Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Using A Blog And Social Media Promotion As A Collaborative Community Building Marketing Tool For Library Resources, Alyson Vaaler, Steve Brantley

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

PurposeThe purpose of this report is to explain the process of how Booth Library developed an online Wordpress blog in order to market physical and electronic resources in the library’s collection. This report looks at specific tools that are used to maintain the blog and sample topics that the blog covers.DesignWordPress software was installed on library servers, making the blog a cohesive part of the library’s website. A PHP script called “List It!” was developed in order to produce book lists with cover images from a list of scanned library barcodes. After the book lists are inserted into blog posts, …

Libraries And Total Quality: Making The Patron A Partner, Todd Bruns, Rendong Bai

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

Libraries began to see service competition for the first time in the 1990s, due to the Internet and Google. The necessity of being more customer-focused became apparent, and this resulted in the creation of LibQUAL+, a tool developed to quantitatively measure the quality of customer service (Saunders, 2007). While LibQUAL+ serves as a first step toward increasing quality and value for patrons, library commitment to responding to survey results is essential.

Although LibQUAL+ has been used by a wide range of libraries, this paper focuses on the use of LibQUAL+ by academic libraries, using two university libraries (Vanderbilt University and …

Getting A Good Read, Todd Bruns, Rendong Bai

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

Libraries began to see service competition for the first time in the 1990s, due to the Internet and Google. The necessity of being more customer-focused became apparent, and this resulted in the creation of LibQUAL+, a tool developed to quantitatively measure the quality of customer service (Saunders, 2007). While LibQUAL+ serves as a first step toward increasing quality and value for patrons, library commitment to responding to survey results is essential.Although LibQUAL+ has been used by a wide range of libraries, this paper focuses on the use of LibQUAL+ by academic libraries, using two university libraries (Vanderbilt University and the …

Getting A Good Read, Todd Bruns, Rendong Bai

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

Libraries began to see service competition for the first time in the 1990s, due to the Internet and Google. The necessity of being more customer-focused became apparent, and this resulted in the creation of LibQUAL+, a tool developed to quantitatively measure the quality of customer service (Saunders, 2007). While LibQUAL+ serves as a first step toward increasing quality and value for patrons, library commitment to responding to survey results is essential.

Although LibQUAL+ has been used by a wide range of libraries, this paper focuses on the use of LibQUAL+ by academic libraries, using two university libraries (Vanderbilt University and …

Getting A Good Read, Todd Bruns, Rendong Bai

Todd A. Bruns

Libraries began to see service competition for the first time in the 1990s, due to the Internet and Google. The necessity of being more customer-focused became apparent, and this resulted in the creation of LibQUAL+, a tool developed to quantitatively measure the quality of customer service (Saunders, 2007). While LibQUAL+ serves as a first step toward increasing quality and value for patrons, library commitment to responding to survey results is essential.Although LibQUAL+ has been used by a wide range of libraries, this paper focuses on the use of LibQUAL+ by academic libraries, using two university libraries (Vanderbilt University and the …

Book Review: Using Social Media In Libraries: Best Practices, Todd Bruns

Todd A. Bruns

Laura Solomon’s delightfully on-target Foreward sums up this book on libraries and social media: She quotes Avinash Kaushik (an analytics evangelist for Google), “Social media is like teen sex. Everyone wants to do it. No one really knows how.” (p. v). Solomon notes that social media is “more about building relationships than it is about promoting anything” (p. vii). This point is echoed in Walt Crawford’s Introduction, which focuses on the truth that libraries are at the heart of their local communities and that suggests that successful use of social media will strengthen those community bonds. Solomon and Crawford’s chapters …

Best Practices For Staff Sharing, Bradley P. Tolppanen, Janice Derr

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

Medium to larger academic libraries often hire and train staff members to perform a variety of duties within a single department. However, in the current difficult budgetary environment, such academic libraries may use sharing of staff members between departments and cross-training in order to maintain the provision of high quality library service. This poster session will present a set of best practices for staff sharing, including scheduling and prioritizing tasks, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of such sharing from the perspectives of the supervisors and staff members. Examples of staff sharing as implemented at Booth Library, Eastern Illinois …

Review Of Information Need: A Theory Connecting Information Search To Knowledge Formation, Kirstin Duffin

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

In this book, Cole attempts to establish a framework for the information searching process. Cole analyzes information need from the perspectives of both information science and computer science. Where information science considers the need as sensory (perceptual-cognitive), computer science views information need as mechanical (input-output). The book, one in the ASIST Monograph Series, is a conceptual work that presents a systematic overview of users’ information retrieval practices.

Review Of Staff Development On A Shoestring, Kirstin Duffin

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

Budgets are tight, yet it remains important for library staff members to keep current with evolving technologies and improve their skills in providing services to library users. Staff development programs can spark creativity, increase motivation, and augment productivity. In these lean times, Marcia Trotta provides guidance on how to maintain library staff development opportunities. Trotta is a consultant and adult program coordinator of the Connecticut Humanities Council. She is a retired public library director and has written a number of books on library management-related issues.

Review Of Information Need: A Theory Connecting Information Search To Knowledge Formation, Kirstin Duffin

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

In this book, Cole attempts to establish a framework for the information searching process. Cole analyzes information need from the perspectives of both information science and computer science. Where information science considers the need as sensory (perceptual-cognitive), computer science views information need as mechanical (input-output). The book, one in the ASIST Monograph Series, is a conceptual work that presents a systematic overview of users’ information retrieval practices.

Review Of Staff Development On A Shoestring, Kirstin Duffin

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

Budgets are tight, yet it remains important for library staff members to keep current with evolving technologies and improve their skills in providing services to library users. Staff development programs can spark creativity, increase motivation, and augment productivity. In these lean times, Marcia Trotta provides guidance on how to maintain library staff development opportunities. Trotta is a consultant and adult program coordinator of the Connecticut Humanities Council. She is a retired public library director and has written a number of books on library management-related issues.

Review Of Staff Development On A Shoestring, Kirstin Duffin

Kirstin Duffin

Budgets are tight, yet it remains important for library staff members to keep current with evolving technologies and improve their skills in providing services to library users. Staff development programs can spark creativity, increase motivation, and augment productivity. In these lean times, Marcia Trotta provides guidance on how to maintain library staff development opportunities. Trotta is a consultant and adult program coordinator of the Connecticut Humanities Council. She is a retired public library director and has written a number of books on library management-related issues.

Review Of Information Need: A Theory Connecting Information Search To Knowledge Formation, Kirstin Duffin

Kirstin Duffin

In this book, Cole attempts to establish a framework for the information searching process. Cole analyzes information need from the perspectives of both information science and computer science. Where information science considers the need as sensory (perceptual-cognitive), computer science views information need as mechanical (input-output). The book, one in the ASIST Monograph Series, is a conceptual work that presents a systematic overview of users’ information retrieval practices.

Getting The Most Out Of Your Student Worker Budget: A Survey Of Tasks Performed By Student Assistants In Access Services Departments, Bradley P. Tolppanen, Janice Derr

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

University libraries invest considerable funds and staff time in the hiring, training, and employment of student assistants. Access Services departments within university libraries depend on student assistants to complete tasks and aid in the work flow in virtually all areas of the department. With the recent increases in minimum wage and uncertain library budgets, the need for the most efficient and effective use of student assistants has become an even greater concern. This poster session will present the results of a recently conducted survey of Access Services department supervisors on the hiring, training, and duties assigned to student assistants. Results …

Getting The Most Out Of Your Student Worker Budget: A Survey Of Tasks Performed By Student Assistants In Access Services Departments, Bradley Tolppanen, Janice Derr

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

University libraries invest considerable funds and staff time in the hiring, training, and employment of student assistants. Access Services departments within university libraries depend on student assistants to complete tasks and aid in the work flow in virtually all areas of the department. With the recent increases in minimum wage and uncertain library budgets, the need for the most efficient and effective use of student assistants has become an even greater concern. This poster session will present the results of a recently conducted survey of Access Services department supervisors on the hiring, training, and duties assigned to student assistants. Results …

Getting The Most Out Of Your Student Worker Budget: A Survey Of Tasks Performed By Student Assistants In Access Services Departments, Bradley P. Tolppanen, Janice Derr

Bradley P. Tolppanen

University libraries invest considerable funds and staff time in the hiring, training, and employment of student assistants. Access Services departments within university libraries depend on student assistants to complete tasks and aid in the work flow in virtually all areas of the department. With the recent increases in minimum wage and uncertain library budgets, the need for the most efficient and effective use of student assistants has become an even greater concern. This poster session will present the results of a recently conducted survey of Access Services department supervisors on the hiring, training, and duties assigned to student assistants. Results …