BOOKENDS September 2022, Volume 6, Issue 1

By: Muna Abdulla, Librarian, MLIS

Abu Dhabi Book Fair, 2022

Every year, the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair provides exhibitors with a networking opportunity to present themselves and their most recent offerings at the hub of the publishing industry. This year the book fair took place from 23-29 of May.                                                  

Khalifa University participated by occupying a booth that incorporated different departments, including Communications and the Library. The booth displayed books written by KU faculty, about the United Arab Emirates, and about the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan. One of the most popular activities was to give away second-hand books to encourage reading in the Emirates. In total, we gave away approximately 3,000 books to the visitors of the booth.

Another popular feature was giving away almost 2500 KU-themed, environmentally friendly bags. The booth was staffed by Librarians, communications staff, as well as student volunteers who shared information about Khalifa University with thousands of Book Fair attendees.

The event was successful and it was an opportunity to spread information about the university and its offerings and programs to the general public.

A Visit from the Japanese Ambassador

On September 12th, Khalifa University was honored to receive a visit from the Japanese ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, Ambassador Akio Isomata. The ambassador participated in a book exchange, in which the Japanese embassy generously donated 79 Japanese books to Khalifa University’s Library. This program’s goal is to better inform the world’s citizens of the true nature of the Japanese people and nation.

By: Joud Jabri-Pickett, Lecturer, Preparatory Program

Eissa was struggling in his first year away for home. At first he thought freedom from schedules, routines and being told what to do every hour of his day would finally put control in his hands and he would succeed on his own terms rather than a teacher, counselor or advisor. He could not have been more wrong.  By the end of the first month in his first semester, Eissa was falling behind in his studies, in a constant state of panic and disbelief that he had so many responsibilities and so little time.

The reality is, Eissa is not alone. At one point or another every university student, whether Undergrad, Master’s or PhD, will find themselves in this situation.  So what wisdom can we, as members of the faculty, provide our students to help them see their way through the agonizing struggle that is their academic career?

Several years ago, I was asked to create a course for the KU Prep Program that would teach students the basic timeless principles of self-management and academic effectiveness. Over time, I have come to four basic rules of behavior that I try to impart on my students at the start of the year and continue to encourage as they progress from one year to the next.

There are 4 major rules of behavior we can encourage students to follow to succeed in university:

1. Ask for help. We often remind students they are not in this experience alone. One of the best things they can do is make sure they recognize when they are struggling and where to get the help and support they need. Despite the encouragement, we cannot underestimate the embarrassment students experience when trying to make the decision whether to ask for help or not (Why didn’t you just ask?, 2010). Faculty, administrators and advisors could try to take a preemptive step to schedule student visits (in small groups) during office hours in the first few weeks of classes.

2. Fail Fast So You Can Fix Early. We all hope our students will succeed but we could emphasize that if are going to fail, they should be sure to do it early in the semester so they still have time to make the necessary changes to improve their situation. Encouraging this behavior, especially in younger Undergrads can have long-term positive effects. In his book SCRUM, The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time, Jeff Sutherland, suggests that making periodic assessments and necessary adjustments to products or (in this case) behavior helps to reduce time wasted on what is not working. Einstein’s quote that. “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” rings true with our young students, who seem to spend a great deal of their time on unproductive study methods that prove unsuccessful again and again. Students who are struggling with failing marks could be encouraged to rethink how they study and perhaps work to adopt new systems that accommodate their attention span and lifestyle.

3. Look at Yourself. Students need to be encouraged to take responsibility for their own behavior. This foundational habit of holding themselves responsible for undesirable outcomes often poses the greatest challenge. If things go wrong, students must be able to see their own actions, attitude and behavior as having had an impact. Many of our students tend to feel a great deal of their day-to-day university experience is in the hands of their instructors, administrators, etc. When things go wrong, their first impulse is to shift responsibility to anything but themselves. “It’s not my fault”, “the teacher hates me”, the test was unfair”, “my alarm didn’t go off” are all typical excuses. It might help to bring the element of control to students’ attention. Providing them with a list of things that are not within their control, how an instructor teaches, the material that’s covered, the items and scheduling of an assessment, etc. then, asking them what IS within their control. Namely, how they study, what they study and when they study. Sean Covey, in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective College Students, makes the point that the more students identify the areas of their academics they CAN influence, the less daunting areas outside their control actually become.

4. Use the Textbook. When asked about how they go about solving homework questions assigned from the back of a textbook chapter students pragmatically respond, “Google or YouTube”. When asked whether or not they find the textbook to be a useful resource, they often say, they don’t even consider the textbook, claiming too much to read, overwhelming content, and trouble making the connections to the questions. When they are reminded that many instructors use the textbook to support the course plan, students exhibit visible surprise (imagine  emoji). To help them place value on the textbook, teaching the SQ3R method has proven very useful. Taking them through a series of practice activities to SURVEY the chapter, ask QUESTIONS about specific content, then READ, RECITE, and REVIEW the material, reduces their underlying fear of their academic textbooks.

References:

- “Why didn’t you just ask?” underestimating the discomfort of help-seeking. (2010). Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46(2), 402-409. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2009.12.015

- Sutherland, J., & Sutherland, J. J. (2014). Scrum: The art of doing twice the work in half the time. U.S: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.

- Covey, S. (2014). The 7 habits of highly effective college students: Succeeding in college. . .and in life. U.S: Franklin Covey.

Acquisition practice is broadly defined as the process of obtaining the library materials that make up the collection of the library. Rather than selection and acquisition, collection management is a process of identifying the library collection's strengths and weaknesses of the library collection to fill the gap in the actual needs of the end-users. The acquisition process begins after materials have been thoughtfully selected.  The acquisition process includes locating the right item, ordering it, and processing the item. Although acquisition procedures may vary depending on the library’s mission and resources, all libraries have some goals in common. These include acquiring materials as quickly and economically as possible and minimizing the amount of paperwork, filing, and follow-up needed. Effective working relationships with vendors are very important as well. If you need an item we do not already have in our collection, we are happy to acquire it for you. The library tries to obtain all requested titles to support academic programs, within the available budget. 

You can find Collection Development Policy and Procedures at ​KU Policy Library.

You can also visit the library's LibGuides to know more about  Collection Development and Acquisitions. 

How you can support us: 

• Notify us of your department's subject and research areas coverage.
• Notify us of your department's new programs
• Check your email for email alerts of new titles (for  faculty liaisons)
• Recommend titles. When you submit your recommendations, the Acquisitions Department will consider your request in accordance with KU Libraries Collection Development Policy.  

Please reach out to us, in person or online, for questions and needs relating to book acquisitions. The Acquisitions Librarian, Alia Al-Harrasi can be reached for any assistance and support at alia.alharrasi@ku.ac.ae or acquisitions@ku.ac.ae. You can also visit the library's Webform to suggest a title for purchase.

Reviewed by: Muna Abdulla, Librarian, MLIS

The techniques that the author, Delia Owens, uses to tell the story are simply remarkable. The book begins with a jolt, with the discovery of a body and mystery. She then flashes back 17 years, to the childhood of Kya, the main character of the novel.  The book contains amazing and beautiful descriptions of the natural world and the marshes of Eastern North Carolina. The author, an experienced naturalist,  describes the environment in such vivid terms, which stays fresh in your mind, that the reader must acknowledge her mastery and skill. 

It is a story of the survival and loneliness of the main character, a young girl named Kya, who is referred to as the Marsh Girl by the residents of the nearby town. Abandoned as a child by her family and growing up alone in the marsh, she is very shy, reserved, and wary of everyone in her community. We find that she has been living off the land for almost ten years, exploring,  studying, and learning about life by observing the wild marsh around her.

Though she sometimes tries to make connections to her surroundings, bad experiences and situations always convince her that she is better off staying and living alone.  

I believe that anybody could relate to Kya and empathize with her on many emotional levels. She is sympathetic in countless ways, particularly when she encounters new emotional discoveries and makes her way through life and love. The character compels you to feel deeply for her struggles, to support her, encourage her, and want to defend her against the thoughtless biases of her community.

The supporting characters, such as her father, her brother Jodie, Jumpin' (who serves as her parental figure), the lawyer Tom Milton,  and the two most important men in her life, Tate Walker, Chase Andrews, contribute to fueling the story and moving it forward. The novel has gotten mixed reviews. However, I loved this book and would recommend it to all. Also, the movie has already been out now for a month and the performances were incredible. I suggest reading the book first, then watching the movie.

My review rating is 4.5/5

If you ever fancy reading this novel, reach out to your KU Campus Library to borrow a copy: https://khalifa.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/971KUOSTAR_INST/rjauue/alma991000892149707456

As we have noted before, libraries use library management systems to track their material, since there are far too many items to keep track of using any other method. Since the KU libraries own approximately 120,000 physical items, over 500,000 ebooks, and have access to millions of journal articles, a stable, accurate and reliable system is an absolute necessity.

In order to fulfill this need, at the end of June the KU Libraries launched a new Primo, a new LMS. This system provides the KU community with access to all the library resources that we provide, whether those resources are print books, e-books, or electronic journals. The system allows users to search for all these items using one search interface. 

Users can use this system to request items to be held and/or delivered to a specific branch, to review their currently checked out items, and to renew any items that they have checked out.

The system also allows users to export citations in several formats, including the native formats for Refworks and EndNote.

You can try out this new system for yourself from the library’s home page or directly at the Primo home page.

Your opinion matters. Please drop us an email at: libnewsletter@ku.ac.ae