In the past two years an ever-increasing number of publishers have implemented SeamlessAccess resulting in a better user experience and increased usage. However, to ensure more users benefit from federated authentication and seamless access more collaborations among publishers, libraries, and SeamlessAccess are needed. This brief paper will include a library perspective on the challenges to implementing federated access, the benefits that federated access brings to libraries and to their end-users in their research experience, and a brief walk-through of the SeamlessAccess experience that demonstrates how it enhances federated access.

The Research Collections and Preservation Consortium (ReCAP) partners contracted the Center for Research Libraries (CRL) to do a volume level analysis of their combined print serial collections. This paper focuses on the decision to use the OCLC number as the primary match point and the starting point for the collection analysis, challenges encountered due to inconsistent OCLC number use across collections, the way those challenges informed the overall project, and the method CRL created to find OCLC numbers for records without them. Final results of the volume-level analysis, ongoing work to integrate Harvard’s serials into the analysis, and the effects of ReCAP partners’ collaborative collection development initiatives are included.

This column discusses the benefits and limitations of continuous assessment by reporting on the authors’ perspectives of ongoing assessment using examples from patron surveys designed to understand user experience in the physical library and to measure whether needs were met throughout the pandemic. This column will be helpful to anyone involved in assessment or who is interested in what factors to consider while carrying out ongoing assessment or using evidence-based data for decision-making.

As an assessment coordinator with a non-library educational background, the author discusses her perspectives on how an academic library builds and promotes a culture of assessment since joining a public research library in 2018. She also presents key insights gained while working on strategic plans and assessment plans. This column may be beneficial to library leadership and administrators regarding practical aspects to consider while fostering a culture of assessment in their organization. This column may be also useful for individuals who desire to broaden their position in library assessment.

This research aims to examine whether faculty's perceptions of the importance of the library's resources and services for their teaching, clinical practice or research were different based on disciplines, and to explore the degree that faculty's perceptions of the library's importance and its role have changed over time. The findings revealed that online journals, databases, and Interlibrary loan (ILL) were considered by the majority of faculty as the most important for faculty's research. Another key finding indicated that faculty from social sciences perceived assistance from a subject specialist librarian as more important than faculty members from physical sciences. The top three strategies faculty use to obtain articles not available through the university include searching for a freely available online version, using ILL, and obtaining it from Google Scholar. These findings assist the library to better understand our user community's needs. As this survey is regularly deployed, it also allows us to observe potential changes over time, and as necessary, make strategic changes to library resources and services.

This article follows up on two previously published studies regarding the incorporation of student feedback amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It builds on the model of embracing user experience, focusing on how library employees and patrons felt about the health safety protocols in place during Fall 2021. Analyzing both surveys from employees and patrons, the findings indicated that both groups felt safe in the library. This article recommends that when library decision-makers are in doubt about policies and practices, they should consult with the groups directly affected, and demonstrates the importance of ensuring stakeholders feel heard and can contribute to decision-making.

How did the COVID-19 pandemic affect first-year college students’ library experience and how did their experience affect their GPA? By employing both quantitative and qualitative data collected at a public research university during spring 2021, this article found that first-year students rarely used the physical library, used the online library more often than other undergraduates, perceived the library as having a positive impact on their coursework, and determined that the online library resources and services were a primary contributor to their academic performance. Recommendations on how to improve library service and avenues for future research are provided.