Do digital devices enhance teenagers’ recreational reading engagement? Issues for library policy from a recent study in two Australian states

ABSTRACT

Digital platforms have become central to twenty-first century education, culture, and government, and libraries devote an increasing proportion of budgets to acquisitions of e-resources. This research reports on a recent project that investigated Australian teenagers’ use of traditional print and digital platforms for long-form recreational reading. Specifically, it investigates whether digital devices are a preferred modality for Australian adolescents’ recreational reading and if access to digital devices with e-reading capabilities, such as tablets, smartphones, e-readers, and laptop or desktop computers, is associated with more reading engagement by avid and reluctant readers. The research, based on a diverse sample of urban and regional participants from two states, suggests that Australian adolescents’ preferences for e-books have been largely overestimated. Issues of relevance to public libraries are discussed.     

Making choices: vendors and agents in the assessment process

Vendors and agents have a plethora of reports, databases, and tools that can be used by libraries in support of collection assessment as well as the day-to-day process of acquiring library material. The paper reviews the current status of these tools particularly as they relate to monographic acquisitions including selection, in-print titles, out-of-print titles, and exchange of duplicates and serials acquisitions including management reports, document delivery, and electronic journals.     

Cataloging Monographic Serial Analytics

Abstract

Analyzing serial issues of a monographic nature as a mechanism for connecting users to topical content has been a longstanding practice at the Iowa State University Library. Although studies have shown that monographic analysis of selected journal issues is a method of providing access to topical issues that citation databases often do not provide, the labor cost in providing original cataloging for some of these issues remains high. This article details the rationale and decision making that resulted in the implementation of a new process for reducing the amount of monographic analysis that is provided for uniquely titled journal issues.     

The OhioLINK OCLC Collection Analysis Project: A Preliminary Report

The article will describe the plans and work to date on the OCLC Research Office and OhioLINK's joint project to analyze use data from Ohio college and university libraries. The project will create a repository of data about the circulation of monographs that can be correlated against such data points as subject, age of material, location and publisher. One of the goals of the study is to investigate whether there has been a shift in the general patterns of use of library collections in a situation where libraries have instituted patron-initiated borrowing from one another. The project is similar to a study that the OCLC Research Office did with the University of Colorado, Boulder, but on a larger scale and with the addition of information about monographs that do not circulate. An article about that study appeared in the January 2006 issue of College and Research Libraries.     

The Coming of Full-Service Access

Summary

This paper provides criteria for document delivery vendor selection and substantive data to support an innovative realignment of budget allocations, staffing, and services to better meet the expectations and needs of the academic library user. A review of two projects incorporating document delivery into ready reference and acquisitions is followed by an extensive analysis of four major document delivery vendors as part of a research project funded by The University of Montana Faculty Grant Program and the Mansfield Library. Criteria to assess four commercial document delivery vendors are analyzed based on their use by faculty representing three academic departments. The findings of all three projects support the integration of document delivery services within a framework of integrated collection development, technical services and public services.     

From IM to Collaboration

Abstract

As library service providers for distance learners, we are constantly searching for ways to assist them in their use of library resources. Virtual (real-time chat) reference is yet another tool to utilize in reaching these students. While virtual reference has been around for several years and many libraries offer such services, as a medium-sized institution, Emporia State University took some time to move into providing such a service on a formal basis. Several issues, including staffing and funding, delayed entrance into this arena. It was not until a collaborative academic reference venture among several academic libraries in the state was proposed that the ESU library was able to offer this service. Advantages and disadvantages of the collaboration will be discussed, as well as lessons learned that can be applied to any collaborative project.     

Collection Assessment of Monograph Purchases at the University of Nevada,Las Vegas Libraries

The purpose of this article is to describe an assessment project of the monograph collection at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Lied Library. The circulation statistics and in-house use of all monographs for the nine colleges at UNLV were assessed analyzing the last five years of data. The analysis included an assessment of the circulation statistics and in-house use of books purchased on an approval plan compared with books purchased by individual liaison librarians. The findings illustrated the fact that overall use of the monograph collection has declined over the past five years. The findings also showed that books purchased on an approval plan had slightly higher use than the books purchased by individual liaisons. The study shows that academic libraries need to monitor usage of the monograph collection to be certain that money is spent in the most efficient manner and that usage data can be helpful if there is a need to reduce budget allocations for monographs or if a reallocation of funds for monographs is necessary.     

Data Collection System for Tracking Hospital Librarians’ Productivity

Abstract

Librarians gather data on multiple aspects of their work. Much of the data collection revolves around the library’s resources, but what may be passed over during this data collection is information on how librarians are expending their time and effort. A group of librarians from a community hospital system designed a Microsoft Access database to collect such data and has been recording librarians’ efforts for more than three years. The librarians use the data in annual reports and can track trends to evaluate service priorities and maximize effective use of the librarians’ time.     

Monograph use at an academic health sciences library: the first three years of shelf life

OBJECTIVE: To study the circulation of monographs during the first three years of shelf life at an academic health sciences library. METHOD: A record was kept of monographs added to the circulating collection from mid-1994 to mid-1995. After three years, each monograph was located and the number of times it circulated during the first, second, and third year of shelf life determined by counting checkout stamps on the circulation slip. RESULTS: Of the 1,958 monographs studied, 1,674 had complete data for the first three years of shelf life. Of those 1,674 titles, 81.48% circulated at least once. A total of 7,659 circulations were recorded; 38.69% occurred in the first year of shelf life, 32.37% in the second year, and 28.95% in the third year. The data did not fit the well-known 80/20 rule. Instead, approximately 38% of monographs accounted for 80% of circulation. A small percentage, 2.21%, of monographs accounted for a substantial percentage of circulation, 21.84%. CONCLUSIONS: A large percentage of the monographs circulated and use did not decline sharply with age within the first three years of shelf life, indicating a high demand for monographs at this academic health sciences library. These results, combined with the findings of earlier studies, suggested two possibilities. First, academic health sciences libraries might exhibit use of a higher percentage of monograph acquisitions than other types of libraries; or, second, a low monograph-to-user ratio might result in a higher percentage of monographs being used. Perhaps both factors contributed to the results found in this study. Further investigation would be needed to determine the extent to which library type and monograph-to-user ratio influenced monograph use.     

OCLC AND SERIALS PROCESSING

OCLC's on-line services began in 1971, but only for monographic cataloging. It was 1974 when serials records were first allowed into OCLC's data base. Then came CONSER in 1975, serials check-in in 1976, and card production for serials cataloging in 1977. The University of Illinois at Urbann-Champaign (UIUC) has gradually increased its use of 0CLC's serials services for preorder searching, precatalog searching, and, most recently, full serials cataloging and card production. But UIUC has not committed itself to the use of OCLC for serials check-in or the planned acquisitions system. It will depend on the alternatives.     

The Impact of the Monographs Crisis on the Field of Communication

This study replicates and extends Yates and Chapman's [(2007), Behavioral & Social Sciences Librarian, 26(1), 39–51] study of references from Communication Monographs, Communication Research, and Journal of Communication for the years 2010 and 2015 to draw further conclusions on the use of monographs in journal literature in the field of communication. Results show that the use of monographs in these journals has been outpaced by references to journal articles by a ratio of 5 to 1. The references were further analyzed by date and publisher. The authors then selected a random sample of the monographs cited in the journals to explore the availability of these monographs in electronic format and found that many are available as ebooks, particularly the more recent titles. The authors also examined the references from a collection of scholarly books in communication from 2005, 2010, and 2015 and found that the use of monographs may be declining slightly. The most notable trend in these references was the increase in the number of references to items in other formats such as film, television, comic books, and websites. The authors conclude that the monographs crisis is indeed affecting citation patterns in the field of communication.     

Cartobibliography for Catalogers

Abstract

This paper serves as a basic reference tool especially for catalogers of early cartographic resources, providing an extensive, annotated list of bibliographic references that are useful for cataloging-related cartobibliographical detective work. The entries are categorized as biographical sources, library bibliographies and catalogs, regional cartobibliographies by place of publication or geographic area of map coverage, thematic cartobibliographies, indexes to monographic and serial publications, comparative studies and introductory texts accompanying facsimile publications, basic bibliographies on the history of cartography, and cartographic periodicals. It provides examples of these various types of sources and comments on their helpful features. While the selections focus on English language resources and maps of North America, it suggests leads to find additional sources pertaining to particular unmet needs that may arise.     

Student Satisfaction with Electronic Library Resources at Wayne State University

ABSTRACT

This paper reports the results of a survey of student satisfaction with electronic library resources other than the online catalog at Wayne State University. Undertaken in Fall Term 2000 as a class project for a marketing course, a student team designed, administered, and analyzed a survey of a random sample of students. Almost 40% of the responding students said that they were unaware of electronic resources though 53.8% of these same students answered subsequent questions about use of these resources. Students aware of electronic resources learned about them much more from their professors (38.3%) than from library efforts to publicize them (18.5%). Students were generally satisfied (68%) except when things went wrong. A high percentage of all students (92.4%) answered that the library should continue to expand electronic resources.     

Automating the nexus of book selection,acquisitions and rapid copy cataloging

The authors describe their experience at the University of Washington Libraries automating monographic selection, acquisitions and rapid copy cataloging workflows through the use of a book vendor’s online selection and ordering database and OCLC’s PromptCat service. Benefits to selectors, acquisitions staff and copy cataloging staff are listed, and a checklist of issues to examine before beginning such a change is provided.     

Cataloging the Congressional Serial Set

ABSTRACT

Many librarians question the usefulness of the traditional cataloging of difficult historic sets in a time when more and more information moves either to the Internet or is digitized outright. One of the most challenging sets to catalog is the United States Congressional Serial Set, a 14,000+ (and growing) mega serial comprised of five monographic sub-series. The Congressional Serial Set is an anomaly since it is both monographic and serial in nature. This article examines the intricacies in cataloging government publications in an electronic atmosphere using one House document in the Serial Set as a guide and examines the two commercial digitization projects currently underway.¹     

Purchase Instead of Borrow

Abstract

In seeking to provide a more cost-effective means to substitute for gaps in the collection the University of Hong Kong Libraries began to consider the feasibility of combining purchase with interlibrary loan borrowing in the fall of 2001. From 2002 the University of Hong Kong Libraries implemented a new initiative, called the “Overseas Book Loan Initiative,” to purchase interlibrary loan requests for locally unavailable monographs instead of borrowing them from overseas.

This paper presents the University of Hong Kong model of “purchase on demand,” and attempts to study whether purchase instead of borrow is a better alternative for the University of Hong Kong Libraries' situation, given the local factors and circumstances. The four underlying factors: speed, subsequent use, content appropriateness, and cost of transaction are examined by analyzing actual data collected.

Evidence from the study suggests that purchasing instead of borrowing is a better option if the library can continue to support the higher out-of-pocket costs to achieve the benefits of improving patron support, addingindemand materials to the collection, and optimizing the use of resources.     

Exploring the Application of Information and Communication Technologies in the Acquisition of Information Resources in Three Academic Libraries in North-West Nigeria: Preliminary Findings

Abstract

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) incursion has brought a lot of changes to libraries activities. ICTs are used to manage libraries more efficiently and in meeting customers’ demands more appropriately at the right time. Despite the contribution of ICTs to library and information work, many libraries are yet to adopt these technologies especially in the acquisitions of library materials. This study was carried out in three selected university libraries in North West Nigeria. The objectives of the study were to: determine the influence of performance expectancy on academic librarians’ intention to use ICT for acquisition; establish the influence of effort expectancy on academic librarians’ intention to use ICT for acquisition; find out the extent of social influence and facilitating conditions on academic librarians’ intention to use ICT for acquisition and lastly to proffer recommendations. This study adopted a positivistic approach and used a questionnaire administered to 224 librarians to collect data in the three selected libraries. The study is guided by the Unified Theory Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) developed by Venkatesh. Findings from the study reveals that academic librarians are supportive on the use of ICT in their work; ICTs are significantly important, trainings were organized mainly for librarians on general use of ICT not only on acquisition, but also on the general issues related to library activities; librarians also have the knowledge necessary to use ICT for acquisition in their libraries. The study recommends among others that the parent universities should increase the funding of their libraries with adequate supervision, so that such funds are well utilized for ICTs application; university libraries should continually sponsor their academic staff on modern computerized ways of using ICTs to source for materials and the acquisition of information resources in academic libraries should be given all the seriousness it deserves by enacting legislation to allocate a reasonable percentage of the university’s budget to it.