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©2000-2021 BRASS Education Committee.
🖇 Wednesday, December 13th, 2023
Edward Junhao Lim, University of Connecticut and Jiebei Luo, New York University
Data is the fuel of business research, but what kind of data do business researchers use, and how do they use it? In this presentation, we reveal the data sources and topics of hundreds of journal articles from two business schools - New York University Stern School of Business and the University of Connecticut School of Business. We analyze the full text of journal articles published between 2020 and 2022 to identify cited data sources and rank the most popular commercial, public, and open datasets. We highlight the top ten data sources for each school and each type of secondary data and show how they differ or overlap. We also examine how the data usage patterns of the two schools influence their research impact and visibility. Our presentation is based on the work of Lauren Reiter (2021), who studied the use and access of commercial data in academic business research. We aim to provide valuable insights for business librarians and researchers on the current and emerging trends of data-driven business research.
Kendra Spahr and Clarissa Steele, Kansas State University
A management professor observed that sometimes students in her human resources classes do not understand the need for anti-discrimination legislation, such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of sex, age, national origin, race, and religion. To help her students understand why anti-discrimination laws exist, she created a research project and collaborated with a group of librarians to support students with the assignment. The purpose of the project was to develop students' knowledge about the contemporary and historical workplace experiences of people in protected classes, focusing on people’s experiences prior to anti-discrimination legislation. For the project, students were assigned to research a group of people protected under federal anti-discrimination law. The assignment had two options (1) describe a significant employment-related event for the group or (2) describe the general working conditions for members of the group before anti-discrimination legislation passed. Librarians developed an instruction session to introduce students to primary sources’ accounts and documents created contemporaneously with historical events, including historical newspapers, congressional documents, photographs, and oral histories. Students were not required to use primary sources, but we hoped that they would engage with these materials to expand their information literacy skills and improve their understanding of history. Kendra Spahr, social sciences and business librarian, and Dr. Clarissa Steele, management professor, will share their experiences developing, delivering, and assessing this research project. We will discuss successes, challenges, lessons learned, and plans for the next class.
Liz Grauel, University of Dayton
Many academic librarians become business reference and instruction liaisons by accident, filling a need in their institutions and engaging in professional development to develop the unique skills required in business librarianship. Fewer of us, however, come to the profession in the opposite direction. New librarian Liz Grauel, who serves as the liaison to the University of Daytona’s School of Business Administration, will share her experiences as a business professional-cum-librarian, leading discussion on recognizing and overcoming professional bias, suggesting opportunities to develop and redevelop our skills as librarians by trying on the lens of a business person, and guiding conversation on the nuances of information literacy in business classrooms and its impact on students beyond the university setting.
🖇 Tuesday, April 30th, 2024
Michael Deike, University of Notre Dame
Over the past year, developments in generative artificial intelligence (AI) have exploded in the business data vendor landscape. While the novelty of generative AI chat services dominates the AI conversation, major finance data vendors, such as S&P Capital IQ and Bloomberg, are experimenting with AI and machine learning developments in their own database software platforms. AI integrations show potential to radically alter the collection management landscape for business librarians who support the finance disciplines. This session seeks to draw attention to the AI integrations of finance data providers as a component of business library collections.
Kelly LaVoice and Mark Williams, Vanderbilt University
The hot topic on every academic’s mind in 2024 has been AI. What is artificial intelligence? What are the ethical and moral implications of this technology? How have students and faculty embraced these technologies in higher education? In libraries, many of our vendors are proactively sharing how AI is helping them improve the products and services they deliver to us. However, there is increasingly a great challenge with vendors attempting to prevent academics from using these same AI language models and tools to enhance their own research. When licenses forbid the use of AI, without clearly defining what they mean, it creates a very gray landscape for librarians try to support research processes on their campuses. The presenters will share examples of different AI tools that can be used to conduct business research on topics of interest to academic faculty, including finance, ESG, and text mining business new publications. They will then show examples of language being used by vendors in contracts to attempt to limit these methods. Mark will offer his perspective, as a lawyer, librarian, and Co-Founder of the Vanderbilt AI Legal Lab (VAILL), on intellectual property and legal considerations, including engaging with vendors in a deeper dialog about contract clauses that attempt to completely ban or limit a user’s ability to engage content in AI tools. Kelly will offer suggestions for working with vendors, with the ultimate goal of increasing access to data and the tools availability to make meaning from it.
Benjamin Hall, University of Southern California and Jennifer McKee, Carnegie Mellon University
For better and for worse, algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI) are omnipresent in our daily lives. Algorithmic literacy is a relatively new concept, and it has been classified by many researchers as part of AI literacy. So what does this mean for educators? This presentation aims to summarize existing pedagogical approaches for teaching algorithmic literacy. Discussion, in part, is based on the work of Susan Archambault (2022), which provides a roadmap for exploring algorithmic literacy instruction in higher education. Our aim is to provide valuable instruction examples in-practice for business librarians who may be conceptualizing their own AI Literacy instruction. We also highlight resources, tutorials, and emerging trends in AI Literacy instruction.
🖇 Wednesday, May 1st, 2024
Ryan Yoakum, Belmont University
It can be challenging to both engage students in active learning opportunities when it comes to classroom instruction as well as build confidence to deviate from the business faculty members’ assumptions that your role is specifically to just demonstrate databases and library resources. This interactive session will recount the story of how a failed marketing class database demonstration at Belmont University created an opportunity to restructure itself to engage students with business information literacy and the trial-and-error aspects of business research. The session will also share tips about how to move towards best practices in library instruction for business courses as well as receive faculty support to provide more hands-on learning opportunities in teaching business information literacy to students.
Liz Grauel and Erik Ziedses des Plantes, University of Dayton
Business is not an industry-specific discipline. Entrepreneurs who visit public libraries come from all walks of life, and university students of all majors - professional and liberal - are expected to enter a workforce where business acumen is part of the standard skillset. How do we, as business librarians, support both our business professionals, faculty, and students while also helping those from other fields develop core skills and literacies? Librarians Liz Grauel and Erik Ziedses des Plantes, who serve as liaisons to the University of Dayton's schools of business and engineering, will share their experiences in cross-curricular engagements across business and engineering programs. We discuss our developing approaches to cross-curricular library instruction and engagements with teaching faculty of different disciplines, and invite attendees to share their experiences within their own institutions, highlighting challenges to adapting business reference services for students and faculty who are new to business research. This session explores the cross-curricular student engagements that may be expanded and supported through the consultative and collaborative position of academic libraries on college campuses, building on the growing interest in such activities within our own institution and a workforce that requires transdisciplinary competencies.
Essraa Nawar, Chapman University
In the realm of academic librarianship, the role of business librarians is undergoing a significant evolution, expanding to include a holistic approach that integrates diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) principles, fosters collaborative partnerships, leverages advanced technology, and employs innovative strategies to boost educational quality and prepare students for the complexities of the global economy. At Chapman University, this evolution is exemplified by a series of groundbreaking initiatives that seamlessly blend business artificial intelligence, data and information literacy, and DEI practices into the core library services and programming. A focal point of these initiatives is the creation of specialized information literacy rubrics, particularly designed for students in fields such as economics, accounting, and marketing. These rubrics aim to refine students' analytical and decision-making prowess. Moreover, the university has significantly broadened access to pivotal business databases, enriching both research capabilities and literacy. An illustration of this commitment is the successful acquisition of a notable grant for the Accelerate California: Inclusive Innovation Hub initiative, demonstrating a steadfast dedication to utilizing DEI as a catalyst for entrepreneurship and economic prosperity, with a focus on uplifting underrepresented communities. Among the notable projects are the implementation of an AI-powered data analytics tool that enhances students' ability to interpret complex datasets, and a partnership with local businesses to integrate real-world case studies into the curriculum, providing practical experience and exposure to current industry challenges. These efforts are complemented by a series of workshops and seminars designed to address societal issues, thereby affirming the library's pivotal role as a force for social change and a champion of embedded librarianship. This presentation will delve into the array of strategies and initiatives that highlight the pivotal role of business librarianship in fostering inclusive innovation, driving economic growth, and empowering diverse communities within the academic landscape.
🖇 Friday, March 1st, 2024
A forum focused on the integration of AI in business and academic information sources with guest speakers from industry.
Mintel, JSTOR, Scopus, Clarivate
🖇 Monday, July 1st, 2024
Sponsored by RUSA-BRASS
With the significant and growing impact of AI technology on the business, academic, and creative landscapes, it is crucial for librarians to stay up to date with the latest advancements and applications in AI technology. The ability to apply these technologies effectively and ethically is fast becoming an essential digital literacy skill for librarians, professionals, and students. In this program, participants will learn about popular AI applications and their current and evolving use in both academic and business settings, including use cases in industry and the business education environment.
This panel will bring together three speakers with unique and wide-ranging expertise on this subject, including a librarian who uses these tools in business reference, a university educator with experience integrating generative AI into coursework, and an economic development expert with insight into how this technology is impacting the industries and workforce of San Diego. Together, these presentations will address these questions:
These questions are relevant to anyone looking to keep their library work relevant in an evolving information landscape. Relevant audiences include librarians engaged in education at any level, acquisitions and e-resources librarians, liaison librarians, and public librarians, particularly those who might work with small business owners or entrepreneurs or those who provide reference assistance or programming to the public.
Content on this site is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.
©2000-2021 BRASS Education Committee.
BRASS acknowledges Springshare's generous support in hosting the BRASS Business Guides.