What is a Library?: International College Students' Perceptions of Libraries

This study presents findings from an online survey and series of one-on-one interviews with students at New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) regarding their perceptions of libraries. With an international student population, NYUAD represents a unique opportunity to gain insight into a wide variety of student opinions and experiences of libraries. The goal of the study was to develop a student-based perspective of libraries, which can be used to improve library services and outreach. The student responses ranged from intense engagement with libraries to little or no experience. In general, students had a limited view of the role of librarians in the library. Interestingly, many students have a lofty view of libraries and see them as repositories of knowledge for humanity.     

Access to learning resources for students on placement in the UK: what are the issues and how can we resolve them?

AIM: To compile a list of the issues regarding access to learning resources which affect students on placement in the UK and suggest some ways in which these can be resolved. RESULTS: Issues relating to PC access, network access, software, firewalls, disciplinary procedures, electronic information resources, virtual learning environments, service level agreements, physical access to libraries, book loans, reading lists and course committees are identified and discussed in relation to NHS libraries. CONCLUSIONS: Successful resolution of the IT and library issues, which are increasingly inter-linked, can help to ensure that students have a positive placement experience. Resolution will depend on close, regular liaison and can be assisted by negotiation of a clear Service Level Agreement.     

Text Mining 101: What You Should Know

ABSTRACT

Scholars increasingly use text and data mining (TDM) methods to discover trends and relationships within complex digital data sets. In order to support this development in scholarly communication, librarians and publishers need to be knowledgeable about TDM methods, build partnerships with TDM researchers, and address challenges related to licensing and access to large document sets. The presenters of this NASIG session shared their experiences of supporting TDM as a library subject liaison, acquisitions librarian, and publisher representatives. Audience members discussed issues involving TDM of data from multiple publishers, local hosting of data sets and TDM activity by undergraduate students.     

Start-Up Library: My Experience at NYU Abu Dhabi

NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD), as a relatively new campus of New York University, embodies the vision of the Global Network University (GNU). In my three years as instruction and public services librarian at NYUAD, I have experienced many of the challenges and rewards that creating a new library in the Middle East and within the GNU can provide. Above all, I have learned that collaboration, innovation, and awareness of local culture are critical skills necessary for start-up libraries in new environments. It is my hope that staff members in branch campus libraries, libraries with small user populations, new libraries, and international libraries can identify with and learn from my experiences as an original staff member of the NYUAD Library.     

Education Trifecta: Win Attention,Place Knowledge,Show Understanding

Continuing education for librarians and educating library school students in the areas of technical services are topics often discussed within the field of librarianship. The presenters in this session provided alternatives to “on the job” education for technical services professionals. Two presenters provided strategies for instructing an online continuing education course on acquisitions. The third presenter shared information about the development and teaching of a serials course at a library school.     

Serving Community Faculty Through a Dedicated Liaison

Community-based medical schools rely heavily on volunteer faculty to provide medical education. Volunteer faculty consist of health care professionals, primarily physicians, who commit to educating medical students and residents. While these volunteer faculty are typically unpaid, many medical schools provide some benefits to them for volunteering their time. One such benefit, although rarely noted in library or medical education literature, is access to academic medical library resources and services. This article highlights a library services liaison model dedicated to the support of volunteer faculty at a community-based medical school.     

Education for acquisitions and serials librarianship: The students' view

This study analyzes 27 student essays provided in response to examination questions on whether or not courses in acquisitions and serials should be included in the library school curriculum. The preponderance of student opinion supports a course in serials. Such a course should take a broad and integrated view of serials, encompassing serials publication and distribution, new technologies associated with serials, serials management and processing in libraries, serialsbased information services, and administrative, budget, and policy issues associated with serials. The majority of students did not support a course in acquisitions. Although recognized as an important library function, acquisitions was seen as lacking in “appropriate academic content” for the format of a three credit-hour course.     

The development of acquisitions and collection services for off-campus students in Northeastern Ontario: An important library collection development issue or merely an issue of a more efficient materials handling and delivery system?

This article deals with the problems of providing library collection and acquisitions services to off-campus university students throughout a sparsely populated region of northeastern Ontario in Canada. The special problems of providing library services to extramural courses are examined. Past and current services as well as future plans for improving extramural collection services are detailed. The importance and particular features of collection services for off-campus students as issues for mainstream library collection development research are examined. The article stresses the need for further research on library collection development and acquisitions services designed to meet the specialized requirements of the extramural university student.     

Effectiveness of a liaison program in meeting information needs of college of pharmacy faculty

This article describes the creation and implementation of focus groups to evaluate the effectiveness of a health sciences library's liaison program of the College of Pharmacy faculty and to better understand the faculty's information needs in order to design new and improved library services. The liaison services support the teaching and research needs of faculty and students through literature research, classroom teaching, and an extensive library collection of pharmacy literature. Focus group results demonstrated a high level of satisfaction with library liaison services and collections. Opportunities exist for expanded interaction with graduate students and greater marketing of library services to increase faculty awareness of specific library programs.     

Effectiveness of a Liaison Program in Meeting Information Needs of College of Pharmacy Faculty

This article describes the creation and implementation of focus groups to evaluate the effectiveness of a health sciences library's liaison program of the College of Pharmacy faculty and to better understand the faculty's information needs in order to design new and improved library services. The liaison services support the teaching and research needs of faculty and students through literature research, classroom teaching, and an extensive library collection of pharmacy literature. Focus group results demonstrated a high level of satisfaction with library liaison services and collections. Opportunities exist for expanded interaction with graduate students and greater marketing of library services to increase faculty awareness of specific library programs.     

A Pop-up Service Point and Repurposed Study Spaces: Maintaining Market Share During a Renovation

Payson Library, the largest library at Pepperdine, primarily serves undergraduate students. It underwent a renovation between spring 2016 and fall 2017. Payson Library was closed during this renovation, and a Library Hub was established as a temporary service point and library information and teaching center on campus. Maintaining market share led to rolling out new services such as RAPID-ILL, repurposing a graduate campus library for increased study spaces, and reliance on a strong library liaison program. Predictably, there was a sharp reduction in patron visits, but there was success in providing reference, instruction, and access to the collections.     

Collection management for off-campus library services

Off-campus library services present some unique situations that may completely alter the normal perspective of collection management, including collection development, acquisitions, cataloging, processing, and most importantly, information access. The University of Wyoming currently places extension classes and external degree programs among its top six priorities. How the University of Wyoming Libraries have met the challenge of providing library services to off-campus students and faculty in support of those programs is described.     

“You say you want an evolution…” The emerging UC libraries shared collection

For almost three decades now, the University of California (UC) libraries have worked together closely to ensure that all UC faculty, students, and staff have access to eminent library collections. To this end, UC's libraries have pursued a variety of initiatives for coordinating the acquisition, sharing, and preservation of campus collection resources. The Shared Purchase Program (now known as the Shared Collections and Access Program or SCAP) was established in 1976 to provide joint funding for library materials too costly for a single campus to buy. Since the mid-1980s, groups of bibliographers have worked to coordinate acquisitions activities system-wide, and the early 1990s saw the development of licensing for shared bibliographic databases to journal literature. This paper will discuss UC's latest initiative—the investigation of how the campus' two regional storage facilities (Regional Library Facilities or RLFs) can serve as repositories for both shared and stored collections.     

Establishing a Baseline: History,Evolution and Evaluation of Grand Valley State University's Off-Campus Library Services

ABSTRACT

The model replacing a dedicated off-campus library services (OCLS) unit was one in which librarians provide services to both on- and off-campus students and faculty within their liaison disciplines. A year after this model was implemented, faculty in subjects taught both on- and off-campus were surveyed to assess their awareness of library resources and whether this awareness impacted course assignment design. Findings from this survey combined with a planned review of off-campus course syllabi will help identify areas of concern and lead to ways to strengthen awareness and usage of library resources.     

LibGuides: Customizing Subject Guides for Individual Courses

Reference librarians at East Tennessee State University's Sherrod Library identified LibGuides as an efficient way to introduce undergraduate students, particularly those in their first two years of college, to the university library. Selecting pertinent library resources based on a course syllabus and creating a LibGuide for the course provides the students with a limited number of relevant materials. Librarians and professors view the use of subject guides attached to a course management system site as an effective educational solution. Librarians facing exponentially expanding resources and first-year students who are used to turning to Google for all their information needs can utilize LibGuides to guide students toward more relevant library resources.     

Acquisitions Problems in Ukrainian Libraries and New Electronic Solutions

SUMMARY

The author discusses a wide range of new developments in Ukrainian libraries that affects library acquisitions. New strategies are now required for obtaining library materials due to the inadequacy of obligatory deposit and changes in bibliographic control of new publications. Libraries are actively developing computer and Internet technologies, including websites, online catalogs, access to databases, sites linking to online resources, and collections of digitized full-text material. A number of libraries have recently begun implementing virtual reference services. A new professional journal, whose title translates as Library Forum of Ukraine, has arisen to address all aspects of librarian-ship.     

Providing access to students with print disabilities: The case of the North-West University in South Africa

Academic libraries should be accessible to all students and relevant stakeholders. Students with print disabilities are found in many universities worldwide. This article examines the services and tools that are available at the North-West University (NWU) in South Africa. Literature was used to identify how services, signage, and tools that should be included in an academic library to ensure access for all. The study found that the NWU had limitations in terms of material and assistive technologies. A legislative framework promoting information access for the disabled people was explored. Recommendations are for partnerships to improve material and access to resources.     

Assessing access: Surveying user services at library high density storage facilities

Millions of library items are held in storage locations, but how well are libraries providing access to those materials? A survey of North American research libraries was conducted to examine the services that were available at library storage facilities for researchers and students before the global pandemic, during the pandemic, and as libraries adjust and plan for the new normal as the pandemic recedes. In addition, results of previous studies of storage facilities are compared to understand historical trends in access to library materials held in storage. A better understanding of user services as a component of library storage facilities will allow libraries to better serve the needs of scholars and researchers as well as provide insight to those who may be planning future library storage facilities.     

国外高校图书馆学科馆员服务模式

学科馆员是图书馆中对某一学科领域的用户提供专门服务的图书馆。国外高校学科馆员的职责主要有以下方面：①作为图书馆和院系/所之间的联络人;②学科信息资源服务;③学科信息素养教育;④馆藏资源建设;⑤参考咨询服务。对学科馆员的要求较高,首先必须有图书馆硕士学历,具有对口学科的背景知识或工作经验,并有教学能力、公关能力、语言表达能力和信息技术技能。最后介绍在新西兰奥克兰大学图书馆做学科馆员的经验。     

匹兹堡大学图书馆系统学科服务新进展——建立支持科研与教学的学科化服务体系

介绍匹兹堡大学图书馆系统开展的建立支持科研与教学的新型学科馆员制度的改革,从其最新发展规划、学科化服务新框架等方面的发展情况以及在开放获取方面的新进展,梳理出匹兹堡大学图书馆学科化服务的发展脉络与方向。匹兹堡大学图书馆从组织架构和发展框架上强调建立彻底转变为以用户为中心的学科化服务新模式,为国内研究型图书馆建设学科馆员制度提供借鉴。