scholarly journals Adapted Services by University Libraries from the Lockdown to the Post-Pandemic Period: The Case of USST

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (11) ◽  
pp. 5-9
Author(s):  
Donglin Ge

As public assembly occupancies, academic libraries in China have been implementing effective strategies in response to the challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic since January 2020, in order to meet the teaching, learning, and researching needs of the faculties and students due to the closure of libraries. The library at the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology (USST) is one of the typical cases with significantly increased user access during the pandemic. In this article, a reflection is made on the emergency measures and endeavours by the library in USST to adapt various services, including digital resources guarantee while working remotely, moving from an offline reference service to online ones, extending circulation from an in-door service to an out-door service, the use of social media, and so on, in order to discuss the emerging problems and to analyze the lessons learned. On this basis, this article proposes suggestions for university libraries to realign their development directions and measures to digital collections and online services as well as to improve the vocational skills of librarians in the post-epidemic period, so as to provide more professional, active, and considerate services in the future.

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 61-64
Author(s):  
Zainab Mohammed Abdullahi ◽  
Abbas Lamido Gora Adamu ◽  
Abubakar Mohammed

Electronic books (e-books) are vital information resources in every university library as they are utilised by users in search of information for conducting research activities, teaching, learning and assignment. This study investigated the relationship between utilisation of e-books and users’ satisfaction in university libraries in North East Zone, Nigeria. Correlational research method was used. The population of the study comprised of five thousand three hundred and seventy nine (5,379) registered library users spread across the five sampled university libraries under study. Stratified random sampling technique was used in drawing the samples and the sample size for this study was one thousand three hundred and seventy two (1,372) registered library users drawn using Krejcie and Morgan (2006) table. Questionnaire was used as the research instrument. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics to answer the two research questions, while, inferential statistics of Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (PPMC) was used to test the formulated null hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. Findings from the study revealed that users’ utilisation of e-books and users’ satisfaction with utilisation of e-books for research, learning, assignment and information in university libraries in North East Nigeria were generally moderate. The study also established that there was significant relationship between utilisation of e-books and users’ satisfaction in university libraries in North East Zone, Nigeria. The study recommended teaching of information literacy for library users, acquisition of adequate and relevant e-books in the university libraries as well as discouraging users from using information obtained from online sources such as Google and other search engines as they are mostly ineffective for their research activities, teaching, learning and assignment.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ed Galloway ◽  
Cassandra DellaCorte

During the Fall 2013 academic semester at the University of Pittsburgh, two undergraduate history majors performed a Wikipedia internship in the University Library System’s Archives Service Center and Special Collections Department. The purpose was to enhance the discoverability of Pitt’s digital collections and finding aids by creating links from Wikipedia articles to relevant content held by the library’s specialized collection units as well as to generally improve the quality of articles by adding additional information. By editing nearly 100 articles in Wikipedia, the interns developed their own effective strategies to perform this work and learned how to use and edit Wikipedia efficiently, how to navigate library resources effectively, how to decide what types of content would be valuable to add, and how to present new and respectable information. As a result, usage of Pitt’s online digitized collections and finding aids appears to have increased.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Phillips ◽  
Mary Burke ◽  
Hannah Tarver ◽  
Oksana Zavalina

Building a digital language archive requires a number of steps to ensure collecting, describing, preserving, and providing access to language data in effective and efficient ways. The Computational Resource for South Asian Languages (CoRSAL) group has partnered with the University of North Texas (UNT) Digital Library to build a series of interconnected digital collections that leverage existing UNT technical and metadata infrastructure to provide access to data from and for various language communities. This article introduces the reader to the background of this project and discusses some of the important for representing language materials areas where UNT metadata has needed flexibility to better fit the needs of intended audiences. These areas include a workflow for standardized language representation (the Language field), defining roles for persons related to the item (Creator and Contributor fields), and representing interconnections between related items (the Relation field). Although further work is needed to improve language data representation in the CoRSAL digital language archive, we believe the model adopted by our team and lessons learned could benefit others in the language archiving community.


2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (26) ◽  
pp. 399
Author(s):  
Nahed Emaish

This research aims to investigate to what extent students and professors at the University of Jordan use information technology in teaching and learning French. It also intends to evaluate the effect that IT tools have on the teaching/learning of this language at the Department of French at this university. The study sample was confined to (90) third-year students majoring in French. Another sample included all (8) professors in the department. The research method utilized two questionnaires, one for the professors and the other for students. The data was analyzed by descriptive statistics, and highlighting means and frequencies. The findings revealed that technology is used by the majority of students for such tasks as using online dictionaries, getting information for their projects and assignments and doing power point presentations. These activities play a part in developing their learning of the language. The findings also showed limitations in their interaction with native-speakers, use of social media, movies, and songs in the target language. As for the professors, the answers revealed that information technology is not often used in their courses. And when used, it is limited to e-mails or power-point presentations.


2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 64-75
Author(s):  
Laura Uglean Jackson ◽  
Matthew McKinley

In October 2014, the University of California Irvine (UCI) Special Collections and Archives acquired a born digital collection of 2.5 terabytes – the largest born digital collection acquired by the department to date. This case study describes the challenges we encountered when applying existing archival procedures to appraise, store, and provide access to a large born digital collection. It discusses solutions when they could be found and ideas for solutions when they could not, lessons learned from the experience, and the impact on born-digital policy and procedure at UCI Libraries. Working with a team of archivists, librarians, IT, and California Digital Library (CDL) staff, we discovered issues and determined solutions that will guide our procedures for future acquisitions of large and unwieldy born digital collections. 


2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 403-414
Author(s):  
Anna L. Neatrour ◽  
Jeremy Myntti ◽  
Rachel J. Wittmann

Purpose When faced with events, such as the global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), libraries have a unique opportunity to develop a community facing response through born-digital collections. These collections provide challenges for metadata creation, collection development policies, workflows, and digital preservation. This paper aims to provide an overview of the Utah COVID-19 digital collection, with a discussion of impact and lessons learned. Design/methodology/approach This paper provides a case study of a born-digital collection initiative undertaken at the University of Utah in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The project prompted engagement with the University of Utah communities and people across the state. Workflows, metadata management and partnerships are discussed, to provide a model for institutions developing similar projects during a time of crisis. Findings While the project was launched with open-ended and flexible goals, the response from the community has been both surprising and gratifying. Statistics and examples demonstrating reuse of collection materials are provided to highlight the impact and potential of community engagement. Originality/value Digital collecting projects during a historical event are not new, however the restrictions placed upon people worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic created interesting circumstances for building this collection. Several lessons were learned throughout the project which will be useful for other institutions embarking upon related projects.


2021 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 65
Author(s):  
Laura M. Gentry

This case study explores how one team tasked with the creation of digital collections at The University of Alabama Libraries succeeded at telework to carry on its essential functions despite not being able to digitize new content from March through July 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Managers of similar units will gain strategies to create similar telework projects at their institution and lessons learned while working and supervising employees remotely.


Author(s):  
Madeline Gerbig ◽  
Kathryn Holmes ◽  
Mai Lu ◽  
Helen Tang

Before the pandemic, the University of Toronto was predominantly an in-person experience. The closure of physical libraries and shift to remote learning required library staff and users to adapt to new modes of supporting teaching, learning, and research. A survey was conducted about reference service delivery, staffing models, resources and tools, which asked the respondents to describe reference services at their libraries before and during the pandemic. The objectives of this survey were to capture the state of reference services at the University of Toronto Libraries (UTL), and to compare data about reference practices during the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods with the goal of identifying challenges and opportunities for the future of reference services at UTL. 70% of libraries surveyed used reference desks for reference services pre-pandemic, and during the pandemic, 75% of libraries used virtual reference appointments by video conferencing. The survey results show that reference service staffing and service hours in most surveyed libraries were reduced during the pandemic. Many respondents reported that while they offered fewer reference service hours during the pandemic, they continued to provide assistance outside of scheduled hours. Online tools and platforms that were already familiar to librarians remained popular during the pandemic, allowing service providers to quickly adapt to the virtual environment and ensure seamless service continuity. While the rapid transition in services at the University of Toronto was not without its challenges, it has also offered many new opportunities for re-envisioning reference services at the University of Toronto Libraries.


ACC Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 74-86
Author(s):  
Květoslava Šimková ◽  
Jitka Ramadanová

This paper focuses on some aspects of remote education that can be implemented in face-to-face classes in order to improve and enhance the teaching/learning process. The authors present the results of the questionnaire survey conducted among the teachers of the Institute of Applied Language Studies of the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen (hereinafter referred to as ‘UWB’) and also among the students of the Faculty of Economics at the same university in the spring term of 2021, evaluating two semesters of remote education. Having analyzed the results of the questionnaires, the authors of the paper aim to share their experience and introduce the best practice that the Business English (hereinafter referred to as ‘BE’) teachers at the UWB have decided to apply to their future BE courses.


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 143
Author(s):  
Cláudia dos Santos Roberto Nascimento ◽  
Gabriela Natale Vicalvi Ribeiro ◽  
Letícia dos Santos Miranda

O Serviço de Referência se caracteriza por ser uma função organizada que presta respostas personalizadas a uma consulta explícita em busca de informações bibliográficas ou documentais. O papel do profissional Bibliotecário é fundamental, para disponibilizar esse serviço, pois está em contato direto com os usuários. Para sua execução é necessário que o profissional tenha as competências que permitam trabalhar de modo mais ativo junto aos usuários. O objetivo deste trabalho é identificar na literatura, nacional e internacional, quais as habilidades requeridas para a atuação do Bibliotecário no Serviço de Referência das Bibliotecas Universitárias, com o intuito de aprimorar esse serviço. A fim de atingir esse objetivo, esta pesquisa faz uso da metodologia de Revisão Sistemática da Literatura (RSL). Ao aplicar os critérios de inclusão e exclusão, nas bases de dados selecionadas, houve um retorno de 191 documentos, reduzidos para uma amostra de 5, após uma segunda avaliação. A análise quantitativa é representada de forma objetiva por seis tópicos: o título, a autoria, o objetivo, o(s) método(s) utilizado(s), o principal resultado e o ano de publicação do trabalho. A análise qualitativa demonstra que o Bibliotecário de Referência pode ser classificado como: “mediador/tutor”, “mediador/aconselhador”, “mediador/tecnicista” e social/generalista. Os trabalhos analisados apresentaram, de acordo com o contexto e objetivo da pesquisa de cada um, as habilidades e competências requeridas para um Serviço de Referência ativo. Dessa forma, o objetivo proposto foi alcançado. Cada estudo, com sua particularidade apresentou as competências necessárias ao bibliotecário.ABSTRACTThe Reference Service is characterized by being an organized function that provides personalized answers to an explicit query in search of bibliographic or documentary information. The role of the professional Librarian is essential to provide this service, as they are in direct contact with users. For its implementation it is necessary that the professional has the skills to work more actively with users. The objective of this work is to identify, in the national and international literature, which skills are required for the Librarian's performance in the Reference Service of University Libraries, in order to improve this service. In order to achieve this goal, this research makes use of the Systematic Literature Review (SLR) methodology. By applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, in the selected databases, 191 documents were returned, reduced to a sample of 5, after a second evaluation. Quantitative analysis is objectively represented by six topics: title, authorship, objective, method(s) used, main result and year of publication of the work. Qualitative analysis demonstrates that the Reference Librarian can be classified as: “mediator/tutor”, “mediator/adviser”, “mediator/technicist” and social/generalist. The analyzed works presented, according to the context and objective of the research of each one, the skills and competences required for an active Reference Service. In this way, the proposed objective was achieved. Each study, with its particularity, presented the necessary skills to the librarian.


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