Library and Information Science Commons^™

Ethical And Anti-Oppressive Metadata: A Collaboration Between Catalogers And Archivists At George Mason University Libraries, Liz Beckman, Lynn Eaton, Yoko Ferguson, David Heilbrun, Rachel Lavender, Tricia Mackenzie, Dorothee Schubel

Collaborative Librarianship

Systems of library and archival resource description have historically reinforced the societal power structures of white supremacy, patriarchy, and cis-heteronormativity. Following the framework of critical librarianship and acknowledging our positionality as predominately white departments, George Mason University Libraries’ Metadata Services (MS) and Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) have been engaging in a variety of projects of reparative resource description. To discuss points of collaboration between the two departments, the Task Force for Ethical and Anti-Oppressive Metadata (TEAM) was formed, consisting of staff and faculty members from both groups who work with resource description. Although the departments have a history of …

Mapping Renewal: How An Unexpected Interdisciplinary Collaboration Transformed A Digital Humanities Project, Elise Tanner, Geoffrey Joseph

Digital Initiatives Symposium

Funded by a National Endowment for Humanities (NEH) Humanities Collections and Reference Resources Foundations Grant, the UA Little Rock Center for Arkansas History and Culture’s “Mapping Renewal” pilot project focused on creating access to and providing spatial context to archival materials related to racial segregation and urban renewal in the city of Little Rock, Arkansas, from 1954-1989. An unplanned interdisciplinary collaboration with the UA Little Rock Arkansas Economic Development Institute (AEDI) has proven to be an invaluable partnership. One team member from each department will demonstrate the Mapping Renewal website and discuss how the collaborative process has changed and shaped …

To Discovery And Beyond: Using Workflow Automation As An Opportunity For Collaboration And Education, Rebecca B. French

Libraries

This poster describes a project to automate portions of JMU Libraries' workflow for distributing Special Collections finding aids to various discovery platforms. Through the development of a custom Python app called Spaceport, we were able to greatly improve the efficiency and sustainability of this process while also providing a more consistent discovery experience for our patrons. The project also had broad impacts in other areas. Our incremental and collaborative approach provided space for professional development related to the project, supported evolving project goals and the process of adapting to the new workflow, and strengthened relationships between departments. In addition to …

Discovering Digital Archives: A Successful Collaboration Between Archivists And Technical Services Librarians, Christina A. Beis, Kayla Harris, Stephanie Shreffler

Kayla Harris

Effective collaboration between archives and technical services increases the discoverability of special collection materials. Archivists at a medium-sized institution had been using Archive-It to collect websites for a few years, but the information was isolated in a separate platform and wasn't effectively marketed to users. Working together, the team of archivists and technical services librarians incorporated the website collections into the discovery layer. Metadata was added at the seed level and indexed on a single, user-friendly platform. Attendees learned about implementing digital archive collections and explored how to increase their visibility through marketing.

Discovering Digital Archives: A Successful Collaboration Between Archivists And Technical Services Librarians, Christina A. Beis, Kayla Harris, Stephanie Shreffler

Roesch Library Faculty Presentations

Effective collaboration between archives and technical services increases the discoverability of special collection materials. Archivists at a medium-sized institution had been using Archive-It to collect websites for a few years, but the information was isolated in a separate platform and wasn't effectively marketed to users. Working together, the team of archivists and technical services librarians incorporated the website collections into the discovery layer. Metadata was added at the seed level and indexed on a single, user-friendly platform. Attendees learned about implementing digital archive collections and explored how to increase their visibility through marketing.

Electronic Theses And Dissertations Workflows: Interdepartmental Collaboration At The University Of Arkansas Libraries, Rachel Paul, Cedar C. Middleton

Collaborative Librarianship

Creating workflows that involve the work of multiple departments within a large organization can be challenging, especially when the procedures are complex and involve a number of stakeholders. This paper describes and evaluates the redesign of an interdepartmental workflow for the dissemination of electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) at a mid-sized academic library. The paper outlines the collaborative planning process within the library as well as the eventual outreach to additional stakeholders on campus, addressing the challenges of tackling such communication between the library and other ETD stakeholders. It then presents a detailed examination of the newly revised, semi-automated workflow, …

A-Z List Migration: Employing Collaborative Project Management At The University Of Guelph Mclaughlin Library, Kailey Brisbin, Melanie S. Parlette-Stewart, Randy Oldham

Collaborative Librarianship

From 2003 – 2016, the University of Guelph McLaughlin Library maintained a custom ColdFusion database of databases. Motivated by a myriad of issues, a project working group set the goal of decommissioning the ColdFusion A-Z list and migrating to SpringShare LibGuides platform A-Z list feature. This article focuses on our A-Z list migration, highlighting the collaborative approach we took to curating our list of journal databases and operationalizing and distributing this shared task across several teams within our library. This article describes our project and approach, lessons learned, recommendations and best practices, as well as future directions.

Data Collection Curated With An Application Ontology Describes The Methods And Results Upon Performing An Ex-Vivo Voltage-Clamp Assay On Outer Hair Cells Of The Mammalian Cochlea, Brenda Farrell, Jason Bengtson

Research Data

This data collection describes the electrical properties of outer hair cells isolated from the mammalian cochlea of the domestic guinea pig. This data was obtained by performing whole-cell patch clamp voltage clamp assay on cells and monitoring the electrical admittance during a DC voltage ramp. The membrane capacitance was then calculated at each membrane potential from this admittance, and the voltage-independent and voltage-dependent membrane capacitance was determined upon further analysis. In some case the DC conductance was also measured by interrogation of the cell with voltage-step function which was calculated from the change in the mean steady-state current with respect …

Creating Community: Drawing On Staff Expertise To Break Down Silos In Academic Libraries, Lori Birrell, Marcy A. Strong

Collaborative Librarianship

A discussion of the strategies and outcomes behind a special collections and metadata collaboration effort at the University of Rochester, River Campus Libraries, to make finding aids more discoverable and interoperable. Through the use of a project charter and specific goals, the project managers sought to create buy-in and build a culture of teamwork amongst the participants, resulting in both improved finding aids and a model for collaborative work across departments.

Librarians’ Roles In Establishing A Multidisciplinary Research Institute, Elizabeth Christian, Kathryn Balek, Sandy Hudock, Rhonda Gonzales

Collaborative Librarianship

This article describes how four librarians contributed to the founding and first-year activities of a multidisciplinary research institute at a regional comprehensive university. The Institute of Cannabis Research (ICR) is the first multidisciplinary research institute on cannabis, an emerging and often controversial field. As faculty representatives on the institute’s steering committee and working groups, librarians were able to leverage interdisciplinary expertise to assist in organizing and disseminating cannabis research. Examples of the reciprocal benefit to both the institution and the library are shared.

Inter-Departmental Collaboration On Electronic Theses And Dissertations: Redesigning Workflows To Enhance Access, Rachel Paul, Cedar C. Middleton

Digital Initiatives Symposium

In an effort to eliminate redundancies in thesis and dissertation cataloging at the University of Arkansas, a working group was devised to create a semi-automated workflow. This new, multi-departmental workflow eliminates redundancies, allowing us to provide better access to the intellectual endeavors of the scholars on our campus. This paper describes the experience of the collaboration within multiple library departments and departments across campus; acknowledges the importance of library and campus collaboration with examples of success and advice from the literature; and emphasizes clear and consistent communication, meeting user needs, and streamlined and innovative workflows.

Creating A Reproducible Metadata Transformation Pipeline Using Technology Best Practices, Cara Key, Mike Waugh

Digital Initiatives Symposium

Over the course of two years, a team of librarians and programmers from LSU Libraries migrated the 186 collections of the Louisiana Digital Library from OCLC's CONTENTdm platform over to the open-source Islandora platform.

Early in the process, the team understood the value of creating a reproducible metadata transformation pipeline, because there were so many unknowns at the beginning of the process along with the certainty that mistakes would be made. This presentation will describe how the team used innovative and collaborative tools, such as Trello, Ansible, Vagrant, VirtualBox, git and GitHub to accomplish the task.

Getting To Know Our Web Archive: A Pilot Project To Collaboratively Increase Access To Digital Cultural Heritage Materials In Wyoming, Amanda R. Lehman, Bryan Ricupero

Digital Initiatives Symposium

The University of Wyoming is the only four year higher education institution in the state, a unique position amongst colleges and universities in the United States. Given this unusual status it is especially important that the university libraries use their resources to identify and partner with communities around the state to build collections that preserve their cultural heritage. An Archive-It subscription was purchased in 2016, with an initial goal of capturing university related materials. In an effort to expand the scope and meaningfulness of the web archive, a project has been undertaken to use university and statewide relationships to build …

A Spatial Collaboration: Building A Multi-Institution Geospatial Data Discovery Portal, Mara Blake, Karen Majewicz, Ryan Mattke, Kathleen W. Weessies

Collaborative Librarianship

As academic education and research increasingly take advantage of geospatial data and methodologies, we see a corresponding exponential growth in the number of available geospatial resources in the form of GIS datasets and scanned historical maps. However, users can experience difficulty finding these resources due to the unconnected multitude of platforms and clearinghouses that host them. Additionally, the resources are not always well described with web semantic metadata that facilitates discovery. In response to this challenge, The Big Ten Academic Alliance Geospatial Data Project began in 2015 to provide discoverability, facilitate access, and connect scholars to geospatial resources. Our project …

We Did It! A Collaborative Collection Development Project At The Ku And Ksu Libraries, Lea H. Currie, Mira Greene

Kansas Library Association College and University Libraries Section Proceedings

For many years, the KU and KSU Libraries have looked for a method of combining their resources to create a collaborative collection development project. When KSU joined YBP as their main book vendor, it became evident that such a project might get off the ground since KU Libraries were longtime customers of YBP. Since Proquest was the main vendor for e-books for both schools and YBP sold e-books from Proquest, KU and KSU decided to approach their e-book specialist with Proquest to find out if a collaborative demand-driven (DDA) e-book project was possible. Proquest negotiated with the publishers the two …

Painless Portal Partnerships: Collaboration And Its Challenges For Small Organizations, Christine Mcevilly

Publications and Research

This article addresses challenges inherent in collaborative archival projects involving both large institutions and small historical societies. It identifies these unique problems and outlines potential solutions to overcome these issues. Examples are drawn from the Portal to American Jewish History project and contextualized within the professional literature on ethnic or community archives and archival collaboration. This project collected metadata from a wide range of Jewish history archives and aggregated the records in a single searchable website.

Collaborating Across Workflows: Managing Creative Assets From Legacy Works, Patrice-Andre Prud'homme, Jennifer Hunt Johnson

Central Plains Network for Digital Asset Management

From the perspective of two distinct workflows, this presentation will illustrate how library departments, Digital Collections and Conservation collaborate on the production of digital assets. In essence, both digitization and analog preservation workflows aim to guarantee that collections are easily retrieved and usable. This case study will illustrate two examples. The first one is more linear yet regional; it aims to create digital assets to engage the community by means of crowdsourced transcription. The second one is hands-on, as it addresses the long-term research value of the physical material for use in classrooms by Special Collections. While these workflows may …

The James Merrill Digital Archive: Channeling The Collaborative Spirit(S), Shannon Davis, Joel Minor

Central Plains Network for Digital Asset Management

The James Merrill Papers, housed in Washington University Libraries Special Collections, contains manuscripts, drafts, and other materials from the renowned poet. In 2013, work began to digitize and deliver a selection of the Merrill Papers towards his epic poem, The Book of Ephraim. Because the Libraries’ already used Omeka digital exhibit software for a number of projects, the materials were delivered in an Omeka exhibit, The James Merrill Digital Archive. The process of transforming an archival collection into a digital exhibit required the expertise and input of many collaborators including library staff in Special Collections and Scholarly Publishing, and students …

Notes On Operations: One Title, Hundreds Of Volumes, Thousands Of Documents: Collaborating To Describe The Congressional Serial Set, Suzanne M. Ward, Patty A. Glasson, Randall F. Roeder

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

As part of its participation in the Google Books government documents scanning project, the Purdue University Libraries agreed to contribute volumes of the Congressional Serial Set (CSS). Realizing that the results would be far more useful if the individual documents within this title were cataloged separately, librarians developed procedures to create brief records and began cataloging CSS documents from the 1890s. The University of Iowa became a partner in this collaborative pilot project, and its cataloging staff used the Purdue template and procedures to create records from the CSS for individual documents from two years in the 1890s. …

Collaboration At The Troy University Libraries, Erin E. Boyd, Olga Casey, Ruth Elder, Jana Slay

Articles, Scholarship, and Creative Works by Faculty of University Libraries

With relatively new staff in all the Troy University campus libraries technical services departments, it was critical to collaborate on policies and procedures for consistency. Developing an online manual housed on a wiki that could be used and contributed to by staff on all three campuses was essential to this goal. Multi-campus meetings and online discussions are additional methods we use to promote collaboration. This article will include a literature review of collaboration and wikis along with methods the Troy University Libraries Technical Services departments are using to establish communication across the campuses. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, …

Preservation And Access In An Age Of E-Science And Electronic Records: Sharing The Problem And Discovering Common Solutions, Claire Stewart

UNL Libraries: Faculty Publications

As academic libraries grapple with the challenge of preserving their own digitized special collections, intensification of interest in preserving other electronic content may present opportunities to collaborate with organizations on campus. This article offers a brief introduction to some of the core issues in digital preservation and suggests an orientation to the problems that can be helpful in thinking about how to join forces with others on campus.

Evolving In Collaboration: Electronic Thesis And Dissertation Workflows In North Carolina, Mary G. Early, Anne Marie Taber

Collaborative Librarianship

Thirty-seven colleges and universities in North Carolina offer advanced degrees, and most require a thesis or dissertation. The websites of thirteen (35%) indicate they accept or require electronic submission of dissertations and/or theses (ETD). How do these institutions handle the interdepartmental communication and collaboration needs of ETD programs? To begin answering this question, this study examines current practices among ETD administrators in North Carolina and in current national literature, paying special attention to communication, collaboration, workflows, and divisions of labor. The literature review surveys current (since 2003) library and higher education articles on topics related to collaboration, workflows, and divisions …