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That's the DSU equation. We're a four-year university with nationally recognized programs, cutting-edge facilities, and the brightest thinkers. But we're also a tight-knit, inclusive community. Small class sizes mean hands-on training and individualized attention. All this with an affordable, public school price that's among the best values in the region.

Majors & Degrees

Mary Francis

Mary Francis

Mary Francis

Director of the Library

Department

Karl E. Mundt Library

Education

M.S., Technology in Education & Training, University of South Dakota, 2013
M.A., Library & Information Systems, The University of Iowa, 2006
B.A., English, The Franciscan University, 2004

Biography

Mary Francis has a Master's in Library and Information Science from the University of Iowa and a Master's in Technology for Education and Training from the University of South Dakota. She is currently working on an Ed.D. in Adult and Higher Education Administration from the University of South Dakota. Her current research interests include: the use of fun as a motivational technique in instruction, the impact of the library on student success, and privacy issues related to student data systems.

Contact

Office Location: Karl E. Mundt Library
Phone: 605-256-5203
Email

Current research interests: the impact of the library on student success and privacy issues related to student success information systems

  • 2010 - South Dakota Library Association New Librarian of the Year 

  • 2021 - South Dakota State Library. ARPA Grant. $5000.
  • 2013 - Faculty Research Initiative Grant. $2000. Dakota State University.
  • 2011 - Faculty Research Initiative Grant $2000. Dakota State University.

  • Francis, M. and Steinhagen, D. (2023) “Developing a Privacy Research Lab: Activities and Impact of PriLab.” Practicing Privacy Literacy in Academic Libraries. Ed. Sarah Hartman-Caverly and Alexandria Chisholm. ACRL: Chicago, IL. 

  • Francis, M. (2021) The Treatment of Privacy in Professional Codes of Ethics: An International Survey. Library Quarterly (91.3): 304-321.
  • Steinhagen, D., Lucas, C., Francis, M., Lawrence, M., & Streff, K. (2021) An Inventory of Privacy Curricula Offerings in Higher Education. Information Systems Education Journal (19.3): 21-30.
  • Francis, M. (2021) Open Educational Resources. CLIPP #45. Association of College & Research Libraries: Chicago, IL.
  • Francis, M. (2020) The Library Outreach Cookbook. Ed. Ryan Sittler & Terra Rogerson. Association of College & Research Libraries: Chicago, IL.
  • Francis, M. (2017) The Fun of Motivation: Crossing the Threshold Concepts. Publications in Librarianship Series #71. Association of College & Research Libraries: Chicago, IL.
  • Francis, M. (2015) “Assessing Online Graduate Students.” Putting Assessment into Action: Selected Projects from the First Cohort of the Assessment in Action Grant. Ed. Eric Ackermann. Association of College & Research Libraries: Chicago, IL.
  • Francis, M. (2014) “Assessing Varied Instructional Approaches in the Instruction of Online Graduate Students.” Library & Information Research (38.119): 3-12.
  • Francis, M. (2013) “Peer Reviewers of Academic Journals: Who is Responsible for Our Professional Literature.” College & Research Libraries. (74.6): 536-545.
  • Francis, M. (2013) “Turning the ‘e’ into an ‘A’: Successfully taking an online course.” Continuing Education for Librarians: Workshops, Conferences, College and Related Education. Ed. Kerol Harrod and Vera Gubnitskaia . McFarland Publishing.
  • Francis, M. (2012) “Using Fun to Teach Rigorous Content.” Communications in Information Literacy. (6.2): 151-159.
  • Francis, M. (2012) “Making Embedded Librarians a Part of an Online Community of Learners.” Journal of Library & Information Services in Distance Learning, (6.1): 19-27.
  • Francis, M. (2012) “Weeding the Reference Collection: A Case Study of Collection Management.” The Reference Librarian. (53.2): 219-234.
  • Francis, M. (2011) “Turning a One Campus Book Event Into a Web 2.0 Experience: The First Two Years.” College & Undergraduate Libraries (18.4): 399-408.
  • Francis, M. (2010) “Fulfillment of a Higher Order: Placing Information Literacy within Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.” C&RLNews, (71.3): 140-142, 159.
  • Francis, M. (2009) “Chocolate Upside-Down Research Process.” Library Instruction Cookbook. Ed. Ryan L. Sittler and Doug Cook. ACRL: Chicago, IL.
  • Francis, M. (2008) “The Issues Facing Librarians and Physicians: Facilitating Quality Research in the Internet Age.” C&RL News, (69.7): 402-403.
  • Francis, M. (2008) “Book Review: ‘Rewarding Virtue: The Presidency and Benjamin Franklin’s Plan for Moral Perfection’.” Bookmarks, (May/June).
  • Francis, M. (2006) “Interview to interaction: Towards a terminology of equality in reference work.” Library Student Journal, (November).

  • Social Media for All Libraries. Conference Session. South Dakota Library Association Annual Conference 2023. Rapid City, S.D.
  • Steinhagen, D., Lucas, C., Francis, M., Lawrence, M., & Streff, K. (2020) An Inventory of Privacy Curricula Offerings in Higher Education. EDSIGCON Conference. Virtual (COVID)
  • Francis, M. (2020) Privacy in Libraries. South Dakota Library Association Annual Conference. Virtual.
  • Francis, M., Covert, Q., Steinhagen, D., & Streff, K. (2020) An Inventory of International Privacy Principles: A 14 Country Analysis. HICSS conference 53. Hawaii.
  • Covert, Q., Francis, M., Steinhagen, D., & Streff, K. (2020) Towards a Triad for Data Privacy. HICSS conference 53. Hawaii.
  • Town Hall. Conference Session. South Dakota Library Association Annual Conference 2018. Sioux Falls, S.D.
  • One Question to Rule them All. Conference Session. South Dakota Library Association Annual Conference 2018. Sioux Falls, SD.
  • Town Hall. Conference Session. South Dakota Library Association Annual Conference 2017. Chamberlain, SD.
  • Connecting With Your Government Officials. South Dakota Library Association Annual Conference 2017. Chamberlain, SD.
  • Take the Helm of a CLIPP(er) Publication. Roundtable Discussion. Association of College and Research Libraries Bi-Annual Conference. 2017. Baltimore, MD.
  • Librarians Just Want to Have Fun with Threshold Concepts. Conference Session. Mountain Plains Library Association/ Colorado Association of Libraries Conference. 2016. Loveland, CO.
  • Librarians Just Want to Have Fun with Threshold Concepts. Conference Session. South Dakota Library Association 2015. Rapid City, SD.
  • So You Want to Build a Book club. Poster session. South Dakota Library Association Annual Conference 2015. Rapid City, SD.
  • Information Literacy Panel. Conference Session. South Dakota Library Association Annual Conference 2014. Pierre, SD.
  • Mundt Madness: Hosting a Book Tournament. Poster Session. South Dakota Library Association Annual Conference 2014. Pierre, SD.
  • Assessing Student Learning: Lessons Learned from the ACRL ‘Assessment in Action: Academic Libraries and Student Success’ Program. Conference session. South Dakota Library Association Annual Conference 2014. Pierre, SD.
  • Mundt Library and the Flanking Maneuver: Assessing the Deployment of Different Instructional Approaches in the Battle to Reach Online Graduate Students. Poster Session. American Library Association Annual Conference. 2014. Las Vegas, NV.
  • Francis, M. & Smith, R. Library TARDIS: Using metaphor and popular culture to offer library services. Poster Session. South Dakota Library Association/ North Dakota Library Association / Mountain Plains Library Association Tri-Conference. 2013. Sioux Falls, SD.
  • Weeding the Reference Collection. Poster Session. South Dakota Library Association Annual Conference 2011. Spearfish, SD.
  • Hosting Traveling Exhibits. Unconference Presentation. ACRL National Conference 2011. Philadelphia, PA.
  • Workshops For All Library Patrons. Poster Session. South Dakota Library Association Annual Conference 2009. Aberdeen, SD.
  • Turning a One Campus One Book Event into a Web 2.0 Experience. Poster Session. ACRL National Conference 2009. Seattle, WA.