Dakota State University students walking around campus

Preparation + opportunity = success

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

Search

Popular searches

smiling woman

Is DSU the right fit for you?

Even the best brochures and postcards (and yes, even websites) can only tell you so much about a college. The only surefire way to know if DSU is right for you is to see for yourself.

Visit DSU

Home ― Directory ― Mary Francis

Mary Francis

Mary Francis

Mary Francis

Director of the Library

Department

Karl E. Mundt Library

Education

Ed.D., Educational Administration and Leadership, University of South Dakota, 2023
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 advanced degrees in library and information science, and in education administration and leadership from the University of Iowa and the University of South Dakota. Her current research interests include: the impact of the library on student success, addressing the needs of neurodiverse students, and privacy issues related to student data systems.

Contact

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

Her current research interests include: the impact of the library on student success, addressing the needs of neurodiverse students, and privacy issues related to student data systems.

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

  • 2024 - American Library Association Grant. Libraries Transforming Communities: Accessible Small and Rural Communities.

  • 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. (2023) “Student Privacy and Learning Analytics: Investigating the Application of Privacy within A Student Success Information System in Higher Education.” Journal of Learning Analytics (10.3): 102-114.

  • 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).

  • Evaluating AI in Information Literacy. Teaching and Learning with AI Conference. 2024. Orlando, FL.

  • 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.