A Web-Based Usage Counter for Serial Collections

Usage statistics of current unbound periodicals has been a topic of study for years in public and academic libraries. This article discusses various historical methods and offers an alternative using a simple Web-based method developed at Kent State University. The program is easy to use and keeps detailed statistics for serial librarians or circulation managers. The program is offered as an Open Source download.     

Comparative Usage of Science E-book and Print Collections at Texas A&M University Libraries

This study compares usage figures between equivalent e-books and print books owned by the Texas A&M University Libraries in the physical sciences and technology. For NetLibrary, the top 10 science e-books were used over six times more than the print books, and the top 10 chemistry e-books were used over three times more than their print counterparts. For ebrary, the top 17 science e-books were used at least 17 times more than the same print books. In Safari, the top 10 computer science e-books were used 207 times more than their print counterparts. Usage statistics such as these can help librarians make informed e-book purchase decisions, especially in times of retrenchment.     

关于我国高校图书馆创办网络电子馆刊的调查分析——以“985工程”院校图书馆为例

文章通过网站调查的方式,对“985工程”院校图书馆网络电子馆刊的刊名、数量、创刊年、显示位置、出版频次、文件类型、检索功能、刊头标识、宗旨与定位、栏目设置、互动性与类型等内容进行了调查分析,概述了电子馆刊发展现状及其不足,提出加强电子馆刊建设的具体措施。     

Weeding Older Social Sciences Journals

Weeding collections of older materials in order to make room for newer materials is now an accepted part of librarianship. Accordingly, a consistent set of objective principles for weeding now exist. Applying these objective principles of weeding to older social sciences materials is problematic in light of the epistemological debate over how the social sciences are, or should be practiced. This article will first discuss the debate over the nature of the social sciences. It will then outline the objective principles of weeding. These principles will be then be applied to an older social scientific journal that is a candidate for weeding. Finally, the article will discuss how the debate in the social sciences potentially can affect the librarian's judgment about these older materials.     

近十年国内外高校图书馆赠书管理研究综述

文章利用文献综述方法,对2001-2010年间国内外高校图书馆赠书管理的研究状况进行主题分析,结果得出主题主要包括:赠书来源、意义、存在问题、管理措施。最后,比较国内外相关研究的特点及规律,以期为我国高校图书馆赠书管理的研究发展提供借鉴。     

运城市公共图书馆古籍收藏与利用情况调研报告

在深入基层调查研究的基础上,综述了运城市公共图书馆古籍文献资源的收藏和整理利用情况,分析了该地区古籍文献资源的收藏优势,同时也指出在整理和开发利用方面存在的不足,最后有针地性地提出进一步重视和做好古籍工作的几点建议。     

关于当前高校图书采购工作的思考

对当前高校图书采购工作的形势、任务、存在的问题进行了分析,提出了增加购书经费、加强图书数字化建设、提高图书质量和采购人员素质等建设性意见。     

Creating a Statewide JSTOR Repository: Initial Steps Taken by the Florida State University System

In Florida, the State University Libraries deans have chosen to take a two-pronged approach to addressing limited physical capacity in their facilities: developing a statewide storage facility and deduplicating print serial titles. The initial efforts in the state have focused on titles included in the Journals in Storage electronic collections. Specifically, the collaboration between the University of Florida and Florida State University is the focus of this article. The background information, efforts made, lessons learned, and jobs still to be done will each be given more attention, with the intent of providing a starting point for other institutions considering similar initiatives.     

Checking Out the Library: Partnering for Outreach to Short-Term International Students

In the academic year 2015–2016, librarians at Eastern Washington University implemented a series of outreach events for incoming cohorts of international students from Japan participating in a short-term English language program on their campus. The outcome of those outreach efforts has yielded valuable insights into the challenges associated with reaching a short-term international student population, and the particularly vital importance of a strong partnership with program faculty and staff.     

Three Libraries,Three Weeding Projects: Collaborative Weeding Projects Within a Shared Print Repository

The Tri-University Group of Libraries has operated a joint print repository (the Annex) since 1996. As of March 2011, the facility is at 94% capacity. Following a shutdown and comprehensive review in 2006, the three institutions developed a Preservation of Last Print Copy Agreement. This agreement spurred the three partner institutions to undertake three specific weeding projects (monographs deduplication, weeding of science, technology, and medicine journals, and a JSTOR journals last copy project) to prolong the life of the repository. This article outlines the scope, methodologies, successes, and challenges involved with these collaborative weeding projects.     

Assessment from a Distance: A Case Study Implementing Focus Groups at an Online Library

Assessing library resources and services at a distance holds unique challenges in gathering data needed to make informed decisions. This article describes the complete process of piloting virtual focus groups—from planning and implementation through the analysis of results for a completely online student population. The virtual focus group method proved effective in getting qualitative feedback to spur library improvements, and it is transferable to many different library settings.     

Usage and User Analysis of a Real-Time Digital Reference Service

Summary

This paper presents the results of a use analysis and the results of a user survey of Bowling Green State University Libraries' “Chat with a Librarian” service for the academic year 2001-2002. When appropriate, the results are compared with the results of other libraries' services. Information examined includes when and from where users ask questions via the services, how users find out about the service, and what types of questions the users ask, the status and affiliation of the users, and user satisfaction with the service. Most of this information can be compared to findings from at least one other academic library's study of a somewhat similar service. With a few exceptions, the findings are similar from service to service.     

Knowledge Maps and the Work of Academic Librarians in an Interdisciplinary Environment

This article describes a method that academic librarians can use to help established scholars and doctoral students become more cognizant of interdisciplinary approaches to their academic fields and areas. This method centers around the creation of knowledge maps: visually oriented aids tracing intellectual connections and linkages between and among various fields and areas that allow students and professors to get a good sense of emerging trends in a given academic specialty. Many professors want librarians to be proactive when it comes to suggesting new perspectives and new ways of seeing their research questions. Knowledge maps can be used by librarians as information-literacy tools in the facilitation of interdisciplinary knowledge among academic researchers. In addition, the creation of knowledge maps by librarians can be seen as a component of the changing nature of reference librarianship—a job that is becoming more intellectualized through one-on-one consultations between students, professors, and librarians.     

Simplifying Usage Statistics: What's Next for SUSHI

Standardized Usage Statistics Harvesting Initiative (SUSHI) is the key to automating the harvesting of Counting Online Usage of Networked Electronic Resources (COUNTER) usage statistics. Whether librarians are aware of it or not, SUSHI is a critical standard for measuring and monitoring the use of library online collections, eliminating hours of painstaking effort that would otherwise be required to locate, retrieve, and load usage reports. However, needs are evolving and standards like SUSHI need to evolve too. In this column I will examine some of the challenges facing SUSHI and how the National Information Standards Organization SUSHI Standing Committee is proactively addressing the challenges with its effort to develop a more flexible and easier-to-implement version of SUSHI.     

Preservice Teachers’ Use of the University Libraries Children’s Literature Collection

Abstract

The necessity of preservice teachers’ familiarity with children’s literature remains highly significant, while their methods for achieving this familiarity are expanding. This research assessed the selection and acquisition methods of preservice teachers and their faculty. Researchers identified five children’s literature courses being taught during the fall 2017 semester and interviewed faculty members, reviewed course syllabi, and surveyed enrolled students. The data collected suggests that preservice teachers are primarily interested in quickly and easily acquiring titles and are often seeking specific titles. Suggestions for adjustments to outreach methods and organization of the children’s literature collection are given.     

学术图书出版推广馆社合作模式探析

[目的/意义]研究以馆社合作的方式进行学术图书出版推广服务,以期提升学术图书的出版质量,促进学术交流与科学传播,推动图书馆与出版社的创新发展。[方法/过程]运用文献调研法、网络调研法,系统分析当前学术图书出版推广所面临的危机与机遇,总结学术图书出版推广国内外图书馆与出版社的合作现状及现有合作中存在的问题,提出馆社合作新模式,并探讨二者在新的合作模式中需解决的问题。[结果/结论]从搭建学术图书出版推广一体化平台、开展学术图书出版素养教育、加强数据合作、制定有效的合作政策、建立长期稳定的资金保障体系、建立良好的沟通协调机制6个方面构建馆社合作模式,使合作更深入、更专业、更高效,能积极促进学术研究成果的产生、传播与共享,推进学科发展与学术繁荣。     

An Assessment of the Relationships between Resource Development Decisions,Library Collection Usage,and User Perceptions

Today's managers of library journal collection budgets experience pressures from shrinking resource allocations and rising costs. Consequently, they seek ways to assess the value of their collections in relation to user needs. This study at Montana State University seeks to understand what resources users (both faculty and graduate students) are citing in their research, the breadth of the information cited that is provided by the Library, how the Library's proactive and reactive efforts might influence user satisfaction with the information resources provided, and how user perceptions align and differ from information realities. It takes a unique approach by comparing LibQual+® survey results and faculty and graduate student citation behaviors.     

Report on Travel to Athens,Greece September 9–21, 2006

The author reports on a visit to Athens, Greece, in September 2006 to visit book dealers, libraries, archives, and other institutions with which the Library of Congress has relations, for acquisitions and for collaborative projects in the areas of bibliographic control, microfilming, and digital projects.     

协同工作模式下的高校图书馆新型图书荐购系统建设与思考——以上海交通大学图书馆为例

[目的/意义]通过探讨多角色馆员协同工作模式下高校图书馆个性化图书荐购系统的构建与完善,为其他高校图书馆建设图书荐购系统、提升读者荐书的积极性提供参考。[方法/过程]以上海交通大学图书馆图书荐购系统建设实践为例,从传统与新型荐书系统对比、协同工作模式分析、系统设计与实现等方面出发,全面解读协同工作模式下的高校图书馆新型图书荐购系统建设实践,并对该图书荐购系统建设的实践进行思考。[结果/结论]上海交通大学图书馆通过多角色馆员协作模式,构建智能化、特色化的图书荐购系统,提高用户荐书的积极性和主动性,促进学科资源与用户需求的契合。开发一个功能丰富、荐书反馈及时的图书荐购系统有助于改善高校图书馆读者荐书的积极性。     

The Value of Partnerships: Building New Partnerships for Success

ABSTRACT

In today's economy, higher education institutions are struggling to maintain quality while functioning with fewer resources. For libraries, the economic situation is compounded by the impact of an information marketplace that is characterized by prices for resources that increase at 7 to 10% per year, and by near and actual monopolies controlling content. Added to the complexities of the marketplace are the demands of a faculty and student body that prefer individual actions to group efforts. These economic and social issues can become real barriers to innovation, quality improvement, and successful services for today's libraries. One way to combat the economic and social environment is by creating new and improved partnerships to leverage resources and share expertise in order to provide better services and access to wider collections. But forming partnerships is not easy. This paper will review the characteristics of successful partnership as developed by the Gallup Corporation and will show how these values can be used in the academic library environment to create opportunities for success.