Research
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Edited Books
Training Library Instructors, Vol 1: A Guide to Training Graduate Students
Matthew Weirick Johnson (Ed.). ACRL.Training Library Instructors, Vol 2: A Guide to Training Librarians
Matthew Weirick Johnson (Ed.). ACRL.
Peer-reviewed Articles
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Job control, library instruction, and burnout: A quantitative analysis of academic instruction librarians’ experiences of job control while teaching
2025. Matthew Weirick Johnson. College & Research Libraries.
Open AccessProviding library instruction, often via one-shots in someone else's classroom, may reduce feelings of agency or job control for academic instruction librarians. This study addresses potential differences in job control across core responsibilities, specifically looking at the difference between job duties overall and instruction responsibilities.
As we consider the characteristics of library instruction, we should consider how those characteristics impact librarian agency in teaching spaces and acts. For job control with regard to instruction, training and experience may have specific impacts and should be pursued as a means to empower academic library instructors.
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The burden of proving burnout in academic library workers
2024. Matthew Weirick Johnson, Sylvia Page. Canadian Journal of Academic Librarianship.
Open AccessCurrent paradigms of assessment, measurement, and evidence-based practice in libraries, which inform administrative and managerial action (or inaction), construct an undue burden of proof for burnout (and other negative workplace conditions) that denies library workers the care and interventions necessary for them to thrive in their workplace and that leads to continued exploitative practices and emotional extraction.
Frequently, burnout has to be proven through quantitative rather than qualitative processes, and the lack of quantitative data allows administrators to ignore burnout’s prevalence. Similarly, when solutions to burnout are considered, they're approached without consideration of individual worker needs. Through the focus on quantification, we bureaucratically obscure the individual in favour of a plurality, and develop solutions that serve those at the centre but not the margins.
The phenomenon of burnout can be understood as a symptom of larger labour concerns throughout libraries and other workplaces that result from an overreliance on (quantitative) evidence-based paradigms and the mining of affect in service of “workplace wellbeing.” Library innovation, then, improves the functioning of the library for users in a model where the library is not a workplace and the library workers are not considered a user group. In some cases, library resources receive far more consideration and care than the people working in the library both in terms of space and support.
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Use of the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory among US academic librarians: Examining construct validity through factor structure and model fit
2024. Matthew Weirick Johnson. The Journal of Academic Librarianship.
Open AccessBurnout is a pervasive problem in libraries; however, little empirical evidence exists to demonstrate burnout's extent and to assist in identifying evidence-based solutions. As far as quantitative analysis of burnout is concerned, the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) has been a primary tool for measuring burnout among human services workers. However, the tool is proprietary and can be cost-prohibitive for large samples or small/non-existent budgets. As we consider the measurement of burnout as a field, open tools are better aligned with the values of librarianship, and free tools are better aligned with the resources available for conducting research or internal assessments. The Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) is a non-commercial, free, and easy-to-administer tool for measuring burnout across three dimensions: personal, work-related, and client-related. The CBI presents a cost-effective alternative to the MBI which may be particularly enticing for academic library leaders and researchers. This study assesses the psychometric properties, including factor structure and scale reliability, to contribute to demonstrating construct validity of the CBI among academic librarians in the United Studies using a probability sample stratified by institutional Carnegie classifications and geographic region.
Confirmatory Factory Analysis (CFA) is used the examine the factor structure and model fit of five models for the CBI: a correlated three factors model, a correlated two factors model (using work-related and client-related burnout), and three single factor models for each of the three independent subscales (personal, work-related, and client-related burnout). The factorial validity and model fit for the five models demonstrated in the study are reasonable, suggesting that the items in the three scales are successfully measuring the latent constructs (personal burnout, work-related burnout, and client-related burnout), which contributes to construct validity. The expected relationship between the observed variables (the items in the measurement model) and the latent constructs is supported by the CFA analyses. While other examinations of validity, including other aspects of construct validity, should also be examined, the findings support the use of the CBI for measurement of burnout among academic librarians.
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Academic instruction librarians' feelings of job control: Quantitative analysis of responses to a job control inventory
2024. Matthew Weirick Johnson. The Journal of Academic Librarianship.
Publisher's VersionJob control encompasses a range of dimensions that reflect the extent to which employees have the freedom and discretion to make decisions about their work. Job control includes control over tasks, scheduling, work pacing, physical environment, decision-making, interaction, and mobility. A web survey was administered to academic librarians with instruction responsibilities. The survey included a previously developed scale for measuring job control and several key demographic and job characteristic questions that were hypothesized to impact job control. 307 academic instruction librarians completed the job control scale. Analyzing each item in the job control scale, teaching workload, status, income, years at institution and in libraries, teacher training, union representation, and tenure status have statistically significant effects on responses to at least one question in the scale. Through analysis of the average response among academic instruction librarians in the sample, control over decision-making, including allocation of resources and salaries, and interactions appear to be two places where managers and library leaders may focus improvements. Control over the amount of money academic instruction librarians earn and over how their work is evaluated were the lowest across the 22 items in the job control scale. As library leaders and managers consider the practical implications of job control research on their work, earnings, evaluation processes, and interactions or interruptions may be key areas to enact changes or provide further transparency and shared decision-making.
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The limits of inclusion in open access: Accessible access, universal design, and open educational resources
2023. Matthew Weirick Johnson, Salma Abumeeiz. Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication.
Open AccessIntroduction: The impacts of open educational resources (OER) are both well-documented and far-reaching. Without mitigating the positive outcomes of OER—including reduced textbook costs, readily available knowledge platforms, and open research—we problematize the commonly held assumption that open resources are necessarily more accessible and inherently good.
Description of Program: Drawing on writing from antiracist, feminist disability researchers and advocates, we critically examine the UCLA Library online open educational initiative known as Writing Instruction + Research Education (WI+RE). In doing so, we (1) demonstrate how open access (OA) is often framed as an end, when in fact it is just the beginning; (2) encourage readers to resist evangelizing the OA movement such that it is beyond critique; and (3) advocate for the centering of disability justice within and beyond our OA efforts.
Next Steps: We discuss both general and specific approaches for centering accessibility in creative processes, advocate for expanded definitions of OERs (beyond simply being “free”), and caution against evangelizing OERs without acknowledging the structural factors that contribute to inaccessibility. We outline four strategies and recommendations for other practitioners, educators, and designers seeking to build accessibility and dis-ability justice into OER design and OA initiatives more broadly. We approach OER both practically and theoretically to present an argument and path forward for designing more accessible resources and expanding OA through accessible access and universal design.
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Job control and its impacts on burnout in academic instruction librarians
2023. Matthew Weirick Johnson. Journal of Library Administration.
PDF Publisher's VersionLibrarians have been grappling with the issue of burnout for decades, at least. This study uses the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) and Job Control Inventory to show how job control impacts burnout. Using the CBI, academic instruction librarians, on average, have high work-related burnout and even higher personal burnout compared to other jobs. However, librarians have low client-related burnout, similar to other “caring” or “helping” professions. The findings point to key factors that impact job control and burnout to help consider ways of mitigating burnout and increasing job control.
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Collaborative research services: A peer-led cohort approach
2023. Matthew Weirick Johnson, Estéfani Bowline, Diana Leigh King, Antonia Osuna-Garcia, Sylvia Page, Alohie Tadesse, Maggie Tarmey, Matthew Vest. Reference Services Review.
PDF Publisher's VersionPurpose
Prior to 2020, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Library's research services spanned multiple service points. Multiple locations were staffed by Library Student Research Assistants (LSRAs) and each location was supervised independently. While efforts to increase collaboration had been underway, much of the work and services remained siloed and often duplicated training and service hours.
Design/methodology/approach
With the onset of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), UCLA Library rapidly transitioned from entirely in-person to entirely online services. With multiple service points pivoting, UCLA was redundant to have multiple online desks providing Zoom appointments and that quickly became apparent. Moreover, transitioning in-person student work to remote work was paramount to providing both normal services to users and allowing LSRAs to keep jobs during a time of uncertainty and insecurity.
Findings
While the authors' original consolidation of services and implementation of shared supervision was a result of the pandemic and primarily involved online services, the authors have maintained this shared approach and collaborative vision in returning to in-person services. For the past year, the authors have offered shared in-person (at two library locations) and online services. As subject-specific library locations begin to reopen their desks, the authors continue to identify ways to leverage shared supervision and a robust referral model for those on-site services while negotiating student staffing and the need for both general and subject-specific services.
Originality/value
The authors present a novel approach to peer-to-peer teaching and learning and research services and shared student worker supervision with services coordinated across multiple locations and disciplines within a large academic library serving a large student population.
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The Community Workshop Series: A case study for community-engaged learning in LIS
2021. Matthew Weirick Johnson, Meggie Lasher. Library Trends.
PDF Publisher's VersionFor over a decade, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) has offered some variation of the Community Workshop Series (CWS), a partnership to provide digital literacy and computer technology classes to community members at local public libraries. Both authors have served as coordinators of the program as library science graduate students at the UNC School of Information and Library Science. We situate this program within existing literature on digital and information literacy, community engagement, and the graduate student experience to show the utility of this program and similar programs for training graduate students, enhancing the graduate student experience, supporting the needs of community members, and bolstering the capacities of public libraries. The authors provide an overview of the program and encourage others to start similar programs. To this end, the authors present a case study of the CWS, including discussion of creating the program and keeping things going, and provide a how-to guide for creating your own. The authors identify four recommendations for creating a similar program to clearly delineate takeaways that might inform readers’ attempts to create similar programs, and they provide additional materials and documentation in appendices to support the creation of new community-engaged programs in LIS.
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Collaborative digital projects in the undergraduate humanities classroom: Case studies with TimelineJS
2021. Spencer D. C. Keralis, Courtney E. Jacobs, Matthew Weirick Johnson. Journal of Interactive Technology and Pedagogy.
Open AccessThis article presents case studies for the use of TimelineJS in two types of courses: sophomore-level humanities survey courses at the University of North Texas (UNT), and senior capstone history seminars at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), both large land-grant research institutions. The case studies offer a framework for assignment scaffolding (including iteration and reflection), FERPA rights management, and describe models of faculty-librarian collaboration in assignment design and implementation. These assignments provide students an introduction to basic metadata and HTML markup skills and empower them to explore the historical contexts of primary sources by visualizing the chronology of historical periods.
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Book Chapters
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Library instruction training and the MLIS: A review of the literature
2024. Matthew Weirick Johnson.
In M. W. Johnson (Ed.) Training Library Instructors, Vol 1: A Guide to Training Graduate Students.
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Everyday evidence to assess teaching and learning: A programmatic assessment of library instruction
2023. Matthew Weirick Johnson, Michelle Brasseur, Monica Hagan, Diane Mizrachi, Jimmy Zavala.
In C. W. Wiley, A. B. Click & M. Houlihan (Eds.) Everyday Evidence-Based Practice in Academic Libraries: Case Studies and Reflections.
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Transforming our identities as learners and instructors: A library instruction training program
2023. Matthew Weirick Johnson, Michelle Brasseur, Alexandra Solodkaya, Hannah Sutherland.
In A. N. Hess (Ed.) Instructional Identities and Information Literacy (Vol 2): Transforming Our Programs, Institutions, and Profession.
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Promoting critical reading through learner-centered design: WI+RE’s approach to open online learning
2023. Salma Abumeeiz, Christopher Lopez, Matthew Weirick Johnson, Kian Ravaei, Renee Romero, Hannah Sutherland, Doug Worsham.
In H. G. Rempel & R. Hamelers (Eds.) Teaching Critical Reading Skills: Strategies for Academic Librarians, Volume 2.
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Writing and Research Training Program: A UCLA campus partnership to support BIPOC, LGBTQIA, and disabled student researchers
2023. Akua Agyen, Jason Araújo, Matthew Weirick Johnson, Simon Lee, Ashley Newby, Renee Romero, Laurel Westrup.
In M. K. Hensley, H. Fargo & S. Davis-Kahl (Eds.) Undergraduate Research and the Academic Librarian: Case Studies and Best Practices, Volume 2.
PDF Publisher's VersionIn summer 2020, the authors collaborated on the fifth iteration of the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship (MMUF) Summer Writing and Research Train-ing Program (WRTP). The program is intended to support writing and research skills development for BIPOC, LGBTQIA, and disabled student researchers in-terested in pursuing careers in academia. Our chapter details the history of the program, elaborates on the extensive campus partnerships involved in its success, and provides reflections and best practices around program coordination, cultur-ally responsive pedagogy, student experience outside the classroom, and remote instruction to help others establish similar programs at their institutions. In par-ticular, we explore the necessary structures to create a sustainable and flexible program that has continued successfully for several years while also accounting for changing student needs, changes in personnel, historical events like protests and the pandemic, and a shift from offering the program in-person to online.
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What’s in a workload? Affect, burnout, and complicating capacity in academic librarians
2022. Matthew Weirick Johnson, Sylvia Page.
In C. Holm, A. Guimaraes & N. Marcano (Eds.) Academic Librarian Burnout: Causes and Responses.
PDF Publisher's VersionThe connections between emotional labor and emotional exhaustion are underexplored in burnout literature. This is particularly troubling for service professions and feminized fields such as librarianship where invisible labor in the form of emotional labor is often an expected aspect of the job. To better consider affective and emotional labor, we explore these concepts and their application in library literature, and we discuss the ways that burnout is gendered and raced. We consider existing literature on burnout in academic libraries, assessment of burnout among academic librarians, and proposed solutions for burnout. We present several recommendations for approaching affect, burnout, and complicating capacity in order to more holistically understand and combat burnout.
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Other Publications
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Keeping up with...burnout
2024. Matthew Weirick Johnson. ACRL Keeping Up With... Series.
Open Access
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Teaching in the digital library: A partnership between teaching librarians and digital library staff
2021. Matthew Weirick Johnson, Salma Abumeeiz, Elizabeth McAulay. College & Research Libraris News.
Open AccessOn March 10, 2020, UCLA announced a transition to remote teaching through the end of winter quarter. Remote teaching has been extended through all subsequent teaching periods through summer 2021. Similarly, remote work has remained a predominant work situation for the majority of UCLA Library staff, although some staff have returned to in-person work to support services that required on-site activity. A wider return to work will begin in July 2021. After this year and a half of remote teaching, UCLA is planning to return to primarily in-person instruction starting in fall 2021 in line with changes to Los Angeles County public health guidelines.
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Book Review: Library Trends issue: Labor in academic libraries
2020. Matthew Weirick Johnson. The Librarian Parlor.
Open Access
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Book Review: Masked by trust: Bias in library discovery
2019. Matthew Weirick Johnson. The Librarian Parlor.
Open Access
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Book Review: Critical approaches to credit-bearing information literacy courses
2019. Matthew Weirick Johnson. The Librarian Parlor.
Open Access
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Personal health data, surveillance, & biopolitics: Toward a personal health data information literacy
2018. Matthew Weirick Johnson. Progressive Librarian.
Open AccessAs consumer wearable health and mobile health technologies become embedded in everyday life, coalescing with the integration and use of personal health data and the personal health record in the sprawling domains of the medical-industrial complex (MIC), health/information literacy (H/IL) and data information literacy (DIL), become more important, both for users of these wearable devices and for undergraduate students who might be folded into the research process as participants or researchers.
The present paper argues for the integration of information literacy skills and instruction with a critical understanding of personal health data to provide useful skills for managing the massive amounts of personal health data that users are generating. My goal is to argue for an expansion of data information literacy to provide the necessary skills for users and researchers to critically assess their relationship to personal health data, understanding the concurrent modes of doing and undergoing surveillance.
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‘All human beings, as we meet them, are commingled out of good and evil’: Connections between person and place in Wuthering Heights
2016. Matthew Weirick Johnson. Philologia.
Open AccessWuthering Heights presents two very different locations: Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. Within the novel, these two locations are constantly at war, as are their inhabitants, forming two dueling camps. This paper looks at the locative characterizations developed by the Heights and the Grange in their inhabitants and the movements of the various characters of the novel.
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