The Student-Run Open-Access Library and Information Science Journal Publishes its 28th Issue
The 28th issue of the fully student-run Student Research Journal (SRJ) is available now. The issue includes research on invisible disabilities, how reference services are changing, and stellar book reviews.
Student Research Journal Volume 14, Issue 2
The Importance of Graduate-Student-Led Academic Journals within Library and Information Science
Graduate-student-led academic journals play a crucial role in fostering early career researchers’ engagement with scholarly discourse within the field of Library and Information Science (LIS). This paper highlights the significance of these journals by examining their contributions to professional development, peer review practices, and inclusivity. Through a case study of the Student Research Journal (SRJ) at San José State University’s iSchool, I demonstrate how student-led journals provide invaluable experiential learning opportunities in leadership, organization, and research skills. The SRJ exemplifies these benefits by achieving international recognition with minimal resources, showcasing its impact-to-cost ratio. This paper also discusses the journal’s role in promoting innovative practices such as developing comprehensive AI policies and fostering collaborations with industry partners like EBSCO. Additionally, it underscores the importance of integrating student-led journals into academic curricula to enhance students’ practical experience and prepare them for diverse career paths. By emphasizing the multifaceted contributions of graduate-student-led journals, this study advocates for their continued support and integration within LIS programs.
Odin Halvorson works at the intersection of technology, creativity, and community, bridging the gap between science, the arts, and empathy. As an itinerant volunteer and community organizer, he has helped build projects for social good at both the national and local scales, with organizations such as Socrates Cafe and EveryLibrary. As a librarian and creative writer, he engages directly with the public in multiple spheres, working to foment a plurality of perspective within diversity’s infinite combinations. Odin’s research has been twice featured at the International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts (ICFA). His fiction and nonfiction work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and has appeared online and in print in venues such as The Strand and Analog Science Fiction and Fact. He also co-founded Round Table Writers, an organization dedicated to “writers helping writers”.
Redefining Reference Services in the 21st Century
The role of reference services in libraries has evolved significantly in the 21st century, driven by technological advancements and changing user needs. This paper explores how reference services have transitioned from traditional, desk-centric interactions to encompass a wide array of platforms and tools, including digital innovations and generative AI. The decline in reference transactions has prompted librarians to adapt, shifting focus towards more complex consultations and instructional roles, while also navigating the blurred boundaries between reference assistance and formal instruction. The paper also examines the updated definitions and limitations of reference services by the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), which have influenced how libraries classify and report reference activities. Emphasizing the impact of social media, machine learning, and AI, this work highlights both the challenges and opportunities for reference librarians in redefining their roles to meet users’ evolving information needs. The future of reference services will depend on how libraries embrace these technological changes and reimagine their mission in an increasingly AI-driven landscape.
Dr. Johanna Tunon has been teaching INFO 210 (Reference and Information Services) for SJSU’s School of Information for more than a decade. She holds a doctorate in instructional technology and distance education from Nova Southeastern University and a MLIS in library science from Texas Woman’s University. She retired after 25 years from her position as Director of Distance and Instructional Library Services at the Alvin Sherman Library, a joint-use library in south Florida.
Academic librarians and archivists with invisible disabilities face significant barriers that limit their professional opportunities, including challenges in hiring, job duties, and career advancement. This study, based on survey data from 300 respondents, highlights how stigma and professional repercussions discourage individuals from disclosing their disabilities or requesting accommodations.
Katrina Heiderich Williams completed her MLIS degree at San José State University in spring 2024. Her background as a special education teacher led to an interest in information accessibility. Other interests include scholarly communication, representation in archives, and eliminating barriers to information and education.
Book Reviews
Book Review: Creating Inclusive Libraries by Applying Universal Design: A Guide by Carli Spina
Creating Inclusive Libraries by Applying Universal Design: A Guide is a practical and useful resource for improving libraries so that they are accessible to the broadest range of people possible. The format is well organized, and the case studies illustrate principles in engaging and recognizable ways. A reader who starts with no knowledge of Universal Design would acquire a working knowledge and be able to assess their own spaces with the guidance provided through examples and checklists. Rather than focus on resources for disabled patrons, Spina encourages readers to adopt a reflective practice for considering the needs of all library users, across ages, circumstances, and abilities.
Katrina Heiderich Williams completed her MLIS degree at San José State University in spring 2024. Her background as a special education teacher led to an interest in information accessibility. Other interests include scholarly communication, representation in archives, and eliminating barriers to information and education.
The Digital Environment: How We Live, Learn, Work, and Play Now by Pablo J. Boczkowski and Eugenia Mitchelstein examines how digital technologies shape modern life, presenting the digital environment as a distinct sphere alongside natural and urban environments. Drawing on expert interviews, the authors explore its defining features—totality, duality, conflict, and indeterminacy—and their impact on society. The book highlights both the potential of digital tools to perpetuate inequities and their capacity to promote equity, offering insights particularly valuable to library and information science professionals.
Devi Swamy is pursuing her MLIS degree at San José State University. She has an MA in Counseling from Saint Mary’s College of California and works as an adjunct counselor at Chabot College.
In Decentering Whiteness in Libraries: A Framework for Inclusive Collection Management Practices, Dr. Andrea Jamison offers preservice and experienced librarians a practical guide to inclusive collection development for children and youth. Jamison, an assistant professor of librarianship at Illinois State University with 17 years of experience in education and library science, has been writing, speaking, and publishing on the need to craft more inclusive and equitable collection development policies for several years (Jamison, 2020; Jamison, 2021). In the book, Jamison argues that to build inclusive collections, librarians need updated policies that go beyond simple diversity statements to embed specific diversity and equity actions in the procedures that govern day-to-day activities.
Shala Howell spent two decades as a writer helping companies like Bell Labs and Juniper Networks translate some of the world’s most complicated concepts into actionable, understandable English. Her blog on fostering curiosity, Caterpickles (www.caterpickles.com), has reached half a million people since her first post. Her book, What’s That, Mom?, encourages parents to use public art to nurture their children’s curiosity in the world around them. Shala Howell holds a B.A. in English from Rice University and expects to graduate from SJSU’s MLIS program in May 2025. After graduation, she plans to use her MLIS to serve people interested in obtaining a free or low-cost education for themselves or their children.
2025 Leadership Team
This concludes the work of the current leadership team. Beginning in January 2025, Pearl Kim will lead as editor-in-chief, Vanessa Sztym will take over as managing editor, and Anastasia Warner will be communications coordinator.
About the SRJ
The SRJ promotes graduate and professional research in the library and information science field and asks crucial questions on current and emerging professional issues from a local, national and global perspective. By advocating for the value of research to further intellectual inquiry and innovation in our field, SRJ contributes critical insights to inform everyday professional practice in the field and specifically cultivates robust graduate student research through a rigorous peer review process. As SJSU’s only fully student-run, double-blind peer-reviewed, open access research journal, SRJ leads the way for the university, the College of Information, Data and Society, the iSchool, and LIS graduate research.
Call for Submissions
SRJ invites original research, book reviews, and evidence summaries from graduate students at any university on topics in the fields of librarianship and information science and archives and records management and related theory, policy, ethics, application, case studies and professional practice. Submissions are accepted on a rolling basis and undergo rigorous peer review.
Questions about the submission process can be emailed to the editor-in-chief at sjsu.ischool.srj@gmail.com. Students interested in applying to join the editorial team are encouraged to visit the official SRJ website. SRJ is also on Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, and LinkedIn.