FROM THE LITERATURE: Terry Henner,Column Editor

ABSTRACT

In spring 2015, a 45-question survey was e-mailed to 585 medical students at the University at Buffalo (UB) in order to gauge their use of library spaces, resources, equipment, and services at UB’s Health Sciences Library and plan for a library space located within a new medical school building. Students’ self-reported use of the library during the academic year is presented along with the features they would like to see in their ideal library space. The responses generated in the survey are a barometer of current use and will be used in the planning process.     

Globetrotting Students and Faculty: Adapting Library Instruction to Global Sites

ABSTRACT

As e-resources become more ubiquitous, and the technologies available to access them more sophisticated, libraries have greater opportunities to reach out to global users. However, this same distance means that some users never even set foot in a physical library. This case study will describe how one large academic library started a business, economics, and marketing library online instruction pilot for global users in an effort to replicate library instruction offered at the home institution. Librarians assessed global library use and research needs; prepared unique lesson plans for each global site; and created digital learning objects using synchronous and asynchronous methods to establish an instruction strategy for Business and Economics courses. The goal was to test instruction practices and develop an online instruction template that would be replicable and sustainable for library instruction in other subject areas in New York University Libraries and other institutions.     

Going Where the Students Are

Summary

Increased student use of the Internet and declining reference desk statistics are factors encouraging academic reference librarians to look for new ways to reach patrons. Web-based customer contact center software gives librarians the tools to provide interactive, 24/7 reference service to Internet users. This article describes how the library at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona developed its live/web reference service. We discuss the factors that encouraged us to launch the service, the challenges that we encountered along the way, and examples of our experiences to date.     

Interlibrary Loaning Special Collections: A Test Run for the University of California

ABSTRACT

In June of 2001, the University of California Libraries initiated a pilot project that enabled library patrons to direct request items held in the University of California Special Collection Units. The pilot ended the need for patrons to initiate most requests for unique items in person through the Special Collections department and allowed patrons to self-determine the need for a unique item when searching the shared UC-wide catalog, Melvyl®. The following article discusses the process used to handle the requests, includes perspectives from the two units overseeing the requests, evaluates the overall success of the pilot and offers considerations for implementing a similar service elsewhere.     

The Integration of Libraries and Academic Computing at Columbia: New Opportunities for Internal and External Collaboration

ABSTRACT

Over the past decade, the libraries and academic computing units at Columbia have been brought together to form a new information services organization. This article will trace the history and current state of IT and library relationships at Columbia University. The expanding collaboration among academic computing services, their deeper partnership and integration with library programs, the working relationship with campus administrative computing, and participation in national and international projects will be described and evaluated.     

The After-Five Syndrome: Library Hours and Services for the Adult Learner

Summary

“Communication” is the key to providing appropriate library hours and services for adult learners, students twenty-four years of age and older. This report of a survey at Western Oregon University shows that while there are some differences, the needs of both adult learners and traditional students may be similar. Both groups have a need for a variety of library hours, especially evening and weekend hours, and for remote access to both library collections and services.     

Partnership with Community Resources- Campus Police

Summary

It is the policy of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to maintain a quiet and otherwise appropriate environment to assure an atmosphere conducive to study in all units of the University Library System. It is incumbent upon library users to conduct themselves in accordance with the rules of the University Library. It is expected that those who use the University Library System will do so responsibly and appropriately without harassing other users or library staff and without damaging the Library's facilities or its collections.

At Illinois, partnerships have been organized with the campus police to make the library a safe place for all users. With the assistance of our library security staff we have an excellent working relationship with the University Police Department. These partnerships promote initiative for learning and build a desire to pursue a deeper sense of being.     

The “Seventy Percent Solution”

SUMMARY

Portland State University Library's fund allocation committee presented information and practical advice on the process of developing a model to reallocate funding for library materials. After experimenting with funding ratios, they decided to use their model to reallocate 30 percent of the funds earmarked for discipline-specific materials while protecting 70 percent of each discipline's original allocation.     

Writing a Proposal for Electronic Reserves at Virginia Commonwealth University

ABSTRACT

This presents the experience at Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries in developing a pilot project proposal for electronic reserves. The proposal served as the blueprint for planning as well as gaining the support of the library administration and library staff by discussing goals, scope, intellectual property management, budget, and timetable. Implementation of the proposal provided opportunities to identified obstacles and solutions.     

Developing the 21st Century Academic Librarian: The Research Support Ambassador Programme

ABSTRACT

The nature of academic librarianship is changing as librarians move away from the curation of material and into research support roles. Although this creates new opportunities it can be difficult for staff to learn the skills needed. The Office of Scholarly Communication at Cambridge University seeks to address this issue with the Research Support Ambassadors Programme, an initiative which skills staff in areas such as Research Data Management and Open Access. This case study outlines the evolution of the program from its pilot through to its recently completed second run in 2016. The challenges associated with running a cross-library training program are discussed and solutions highlighted. Also discussed is the impact that the program has had on participants. This case study will be of interest to those aiming to pursue a career in this area of librarianship and those looking at preparing staff for the future of the academic library.     

Virtual Trailblazing: Incorporating Electronic Journals into an Academic Library

Summary

The World Wide Web makes it possible for patrons to link easily to electronic journals but does not resolve problems of selection, acquisition, serials control, and cataloging. A pilot project undertaken at the University of Southern California Libraries involved creating a subject and title index to e-journals of interest to the USC faculty on the Web with links to the journals. Upon completion of the pilot, maintenance of the collection was assigned to the Serials Department in the University Library. It then became necessary to mainstream e-journal collection maintenance into the technical services operations of the library.     

When the Walls Came Tumbling Down: The Development of Cooperative Service and Resource Sharing in Libraries: 1876–2002

SUMMARY

This article will look at the historical development of cooperative service and resource sharing in libraries. Interlibrary Loan, union catalogs, library consortia, and electronic reference, have all impacted library work in the past century. The dissolving of walls is one of the main themes of library history in the 20th century. The developments of these years has clearly put the ability to use both human and institutional resources at the heart of contemporary library service. In looking at how this came to be, this article will examine developments in societal infrastructure and technology that made cooperative schemes both possible and economical. This article will also discuss how these developments have forced libraries to consider cooperative ways to respond to their primary service function. Lastly, conclusions will be drawn about how the emerging cooperative environment is changing the educational role of the librarian.     

Aboriginal Students in Canada

Summary

This study involved the use of personal interviews of six Aboriginal students at the University of Alberta in the fall of 1999. This article includes a brief literature review of other articles that consider adult Aboriginal people as library patrons and a section on Indigenous knowledge and values. Findings include three main concerns: a lack of Indigenous resources in the library system; a lack of resource or research development concerning Indigenous issues; and a lack of services recognizing the Indigenous values of “being in relationship” and reciprocity.     

Kent State University's Electronic Reserves Experience

ABSTRACT

In late 1996, Kent State University Libraries began to research electronic reserves software in order to conduct a pilot project. The software chosen was ERes 2.0, developed at Santa Clara University by Philip Kesten and Slaven Zivkovic. This article describes how and why ERes was chosen and how the system was adapted for use at Kent State University. The integration with the OPAC and full-text databases, as well as the pitfalls encountered during the pilot project is detailed. Also described is the experience of learning to scan print documents efficiently.     

Implementing a Library Liaison Program

Abstract

A pilot library liaison program was initiated with the College of Liberal Arts at Southern Illinois University at Carbon-dale. The goals were to facilitate communication with academic faculties, enhance collection development, and improve services. A uniform training program was implemented. Budgets were allocated, and negotiations for new moneys were held in a group setting. Following training, meetings were held with academic department chairs, library liaisons, and the library's Director of Reference Services and Collection Management to activate the program. The pilot program was assessed and then expanded to all sixty teaching departments on campus, using guidelines that had evolved during the pilot program. The centrality of the library as a service unit is affirmed in increased understanding and cooperation between librarians and teaching faculty. The program is continually monitored in an effort to keep the program flexible and responsive to changing needs.     

Maximizing Access to Resources: A Distance Learning Librarian Joins Forces with Colleagues at Supporting (Proximal) Libraries

ABSTRACT

Saint Leo University faculty provide instruction at SCE sites located on eight community college campuses and three military bases in the Florida region. This article will examine ways in which the Distance Learning/Reference (DL/Ref) librarian facilitates off-campus student access to both the university library's online and print resources and to library resources at nearby supporting, or “proximal,” libraries for students who are too far from the University Campus to use anything except the Ask-a-Librarian, 1–800 reference, and Interlibrary Loan services. These students must rely on proximal libraries, which include large public library systems, library consortia, community college libraries, and military base libraries, for access to print resources as well as Internet access to the university's online content. Providing library access services for such a large, disparate group requires the additional combined efforts of administrators, other faculty librarians, and supporting libraries.     

Collaboration: The Key to Unlocking the Dilemma of Distance Reference Services

SUMMARY

Distant education offerings are growing at a phenomenal rate for academic institutions, creating new groups of library users that are remote from the main campus with unique library and research needs. Recent studies examining the needs of this unique and growing population note that reference and research assistance are key services needed. Many institutions have appointed or hired distance education librarians to help provide services to distant learners. They are often, however, one-person operations that function more as coordinators rather than full-service providers. Since the coordinator cannot provide all of the reference services alone, the key to providing these services for distant education students is to create and sustain good working relationships both in the library and with external entities. Offerings to distance students include phone reference and accessibility to online resources, plus virtual reference and often 24/7 services. This article will examine issues and experiences in bringing together different groups to provide reference services to distant learning communities. It will also describe key relationships necessary for keeping distance reference services at an optimal level.     

Google Book Search Libraries and Their Digital Copies

ABSTRACT

The Google Book Search Library Project has partnered with an array of impressive libraries, including Harvard University, the University of California System, University of Michigan, and the New York Public Library. The reasons for collaborating with Google to further book digitization are different for each library. Moreover, the exact way in which these libraries will use their own digital copies has yet to be decided for many of the libraries involved. While the Google Book Search Library Project remains controversial, the Google library partners are seizing an unprecedented opportunity to amplify the scale of their pre-existing digitization initiatives.