Usage of E-resources: Virtual Value of Demographics

The focus of this study was to identify: 1) usage of library e-resources by faculty and staff affiliation and status to identify research and teaching needs; 2) usage of library e-resources by student major, status, gender, registered disability and registered veteran to establish best outreach practices and areas that need service improvement and collection development in support of student learning; and 3) the correlation between use of library e-resources and student attainment as defined by grade point average (GPA). Demographic data was collected for these users based on their university NetID logins. The findings in this study conclusively document that students and faculty use library e-resources to a statistically significant extent and that a statistical relationship exists between student GPA and their use of e-resources. This information confirms the value of library resources to institutional teaching and research needs and can be used to document library value to the institutional mission.     

Use of UGC-Infonet E-resources by Social Science Academics in Indian Universities: An Evaluation Study

UGC is providing access to scholarly electronic resources (e-resources) to Indian universities through the UGC-Infonet Digital Library Consortium. Access to subscribed e-resources is being provided free of cost to member universities. The whole program is funded by the UGC and executed by the INFLIBNET Centre. Now, the UGC-Infonet Digital Library Consortium is in its 11th year and it has been expected that privileged academicians are utilizing available e-resources extensively and optimally. In this paper an effort is being made to assess, how social science faculty working in Indian universities have been using e-resources, what are the problems they are facing in accessing them, and what are the efforts made by INFLIBNET to spread awareness about such an ambitious initiative of UGC among social science faculty members. This paper also highlights some important issues with respect to use, acceptance and planning of this consortium.     

Usability Testing for e-Resource Discovery: How Students Find and Choose e-Resources Using Library Web Sites

In early 2010, library staff at Bowling Green State University (BGSU) in Ohio designed and conducted a usability study of key parts of the library web site, focusing on the web pages generated by the library's electronic resources management system (ERM) that list and describe the library's databases. The goal was to discover how users find and choose e-resources and identify ways the library could improve access to e-resources through its web site. This article outlines the usability study conducted at BGSU, presents its conclusions about how students at BGSU find and choose databases, contextualizes these findings with other current research about user behavior, and makes recommendations for increasing student use of library e-resources.     

Information Literacy Programs

Summary

With the rapid advances in information technology, the proliferation of information resources and formats, and the increasing complexities of access and evaluation, libraries recognize the necessity for a dynamic information literacy program that will address the needs of all categories of users. University faculty constitute one group of users to which the systemic college library increasingly endeavors to extend and market its services and programs, including its information literacy training workshops. A consideration of this library/classroom faculty relationship in the context of the adult education literature, as well as successful models that have been employed in this effort, provide insight on ways in which the library can successfully accomplish its information literacy training objectives among this group.     

The OPAC is Dead: Managing the Virtual Library

Changing trends in library use and management of e-resources were discussed by Jane Burke from ProQuest/Serials Solutions. A paradigm shift in library collections has occurred in which e‐resources are now the major component of new library materials, requiring new ways to manage and display them. The use of e‐resource access and management services was discussed as a helpful tool, along with federated searching. Burke suggested that by spending less time processing print materials and ending bibliographic instruction, more time will be available for librarians to market and manage e-resources, which will be of greater benefit to today's library users.     

Evaluating the impact of library user training programmes across Thames Valley Strategic Health Authority in the UK

BACKGROUND: This study was undertaken to provide evidence that library outreach projects in the NHS in the Thames Valley Strategic Health Authority area were effective and could justify continued funding. Objectives: The object was to assess whether information literacy skills training taken up by health professionals impacts on their confidence and skills in using electronic sources of health information. METHOD: A total of 487 health professionals taking up training on a voluntary basis were assessed by completing a self-assessment questionnaire prior to and after training to establish their information literacy skills and confidence levels. Of these, 223 trainees (46%) also returned 6-week follow-up questionnaires. RESULTS: Results showed that 464 trainees (95%) intended to apply what they had learnt in a variety of ways; use of specific resources greatly increased after training and confidence in using them increased substantially. Use of search techniques increased considerably overall, whereas use of Google decreased. CONCLUSIONS: The major findings of this research are that training health-care personnel in the use of electronic resources impacts positively on their information literacy skills and confidence, and that the information available to them is considered to have potential value across health-care practice.     

高校图书馆电子资源利用及其改进措施

基于国内高校图书馆电子资源利用存在的主要问题,从资源评估、资源整合与揭示、宣传推广和馆员支撑四方面介绍了南方医科大学图书馆提升电子资源利用率的措施,提出了图书馆应注重宣传推展活动、用户信息素养及电子资源运用能力等提高电子资源利用率的合理建议。     

Planning for the Millennium

Abstract

Planning for the next millennium focuses on the acquisition of electronic formats and resource sharing with local libraries to extend access to information and remote electronic resources. How will we decide what our users need and whether they will use electronic resources as well as they currently use paper resources? Using a variety of computer resources, surveys, and circulation statistics, we determine what journals are essential for faculty needs in teaching, research and continuing education, and how we can best utilize combinations of electronic and print resources to position the medical library to move into the future without sacrificing the past. What role will the medical publisher play in this scenario and what are some likely trends in the medical publishing industry as the millennium approaches?.     

Collaborating on Electronic Course Reserves to Support Student Success

Abstract

As we move into an era in which an increasing amount of information is available in digital form and more universities and colleges are providing distance education courses, electronic course reserves are becoming an essential part of library services. The Digital Reading Room (DRR), an Athabasca University collaboratively developed e-reserves system, facilitates immediate student access to faculty selected, course specific resources in a variety of media and promotes increased use of electronic information resources. To encourage student success in a digital environment, the Library has worked with Faculty to create information literacy tools designed to help students become better researchers and information consumers.     

The level of Internet access and ICT training for health information professionals in sub-Saharan Africa

BACKGROUND: Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are important tools for development. Despite its significant growth on a global scale, Internet access is limited in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Few studies have explored Internet access, use of electronic resources and ICT training among health information professionals in Africa. OBJECTIVE: The study assessed Internet access, use of electronic resources and ICT training among health information professionals in SSA. METHODS: A 26-item self-administered questionnaire in English and French was used for data collection. The questionnaire was completed by health information professionals from five Listservs and delegates at the 10th biannual Congress of the Association of Health Information and Libraries in Africa (AHILA). RESULTS: A total of 121 respondents participated in the study and, of those, 68% lived in their countries' capital. The majority (85.1%) had Internet access at work and 40.8% used cybercafes as alternative access points. Slightly less than two-thirds (61.2%) first learned to use ICT through self-teaching, whilst 70.2% had not received any formal training in the previous year. Eighty-eight per cent of respondents required further ICT training. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: In SSA, freely available digital information resources are underutilized by health information professionals. ICT training is recommended to optimize use of digital resources. To harness these resources, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations must play a key role.     

University librarians' perspectives on an importance-performance analysis of authentication system attributes and their attitudes towards authentication log visualization

The means through which the university libraries provide access to electronic resources (e-resources) for their patrons and the way they operate could be enhanced through an authentication system. Such a system can help address the challenges of seamless access to e-resources for patrons, and can also provide information for university librarians to further understand and explore patrons' demands. The purpose of this study was to investigate the perception gap (i.e., importance and satisfaction) of university librarians regarding authentication services, and their attitudes towards the visualization of online libraries' usage logs. Moreover, this study developed a dashboard platform to visualize readers' behavior when using online resources and to understand university librarians' attitudes towards the library statistics dashboard. As a result, it was found that one system quality attribute and two information quality attributes were identified as high priorities for the intervention. University librarians gave positive feedback on the library statistics dashboard that can present visualizations of the authentication logs to further explore patron behavior of using e-resources. This also shows that the results can help identify strategic focus areas to evaluate authentication systems and library statistics dashboard as alternative technologies to assist university librarians in exploring patrons' e-resource usage behaviors.     

Electronic resources at the University of Sharjah medical library: an investigation of students' information-seeking behavior

Electronic information is becoming prevalent worldwide, and its use is growing exponentially as more and more users are recognizing the potential that it offers in terms of access and delivery. However, with the introduction of new tools for e-information searching and retrieval, users have to readjust their information-seeking behavior to cope with the corresponding changes. The University of Sharjah library is steadily increasing its investment in e-resources to offer ubiquitous access to the growing body of literature in areas that interest the community it serves. This study reports the findings of a survey conducted to investigate the information-seeking behavior of medical students at the medical library. Results showed evidence of use of e-resources, but they did not explicitly establish that some of the major problems mentioned by participants did hinder the information searches of the respondents. An extensive literature review sets the background for the study.     

Educating student pharmacists about herbal medicines: faculty-librarian collaboration

OBJECTIVE: To determine the impact of the teaching collaboration between faculty and librarians in instructing pharmacy students on herbal medicines. METHODS: An elective course with an integrated library instruction component is described. Qualitative data on students' perceptions of library instruction were collected and analysed as the result of pre- and post-surveys. RESULTS: Based on the results of pre-test and post-test surveys, the number of students who felt they were able to select the best print and electronic resources for finding herbal information increased to 100% from 50 and 60 correspondingly. This indicated a significant change in students' perceived knowledge of information sources in the field of herbal medicine, as well as overall progress in information literacy and problem-solving skills. CONCLUSION: Team teaching by faculty librarians is an effective way of educating future pharmacists on the information resources in the field of complementary and alternative therapies.     

Scholars and the use of the internet

Faculty members from a college in a major university were surveyed to explore the possible relationship between Internet usage and the following dependent variables: computer usage (length of time and perceived expertise), length of time of Internet use, perceived expertise of Internet use, and perceived utility of the Internet. Ninety-seven percent of faculty members have an Internet account. Furthermore, computer literacy and the time one has used computers are correlated with early adoption of the Internet, perceived utility of the Internet is correlated with computer literacy and with Internet usage, and Internet use is correlated with perceived Internet expertise but not with the length of time the faculty member has used the Internet. Highly skilled computer users are more likely to use the network in a more intensive way and have higher appreciation of the network's potential.     

Strategies for Catalog Management of Electronic Monographs in Series

Electronic monographic series display a complex mix of the characteristics of electronic serials, electronic books, and print monograph series. Because many cannot be managed via the typical tools and services used to manage electronic resources, providing title-level, or analytic cataloging presents challenges above and beyond the usual challenges for e-resources. This article enumerates those challenges, proposes a set of criteria for making analysis decisions for e-monograph series, and suggests other directions libraries might pursue to provide catalog access to this important category of resources.     

Electronic Resources at the University of Sharjah Medical Library: An Investigation of Students' Information-Seeking Behavior

Electronic information is becoming prevalent worldwide, and its use is growing exponentially as more and more users are recognizing the potential that it offers in terms of access and delivery. However, with the introduction of new tools for e-information searching and retrieval, users have to readjust their information-seeking behavior to cope with the corresponding changes. The University of Sharjah library is steadily increasing its investment in e-resources to offer ubiquitous access to the growing body of literature in areas that interest the community it serves. This study reports the findings of a survey conducted to investigate the information-seeking behavior of medical students at the medical library. Results showed evidence of use of e-resources, but they did not explicitly establish that some of the major problems mentioned by participants did hinder the information searches of the respondents. An extensive literature review sets the background for the study.     

Remote access to electronic library services through a campus network

The Health Science Library at University of Tennessee (UT), Memphis has taken advantage of a campuswide network for the purpose of providing enhanced access to library services. With a terminal or microcomputer, members of the UT Memphis community can use an electronic menu system to complete photocopy, interlibrary loan, and computer literature search request forms; leave messages or sign up for library workshops; use electronic mail to receive citations and abstracts from computer literature searches; use an electronic bulletin board to scan the library's new acquisitions lists, library hours, services, and policies; and use bibliographic retrieval software to search the library's locally mounted databases. Remote access to library services and electronic resources, which is available twenty-four hours a day, could potentially save users time and the institution money. Remote access, however, is intended to supplement, not to supplant or discourage, in-house library use.     

“985工程”院校图书馆电子资源揭示和组织的现状调查

对39所"985工程"院校图书馆网站进行调查,从是否有OPAC编目揭示、电子资源揭示的方式和种数、图书馆首页资源揭示的方式和种数、是否有使用指南及指南方式、是否提供统一检索以及统一检索平台的类型等五方面获取了图书馆电子资源组织和揭示的情况,并提出了相关建议,为国内其他图书馆科学合理地组织和揭示电子信息资源提供参考。     

Anything,Anytime, Anywhere

Abstract

Students and faculty have come to expect off-campus access to the full portfolio of electronic resources made available by their library. They demand, and should be provided, simple access to electronic information sources 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, regardless of their location. Proxy servers have been the solution of choice for remote authentication for some time now, but library users tend to have difficulty with manually configured proxies, and there are beginning to be robust alternatives that can provide secure off-campus access to library resources. Remote authentication should not be a matter of getting a proxy server running and then forgetting about it. New developments should be investigated to ensure the easiest, most reliable and most secure access possible-in the interests of libraries and their users.     

Consortial Cataloging Guidelines for Electronic Resources: I-Share Survey and Recommendations

In 2009, the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois (CARLI) charged a task force to update and revise recommendations that address cataloging practice and catalog access to electronic resources for libraries participating in the I-Share union catalog. This article presents the results of a survey and recommendations developed by the 2009 Task Force that cover all types of e-resources. Issues covered include: single or separate records for electronic and print versions of a title; the use of aggregator-neutral and provider neutral records; the construction and placement of the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) and notes; and the use of vendor records.