C&RL Spotlight May 2016 255 C&RL News “Learning analytics,” or the use of technolo- gies “that enable the analysis of student data in order to identify learning weaknesses so that faculty, advisers, and even librarians could intervene with corrective action,” has emerged as a focus for ACRL this spring.1 Last month, Megan Oakleaf (Syracuse University) provided an overview of learning analytics initiatives in higher education and academic libraries as part of a three-part series of ACRL webinars, and Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe (Uni- versity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) and Andrew Asher (Indiana University) focused on privacy and ethical considerations needing attention in any learning analytics program. This month, I will join colleagues from the University of Minnesota and Lewis & Clark Community College to present the final webi- nar focused on how to bring the library into campus-wide learning analytics initiatives.2 Research into library contributions to learning analytics programs on campus can also be found in the May 2016 issue of College & Research Libraries, which includes a study by John K. Stemmer (Bellarmine University) and David M. Mahan (Manhattan College) of the relationship between undergraduate student use of library resources and student learning outcomes. The collaboration on this study between the library and institutional research reflects the ways in which library data can be included in broader efforts be- ing undertaken to consider the library as a contributor to institutional recruitment, re- tention, and student success strategies, and complements the case studies to be explored in the learning analytics webinar also being presented this month. As with our last issue, which brought together C&RL and the Assess- ment in Action program, this serendipitous pairing of research being presented in the journal and practice being described in the webinar offers clear evidence of the ways in which ACRL publishing and continuing education programs can come together as an important resource for members. In addition to the Stemmer and Mahan study, and an editorial cowritten by me and Emily Drabinski (Long Island University), the May 2016 issue includes the following articles: • Luke Swindler. “New Consortial Model for E-Books Acquisitions.” Abstract: E-books constitute major challenges for library col- lections generally and present fundamental problems for consortial collection develop- ment specifically. The Triangle Research Libraries Network (TRLN) and Oxford Uni- versity Press (OUP) have created a mutually equitable and financially sustainable model for the consortial acquisition of e-books coupled with print titles needed to support instruction and research across the disciplin- ary spectrum within a transitional framework that is acceptable to users, while moving both libraries and publishers to a decid- edly electronic environment for monographs. Working with YBP Library Services, TRLN and OUP developed a flexible vending model for systematically increasing e-book acquisitions in tandem with reducing print intake over time and keeping net costs constant that other consortia and publishers would find useful. This article focuses on creating an acceptable and sustainable model that allows libraries to shift to e-books and the implica- tions for traditional cooperative collection development. The research reports on the principles undergirding the pilot, how it de- veloped, challenges encountered and lessons learned, librarian and user reactions to this format shift, and resulting philosophical and practical evolutions in consortial approaches to monographic acquisitions and understand- ings of what constitutes cooperative collec- tions success in a digital environment. • Katie Greer, Amanda Nichols Hess, and Elizabeth W. Kraemer. “The Librarian Lead- ing the Machine: A Reassessment of Library Instruction Methods.” Abstract: This article builds on the 2007 College and Research Li- braries article, “The Librarian, the Machine, C & R L S p o t l i g h tScott Walter C&RL News May 2016 256 or a Little of Both.” Since that time, Oakland University Libraries implemented changes to its instruction program that reflect larger trends in teaching and assessment throughout the profession; following these revisions, librarians undertook a new study to assess the effectiveness of online library instruc- tion in face-to-face courses in comparison to the hybrid model that had been in place. The study’s design and its results serve to contribute to discussion of best practices in information literacy pedagogy, online learn- ing, instructional design, and the role of the librarian therein. • Amanda L. Folk. “Academic Reference and Instruction Librarians and Dweck’s Theo- ries of Intelligence.” Abstract: This article in- troduces psychologist Carol S. Dweck’s entity and incremental theories of intelligence and explores the prevalence of these theories in academic librarians who participate in ref- erence and instruction activities. Based on existing research, it is possible that implicit theories of intelligence could affect the ways in which librarians conduct information literacy and library instruction, as well as reference interactions. This article intends to provide a foundation for understanding if further research concerning theories of intel- ligence, instructional design and pedagogy, and reference practice in academic libraries is warranted. • Fatih Oguz. “Organizational Influences in Technology Adoption Decisions: A Case Study of Digital Libraries.” Abstract: The purpose of this study was to understand the organizational level decision factors in technology adoption in the context of digital libraries. A qualitative case study approach was used to investigate the adoption of a specific technology, XML-based Web services, in digital libraries. Rogers’s diffusion of inno- vations and Wenger’s communities of practice were the theories used to frame the study. The data collected through interviews were triangulated with documentary evidence and a comprehensive member check. Four orga- nizational level influences identified when making technology adoption decisions in the context of digital libraries were organizational structure, management style, focus and direc- tion of the program, and relationships with external entities. Attributes including program size, organizational culture, and availability of financial resources contributed to these organizational level influences, whereas pro- gram size did not appear to have an effect. Informal communication mechanisms were found to inform and influence the decision- making process. • Rumi Graham. “An Evidence-Informed Picture of Course-Related Copying.” Abstract: Recent changes in Canadian copyright law have prompted Canada’s educational institu- tions to re-examine their need for a blanket copying license. Users’ rights under the amended Copyright Act now include fair dealing for purposes of education, and the Supreme Court has established that copying short excerpts for classroom use can qualify as fair dealing. This study looks at one univer- sity’s examination of copied course materials made available via library reserve, course- packs and its learning management system, and likely sources for copyright permissions, when needed. Results suggest that fair deal- ing is the most important and the institution’s blanket license is the least important basis for permissions clearance over a semester’s worth of copying. • John K. Stemmer and David M. Mahan. “Investigating the Relationship of Library Usage to Student Outcomes.” Abstract: This study connects library user surveys, a common library assessment technique, to institutional data to demonstrate the value an academic library brings to student learn- ing and student outcomes. Using regression techniques, the study identifies multiple sig- nificant correlations, both positive and nega- tive, between student use of the library and student learning and outcomes as measured by retention, graduation, and grade point average. The library factors associated with student outcomes change over the course of the four-year undergraduate experience. Methods used in this study could be a model for other institutions seeking a means for as- May 2016 257 C&RL News sessing the library’s relationship to student learning and outcomes. • Joan E. Beaudoin. “Describing Images: A Case Study of Visual Literacy among Li- brary and Information Science Students.” Abstract: This paper reports on a study that examined the development of pedagogical methods for increasing the visual literacy skills of a group of library and information science students. Through a series of three assignments, students were asked to provide descriptive information for a set of historical photographs and record reflections of their experiences via blog posts. The three separate versions of the image descriptions submitted by the students were analyzed to discern changes using descriptive statistics, and their blog posts were examined to identify recur- rent themes using the constant comparative method. Findings associated with the image descriptions indicate that students’ skill in describing the photographs show a modest increase across the three versions. Analysis of the blog postings revealed an overarch- ing theme of frustration associated with the experience of developing image descriptions among the students. The underlying reasons for their frustrations are examined, and sug- gestions are provided for further increasing students’ abilities to describe images. Online forum on Assessment in Action recording available Following the release of the special issue on Assessment in Action (AiA) in March, C&RL sponsored an online forum with AiA authors from Anne Arundel Community College and Grinnell College on March 24, 2016. The recording of this session, attended live by almost 150 participants, is now available at: http://crl.acrl.org/site/misc/fora.xhtml. One final note This will be my final C&RL Spotlight column, as I hand the reins over to our incoming editor, Wendi Arant Kaspar (Texas A&M University). We created the Spotlight to promote continu- ing engagement among the journal and its readers once we made the transition to e-only publishing, and I have been pleased to see it routinely found among the most accessed features of each issue of the News in which it has appeared. I look forward to continuing to see new “spotlight” features in the coming issues as I transition from editor back to “en- gaged reader.” Thanks to ACRL’s David Free and Dawn Mueller for their support of the journal (and the column), to the members of the C&RL Editorial Board for their leadership and assistance in the design of these columns, and to the C&RL authors and readers who gave us something to write about. Notes 1. Steven J. Bell, “Keeping Up with . . . Learning Analytics,” accessed April 11, 2016, www.ala.org/acrl/publications/keeping_up _with/learning_analytics. 2. Association of College & Research Libraries, “ACRL e-Learning Webcast Series: Learning Analytics—Strategies for Opti- mizing Student Data on Your Campus,” accessed April 11, 2016, www.ala.org/acrl /learninganalytics. (“Jamaica,” continues from page 254) • The Getty Research Institute’s Union List of Artist Names. This free structured vocabulary database makes searching artists, including Jamaican artists, incredibly easy. This annually updated hierarchical database is set up in list form and like a thesaurus. This database lists not only biographical informa- tion about artists, but includes lists of people related to them (spouses, children, and teach- ers), and links to records of those people, links to information on the cities where the artist was born and died, and sources and contributions. Access: http://www.getty.edu/ research/tools/vocabularies/ulan/.