This study examines the impact of a research library within a higher-education arts institution. It explores the effectiveness of library resources and uncovers the gaps that can often contribute to a lack of student success in an academic art environment. Library and Information literacy is often an overlooked resource within art education. This study, however, highlights how libraries work to encourage artistic success. Through interviews and observations, this study emphasizes engagement, student access points, and the need for faculty collaboration with librarians. The aim is to highlight the impact libraries can have on artistic student success, creating opportunities for a more diverse and accessible learning environment.
This case study examines the longstanding reliance on Library of Congress (LC) call numbers as a managerial tool for collection development, assessment, and workflow coordination in academic libraries. While call numbers have traditionally provided a convenient proxy for disciplinary boundaries—supporting tasks such as vendor approval plans, donation review, and subject librarian assignments—this paper argues that such reliance obscures the inherently multidisciplinary nature of library collections and introduces inefficiencies into everyday operations. Drawing on both literature and a large-scale analysis of 814,518 items with fund codes, the study demonstrates that LC classification does not align cleanly with subject liaison selection practices at the authors' institution.
This case study paper examines the development and application of a milestone-based unessay assignment in the context of an undergraduate information literacy course taught by instructional librarians at a Midwestern university. Here, the instructors explore how well select learning objectives of the course were met via the submitted final product in addition to reviewing qualitative student feedback for emerging themes regarding the learning objectives. This paper demonstrates the applicability of the unessay assignment in information studies as a robust means of assessment that caters to different learning modalities as opposed to a traditional essay assignment.
Silence before the search represents a significant barrier to equitable learning in higher education. This qualitative study employed Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to examine how students experience hesitation in academic help-seeking. Eight undergraduate and eight postgraduate students from two Nigerian universities participated in semi-structured interviews, yielding eighteen interviews in total. Analysis yielded three superordinate themes: The Weight of Anticipation, Silence as Self-Protection, and Pathways Through Hesitation. Findings reveal that hesitation involves anticipatory anxiety about exposure and perceived incompetence. Students frame silence as active self-protection to preserve dignity and avoid judgment from library staff, instructors, and peers. Enabling conditions, including approachable librarian demeanour, orientation sessions, and digital help channels, reduced perceived barriers and encouraged engagement. Self-efficacy and fear of negative evaluation emerged as central factors shaping help-seeking decisions. The study contributes first-person, idiographic accounts of pre-search hesitation within Nigerian higher education settings. Results support designing inclusive information-literacy interventions that address social and emotional dimensions of academic support. Library staff training, normalisation of help-seeking, and expanded anonymous digital channels are recommended to reduce hesitation and promote equitable learning outcomes. This research validates IPA as a suitable methodological approach for capturing lived experiences in information-seeking inquiries.
