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The Liaison Connection Issue 8, University Of Denver, University Libraries

The Liaison Connection

Fall 2015 issue of the Library Liaison Advisory Group newsletter from the University of Denver, University Libraries. The newsletter provides information about library collections, services, and research instruction.

E-Book Usage On A Global Scale: Patterns, Trends, And Opportunities, Michael Levine-Clark

University Libraries: Faculty Scholarship

This study examines worldwide usage of over 600,000 e-books from Ebook Library (EBL) and ebrary. Using multiple modes of analysis, the study shows that there are variations in usage by geographic region as well as by subject. The study examines usage in relation to availability of titles, different types of usage per session, usage of the top ten percent of titles, and intensive and extensive use. These patterns can be used for benchmarking and as a model for local e-book studies.

How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bits: Archival Motivation In The Digital Age, Heather Ryan, Jane Nelson

Library and Information Science: Student Scholarship

Why do people become archivists? Historically (and anecdotally) it was a deep love of musty, old records that drew people to the profession. While there have been many other motivating forces that inspired would-be archivists, it is most often that one hears of people seeking jobs in archives for love of “the stuff,” as evidenced in Kate Thiemer’s blog post, Honest tips for wannabe archivists (2012).

As a result of the continually advancing presence of digitized and born digital archival collections, the physical nature of archival “stuff” is changing. While there remains the physical imprint of digital information on floppy …

Library And Information Science Education And Escience: The Current State Of Ala Accredited Mls/Mlis Programs In Preparing Librarians And Information Professionals For Escience Needs, Hanna Schmillen

Library and Information Science: Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study is multifaceted: 1) to describe eScience research in acomprehensive way; 2) to help library and information specialists understand the realm of eScience research and the information needs of the community and demonstrate the importance of LIS professionals within the eScience domain; 3) and to explore the current state of curricular content of ALA accredited MLS/MLIS programs to understand the extent to which they prepare new professionals within eScience librarianship. The literature review focuses heavily on eScientists and other data-driven researchers’ information service needs in addition to demonstrating how and why librarians and information specialists can …

The Holy Grail Of Library Automation: The Shared Library System, Lori Bowen Ayre

Collaborative Librarianship

No abstract provided.

Bottling The “Collaboration Thing”, George Needham

Collaborative Librarianship

No abstract provided.

Collaborative Cataloging Pilot Project, Jamey Harris, Marilou Hinchcliff

Collaborative Librarianship

Two Keystone Library Network of Pennsylvania academic libraries, Mansfield University of Pennsylvania and Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, partnered to conduct a pilot project involving assistance from one library with cataloging of materials for the other. This article describes the steps involved in obtaining approvals, meeting legal, identifying appropriate materials and transporting them, establishing guidelines, and conducting email consultations as needed. Once the materials were cataloged and returned, assessment criteria were developed and agreed upon, assessment was conducted, and discussion was held regarding future similar projects. As a result, a cataloging business plan was developed and approved, and a new service …

Time To Re-Professionalize The Profession, Lori Bowen Ayre

Collaborative Librarianship

No abstract provided.

Art Exhibit On Black Panther Challenges Library Patrons To Face Violence Of Mass Incarceration, Chris Steele

Collaborative Librarianship

Although libraries are often regarded as spaces for inclusiveness, diversity, and democracy, this hasn’t always been the case in the United States. Using historical examples this article explores the legacy of racism in the United States concerning library access to citizens. This article analyzes a social justice artistic collaboration between artist Jackie Sumell and New York Public Library concerning solitary confinement and the racial disparity of mass incarceration in the United States. Intersections between community education and library exhibits are also discussed.

Conceptualizing Classified Staff As Collaborative Partners, Michael Perini

Collaborative Librarianship

Academic librarians have varied roles within the higher education community and librarian perceptions of these duties establish their professional identity. Applying Whitchurch’s “blended professional” model of professional identity, the findings of this case study of librarian perceptions of their roles and functions suggest that academic librarians fail to consider all of the collaborative partnerships available to them due to institutional restrictions or perceived structural and hierarchical constraints. This discussion analyzes the effect of these impediments on academic librarians and advocates utilizing classified staff in a more substantive manner.

Reorganizing For Transformational Change: The 21st Century Research Library At A Flagship Public University, Jack M. Maness, John Culshaw

University Libraries: Faculty Scholarship

Beginning in November 2010 and culminating in February 2012, the University of Colorado Boulder Libraries began planning a significant structural reorganization. Local, pragmatic drivers for the change included retirements at the executive level and the loss of professional librarian lines due to the Great Recession of 2008. But other, more important catalysts existed and are driving similar reorganization efforts in research libraries across the country. The increasingly interdisciplinary, digital, and inter-institutional nature of scholarship, research and teaching requires a more flexible, team-managed research library. Dramatic shifts in how institutions of higher education are funded are also fueling the need to …

Utah Accessible Tutorials: Creating A Collaborative Project Between A Public And Academic Library, Carrie Rogers-Whitehead, Lorelei Rutledge, Jacob Reed

Collaborative Librarianship

This article describes collaboration between a research librarian and application developer at the University of Utah with a teen services librarian at Salt Lake County Libraries. Our group came together as part of the Innovative Librarians Explore, Apply, and Discover-Utah (ILEAD Utah) program. We discuss how we worked together to create and develop a project, the opportunities and difficulties we faced, and offer suggestions for how to build similar partnerships successfully.

A Study Of Authorship Patterns And Collaborative Research In Collaborative Librarianship, 2009-2014, Kotti Thavamani

Collaborative Librarianship

This paper presents a bibliometric study of Collaborative Librarianship (CL) during the period of 2009-2014. A total of 223 research contributions and 343 authors were examined by growth of contributions by year and volume, authorship patterns by year and volume, growth of authors by year, authorship patterns, author productivity, authorship patterns by global, most prolific contributors and degree of collaboration. Average number of authors per paper is 1.538. The highest number of author productivity i.e., 0.650. The average degree of author collaboration in the Collaborative Librarianship is 0.354, which clearly indicates its dominance upon single authored contributions.

Special Issue On Consortia, Valerie Horton

Collaborative Librarianship

No abstract provided.

Communication In Library Consortia, Matt Lee, Valerie Horton

Collaborative Librarianship

The authors interviewed ten library consortia leaders and studied the communication tools used by a number of consortia. Library consortia employ a broad range of communication tools to share information with their libraries. Different methods are used for different purposes, but a hierarchy of utility emerged from our study. Certain communication vehicles anchored nearly every communication message, some provided secondary support, and others suited highly specialized needs. This paper reviews shared communication methods, highlights communication best practices, and shares unique communication ideas employed by library consortia.

Occam’S Reader: The First Library-Developed Ebook Interlibrary Loan System, Ryan Litsey Litsey, Kenny Ketner Ketner

Collaborative Librarianship

An ebook interlibrary loan system called “Occam’s Reader” was developed through collaboration among libraries of the Greater Western Library Alliance. The first of its kind, Occam’s Reader has proved to be a great success due in no small measure to thorough planning, testing, implementation and development through 2012 to 2104. A new version of the system, Occam’s Reader 2.0 is planned for later in 2015. As libraries band together to accomplish a collaborative goal, there really is nothing that can hold them back

Home Grown Ebooks: North Carolina’S Collaborative Ebook Pilot Project, Jill Morris

Collaborative Librarianship

This article describes how NC LIVE, a large, statewide, multi-type library consortium piloted new models for funding and purchasing a shared ebook collection that concentrated on books published by local publishers. Although the pilot is still being evaluated, the consortium counts the project as a success in that 200 libraries statewide gained unlimited simultaneous user access to more than 1,200 titles not previously available in libraries. NC LIVE is now working with publishers and a platform provider to move the ebook pilot into its next phase as a full-fledged ebook program. The aim of this article is to describe the …

Promoting Innovation: The Wils Model, Andrea Coffin, Stefanie Morrill

Collaborative Librarianship

WiLS, a membership organization of over 600 libraries of all types in Wisconsin and beyond, has developed a model to help its member libraries turn their good ideas into innovative services and projects. This paper details what it means to innovate in the current library climate and describes the model, its critical facets, how it promotes innovation, how WiLS has implemented it internally, and ways WiLS has worked to broaden the impact of the model.

Tom Sanville In Conversation, Kathy A. Perry

Collaborative Librarianship

Kathy Perry, Director of VIVA (The Virtual Library of Virginia), discusses with Tom Sanville, on the occasion of his retirement in December, 2014, his noted career serving libraries. This includes Sanville’s entrée into the library world through industry, the beginnings of ICOLC, its operations and accomplishments, the ICOLC “grilles,” the world of electronic content licensing, and more.

Consortial Ebook Platforms: An Update And Good News, Greg Pronevitz

Collaborative Librarianship

No abstract provided.

Review Of Library Consortia: Models For Collaboration And Sustainability, Anne Slaughter

Collaborative Librarianship

No abstract provided.

The Idea Of “Community Of Practice” As Paradigmatic In Library Collaboration, Ivan Gaetz

Collaborative Librarianship

No abstract provided.

Integrating Communities Of Practice Into Library Services, Jong-Ae Kim

Collaborative Librarianship

Since the notion of community of practice was introduced in the early 1990s, it has been popular in various organizations with the recognition that knowledge sharing is important for organizational learning. It has emerged as a strategic approach to knowledge sharing and an innovative way to foster learning. Considering that the notion of community of practice can provide an intriguing framework for library services, this study explores the implications that community of practice suggests for libraries and the roles that librarians can take to foster communities of practice

Scholarship As A Conversation: A Metaphor For Librarian-Esl Instructor Collaboration, Karen Bordonaro

Collaborative Librarianship

Invoking the metaphor of scholarship as a conversation offers academic librarians an excellent way to connect information literacy to university ESL (English as a second language) classes. This article describes how this particular metaphor has appeared in the literature of librarianship, and it suggests that this metaphor offers a deeper way to understand and promote information literacy to ESL students. It connects this deeper understanding of information literacy to ESL writing and speaking instructional approaches. These approaches include understanding scholarship as both a formal written end product and as a writing process in the creation, production and dissemination of knowledge. …

Librarians And The Institutional Review Board (Irb): Relationships Matter, Laureen Cantwell, Doris Van Kampen-Breit

Collaborative Librarianship

Libraries and librarians have a variety of relationships with Institutional Review Boards (IRBs). These relationships differ by the institution type, engagement level with the IRB, and the type of library within which a librarian works. What roles, then, might a librarian fill with regard to an institution’s IRB? This article provides a short history and an overview of the purpose of the IRB, and proposes three possible roles for librarians: that of the lead investigator in their own research, that of a reviewer for the IRB, and that of an ex-officio member or research liaison serving as an information consultant …

Who’S Out There? The Power Of Spatial Data, Lori Bowen Ayre

Collaborative Librarianship

No abstract provided.

Liberated From The Circulation Desk – Now What?, Lori Bowen Ayre

Collaborative Librarianship

No abstract provided.

Finding Joy In Our Profession: John F. Helmer On Library Consortia, John F. Helmer, Valerie Horton

Collaborative Librarianship

John F. Helmer, executive director of the Orbis Cascade Alliance, has had an amazing career. In this interview with Valerie Horton, Helmer shares his insights, humor, and deep understanding of our profession. John sees the best of library collaborations as “entrepreneurial, spirited, ambitious,” and leading to the development of critically important working relationships. John offers many nuggets of wisdom for collaborative leaders in this interview. His insights into failure should be required reading in our profession. He argues that if you aren’t failing, you aren’t trying hard enough.

Does Virtual Communication Equal Virtual Collaboration? The Influence Of Technology On Job Satisfaction And Collaboration, Kathy Butler, Michael Perini

Collaborative Librarianship

Library professionals are facing the same increasing pervasiveness of technology as other professions. Technology gives librarians positive new tools for managing and delivering information, but also changes modes of communication and collaboration with our patrons. This qualitative study explores the connection between the influx of virtual communication and its impact on collaboration and job satisfaction among academic librarians.

Cross Collaborations: Librarians Stepping Out Of The Box To Serve Students, Denelle Eads, Rebecca Freeman, Valerie A. Freeman

Collaborative Librarianship

Despite declarations that libraries are the heart of the institution, they are frequently overlooked or taken for granted. Collaborations are a way librarians can more fully participate in the culture of the institutions they serve. A review of the literature finds an emphasis on collaboration with faculty members, both full-time and adjunct, but there is less emphasis on the many departments in academia that do not have faculty members. As academic librarians position themselves at the heart of their institutions, it is vital to work with all departments and not focus solely on faculty-based departments. This article highlights the literature …