Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Open Textbook Toolkit: Seeding Successful Partnerships For Collaboration Between Academic Libraries And University Presses, Mira Waller, William M. Cross, Lillian S. Rigling

Western Libraries Publications

Libraries and university presses coexist in a complex and increasingly consolidated scholarly communication ecosystem. Each brings different strengths, values, and viewpoints that can inform and enrich a joint project. In this paper we discuss potential barriers to and benefits of collaboration between academic libraries and university presses and introduce a case study of such a collaboration: the Open Textbook Toolkit. This project, funded by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, is currently investigating the components needed to support faculty in one discipline, psychology, who are considering adopting open educational resources. By leveraging both library and press …

Business Source Complete Database Review, Alie Visser, Nicole Nolan

Western Libraries Publications

Database review of Business Source Complete by EbscoHost.

Business Source Ultimate Database Review, Alie Visser, Nicole Nolan

Western Libraries Publications

Database review of Business Source Ulimate by EbscoHost.

Rxtx And Micromedex, Shawn Hendrikx, Kelly Hatch

Western Libraries Publications

No abstract provided.

Data-Informed Open Education Advocacy: A New Approach To Saving Students Money And Backaches, Sydney Thompson, Lillian S. Rigling, Will Cross, John Vickery

Western Libraries Publications

The North Carolina State University Libraries has long recognized the financial burden textbook costs place on students. By crosswalking information on use of our textbook collection with textbook cost and course enrollment data, we have begun to map the environment for textbook use at the university and identified opportunities for faculty outreach in promoting alternatives to traditional textbooks, including our Alt-Textbook program. This article describes our programs, our investigation of textbook use patterns, and how we are using these data to inform our practice.

Here, There And Everywhere: An Analysis Of Reference Services In Academic Archives, Amanda Oliver, Amanda Jamieson, Anne Daniel

Western Libraries Publications

The purpose of this study is to investigate how archivists conduct reference services. The investigators administered two surveys to 19 participants at 15 Canadian academic archives to understand archivists’ behaviour while performing reference. There is no standard approach to reference as many archivists use institution-specific tools coupled with their own knowledge. Finding aids are the most frequently accessed tool and are most often used in conjunction with other tools. Limited resources are the primary barrier to the provision of effective reference services. The tools that are employed by archives are archivist focused, which results in reference services that are not …

Making Shared Print Management Happen: A Project Of Five Canadian Academic Libraries, Tony Horava, Harriet Rykse, Anne Smithers, Caitlin Tillman, Wade Wyckoff

Western Libraries Publications

Five academic libraries in Ontario (Canada) are collaborating in a shared last print copy repository project. The project, called Keep@Downsview, aims to consolidate and rationalize low-use print materials held by the partner libraries and ensure long-term preservation of these important scholarly materials in Ontario, while still providing access via document delivery and ILL. In doing so, each of the partner institutions demonstrates its commitment to the stewardship of print collections for future generations while repurposing valuable space on campus. This paper describes the background, rationale, challenges, and lessons learned for this unique Canadian project that leveraged funding from the province …

Engaging Faculty And Reducing Costs By Leveraging Collections: A Pilot Project To Reduce Course Pack Use, Nelly Cancilla, Bobby Glushko, Stephanie Orfano, Graeme Slaght

Western Libraries Publications

INTRODUCTION Academic libraries have the privilege of serving many roles in the lives of their institutions. One role that is largely untapped is their ability to actively leverage their collections to support faculty teaching and to reduce student out-of-pocket costs by eliminating systemic double payment for course materials. DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM/SERVICE This paper details a project by the Scholarly Communications and Copyright Office (SCCO) at the University of Toronto that aimed to reduce this systemic double payment by leveraging collections and electronic reserves to provide a new service, the Zero-to-Low Cost Courses. Building on existing relationships with faculty, SCCO staff …

Understanding Factors That Encourage Research Productivity In Academic Librarians, Kristin Hoffmann, Selinda Berg, Denise Koufogiannakis

Western Libraries Publications

Objective – This project identifies the factors that contribute to the success of librarians as active researchers. Research success is generally aligned with productivity and output, and the authors are therefore interested in understanding the factors that encourage research productivity. This fills a gap in the literature on librarians as researchers, which has tended to focus on barriers rather than enablers.

Methods – For this quantitative study, we distributed an online survey to 1,653 potential participants across Canada and received 453 usable responses for a 27% response rate. The survey asked participants to report their research outputs and to answer …