery, through meta-analysis, that Feedback Intervention (FI) had a negative impact on performance in nearly 40% of interventions, “which,” she noted, “is generally not what we want.” Five assumptions underlie Feedback Intervention Theory: (1) We compare feedback to our own standards and goals. (2) Standards are hierarchical, i.e., “we have multiple layers of concerns at the same time we are getting feedback.” (3) Attention is limited, and we are able to pay attention to only so much that is given to us at one time. (4) Attention typically falls in the middle of the hierarchy, which means we usually focus on feedback that has to do with the specific task, not about ourselves or the finer details of the task. (5) Feedback intervention has the ability to change the focus of attention. Dr. Gaffney was drawn to the FIT paradigm in conjunc-tion with research she conducted, among students in land-scape architecture, while a doctoral student at North Caro-lina State University (NCSU). The students are required to present their work, and they immediately receive a critique, i.e., feedback. The students’ work may represent 15 weeks, and the presentation may be limited to 10 minutes. The cri-tiques were longer, often much longer; and typically in-

volved the student’s professor, another faculty member, other students, and an outside professional, someone work-ing in the field of the presentation, e.g., landscape architec-ture, or at the location where the work was to be carried out, e.g., landscaping at a hospital. Looking at the critique as a communication event, Prof. Gaffney and her colleagues found that students (a) were not well prepared and (b) “had very conflicted feelings about the circumstances.” The findings prompted Dr. Gaffney to review work by researchers in instructional communication that dealt with instructors’ use of “facework” and a specific type of face-work, referred to as “face-threat mitigation strategies.” When the NCSU student-presentation critiques were ana-lyzed in light of facework and face-threat mitigation strate-gies, it was discovered that the outside professionals, who had not been trained to provide feedback to students, did a better job than the instructors at integrating face-threat miti-gating comments in their assessments of the presentations. Dr. Gaffney realized that the critiques of the student pres-entations were only one kind of feedback. As a UK instruc-tor teaching courses in composition and communication, she makes student assignments in writing and speaking, about which she provides feedback. In the fall 2015 semester, she collected data from students at UK, and a colleague at an-other university collected data from students there. The par-allel efforts produced a considerable volume of data, which Prof. Gaffney and her colleague are analyzing. In gathering information, they included measures such as students’ per-ceptions of an instructor’s use of facework as well as meas-ures of learning, with regard to a specific assignment. An important preliminary finding is that “there is no single right approach. There are lots of different approaches for provid-ing feedback, and they can be effective. Sometimes it’s a different audience or a different approach that can make the big difference.” Paper by Stephanie Winkler, Dr. Sherali

Zeadally Receives Award for Excellence In April, alumna Stephanie Winkler and Information Communication Technology Associate Professor Sherali Zeadally learned that their paper* had been selected by the International Journal of Pervasive Computing and Commu-nications editorial team as the Outstanding Paper in the 2016 Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence. *Winkler, S., & Zeadally, S. (2015) An analysis of tools for online anonymity. International Journal of Pervasive Com-puting and Communications, 11(4), 436 – 453. According to the authors: The purpose of this paper is to examine the possible ex-planations for the slow adoption and development of online anonymity technology. The ability to remain anonymous while engaging in different activities online is increasingly sought after by consumers with privacy concerns. Currently, the only way to maintain online anonymity is through the use of technology. This paper reviews and analyzes the tools currently available to consumers to maintain online ano-nymity. There are only four tools available to consumers to

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Stay in touch with UK SIS. Keep up with what is going on at the School.

Check our web site for updates. https://ci.uky.edu/sis/

ensure online anonymity: anonymous remailers, rewebbers, The Onion Router (Tor) and the Invisible Internet Project (I2P). These tools provide the protection needed for an Internet user to remain anonymous but suffer from a lack of usability and adoption. The Emerald Group Publishing web site has information about the Awards: The Emerald Literati Awards, which include the Awards for Excellence and Citations of Excellence, are now in their 23rd year and were established to celebrate and reward the outstanding contributions of authors and reviewers to schol-arly research. The criteria used to judge the awards are based on six areas that inform the development of our products: interna-tionality; diversity; support for scholarly research; encour-agement of applied research (impact); commitment to high quality scholarship; and a desire to ensure reader, author and customer experience is the best it can be.

Faculty Present at iConference 2016

Several faculty in the School’s Library and Information Sci-ence program presented at iConference 2016, the 11th an-nual conference of the iSchools organization, held in Phila-delphia March 20-23. Dr. Namjoo Choi presented a poster, “Involvement and Stickiness in Online Brand Communities: An Organiza-tional Citizenship Behavior Perspective.” According to the abstract: “Advances in communication technologies geared toward helping people connect and collaborate with like-minded others have led to the rapid developments of online brand communities (OBComms). However, there are as yet few theoretical frameworks that conceptualize how to improve member involvement and retention. This study contributes to bridging this gap by applying organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) to the context of OBComms. More spe-cifically, this study will explore the contribution of OCBs to member stickiness intentions as well as the role of the member-community relationship as a critical determinant of OCB (or member involvement) formation. Thus, from a theoretical standpoint, this study will illustrate how a well-established construct (i.e., OCBs) from organizational re-search can be applied to gain a more systematic under-standing of OBComms. For practitioners, this study will provide insight into how to design and manage their OB-Comms.” Dr. Maria Cahill and colleagues participated in an Interac-tion and Engagement session, presenting “The Promise and Peril of Learning Analytics in P-12 Education: An Uneasy Partnership?” The abstract explains: “Applying learning analytic approaches in the P-12 con-text could radically change the nature of elementary and secondary education. Yet, there are great hurdles to over-come in implementing such approaches at this level, includ-ing: the lack of technical infrastructure and human capital to collect and analyze data; the ability to make sense of the

analytics collected for teaching and learning improvement; the ethical challenges related to data collection and retention for minors; the unanticipated or unintended uses of this data in the future, etc. The purpose of this SIE is threefold: 1) to further refine the conversation by situating issues, ethics and methods for learning analytics in P-12 education; 2) to envi-sion the potential and pitfalls of analytics in P-12 learning contexts; and 3) to identify and develop a set of concrete takeaways related to our theme such as ideas for future re-search proposals, journal articles, and/or applications.” Drs. Soohyung Joo and Maria Cahill presented a poster, “Public Libraries’ Resources and Children’s Use: Prelimi-nary Results of IMLS Public Library Survey Data Analy-sis.” According to the abstract: “This study analyzed IMLS [Institute of Museum and Li-brary Services] Public Library Service data to examine the relationships between library resources and children’s pub-lic library use. Libraries were categorized into three groups according to service population size. Two groups of vari-ables were selected from the dataset which represent ‘re-sources’ (i.e. expenditures, staff, and materials necessary for providing services to library patrons) and ‘children’s use’ (i.e. circulation of children’s materials and attendance at children’s programs), and all variables were standardized by service population size. Correlation analysis, multiple re-gression, and analysis of variance were employed for data analysis. Results show that most of the selected resources variables are significantly associated with children’s use across all three groups, and staff size, collection expendi-tures, and print volumes significantly influenced children’s material circulation. Children’s material circulation ac-counted for 33.7% out of the total library circulation, and proportions of program attendance were higher than 70% across the three groups.” Dr. Soohyung Joo and colleagues presented a poster, “Ana-lyzing Query Reformulation Data using Multi-level Model-ing.” According to the abstract: “This study explores the adoption of multi-level mod-eling to analyze query reformulation data. Thus far, the dependency among query reformulations within the same search session has not been adequately treated in the ex-perimental design. This has limited the analysis of users’ query behavior. This study introduces multi-level model-ing to query reformulation data analysis. Multi-level modeling is capable of handling the correlations among query reformulations and provides an avenue to analyz-ing the nested data structure. A demonstration of fitting query reformulation data to two types of multi-level models is provided. The method introduced in this study provides a potential solution to the analysis of query re-formulations.”

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Dr. Seungahn Nah Chosen to Participate in 2016 Academic Leadership Academy

Dr. Seungahn Nah, Associate Professor in the Information Communication Technology program, has been selected to participate in the Bluegrass Higher Education Consortium’s 2016 Academic Leadership Academy (ALA). According to information about the Academic Leadership Academy 2016: “The purpose of the Bluegrass Higher Education Consortium Leadership Academy is to encourage younger faculty/ staff to consider leadership career paths and to provide guidance in developing the skills that are requisite for effective institu-tional leadership to ensure sound and successful future for the institution. The desired outcome is to create a cohort of lead-ers for Central Kentucky’s 12 institutions of higher education that have the proficiencies to work with their colleagues by effectively employing quality leadership skills and being able to have insight into the overall role of the university so as to strategically lead the next generation of learners.”

Dr. David Nemer Chosen for United Nations University Fellowship

Dr. David Nemer has been awarded a Visiting Research Fel-lowship summer 2016 in the Computing and Society research institute in the United Nations University (UNU-CS), Macau, China. Prof. Nemer told the newsletter:

“UNU-CS is a new research institute at the intersections of information and communication technologies and interna-tional development (ICTD) focusing on the key challenges faced by developing societies through high-impact innova-tions in computing and communication technologies. “The research institute is nurturing three inaugural research Labs: Digital Peace Lab (ICTs for peacebuilding and to sup-port human security), Gender Tech Lab (ICTs that promote women’s empowerment), and Small Data Lab (ICTs that create actionable knowledge from local data). Although UNU-CS is a relatively new institute, it is considered one of the most important ICTD think tanks.” Dr. Nemer has been awarded a grant from UK’s Confucius Institute to support his travel in conjunction with the Fellow-ship, and in the Institute proposal he describes the research he will undertake: “At UNU-CS I will be hosted in the Gender Tech Lab where I will engage with ongoing projects that focus on the experiences and uses of ICTs by Chinese women. The aim of these projects is to contribute to efforts towards gender jus-tice, gender equality and women’s empowerment in ways that can be facilitated by participation in the knowledge society. This entails facilitating the use of ICT in ways that increase self-knowledge, enhance the capacity for gender analysis, and build the resilience to tackle the social, cultural and political constraints to sustainable community led development. Such efforts will of necessity be Chinese context-specific, will re-spond to the intersectionality of (dis)advantage experience and be purpose-driven. In dialogue with communities of part-ners, the following research questions will be explored:

• How can the use of ICTs be leveraged to tackle urgent gender problems such as violence against women, human trafficking and institutionalized forms of gender discrimina-tion and (dis)advantage? • How can women, girl children and GLBTIQ people im-

prove their access to and effective use of ICT to engage self and community empowerment? • What are the pertinent research questions that can unlock

ICT’s potential to enhance the capacity of women, girl-chil-dren, GLBTIQ people and men to use ICTs in those situations that have the greatest potential for personal and social gender transformation?” In the Institute proposal he also explains: “Besides engaging with UNU-CS’s projects, I will bring my own data from previous ethnographic studies in order to build comparative studies between Brazilian and Chinese women. In my previous research ‘Rethinking Digital Inequalities: The Experience of the Marginalized in Community Technology Centers,’ I investigated digital technology programs in a Bra-zilian favela, or shantytown, and illuminated the complex relationship between digital and social inclusion. Based on critical ethnography of community technology centers (CTCs), this research asked the following two questions: what are the experiences of favela residents in these centers and how might they inform the ways we think about empow-erment and disempowerment vis-à-vis technology? This study emphasizes the socio-cultural aspects of technology practices in the favela and attempts to understand such as-pects and practices from the perspective of the favela resi-dents.” Dr. Nemer concludes by describing expected outcomes: “My goal is to collaborate with a body of international schol-ars that is housed at the UNU-CS. The scholars are from the US, Netherlands, Ecuador, UK and China. I will focus my efforts on writing research papers with Chinese scholars and engage in research projects that are already in progress at the center. This way, I intend to build a channel where such re-search collaborations will remain active, after I come back to the University of Kentucky, and bring Chinese scholars to campus for talks and to present our research outcomes.”

Dr. Brandi Frisby Receives Confucius Institute Course Development Grant

Dr. Brandi Frisby, Associate Professor in the Instructional Communication and Research program, has received a grant from the UK Confucius Institute to develop a course tenta-tively titled ICTs Abroad: A Global Comparative Perspec-tive of China and Beyond. Prof. Frisby sees the initial audi-ence for the face-to-face course to be Information Commu-nication Technology (ICT) majors and minors as well as students who need to fill the Global Dynamics Citizenship UKCore requirement. The long term goal comprises two components and would require additional funding : • “to further refine this course into an asynchronous

online course that would enroll both U.S. and Chinese uni-versity students”; • to develop “a study abroad opportunity in China based

on this course and our current relationships with Chinese

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universities where students would be able to do field re-search of ICTs while abroad.” Prof. Frisby’s grant proposal includes relevant back-ground information: “Information, Communication, and Technology (ICT) began at the University of Ken-tucky two years ago. In that short time, the program has acquired 70 majors, developed 17 unique courses, and has hired 4 ICT dedicated new faculty members to complement the existing faculty. The increasing interest and excitement surrounding this program necessi-tates the need to meet the growing demand and interest of students and to enhance the program in a way that reflects the international nature of ICTs. ICTs are of critical impor-tance in China in personal, professional, governmental, and academic realms providing rich opportunity for a course that would provide students with incredible insight into this na-tion from an ICT perspective. Thus, we are proposing the development of a new course tentatively titled: ICTs Abroad: A Global Comparative Perspective of China and Beyond.” ICT is a program within the School of Information Sci-ence, one of the units that compose the College of Commu-nication and Information (CI). According to the proposal, CI “is active in developing and maintaining relationships with Chinese universities. To date, we have partnered with Qing-dao Technological University, Jilin University, Shanghai University, Yat-Sen University, and the Communication University of China to send faculty members to teach courses.” In addition, at this time CI is attempting to arrange for Shanghai University Dr. Lihua Wang to be a visiting faculty member at UK fall semester 2016. If efforts to bring Dr. Wang to UK succeed, he could serve as a consultant on developing the proposed course and as a guest speaker or co-instructor the first semester the course is offered. The grant proposal discusses Benefit to Students: “We envision our proposed course as a course that would fit the UKCore Global Dynamics area to meet learning out-come IV: Student will demonstrate an understanding of the complexities of citizenship and the process for making in-formed choices as engaged citizens in a diverse, multilin-gual world. Given that our school already teaches large por-tion of the CIS courses and several ICT courses that meet UKCore requirements (Take ICT Courses for UKCore Credit, 2016), our faculty are already well equipped to serve students in the UKCore. This course would give students a modern day and engaging approach to understanding the intersection of culture, information, communication, and

technology in a diverse world which complements the ex-isting courses focused on art, literature, religion, geography, music, anthropology, and history (UK Courses Focused on China, 2016). Additionally, this would be the first course focused on China offered by the College of Communication and Information.” Prof. Seungahn Nah Receives Confucius

Institute International Travel Grant

Information Communication Technology Associate Profes-sor Seungahn Nah received a UK Confucius Institute Inter-national Travel Grant to attend the Chinese Communication Association (CCA) and Korean American Communication Association (KACA) joint annual conference, to be held in conjunction with the International Communication Associa-tion (ICA) annual conference in Fukuoka, Japan, June 9-13, 2016. Dr. Nah is President of KACA. According to Prof. Nah, following the ICA conference, CCA and KACA will co-organize a conference in Beijing, China. The Chinese University of Communication (CUC) will co-host and sponsor the post-ICA conference, whose theme will be “Global Communication Meets East Asia: Inspirations from Global Communication Studies on New Media and Social Media.” In his grant proposal, Prof. Nah explained: “The advent of new media technologies, including social media, makes it possible for millions of users in the East and West to integrate the technologies into their daily prac-tices. While the key technological features are fairly con-sistent, the cultures that emerge around the media technolo-gies are varied. Some of the technologies cater to diverse audiences around the globe, while others attract users based on common language or shared cultural, racial, sexual, reli-gious, or nationality-based identities. When global commu-nication meets Asia, Asian communication researchers and practitioners … face new challenges, ranging from adopting convergence journalism to reframing national identities. This conference will review and examine how communica-tors … communicate their insights with power, which should also reflect well the 2016 ICA Theme – ‘Communi-cating with Power.’” Dr. Seungahn Nah’s Nonprofit Awareness

and Engagement Project Is Funded

Dr. Seungahn Nah has received funding for the proposal that he submitted to the College of Communication and In-formation Diversity Committee. The proposal, “The Non-profit Awareness and Engagement Project (NAEP),” is a community service learning project that Prof. Nah will in-corporate in course ICT 390 Social Media and Society: The Nonprofit Sector, which he currently teaches. Dr. Nah made his proposal available to the newsletter. According to the abstract: “The Nonprofit Awareness and Engagement Project (NAEP), a community service learning project through ICT 390 Social Media and Society: The Nonprofit Sector, in

Spring 2016 Page 11

Spring 2016 aims to mobilize undergrad students in the Col-lege of Communication and Information to engage in under-served nonprofit organizations in the Lexington community. In partnership with The Plantory, a nonprofit hub with a coalition of approximately 50 nonprofit organizations, stu-dents will work together with diverse nonprofit organiza-tions to develop most effective and efficient communication strategies through social media venues.” The proposal explains that “Throughout the community service-learning project, NAEP, students will learn to: * Comprehend diverse theoretical perspectives and meth-odological approaches as well as community issues regard-ing nonprofit organizations, social media, and citizenship. * Criticize current issues and problems that occur in the context of the roles of social media for diverse nonprofit organizations. * Connect various theoretical and methodological ap-proaches to current issues and problems in social media communications and nonprofit organizations. * Conduct critical analyses regarding social media commu-nications for underserved nonprofit organizations. * Convey creative thinking and knowledge and diverse per-spectives to community and civic life that can nurture the nonprofit and voluntary sector at local, national, and global levels.”

Dr. Sean Burns, Colleagues, Explore Consequences of Female Under-

Representation in Peer Review Dr. C. Sean Burns and colleagues set out to answer the question, What are the consequences, in various aspects of the peer review process, of the under representation of fe-males among editors and reviewers in scholarly publishing? Their data set comprises the 6,720 “standard” papers submitted to Functional Ecology between January 1, 2004, and June 30, 2014. Their ongoing study is possible because Functional Ecology employs ScholarOne Manuscripts to manage manuscript submission and peer review. Findings are reported in papers that have appeared or are under re-view. The investigators take as their starting point the findings by others that “men generally occupy a greater proportion of scientific positions … than do women,” a disparity that “is especially evident in leadership and other high-profile posi-tions … such as on editorial boards….” Combine this with the importance of scholarly publication to career advance-ment and the awareness that “women tend to publish less often than men on a per capita basis,” and the proposition is invited that “Biases in scientific gate keeping, particularly during editorial and peer review, may contribute to gender disparity, perceived or real, in scholarly publishing….” One question the investigators address is whether “well-documented gender disparities in editorial board composi-tion … impact the peer review process….” The researchers conclude that over the period of the study: • among editors of Functional Ecology, males continued

to outnumber females, but the disparity declined;

• among selected reviewers, males continued to outnum-ber females, but the disparity declined; • male editors selected < 25% female reviewers, “even in

the year they selected the most women”; • female editors selected 30-35% female reviewers; • females invited to review were less likely to respond to

the invitation but more likely to accept if they responded; • male and female reviewers gave essentially the same

score to papers; • male and female reviewers rejected essentially the same

proportion of papers.* Female underrepresentation in the peer review process leads to other questions. For example, Does gender bias exist in the outcome of that process? That is, are papers submitted by female authors less likely to be accepted for publication than are papers submitted by male authors? Their analysis of the Functional Ecology data set leads Prof. Burns and his colleagues to conclude it does not.**

* Fox, C.W., Burns, C.S., & Meyer, J.A. (2016). Editor and reviewer gender influence the peer review process but not peer review outcomes at an ecology journal. Functional Ecology, 30, 140-153. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.12529 data doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.5090r

** Fox, C.W., Burns, C.S., Muncy, A.D., & Meyer, J.A. (2016). Gender differences in patterns of authorship do not affect peer review outcomes at an ecology journal. Func-tional Ecology, 30, 126-139. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.12587 data doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.5090r Also published or accepted:

Fox, C.W., & Burns, C.S. (2015). The relationship between manuscript title structure and success: Editorial decisions and citation performance for an ecological journal. Ecology and Evolution, 5(10), 1970-1980. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.1480

Fox, C.W., Burns, C.S., Muncy, A.D., & Meyer, J.A. (ac-cepted). Author-suggested reviewers: Gender differences and influences on the peer review process at an ecology journal. Functional Ecology. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.12665 The findings have elicited comments in the press:

Science: When women are missing from peer review: http://www.sciencemag.org/careers/2015/11/when-women-are-missing-peer-review

Retraction Watch: How does gender influence publishing? A window into one journal: http://retractionwatch.com/2015/11/13/how-does-gender-influence-publishing-a-window-into-ecology-journal/

Blog post by University of Calgary ecologist Jeremy Fox: Gender and peer review at Functional Ecology https://dynamicecology.wordpress.com/2015/11/18/gender-and-peer-review-at-functional-ecology/

Spring 2016 Page 12

Andrew Moore Is Guest Lecturer on Section 512 Safe Harbors

On April 1, Mr. Andrew Moore delivered a guest lecture in Prof. David Nemer’s class, ICT 205 Issues in Information Communication Technology Policy. In his presentation Mr. Moore, who has a BS in Business Legal Studies from Indi-ana University and a JD from New York University School of Law and is a Barbara A. Ringer Honors Fellow at the U.S. Copyright Office, discussed copyright safe harbors for online service providers, contained in Title 17 of the United States Code, Section 512. The safe harbors, which were enacted as part of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), apply to:

a) Transitory digital network communi-cations; b) System caching; c) Information residing on systems or networks at direction of users; and d) Information location tools

Mr. Moore noted that the DMCA was enacted in 1998, a time when less than 5 percent of the world’s population used the Internet. Even then, however, Congress recognized the importance of the Internet, and the goals of the safe harbors are to: • “Incentivize cooperation between

copyright owners and service providers to address online infringement,” and • “Limit liability for compliant service

providers to help foster the growth of internet-based services.” Mr. Moore emphasized that, although there is “no duty to monitor for infringement,” service provider eligibility for each safe harbor is subject to certain threshold requirements, two of which apply to all four safe harbors: the adoption and reasonable implementation of “a policy that provides for the termination in appropriate circumstances of . . . repeat in-fringers” and accommodation of “standard technical meas-ures.” Service providers seeking the protection of safe harbors under section 512 subsections (b), (c), or (d) must also com-ply with notice-and-takedown provisions. Service providers seeking protection under subsection (c) are required to des-ignate and provide contact information for an agent to re-ceive notices of claimed infringement on their website and to the Copyright Office. While subsection (d) does not ex-pressly require service providers to designate such an agent, it does incorporate the notice provisions in section 512(c)(3) requiring that notices be sent to “the designated agent of [the] service provider.” This indicates that service providers seeking protection under this subsection also designate agents to receive notices. Of particular interest, subsection (f) provides that “[a]ny person who knowingly materially misrepresents … that ma-terial or activity is infringing” can be liable for damages. Mr. Moore discussed legal actions alleging violation of section 512 that have been brought, concerning knowledge

standards (e.g., Viacom Int’l, Inc. v. YouTube), repeat in-fringers (e.g., Perfect 10, Inc. v. CCBill LLC), and alleged misuse of notices (e.g., Rossi v. MPAA). Mr. Moore told the class that, as a result of dramatic changes in technology between 1998, when the DMCA was enacted, and today, review of how section 512 is working in practice is appropriate. As an example of the changes, in 1998 less than 5 percent of world population used the Inter-net and downloading a 30-second video took 30 minutes, whereas today 40 percent of world population uses the Internet and a 2-hour movie can be downloaded in 18 min-utes. Between 1998 and 2010, Google received requests to remove links to fewer than 5 million URLs. In all of 2011, there were, again, fewer than 5 million such requests. In one week this year, however, there were more than 20 million

removal requests sent to Google. Congress is currently in the process of conducting a comprehensive review of copyright law and, over the course of two years, held 20 hearings featuring 100 wit-nesses, and one of the hearings, on March 13, 2014, was dedicated to section 512, with testimony from content creators, service providers, and academics. During the hearing, Con-gressman Bob Goodlatte, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said, “[C]opyright owners are … facing a scenario that simply wasn’t anticipated during the enactment of 512….” On December 31 of last year the Copy-right Office issued a Notice of Inquiry

announcing it would undertake “a public study to evaluate the impact and effectiveness of the DMCA safe harbor pro-visions….” Written comments were due April 1 of this year, and public roundtables are scheduled for New York May 2-3 and San Francisco on May 12-13.

Awesome Inc: New Skill Set to Students On March 23 the School’s Information Communication Technology program sponsored an Awesome Inc Android App Development workshop, designed to serve as a plat-form for students interested in developing their own mobile app. Announcing the workshop, Will Buntin, Assistant Di-rector, said:

We are very excited to be able to partner with Awe-some Inc. to offer our students this wonderful opportu-nity. With this workshop, students will get the chance to work with professionals from Awesome Inc. to help build their skill set and be exposed to the mobile development world.

According to the news release by Gail Hairtson that ap-peared in UKNow:

Awesome Inc. is a high-tech startup company provid-ing services to establish, grow and connect individuals and companies located in Lexington. They achieve this by hosting community events, leading technology education courses and offering a shared workspace environment.

Spring 2016 Page 13

Joy Terhune, Former Head of School Librarian Program, Dies at 89

Associate Professor Emerita Joy Terhune died in Novem-ber at age 89 after a lengthy illness. Prof. Terhune joined the faculty of what was then the College of Library Science in 1970 and retired in 1993. She was responsible for the School Librarian program. Joy was born in Hindman, KY. According to her obituary:

“After attending Hindman Settlement School, and Hindman High School, she attended Wheaton College, and later was graduated from Morehead State University. After her children were school age, she went on to earn a Master's Degree from Murray State University, and a spe-cialist in education degree from George Peabody College of Vanderbilt University.”

Joy’s career in education began with teaching high school English at Trigg County High School, Cadiz, KY, in 1953, and ended when she retired from the University of Kentucky in 1993. During those 40 years, she also served as a school librarian, initially at North Marshall High School and sub-sequently at South Marshall High School, both in Calvert City, KY. She was reference librarian at Western Kentucky University, 1961-1965, and Supervisor of School Librarians at the Kentucky Department of Education, 1965-1970. She joined the College of Library Science faculty in 1970, and from then until she retired Joy was responsible for the School Librarian program, whose students seek certification as Kentucky public school librarians. Early in her career at UK, Joy introduced an annual workshop for librarians who worked with children and young adults. Eventually, it was decided to name the popu-lar event, and Joy asked that it be named not for herself, but for her faculty colleague Anne McConnell. Each year the McConnell Conference attracted several hundred school librarians, classroom teachers, and public librarians. When she learned of Prof. Terhune’s death, Associate Professor Emerita Jackie White wrote in an email: “Joy was a wonderful mentor to and supporter of all school librarians. She was a great teacher but an even better friend. Joy believed in me more than I did myself at times. And when I became the school media professor at UK she was my biggest cheerleader!! I am so thankful I was privi-leged to know Joy.” Professor Emeritus and former Dean of the College of Library and Information Science Tom Waldhart reflected on his years working with Joy:

“Joy Terhune and I were professional colleagues in the University of Kentucky’s College of Library and Informa-tion Science for more than 30 years. I can say, without qualification, that working with her was one of the most satisfying personal, and professional, experiences of my life. As is sometime said of great people: ‘She was a great col-league/faculty member/teacher, but she was a better person.’ We will all (students, graduates, faculty colleagues, staff) remember Joy and be thankful for having been given the chance to know her.”

Alternative Spring Break 2016 Ashley DeWitt, Lecturer in the School of Information Sci-ence, administers the Alternative Spring Break program and passed along information about Alternative Spring Break 2016. Eight students had internships, at two locations, the week of March 14-18. The following had placements in Smithsonian Libraries, where each worked on the identified project: • Kamryn Wies, Biodiversity Heritage, • Ash Skipper, Artists’ Files, • Catherine Staley, Social Media, • Bailey Schrupp, Advancement, • Megan Lucy, Scholarly Communication.

The following had placements at the National Library of Medicine, where each worked on the identified project: • Emily Elkind, Assessing Publisher Supplied Informa-

tion, • Teresa McGinley, Assessing Publisher Supplied In-

formation, • Matthew Noe, Creation of Documentation for NLM

Learning Resources API.

Spring Internship Program with UK Libraries Introduced

Ashley also passed along the following information:

Launched this spring, LEX Week is a new program that we hope to offer each year. It is modeled off an existing pro-gram, Alternative Spring Break (ASB), which began in 2011. In the ASB program, the School of Information Sci-ence sends several (5-10) Library Science master's students to intern in and around Washington, D. C. at institutions such as the National Library of Medicine and Smithsonian Libraries. The students work on various projects under the supervision of professional librarians to gain practical skills and put their theoretical knowledge to the test. LEX Week is the local complement to the ASB program. The School of Information Science and UK Libraries are working together on this program, which allows current Library Science master's students to intern with profession-als here on campus to gain skills and apply what they've learned in their classes. Four students participated in the first program the week of February 29-March 4. Ryan Dowell worked on a project entitled Digital Preser-vation of Audio, and Andy Johnson worked on a project

Spring 2016 Page 14

called Introduction to Digital Imaging. Both were in the Special Collections Research Center. Emily Elkind and Rachel Hugenberg both worked in Reference at W. T. Young Library on a project called Bibliographer for a Week.

Lori Miller to Participate in ALA’s 2016 Student-to-Staff Program

Student Lori Miller learned in December she had been cho-sen to participate in ALA’s 2016 Student-to-Staff Program and would represent UK’s School of Information Science at the Annual Conference in Orlando. According to informa-tion on the ALA web site:

“Each Annual Conference ALA provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for 40 students engaged in ALA Student Chapters both to attend an ALA Annual Conference and to work behind-the-scenes with ALA staff. The Student-to-Staff Program (S2S) was created so that each of 60 schools affiliated with ALA has an equal and equitable opportunity to nominate one and only one student to fill one of 40 available slots in the program. Established in 1973, S2S offers qualifying students in the program the opportunity to attend meetings, programs, and other ALA Conference events in their spare time.” Participants work 16 hours during the conference and receive free conference registration, free housing (sharing a hotel room with another S2Ser), and a per diem for meal expenses.

Shapiro, McGinley, and Noe Research Poster Takes 1st Place at MLA Midwest

Student Affairs Officer Heather Burke made the following available to the newsletter:

Two Library Science program students, Teresa McGinley and Matthew Noe, and alumnus Robert Shapiro II were awarded first place by the Medical Library Association Midwest Chapter for their research poster entitled "Infor-mation Access and State Public Health: Missed Opportu-nity or Miscommunication," The poster was presented at the 2015 MLA Midwest Chapter meeting. McGinley spoke with UK SIS about their project: “Matthew and I are graduate student interns at the Medi-cal Center Library at UK; Robert acts as our supervisor, mentor, and sounding board. Robert actually came up with the idea to look at what resources state libraries are offer-ing their state public health departments, but was lacking the man-power to manually scrape each of the state library websites. This is where Matthew and I came in. We di-vided up the scraping between the three of us, and Robert put together a survey to send out to the directors of each state library. The survey supplemented our findings, as well as providing usage statistics and services we may have missed. Ultimately, we are trying to address the over-lap in information access and services between what is provided at the state-run level and what is being offered by the medical library community at large. If state public health departments are being provided all these resources

by their state libraries, then the medical library community may be duplicating effort in providing access, services, and outreach. We are hoping to present at the MLA con-ference in May.” McGinley also commented on the experience of being at the conference and presenting research, saying, “Present-ing at the Midwest MLA Meeting was really exciting – it was the first professional conference for Matthew and me. We were both lucky enough to receive the Student Out-reach Award from the Greater Midwest Region National Network of Libraries of Medicine, which allowed us to attend the conference at no cost. We also had the opportu-nity to present our own posters; Matthew’s was titled ‘Graphic Medicine and Medical Libraries: A New Oppor-tunity’ and mine was ‘Why You Should Be Happy With Modern Medicine: An Inventory of Antique Medical Arti-facts from the University of Kentucky’s Medical Center Library.’ Robert fielded most of the questions for our ‘State Libraries & Public Health Information Access: Re-sults from the Greater Midwest Region State Libraries’ poster. The conference was an eye-opening to see what other health sciences librarians are doing in their libraries, and it was great to have the chance to network with veter-ans in the field.”

Cynthia Butor Receives Multi-Year Fellowship and Reedy Award

Cynthia Butor, who will enroll in the School’s LIS pro-gram in the fall, has been awarded a UK Graduate School Multi-Year Fellowship for the 2016-2017 academic year. The amount is $20,000, plus a tui-tion scholarship and student health insur-ance. In addition, she has been awarded a Daniel R. Reedy Quality Achievement Fellowship in the amount of $3,000. Heather Burke wrote the following: The School of In-formation Science is proud to announce that Cynthia Butor, a new Library Science master’s student this Fall, has been awarded a Multi-Year Fellowship by the University of Ken-tucky (UK) Graduate School. In addition to the fellowship, Butor will receive the Daniel R. Reedy Quality Achieve-ment Fellowship Award. Butor received her BFA in Creative Writing with minors in classical languages and classical studies from the Univer-sity of Evansville in Evansville, Indiana in 2009. She also earned a BA in English Literature and a minor in architec-ture at the same institution that year. Since achieving her baccalaureate degrees, Butor has pursued a variety of re-

Spring 2016 Page 15

search and service projects. Her independent research delves into the role Soviet women, the frontovichki played during the Second World War. She developed a lecture on this re-search in tandem with UK professors. Butor received the Artist Enrichment Grant from the Kentucky Foundation for Women in 2013. Butor served in the Peace Corps from 2012 to 2013 in Zolochiv, Ukraine where she taught three-hundred students at a local school. Butor developed a travelling lending li-brary and hosted special events to increase literacy amongst school-aged children there. Here in Kentucky, Butor has worked as a grant-writer and foundation researcher for the Christian Appalachian Project through AmeriCorps VISTA, and she has served as the Book Van Coordinator for Lex-ington Public Library since October 2013. Butor says, “I am so excited and honored to be selected for the Multi-Year Fellowship and Daniel R. Reedy Quality Achievement Award. Receiving them will ensure that I can successfully complete a Master’s of Science in Library Sci-ence and further my career. Currently, I work at the Lex-ington Public Library as the Book Van Coordinator, a job that I love. However, there are so many things I can’t do without an MSLS – attend conferences, expand programs into needed communities, problem solve advisory questions – which means that I can’t serve the people of Lexington as well as I’d like. In the future, I would like to expand upon and create new outreach programs, working primarily with low income, at-risk, minority, and mentally disabled individuals. Above all, I believe in public libraries and how necessary they are to creating an informed, educated, and active community and want to make a career in improving them and the lives of the communities they serve. These awards and the University of Kentucky will help make that happen.”

Rachael Lebo Receives NLM Midwest Region Community Engagement Award

Rachael Lebo, a student in the School’s MSLS program who is pursuing the Health Information track, received a Community Engagement Award from the Greater Midwest Region of the National Library of Medicine. Rachael works at Siouxland Libraries in Sioux Falls, SD. She told SIS Stu-dent Affairs Officer Heather Burke:

“Siouxland Libraries is a public library system with five locations in the city of Sioux Falls and eight rural locations in Minnehaha County. We recently were awarded the Community Engagement Award from NN/LM GMR [Na-tional Network of Libraries of Medicine Greater Midwest Region]. With this award, we will start providing a healthy lifestyles outreach program at Sunnycrest Retirement Vil-lage in Sioux Falls, SD. With the Community Engagement Award, we were able to purchase tablets and cases to use for the outreach program. I will take the tablets to Sunnycrest Retirement Village and show the customers how to use them in order to look up health questions, information, and healthy recipes. We will use sites such as MedlinePlus, HealthFinder, USDA, and NIH Senior Health. There will be multiple tablets available for the residents to privately look

up the information for which they seek, and I will be able to help them navigate through these sites.”

William Henley Selected for Alaska State Library Internship Project

The following was written by Heather Burke and appeared in UKNow. It is republished with permission:

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 18, 2016) — Library science graduate student William Henley, in the University of Kentucky College of Communication and Information's School of Information Science, has been selected as one of three interns to work on the Alaska State Library Internship Project in summer 2016. The goal of this project will be to provide assistance to public libraries in Alaska who lack staff expertise to sustain long-term projects that would benefit their libraries and communities. The interns selected will be provided with housing, travel and a weekly stipend while they are working on projects for the local public library system. Henley will be hosted by the Homer Public Library in Homer, Alaska. He will convert a collection of 2,200 books to subject-based classification as part of the "Alaska Books for Alaska Kids" project. The project's goal is "compiling an up-to-date, accessible and useful bibliography of accurate, culturally relevant, recommended books for youth about Alaska and the North." "Since all of my experience is with literature for teenagers, I'm excited to get to dig into a collection of picture books and learn more about literature for the youngest readers," Henley said. "As a teacher, I strived to provide multicultural literature for my students, so they all had the opportunity to see aspects of their own identity represented in the books they read. I want to continue to do this as a librarian, so helping to create a bibliography of culturally relevant texts for children about Alaska, Native Americans and the North in general will allow me the chance to hone this skill even more." The School Librarian Program track is one of the most popular in the Library Science master’s program and offers licensed teachers the opportunity to earn their Master of Science in Library Science degree concurrently with school library media certification. Maria Cahill, who advises students in the School Librarian Program, received the news of Henley’s internship with enthusiasm. “I love to see good things come to great students!”

Spring 2016 Page 16

Dr. Colleen Harris-Keith Wins Shera Award for Published Research

Several months ago the SIS web site reported that California State University Channel Islands (CI) Assistant Librarian Colleen Harris-Keith (’07) had won the Jesse H. Shera Award for Distinguished Published Research. At the time, CI issued the following release:

Camarillo, Calif., Dec. 3, 2015 – CSU Channel Islands (CI) Assistant Librarian Colleen Harris-Keith , Ed.D., found a big question mark in the world of library science, and de-cided to find the answer. Her efforts won her one of the most prestigious research awards offered by the American Library Association, “The Jesse H. Shera Award for Distinguished Published Re-search.” “Here at CI, I teach students research practices, so it’s nice to see that not only do I teach good research practices, I may be a good researcher myself!” Harris-Keith said. Good research starts with a question. Harris-Keith’s ques-tion had to do with what previous library jobs helped library deans or directors acquire the skills they needed to be effec-tive at running a library. “Previous research has identified what the 25 leadership skills and 25 leadership qualities make a good library dean or director, but what we don’t know is where these library directors actually developed those skills,” Harris-Keith said. Harris-Keith’s research paper title is a mouthful* … but the bottom line was, she wanted to know what previous work experience helped library directors develop leadership skills like fundraising, budgeting, management, interper-sonal relations, etc. Research is thorough, so Harris-Keith contacted every single library director at every single U.S. university that offers a master’s degree in any subject – a total of 724 uni-versities. She found email addresses for 666 universities, contacted all of them, and got 296 responses, which is a good response in the world of research, about 40 percent. The results sur-prised her. “After all the data collection and number-crunching, it turns out library directors don’t get to practice any of those skills until they become directors,” she said. “I thought di-rectors would have much more experience with these skills instead of learning them on the job.” As a result of Harris-Keith’s research, library workers with aspirations to lead a library someday have a better idea of the skills they might want to pursue through a workshop if their current library job doesn’t provide the experience they need to move up the career ladder. “For example, if there is a librarian who works in refer-ence, we know they may be lacking in the skill of budget management,” she said. “That would direct us to pick up a course or two in accounting.” The Association of College and Research Libraries offers professional development workshops all the time so librari-ans can fill in those skill gaps, Harris-Keith said. And, like all good researchers, the project led to more

questions, so the next iteration of her survey will query li-brary directors about relevant skills they gained from non-library jobs. She also plans to widen the scope of her re-search by including community colleges and bachelor’s degree-granting universities.

*The Relationship Between Academic Library Department Experience and Perceptions of Leadership Skill Develop-ment Relevant to Academic Library Directorship, The Jour-nal of Academic Librarianship 41(3) (May 2015): 246-263.

Republished compliments of California State University Channel Islands. Library Community Wishes State Librarian

a Fond Farewell as He Retires The following article was published in Public Library News & Notes, Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives, December 2015. Permission to republish courtesy of Paige Sexton, Communications Officer, KDLA.

After serving the Commonwealth of Kentucky as State Li-brarian and Commissioner of the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives (KDLA) for nine years, Wayne

Onkst [’79] has retired. Wayne's career spanned 36 years of serving the public through providing and promoting quality library services and life-long educational opportunities for all ages. During his tenure as State Librarian, Wayne provided leadership in advancing public library service in every county in the state. With the opening of the McLean County Public Library in 2011, all Kentuckians now enjoy the

opportunity to access state-funded public library services in their own community. Last year Kentucky libraries reported a record 2,664,920 library card holders, representing 60.63% of the state's population. Recognizing the value of public libraries as an educa-tional partner, Wayne was committed to providing support to public libraries to ensure that all citizens have access to age-appropriate high quality educational programs. Last year alone, 1,426,392 children attended programs at their local public library. Additionally, 307,761 adults attended programs and 113,081 teens attended programs. A native of London, Kentucky, Wayne began his career in libraries as a shelver at the Laurel County Public Library. After completing a bachelor's degree in history from the University of Kentucky (UK) and a master's degree in li-brary science from the UK School of Library and Informa-tion Science, he became a librarian in the Kenton County Library System. He eventually became director in 1999 and

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was appointed to the position of State Librarian by Gover-nor Ernie Fletcher in 2006. Wayne strongly encouraged and assisted libraries in com-municating the message that libraries serve a critical role as community and educational partners. He worked to demon-strate that libraries have an imperative to ensure that every-one has the right to high-quality library and information resources. He also led KDLA in assisting state agencies in ensuring that legislatively mandated documentation of gov-ernment programs is created, efficiently maintained, and made accessible. During his career Wayne participated in many profes-sional and civic organizations, such as serving as president of the Greater Cincinnati Library Consortium, Frankfort Rotary, chair of Kentucky Archives & Records Commis-sion, Kentucky Oral History Commission, president of the Southern Council of State Library CEOs, the Governor's E-transparency Task Force, the Kentucky Civil War Sesqui-centennial Commission, and the Executive Mansion and Capital Centennial Commission. His leadership skills have been recognized both nation-ally, as recipient of the American Library Association Sulli-van Award in 2005 (for public library administrators sup-porting services to children) and statewide as the winner of the Outstanding Public Library Service Award in 2009 as well as the Kentucky Public Library Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011. Additional honors include receiving the 2010 UK Library School Outstanding Alumnus Award, receiving the Mary Ann Mongan Literacy Award in 2009, and participating in Leadership Northern Kentucky in 2001.

Northern Kentucky School Librarian Is 2016 KySTE Outstanding Teacher

The following article, written by Kathy Mansfield and pub-lished in Kentucky Teacher, is reprinted with permission.

Heidi Neltner [’08], teacher librarian for Johnson Elemen-tary (Fort Thomas Independent Schools), is the 2016 winner of the Kentucky Society for Technology in Education’s (KySTE) Outstanding Teacher Award. “When I found out I was the recipient of the KySTE award I was shocked,” said Neltner. “I had no idea I was nominated. It is a huge honor to have been even nominated for such an award by people with whom I absolutely love to work.” Johnson has been a teacher librarian for six years; this is her fourth year at Johnson Elementary. Her Learning in Progress blog provides insight into her journey as a librar-ian at the school, as well as offers helpful tips for the school’s staff and students about technology and library resources. Neltner is a frequent presenter at regional, state and na-tional conferences. As co-creator of #KyLChat, the bi-monthly Twitter chat for Kentucky school librarians, and frequent moderator of #KyEdChat, she is at the forefront of conversations focused on effective education. Neltner is also part of a group leading the #KyGoPlay initiative – which

focuses on learning through play – and celebrated its sec-ond year with a #KyGoPlayground at the annual KySTE Conference in Louisville. Perhaps the best way to know Neltner better is to hear about her from school colleagues and fellow librarians. The following are excerpts from nomination letters written on behalf of the award winner.

From the 2016 KySTE affiliate nomination statement: “Heidi is an exemplary teacher who implements technol-ogy organically on an hourly basis. In one class, students may have an iPad in their hands researching digital citizen-ship. The next class may be exploring augmented reality by creating poetry videos about Kentucky historians and turn-ing the presentation into an aura using the Aurasma app. The creative and innovative resources and strategies Heidi uses in her classroom daily far surpass anything I’ve experi-enced at other schools.

“Heidi does a phenomenal job of putting tech-nology in our students’ hands each and every day. They are leaning toward technology for learning, not just for fun. More im-portantly, she is assisting our teachers so they feel more comfortable

incorporating these types of opportunities in their lessons consistently as well. This is having a huge impact on student engagement throughout our school, which research shows is a huge factor in student achievement.”

Fort Thomas teachers: “Heidi has been a trusted and valuable colleague whom I can turn to for advice about incorporating technology into my own classroom. I have attended her informal TechChats at a local coffee shop, which have included technology-minded teachers of all grade levels from all over Northern Kentucky. She puts a great deal of time and effort into culti-vating and maintaining professional relationships and has become a great resource for the teacher community here. Heidi works tirelessly to assist me in anything I might need and is an expert in finding the newest apps and programs. Her dedication makes for a richer and more engaging envi-ronment in my classroom and the classrooms of countless other people. “Heidi Neltner is the epitome of what every school wants their media specialist to be. She brings technology to the forefront of education at Johnson Elementary. She works tirelessly to provide experiences for the kids and the faculty. From Power Lunches and her Technology Tuesday news-letter for the staff to her makerspace, Coding Clubs, and

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Becky Nelson helps third-grader Gabby C.

Journalism Club for the kids – and those are just the begin-ning of everything she does for our school and community.”

Johnson Elementary School principal, Jamee Flaherty: “Heidi continuously surprises me with her innovative ideas and her approach to providing students with problem-based learning experiences.”

A fellow KySTE member and Kentucky school librarian: “It takes a special patience and dedication to the practice of education to be able to jump nimbly from topic to topic the way Heidi is capable of. Part of the complexity of being an outstanding teacher librarian is the constant requirement to be ready. This readiness is not on a single subject, device or audience, but on a vast array of topics including litera-ture, educational technology and information literacy.”

Becky Nelson to Retire After More Than 40 Years as a Librarian

Becky Nelson (’74), who is librarian at Hearn Elementary School in Frankfort, KY, will retire the end of this school year. In early March Becky sat down with The State Journal reporter Hannah Brown, for a Q&A, which we reprint, with the permission of Ms. Brown and The State Journal. The interview has been edited for length.

Becky Nelson said that when she began working as a li-brarian more than 40 years ago, she never thought she would spend the majority of her career working in elementary schools. “I was thinking about specializing in medical and special libraries,” Nelson said. And that’s what she did right after receiving her master’s degree in library science from the University of Kentucky. Her first job was in the special library at the Council of State Governments in Lexington. After a short time there, she married her first husband and moved to Dayton, Ohio, landing a job as the medical school library head of public services at Wright State University. “That’s what I really thought I wanted to do and I loved it,” she said. But after three years they moved to Maysville [KY], where she took a position at a high school library on a part-time basis, she said. After six years there, she then moved to Elizabethtown [KY], where she worked as a librarian at an elementary school for 15 years — the same elementary school where former Hearn Elementary School Principal Kyle Lee at-tended. “Moving from a high school to an elementary school was more of a jolt than moving from medical students to high school students,” Nelson said. “I had to start from the

ground level — learning the literature and dealing with that age group. That’s been most of my career now,” she said. In 2001, she moved to Frankfort with her current hus-band, retired Kentucky Department of Libraries and Ar-chives librarian Jim Nelson [‘69]. “There’s lots of librarians in my family,” Nelson said. “My mother was a librarian too.” Nelson is retiring at the end of this year after spending 33 years working at Kentucky elementary schools. She has been the librarian at Hearn Elementary School for 15 years.

Still loves what she does after 40 years

State Journal: Why did you decide to stay working in schools versus working in a public library? Nelson: I really like the community feel of a school. I like the education aspect too. The public library is something I’ve never worked in, but I would like to. Also I still like having my children’s and now grandchil-dren’s schedule and not having to work on weekends. I’ve just always enjoyed what I was doing, and never de-cided to look outside to do something else. At this point, when I retire I think it would be great fun to work in a pub-lic library on a part-time basis.

SJ: What has been your motivation to keep working as a librarian all these years? Nelson: My motivation has really been the opportunity to work with children and moti-vate them to be excited about reading and seeing that work. I feel like the children I work with here at Hearn are going to be lifelong readers. I have some clubs I started

here, but most of the other schools do them now as well. We have the Mock Newbery

Club and the Mock Caldecott Club. I do a Lunch Bunch for any student who wants to come. They bring their lunch and I read a novel to them. They keep coming in every day until we finish the book. It gives me the opportunity to read a novel aloud. The teachers are all doing it, but I love doing it as well. The children can’t get enough of it. It’s a treat. Children need to see reading as something to look forward too — that it’s special and fun. I also really love working with the academic team. I coach language arts. During competitions I moderate and judge for quick recall. I really enjoy doing that. We also do a battle of the books here. It’s gotten to be district wide.

SJ: What is your favorite part about being a librarian? Nelson: Talking with students and teachers about books. Our teachers now are reading children’s literature. That’s the key — for all of the teachers to read it and know it and talk to the children about it. I love to discuss

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books with them and see how they react to it and what they’re thinking. They have so many insights.

SJ: Are there any strategies you learned in the schools about teaching children to read that you took home and practiced on your two sons, or vice versa? Nelson: I practiced on my own children and now my grand-daughter all of the time. I think a real key is that you need to read to your children every single night. Don’t stop when they become independent readers. You need to keep reading to them. I read to one of my sons through sixth-grade and the other through fifth-grade, as long as I could and that’s as long as they’d let me. They’re great readers today.

SJ: What do you say to your successor and what do you want them to continue in your library? Nelson: I would hope the flexible schedule would be con-tinued so my successor is able to continue to hold the clubs that really get kids involved in reading and is able to be on tap all the time to serve the teachers needs as well. I encourage him/her to continue reading aloud to all grades as much as possible and use our book pets (stuffed characters from children’s books) and to continue to invite authors and illustrators to our school. I have two authors (Lois Sephaban and Patsi Trollinger) coming to Hearn this month and our Kentucky Poet Laure-ate (George Ella Lyon) is coming in May. Also to remember that technology is an ever-changing tool — but a love to read will enrich a person’s life forever.

SJ: What do you like to do in your free time? Nelson: Read children’s literature and travel. My dream trip would be a river cruise in Europe. I also like to attend theatrical productions, especially mu-sicals. My granddaughter and I are season ticket holders at Lexington Children’s Theatre. I also like to try out new restaurants with my husband. Our favorites lately are Sabio, Distilled, and National Provi-sions—all in Lexington.

SJ: What kind of books do you like to read? Nelson: Whether it’s children’s or adult literature — which I rarely read — my favorite genre is emotional realism in fiction, but I also love historical fiction and biography.

Graduates Discuss Careers in Community College Libraries

According to the American Association of Community Col-leges, there are 1,108 community colleges in the U.S., and in fall 2004 they enrolled 12.3 million students, nearly half of all undergraduates in the nation. A number of the School’s gradu-ates are pursuing careers in community college libraries, and two of them agreed to write about their experience. Terry Buckner (’01) is Public Services Librarian at the Newtown Campus of Bluegrass Community and Technical College, in Lexington. Robert Kelly (’90) is Coordinator of Library Ser-vices, John F. Kennedy Library, Hutchinson Community Col-lege, Hutchinson, KS.

A Community College Librarian on ‘the Best of Library Worlds’

by Terry Buckner Where It Began After earning a Bachelor’s in Family and Consumer Sci-ences Education and a Master’s in Vocational Education from the University of Kentucky, I thought I knew where my life would take me. Don’t we all think that when we are

just starting out? Life, however, had other plans. The economy took one of its nosedives, family and consumer science courses were being dropped from the public school cur-riculum all over the state, and extension positions were frozen. I had an expensive education and very

few opportunities to use it. I worked in several “careers” over the years, but never felt that I was truly where I needed to be. One day, my husband looked at me and said “You are not happy. What would make you happy?” From someplace inside that I forgot existed, I said “I have always wanted to be a librarian.” He told me to go for it. I took a deep breath and a leap of faith, and a year later, I had a shiny new de-gree. I had planned to be a school media specialist, but again, life had other plans for me. I started applying for positions and interviewing. Since I wasn’t mobile, the opportunities were limited. One day, my husband (he really is a pretty great guy) brought me an ad from the paper advertising a librarian position at what was then Lexington Community College. This wasn’t the librarian position that I had origi-nally thought I would pursue, but I had everything they were asking for, so I thought, why not? It turns out, that was one of the best decisions that I have ever made. They hired me, and I became a community college librarian. Almost 14 years later, I am still a community college librarian and it is hard for me to imagine being anything else. Why It Works for Me Being a community college librarian is an interesting mix of several different types of librarianship. I feel, in some ways, that my job is a hybrid of academic, school media, and pub-lic. I am primarily an academic librarian who works with people from different backgrounds whose ages range from 17-70+. I help students find resources for papers and as-signments, teach library instruction sessions, provide tech-nical assistance, and help students with their computer-re-lated questions. I spend a LOT of time troubleshooting and even more time dealing with printing issues. I work closely

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with our faculty and staff, providing them with library re-sources and services to support the curriculum. An adjunct faculty member recently referred to me as “Fix-It Woman”, and I now jokingly say that is my superpower. But seri-ously, what gives me the most satisfaction is making a stu-dent’s day better. Our students are sometimes fragile, and they have faced many obstacles in their lives. My goal is to make attending BCTC a triumph rather than another failure for our students, and if I can walk them through the admis-sions process, find an instructor when they are in a panic, or help them submit their assignment in Blackboard, well it might not be the typical librarian duty, but it is important just the same. It is critical that we help our students become information literate, and that we provide the library resources and ser-vices they need to be successful in their classes. However, it is also critical that we be caring human beings who provide a helping hand when they are lost, an ear when they need to vent, and sometimes a shoulder when they need to cry. In my opinion, being a community college librarian gives me the best of library worlds. I get to work with students who are fresh out of high school. I also get to work with students who have been in the workforce and are retraining for a new career, or are perhaps updating skills to be more valuable in their present position. Frequently, I work with students who have been out of the workforce for years and are trying to gain the skills they need to be successful. In other words, I never know who will walk through the door, or what they will need when they enter the library. I always say that my job is never boring, and it is true! While some of the things I do are repetitive, I also have new challenges every day which keeps me fresh and constantly learning. For me, another benefit of working in a community col-lege is the support that I receive to keep learning, to take advantage of leadership opportunities, and to give back to my community. Now, let me be very clear. Community col-leges are in the same financial crunch as everyone else, so financial support for these endeavors is not available. How-ever, what I do have is the opportunity to work for an insti-tution that values professional growth, and that also encour-ages – no, requires – us to give back. Publishing is not a requirement of my job, but being involved in the community is. I serve on boards, work at community events, sponsor needy children at Christmas, etc. The choice of how to serve is mine, and I feel very fortunate to work for an institution that feels service is a vital component of the job description. I am also encouraged to provide service to my professional community, which has given me the freedom to take on leader-ship challenges at the state and national level. I feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to serve as the President of the Kentucky library Association, and also to serve as President of the Kentucky Chapter of the Special Libraries Association. These opportunities have allowed me to meet and get to know librarians from across the state, and across the country. It is so validating for me to see other librarians doing amazing things, overcoming challenges, and truly making a difference. It rein-forces the decision that I made to become a community college librarian. Do I get tired, a little burned out from time to time, and a bit frustrated? Sure I do. But overall, I wake up excited

about my job, and start every day hoping that I can make a difference in at least one life. For me, a community college is the perfect place to make that difference. It is crazy, exhausting, sometimes frustrating, often challenging, but also fun, fulfill-ing, rewarding, and empowering. I can’t imagine working anywhere else!

Community College Library: The

‘Real Deal’ for a Director by Robert Kelly

A Spring Day’s Acivities Today my mid-Spring semester day’s activities included: • approving title-by-title a $3k book order my technical

services librarian (yes, I’m not the only professional librar-ian) has put together, • showing a

student what we have for jazz music re-sources, • responding to an

email a student worker sent to let me know he needs to miss his shift, • helping a student

troubleshoot printing a PDF article from an Ebscohost database, • exchanging

emails with a university library director about statewide OCLC access, • communicating with vendors about current and poten-

tial online database trials, • communicating with other statewide colleagues about

resource sharing initiatives and upcoming meetings & con-ferences, • checking remaining budget figures, and • reviewing committee meeting minutes.

Other Times of the Year Other times of the year I’m swamped teaching 1-shot in-struction sessions for a variety of courses. During summer months I’m reading, freshening instruction materials, and shelf-reading. After fall semester, I’m running reports to help me find things to weed as well as to help with future purchasing decisions. In late July to early August I’m meet-ing new faculty, being proactive about learning how they teach, learning what resources they expect their students to use, pestering faculty to get their classes scheduled for in-struction, and occasionally getting on the agenda for faculty department meetings. How’s that for capturing the rewards, challenges, frustra-tions, and opportunities provided in my relatively small community college (~3,500 FTE) environment? I’ve been doing this for nearly 13 years. What don’t I do? • cataloging,

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• book and media material orders. • interlibrary loan, • managing our ILS database.

I could, though. I did those things at previous stops, which included a small 4-year college right out of graduate school; positions with five school districts, from tiny (120 k-12) to very large running programs involving multiple buildings to a large high school; and time as a board of trustees member for a small public library, well prepared me for. Confluence of Services The community college environment is this confluence of services cut from 4-year colleges and universities, public li-braries, and school libraries. This diversity also makes it a fast-track environment to academic library and even indus-try professional leadership due to the opportunity to do about anything and everything (whether wanted or not). I see university librarians spinning in place 3 years out of graduate school because they are in catharsis mode. They want to lead but aren’t in a professional position to gain experience doing so nor do they have mentorship on how to get a leadership position. They’re hoping to “luckbox” into a job. Quit! Get a community college job. You will lead then, whether you want to or not. Often you will be the “my, my-self, and I show” as the only professional and, often, the only full-time staff member. The library, and you, will be disrespected at the same time as being valued. It’s the real deal. No insulation! Lots of opportunity also. Some schools will hire you to run the show right out of graduate school. You learn to make professional friends quickly. You’ll grow up fast. You’ll do good things. You’ll also skip over those university librarians in catharsis hoping for a shot to lead.

Reflections on Being a Public Library Director

by King Simpson

James King Simpson, who goes by his middle name and is on track to complete the MSLS program this semester, was in my Public Libraries and Business Management class spring semester 2015. I asked those in the class to provide information about themselves, and I learned that not only was King a public library director (Logan County Public Library, Russellville, KY) but also he had held every public services job at the library, starting with part-time circulation clerk. Also, he had done janitorial and maintenance work. I asked him to write about his experiences for the newsletter, and he agreed. Dennis Carrigan Becoming a Director My journey to library director has been different than most. For starters, I had no aspirations to become a librarian during my early years. When, as a college freshman, I took a part-time circulation clerk position at Logan County Public Li-brary (LCPL), I thought the library would be a good place to work. After all, they would work with my school schedule

and I could avoid working in fast food. Another distinction is that I have spent my whole career at the same library. Within a few years of beginning at LCPL, in 2002, I had taken a full-time position, splitting my time between desk duties and performing janitorial and light maintenance work. From there I moved to a straight public services posi-tion, eventually being promoted to public services supervi-sor, and later assistant director. When our director, Linda Kompanik, fell ill shortly after my last promotion, I was named acting director. I served in that capacity until, after she had passed away, the board began the search for the next director of the Logan County Public Library. When the board announced me as their pick for the job, I was overwhelmed – things had changed a lot in those 11 years! The road to directorship was fraught with chal-lenges and heartache, with a healthy dose of thrills mixed in for good measure. For instance, while Linda was battling her illness, we were in the middle of a building project for our new facility – a $3.9 million project that she and the board had been working toward for nearly two decades. On the day I started library school, Linda passed away. Again, it has been a se-ries of highs and lows. I consider the support of my excel-lent staff, an incredible board, and a community that loves its library as a legacy left by Linda during her years of ser-vice. With the foundation built by those who came before, I had the advantageous conditions that have helped me suc-ceed.

My Days: From Whirlwind to Monotony With this being said, there is still a lot of my daily experience that looks like other directors’, especially in similarly-sized libraries. I wear many hats, and spend a fair amount of time at the desk. Three years after becoming public services supervi-sor, I finally hired my replacement for that position – that definitely moved my workload in the right direction! Some days are a whirlwind of new experiences and every sort of craziness, while others are filled with monotonous tasks (pa-perwork, and/or whatever the terminology is that represents the new technological equivalent of paperwork). In some ways, the job is much different than I anticipated, but in oth-ers not so much. I spend a lot more time looking at budget figures and financial reports than I would have imagined—things that made me cringe when I was in college the first time around. However, I did anticipate the difficult task of employee evaluation, discipline, and the subsequent docu-mentation required. These are things that sometimes still

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make me cringe today, but while they haven’t become neces-sarily natural, I have found they grow easier with practice. I feel those I have employed over the years appreciate that I worked my way up through the ranks to become a director. As I moved up the chain of command, the staff knew I had “been there and done that”, not asking them to do anything I hadn’t done or wouldn’t be willing to do again. To borrow from military terminology, I guess I would be referred to as a “mustang” – an officer who began as an enlisted man and climbed his way up, as opposed to an individual who entered the armed forces as an officer. I feel that we’ve made a fairly seamless transition from co-workers to employee-employer, which I’m sure was helped along by several different job ti-tles and levels of authority through the years.

What I Wish I’d Known As anyone with their MSLS or one of its equivalents can likely attest (and I’d say especially those in the public li-brary sector), there are some things that library school fails to teach you. As I’m sure all professionals do, when you get around a group of your colleagues, you talk about all the crazy things that happen when you’re a library director – bizarre individuals you deal with, disgusting things you have to clean up, or whatever else the case may be. The running joke is always “they never told me about that in ‘liberry skool’”. Volumes could be filled with all of the lu-dicrous, humorous, and sometimes downright terrifying tales we hear about the situations that library school neglects to prepare us for. Of course we must realize that no amount of formal education could ever completely cover the pano-rama of experience that we each encounter in our daily ad-ventures in librarianship. However, there are some aspects of our field, and especially those in administrative positions, that are too often not covered in the depth that the topic de-serves during our time in school. The greatest deficiency I faced as a new director was a lack of practical experience. No one magically imbues you with the ability to performs tasks like creating (and then following) an operating budget, and there's no easy way to train for what it's going to be like. Even though my major in my undergraduate studies was business management, that only gave me the conceptual understanding of how things work. Our business manager – who had many years of ex-perience with our organization – was indispensable as I worked through that first year. During that first critical pe-riod, I also took a couple of courses at UK that discussed management of libraries. While both were good, one was especially beneficial – Public Libraries and Business Man-agement. I initially stated that the class should be required for all students on the public libraries track who want to work in an administrative role. After additional thought, I would amend that to say it should be required for all stu-dents on the public libraries track, regardless of whether they want to be an administrator, a children’s librarian, or for any other position they may be pursuing. I changed my mind because, whether they will prepare a budget or not, they will be following one, and need a basic understanding of why things work the way they do (“why can’t we hire an

extra staff member?” or “why was my budget cut this year?”).

Ready to Run Headlong into the Challenges Within the management courses one can take while obtain-ing their MSLS, there is very little discussion of some of the toughest situations that supervisory staff in libraries must handle – namely, discipline of employees. While an argu-ment could be made that since discipline is so wholly a case-by-case animal, attempting to teach it in the classroom would be futile. There may be some validity to that state-ment, especially in the fact that there are so many variables to consider that cookie-cutter actions and responses are use-less. However, that does not negate the need for at least some serious discussion of the topic. I have always been a practical person, and I feel as if I’ve brought a lot of that to my work. While I appreciate the greater understanding I’ve gained through my classes that teach a lot of theory, I do not see a lot of opportunity to translate these into actionable benefit throughout the course of my career. A deep knowledge of information science doesn’t compensate for those “liberry skool” types of ex-periences. The decision just to jump in and “get your feet wet” – and by this point, I feel like my toes are getting pruney – is important. We have to be ready to run headlong into these challenges as we enter or continue on in our ca-reers. However, a little extra preparation wouldn’t hurt.

Preparing the Next Generation of Librarians When we look back at the history of public libraries in America, we see that they gradually evolved from offering the public what they (the librarians) thought people should be reading to, instead, providing what the people themselves actually needed and wanted. Maybe, in a slightly different mode, it’s time to see more of that from library schools. While I recognize the faults of my own illustration, I’d love to see more focus from our library schools about true prepa-ration of the next generation of librarians – finding out what skills we need, what was helpful, what was not. An exit in-terview from the program wouldn’t really solve the prob-lem, because the real needs, benefits, and deficiencies won’t necessarily be obvious to the job-seekers. Instead, a year or two after graduation, when they are settled into their new roles, individuals could see where the program hit the nail on the head, and where it was really lacking. Again, I’m a practical guy – I like learning ideas that can be easily trans-ferred into real-world skills. So maybe I’m a little biased against theoretical coursework. However, as I reflect back on my degree and my first few years as a public library di-rector, I can already see where a little educational rein-forcement would have helped. It has been an interesting journey to become a public li-brary director, to say the least. I look forward to each day as a new challenge, because there’s always something new to learn or experience. I know already that, even as I complete my formal education, the learning process won’t slow down. Every issue faced is an opportunity to grow and improve, and I’ve still got plenty of room for both.

Spring 2016 Page 23

Newsletter: New Look on the Way

I’ve enjoyed producing the newsletter, but it’s time for someone else to take over.

I BEGAN TO WORK at what was then the UK College of Li-brary and Information Science on September 1, 1986. That summer, Trudi Bellardo Hahn (’76), Assistant Dean of the College, announced she was leaving, on short notice, to ac-cept a faculty position elsewhere. Dean Tim Sineath wanted to fill the position immediately, with a one-year temporary appointment, to reduce the likelihood the univer-sity would eliminate funding for a position left vacant for a year. Tim offered the position to two or three people who completed the MSLS program in May, but all declined be-cause it was for only one year. He then offered the position to me, who would complete the program in August. The fact it would be for only one year appealed to me, and I ac-cepted. (During the year, it was decided to convert the fac-ulty position to a permanent staff position, my circum-stances had changed, and I was offered and accepted the staff position.) Since it was a one-year temporary appointment, I’m not certain a formal position description was developed. Tim explained that I’d be responsible for student affairs, which involved administering the admission process, awarding financial aid, most of which was graduate assistantships, and monitoring students’ progress toward meeting degree requirements. I don’t remember if he said there would be other things, but I had worked enough places to know there would be. I hadn’t been in the job long – perhaps a month – when Tim came to me with one of the other things. He told me the College published a semiannual newsletter for alumni, the Assistant Dean was responsible for it, and it was time for the fall issue. I hadn’t known there was an alumni newslet-ter, but he showed me recent issues. They were so poorly done – each issue several photocopied pages stapled to-gether – I found it hard to believe the College would associ-ate itself with them. With the fall issue due, I felt I had no choice but to produce a newsletter that looked like its prede-cessors, but I vowed the spring 1987 issue would be differ-ent. And it was. Using an IBM Selectric typewriter, I typed all of the articles and took camera-ready copy to UK’s print-ing operation, where the newsletter was printed on 11 x 17 sheets, which were then folded. The result was a vast im-provement over the fall 1986 and earlier issues, but I wanted it to look even better. An important step in my look-even-better campaign oc-curred soon after the spring 1987 issue appeared. Tim asked if I’d like an electronic typewriter. At the time, I may not have known that electronic typewriters existed. What I do remember, when I learned that my job came with an IBM Correcting Selectric typewriter, I thought life could not get better. Still, I said yes to an electronic typewriter. Tim told me I’d have to move fast. The end of the fiscal year was

approaching. There was money to purchase equipment, but any money in that account uncommitted as of an imminent date would revert to the university, which meant I had to choose an electronic typewriter within a couple of days. I forget the model IBM electronic typewriter that I chose, but it was as great an improvement over the Selectric as the Selectric was over the manual typewriter I had at home. The electronic typewriter had not only a correcting feature but also a memory, the ability to change font sizes somewhat, and the ability to justify the right margin. I continued to deliver the newsletter to campus printing in camera-ready copy, but I was able to produce a newsletter that I thought was an improvement over the spring 1987 issue. Over time, additional changes occurred. For one, I got a more sophisticated electronic typewriter that allowed me to deliver more professional-looking camera-ready copy to UK printing. Then, I got a desktop computer, which meant vastly more storage capacity, ability to do all sorts of things with fonts, and the ability to send a computer file to UK printing. The newsletter looked even more professional. Still, the newsletter lacked photos. Adding them would increase the cost, and I had to get approval to spend the ad-ditional money. Eventually, I got the approval, just as even-tually I got approval to print the photos in color. Through all of this, I continued to produce two issues a year, which printing delivered to the campus mailroom for mailing to alumni. Even sending the newsletter at the relatively low bulk rate, however, mailing became increasingly expensive, as did printing each issue. When Jeff Huber arrived as Director of the School of Library and Information Science in August 2008, he discov-ered the budget projection for that fiscal year showed a defi-cit of $31,500. The cost to print and mail the newsletter had increased persistently, and the spring 2008 issue cost about $2500 to print and nearly $1500 to mail. Income from alumni association dues fell far short of what was needed to print and mail the newsletter, and in the fall 2008 issue I announced that, starting with the spring 2009 issue, the newsletter would be distributed electronically.

When I told Jefff I had decided to retire, June 30, 2011, he asked if I’d like to work part time thereafter, and I said yes (with considerable enthusiasm). Working part time, I con-tinued to teach my spring class, Public Libraries and Busi-ness Management, and to produce the newsletter. I decided recently, however, that, after five years, I would end work-ing part time come June 30 of this year. This is my last issue of the newsletter. In Hello Dolly, Dolly Levi refers to the parade passing by. Where the newsletter is concerned, I’ve allowed the tech-nology parade to pass by. As a result, it does not look con-temporary. I’m certain that, beginning with the fall issue, it will. I’m certain, too, that, over the past 30 years, I’ve en-joyed creating each issue of the newsletter perhaps more than anything else I’ve done while at UK. Thanks to the many of you who have helped me in that.

Dennis Carrigan –30–

From the inception of the program, the School has assisted participants financially, and through the generosity of alumni we hope to make the opportunity available to more students.

To request more information without obligation, contact Denise Carl, Director of Development, College of Communication and Information, at 859-257-3033 or denise.carl@uky.edu. Or, give to the LIS Fund for Excellence online at www.uky.edu/GiveNow.

An Equal Opportunity University

“Participating in the Alternative Spring Break program was the highlight of my time in library school.”

Students who participate in the Alternative Spring Break internship program gain experience that complements their coursework and make contacts that may aid their job search. Through the generosity of alumni we hope to make the opportu-nity available to more students.

Tracy Legaspi ’14 Law Librarian, US Department of Justice