This report summarizes the results of a survey given to UNT Library employees on assistive technology practices. In fall 2021, the Library Accessibility Committee conducted an online survey about assistive technologies in the Libraries. The purpose of this survey was 1) to learn more about the assistive technology in the Libraries (e.g., types of technology, employee knowledge, etc.) and 2) to learn more about employee training preferences. The survey included 13 questions divided among three sections: assistive technology, training preferences, and suggestions. Sixty-seven (67) library employees responded to the survey. Results are provided in the Assistive Technology Survey Report.

Coloring page created from materials housed in the Texas Fashion Collection from the UNT Digital Library. This page is based on an evening dress designed by Michael Faircloth.

This article examines how archives were forced to rethink their modes of providing access to physical collections because of the coronavirus of 2019 (COVID-19). Whereas difficult copyright questions raised by reproducing items could previously be skirted by requiring researchers to work with materials in person, the long-term closure of reading rooms and decrease in long-distance travel mean that archives need a workflow for handling user digitization requests that is scalable and requires consulting only easily identifiable information and, assuming full reproduction is off the table, reproducing items in a collection under 17 U.S.C. § 108 or through a strategy of rapid risk assessment. There is a challenge in creating a policy that will work across different formats and genres of archival materials, so this article offers some suggestions for how to think about these parameters according to US copyright law and calls for a committee of experts to work out a model policy that could serve remote users of archival collections even after the COVID-19 crisis has passed.

This article adds to the growing body of research in meeting science, explored from a library perspective. The authors investigate the predictors of success for productive meetings, librarian perceptions of effective meeting leadership, and best practices for meeting leadership.

Presentation that provides a summary of the literature on library outreach and indicates how the literature review has impacted outreach developments at the UNT Libraries. Outreach has a positive impact on student success, but a clear definition of what outreach is looms beyond the literature. Intermixed with marketing, advertising, broader engagement methods, and social media use, outreach has become a catch-all term for activities that bring awareness to library resources, services, programs, spaces, and employees. It was presented at the Library History Seminar XIV: Libraries Without Borders event which was held virtually on June 10-12, 2021.

Presentation highlighting the activities of the UNT Libraries regarding DEIA (diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility). It was hosted by the UNT Libraries' Dean Council and the Library Council for Diversity and Inclusion.

Presentation describing the ongoing CoRSAL (Computational Resource for South Asian Languages) project, including background on the UNT Digital Library infrastructure and metadata schema, specific fields that have presented issues or areas of discussion for language data records (language, creator/contributor, and relation), and final conclusions about the collaboration so far.

University of North Texas Libraries established an innovative centralized system designed to increase transparency, evidence-based decision-making, and user-centeredness. A series of internal focus groups have revealed that traditional structures continue to silo and homogenize collections. How can libraries better design electronic collections to serve the needs of underserved users? It was presented at the Electronic Resources & Libraries conference held on March 8-11, 2021.

This report documents the Special Collections Spanish Translation Pilot Project funded by the Dean's Innovation Grant. The final report describes the project purpose, activities, budget, outcomes and best practices, and program continuity.

Presentation on the University of North Texas Libraries’ implementation of Faceted Application of Subject Terminology (FAST) headings in their catalog. It was presented at the American Library Association's (ALA) Core Interest Group Week event which was held virtually on July 26-30, 2021.

Part of an e-Newsletter from the American Library Association's companion organization, the Allied Professional Association (APA) that focuses on self-care. This newsletter reminds the reader of the importance of taking care of one's wellbeing as we return to working in-person and provides a list of suggestions for self-care activities to improve mental and physical health.

Article from a panel held at the American Society for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T) 2021 conference held on October 23-November 3, 2021 in Salt Lake City, Utah. The panel was meant to stimulate future north-south collaborations by increasing awareness of both funded opportunities and low budget initiatives for scholarly exchanges and collaborations, benefits for scholars and their institutions in developed and developing countries, and best practices with respect to north-south collaborations and scholarly exchanges. This panel was sponsored by the Africa Chapter and SIG-III.

Article from a panel held at the American Society for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T) 2021 conference held on October 23-November 3, 2021 in Salt Lake City, Utah. The panel's goals were: (1) to engage researchers and educators in an interactive discussion on the contributing factors and ways in which information science can remain a diverse and interdisciplinary field, realize its full potential, and build a strong identity as well as identify potential barriers it needs to overcome; and (2) to delineate the roles its stakeholders and allies need to play to achieve that goal of a field with “Unity in diversity”.

Conference paper seeking to answer these questions: What is the current state of digital readiness in African countries? Do existing digital readiness assessment tools, indicators, or metrics, help to assess the digital readiness of countries in Africa?

This article highlights the application of GitLab in ingesting material into an institutional repository and the folder-based deposit system that is used to move deposited resources through the ingestion process.

This article reports on a four-year study done at the University of North Texas to compare variables of student success (GPA, pass or fail status in course, and retention) in students that attended library instruction sessions and students who did not. It finds a positive correlation between attending library instruction and student success.

Article on collaborating on scholarship. Collaborating on scholarship has the potential to provide many advantages, including benefiting from others’ expertise, reinforcing accountability, and providing motivation. However, working with others is tricky—consider compatible work habits, receptivity to criticism, and commitment to fulfill responsibilities. Decisions to be made include where to publish, in what order authors’ names will appear, and how the manuscripts will be written. Who will coordinate? Who will write what? Who will revise? Also, consider how to address problems—missed deadlines, less-than-stellar quality, how to say “no” in the future, and more. This version is the authors' manuscript.

Poster on cataloging items for makerspaces. Makerspace items may be difficult for library users to find if they are not fully cataloged. Cataloging not only facilitates discovery but also provides information needed to track usage, create programming, generate recommendations, and support collection development. Attend this poster presentation for an overview of descriptive and subject cataloging for makerspace items. It was presented at the Cross Timbers Library Collaborative (CTCL) 2021 conference held virtually on July 23, 2021.

Presentation discussing the challenges and opportunities in making unique collections available online. Part of a webinar hosted by the University of Colorado Boulder for the Curating the Campus speaker series, on March 31, 2021.

Presentation examining the changes to physical circulation of the University of North Texas Libraries' physical materials collection.

Presentation discussing the design and implementation of a built-in-house usage collection system for electronic resource usage via release 4 and release 5 of the SUSHI protocol, as well as the design and integration of additional modules for the loading of manually downloaded COUNTER reports.

Presentation on the creation and use of instructional videos in the UNT Libraries. This poster presentation describes their video production process, how these videos have supported student learning, and an example of an instructional video we created. Instructional videos are one major online resource that the University of North Texas Libraries provides to students. Librarians create a variety of online videos on topics that supplement course materials and instruction sessions. It was presented at the 2021 Texas Library Association (TLA) Library Instruction Round Table Annual Summit which was held virtually on October 15, 2021.

Presentation covers a 5-step video creation workflow to produce educational videos. It was presented at the 2021 Virtual Conference of the Texas Distance Learning Association (TxDLA) held on April 20-23, 2021.

Presentation that discusses Open Access (OA) and Open Educational Resources (OER) in light of the iniquities in scholarly communication that were made more apparent by the COVID-19 pandemic. This presentation discusses how OA and OER can address social justice concerns, improve scholarly communication, and facilitate equitable educational planning.