Cowan, Sandra

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https://opus.uleth.ca/handle/10133/3779

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    Process and relationship: a walking-dialogue
    (Litwin Books, 2023) Cowan, Sandra A.; van Leeuwen, Mia
    As an interdisciplinary duo from an academic library background and a performing arts background, we underwent a process of recording a series of dialogues about our respective research practices in and between our fields. As we conversed, we walked in separate locations while remaining connected by our phones, permitting us to explore a kinetic and spontaneous approach as a mode of inquiry. An experiment and intended provocation to demonstrate that, just as there are other ways to research, there are other ways of knowing, generating, and presenting ideas that articulate the value of alternative methods within the academy, specifically within the realm of arts-based research. Troubled by the fact that what we perform and produce as research is not easily sanctioned as “research” within the library or the academy, we discuss what it is about these arts-based methods of experimentation, creation, practice, and knowledge-seeking that we find so generative and value so highly. The main themes that we circled and returned to throughout this walking-dialogue fell into the following categories: embodiment on a local, living landscape; fragmentation, collage, and the interstices of juxtaposition; unknowing, failure and doubt; and diverse ways of knowing.
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    SAILS, take 2: an exploration of the "Build your own test" standardized IL testing option for Canadian institutions
    (Communications in Information Literacy, 2018) Graham, Rumi Y.; Eva, Nicole; Cowan, Sandra A.
    Several standardized and validated information literacy (IL) tests have been developed for use in U.S. post-secondary contexts, but fewer choices exist for schools outside of the U.S. In an earlier study (Cowan, Graham, & Eva, 2016) the authors explored IL testing at a Canadian university using the international version of the SAILS Cohort test. This article describes a second study that used the Build Your Own Test (BYOT)—a customizable version of the SAILS Individual Scores test—to evaluate undergraduate students’ IL learning. Pros and cons of using the Cohort and BYOT versions of SAILS are discussed, with the aim of providing guidance for other schools interested in pursuing such testing. The authors found the BYOT allowed them to better gauge the extent to which individual students’ IL ability levels changed over the course of one term.
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    Open access in the world of scholarly journals: creation and discovery
    (Taylor & Francis, 2017) Cowan, Sandra A.; Bulock, Chris
    Open Access publishing continues to grow, and it has profound implications for librarians in a variety of contexts. This report serves two functions. It provides background on Open Access publication of scholarly journals and the role of academic libraries in this movement. In particular, it examines the University of Lethbridge Journal Incubator as an example of library involvement in Open Access publication. The report also examines how hybrid journals, in an attempt to provide Open Access publication options in traditional subscription journals, have introduced a new discovery and access problem for libraries. While standards bodies have begun to address the problem, there are still many challenges when accessing open content in hybrid journals
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    Changing our aim: infiltrating faculty with information literacy
    (Communications in Information Literacy, 2016) Cowan, Sandra A.; Eva, Nicole
    Librarians are stretched thin these days – budget cuts and decreasing numbers are forcing us to look at new ways of doing things. While the embedded information literacy model has gained popularity in the past number of years, it may be time for a new model of information literacy. We must arm teaching faculty with the tools they need to teach information literacy to their students. Ideas and examples of how academic librarians can weave information literacy into the teaching culture on campus, and provide instruction to faculty members on how to teach research and information skills to their classes, are explored. By meeting faculty members in their usual ‘learning spheres’ we can show them a more holistic perspective on information literacy and give them examples of how libraries can help them in their own teaching and research, thus encouraging them to transfer some of that knowledge to their students.
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    How information literate are they? : a SAILS study of (mostly) first-year students at the U of L
    (University of Lethbridge, Teaching Centre, 2016) Cowan, Sandra A.; Graham, Rumi Y.; Eva, Nicole
    [No abstract available]