Oregon State University Libraries Research Articles

Writing African American History Into Wikipedia

As the world’s largest information database, Wikipedia is a familiar resource for many people. Given the ubiquity of Wikipedia articles on various topics, it has become a first stop for conducting online searches. However, there is a gap of information within Wikipedia related to African American history, and addressing Wikipedia’s well-documented racial bias should be a priority for librarians and archivists (“Racial bias on Wikipedia,” 2019). In February of 2019, Oregon State University Libraries and Press hosted a Wikipedia Editathon, “Writing African American History into Wikipedia.” In the early fall of 2018, we began planning for the Wikipedia Editathon. Two librarians and one archivist, the authors of this article, formed a small team to decide on workflows and individual roles. The team initially discussed various ideas for an editathon theme, but quickly settled on African American history in the Pacific Northwest, which could be incorporated into OSU’s annual African American History Month activities in February. In addition, we all felt that Pacific Northwest African American history is not well known, even among residents of the Pacific Northwest, and so we focused on local history. None of the team members identify as African American, which made the first step, establishing partnerships, vitally important.

Enhancing Opaquenamespace.org: Refinement of Local Name Authority Files and Workflows

This article discusses Opaquenamspace.org, the controlled vocabulary manager that assists with the local, regional, and national linked open data authority work for Oregon Digital, the shared digital collections repository of Oregon State University Libraries and Press and University of Oregon Libraries. This article will share information about the creation and development of the system, the workflows and processes for uniform resource identifiers creation, management, and dissemination, as well as address mistakes that were made as early adopters for other institutions to consider before creating and managing their own local name authority files.

Transforming oral history content for the web using XML and XSL

From 2013 to 2017, the Special Collections and Archives Research Center at the Oregon State University Libraries and Press collected more than 400 hours of fully transcribed and contextualised oral history interview content for presentation on a dedicated web portal. The project included interview sessions — most of them video recorded — with more than 250 alumni, faculty, staff, supporters and current students. This paper focuses on several technical components of the project, with primary emphasis placed upon the marriage of XML and XSL that was deployed to create the website on which this large volume of content is presented. The roots of this workflow date back many years, and much of the code needed for the oral history project was recycled. In addition to further background on the oral history project, readers will receive an introduction to three XML schema — METS, MODS and TEI — as well as an overview of the XSL tools and processes used to transform and present the XML-encoded data that are central to the project portal. The paper concludes with an evaluation of the Oregon State University workflow, including its potential for adoption by other archival or cultural heritage organisations.

Supplementing Traditional Documentation with Oral History: Capturing Institutional Knowledge at Oregon State University Libraries help

Over the summer of 2017, I had the unique pleasure of documenting the workflow of a retiring serials technician who had been at Oregon State University’s (OSU) Valley Library in Corvallis for nearly 37 years. During her tenure, she took part in no fewer than seven online database system transitions and created a one-of-a-kind serials check-in workflow for each new system with her magic red binder. She once told me that, with that binder, she could navigate any new system because the basics of serials were always the same; it was just a matter of learning the new language and finding how those basics fit into the new system. Now, as you can imagine, being in a job for over three decades leaves one with quite a bit of institutional knowledge. From my perspective, I knew that it would be easy to get the basics down onto paper. What concerned me was losing the historic memory and organizational culture of this long-term staff member—the kind of knowledge that collected files and documentation just don’t cover. It’s important for new employees to know why certain processes are followed, the history of the technical services department, and how things came to be in their current state. I’m not saying that libraries have to keep doing things the same way. But there is certainly something to be said about having a bit of narrative and contextual history when a fresh set of eyes looks at traditional practices and procedures.

Mobile Website Use and Advanced Researchers: Understanding Library Users at a University Marine Sciences Branch Campus

This exploratory study examined the use of the Oregon State University Libraries website via mobile devices by advanced researchers at an off-campus branch location. Branch campus–affiliated faculty, staff, and graduate students were invited to participate in a survey to determine what their research behaviors are via mobile devices, including frequency of their mobile library website use and the tasks they were attempting to complete. Findings showed that while these advanced researchers do periodically use the library website via mobile devices, mobile devices are not the primary mode of searching for articles and books or for reading scholarly sources. Mobile devices are most frequently used for viewing the library website when these advanced researchers are at home or in transit. Results of this survey will be used to address knowledge gaps around library resources and research tools and to generate more ways to study advanced researchers’ use of library services via mobile devices.

And the winners are . . . The official results of the 2017 ACRL elections

Cheryl A. Middleton, associate university librarian for learning and engagement, Oregon State University Libraries & Press, is the 80th president of ACRL.Lauren Pressley, director of the University of Washington (UW) Tacoma Library and associatedean of UW Libraries, has been elected vice-president/president-elect of ACRL.

Supporting the Research Practices of Agricultural Scientists at Oregon State University

ABSTRACTAs part of a cross-institutional collaboration organized by Ithaka S+R, Oregon State University Libraries faculty interviewed 15 faculty members in the College of Agricultural Sciences about their research, publishing, and information management practices. The work of Agricultural Sciences faculty is uniquely influenced by their regional geography and climate, as well as by their local and disciplinary communities of practice, which includes both growers and scholars. Findings showed that publishing decisions, access to research, barriers to access, and a systems thinking approach were influenced by behaviors and standards established by these various communities. Implications for the libraries' role in discovery, access, and dissemination are considered and discussed.

Las Historias de Latinos en Oregón: Canby, Oregón An Oral History Project Collaboration Between A Librarian and an Archivist

In the spring of 2015, I began the oral history project Latinos en Oregon to document the stories of Oregon’s Latino/a communities. As the curator and archivist of the Oregon Multicultural Archives (OMA) at the Oregon State University (OSU) Special Collections and Archives Research Center, my job is to assist in preserving the histories and sharing the stories that document Oregon’s African American, Asian American, Latino/a, and Native American communities (Oregon Multicultural Archives, 2005). There are gaps in the historical record as it pertains to people of color in Oregon, and the OMA seeks to address those gaps and empower communities to share their stories. Because oral histories are the recorded life stories of the people who lived them, they are a unique addition to the historical record. Oral histories enable interviewees to share their perspectives, thoughts, and opinions about their lives and the communities in which they live. Latinos en Oregon began in Jefferson County as a collaboration between the OMA and OSU’s Juntos Program, an after-school program that aims to prepare Latino/a high school students and their families for college. The project expanded to Yamhill County in 2016 as part of a yearlong county grant project. The grant included partnerships between the local historical society and the community-based, non-profit organization, Unidos Bridging Community. It was in the spring of 2016 that I embarked on a small, short-term oral history project in collaboration with the Canby Public Library, a collaboration that began through REFORMA Oregon. In this article, I will share the background history about the Natalia Fernandez Natalia is the Curator and Archivist of the Oregon Multicultural Archives (OMA) and the OSU Queer Archives (OSQA) at the Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center. Fernandez’s mission for directing the OMA and the OSQA is to work in collaboration with Oregon’s African American, Asian American, Latino/a, Native American, and OSU’s LGBTQ+ communities to support them in preserving their histories and sharing their stories. Her scholarship relates to her work as an archivist, specifically best practices for working with communities of color. Fernandez has been published in the Oregon Historical Quarterly, Journal of Western Archives, The by Natalia Fernandez Curator and Archivist, Oregon Multicultural Archives & OSU Queer Archives, OSU Libraries: Special Collections and Archives Research Center natalia.fernandez@oregonstate.edu American Archivist, and Multicultural Perspectives. Fernandez holds an M.A. in Information Resources and Library Science from the University of Arizona (U of A). She graduated from the U of A Knowledge River Program, a program that focuses on communitybased librarianship and partnerships with traditionally under-served communities. 13 Latinos en Oregon project, detail the collaboration between the OMA and the Canby Public Library, and provide information about the Canby oral history interviews and the stories the interviewees shared.

Creating Open Textbooks: a unique partnership between Oregon State University Libraries and Press and Open Oregon State

This article presents Oregon State University’s experience launching an innovative Open Textbook initiative in spring 2014. The partners, Open Oregon State and the Oregon State University Libraries and Press, aimed to reduce the cost of course materials for students while ensuring the content created was peer-reviewed and employed multimedia capabilities. This initiative sought to showcase existing and emerging disciplinary strengths of the University thus creating unique course content that could be shared globally. This article briefly describes the U.S. landscape for open textbook creation and adoption. It demonstrates how this unique partnership has developed, covering barriers and benefits, and what the future could hold for new projects.

Open Textbooks at Oregon State University: A Case Study of New Opportunities for Academic Libraries and University Presses

INTRODUCTION This article describes a joint open textbook publishing initiative begun in 2013 between Oregon State University (OSU) Libraries and Press and the Open Educational Resources and Emerging Technologies unit of Oregon State University’s Extended Campus. DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM This initiative combines the Open Access values and project management resources of OSU Libraries, the book production (peer review, editing, design, marketing) expertise of OSU Press, and the technological development skills of the Open Educational Resources and Emerging Technologies unit. Authored by OSU faculty and focused across some of the University’s signature areas, the initiative seeks to establish a sustainable model for research libraries and university presses to collaborate with each other and other partners to publish open textbooks that will benefit students on both economic and educational levels. The article analyzes how open textbooks fit within the emerging library publishing movement, examines the implementation of the OSU open textbook publishing initiative, and conveys some lessons learned for other libraries to consider as they entertain the possibility of similar collaborations. NEXT STEPS A description of next steps includes tracking course adoptions of the textbooks as well as establishing sustainable digital publishing platforms and business models.

Building a New Paradigm: Analysis of a Case Study in Organizational Change in Collection Management Using Bolman's and Deal's Four-Frame Model

In 2010, the Oregon State University Libraries implemented changes to its organizational structure to align itself better with the university and respond to the ongoing fiscal crisis. The Collections & Resource Sharing Department was created at that time. This case study describes and analyzes changes in collection management using the four frames in Bolman's and Deal's model: structural, human resources, political, and symbolic. The article concludes with a discussion of ongoing challenges that are likely to require greater use of the political and symbolic frames for planning and implementing further changes.

E-Book Cataloging Workflows at Oregon State University

Among the many issues associated with integrating e-books into library collections and services, the revision of existing workflows in cataloging units has received little attention. The experience designing new workflows for e-books at Oregon State University Libraries since 2008 is described in detail from the perspective of three different sources of e-books. These descriptions highlight where the workflows applied to each vendor’s stream differ. A workflow was developed for each vendor, based on the quality and source of available bibliographic records and the staff member performing the task. Involving cataloging staff as early as possible in the process of purchasing e-books from a new vendor ensures that a suitable workflow can be designed and implemented as soon as possible. This ensures that the representation of e-books in the library catalog is not delayed, increasing the likelihood that users will readily find and use these resources that the library has purchased.

Instruction Boot Camp: Better Instruction Through Collaborative Course Design

ABSTRACT This case study details Oregon State University Libraries and Press’ Instruction Boot Camp, a professional development event inspired by several different instructional improvement models, where librarians have a chance to work collaboratively in small groups of four to six to redesign a library instruction session. Librarians from six different departments participated in two Instruction Boot Camp sessions in 2012. The benefits of such collaboration include drawing upon the collective wisdom of the group to design a course and having a dedicated time to work on instruction. Although our assessment did not include student-learning outcomes, participating librarians found this a useful and valuable experience.

Giving the User a Voice: Capturing Impact Through the Interjection of User Impact Surveys into the Information Retrieval Workflow

This article discusses a novel approach being developed at Oregon State University Libraries to move beyond usage statistics as a method to capture the larger impact of a specific set of resources for faculty. Utilizing a custom developed survey application, Oregon State University collection development librarians are able to modify the proxy workflow, inserting a point-of-use survey, allowing data collection to occur at the point of need and only on specific resources of interest.

Adapting and Using Instruction Proficiencies to Encourage Reflection, Goal Setting and Professional Development

Librarians at Oregon State University undertook a teaching competency project to lay the foundation for practices that improve teaching by adapting the core teaching proficiencies in the ACRL Standards for Proficiencies for Instruction Librarians and Coordinators. This article describes one model for locally adapting those proficiencies, the Oregon State University Libraries (OSUL) Framework for Teaching Excellence. This framework promotes reflection on, goal setting for, and professional development around teaching. The project team utilized a survey to determine the proficiency categories most valued by OSUL instruction librarians. The development and inclusion of context material for each proficiency category included in the OSUL Framework encourages use of the document in the intended way. Also included in the document are specific use guidelines for three stakeholder groups: library faculty with teaching responsibilities, supervisors, and faculty involved in the tenure process.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Managing Government Document Collections in a Digital World

An Oregon State University Libraries (OSUL) study group's review of its current policies, practices, and costs provides an illustrative case study of the challenges in managing government documents during this period of transition from print to digital. In its exploration of more aggressive approaches to greatly increasing access to electronic collections and reducing the size of the print footprint, OSUL learned that the current requirements of the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) hamper such efforts. This case study provides background on prior internal studies, OSUL's participation in a shared housing agreement, statistics on size and current usage of its government documents, and the costs to receive, process, and provide access to its document collection. It concludes with the recommendations for OSUL to be as proactive as it can be under the current FDLP rules and regulations while bringing projected costs to manage government documents more in line with higher priorities.

Women of the Oregon Multicultural Archives

The Oregon Multicultural Archives (OMA) at Oregon State University (OSU) is dedicated to preserving and making accessible the histories of traditionally under-represented groups. OMA curator Natalia Fernández and Tiah Edmunson-Morton, the OSU Libraries' Instruction and Outreach Archivist, highlight three OMA collections that reflect the impact women of color have had in the state of Oregon: the Annabelle Jaramillo Papers (1967–2001), the Jean Moule Papers (1984–2011), and the Urban League of Portland Records (1945–2008). The authors describe the contents of the collections and suggest research opportunities as well as introduce the women documented in the collections, including Jaramillo, Moule, and Freddye Petett and Alta Corbett-Smith, leaders within the Urban League of Portland.

Kindles and Kindle E-Books in an Academic Library

Academic and public libraries have begun to purchase e-book readers and make them available for check-out to their users. The nature of the e-books on these devices necessitates new approaches to workflow for acquisitions and cataloging departments. In addition, the application of cataloging rules and conventions presents a number of difficulties for catalogers. At the Oregon State University Libraries, a pilot project to purchase Kindles, load them with e-books, and make them available for circulation offered an opportunity to explore and understand the various challenges that these electronic resources present for traditional technical services units. The experience resulted in several innovations. A novel workflow largely bypassed the acquisitions unit, shifting purchasing procedures to the circulation unit. Use of the Provider-Neutral E-Monograph MARC Record Guide made most cataloging straightforward, although the lack of adherence to print conventions for some titles made cataloging a time-consuming endeavor. LibraryThing provided an additional avenue of discovery of the Kindle titles for library users.

Five Years Later: Predicting Student Use of Journals in a New Water Resources Graduate Program.

Using citation analysis, the authors examined the journals cited in theses and dissertations over the first five years of the Water Resources Graduate Program at Oregon State University. These journal titles were compared to the titles predicted as being important in the 2003 Oregon State University Libraries new program (Category I) review. A preliminary core list of journals for this highly interdisciplinary program had been created for the Category I review from faculty publications, Journal Citation Reports, and Interlibrary Loan (ILL) requests. Through comparison of the citations in the students' works with the data compiled for the Category I, and a review of current ILL requests, the authors address whether the initial review predicted student use, which sources were most valuable for predicting use, and how analysis of student citations can add to the strength of the original core journal list. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Incorporating Existing Library Partnerships into Open Access Week Events

Oregon State University (OSU) Libraries participated in Open Access (OA) Week in 2009 and 2010. In order to expand the range of events offered, the committee members assigned to program planning looked for opportunities to work with partners beyond the library. The collaborative activities developed through these partnerships created settings for in-depth conversations among librarians, faculty, and students about scholarly communication issues. Subject librarians’ relationships with their departments provided opportunities to host events in venues other than the library, which helped, facilitate access to a diverse audience. An established cooperative relationship with the University of Oregon made it possible to provide additional presentations to the OSU community. An evaluation of the quantity and quality of contacts made during OA Week suggests the collaborative activities enriched these outreach activities and that participation in OA Week is worthwhile for OSU Libraries to continue.