Just Popping In: Collections and Outreach Collaborations to Increase Student Engagement with Electronic Resources

Abstract

Promoting electronic resources in a physical space takes ingenuity and cross-library partnership. This article discusses a collaborative approach to promote electronic resources by an outreach librarian and an electronic collections librarian. As members of the teaching and research assistance team, the librarians observed how students relied on “big name,” multidisciplinary databases and were often intimidated by the expansive list of digital materials and electronic resources available to them. A literature review on the topic of similar promotional activities introduces the pop-up methodology used for the event. The purpose of the collaboration was to not only promote ebook collections but to also create awareness of the library outside of the traditional space, and librarians as resources. This collaboration resulted in student-librarian engagement, and a spike in ebook use was reported for the collection promoted.     

Developing Nations,the Digital Divide and Research Databases

Abstract

The digital divide affects many nations of the developing world. The term encompasses inadequate funding, a lack of necessary computer and Internet skills, and a lack of English-language proficiency that hinder expansion and use of digital information resources. Visionary individuals and organizations can assist these countries with their information needs. Aggregated full-text databases serve as a prominent tool in closing the digital divide because they provide important research resources. Participating organizations must demonstrate the value of these resources to users and supply essential training to ensure success with electronic resource initiatives.     

SR visits: bringing electronic access to the census bureau library

Abstract

The United States Census Bureau Library, acting on a study commissioned in 2002, has undertaken to improve electronic access for their patrons. The library provides e-journal and database access. The staff relies on usage statistics from these resources to sharpen the focus of the collection. Through an aggressive outreach program Census Bureau employees learn about these new products and services. Future plans include adding more e-journals, an open OPAC, and a new library building.     

Digital Accessibility as a Core Competency for E-Resources Librarians

Abstract

This article will outline the electronic resources life cycle and identify key elements involved in e-resource management that exhibit potential for growth in terms of accessibility remediation. The aim of the article is to convey an understanding of the importance of digital accessibility to electronic resources librarians and the role they may play in making digital collections more available to users with impairments.     

市场调查中的敏感性问题刍议

敏感性问题是市场调查实践中最常遇到的困难之一,敏感性问题的存在会使被调查者拒绝回答或不诚实回答从而影响调查质量。文章从调查实践、随机化回答设计以及相关性辅助调查三个方面论述了在市场调查中如何有效地处理敏感性问题。     

Broken-Link Reports from SFX Users: How Publishers,Vendors and Libraries Can Do Better

Abstract

This study analyzes more than 400 SFX broken-link reports sent by users of an academic library. It raises technical issues regarding OpenURL linking in the handling of special journal volume and issue numbers, journal supplemental issues, embargo release dates, book reviews, DOIs, and other areas. It reports on full-text resources with the most broken links, causes of broken links, and the library's responses to users. It also explores how journal publishers, database vendors, and OpenURL vendors can improve the quality of their products and how librarians can better serve users.     

No Satisfaction? But We Try,and We Try,and We Try!

ABSTRACT

When Old Dominion University Libraries conducted the LibQUAL+ survey in 2015, results indicated a lack of satisfaction in effectively discovering and using our electronic resources. This article is based on a presentation from the 2017 North Carolina Serials Conference describing how Old Dominion University Libraries used data from the LibQUAL+ survey results to help our users connect more effectively with information resources, resulting in an improved user experience and an increased level of satisfaction.     

ORCID Pop-ups: Starting Small to Disseminate at Large

Abstract

In this lightning talk for the North Carolina Serials Conference, Lynnee Argabright describes the efforts of the ORCID team at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In addition to discussing the team’s pop-up outreach planning and documentation, Argabright shares advice from the team’s experience on how to run an effective ORCID pop-up event to facilitate faculty ORCID registration.     

More Than Things

Abstract

The often invisible labor of serials, technical services, metadata, and electronic resources workers sits in the space between required and preferred, assessment and surveillance. Although libraries and information workers did not explicitly create the systems many of us live in, we are responsible for their everyday functioning. In many ways the narratives from technical services to the library are centered in objects: item counts, COUNTER stats, door counts, discovery, and other transactional data. And yet, we are stewards and maintainers, innovators and storytellers of the countless ways these objects are experienced. How can we help our colleagues understand the outreach component of this work? How do we responsibly confront power in our systems—which often miscalculates the necessity of care in favor of the shiny? What does it mean to honor expertise behind the scenes, and how might we gain agency in our systems once more?     

Get Full Text Research and the Search for Appropriate Copies

Abstract

A group of the largest academic publishers has launched a new service to simplify access to full-text research for users of discovery services and scholarly collaboration platforms. While this service aims to provide easy access to full-text articles using article-level entitlement information linked to institutions through Seamlessaccess.org, it also introduces ambiguity. The service allows for publishers to direct users to alternative versions when a full-text entitlement is not found for the user, though users may already be entitled to full text through providers that do not participate in the service. Depending on specific implementations, this could lead to further confusion and make it more difficult for users to find an appropriate copy.     

Uncovering the Mystery of How Users Find and Use eBooks through Guerilla Usability Testing

Abstract

This case study focuses on user research that was conducted to enhance our users’ ebook discovery experience. We took an outward-facing approach by seeking the users’ perspectives. We wanted to know: How do users find ebooks? How do they perceive multiple records for the same title? Would users find additional metadata useful, such as download availability, file format, and chapter titles? We coordinated guerilla usability testing in our library lobby, inspired by low-overhead, high-impact user experience work at other academic libraries. The resulting data gave us a much-needed new perspective of ebook usage that supplements what we already know from our day-to-day work.     

Negotiating Accessibility for Electronic Resources

Abstract

Accessibility of library electronic resources is a must. Its importance derives from professional ethics of librarianship, rising total costs of acquisition, and mounting legal challenges to colleges and universities that fail to provide resources accessible to users with disabilities. Library staff are responsible for ensuring the accessibility of vendor-licensed eresources. This column reviews the accessibility clauses of nine model license agreements for electronic resources. It describes terms that should go into an optimal accessibility clause and creates a composite model clause. It also provides guidance for library staff seeking to negotiate stronger accessibility language into vendor license agreements. Finally, it addresses the impact of accommodation requests on the total cost of acquiring library eresources, concluding with a call to redouble efforts to advocate for greater accessibility and educate both vendors and library staff about its importance.     

Bibliometric Network Analysis and Visualization for Serials Librarians: An Introduction to Sci2

ABSTRACT

Bibliometric data have the potential to inform collection development, describe institutional scholarship strengths and citation patterns, and suggest potential areas of research collaboration. This article introduces methods of using data from citation databases to generate bibliometric analyses of journal titles, subject matter, and coauthorship networks using the open software tool Science of Science (Sci2). These analyses can be used to enhance responsive institutional and network collecting and to connect users to additional research and publication partners.     

Serials Control for the Italian Union Catalog of Serials

Abstract

European and Italian libraries are strongly involved in efforts to facilitate access to European information resources. The Italian union catalogue of serials has evolved from a traditional catalog to a sophisticated resource that provides access to serials services. Serials control is the most recent service of the union catalog with features for end users and professional staff. The software is BASIS Techlib by ID Technology (Italy), affinity partner of Open Text (USA). The ability to customize features presents a very satisfactory, easy-to-use product that might be considered interesting for union catalogs in other countries. Serials Review 2003; 29:169–178.     

Getting to Where You Want to Go: Designing Information Systems and Using Your Data Through the Application of Analytics and Informatics

ABSTRACT

This article, based on the closing session from the 2017 NC Serials Conference, describes a systems perspective where data serve as both real-time and summative information and knowledge about how an organization is performing, what services and resources its users are using and interacting with, and areas for which the organization is doing well or needs improvement. The author posits that data are most useful when the context is informed by clear goals that provide a direction to where the organization is and wants to be. Applied examples are discussed for several environments, including an academic department, school of education, regional libraries, and public libraries.     

Reports of Conferences,Institutes, and Seminars

Abstract

This column covers sessions from the 2018 Charleston Library Conference, an informal annual gathering of librarians, publishers, electronic resource managers, consultants, and vendors of library materials in Charleston, South Carolina, in November. Topics include the impact of open access and open research, assisting faculty with locating and integrating these resources into their courses through partnerships and open applications, and managing gifts and donations with restricted resources.     

A prediction approach for precise marketing based on ARIMA-ARCH Model: A case of China Mobile

The autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model presents improved performance in forecasting short-term trends because it considers the dependence of time series and the interference of stochastic volatility. Thus, in this study, we establish ARIMA(0, 2, 1) based on the historical data of large-scale online marketing promotions to realize precise marketing of China Mobile's Ling Xi Voice app in the communication market. We eliminate the auto-regression effect of residual series by establishing the ARIMA model combined with the autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (ARCH) model denoted as ARIMA(0, 2, 1) ? ARCH(1), the ARIMA model combined with the generalized ARCH (GARCH) model denoted as ARIMA(0, 2, 1) ? GARCH(1, 1), and the ARIMA model combined with the threshold GARCH model denoted as ARIMA(0, 2, 1) ? TGARCH(2, 1). The performance of the aforementioned models is then compared for validation. Considering the characteristics of the communication markets and the attractive statistical properties of ARIMA, we apply ARIMA(0, 2, 1) to forecast the cumulative number of Ling Xi Voice app users for precise marketing that offers reliable agreement for China Mobile to further advertise and study the market demand. Our analysis contributes toward the development of the current knowledge on forecasting the number of app users in the communication market and provides a new idea to increase the market share for communication operators.