Results & Findings

Our edited volume Academic Libraries for Commuter Students: Research-Based Strategies (2018) is available from ALA Editions, or available to download as an open access book.

Our book on how CUNY students use technology in their academic work, Digital Technology as Affordance and Barrier in Higher Education (2017), is available from Palgrave Macmillan, or see the preview in Google Books.

We’ve also created a website to share the visual data from our 2009-2011 research: Finding Places, Making Spaces.

Since beginning our research we’ve presented our findings at numerous conferences and other venues. Selected slides and other presentation materials are below.

We’ve published several articles on aspects of our study, as well as two project reports:

Online Learning with In-Person Technology: Student & Faculty Experiences in Hybrid/Online Courses at CUNY (May 2018), a report on research with Prof. Jean Amaral in 2015-2016

Mapping student days: Collaborative ethnography and the student experience. (2017) Collaborative Librarianship, the results of a study at 8 institutions, co-written with Andrew Asher, Jean Amaral, Juliann Couture, Donna Lanclos, Sara Lowe, and Barbara Fister.

“I am more productive in the library because it’s quiet:” Commuter students in the college library. (2015) College & Research Libraries

Serving the commuter college student in urban academic libraries. (July 2015) Urban Library Journal

“I’m just really comfortable:” Learning at home, learning in libraries. (May 2015) In the Library with the Lead Pipe

Commuter students using technology. (2014) EDUCAUSE Review Online

The Scholarly Habits of Undergraduates at CUNY: Preliminary Report (January 2011) presents an initial analysis of the data gathered during our 2009-2010 fieldwork.

Conference Presentations and Other Talks

“Technology is great, but it’s really time-consuming:” Understanding students’ digital academic lives. Keynote presentation, CUNY IT Conference, Deecmber 6, 2019.

Understanding the whole student: CUNY undergraduates’ lived experiences. Keynote at Teach @ CUNY Day, May 8, 2017. Video | Slides | Notes

A Day in the Life: Practical Strategies for Understanding Student Space-Use Practices, presented at the Library Assessment Conference, November 1, 2016. Co-presented with Andrew Asher, Jean Amaral, Juliann Couture, Sara Lowe, Donna Lanclos, and Barbara Fister. Slides | Paper

The Topography of Learning: Using Cognitive Mapping to Evolve and Innovate in the Academic Library, presented at the Association of College & Research Libraries Conference, March 29, 2015. Co-presented with Donna Lanclos, Andrew Asher, Lesley Gourlay. Slides (Prezi) | Storify

“Anytime I’m on the train, I would just type it up:” Commuter Students Using Technology, keynote at the York College Symposium on Teaching and Learning with Technology, October 31, 2014. Slides | Notes (both PDF)

“I like being under those rules here:” Students Using the College Library, presented at Reinventing Libraries, Reinventing Assessment, Baruch College, June 6, 2014. Slides with notes (PDF)

How CUNY Students Create and Negotiate Learning Spaces, presented at the CUNY CUE Conference, LaGuardia Community College, May 2, 2014. Slides | Notes (both PDF)

Tech Stories: CUNY Students Using Technology, presented at the Teaching & Technology Conference, Baruch College, March 28, 2014. Slides | Notes (both PDF)

“It’s an internet phone, but I don’t have internet:” Students Using Technology, presented at the CUNY IT Conference, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, December 5, 2013. Slides (Prezi) | Notes (PDF)

Embedded and Engaged in Higher Education: Researching Student Entanglements with Technology. Roundtable presented at the American Anthropological Association Annual Meetings, Chicago, November 22, 2013. Co-presented with Andrew Asher, Lesley Gourlay, Lori Jahnke, and Donna Lanclos. Slides (Prezi) | Post-roundtable writeup by D. Lanclos | Storify

“The Campus Doesn’t Have a Refrigerator” Student Study Habits and the Library, presented at the Hunter College Library Faculty Teaching & Research Forum, December 14, 2011. Slides (PDF)

“I could study anywhere, as long as I could sit I’ll study:” Student Spaces and Pathways at the City University of New York, presented at the American Anthropological Association Annual Meetings, Montreal, November 16-20, 2011. Paper | Slides (both PDF)

“Sometimes I type papers on my cell phone:” Mobile Digital Technologies and CUNY Students, presented at MobilityShifts: An International Future of Learning Summit, The New School, NY, October 10-16, 2011. Slides | Notes (both PDF)

Feeling Like a Third Wheel? Leveraging Faculty-Student-Librarian Relationships for Student Success. Poster presented at the ACRL 2011 National Conference, Philadelphia, March 30-April 2, 2011. Co-presented with Andrew Asher and Susan Miller of the ERIAL Project. Poster (PDF) | Handout (PDF)

On Beyond Surveys! Using Ethnographic Methods to Inform Design in Academic Libraries. Poster presented at the ACRL/NY Symposium at Baruch College, December 10, 2010.


(Click image to enlarge)

Undergraduate Scholarly Habits Ethnography Project, Grace Ellen McCrann Memorial Lecture, LACUNY Spring Membership Meeting, CUNY Graduate Center, June 11, 2010.

Preliminary results from City Tech were presented at the City Tech 7th Annual Poster Session of Faculty and Student Research on November 19, 2009.

City Tech Faculty Poster Session