NCLA Con 2025

The rapid integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into our daily lives is transforming the landscape of information access and research. This presentation explores the practical strategies and challenges of integrating AI into college-level information literacy and library research courses. We will share our experience in equipping students with the knowledge and skills to effectively and ethically utilize AI tools for research. Learn how our librarians are teaching students to navigate the evolving information landscape, critically evaluate AI-generated content, and understand the ethical implications of AI in academic research. We will also discuss the obstacles encountered and lessons learned during the implementation process, offering valuable insights for librarians seeking to incorporate AI into their library instruction curriculum.

AI-generated content has jumped full-force into an already overloaded information landscape, creating murky waters for both the novice and sophisticated information user. As it becomes an integral part of everyday technology, users must develop strategies to control when and how AI-generated content appears in their research. AI tools, such as Google's AI Overview, often provides helpful summaries on general topics, but can also present incorrect, unnecessary, or distracting information for more specific topics that require more depth and nuance in the search process. This session explores a couple of easy workarounds for toggling the AI-generated results on and off, such as using Google's search string operators, incorporating certain profanities, and other keywords that temporarily dismantle the AI tool. However, not all profanity and keywords trigger this effect, and understanding which terms work can empower users to take a more active role in getting research results. Participants will learn about the methodology behind this study, examine real-world examples where AI-generated results either enhance or hinder research, and discuss best practices for navigating search engines with AI integration. This session will also explore ethical considerations, potential biases in AI-generated summaries, and future implications for research practices in libraries and academia. Attendees will leave with practical strategies for managing AI-generated Google search results, ensuring they have greater control over their information-seeking process. This session highlights the evolving role of librarians in digital literacy, equipping patrons with the knowledge to navigate AI-enhanced research effectively.

Burnout, or chronic job related stress due to work-imbalance issues and career disillusionment, has always been a significant problem for library information science professionals, but it has become a major crisis in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic (Bury 2024, Kenyon & Henrich 2024). Academic librarians are in a state of burnout as the values of librarianship come into continued conflict with the neoliberal corporate models that have been broadly adopted within academia (Nardine 2019, Wood et. al. 2020). As part of this on-going conversation, the researcher will showcase how they used assessment tools and techniques to create an "anti-burnout" plan for their team of librarians and support staff that make up the First-Year Writing (FYW) library instruction program at a large four-year research university. While acknowledging the limitations of individual-driven solutions in combating burnout, they share their work with the hope of encouraging participants to develop their own plans to reduce burnout in their own instruction programs. While the focus of the presentation is on academic FYW instruction, the tools shared are applicable for all forms of library instruction and applicable for those with minimal assessment knowledge. These tools include visualizations created using instructional request data, predictive models, and guides for structured conversations on teaching capacity. The researcher used the information gathered from these tools to create realistic boundaries for librarian teaching capacity; while recognizing that the process of saying "no" to an instruction request is difficult and comes with the fear of harming relationships with faculty members. To reduce this pressure, the researcher and their team developed infrastructure that would support saying no to instruction requests. In addition, the researcher will discuss how their team balanced the necessity of saying no to some instruction requests with the reality of the poor labor conditions of the contingent faculty and graduate students who disproportionately make-up the instructor pool for FYW programs. By engaging with the researcher's presentation participants will walk away with practical strategies for creating an "anti-burnout" plan tailored to their instruction programs, informed by tested assessment tools and techniques. They will begin the process of setting realistic boundaries with faculty, while fostering team accountability and as a result, address the impacts of neoliberal decision-making on librarians.

This thesis investigates the intricate relationship between librarianship and the coined concept of vocational awe, as articulated by Fobazi Ettarh. Vocational awe, characterized by an intense emotional investment in library work that works to place librarianship and libraries beyond critique, has surfaced as a critical lens for examining the culture of the profession (Ettarh 2018). Ettarh contends that idealizing librarianship can result in unrealistic expectations, burnout, and an unhealthy blending of professional boundaries. Drawing parallels between vocational awe and historical sentiments, reminiscent of Robert Leigh's "The Library Faith"; this study explores the enduring nature of the unnamed features of librarianship that inspire unwavering devotion. By connecting the concepts of library faith and vocational awe, the research aims to elucidate how individuals' sense of calling to librarianship influences work motivations and perspectives. Using a triangulated mixed methods approach, A quantitative survey, utilizing the Calling and Vocation Questionnaire developed by Duffy et al., alongside inquiries into the presence of negative vocational awe impacts works to inform the qualitative interviews. Interviews function as the primary data source and will delve into participants' work motivations, perceptions of librarianship, and the influence of these factors on negative job experiences. This paper will work to identify a) if a sense of being called to librarianship/library work influences devotion to the library faith or a sense of vocational awe, b) values that current librarians/library workers have with library work, c) their experience with negative features of vocational awe, and d) if there are perceived supports in place to mediate these problems. Studying this adds to the ever-growing literature on vocational awe in librarianship and can provide a basic assessment of workers' experiences with vocational awe, which can be used to inform workplace support infrastructure and implementation of critical librarianship.

In the midst of a major library transformation, Davidson College Library launched a series of internal learning networks to support cross-functional collaboration, informal professional development, and a shared sense of purpose. One of the most dynamic of these has been the Object-Based Inquiry Network. Rather than focusing on formal pedagogy or technical expertise, this network encourages staff to approach archival materials, technologies, and tools as springboards for inquiry. Staff are invited to bring challenges, brainstorm ideas, or simply explore together. These sessions foster a sense of connection and creativity during a time of organizational change, providing an outlet for shared learning that is collaborative and energizing rather than prescriptive. This presentation will introduce the goals, structure, and spirit of the Object-Based Inquiry Network. Whether you're in archives, public services, operations, or digital scholarship, this presentation will offer practical inspiration for building collaborative learning communities in your own context-especially those rooted in curiosity, conversation, and a love of meaningful materials.

Short-term leave, like parental, family, or medical leave, can have long-term effects on careers. Often the need to take leave arises suddenly, and there is little notice or preparation possible, leaving regular work-flows disrupted and special projects in the lurch. This can be stressful for managers as they struggle to identify critical gaps, find coverage, and equip their employees; it's stressful for colleagues as they scramble to understand new assignments and manage additional workload. It is also stressful for the librarian on leave to assemble necessary materials for the handoff, let work responsibilities stall, and to return to work without a clear sense of where things stand. Recent research shows that short-term leaves like parental leave can pose a challenge for librarians' careers and for library communities. This presentation aims to build on the work of Mollie Peuler (2024), Emily A. B. Swanson (2020), and Alexandra Gallin-Parisi (2017); but while those papers offer themes and takeaways for administrators to better support parents before and after leave, this presentation will add a practical option for anyone who might need to take short-term leave of any kind. Grounded in personal experience, project management literature, and librarianship literature, this session would be applicable and adaptable to library workers in any setting. While the frontiers of life can be unexpected, in this presentation the author plans to share concrete strategies one can take to proactively document responsibilities and materials so that if an absence is necessary, the work can continue. In the past five years, the author has, herself, taken two short-term leaves of absence from her work as a liaison librarian in an academic library. In order to equip her colleagues the first time she took leave, she created an easy to understand and adapt calendar-based system, a short reference guide for frequent tasks, and a suite of templates for emails and instruction. She shared this information in a common drive and ensured it was labeled and available to her department. These actions were simple and straightforward, but they were so successful that they were adopted by other members of the department. Her manager also asked to use them for onboarding new employees so that they might have models as they settled into new work. The second time the librarian took leave, she simply had to make minor updates to her materials. Sharing this calendar-based workflow resource will not totally solve the stress that short-term leave can cause for a library or library workers, but it might serve as a map to help both parties navigate the new frontier of absence. Until the worker returns, confident and at ease, on that not-so-distant horizon.

How can academic libraries promote a culture of reading in their spaces and communities? This paired presentation summarizes efforts to connect books of all shapes and sizes with community building and wellness initiatives on campus. It highlights the successes (and some of the pitfalls) of leisure reading programming at a liberal arts college. From book clubs to outreach strategies, attendees will hear about ways in which students, faculty, and staff have connected with books (and beyond) through their academic library.

Over the last 20 years, Belk Library's collection development policy has shifted from prescriptive to descriptive, deemphasizing specific collections outcomes and empowering liaison librarians to make purchasing decisions for their partner areas. Without any coordination or mandates, librarians began purchasing materials meant to meet the whole-person needs of their liaison groups, converging on a collection capable of supporting campus both through and beyond the curriculum. Our presentation will explore the effect of placing more collection development in the hands of liaison librarians already immersed in different user populations. This case study demonstrates how extending the trust already placed in liaison librarians to include materials selection can yield new and improved relationships throughout the university, as well as deeper library involvement in projects and activities across campus and the surrounding communities. We offer lessons learned on the counterintuitive ability of decentralization to build collections with a shared vision; how popular materials can advance the mission of academic libraries; and the value in crafting policies allowing for organic and responsive collection development rather than those imposing narrowly prescribed visions on library collections.

Family Portraits started with a familiar missional goal: identify what holes exist for our local community in availability, access, and impact, and find a way to provide meaningful service in that space. What began as a utilitarian opportunity to leverage existing Library resources in meeting a community need has blossomed into the Library's most expansive recurring annual program, serving nearly 500 families since its inception in 2021. Starting in 2021, each fall a staff member transforms the underutilized Library Conference Room, crafting multiple festive, nonsectarian backdrops comprised entirely from materials on hand from Library storage or on loan from staff. In patrons' twenty-minute appointment slots, a Library staff member stages the family/individual and shoots photos in various combinations of backgrounds, poses, and props (as determined by the patrons prior). Afterward, the staff member uses free, open-source software to edit the best shots in the same vein a professional photographer would, delivering around a dozen card-ready edits along with any usable unedited photos to the patron digitally via cloud storage. While time-intensive for the staff member responsible for the set-up, staging, shooting, and editing, the program operates on an almost non-existent budget and is easily replicable year-over-year at libraries of any size. As the program entered its fourth year in 2024, word-of-mouth exposure increased significantly, particularly after the program was recognized at a state level by the NC Public Library Directors Association. Following the most ambitious year of the program from a patron availability standpoint (2023), and adding in that the programming staff member responsible for staging, shooting, editing, and delivering the photos would be leaving in the middle of the program's normal editing season for paternity leave, significant innovation proved necessary to slash down staff time investment if the program was to remain available to serve the community. The first step in streamlining was to completely overhaul the patron registration process. Staff enacted a new-look online registration in 2024 as a prerequisite to book an appointment. Under the new system, a custom link (available as QR codes throughout the building and hyperlinked on Library web/social media pages), directed patrons to a one-stop web experience where they could: maximize photoshoot time by filling out all their information; access the full rules, guidelines, and suggestions for enjoying the program; utilize a full catalog-style collection of family portraits from previous years, as well as photos of the backdrop options, to custom order the poses and placements they wanted for their shoot; and, especially important given the staffing circumstances of the program, select whether they preferred to ensure photo delivery by November first (whether edited or not), or wait for the full set of edited photos after the holidays. Another key change instituted in 2024 proved pivotal in slashing editing time, and thus enhancing the capacity of the program: the addition of photography lights. Investing in a set of low-end studio-style photography lights (approximately $50) allowed the staff photographer to better control the shooting environment prior to taking the photos, which cut the largest parts of the photo editing (lighting and color adjustments) out, taking the average edit time down from around ten minutes to less than three. A third key innovation-the addition of a color-neutral background option-while seemingly a flippant addition, provided an unexpected increase in access.

Play, Learn and Explore: A Park Adventure Guide is a booklet created in collaboration between Librarians at the Cary Regional Library and the staff of the Downtown Cary Park. The booklet uses the framework of Every Child Ready to Read to guide caregivers and children on an early literacy adventure throughout the park. Using rhymes and songs, conversation prompts, coloring pages, word searches and themed book lists, the booklet helps caregivers interact with their child in proven ways to encourage literacy while having fun. In our presentation we will share the process of forming this collaboration with the Downtown Cary Park and the steps we took to get a printed booklet in people's hands. We will also discuss the various opportunities and problems that arose and how we ultimately ended with both a product and a partnership that helps increase library visitation and encourages early childhood literacy. As Children's Librarians, we understand the importance of early childhood literacy. Our presentation will share how librarians can create tools using Every Child Ready to Read so caregivers can partake every day in developing a child's love of reading. These tools can then be used to engage people all across our community and beyond the library's doors. By partnering with a community park, we have not only created a mutually beneficial relationship, but an opportunity for an outside entity to be an advocate for the importance of public libraries. 

Based off viral internet book clubs like Dracula Daily, ECU's Joyner library started our own digital book club. Using public domain literature and open access photos we divided each story into bite-sized sections and emailed them out to students, faculty, and staff on campus who signed up for the newsletter. This session will share successes and failures from our first two years running this program as well as detail how we navigated logistics, marketed the program, and continue to work to ensure diverse and inclusive voices while using 100+ year old texts. Having now used a novel, short stories, poems, and non-fiction essays in different semesters this session will also discuss the pros and cons of each format and how we are hoping to improve in the future.

Libraries are always looking for new and innovative opportunities to serve the needs of their patrons. Adding manga to an academic library's collection offers an invaluable opportunity to promote inclusivity, diversity, and accessibility within higher education environments. As a distinct medium that blends art and narrative, manga has garnered significant global popularity, transcending cultural boundaries and appealing to a broad range of readers. The incorporation of manga into academic library collections supports the educational and social goals of inclusivity by offering a broader, more diverse spectrum of content that reflects various lived experiences and viewpoints. This collection management project started by creating and expanding the library's popular reading collection. The idea was to provide students with an opportunity to use the library for more than just studying. They are given the chance to make recommendations for the collection by commenting on social media posts or sharing them at events like the annual connect fair (an event for freshmen to explore the different departments and clubs on campus). Through these interactions, we found a need to expand the collection to include manga. The addition of manga to an academic library collection does pose some unusual challenges, particularly in terms of classification and cataloging. Popular manga titles are increasingly being made available in public libraries, but only a relatively small number of academic libraries have begun adding them to their collections. While many manga MARC records do contain call numbers, these are invariably either Dewey Decimal system call numbers or PZ call numbers under LC classification. Gardner-Webb has tried to move away from using PZ call numbers for all but children's books, so we need to assign our own LC call numbers to almost all incoming manga series titles. Further complicating matters is the fact that manga can be assigned LC call numbers based on different criteria by different institutions - by collection name, by author, by title, etc. There seems to be a lack of consistency in cataloging practice among academic libraries, and a lack of non-PZ LC call numbers in existing MARC records inhibits the addition of manga titles by copy cataloging alone. This poses a real challenge to academic libraries who may no longer have an experienced catalog librarian on staff.