Emerging Approaches
Are You Okay?: Visual Narratives and Authorial Illustration in Art Zines from the Zineopolis Collection
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Jac C. Batey
This paper explores examples of art zines that contain visual narratives about mental health. The author is the curator of Zineopolis (University of Portsmouth, UK) and specific examples will be drawn from this special collection of art zines. This paper questions how visual narratives about issues such as GAD (General Anxiety Disorder), Burnout and PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) can communicate to a reader through art zines. It will consider authorial illustration within the self-publishing sector and how personal, private stories can been shared in an ultimately positive context. ‘Well-being’ has become a particular focus for higher education in the UK with many students struggling with issues such as anxiety and depression. Art zines have an immediacy and democracy of production that means many more voices can be heard and stories shared beyond what is available in the mainstream. Ethical issues of circulating these art zines within a special collection is also commented upon with reference to The Zine Librarians Code of Ethics (2015). Mental health issues have often been portrayed though the popular media unsympathetically creating stigma, whereas these selected art zines show care and understanding offering an alternative narrative.
Students Perception of Open Textbooks: PDXOpen's Impact
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Karen Bjork
Textbooks have long been an integral learning platform in higher education. As the rising cost of textbooks continues to burden students, many libraries have begun to facilitate the creation and publishing of open textbooks. In 2013, with the support of a Provost-backed initiative, Portland State University (PSU) Library developed an open textbook publishing program that works with faculty to create open textbooks that are designed specifically for the courses that they teach. The publishing initiative, called PDXOpen, has published seventeen open textbooks. The program has saved over 2,500 PSU students over $200,000 on the cost of their books. PSU Library conducted a survey to assess the impact PDXOpen textbooks were having on PSU students’ academic experience. The survey investigates students’ textbook purchasing behavior, how they access and use their open textbook (print or online), their perceptions on the quality, and what features of their open textbook that they like or dislike. This study discusses the results of the survey, its strengths and limitations, and provides recommendations for future open textbook authors and publishing programs.
Whose Research Is It Anyway? : Academic Social Networks vs Institutional Repositories
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Nicole Eva
While comparing researchers’ participation in Academia.edu and ResearchGate to one institution’s institutional repository, it became clear that not only were the academic social networks more popular places for faculty to deposit their research, but that many illegitimate ‘researchers’ were claiming affiliation with the institution. Fake names, fake departments, and empty profiles all muddy the institutional output of any given university. Implications that this could have on a researcher or an institution are theorized, along with an analysis of the numbers regarding who is using academic social networks compared to the institutional repository. Ideas are provided for increasing participation in institutional repositories, and questions are raised regarding the utility and longevity of academic social networks.
Change is the New Normal: Forces on the Academic Library
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Kimberly Armstrong, Jay Starratt
Academic Libraries have dealt with more change in the past twenty years than any other organization in the university; and the pace of change is only accelerating. In addition, lIbraries are challenged to prove their value in ways never encountered before. As a result we must demonstrate a closer and more vital role in student and researcher success. This study considers the impact of a variety of forces from research data management to the open access movement on the operations of the library. We address expanded roles in copyright, funder compliance, a changing workforce, the need for local and international partnerships, the growing importance of unique collections and broader ties to our communities.
