DSpace Repository :: Browsing by Author "Gilstrap, Donald L."

Browsing by Author "Gilstrap, Donald L."

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A Retrospective Look at a DDA-Centered Collection Strategy: Planning for the Future of Monograph Acquisitions
(Elsevier, 2024) Lowry, Lindsey; Arthur, Michael A.; Gilstrap, Donald L.
The demand-driven acquisitions (DDA) model has been established as a standard component of collection development strategies for academic libraries. The University of Alabama’s collection development strategy revolves around the large DDA program for acquiring electronic monographs and is supplemented by other methods of monographic acquisitions such as firm ordering, bulk eBook purchases, and more. While previous studies have confirmed the advantages of The University of Alabama's DDA plan early in its implementation, this study explores the long-term effectiveness of the DDA-centered collection strategy, seven years after it was first put into place, and examines the validity of the strategy as one bringing efficiency and high return on investment. Finally, this longitudinal study hopes to substantiate the DDA-centered collection strategy as one that could be a foundational model for other academic libraries to follow.
Assessing Learning, Critical Reflection, and Quality Educational Outcomes: The Critical Incident Questionnaire
(2008-09) Gilstrap, Donald L.; Dupree, Jason; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
This research study incorporates Brookfield’s Critical Incident Questionnaire (CIQ) as a qualitative instrument to assess the ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education in one library’s instructional curriculum.A sample (n=348) of English Composition II students was studied over the course of two semesters during a four-session instructional program. A methodological framework of critical reflection, incidents, and events was incorporated, as well as reflection on practice. Results of the study showed the CIQ was effective in supporting qualitative methods for assessment of critical reflection in general and the ACRL Standards specifically during the research and learning process.
Citation Metrics and Boyer’s Model of Scholarship: How Do Bibliometrics and Altmetrics Respond to Research Impact?
(Springer, 2023-03-21) Gilstrap, Donald L.; Whitver, Sara Maurice; Scalfani, Vincent F.; Bray, Nathaniel J.
This article explores how well bibliometrics and altmetrics reflect research impact in relation to Boyer’s Model of the Scholarship. Indices used for both types of metrics are explored and discussed while including an analysis on primary methodological works performed on each in the literature to date. As confirmatory in nature, we chose as our focus of analysis the most highly cited, solo-authored, peer-reviewed article from each of two scholars at an R1 institution in the field of higher education: a rising junior scholar and a well-established senior scholar. In addition to analysis of bibliometric and altmetrics, extensive textual analysis was conducted on the works (n=165) of both scholars to determine how substantitive in-text citations were from authors citing these scholars’ research. Different authors coded each of the citing works, and both inter-rater reliability (k<.001, 𝜎𝜎𝜒𝜒=.055)) and intraclass correlation tests (r=.000) were conducted at the nominal and interval levels to provide strong reliability measures of the rubric with each showing a confidence interval of 95% for coding results. In-text citations for dissertations were actually found to be more substantive than articles at a level of significance (p<.05). The vast majority of references were found to have a score of 3 or below, implying impact of the original research was not strong. In relation to Boyer’s domains, inference can be made that the majority of research literature associated with citation metrics, either bibliometrics or altmetrics, do not move beyond the Scholarship of Discovery into the Scholarship of Integration.
Collective Case Study Method and Fractal Geometry: Instrumental and Intrinsic Cases in Organizational Research
(2009) Gilstrap, Donald L.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
In case study methods of organizations, researchers are often limited to the aggregation of individual cases within the context of the organizational case. Borrowing from Stake’s (1995) use of instrumental and intrinsic case studies, this paper presents a fractal geometry case study method. For the purposes of this article, on site interviews of seventeen librarians who work in a research institution were conducted to learn more about their experiences with organizational change. Instrumental case studies of these individuals, or rather those cases that respond to other phenomena, were performed and analyzed at the micro level. A clustering technique, serving as a fractal seed, was also incorporated to draw out themes that highlighted the interconnections of individuals. These cases were then recursively integrated into an emergent framework of the intrinsic case of the organization. The use of this method suggests that observations of individuals, and the subsequent meaning they generate at the micro level, reflect the complex interconnections of these cases. At the same time, this method suggests that the recursive integration of individual cases contributes to the understanding of the complex organization at the macro level.
Comparing Impact of Green Open Access and Toll-Access Publication in the Chemical Sciences
(Elsevier, 2025) Walker, Kevin W.; Gilstrap, Donald L.; Scalfani, Vincent F.; Walker, Elaine
This study investigates the comparative research impact and dissemination of green open access (GOA) and traditional toll-access (TA) publications within the chemical sciences. Employing programmatic data harvesting via ChemRxiv and Scopus APIs and integrating both descriptive and inferential statistical analyses, this research presents a replicable framework for bibliometric assessment. The findings indicate that GOA publications achieve higher levels of social media engagement and exhibit citation rates comparable to those of TA publications, even when featured in journals with lower h-index scores, suggesting enhanced visibility and sustained readership. Notably, the study underscores the critical importance of controlling for article age, as demonstrated by the significant correlational interactions between age and key bibliometric and altmetric measures. This insight not only fills a gap in existing literature but also informs effective methodological approaches for future analyses. The confirmation of non-normal distribution behaviors in these metrics reinforces the need for non-parametric analytical methods, highlighting the limitations of traditional parametric comparisons. Collectively, these findings contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of how access models shape scholarly impact and underscore the necessity of employing robust, tailored statistical methods. The study advocates for continued longitudinal research to further elucidate the complex dynamics of research dissemination and engagement.
Connecticut Community Colleges Join Forces to Share Library System
(2001) Gilstrap, Donald L.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Libraries of the twelve community colleges in the state of Connecticut recently joined together to purchase and share the Endeavor Voyager integrated library management system.
Critical Reflection as an Irreversible Process: Epicurus, the Arrow of Time, and an Ontology for Organizational Learning
(2010) Gilstrap, Donald L.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Time’s Arrow has been widely debated in scientific and philosophical circles, yet this theoretical construct is relatively nascent in the social and behavioral sciences. More specifically, we may have much to discover from this lens when viewed in the context of organizational learning. The purpose of this article is to extend this research through an interdisciplinary framework of philosophy, history of science, and organizational learning by focusing specifically on critical reflection as an irreversible process. Returning to Epicurus’s original investigation of time, this paper argues for an ontology that links irreversible processes with Prigogine’s description of the Arrow of Time. Furthermore, defining critical reflection as an irreversible process then leads to an epistemological framework that helps describe change over time during organizational learning processes.
Developments in Central and Eastern Europe: The Alliance of Universities for Democracy and Higher Education Reform
(2000) Gilstrap, Donald L.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
This article highlights the tenth conference of the Alliance of Universities for Democracy (AUDEM) held in Budapest, Hungary. Over the past ten years, AUDEM members have been instrumental in the reform of higher education in Central and Eastern Europe based on democratic principles. This year, government officials, college administrators, faculty members, and academic librarians from around the world met to foster continuing discourse on the direction higher education might move in the future and the implications this presents for all of us in a global society.
Dialogic and the Emergence of Criticality in Complex Group Processes
(2008) Gilstrap, Donald L.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
This article suggests how Paulo Freire’s ontology of subjective reality is influenced through nonlinear and non‐deterministic perspectives of a world of open and irreversible rather than dynamically conservative systems. By problematizing the relationship of critical theory to complexity theory, we are able to generate an epistemology of criticality that recursively makes meaning out of our descriptions of human interaction. This epistemological challenge leads us to interpretive analyses that identify recursion as a catalyst for emergence in critical group dynamics in education. Equally, educators who are confronted with far from equilibrium environments can utilize the concepts of connected knowing, thematic investigation, dialogic, and interdisciplinary teams to reflect critically on the limiting aspects of near equilibrium conditions, contrasting them with the potentially transformative qualities of complex systems.
Digital Literacy and the Emergence of Technology-Based Curriculum Theories
(2014) Gilstrap, Donald L.; Mallon, Melissa N.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
A shifting focus in education is resulting in more networked, technology-enhanced classrooms. Contemporary educators need to be aware of the skill sets students require to thrive in twenty-first century educational environments. This developmental and learnercentered approach, known as digital literacy, enables students to use technology to find, evaluate, organize, create, and communicate information. This chapter, therefore, proposes a theoretical framework for teaching digital literacy. The authors examine contemporary learning theories, including connectivism and chaos and complexity theories, in an effort to promote further discussion on the epistemological development of digital literacy. Taking into consideration advantages and barriers to promoting digital literacy in the classroom, the authors propose best practices for educators seeking to incorporate these competencies into their curricula.
Dissipative Structures in Educational Change: Prigogine and the Academy
(2007) Gilstrap, Donald L.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
This article is an interpretive study of the theory of irreversible and dissipative systems process transformation of Nobel Prize winning physicist Ilya Prigogine and how it relates to the phenomenological study of leadership and organizational change in educational settings. Background analysis on the works of Prigogine is included as a foundation for human inquiry and metaphor generation for open, dissipative systems in educational settings. International case study research by contemporary systems and leadership theorists on dissipative structures theory has also been included to form the interpretive framework for exploring alternative models of leadership theory in far from equilibrium educational settings. Interpretive analysis explores the metaphorical significance, connectedness, and inference of dissipative systems and helps further our knowledge of human-centered transformations in schools and colleges.
Human Ecological Complexity: Epistemological Implications of Social Networking and Emerging Curriculum Theories
(2011) Gilstrap, Donald L.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
This article explores the growing use of social networking among contemporary students and researchers in education. It is argued that social networking systems exhibit many of the characteristics of complex systems, such as self-organization and far-from-equilibrium conditions. This article, therefore, contends that curriculum development in the near future will be deeply impacted by social networks. Equally, curriculum scholars are in a unique position to integrate chaos and complexity theories which help to recreate the ontological and epistemological frameworks needed to respond to social networking phenomena.
Increasing Undergraduate Socioeconomic Diversity At a Highly Selective Private Research University: a Case Study in Organizational Change
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2022) Tillman, Anthony; Laanan, Frankie S.; Major, Claire H.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Education is the value proposition that provides individuals the opportunity to becomemeaningful contributors to society, their community, and their immediate families. It is thecalling card of personal achievement and individual intrinsic benefits. Education is about accessand opportunity. Institutions continue to navigate strategies of access to achieve diversity ontheir college campuses, especially racial and/or ethnic diversity. This outcome has becomechallenging in light of several rulings through the federal courts, Hopwood v University of Texas,1996; Gratz v Bollinger, 2003; and laws passed by state legislatures such as California'sProposition 209, effectively eliminating race conscious affirmative action admissions policies.The net effect of these cases and laws resulted in colleges and universities exploring otheradmissions strategies to continue to support the presence of diversity on their campuses. This study specifically focused on a private, selective institution of higher education and its efforts toincrease the socioeconomic diversity of its undergraduate population. This qualitative studyincluded structured interviews with 19 executive and senior institutional leaders to understandtheir experiences in the decision-making process resulting in organizational change. Thefollowing themes emerging from this study were organizational change, decision-making,institutional culture, and student activism. The findings of this study will inform senior leveluniversity administrators of the considerations involved in effective strategic planning.Institutions of higher education have always had an important role to play in increasing thecollege participation and success of students from low socioeconomic backgrounds.
Le Délégué de la Compagnie: Claude E. Boillot and the Suez Canal Crisis of 1956-57
(1995-08) Gilstrap, Donald L.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
For 90 years the Compagnie Universelle du Canal Maritime de Suez played an integral role in the economic development and stability of the world. The Suez Canal connects the western world to the eastern, and, consequently, a vast majority of the world's imports and exports reach their destinations via the canal. However, on July 26, 1956, President Gamul Abd'ul Nasser of Egypt nationalized both the canal and the company, and the world was thrown into political and economic chaos. The majority of the Suez Company information utilized in the writing of this work focuses on the Claude E. Boillot collection, which has recently been opened at the Eisenhower Presidential Library in Abilene, Kansas. During the crisis, Boillot served as a bi-lingual intermediary between the company's New York and Paris offices. Due to his presence in New York, Boillot was able to meet and interact with various international businesspersons and delegates to the United Nations. As a result of Boillot's actions during the crisis, the company was able to preserve some rights which would later be significant in reaching a settlement between the Egyptian government and the Suez Company. Throughout the crisis, Boillot argued the illegality of the Egyptian nationalization among the international politicians and the American public. When the canal was blocked by President Nasser, Boillot helped to facilitate immediate deblockage efforts to avoid a global economic catastrophe. And finally, Boillot repeatedly demanded rights for the company and its pensioners and stockholders from the nationalization in 1956 until the canal settlement in 1958. It is the purpose of this work to provide further insight into the role of the company as well as the successes and failures of the international diplomats during the crisis.
Leadership and Decision-Making in Team-Based Organizations: A Model of Bounded Chaotic Cycling in Emerging System States
(2013) Gilstrap, Donald L.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
This article discusses the results of both intrinsic and instrumental case study investigations of team-based leadership and decision-making in an Association of Research Libraries (ARL) institution undergoing dramatic change and restructuring activities. Since team-based models were used extensively within the organization, systems theory is introduced. Chaos theory is next explained as a more robust theoretical framework for analyzing and describing the turbulence and rapid changes encountered by individuals attempting to make sense of these organizational shifts at both the micro and macro levels. Findings of this research suggest that a paradox occurs during periods of restructuring activities in organizations going through significant change: 1) models which are alternatives to traditional hierarchical bureaucracies are necessary for organizations to break from the status quo when confronted with the need for rapid and inclusive decision-making, and 2) organizational structures heavily influenced by self-organizing teams go through recursive phases of expansion, leading to unbounded chaos in leadership and decision-making processes. Employees identified a lack of individual accountability in team-based decisionmaking, the challenges of leadership at the individual level, and the need for defined supervisory roles were all issues to be addressed for the continued, successful evolution of the organization. As a result of these findings, the author then introduces an iterative, phase state model of chaotic cycling in emerging system states. This model focuses on bounded chaotic systems that blend selforganization with structural feedback mechanisms in leadership and decisionmaking processes.
Librarians and the Emerging Research Library: a Case Study of Complex Individual and Organizational Development
(2007) Gilstrap, Donald L.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
The purpose of this case study was to increase the knowledge base of how research librarians experience and cope with the turbulence of change within their library system. This research also examined the issues that surround the organizational structures and leadership of transformative change in one research library. A library belonging to the Association of Research Libraries was selected for case study investigation. Seventeen librarians participated in on-site interviews, utilizing a protocol composed of a clustering technique and semi-structured interviewing. Instrumental case studies of each individual were then developed through a collective case method to present the intrinsic case study of the library system as an organization. Data were analyzed primarily through a complex systems theoretical framework while at the same time were grounded in a broad literature base of organizational, leadership, individual change, and library organizational development theories. The findings of the study include: the competing tensions between the physical and virtual environments, the search for professional meaning, coping with the experiences of professional change, the evolution of the organizational structure, and leadership as a shared experience. Analysis of the findings suggest: the emergence of a hypercritical state, the limiting nature of negative feedback, a complex systems framework for professional thinking, coping in the hypercritical organization, the emergence of disorder in the complex system, the blending of self-organizing systems with structural feedback mechanisms, and the complexity of leadership in the new research library.
Managing World Wide Web Information in a Frames Environment: A Guide to Constructing Web Pages Using Frames
(1998) Gilstrap, Donald L.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
This article serves as a guide for building World Wide Web pages using frames-based HTML. It covers the basic of frames tags and provides descriptions and examples for writing frames HTML code. Advanced concepts are included, as well as additional techniques for home page design.
New Rates of Exchange: Technological Integration and University Libraries in Central and Eastern Europe
(2000) Gilstrap, Donald L.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Over the course of the past ten years, Central- and Eastern-European Countries have seen significant changes in virtually all sectors of society. Higher education has been transformed, bringing western philosophies to the discussion table and introducing technology into areas once devoid of this medium. University libraries have also undergone fundamental philosophical and organizational changes while integrating and utilizing technology to perform many of the functions that were once labor intensive. In this paper, I would like to provide a brief analysis of the overall progress that has been made so far in regard to technological integration within C&EE university libraries and then present possible scenarios and models for technology and information infrastructure development for C&EE universities moving into the 21st century.
Phenomenological Reduction and Emergent Design: Complementary Methods for Leadership Narrative Interpretation and Metanarrative Development
(2007-03) Gilstrap, Donald L.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
The author’s intent in this paper is to discuss new methods for conducting research on and connecting the works of chaos and complexity theorists with interpretive, hermeneutical, and phenomenological theorists as a multiple-method mode of inquiry. He proposes a methodological design that incorporates a recursive process of phenomenological reduction to find connectedness and generate shared meanings among the research performed by leadership theorists. He also provides an emergent metanarrative method for presenting research results, using a complexity-based, interpretive framework.
Quantitative Research Methods in Chaos and Complexity: From Probability to Post Hoc Regression Analyses
(2013) Gilstrap, Donald L.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
In addition to qualitative methods presented in chaos and complexity theories in educational research, this article addresses quantitative methods that may show potential for future research studies. Although much in the social and behavioral sciences literature has focused on computer simulations, this article explores current chaos and complexity methods that have the potential to bridge the divide between qualitative and quantitative, as well as theoretical and applied, human research studies. These methods include multiple linear regression, nonlinear regression, stochastics, Monte Carlo methods, Markov Chains, and Lyapunov exponents. A postulate for post hoc regression analysis is then presented as an example of an emergent, recursive, and iterative quantitative method when dealing with interaction effects and collinearity among variables. This postulate also highlights the power of both qualitative and quantitative chaos and complexity theories in order to observe and describe both the micro and macro levels of systemic emergence.

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