C&RL News September 2020 408 International issues have been much on my mind these days. From global maps of COVID spread (and which countries are on the leader board) to government guidance restricting vi- sas for international students if their classes are online--it is inescapable. I will admit to feel- ing strangely isolated from it (and everything really since I am still working from home). I am very grateful and humbled and, admitted- ly, somewhat guilty about it–particularly when there are people in the United States and in so many other countries who can’t work or have lost their jobs. That said, hosting foreign exchange students this year (one from Switzerland and one from Brazil) has been a great experience, but it has also served to hold up a very personal mirror on my own perspectives and assumptions. One of the things that has been brought home to me during this pandemic is the privilege that I have. Nothing could have made clearer my fortune in so many ways. • First, I work in a profession that is largely dependent on computers, which I have, both at home and at work, with fast and stable networks. I am reminded of this when I see posts from colleagues complaining about how slow the Internet is or dropped participants in Zoom meetings. • Second, I work in a sector (higher educa- tion) and at an institution that are able to grant me the permission to work at home. • Third, my husband and daughters also have the ability to work or continue school. So other than a change in locale, the world is largely the same for me. • Other ways in which I have privilege--I am a white woman in field that is predominantly female and white. I am at an institution with tenure, and I am a full professor. I am an editor of a journal, and I have an outlet for my voice. Because my daughter was in Thailand on foreign exchange, we signed up for State De- partment alerts, and even though she is back in the United States, I am still getting those alerts. I will admit, these alerts are like a reminder that the world is still in chaos and that there is a lot happening in other countries that we don’t experience here in the United States. I tend to read BBC and Al Jazeera for news to get away from the polarized news sources. I re- cently ran across a recent column that addressed these issues and pointed out to me, yet again, how isolated and insulated from issues I am, how privileged some in the “first world” have been, and how COVID-19 is in some ways an equalizer and in some ways makes evident the privileges that some groups, some regions enjoy and others don’t. Khalid Albaih’s commentary, “Your ‘new normal’ is our ‘old normal’”1 was eye opening in a number of ways. It pointed the intersections of factors like socioeconomic status or race and the impacts of pandemics–and the resiliency. It made clearer the privileges that developed countries have, and the things we take for granted. For me, it stripped away some of the blinders and perhaps will allow me to see more clearly in the future. While the September issue of College & Research Libraries is not entirely focused on international issues and international librari- anship, there are several articles that present those viewpoints and related perspectives that contribute to a broader understanding. Avuglah et al. present the attitudes of students and librar- ians concerning data privacy, with some critical implications for librarians. Marques and Stone offer an assessment of the UK Springer Com- pact Agreement and its outcomes. Kozlowska and Scoulas examined the extent to which U.S. librarians work with international collaborators, with surprising (or perhaps not) results. Not international but focused on ethnicity, Oliva et al. analyzed academic library collections for inclusion of Hispano-American presses. The article by Lavoie, Dempsey, and Malpas is also a collection study, describing collective collec- C & R L S p o t l i g h tWendi Kasper Wendi Kaspar is C&RL editor and policy sciences librarian at the Texas A&M University Policy Sciences and Economics Library, email: warant@tamu.edu mailto:warant@tamu.edu September 2020 409 C&RL News tions and their implications for strategic decision making or collaborations. Bakker et al. offer up a study of faculty perceptions of research impact metrics with concerns about how they are used. Lastly, a study by Barr et al. describes informa- tion literacy efforts for a Bachelor of Paramedic Science program, where it may be argued that the right information could save a life. “Privacy Issues in Libraries with Online Services: Attitudes and Concerns of Academic Librarians and University Students in Ghana” by Bright Kwaku Avuglah, Christopher M. Owusu- Ansah, Gloria Tachie-Donkor, and Eugene Baah Yeboah. This study surveyed librarians’ and students’ attitudes, perceptions, and con- cerns on privacy in Ghanaian universities with the aim of seeking a better alignment of their perspectives in the online library context. The study adapted and applied the instrument de- veloped by Zimmer that assessed attitudes and practices of librarians in the United States on privacy rights and protecting a patron’s privacy in the library. The study found that, between librarians and students in Ghanaian universities, there was a need for greater control over their personal data and a need for ethical responsibil- ity on the part of data-collecting online library agents; both groups expressed dislike for state censorship and corporate monopoly over their personal data. However, despite their positive attitude about the strong role of librarians in guaranteeing their personal data, a significant number of them demonstrate little faith in librar- ians to actualize the protection of their personal data. Finally, privacy attitudes and concerns of academic librarians were noted to align with those of university students in Ghana. Among others, it was recommended that Ghanaian academic librarians integrate privacy education and awareness creation in their universities, emphasizing the need to make informed online decisions and exposing potential repercussions of their decisions while using online library and digital resources. “Transitioning to Open Access: An Evalua- tion of the UK Springer Compact Agreement Pilot 2016–2018” by Mafalda Marques and Graham Stone. This article analyzes the UK’s first “read and publish” journals agreement. The Springer Compact Agreement pilot ran from 2016 to 2018. The authors outline the methodology and data sources used to un- dertake a detailed analysis of the agreement. This includes the number of open access (OA) articles published, author opt-outs, and rejected articles. Institutional savings (or cost avoidance) and the financial implications resulting from the number of opt-outs and re- jected articles are also discussed. The value of articles published and cost per download for non-OA content are also covered. The agree- ment, at the consortia level, has constrained the total cost of publication—during the three years, the HE sector has avoided paying ad- ditional costs of €20,000,800 ($22,761,688) for publishing OA by paying the single combined fee that capped publication costs at 2014 rates. All institutions taking part in the Springer Compact agreement published OA articles equivalent to or in excess of their total 2014 APC spend between 2016 and 2018. By 2018, 30 percent of institutions published OA articles to the value of or in excess of the combined fee paid to Springer. The article concludes with a number of recommendations for future agreements and considers compliance with Plan S guidelines. “International Scholarly Activity among Academic Librarians in the United States” by Anna Kozlowska and Jung Mi Scoulas. The extent of U.S. librarians’ collaboration with international partners in the area of scholarly activity and research publications is still unexplored. Guided by Jane Knight’s “At Home” framework for international research and scholarly activity, this study examines the extent of scholarly activity between librar- ians from the United States and international institutional and individual collaborators (that is, conference attendance, collaborations and staff exchanges, publications and collabora- tive authorship). A total of 193 U.S. academic librarians participated in an online survey. The results show that international research and scholarly activity is rare among U.S. librarians. C&RL News September 2020 410 Among the librarians who do participate in these activities, the results indicate that their par- ticipation in international conferences is associ- ated with more internationalization activities. “Forgotten Hispano-American Literature: Representation of Hispano-American Presses in Academic Libraries” by Kathia S. Ibacache Oliva, Javier Muñoz-Diaz, Caitlin Berry, and Eric A. Vance. As inclusion becomes a growing stan- dard for universities in the United States, data extracted from OCLC suggest that university libraries in the United States build their Spanish- language collections with books purchased primarily in Spain and Mexico. This overlooks presses from 19 other Spanish-speaking coun- tries in the Americas. This research is concerned with the representation of books published in these Hispano-American countries and exam- ines the holdings of 88 university libraries. The article discusses the drawbacks of neglecting purchase of literature published in Hispano- American countries and the benefits of changing collection practices into a more inclusive design, including recommendations for best practices. “Reflections on Collective Collections” by Brian Lavoie, Lorcan Dempsey, and Constance Malpas. Collective collections are multiple lo- cal collections described and/or managed as a single collection. Constructing, understanding, and operationalizing collective collections is an increasingly important aspect of collection management for many libraries. This article presents some general insights about collective collections, drawn from a series of studies con- ducted by OCLC. These insights identify salient characteristics of many collective collections and serve as a starting point for developing collective collection-based strategies for such library priorities as shared print, digitization, and group-scale discovery and fulfillment. “Qualitative Analysis of Faculty Opinions on and Perceptions of Research Impact Metrics” by Caitlin Bakker, Kristen Cooper, Allison Lang- ham-Putrow, and Jenny McBurney. We present a qualitative analysis of the results of a survey of faculty and researchers at a large Midwestern R1 university around their understanding of and attitudes toward scholarly metrics. The survey included opportunities for participants to pro- vide free-text responses regarding their use of metrics and concerns they have about the use of metrics for assessment. Participants indicated they understand metrics and use them in a variety of ways, but they have concerns about administrators’ potentially inappropriate use of metrics in assessment. Participants expressed a desire to be involved in decision making around the use of metrics in evaluation processes. With the end goal of improving our library’s research impact-related services to better support faculty and researchers across campus, this exploratory qualitative analysis offers a more nuanced un- derstanding of the current landscape of opinion around research impact metrics. To develop tools and services that actually address faculty and researcher needs, librarians must develop a comprehensive understanding of their interests and concerns around metrics. “Developing a Framework to Improve In- formation and Digital Literacy in a Bachelor of Paramedic Science Entry-to-Practice Program” by Nigel Christopher Barr, Bill Lord, Belinda Flana- gan, and Roger Carter. The aims of this research were threefold: 1) explore the perceptions of paramedic educators regarding information lit- eracy education (ILE); 2) reveal the information literacy (IL) abilities of paramedic science stu- dents; and 3) develop an integrated IL framework for paramedicine. Two key findings arose from this research. First, paramedic educators need to include higher functions of synthesis and creative thinking in ILE. Second, ILE needs to be mapped and scaffolded to incrementally develop these skills across each year of the program. The results informed the development of a program-wide ILE framework, implemented in 2019 and to be evaluated in 2021. Note 1. Khalid Albaih, “Your ‘new normal’ is our ‘old normal’,” Al Jazeera, accessed August 6, 2020, https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth /opinion/normal-normal-200426164350286. html. https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth /opinion/normal-normal-200426164350286.html https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth /opinion/normal-normal-200426164350286.html https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth /opinion/normal-normal-200426164350286.html