Campus Library Research Articles

Cataloguing training at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the effectiveness of a series of in‐house training offered to cataloguers and para‐professional cataloguing staff at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago.Design/methodology/approachThe instrument used for the survey was a questionnaire which sought to evaluate the effectiveness of the training over a two‐year period. Through the application of a five‐point Likert scale respondents were required to indicate their levels of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the training sessions.FindingsThe paper reveals the relevance and effectiveness of a structured approach to cataloguing training and highlights the need for cataloguing staff to keep abreast of current trends through continuing education. It also demonstrates a dire need for greater collaboration between library schools and libraries in the development of proficiencies for entry level cataloguers.Research limitations/implicationsThe collective evaluation of professionals and para‐professionals with varying levels of cataloguing knowledge and competencies impacted on the reliability of the data.Originality/valueThe paper serves as a model for future cataloguing training at the St Augustine Campus Libraries and can be adapted by other libraries for meeting their training needs in cataloguing.

Going Global: Providing Library Resources and Services to International Sites

ABSTRACT The Brooklyn campus library of Long Island University (LIU) seized the opportunity to take a proactive approach to providing library resources and services to the university's Global College community. An active link connecting the library, Global College headquarters, and international sites has been created. After carefully evaluating the needs of faculty and students across the globe, the authors recount how the library supports the teaching and learning activities of this unique user group. This article describes the LIU Brooklyn campus library's efforts to promote and implement customized resources and services to users on different continents.

Library 2.0 at a Small Campus Library

In April 2006, the library faculty at a small public liberal arts university created a blog to help generate more interest in their library and to promote resources and programs. With a minimal amount of time spent in development and promotion, they were able to produce a blog that is growing in popularity among the students and faculty. For over a year, they have used the blog to inform patrons about LibQual, new resources, power outages, computer and database problems, changes in hours, and to discuss library events and media issues in the news. After the blog's success, they have made further 2.0 leaps by employing RSS feeds, photo sharing, and Google Analytics to quickly and easily produce new content that is useful to students, faculty, and library staff.

Assessing Indian Academic Library Services with ACRL/ALA Standards for Libraries in Higher Education: a Model

A comparison of his library services of the Amritapuri campus library of the Amrita University with the ACRL/ALA standards is made as a case study and presented in this paper. It is found that majority of the rooms given in to standards are followed in the library under study.

Student Newspapers and University Libraries: Uncovering Your Library's Reputation and Promoting Its Services

ABSTRACT To help librarians use their campus newspapers more effectively as a communications tool, this paper discusses the type of information about campus libraries that ten student newspapers published over the course of one year and discusses strategies that librarians can use to build more productive, collaborative relationships with the people who work for their campus newspapers.

Off-Campus Postgraduate Students’ Perceptions About Distance Library Support Services: A Case Study of Allama Iqbal Open University Libraries Network

ABSTRACT The present study was conducted to assess distance learning students’ perceptions about location and physical set up of libraries, collections, resources, and services rendered at thirty-four regional campuses as well as main campus libraries network of Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) all over Pakistan. During the spring semester of 2007, a questionnaire was mailed to 250 randomly selected students enrolled in eleven postgraduate programs throughout the country. The response rate was 61.2%, which was made up of 43.1% females and 56.9% males. A majority of the respondents were dissatisfied with the virtual reference services, online database facilities, interlibrary loan, library membership, and borrowing of library material from the AIOU libraries. They were satisfied with the location and physical setup of the libraries, the collections, and the resources of the libraries. The study revealed that most of the respondents used the libraries during workshops as well as for research purposes. The statistical analysis (t = 0.550, Sig. = 0.970) showed that there was no significant difference between the opinion of females and males. The data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for Windows version 10.0.

We Care—Virtually and in Person: A User-Centered Approach to Assessment, Implementation and Promotion of Library Resources and Services to a Remote Graduate Campus

ABSTRACT The article relates how the Brooklyn Campus Library of Long Island University, despite limitations of physical distance and the varying conditions of the remote graduate campus at Westchester, makes every effort to face each challenge creatively with practical solutions for implementation. We share our findings and experiences—what worked and what did not—and what remains to be done in terms of supporting the curricula and bringing library resources and services to a mixture of remote site users. The authors recount how the gap between reality and the ideal is reduced and unique issues relevant to remote users are resolved by the Brooklyn Campus Library, in collaboration with other units of Long Island University. We relate how we combine library instruction with our marketing efforts to promote library resources and services. We also analyze survey data and interlibrary loan statistics to assess our success. The article contributes to the ongoing discussion of improving and promoting library resources and services to remote sites.

Desktop Delivery of Printed Materials at Auburn University

In 2000, Auburn University Libraries implemented a new service, named AUBIExpress, to provide desktop delivery of print materials held at its three campus libraries. AUBIExpress provides electronic PDF copies of articles and book chapters from print resources located at Draughon Library (the main campus library), the Library of Architecture, Design and Construction, and the Veterinary Medical Library. The service is available, free, to Auburn University faculty, staff, graduate students, persons with disabilities and distance education students. There is a maximum request limit of five items per person per day and an item size limit of 50 pages. Requests, submitted through an online form, are usually processed within 2-4 business days.

Ohio Regional Depositories: Moving from Warehousing Separate Collections to Servicing Shared Collections

ABSTRACT In Ohio, the space needs of campus libraries are changing just as book depositories are filling up. In response to this situation, the university libraries are re-examining the depositories to see if the space can be used even more efficiently, the funding distributed more predictably, and the services standardized and expanded. The Northeastern Ohio Cooperative Regional Library Depository has a plan to rethink the space in the depository, redefine the collection housed there in terms of ownership and access, and to repurpose the depository from a warehouse model to a service-centered model. The Northeastern Ohio Regional Library Depository plan and its anticipated role in changing the way that contributing libraries statewide assess depository collections and provide for access to those collections is the focus of this paper.

The Tsakopoulos Hellenic Collection at California State University, Sacramento: A Beacon of Hellenism in the Western United States

The Tsakopoulos Hellenic Collection is a major research collection of Byzantine and modern Greek studies resources located in the western United States. Its history as the centerpiece of the former Speros Basil Vryonis Center for the Study of Hellenism and its new mission as the anchor of the Center for Hellenic Studies at California State University, Sacramento are herein profiled along with a summary of the Collection's current state and growth, the role of its curator, events related to the Collection, and challenges faced by the campus library in managing the Collection.

Smart spaces: creating new instructional space with smart classroom technology

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to describe the Long Island University Brooklyn Campus Library's experience with a Smart Space Project. This paper recounts how the library creates new instructional spaces, through the use of smart technologies. This study illustrates challenges facing the library, recounts collaboration with other campus units, and describes support service provided by Library Information Technology. This account contributes to the sharing and discussion of experiences among modern academic libraries regarding needs assessment, space planning, and utilization of technology to support library services.Design/methodology/approachThe literature review includes space planning, building renovation and construction, and instructional technology. Various aspects of the Smart Space Project are described and analyzed. Studies and experiences from other academic libraries are also discussed.FindingsSpace renovation projects may be complex, requiring a systematic approach encompassing vision, needs assessment, funding, planning, technological considerations, and collaboration with other campus units. Creativity, flexibility, open‐mindedness, and attention to details are keys to the success of renovation projects.Research limitations/implicationsIn the areas of library space, student learning behaviour, utilization of technology, and smart technology's impacts on online/distance library instruction, more research needs to be conducted.Practical implicationsThis account provides useful information and first‐hand experience for library administrators and faculty planning instructional space projects.Originality/valueThis article provides a snapshot of the efforts of a mid‐sized urban library to address issues of limited space, budgetary constraints, growing collections, and increasing user needs. It provides practical lessons and suggestions for other library administrators and faculty seeking to make building and instructional technology improvements. It also offers valuable information for library information technology units implementing smart instructional projects.

Collaborations for delivering the library to students through WebCT

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to discuss the findings of a faculty survey, collaborative efforts between the Library, the Information Technology Services, and the School of Nursing at Auburn University at Montgomery, and methods to persuade faculty to deliver the Library to their students using WebCT.Design/methodology/approachA survey was distributed to 102 faculty with WebCT shells residing on the campus server. Follow‐up interviews were conducted, and the Library's server log was examined to determine the number of referrals to the Library originating from WebCT. A case study using the recommendations is included.Research limitations/implicationsResearch was limited to a single university campus. Similar studies elsewhere would likely support the need for librarian involvement in course management system supported courses.FindingsWhile a small percentage of faculty actually linked to the Library, a significant number indicated interest in doing so. Increase in Library access through School of Nursing WebCT courses supports the conclusion that librarians must be proactive in developing collaborations.Practical implicationsSimilar collaborative efforts and the methods suggested in this paper can be used by librarians elsewhere to promote library use and development of information literacy skills utilizing campus course management systems.Originality/valueThis paper indicates that faculty are willing to integrate the campus library into their courses if they are educated about the process, and it offers suggestions for reaching faculty.

Working at a Joint-Use Library

ABSTRACT The St. Lucie West Library, also known as the FAU Treasure Coast Campus Library, is a joint-use library facility, with Florida Atlantic University partnering with Indian River Community College and the St. Lucie County (FL) Library System. This article will discuss the circulation, course reserves, interlibrary loan, and collection management services of the three partners, as well as the training of new employees in this joint-use venture and the methods of managing the St. Lucie West Library. A list of suggestions for improving present and future joint-use libraries is included.

Library as Laboratory: Computer Science Students Practice Usability Engineering in an Academic Library.

This article presents a project-based collaboration between a usability engineering (UE) course and the campus library. Student teams developed UE projects based on usability issues they identified in the library's web-based and information technology services. Using the library as a focal point, students practiced common UE methods such as ethnomethodological observation, web usability evaluation, and an iterative prototype process based on cycles of design, testing and evaluation. At the end of the term, teams of students presented their novel solutions to library staff as part of their final grade. Other academic librarians may find inspiration to pursue similar partnerships on their own campuses.

Twilight of the Gatekeepers: Crisis and Innovation in a Victorian Regional Library, 1867–1880

For nineteenth-century libraries, the compilation of catalogues and maintenance of access were difficult and time-consuming tasks. This article examines the factors that created the problems, and how one library dealt with, and eventually overcame those challenges. It traces shelf arrangement and cataloguing practices at the Sandhurst Mechanics Institute from 1867 to 1880, through examination of the remnants of its collection now held at the Bendigo campus library of La Trobe University and records of the Institute’s committee.

Scavenger Hunt Assignments in Academic Libraries

A literature review and sampling of information found on college and university libraries' Web sites reveal a wide difference of opinion on the effects of using library scavenger hunts to teach college students about the campus library. Conflicting views on the effectiveness of scavenger hunts as an educational activity are summarized. Both positive and negative views are compared to research-based literature on the topic.

E‐books from ebrary at Staffordshire University: a case study

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe the use of ebrary's e‐books at Staffordshire University.Design/methodology/approachDetails are provided of the history of Staffordshire's involvement with ebrary as a supplier of e‐books as well as methods of searching for information in the ebrary collection as well as other e‐book collections used by Staffordshire University.FindingsIn a split‐site university such as Staffordshire, and with many students never visiting campus libraries, the provision of course material and readings in e‐format is essential. ebrary provides an “instant library” solution, and the possibility of adding individual texts to this core collection strengthens this provision. The ability for students and researchers to search across the full content of 30,000 e‐books in one “go” and then capture that information quickly and easily is also very valuable.Originality/valueThe paper provides information based on some years of practical experience in providing access to e‐book collections.

Reference Librarians Speak for Users: A Learning Commons Concept That Meets the Needs of a Diverse Student Body

ABSTRACT This article describes creating a learning commons at a main campus library.

Electronic Reserves on a Budget

Reeves Memorial Library serves as the campus library for Seton Hill University in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Seton Hill is a small, liberal arts school with approximately 1300 FTE. In the fall of 2002, Reeves Library launched a homegrown electronic reserves service built with a collection of freely available software packages. This paper is a case study of the project. The goal is to provide the reader with a detailed summary of the planning, design and implementation of the project along with workflow issues and digitization techniques.

Creating Stack Floor Plans and Signage

At Adelphi University (AU), the circulating collections of two satellite libraries needed to be merged into the circulating stacks of the main campus library. However, there were no architectural shelving blueprints to use to determine the amount of available shelf space in the main stacks, and no accurate, current information on the size of the collections to be merged. With Excel, the borders function was used to create stack blueprints, measure the amount of shelf space available, and determine where shelves could be added or built. Classmark counts for the three collections were obtained from the library OPAC, and average classmark widths from library literature were used to obtain measurements of each classmark. This shift and merger was successfully completed using the methodology described. In addition, the blueprints were then modified to create floor plans on each stack level.