Collections

• Library and Information Science: A Guide to Online Resources (Library of Congress) provided by Library of Congress (licenses vary).

  Free, full-text resources in the field of library and information science for use by librarians, library technicians, and students provided by the Library of Congress.

Courses

Mantra: Research Data Management Training  by University of Edinburgh (CC BY).

MANTRA is a free, online non-assessed course with guidelines to help you understand and reflect on how to manage the digital data you collect throughout your research. It has been crafted for the use of post-graduate students, early career researchers, and also information professionals.

Monographs

3D Data Creation to Curation: Community Standards for 3D Data Preservation edited by Jennifer Moore, Adam Rountrey, and Hannah Scates Kettler (CC BY-NC).

This resource collects the efforts of the Community Standards for 3D Data Preservation (CS3DP) initiative—a large practicing community of librarians, researchers, engineers, and designers—to move toward establishment of shared guidelines, practices, and standards. Using a collaborative approach for standards development that promotes individual investment and broad adoption, this group has produced a work that captures the shared preservation needs of the whole community.

Fostering Change: A Team-Based Guide by Brianna Marshall, Dani Brecher Cook, and Cinthya Ippoliti (open access publication; no license declared)

Developed with leadership from ACRL’s New Roles and Changing Landscapes Committee, Fostering Change is intended to be a practical tool for teams immersed in the labor of leading change in the library and on campus. This guide takes you and your team step-by-step through understanding change, building engagement, and creating and instituting the change, allowing you to pick and choose different aspects of the process that resonate most. It’s intended to help place people at the center of every change process and give individuals across academic libraries the tools to spark, lead, and sustain change, no matter their organizational position. Fostering Change is packed with exercises, templates, and resources to use as you plan and execute change.

Open and Equitable Scholarly Communications: Creating a More Inclusive Future prepared by  Nancy Maron and Rebecca Kennison (CC BY-NC).

Developed over the course of a year with leadership from the Research and Scholarly Environment Committee (ReSEC) and with a high degree of community involvement, Open and Equitable Scholarly Communications: Creating a More Inclusive Future is a powerful new action-oriented research agenda that encourages the community to make the scholarly communications system more open, inclusive, and equitable by outlining trends, encouraging practical actions, and clearly identifying the most strategic research questions to pursue. This report is an important contribution to ACRL’s core commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion which includes valuing different ways of knowing and identifying and working to eliminate barriers to equitable services, spaces, resources, and scholarship. The full research agenda is also available for purchase in print in the ALA store.

Rethinking Institutional Repositories: Innovations in Management, Collections, and Inclusion, edited by Josh C. Cromwell (CC BY-NC).

This book aims to expand on existing scholarship around establishing a repository and increasing faculty submissions by highlighting a variety of approaches to administering IRs, increasing the variety of content, and broadening participation.

Textbooks

Academic Integrity  by Ulrike Kestler (CC BY-NC-SA).

An interactive approach to conveying the values of academic integrity, clarifying the meaning of plagiarism, and introducing the basics of citations, quoting and paraphrasing.

Applying Library Values to Emerging Technology: Decision-Making in the Age of Open Access, Maker Spaces, and the Ever-Changing Library edited by Peter Fernandez and Kelly Tilton (open access publication; no license declared)

This resource offers a wide range of perspectives on how to interpret and apply library values in the context of emerging technologies. Authors include academic librarians, public librarians, and professors, and contributors from the Library Freedom Project, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the Free Ebook Foundation, Creative Commons, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Tor Project, the Center for Information Policy Research, and the Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education. Divided into two sections—Contemplating Library Values and Applying Library Values—and using the ALA’s Core Values of Librarianship as the primary reference point, chapters emphasize the underlying frameworks that guide librarian practice and capture practical, real-world applications that can ideally serve as a starting point for other librarians encountering similar issues, even if the specific technology or set of values may differ.

Artificial Intelligence and Librarianship – 2nd Edition by Martin Frické (CC BY).

Courses on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Librarianship in ALA-accredited Masters of Library and Information (MLIS) degrees are rare. We have all been surprised by ChatGPT and similar Large Language Models. Generative AI is an important new area for librarianship. It is also developing so rapidly that no one can really keep up. Those trying to produce AI courses for the MLIS degree need all the help they can get. This book is a gesture of support. It consists of about 100,000 words on the topic, with a 4-500 item bibliography.

Cataloging with MARC, RDA, and Classification Systems by Reed Hepler and David Horalek (CC BY-NC).

This book goes over a wide range of cataloging schemata, tools, and norms. It presents a concise but thorough view of the basics of library cataloging practice.

Collaborating for Impact: Special Collections and Liaison Librarian Partnerships edited by Kristen Totleben and Lori Birrell (open access publication; no license declared)

This resource opens with an exploration of current collaboration between liaison and special collections librarians, including a thorough literature review. A proposed framework for acquiring general and special collections that document the history of the academy and remain responsive to campus curricular needs, and a tutorial on object-based pedagogy that can underpin such arrangements, follow. And finally, there are thirteen case studies that provide concrete examples of how to move the needle towards sustainable efforts and away from one-off examples.

Conducting a Map Collection Review: A Workbook to Help You on the Journey by Janet Reyes (CC BY-NC)

This workbook covers the map collection review process from beginning to end, from getting started to potential partners through developing criteria, establishing processes, and how to make crucial dispersal and disposal decisions. It includes a thorough list of terms and easy-to-print worksheets.

Contemporary Issues in Collection Management by Kelsey Cameron, Chelsea Chiovelli, Danielle Deschamps, Marty Grande-Sherbert, Sadaf Hakimizadeh, Andrew Ip, Olesya Komarnytska, et al.  (CC BY-NC).

This edited, openly licensed, textbook examines several different issues in collection management. Topics covered include physical vs. digital collections; the impact of BookTok on collections; challenges to 2SLGBTQ+ collections ; ebook licensing; ebook pricing; accessible collections for users with physical disabilities; accessible collections for users with invisible disabilities; “just in time”/demand-driven acquisitions; climate change and collections and research data collections.

Designing Libraries for the 21st Centuryedited by H. Thomas Hickerson, Joan K. Lippincott, and Leonora Crema  (CC BY-NC).

The Discipline of Organizing – 4th Professional Edition  by Robert J. Glushko (CC BY-NC).

Organizing is a fundamental issue in library and information science, computer science, systems analysis, informatics, law, economics, and business. This book analyzes these different contexts and disciplines to propose a discipline of organizing that applies to all of them; the 4^th edition builds a bridge between organizing and data science. It reframes descriptive statistics as organizing techniques, expands the treatment of classification to include computational methods, and incorporates many new examples of data-driven resource selection, organization, maintenance, and personalization.

Dublin Core Quick Start by Caitlin Mathesis, Bailey VandeKamp, Micah Bateman (CC BY).

This book is designed as a quick introduction to authoring metadata using basic elements from the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative.

Finding Balance: Collaborative Workflows for Risk Management in Sharing Cultural Heritage Collections Online by Carrie Hintz, Melanie T. Kowalski, Sarah Quigley, and Jody Bailey (CC BY-NC).

Digitizing rare and unique historical documents so they can be shared online is mission-critical work for most cultural heritage institutions, but it can be difficult to complete this work, especially intellectual property rights management, at a scale that matches user demand. The authors of this open educational resource offer guidance for creating scalable, cross-functional workflows using a risk-management approach that increases efficiency and distributes responsibility for rights assessment work more equitably across stakeholders. It includes advice for navigating knowledge gaps, building an engaged team with the right skillsets, reimagining workflows, and rethinking traditional archival processing workflows to build capacity for rights analysis during arrangement and description. Each chapter includes a helpful exercise for implementing this guidance in your own institution.

Got a minute? Instruction tune-up for time pressed librarians  by alisonhicks0 and LIS Students; edited by Alison Hicks (CC BY-NC-SA).

No time to catch up? Try these short and informative essays that have been written on a wide variety of library instruction topics and with the busy practitioner in mind.

Handbook for Information Literacy Teaching (HILT) by Cardiff University Library Service (CC BY).

Health Sciences Collection Development: An Overview of Fundamental Knowledge and Practices – 2nd Edition by Karen H. Gau and Iris Kovar-Gough (CC BY-NC).

This work was created by members of the Medical Library Association’s Collection Development Caucus to provide librarians with key concepts about health sciences collection development. The chapters provide an overview of the responsibilities and tasks involved in the development and management of health sciences collections; it is recommended that readers refer to the references and further reading sections in each chapter for a more detailed look at each topic.

High Impact Instructional Librarianship   by Mirah J. Dow, Amanda Hovious, and Corey Ptacek (CC BY)
The purpose of this new OER textbook titled High Impact Instructional Librarianship is to address what to teach and how to teach information literacy skills to library patrons of all ages and with many kinds of information needs. This OER is intended to facilitate and guide pre- and in-service librarians to know and use theory and models from many academic disciplines to inform practices, develop excellent instructional design skills, and express high confidence as instructional librarians no matter what position they hold in any library type.

International Libraries: An Open Textbook by Amanda B. Reed, Sarah M.H. Johnson, Heather Severson, Michael Green, Melissa L. Rubin, Anne Windholz, Celia J. Dehais et al. (CC-BY-NC-SA)

This resource is about the libraries and the field of librarianship in non-North American countries around the world. Each chapter in this volume includes a profile of a featured country’s variety of libraries, its library histories, its systems of library education, and its library practices, laws, and professional associations. Graduate students in the University at Buffalo’s Department of Information Science authored these chapters for the LIS 503: International Librarianship course during the summer term of 2019. The text was developed under the a Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) as an open educational resource that can be adapted for future sections of the International Librarianship course or for similar courses offered in library and information programs at other institutions.

Introduction to Library and Information Science by Reed Hepler and David Horalek (CC BY-NC).

This book explores the history, present, and future of library science, both in theory and in practice. It examines the place of the librarian as arbiter of information access in a constantly-changing and modernizing global community.

International Libraries: An Open Textbook is a reference sourcebook about the libraries and the field of librarianship in non-North American countries around the world. Each chapter in this volume includes a profile of a featured country’s variety of libraries, its library histories, its systems of library education, and its library practices, laws, and professional associations. Graduate students in the University at Buffalo’s Department of Information Science authored these chapters for the LIS 503: International Librarianship course during the summer term of 2019. The text was developed under the a Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) as an open educational resource that can be adapted for future sections of the International Librarianship course or for similar courses offered in library and information programs at other institutions.

Intersections of Open Educational Resources and Information Literacy (Publications in Librarianship #79), edited by Mary Ann Cullen and Elizabeth Dill (open access publication, no license specified)

Information literacy skills are key when finding, using, adapting, and producing open educational resources (OER). Educators who wish to include OER for their students need to be able to find these resources and use them according to their permissions. When open pedagogical methods are employed, students need to be able to use information literacy skills as they compile, reuse, and create open resources. This resource  captures current open education and information literacy theory and practice and provides inspiration for the future. Chapters include practical applications, theoretical musings, literature reviews, and case studies and discuss social justice issues, collaboration, open pedagogy, training, and advocacy.

Meaningful Metrics: A 21st Century Librarian’s Guide to Bibliometrics, Altmetrics, and Research Impact  by Robin Chin Roemer and Rachel Borchardt (CC BY-NC).

What does it mean to have meaningful metrics in today’s complex higher education landscape? With a foreword by Heather Piwowar and Jason Priem, this highly engaging and activity-laden book serves to introduce readers to the fast-paced world of research metrics from the unique perspective of academic librarians and LIS practitioners. Starting with the essential histories of bibliometrics and altmetrics, and continuing with in-depth descriptions of the core tools and emerging issues at stake in the future of both fields, Meaningful Metrics is a convenient all-in-one resource that is designed to be used by a range of readers, from those with little to no background on the subject to those looking to become movers and shakers in the current scholarly metrics movement. Authors Borchardt and Roemer, offer tips, tricks, and real-world examples illustrate how librarians can support the successful adoption of research metrics, whether in their institutions or across academia as a whole.

Not Just Where to Click: Teaching Students How to Think about Information edited by Heather Jagman and Troy A. Swanson (open access publication; no license declared)

This resource explores how librarians and faculty work together to teach students about the nature of expertise, authority, and credibility. It provides practical approaches for motivating students to explore their beliefs, biases, and ways of interpreting the world..

Peer Review: A Critical Primer and Practical Course by Emily Ford  (CC-BY-SA).

This book is a self-paced, open access training in peer review. In eight modules it asks readers to engage in a variety of activities to learn the who, what, why, and how of peer review. It is geared to library professionals, library school students, or other academic professionals who must understand and/or engage with the peer-review process.

Power, Profit, and Privilege: Problematizing Scholarly Publishing by Amanda Makula (CC BY-NC).

This open course introduces students to the scholarly communications system — with particular emphasis on the scholarly journal publishing mechanism — wherein new information is created, evaluated, disseminated, and preserved.

Scholarly Communication Librarianship and Open Knowledge by Maria Bonn, Josh Bolick and Will Cross (CC BY-NC).

The intersection of scholarly communication librarianship and open education offers a unique opportunity to expand knowledge of scholarly communication topics in both education and practice. Open resources can address the gap in teaching timely and critical scholarly communication topics—copyright in teaching and research environments, academic publishing, emerging modes of scholarship, impact measurement—while increasing access to resources and equitable participation in education and scholarly communication.

Undergraduate Research and the Academic Librarian: Case Studies and Best Practices (co-edited by Merinda Kaye Hensley and Stephanie Davis-Kahl) (open access publication; no license declared)

In 25 chapters featuring 60 expert contributors, this resource examines how the structures that undergird undergraduate research, such as the library, can become part of the core infrastructure of the undergraduate experience. It explores the strategic new services and cross-departmental collaborations academic libraries are creating to support research: publishing services, such as institutional repositories and undergraduate research journals; data services; copyright services; poster printing and design; specialized space; digital scholarship services; awards; and much more. These programs can be from any discipline, can be interdisciplinary, can be any high-impact format, and can reflect upon an institution’s own history, traditions, and tensions.

Using Open Educational Resources to Promote Social Justice, edited by CJ Ivory and Angela Pashia (CC BY-NC)

This resource explores the opportunities and challenges of moving the discussion about open educational resources (OER) beyond affordability to address structural inequities found throughout academia and scholarly publishing. OER have the potential to celebrate research done by marginalized populations in the context of their own communities, to amplify the voices of those who have the knowledge but have been excluded from formal prestige networks, and to engage students as co-creators of learning content that is relevant and respectful of their cultural contexts. (open access publication, no license specified.)

Videos

The British Library YouTube Channel  by The British Library (CC BY).

Videos from the British Library, the national library of the United Kingdom.

Website