Materials presented here represent the scholarship of the Collier Library and Information Services faculty and staff at the University of North Alabama. To locate all work in the repository from a specific department member, please use the search box. Scholarly works completed by faculty members before their time at the University of North Alabama are included here but, for consistency, pre-University of North Alabama institutional affiliations are not reflected in the article/document descriptions on this site.

Collier Library and Information Services

Our FYE textbook needed a substantial overhaul. The book, used in
conjunction with the campuswide common read, was an information
booklet given to students at pre-college events. The FYE committee
creatively built upon that book by seeking annotations from the current
student population as they read it. Then, a strategic outline was created
containing what would be delivered in the book, additional resources that
would be introduced outside of the book, and what would be instructed in
conjunction with LMS modules. Finally, they published it through the new
University Digital Press. This session will outline how you can too.

CC BY 4.0 Attribution

Read, Write, and Publish: Creating OER for FYE

This article details how Collier Library and Information Services at the University of North Alabama developed an engaging and collaborative team trivia program for their campus community. This program, originally planned as a single event, has grown into an almost monthly series of competitive, hilarious, and raucous student trivia throwdowns. The paper details how each event is structured, including registration, advertising, game design, and assessment. Also addressed is the staffing necessary to make the event work smoothly and how they have included student workers in the process, and how collaboration with campus partners has benefitted the program as well.


Game On!: Creating Community and Engagement through Team Trivia at the Library

Over the last year+, we have, through some grant funding, created a list of private, public, personal, etc. archival collections in our surrounding counties. While some lists might show 3-5 institutions of interest for archives in those counties, our lists have 30-40+ locations. Internally, we’re using those lists to start conversations on archival best-practices, collection preservations, collection longevity in its current environment, or donation, etc. It’s been eye-opening for us. We’d love to share how this came about, what we’re doing specifically, what we’re looking at moving forward, etc.

Creating a network: starting & strengthening local conversations on archival best-practices, collection preservations, and collection longevity.

The University of North Alabama (UNA) launched their Repository of Open Access Research (RoOAR) in December of 2021. RoOAR required migration from a bepress Digital Commons instance and was built using Ubiquity Repositories, a customized Hyku platform from the Samvera community. This presentation is, in part, a case study of UNA’s IR development process. But our particular focus is on how the individual components of the new IR worked together to help build trust and create community around the use of the platform. 

The Cultural Function of the IR: How the University of North Alabama’s RoOAR Repository Built a Culture of Trust 

In 2018, the Alabama Commission on Higher Education (ACHE) and the Alabama Community College System (ACCS) launched an OER grant program to help lower the cost of higher education.  This experimental study, which involved over 18,000 students and generated a cost savings of over $2,000,000, raised awareness among faculty and staff of the many advantages of using OER.  Subsequently, in response to multiple requests for Creative Commons (CC) training, the partners launched a second grant program with the intention to train-the-trainer, whereby multiple institutions statewide would have a resident expert on OER and CC licensing.  As a result of the two large grant programs and some smaller programs funded by ACHE, the state has fostered numerous OER champions who have launched some innovative initiatives on their campuses.  During this session, attendees will learn about the successes and challenges that ACHE and ACCS experienced when launching the programs, and they will receive detailed information about some of the activities going on at two of Alabama’s public institutions, the University of Montevallo and the University of North Alabama.

From Seedlings to Success: How One State’s Funding of OER Projects Helped to Launch OER Initiatives Across Multiple Campuses

Data from the 2018 Florida Student Textbook and Course Materials Survey shows costly course materials negatively impact students. Close to half of students reported they spend over $300 per semester on books and 64% of students reported that they are not purchasing required course materials. Students are not just affected by cost, they are also affected by content. “Course instruction in higher education often omits the valuable knowledge and experiences of historically underserved and nontraditional college students. This exclusion widens opportunity gaps for students facing persistent barriers such as racial, cultural, gender, and class disparities” (Garth-McCullough & Sebastian). In this presentation the leaders of UNA’s Open Education Working group will discuss the benefits of Open Educational resources (OER) and will demonstrate how to utilize open pedagogy to diversify course content. They will demonstrate how to search and evaluate OER for inclusion in campus curriculum as well as discussing how to start or support a current campus OER program. 
References:
Florida Virtual Campus (2019). 2018 Student Textbook and Course Materials Survey: Results and Findings. Tallahassee, FL.
Garth-McCullough, R. and Sebastian, R. (2020). Using open educational resources to create a culturally relevant classroom. Achieving the Dream. 


Textbook Equity: Using Open Education Resources to Make Courses More Inclusive

This session explores current library OER publishing practices and presents the results of research done on those practices. This original research surveyed academic librarians involved in OER publication projects and expands on previously published case studies, such as Santiago and Ray’s (2020) Navigating Support Models for OER Publishing. In their publication, Santiago and Ray concluded “Given that there are relatively few established models to guide academic libraries in supporting OER publishing, more dialogue and the development of best practices are needed in this area. In particular, best practices are needed for how to balance the complexities of supporting publishing in an open landscape with the urgency of addressing textbook affordability”. Our study will begin to address some of these concerns.
The presenters will compile this research as a set of best practices, which will be openly licensed. The ultimate goal is to collect a broad picture of current practices, share examples of practices that work, and create a template with elements other librarians who lead or plan to lead publishing initiatives can adopt or adapt for use at their institutions. Author recruitment, publishing tools, and platforms, publishing support outside the library, publishing workflows, and publishing program documentation and standards will all be addressed. The presenters also explore awareness and use of OER and Library publishing toolkits and guides.


OER Publishing and Libraries 

Presentation given at the 2nd Annual Alabama Support Staff Workshop.

Leading as a staff member: How you can change your library, your staff, your faculty, and your administration.

Advocating for Open Educational Resources (OER) from a Staff Position

This poster discusses the transition of a successful library familiarization escape room activity to a digital format for the fall 2020 semester. It details the transition of the escape and conveys difficulties and triumphs through the process. Assessment in comparison to what was previously attained for retention of concepts is discussed.

Collier Library and Information Services

Items in this collection

Read, Write, and Publish: Creating OER for FYE

Game On!: Creating Community and Engagement through Team Trivia at the Library

Creating a network: starting & strengthening local conversations on archival best-practices, collection preservations, and collection longevity.

The Cultural Function of the IR: How the University of North Alabama’s RoOAR Repository Built a Culture of Trust

From Seedlings to Success: How One State’s Funding of OER Projects Helped to Launch OER Initiatives Across Multiple Campuses

Textbook Equity: Using Open Education Resources to Make Courses More Inclusive

OER Publishing and Libraries

Leading as a staff member: How you can change your library, your staff, your faculty, and your administration.

Advocating for Open Educational Resources (OER) from a Staff Position

Unlocking via Pivoting: The Transition of a Wildly Successful Library Familiarization Activity Online

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Items in this collection

Read, Write, and Publish: Creating OER for FYE