A Few Clicks a Day: Improving Access, Informing Staff, and Encouraging Communication Using a Blog and a Listserv
Esta Day, University of Kentucky
Last year the Electronic Resources Unit at the University of Kentucky Libraries introduced two new services for communicating with users and library staff about electronic resources: a blog and a LISTSERV. Our blog keeps internal staff up to date on issues with and changes to our electronic resources while our LISTSERV is a way for library users and staff to contact us. This poster describes these services and the processes we are using to plan, implement, maintain, and evaluate them. Additionally, it examines the implications of these services both for our internal operations and for our users.
Harmonizing Serials Management: From Discordant Ensemble to Solo Performance
Leigh Ann DePope, Salisbury University
Salisbury University, a mid-sized public university in Maryland, first created the position of Serials Librarian in 2005. Prior to that time, serials management duties were handled by multiple people with little strategic workflow. The hiring of a permanent Serials Librarian provided an opportunity to make the process more efficient. Since that time a streamlined serials management system that brings together print and electronic subscriptions, binding procedures, selection data, and licensing details has been developed. The system is an Access database that centralizes all the data and allows for easy report creation. This new process enables the Serials Department to better support the academic mission of the university.
Has the Literature Used by Medical and Nursing Students Changed over Time?
Pamela Morgan, Memorial University of Newfoundland
There is always difficulty in determining the appropriate allocation of monies between books and journals. Many libraries have a standard formula that has not been examined in recent years. The types of literature that Memorial University's health sciences students are using were examined to determine (1) which type of documents was most frequently used (book versus journal versus other); (2) whether there is a core of most frequently consulted journals; (3) whether there is a difference in use of the literature across the disciplines; (4) how old cited materials tend to be; and (5) whether these have changed over time. The methodology used was a citation analysis of Memorial University medicine and nursing dissertations/theses/practicums, conducted in five-year intervals. Knowing relative proportions of and differences in use will enable the library to examine its spending in relation to material type, to evaluate its collections and offsite storage/weeding policies, and potentially to target promotion and library instruction. Preliminary results imply little effect of electronic bibliographic indexes on the numbers of citations, little effect of electronic journals on the proportions of articles, an increase in Web document use to the detriment of book use, and a similar age pattern for cited materials across disciplines.
Weapons of Mass Distribution: Cataloging with Deadly Efficiency!
Donal O'Sullivan, Becky Culbertson, and Adolfo Tarango, University of California, San Diego
Even though the end result of a cataloger's work remains the same—that of providing bibliographic records—the tools with which we can do this work have greatly improved. Instead of searching one record at a time, we now have the capability to search and capture thousands of records at once and manipulate the data en masse. This poster shows how the cataloging world can truly be at your fingertips through the combined use of various applications, search algorithms, macros, and scripts using the specific example of converting a set of German parallel records (i.e., the language of the initial cataloging agency is German) from the initial capture of vendor records in OCLC to the ultimate derivation of English language cataloging records.
Does the Faculty as Selectors Model Provide Accurate Information about Serials Selection?
Steven A. Knowlton, University of Memphis
Research problem: A common method of selecting library materials in academic libraries is to rely on teaching and research faculty to identify materials of interest to their studies. The assumption is that the faculty have a good understanding of the titles that will be of use to them and their students. However, libraries should periodically assess whether that assumption is accurate. Research methodology: At a mid-sized academic library, budget constraints recently led to a serials cut of one-third of all subscriptions. De-selection choices were largely based on asking faculty to identify titles to cut. The list of titles, cut and retained, provides us a dataset of faculty-informed serials selection decisions. Librarians are gathering usage data and citation data. Using this data, we will be able to determine whether faculty serials decisions are accurate reflections of which titles are most useful to them and their students. Results: The project is still underway, but early results indicate that, for the most part, faculty de-selection choices were those with lowest use. This may confirm that faculty are well-informed about the materials of greatest usefulness to them and their students. A mostly complete dataset will be available by the time of the North American Serials Interest Group (NASIG) conference.
Correcting Accidentals: Using an Availability Study to Identify and Resolve the “Suspensions” Impeding Access to E-Resources
Sanjeet Mann, University of Redlands
Availability studies are a time-honored method of diagnosing problems with library systems and services that have recently been applied to electronic resources management. This poster reports the results of an availability study conducted on electronic resource access during the 2011–2012 academic year at the University of Redlands in Southern California. The author used reference desk statistics to identify typical search topics in four disciplines (Business, Communicative Disorders, Literature, and Music) and used the topics to generate a sample set of 400 citations. Each citation was then checked for print or electronic access using the library's Serials Solutions link resolver. Results were tabulated for overall source availability and error rates, and errors were classified according to a branching model adopted. The present study enhances the availability technique by using search strategies consistent with student information seeking behavior reported by Project Information Literacy and other sources, by including a wider variety of source types in the sample, and by incorporating Trainor and Price's categories of link resolver errors. The author proposes ideas for prioritizing and resolving errors and for incorporating a streamlined version of the availability technique into an e-resource department's regular assessment workflows.