Library

Permanent URI for this communityhttps://scholarworks.montana.edu/handle/1/318

Montana State University Library (MSU Library) is the academic library of Montana State University, Montana's land-grant university, in Bozeman, Montana, United States. It is the flagship library for all of Montana State University System's campuses. In 1978, the library was named the Roland R. Renne Library to honor the sixth president of the university. The library supports the research and information needs of Montana's students, faculty, and the Montana Extension Service.

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A/B Testing Web Analytics Data [dataset]
(2014-07) Young, Scott W. H.
This dataset is associated with the following article: Young, Scott WH (2014) Improving Library User Experience with A/B Testing: Principles and Process. Weave: Journal of Library User Experience. University of Michigan Library. doi:10.3998/weave.12535642.0001.101
Accessibility from Scratch: One Library's Journey to Prioritize the Accessibility of Electronic Information Resources
(Routledge, 2015-09) Ostergaard, Kirsten
The increased development and use of electronic and information technology in higher education raises questions about accessibility for individuals with disabilities. In academic libraries, providing accessible electronic information resources ensures equal access and opportunity to information. This article provides a contex- 10 tual understanding of accessibility in higher education as well as strategies for evaluating, negotiating, and procuring accessible electronic resources licensed through third party vendors. KEYWORDS accessibility, academic libraries, electronic information resources, electronic and information technology (EIT), 15 voluntary product accessibility template (VPAT), Web content accessibility guidelines (WCAG), Section 508
All Aboard! The Party's Starting: Setting a Course for Social Media Success
(2013-08) Hansen, Mary Anne; Rossmann, Doralyn; Tate, Angela; Young, Scott W. H.
Social media is more than a way to inform users; social media is a powerful way to build community online. In this webinar hosted by the Library and Information Technology Association, presenters from Montana State University Library will go beyond the basics by demonstrating how to create a social media guide for developing communities on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Pinterest. We will explore data tracking and assessment tools such as ThinkUp, HootSuite, Google Analytics, focus group data, and survey methods. We will also discuss strategies for integrating social media efforts into your organization’s strategic plan and educating peer organizations about best practices.
An analysis of use and performance data aggregated from 35 institutional repositories
(2020-11) Arlitsch, Kenning; Wheeler, Jonathan; Pham, Minh Thi Ngoc; Parulian, Nikolaus Nova
Purpose This study demonstrates that aggregated data from the Repository Analytics and Metrics Portal (RAMP) have significant potential to analyze visibility and use of institutional repositories (IR) as well as potential factors affecting their use, including repository size, platform, content, device and global location. The RAMP dataset is unique and public. Design/methodology/approach The webometrics methodology was followed to aggregate and analyze use and performance data from 35 institutional repositories in seven countries that were registered with the RAMP for a five-month period in 2019. The RAMP aggregates Google Search Console (GSC) data to show IR items that surfaced in search results from all Google properties. Findings The analyses demonstrate large performance variances across IR as well as low overall use. The findings also show that device use affects search behavior, that different content types such as electronic thesis and dissertation (ETD) may affect use and that searches originating in the Global South show much higher use of mobile devices than in the Global North. Research limitations/implications The RAMP relies on GSC as its sole data source, resulting in somewhat conservative overall numbers. However, the data are also expected to be as robot free as can be hoped. Originality/value This may be the first analysis of aggregate use and performance data derived from a global set of IR, using an openly published dataset. RAMP data offer significant research potential with regard to quantifying and characterizing variances in the discoverability and use of IR content.
Anatomy of a Lynching
(Gallatin County Historical Society, 2003) Scott, Kim Allen
The lynching of Z.A. Triplett and John W. St.Clair on February 1, 1873 is arguable the darkest episode in the history of Bozeman, and one of the more unsavory examples of vigilantism in Montana's extensive record of citizens who took the law into their own hands. As a brutal study in the application of extralegal justice, the Bozeman lynching offers details which allow an in depth examination of the incident, even though the town did its best to obfuscate the particulars as time passed.
Applying Attributes of Contemplative Technopedagogy to a Social Media Assignment
(2019-06) Shanks, Justin D.; Young, Scott W. H.
With widespread prevalence of digital technology in contemporary higher education, researchers have been keen to identify best practices and understand impacts. Social media present opportunities to cultivate interactive, creative teaching-learning communities. However, inclusion of social media in a course does not necessarily equal deep or creative student engagement. Faculty play an important role in helping students critically and creatively engage with content, colleagues, and context. Utilizing a mixed-methods case study approach, this research explores how contemplative technopedagogy can aid in the development of social media assignments and positively influence student learning. While blogging has been studied as a pedagogical tool, Tumblr has not yet been studied as an educational technology. This research demonstrates how the integration of contemplative technopedagogical attributes can aid faculty in developing social media assignments with contextual awareness that enhance teaching and learning in contemporary higher education.
Assessing and Improving Library Technology with Service Blueprinting
(2018-07) Young, Scott W. H.; Mannheimer, Sara; Rossmann, Doralyn; Swedman, David; Shanks, Justin D.
Objective: The objective of this article is to illustrate the application of service blueprinting—a design tool that comes from the service design tradition—for assessing and improving library technology services. Setting: A mid-sized library at a public university in the western United States. Methods: A service blueprint was co-created by library and IT staff in a design workshop in order to map the operational flow of a data visualization display wall. Results: Guided by the service blueprint, the project team identified points of improvement for the service of the data visualization display wall, and developed recommendations to aid further applications of service blueprinting. Conclusions: Ultimately, service blueprinting was found to be a useful tool that can be applied to assess and improve library technology services.
A Balancing Act: The Ideal and the Realistic in Dryad’s Preservation Policy Development
(2014-08) Mannheimer, Sara; Yoon, Ayoung; Greenberg, Jane; Feinstein, Elena; Scherle, Ryan
Data preservation has gained momentum and visibility in connection with the growth in digital data and data sharing policies. The Dryad Repository, a curated general–purpose repository for preserving and sharing the data underlying scientific publications, has taken steps to develop a preservation policy to ensure the long–term persistence of this archived data. In 2013, a Preservation Working Group, consisting of Dryad staff and national and international experts in data management and preservation, was convened to guide the development of a preservation policy. This paper describes the policy development process, outcomes, and lessons learned in the process. To meet Dryad’s specific needs, Dryad’s preservation policy negotiates between the ideal and the realistic, including complying with broader governing policies, matching current practices, and working within system constraints.
Being Irrelevant: How Library Data Interchange Standards Have Kept Us Off the Internet
(Routledge, 2014-10) Arlitsch, Kenning
Conversations about the future of libraries invariably raise questions about “relevance.” One way to define relevance is to evaluate how well library “products” integrate into the popular information ecosystem, i.e. the Internet. It is in this ecosystem that libraries have struggled. To use library products our customers must deliberately move into another information ecosystem built by libraries and library vendors, when they should be able to discover and have seamless access in the ecosystem where they already conduct their business. Libraries force customers to use technological tools to which they are not accustomed, which in turn spawns an instruction mini industry.
Beyond Therapy Dogs: Rethinking Animal Policies to Protect and Promote Student Wellness for All Library Users
(2020) Frank, Jacqueline
This chapter presents options for rethinking and communicating animal policies to protect and promote wellness for all library patrons and suggests considering a responsive approach to educating users about library policies in order to help protect the rights of people with service animals, while also promoting a welcoming environment that supports student success, health, and wellness. The chapter includes a case study of the successful therapy dog program at the Montana State University (MSU) Library and shares educational handouts outlining the definitions and distinctions between service animals, therapy animals, and comfort animals (also called emotional support animals, or ESAs). The case study examines unintended and correlated impacts of the program, including an increase in people bringing pets into the library, and how challenges such as underprepared employees and unclear policies and procedures were addressed at the MSU Library.
Blood Money: The Montana Bankers Association and the Bozeman Bank Robbery of 1932
(Montana Historical Society, 2013) Scott, Kim Allen
Body Lice
(Camp Chase Publishing Co., Inc., 1989) Scott, Kim Allen
Bridging the Digital Divide: Wi-Fi Hot Spots as a Means of Digital Equity
(2022-01) Salsbury, Meghan; Hansen, Mary Anne
Many areas of the United States still fall short of digital equity and inclusion, defined as the ability of individuals to access and use information and communication technologies to participate fully in society, democracy, and the economy.1 This is especially true in Montana, the authors’ rural state. Only 63.6 percent of Montana citizens have broadband access, and the average cost of the Internet is $91.54 per month—the third highest in the nation.2 The seven American Indian reservations in the state face even more barriers to access, with some having as low as 23 percent of the population with access to broadband.3 The lack of high-speed Internet coupled with the increase of remote learning (and remote work) added stress to many college and university students’ lives as they struggled to complete their coursework during the COVID-19 pandemic. Though no campus entity gathers information about student Internet access, the Montana State University Office of Planning & Analysis reports that 61 percent of the university’s students are Montana residents, and so many face access challenges similar to the rest of the state’s population.4 To ease the digital divide and improve students’ academic success, two Montana State University librarians wrote a successful grant proposal to purchase Wi-Fi hot spots to loan to students with poor or no Internet access. The hot spots were offered to students with high need on medium to long-term checkouts and were initially marketed to programs and services on campus that work closely with underrepresented students.
“Broad” Impact: Perceptions of Sex/Gender-Related Psychology Journals
(Frontiers Media SA, 2022-03-03) Brown, Elizabeth R.; Smith, Jessi L.; Rossmann, Doralyn
Because men are overrepresented within positions of power, men are perceived as the default in academia (androcentrism). Androcentric bias emerges whereby research by men and/or dominated by men is perceived as higher quality and gains more attention. We examined if these androcentric biases materialize within fields that study bias (psychology). How do individuals in close contact with psychology view psychology research outlets (i.e., journals) with titles including the words women, gender, sex, or feminism (sex/gender-related) or contain the words men or masculinity (men-related; Study 1) versus psychology journals that publish other-specialized research, and do these perceptions differ in the general public? While the men-related journal was less meritorious than its other-specialty journal, evidence emerged supporting androcentric bias such that the men-related journal was more favorable than the other sex/gender-related journals (Study 1). Further, undergraduate men taking psychology classes rated sex/gender-related versus other-specialty journals as less favorable, were less likely to recommend subscription (Studies 1–2), and rated the journals as lower quality (Study 2 only). Low endorsement of feminist ideology was associated with less support for sex/gender-related journals versus matched other-specialty journals (Studies 1–2). Decreased subscription recommendations for sex/gender-related journals (and the men-related journal) were mediated by decreased favorability and quality beliefs, especially for men (for the sex/gender-related journals) and those low in feminist ideology (Studies 1–2). However, we found possible androcentric-interest within the public sphere. The public reach of articles (as determined by Altmetrics) published in sex/gender-related was greater than other-specialty journals (Study 3). The consequences of these differential perceptions for students versus the public and the impact on women’s advancement in social science and psychological science are discussed.
Building Library Community Through Social Media
(Library & Information Technology Association, American Library Association, 2015-03) Young, Scott W. H.; Rossmann, Doralyn
In this article academic librarians present and analyze a model for community building through social media. Findings demonstrate the importance of strategy and interactivity via social media for generating new connections with library users. Details of this research include successful guidelines for building community and developing engagement online with social media. By applying intentional social media practices, the researchers’ Twitter user community grew 100 percent in one year, with a corresponding 275 percent increase in user interactions. Using a community analysis approach, this research demonstrates that the principles of personality and interactivity can lead to community formation for targeted user groups. Discussion includes the strategies and research approaches that were employed to build, study, and understand user community, including user type analysis and action-object mapping. From this research a picture of the library as a member of an active academic community comes into focus.
Building strategic alliances to support advocacy and planning for digital preservation
(2017-12) Baucom, Erin; Troup, Tammy; Cote, Conor; Mannheimer, Sara
While the business benefits of digital asset management are well documented, the benefits and importance of digital preservation are not. Digital preservation is a sustained commitment to maintenance activities which require a system of plans, policies, and implementation workflows. Coordination across departments is helpful for digital asset management, but it is mandatory for digital preservation. The Montana Digital Preservation Working Group (DPWG) operated under a five-point plan for collaboration between organizations. The plan consisted of cultivating shared knowledge, assessing the current digital preservation landscape at each institution, advocating for the value of digital preservation, implementing digital preservation practices, and sustaining the partnership by developing structures for ongoing projects and mutual support. In this article, the five-point plan for collaboration used by DPWG is adapted to build alliances in four key areas of an organization: the Project and Process Team, the Management Team, the Executive Team, and the Information Technology Team. By building strategic alliances that support digital preservation advocacy and planning, information managers extend their reach and resources, ultimately leading to more robust preservation of valuable digital assets.
Citations as Data: Harvesting the Scholarly Record of Your University to Enrich Institutional Knowledge and Support Research
(2017-11) Sterman, Leila B.; Clark, Jason A.
Many research libraries are looking for new ways to demonstrate value for their parent institutions. Metrics, assessment, and promotion of research continue to grow in importance, but they have not always fallen into the scope of services for the research library. Montana State University (MSU) Library recognized a need and interest to quantify the citation record and scholarly output of our university. With this vision in mind, we began positioning citation collection as the data engine that drives scholarly communication, deposits into our IR, and assessment of research activities. We envisioned a project that might: provide transparency around the acts of scholarship at our university; celebrate the research we produce; and build new relationships between our researchers. The result was our MSU Research Citation application (https://arc.lib.montana.edu/msu-researchcitations/) and our research publication promotion service (www.montana.edu/research/publications/). The application and accompanying services are predicated on the principle that each citation is a discrete data object that can be searched, browsed, exported, and reused. In this formulation, the records of our research publications are the data that can open up possibilities for new library projects and services.
Cited/Downloaded Dataset and Repository Characteristics [dataset]
(Montana State University ScholarWorks, 2016-02) Mannheimer, Sara; Borda, Susan; Sterman, Leila B.
This rubric documents the characteristics of high-use datasets and their repositories, with “high-use” defined as either highly cited in Thomson Reuters' Data Citation Index or highly downloaded in an institutional repository. The authors reviewed publicly-available information on repository websites and inputted our observations into the rubric. The rubric addresses six major characteristics of high-use datasets and their repositories: basic information; funding agency and journal information; linking and sharing; factors to encourage reuse; repository characteristics; and data description.
The Civil War in a Bottle: Battle at Fayetteville, Arkansas
(1995-09) Scott, Kim Allen
THE TERRIFYING MORNING of April 18, 1863, seemed like an eternity for Sarah Yeater as she cowered in a*damp Fayetteville cellar. Muffled sounds of rapid gunfire, shouting men, and jingling harnesses coming from the yard above caused Sarah to tremble violently as she hugged her three-year-old son Charley and stared wild-eyed at the other civilians who huddled with her in the darkness. Sick with ague and five months pregnant to boot, Sarah had ample reasons for trembling beyond the sounds of battle raging overhead, yet an additional shock to the young housewife's nerves was about to be cruelly delivered. As Sarah rose from her mattress to speak to her sister-in-law, Sallie, the cellar rang from the sudden concussion of an artillery shell. The missile shattered the jamb of the basement door, knocked down fragments of brick and mortar from the chimney in the kitchen above, and cracked in two a large iron kettle of lye that rested on the hearth. Choking with dust and screaming in terror, die helpless women and children saw the flash of the iron shell as it bounded rapidly into their midst and just as suddenly disappeared. Sarah could not have known it at the time, but the broken kettle in the kitchen had actually saved her and the others from certain death: the lye had miraculously extinguished the fuse an instant before the projectile dropped down to the refugees below.
Comics and Candidates
(1992-09) Scott, Kim Allen; Parks, Susan
Some interesting changes occurred in Arkansas politics after World War II. Many Arkansas veterans had gained a different world view from their experiences and became impatient with the "politics as usual" they found on their return home. During the postwar years, former soldiers and sailors began to survey the state's governmental landscape, hoping to bring issues as well as personalities into the Arkansas political arena. Fresh developments in the communications media allowed these innovative office seekers to experiment with diverse means of reaching voters with their message. One of the new media developments, political comics, and the role those comics played in the Arkansas elections of 1948 and 1950 are the topics of this paper. We will begin by defining what we mean by "political comics," examine some of their characteristics, and then discuss their use during the postwar political contests in Arkansas.