Kansas State University Libraries Research Articles

Propagation of lean thinking in academic libraries

In the wake of recent economic challenges, it is imperative that academic libraries find ways to sustain their services. Many process improvement methodologies exist to increase an organization's operational efficiency and effectiveness. Among these methods, lean thinking deserves attention because its emphasis aligns well with academic libraries' mission—to create value as defined by customers. This article describes lean thinking's philosophy, methods, and tools applicable to academic libraries. We develop a swim lane process map of Kansas State University Libraries' eResources management workflow to demonstrate how lean thinking can be used to identify non-value-adding activities. We also analyze a standard budgetary report to identify digital waste as seen in non-value-adding data from acquisitions activities.

The Silent Battle on the Budget: The Effect of Centralized Indexing on Collection Analysis in Primo and EBSCO

Significant cuts to the collections budget and a fire in the main library at Kansas State University transitioned the Libraries toward an increased focus upon electronic resources management. As electronic resource discovery continues to be hampered by market competition between Ex Libris and EBSCO library vendors, difficulties were identified in obtaining accurate usage statistics for resource renewal reviews, particularly EBSCO products. Kansas State University Libraries use the ALMA URM in combination with Primo discovery service, which experiences known resolver complications when paired with EBSCO resources. Technical services librarians and information technology staff tested several workarounds, but the question remains whether any proposed resolutions can be truly effective in avoiding collection usage biases and analytical discrepancies, resulting from exclusive indexing. Crunching the numbers, monetarily and analytically, the Ex Libris and EBSCO rivalry is an onerous battle on the budget and resource renewal process.

Taking the Long Way Around: Improving the Display of HathiTrust Records in Primo

As with any shared format for serializing data, Primo’s PNX records have limits on the types of data which they pass along from the source records and into the Primo tool. As a result of these limitations, PNX records do not currently have a provision for harvesting and transferring rights information about HathiTrust holdings that the Kansas State University (KSU) Library system indexes through Primo. This created a problem, since Primo was defaulting to indicate that all HathiTrust materials were available to KSU Libraries (K-State Libraries) patrons, when only a limited portion of them actually were. This disconnect was infuriating some library users, and creating difficulties for the public services librarians. There was a library-wide discussion about removing HathiTrust holdings from Primo altogether, but it was decided that such a solution was an overreaction. As a consequence, the library IT department began a crash program to attempt to find a solution to the problem. The result was an application called hathiGenius.

Challenges of the Electronic Resources Life Cycle and Practical Ways to Overcome Them

This paper will discuss challenges throughout the electronic resources life cycle and practical work arounds of tools many academic libraries have on hand already. Those tools include: a discovery layer, electronic resource management system (ERM), link resolver, COUNTER and SUSHI standards, ticketing systems, and spreadsheets. The workflow was previously described by Oliver Pesch’s work (2008) on electronic resources life cycles. Themes of this discussion of the experience at Kansas State University Libraries will include documentation of efficiencies, transparency of workflow activity across library departments, and the movement to take action in user communities and vendor support.

Repurposing and Renovating Space for High-Density Storage: Kansas State University Libraries' Answer to Additional Collections Space

ABSTRACTWhile many libraries have built new high-density storage facilities, fewer academic libraries have repurposed and renovated an existing building for that new end. This article details Kansas State University Libraries' experience renovating an existing structure for high-density storage purposes and the improved collection management options that resulted.

The Evolving Research Library: Responsive Organizational Change

Because of the pace of change in library environments, the organization is continuously evolving and the days of having a structure etched in stone are gone. Kansas State University Libraries engaged in a major organizational restructuring in 2009-2010 and, based on studies and assessments, two smaller but significant changes again in 2015. To assess and redesign the organization, analysis of new and emerging work, staff resources, budget, and space were critical, but the important constant was library users and meeting their needs. This article outlines development of the structural reorganizations, issues encountered during the changes, examples of task force work, lessons learned about process and outcomes, and resulting changes that were made.

How Do We Market to Distance Populations, and Does It Work?: Results From a Longitudinal Study and a Survey of the Profession

ABSTRACTThis article discusses the results of a longitudinal survey conducted by Kansas State University Libraries to assess the marketing of library services to the university's distance education population. The latest implementation of the survey revealed overall similar or increased awareness of and satisfaction with library services compared to the previous survey. Also included are results of a survey of library professionals on best practices for distance education librarians. Findings include the importance of developing relationships with campus distance education offices and faculty and the need to be persistent with marketing efforts to a changing population.

Libraries as publishers: a winning combination

Purpose – This paper aims to present a case study of the Kansas State University Libraries open access publishing endeavor, New Prairie Press (NPP). The library as publisher is a growing worldwide movement. Many academic and research libraries see it as their strategic mission to highlight and disseminate the research and creative work being done by faculty and students at their institutions. Topics covered include current activities, business plan development, needed technology and skill sets and migration from an open source platform to a hosted solution. Design/methodology/approach – The article presents a case study of one library’s experience of establishing a publishing press – libraries as publishers. Findings – This article finds that during the years of operation, NPP staff members have learned much about the role that libraries can play in the evolving scholarly communications landscape. Originality/value – This article finds that the continual assessment of value, alignment with strategic goals and funding will be critical to ensure future growth and direction of the press.

Subject Matrices: An Innovative, Collaborative Approach to Serving the Agricultural Sciences

In 2009, Kansas State University Libraries (K-State Libraries) moved from subject-based departments to user-based departments. From this change, subject matrices, including the Agriculture and Biological Science Matrix, were developed to address subject-related issues. This matrix is comprised of librarians from many K-State Libraries’ departments and is a conduit for sharing information interdepartmentally and developing collaborative opportunities. Libraries wishing to maintain a traditional subject-liaison model can adapt key principles underlying the matrix. Subject liaisons can go beyond siloed perspectives by soliciting advice from individuals outside the library. Another approach is to disturb established structures and introduce selective pressure to inspire innovation.

Using Distance Patron Data to Improve Library Services and Cross-Campus Collaboration

This article discusses the data-driven activities of Kansas State University Libraries in response to documented lack of awareness and usage of library resources within our distance community. It presents data from a survey distributed to our distance education students and faculty, and concludes that because distance patrons are largely unaware of library services, targeted promotional efforts must be implemented and systematically reviewed. These efforts, and several new resources, are discussed in detail. While developed and targeted to distance patrons, each initiative also allowed for increased library awareness and usage by an ever-growing on-campus population wishing to utilize library resources remotely.

Movies on the Grass: Encouraging epiphanies through experiential learning at Kansas State University Libraries

Movies on the Grass: Encouraging epiphanies through experiential learning at Kansas State University Libraries

The Dynamics of Agriculture Subject Guide Access at Kansas State University Libraries

ABSTRACT The Internet has profoundly altered the way library users access information. Academic libraries have responded by creating library instruction tools and subject guides as Web pages. Much effort has been invested in the development of Web-based library guides. It has thus become increasingly important to study the level of subject guide access. Library Web site usage, including subject guide access, forms a valuable output measure in contemporary library service evaluation. Accordingly, this study uses server statistics to analyze subject guide access in an academic science library. The potential use of this study is discussed.

Marketing Library Service Assessment

ABSTRACTThis article addresses the difficulties involved in getting enough library users to complete service assessment surveys so that the results may be considered valid, or at least representative of the user population. Librarians at Kansas State University Libraries have developed a program that markets their assessment efforts. This article details the growth of the service-assessment marketing program, including the pitfalls and valuable lessons encountered along the way.

Data Warehousing

Data warehousing is a process of gathering data elements from a number of different resources to provide managers with an integrated overview of a specific subject. In the data warehouse project presented by Karen Cole and Michael Somers, Kansas State University Libraries developed a data warehouse prototype to evaluate collections based upon usage within a specific time frame such as a month or semester, and patron type by University department. Ultimately the costs of collections could be affected by eliminating overlap and collections enhanced by purchasing what patrons need.