Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Preserving Our Heritage: Protecting Law Library Core Missions Through Updated Library Quality Assessment Standards, Sarah Hooke Lee

Sarah Hooke Lee

Professor Lee argues that traditional quality criteria for judging law libraries are now inadequate because they no longer capture the vital multiple missions of today's libraries. She suggests ways that law librarians can begin to develop indicia of quality that can adequately evaluate the contemporary law school library and preserve its core missions.

Getting A Clue: Creating Student Detectives And Dragon Slayers In Your Library, Anna-Lise Smith, Lesli Baker

Annie Smith

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe how Utah Valley University Library staff created two games to orient students to the library and library services.

Design/methodology/approach – Library staff developed and marketed the Get a Clue game, which used clues placed throughout the building at the beginning of the Fall semester to orient new students as they solved a mystery. During the Spring semester, the library staff introduced library services through LibraryCraft, an online game where students used library resources to slay a dragon.

Findings – In post-game surveys, students found the games entertaining and informative. The …

The Life Of A Wiki: How Georgia State University Library's Wiki Enhances Content Currency And Employee Collaboration, Sarah Steiner, Joel Glogowski

Sarah King Steiner

In recent years, the ease of use and collaborative nature of the wiki has made it a popular tool in many libraries. Georgia State University Library has hosted an internal wiki since 2003, and since its inception it has been utilized in many different and innovative ways. This article will provide an overview of some of the more interesting uses of the GSU Library wiki, specifically, its life as a reference guide, training manual, committee meeting and planning ground, home for material price quotes, and finally, as a place for entertaining work-related content.

Making Decisions: Using Electronic Data Collection To Re-Envision Reference Services At The Usf Tampa Libraries, Lily Todorinova, Barbara Lewis, Andy Huse, Matt Torrence

Lily Todorinova

Declining reference statistics, diminishing human resources, and the desire to be more proactive and embedded in academic depart- ments, prompted the University of South Florida Library to create a taskforce for re-envisioning reference services. The taskforce was charged with examining the staffing patterns at the desk and developing recommendations to give librarians greater flexibility and to better respond to the information-seeking needs of users. These recommendations were based on statistics of desk usage, collected with the newly adapted online tool Desk Tracker, and structured interviews with library administrators. The taskforce was interested in how these stakeholders use quantitative data in …

Making Decisions: Using Electronic Data Collection To Re-Envision Reference Services At The Usf Tampa Libraries, Lily Todorinova, Andy Huse, Barbara Lewis, Matt Torrence

Barbara Lewis

Declining reference statistics, diminishing human resources, and the desire to be more proactive and embedded in academic departments, prompted the University of South Florida Library to create a taskforce for re-envisioning reference services. The taskforce was charged with examining the staffing patterns at the desk and developing recommendations to give librarians greater flexibility and to better respond to the information-seeking needs of users. These recommendations were based on statistics of desk usage, collected with the newly adapted online tool Desk Tracker, and structured interviews with library administrators. The taskforce was interested in how these stakeholders use quantitative data in decision-making.

Using Library Swipe-Card Data To Inform Decision Making, Jennifer Link Jones

Jennifer L. Jones

Georgia State University (GSU) affiliates must swipe their campus ID cards at turnstiles in order to enter the University Library buildings. The swipe verifies the individual is a GSU affiliate and unlocks the turnstile for entry. With each swipe, data such as year in school, major, and GPA are sent to a database. The library partnered with Advanced Campus Services, (ACS), GSU‟s high-performance, research computing unit, to create a tool to access the data. The end product has been a valuable tool for the library, one that has been used to inform staffing and operating hours decisions, as well as …

Following The Evidence: Approaches To Assessment In Academic Libraries, Gregory A. Smith

Gregory A. Smith

In an environment of strained budgets and heightened accountability, academic libraries need to base their planning, decision-making, and advocacy on evidence more than ever before. Fortunately, the resources required to collect, analyze, and visualize data—thus turning it into evidence—are increasingly accessible. This session will challenge participants to grow in their handling of evidence by exposing them to a range of data sources and analysis tools. In order to accomplish this goal, the presenter will share brief sketches of a number of recent library assessment efforts, focusing on projects with which he has been involved personally. The session’s brevity will preclude …

Information Workers In The Academy: The Case Of Librarians And Archivists At The University Of Western Ontario, Melanie Mills

Melanie Mills

For much of its history, the organizational culture for academic librarians and archivists at The University of Western Ontario was primarily a culture of the practitioner. While librarians and archivists supported teaching, research and service at Western, they did not directly engage in it. As a result of grassroots efforts undertaken by members of Western’s academic community in the mid-2000s however, the potential contributions of information workers to the teaching, research and service mandate of University began to garner recognition. Born out of this collective awakening, a successful union drive and shortly thereafter an inaugural Collective Agreement for The University …

Combining Forces On Campus: The Four C'S Of Faculty Liaison, Melanie Mills, Elizabeth Marshall

Melanie Mills

Now, more than ever, academic librarians across Ontario are expected to connect, collaborate, create and cooperate with faculty on their campuses. Learn how librarians at The University of Western Ontario (The D.B. Weldon Library) are building campus connections with faculty in the Arts & Humanities and Social Sciences by putting into practice The Four C’s.

Don't Worry Mom, I'M At The Library: Making Connections With Undergraduate Students, Melanie Mills, Jennifer Robinson, Marisa Mitchell

Melanie Mills

For the past three years Western Libraries has introduced our services, collections and facilities to students via a welcome tent erected during orientation week. A great deal of planning goes into creating interactive and meaningful orientation displays that will capture attention and educate students about the role of the academic library as a physical and a virtual space!

It Takes A Village To Raise A Tent: A Case Study In Pitching The Academic Library To Incoming Undergraduate Students, Melanie Mills, Marisa Mitchell

Melanie Mills

Rather than continuing to pursue formal inclusion in the University of Western Ontario’s O-Week program, Western Libraries shifted its approach to library orientation for incoming undergraduate students by launching its very own orientation campaign in the fall of 2005. The following article details the planning process and subsequent launch of Western Libraries inaugural system-wide library orientation initiative, whose aim was to position Western Libraries strategically as a key contributor to ‘the best student experience’ at Western. The overall impact of the campaign, as well as its influence on future orientation initiatives at the University of Western Ontario are also considered …

The Effect Of Next-Generation Catalogs On Catalogers And Cataloging Functions In Academic Libraries, Susan Wynne, Martha Hanscom

Martha J. Hanscom

No abstract provided.

"Print Or Electronic?" Reader Perceptions On Changing Needs And Goals In The 21st Century Academic Library, Celia Emmelhainz

Celia Emmelhainz

A summery of survey results in a post-Soviet academic library, as written up for a local conference.

A Declaration Of Survey Interdependence, Tammy Sugarman, Jennifer Jones

Jennifer L. Jones

Georgia State University Library administered LibQUAL+®, the library service quality survey, in 2003, 2005, and 2007. In 2009 when it was time to make decisions about another administration of LibQUAL+®, opinions were mixed. Some administrators liked the longitudinal data our previous iterations provided, and the comments always are quite valuable. On the other hand, the response rate drops each year, even with the introduction of incentives in 2007. Additionally, while LibQUAL+® provides useful information, it is not always specific to reports required by the university, such as the library’s institutional effectiveness report. The library decided on a two-fold approach. We …

Institutional Repositories At Small Institutions In America: Some Current Trends, Melissa Nykanen

Melissa Nykanen

The research reported in this article was undertaken to determine the level of implementation of institutional repositories (IRs) at small institutions enrolling fewer than 10,000 students. The study analyzed quantitative and qualitative data from IRs at a number of small institutions with the aim of observing relevant patterns and trends that may or may not be unique to small institutions. The study concludes that IRs at small institutions exist in significant numbers, and they exhibit some unique patterns, particularly in the benefits and challenges specific to small institutions, the association with IR consortia, and the focus on student research.

Weeding An Outdated Collection In An Automated Retrieval System, Patricia Bravender, Valeria Long

Patricia Bravender

In 2008 Grand Valley State University Libraries began a large weeding project in the automated retrieval system (ARS) at its Steelcase Library. An estimated 19,000 volumes were to be removed from the ARS. A systematic weeding of the ARS had never been undertaken and it presented a number of logistical challenges. This article discusses the system that was devised for this large weeding project.

Should Chat Reference Be Staffed By Librarians? An Assessment Of Chat Reference At An Academic Library Using Libstats, Patricia Bravender, Colleen Lyon, Anthony Molaro

Patricia Bravender

This study analyzes 1,557 chat reference questions received at Grand Valley State University Libraries over four semesters to determine the quantity and nature of the questions. Results indicated that use of chat reference was low and that less than a quarter of chat questions required a librarian to answer. The cost of a librarian answering a chat question ranged from $37 to $439 per question. The findings suggest that assigning chat reference to trained reference assistants will not affect patron service and that it is not cost effective to use reference librarians to answer chat questions.

Weeding An Outdated Collection In An Automated Retrieval System, Patricia Bravender, Valeria Long

valeria long

In 2008 Grand Valley State University Libraries began a large weeding project in the automated retrieval system (ARS) at its Steelcase Library. An estimated 19,000 volumes were to be removed from the ARS. A systematic weeding of the ARS had never been undertaken and it presented a number of logistical challenges. This article discusses the system that was devised for this large weeding project.