Academic and Research Libraries' Portals

2018 ◽  
pp. 29-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Blummer ◽  
Jeffrey M. Kenton
Keyword(s):  
Academic Libraries ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
Research Libraries ◽  
Primary Focus ◽  
Assessment Strategies

This chapter presents a synthesis of the literature on academic library portals. Library portals remain a component of the modern academic library. Portal features differ, but typically contain a single authentication process and access to metadata as well as some services (Laouar, Hacken, & Miles, 2009). The authors examined 87 papers in their review. This examination revealed six themes including: developing library portals, utilizing assessment strategies, collaborating on portal projects, incorporating personalization and customization features, conducting environmental scans, and creating instructional portals. The authors assigned themes to the papers based on the primary focus of the material. The findings revealed various issues with the development of academic library portals. The content of academic library portals continues to evolve as their importance to the user increases. Ultimately, an examination of the literature illustrated academic libraries' efforts to remain relevant through the availability of new resources and services on their portals.

Academic and Research Libraries' Portals

2021 ◽  
pp. 847-874
Author(s):  
Barbara Blummer ◽  
Jeffrey M. Kenton
Keyword(s):  
Academic Libraries ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
Research Libraries ◽  
Primary Focus ◽  
Assessment Strategies

This chapter presents a synthesis of the literature on academic library portals. Library portals remain a component of the modern academic library. Portal features differ, but typically contain a single authentication process and access to metadata as well as some services (Laouar, Hacken, & Miles, 2009). The authors examined 87 papers in their review. This examination revealed six themes including: developing library portals, utilizing assessment strategies, collaborating on portal projects, incorporating personalization and customization features, conducting environmental scans, and creating instructional portals. The authors assigned themes to the papers based on the primary focus of the material. The findings revealed various issues with the development of academic library portals. The content of academic library portals continues to evolve as their importance to the user increases. Ultimately, an examination of the literature illustrated academic libraries' efforts to remain relevant through the availability of new resources and services on their portals.

Assessment committees: good practices from ARL libraries

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 224-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle H. Brannen ◽  
Sojourna J. Cunningham ◽  
Regina Mays
Keyword(s):  
Academic Libraries ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Good Practices ◽  
Research Libraries ◽  
Association Of Research Libraries ◽  
Library Assessment ◽  
Current State ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
Assessment Activities

Purpose Assessment activities in academic libraries continue to grow as libraries explore assessment endeavors. Ranging from basic stats gathering and reporting to surveys, focus groups, and usability studies and beyond. Many practitioners are finding it necessary to create new processes and programs, with little guidance. The purpose of this paper is to paint a broad picture of assessment activities in Association of Research Libraries (ARL) university libraries with the goal of creating a resource for libraries developing or improving their assessment programs. Design/methodology/approach A survey was developed that asked questions about assessment personnel, activities, mission, and website. A total of 113 surveys were sent to academic library members of ARL. Survey results were analyzed to compile a list of recommended good practices for assessment and working with assessment committees in academic libraries. Findings The investigators had a response rate of 43 percent. The open-ended nature of the survey questions allowed for the respondents to specifically narrow down the problems and opportunities inherent in library assessment committees. Originality/value This study takes the temperature of the current state of assessment programs in ARL libraries, demonstrating the growth of assessment programs. It begins to document the practices of these libraries, particularly in regards to the sometimes informal and hard to track use of committees and other in-house collaborations, as a first step toward developing best practices for the field. The results illuminate productive areas for further study, including investigating how to measure a culture of assessment and maximizing impact of assessment information presented on assessment websites.

scholarly journals Program Evaluation for Internship/Residency Programs in Academic and Research Libraries

2001 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 307-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Brewer ◽  
Mark D. Winston
Keyword(s):  
Program Evaluation ◽  
Academic Libraries ◽  
Evaluation Model ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
Residency Programs ◽  
Research Libraries ◽  
Program Coordinators ◽  
Effective Program

Academic libraries are turning increasingly to internship/residency programs to enhance their recruitment efforts. Yet, little evaluative information is available to measure the effectiveness of these programs or to justify funding for them. This article outlines the necessary components of an evaluation model for internship/residency programs based on a survey of academic library deans/directors and program coordinators. The study identifies the key evaluation factors that library administrators consider most important for measuring internship/residency programs, as well as the frequency, format, and sources of input for effective program evaluation.

scholarly journals The Changing Nature of Work in Academic Libraries

2001 ◽  
Vol 62 (5) ◽  
pp. 407-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beverly P. Lynch ◽  
Kimberley Robles Smith
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Communication Skills ◽  
Academic Libraries ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
Academic Librarians ◽  
Behavioral Skills ◽  
Job Requirements ◽  
Research Libraries ◽  
Job Advertisements ◽  
Professional Degree

A content analysis of 220 job advertisements that appeared in College & Research Libraries between 1973 and 1998 demonstrates that by 1998, all academic library jobs routinely included computer technologies, that instruction had become an integral part of reference work, and that behavioral skills, especially oral and written communication skills, had emerged as new job requirements. The master’s degree from a program accredited by the ALA continues to be widely accepted as the appropriate professional degree for academic librarians.

scholarly journals Accessing E-books through Academic Library Web Sites

2007 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Dinkelman ◽  
Kristine Stacy-Bates
Keyword(s):  
Web Sites ◽  
Academic Libraries ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
Research Libraries ◽  
Association Of Research Libraries ◽  
Barriers To Access ◽  
One Step ◽  
Common Barriers ◽  
Improve Access ◽  
The Web

This article examines access to electronic books as provided on the Web sites of academic libraries in the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). Our goal was to discover the ways in which that access occurs and to analyze the merit of the various approaches. We found some common barriers to access, as well as many cases of exemplary access. Many libraries could improve access to e-books by providing guidance to the content of e-book packages, by including the word “book” in links from the homepage to the pages that provide e-books, by providing a one-step limit to e-books in the catalog, by explaining which types of resources are available through search structures outside the catalog, and by featuring e-books in library publicity and instruction.

scholarly journals The Coin of Love and Virtue: Academic Libraries and Value in a Global Pandemic

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 1-30
Author(s):  
Maura Seale ◽  
Rafia Mirza
Keyword(s):  
Academic Libraries ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
Academic Librarians ◽  
Research Review ◽  
Research Libraries ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Maintenance Work ◽  
Education Academic ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Library Value

In September 2010, the Association of College and Research Libraries released The Value of Academic Libraries: A Comprehensive Research Review and Report. The spread of the novel coronavirus and the resulting global pandemic has raised questions about the concept of value in academic libraries. How is value attributed? How does value function? What does it mean to demonstrate or prove our value? We begin with an overview and analysis of ACRL’s Value of Academic Libraries Initiative. We then provide a description and timeline of the spread of COVID-19 and the reaction of both institutions of higher education, academic libraries, professional library organizations, and individual librarians. The pandemic has created a new category of workers - “essential workers” - who provide vital services, perform maintenance work, and labor to keep infrastructures intact. The role of carework and careworkers in the pandemic helps illuminate the situation of academic librarians within regimes of neoliberal austerity. Ultimately we argue that although the discourse of library value seeks to prove library value rationally and empirically, through a lot of quantitative data, capitalism, the economy, and value are fundamentally irrational. Academic library value must be claimed politically; misrecognizing the nature of the problem and relying on commonsense understandings of value and the economic, which is what the discourse of library value has done for the past decade, goes nowhere.

scholarly journals Print Books are Cheaper than E-Books for Academic Libraries

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 91
Author(s):  
Laura Newton Miller
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Academic Libraries ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
Electronic Version ◽  
Research Libraries ◽  
The Social ◽  
Print Books ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Design Case Study ◽  
Mean Cost

A Review of: Bailey, T. P., Scott, A. L., & Best, R. D. (2015). Cost differentials between e-books and print in academic libraries. College & Research Libraries, 76(1), 6-18. doi: 10.5860/crl.76.1.2 Abstract Objective – To determine the difference in cost (if any) between print and e-book titles for an academic library. Design – Case study. Setting – Library system of a small, regional university in the southern United States of America. Subjects – 264 titles requested by faculty (out of 462 total requests) that were available in both print and electronic format. Method – Using Baker & Taylor’s Title Source 3 (now Title Source 360), the researchers compared pricing between the print version (paperback preferred) and electronic version (single user only) of titles requested by faculty during the Fall 2012 semester. Main Results – As a whole, print titles had a mean price of $53.50 and electronic equivalent titles had a mean price of $73.50 (a $19.17 difference). Only 44 of the 264 e-book titles were less expensive than their print equivalents. When broken down by LC classification, e-books were generally more expensive than print across all subjects except for religion and philosophy (BJ-BY) and the social sciences (H-HV). Average prices for both print and electronic were cheaper for university press publications versus non-university press publications. (This was true for both arithmetic and weighted means.) Humanities books were the least expensive (mean cost/print title), but the average e-book cost was slightly higher than the social sciences. Science books were most expensive (average) both in print and electronic. Conclusion – On average, print books are cheaper than e-books for academic libraries.

scholarly journals The Academic Library as a Gateway to the Internet: An Analysis of the Extent and Nature of Search Engine Access from Academic Library Home Pages

2004 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
pp. 276-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol A. Wright
Keyword(s):  
Search Engine ◽  
Academic Libraries ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
Evaluation Criteria ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Home Pages ◽  
Research Libraries ◽  
Association Of Research Libraries ◽  
Study Results ◽  
The University

Academic libraries have the opportunity through their Web pages to present to the university community recommended sites and appropriate techniques for searching the Internet. But in the design and organization of home pages, academic libraries often provide inadequate navigational paths to sites that provide search engine selection and evaluation criteria. The author conducted a study of the home pages of 114 academic libraries that belong to the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) to determine their paths to Internet search engines. This paper presents the study results and makes recommendations for improvement.

The role of academic libraries in research data service (RDS) provision

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 783-797 ◽  
Author(s):  
Holly H. Yu
Keyword(s):  
Academic Libraries ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
Research Data ◽  
The Body ◽  
Data Service ◽  
Academic Institutions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research Libraries ◽  
Body Of Knowledge ◽  
Current State

Purpose Propelled by fast-evolving computational technology and cloud-based data storage, the increasing ease in research data collection is outstripping the capacity in research data service (RDS) in academic institutions. To illustrate the challenges and opportunities in providing RDS, the author provides a systematic review of the RDS offered in academic institutions and libraries by combining existing literature and survey data collected from the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL). In addition, the RDS websites of 2013 ARL survey-participating institutions are also examined. The aim of the paper is to provide an environmental scan of the current state of RDS provision in academic institutions, to add to the body of knowledge of RDS development, and to inform and enable academic libraries to make strategic RDS plans. Design/methodology/approach The paper analyzes the strategies used and levels of RDS provided by reviewing recent literature, exploiting existing survey data from ARL and ACRL, and examining RDS websites of the 2013 ARL survey-participating institutions, in areas that reflect the life cycle of RDS provision including research data management planning, metadata consultation and tool provision, data archiving, institutional repository provision and data sharing and access. Findings The overall offerings of the library-led research data services in ARL research-intensive institutions have shown signs of increasing. Increased engagement and expanded scope and level of services are two noticeable trends in academic library RDS provision. Academic libraries are taking advantage of open access repositories by advising researchers to use the available resources alongside their local repositories for data safe-keeping and sharing. Discussions on RDS policy and infrastructure development are inadequate or largely non-existent. Originality/value Through systematically reviewing current literature, drawing on the results of available surveys on RDS offerings by academic libraries conducted between 2009 and 2014 and examining and further reviewing the websites of these 2013 ARL survey-participating institutions, the author presents the current state of academic library activities in RDS provision, and provides a critical evaluation of the scope and level of services currently being offered in academic libraries, and the opportunities in RDS development, to add to the body of knowledge of RDS provision by academic institutions.

scholarly journals European Academic Libraries Offer or Plan to Offer Research Data Services

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 106-108
Author(s):  
Jennifer Kaari
Keyword(s):  
Academic Libraries ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Survey Instrument ◽  
Research Data ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Library Directors ◽  
Data Services ◽  
Research Libraries ◽  
Technical Services

A Review of: Tenopir, C., Talja, S., Horstmann, W., Late, E., Hughes, D., Pollock, D., … Allard, S. (2017). Research data services in European academic research libraries. LIBER Quarterly, 27(1), 23-44. https://doi.org/10.18352/lq.10180 Abstract Objective – To investigate the current state of research data services (RDS) in European academic libraries by determining the types of RDS being currently implemented and planned by these institutions. Design – Email survey. Setting – European academic research libraries. Subjects – 333 directors of the Association of European Research Libraries (LIBER) academic member libraries. Methods – The researchers revised a survey instrument previously used for the DataONE survey of North American research libraries and conducted pilot testing with European academic library directors. The survey instrument was created using the Qualtrics software. The revised survey was distributed by email to LIBER institutions identified as academic libraries by the researchers and remained open for 6 weeks. Question topics included demographics, RDS currently offered, RDS planned, staffing considerations, and the director’s opinions on RDS. Libraries from 22 countries participated and libraries were grouped into 4 regions in order to compare regional differences. Data analysis was conducted using Excel, SPSS or R software University of Tennessee, University of Tampere, and University of Göttingen. Main Results – 119 library directors responded to more than one question beyond basic demographics, for a response rate of 35.7%. Among the libraries surveyed, more libraries offer consultative services than offered technical support for RDS, although a majority planned to offer technical services in the future. Geographically, libraries in western Europe offer more RDS compared with other regions. More libraries have reassigned or plan to reassign current staff to support RDS services, rather than hire new staff for these roles. Regardless of whether or not they currently offer RDS, library directors surveyed strongly agree that libraries need to offer RDS to remain relevant. Conclusion – The authors determine that a majority of library directors recognize that data management is increasingly important and many libraries are responding to this by implementing RDS and collaborating across their institutions and beyond to help meet these needs. Future research is suggested to track how these services develop over time, how libraries respond to the staffing challenges of RDS, and whether consultative rather than technical services continue to be primary forms of RDS offered.

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