In the Library with the Lead Pipe – Page 10 – An open access, peer reviewed journal

In Brief Recent critiques of diversity in higher education and librarianship by Stewart (2017), Hudson (2017), and Hathcock (2015) have encouraged a critical shift away from diversity talk and initiatives, towards attention to equity, anti-racism, and whiteness. They point out that diversity initiatives often fail to address deeper power imbalances, and they offer new language...

In Brief Information organization and access is one of the core goals of librarianship. However, as librarians, we have the power to control what language patrons must use when searching for items. This power often manifests itself by limiting access to materials by and/or about oppressed or otherwise marginalized groups, due to how we label...

In Brief Socratic questioning, the act of asking questions in order to prompt critical thinking and reflection, expands the boundaries of librarianship by borrowing from the fields of philosophy, pedagogy, and psychology. When employed during the research consultation, Socratic questioning establishes a cooperative relationship between librarian and student that empowers the student to take agency...

In Brief This essay reflects on the effects of capitalism and corporatization on the work habits of librarians, and critiques the profession’s emphasis on innovation for its own sake. First, the essay compares Juicero Inc., a Silicon Valley startup that faced criticism for producing an expensive machine that squeezed premade packets of juice, to projects...

In Brief: Feelings of loneliness are common among first-year college students during the start of the academic year. Academic and social integration into the campus community—both factors that can positively affect student retention—are critical yet difficult for any one group to manage. Grand Valley State University Libraries expanded its reach to help foster student engagement...

In Brief How does the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education function in relation to the information literacy standards used with students in K-12 schools and how does it inform academic librarians’ pedagogical strategies? While these documents are strongly related, there are large differences in their theoretical approach to information literacy, which are revealed...

In Brief This article presents a case study in establishing an information literacy instruction and assessment program for first-year university students at the University of Colorado Denver. Rather than presenting assessment data, we document the process in which our department engaged with the student learning assessment cycle, with the intention of allowing other information literacy...

It’s summer in the northern hemisphere, and your editors at In the Library with the Lead Pipe are busy keeping up with the influx of patrons, with improving our instruction programs, and with other joys of summer. As always, we’re also thinking of ways librarians can improve our profession. Here’s a few recent articles that we’ve...

Accessibility for Justice: Accessibility as a Tool for Promoting Justice in Librarianship

Patron-Driven Subject Access: How Librarians Can Mitigate That “Power to Name”

Socratic Questioning: A Teaching Philosophy for the Student Research Consultation

The Innovation Fetish and Slow Librarianship: What Librarians Can Learn From the Juicero

Creating Connections: How Libraries Can Use Exhibits to Welcome New Students

From AASL Standards to the ACRL Framework: Higher Education Shifts in Pedagogical Strategies

Finding foundations: A model for information literacy assessment of first-year students

Editorial: Recent Reads