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Two librarians from the James E. Walker Library at Middle Tennessee State University describe the implementation of prepaid article access to ScienceDirect content. An overview of the initiative is provided along with adjustments that were made to the implementation. Also included is a description on how the use of various tools streamlined the user experience. The authors describe the challenges of determining the levels of mediation that worked for the library and its users. Although the program will be discontinued due to costs and limited customization options, useful information was gathered about article use indicating the need for scholarly resources and document delivery services. This article is based on the lightning talk, Streamlining User Experiences with ScienceDirect Prepaid Articles, presented at the 2022 North Carolina Serials Conference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the paper was to consider the current experience of metric evaluations of serial publications carried out by employees of academic libraries and to develop recommendations for conducting such evaluations. To achieve this objective, relevant publications were reviewed and the relevant experience of the Scientific Library of the Belarusian National Technical University was summarized. Two trends of such evaluations were analyzed, viz. both evaluation for the purpose of improving library collections or information services for library users and evaluation for the purpose of making managerial decisions, assessing the scientific performance of the university, research organization or their units. As for the first trend, the viewpoint that this area of research has lost its relevance has been refuted. Using for evaluation such indicators as disciplinary impact factor and disciplinary susceptibility factor (which is used for the selection of those non-specialized serial publications that cite specialized journals—not are cited by them; herewith the citing activity of an average article from the citing non-specialized serial is calculated) is considered. As for the second trend, the paper demonstrates the important role of metric evaluation of serial publications in which employees of universities and research organizations have published as well as of those serials that are published by academic organizations under analysis in the assessment of universities and research organizations themselves. The approaches to such evaluation, its examples and the experience of the Scientific Library of the Belarusian National Technical University in evaluating Belarusian journals indexed by the Emerging Sources Citation Index™ are considered. The issue of improving the scholarly communication of employees of the university or research organization using the results of metric studies of serial publications is considered as well. Recommendations are given on the use of a number of citation indicators for serial publications evaluations by academic library employees including evaluation for comparative analysis of serials that are indexed in the Science Citation Index Expanded™ and by the Emerging Sources Citation Index™. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid evolution of technology, information sharing, digital rights and standards, and a host of other interrelated factors has led to a growing reliance on private industries to manage or administrate a host of services across higher education, and nowhere is this change more evident than in our historically cooperative and self-sustaining research libraries. This paper examines the problematic nature of privatization in public higher education, and highlights examples and strategies for reclaiming our shared mantle of providing the most effective and ethical user-centered public services we can with the resources at our disposal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An increased awareness about the importance of resource accessibility for all library users has set the stage for transforming traditional cataloger roles into a new realm of possibility. The Acquisitions & Discovery (A&D) and the User Experience (UX) departments of North Carolina State University Libraries have formed a partnership to explore the benefits of working together amidst this climate of innovation and change. A pilot project was created to develop a workflow through which technical services staff can use their metadata skills to help resolve accessibility issues found on the Libraries' main website. By performing this work, staff can grow in technical expertise, enhance the quality of metadata in web content, and build mutually beneficial partnerships within the library community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2015, the Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA) Libraries formed the BTAA Library E-Resource Accessibility Group. This group, which consists of members from each Big Ten library and the BTAA Library Initiatives staff, was charged with creating boilerplate accessibility license language for vendor contracts, as well as collectively funding high level accessibility testing of e-resources and posting these publicly for all libraries and users. Since the creation of the group, about 50 databases have been tested and accessibility license language has been created that can be used and adapted by anyone. In 2019, the group welcomed another consortia, the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL), to be partners in this work, renaming themselves the Library Accessibility Alliance. This paper examines the mission, accomplishments, and new partnership in more depth while also discussing the need for focused efforts to help ensure accessible e-resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to build upon the research of Brett, the author categorized over three hundred e-resources troubleshooting tickets at The University of Alabama Libraries into a coding scheme originally created by Goldfinger and Hemhauser with the goal of cross-comparing the results with that of two other research libraries. The results of the analysis shed light upon the most commonly reported types of problems among the three institutions, and patterns emerged that could be indicative of industry-wide concerns. The author also developed a more specific, local classification schema in order to identify areas in which local solutions could be implemented to improve user experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on a study that explores the requirements and level of acceptance for the Koha open source software implementation in Malaysian academic libraries. This is a qualitative study based on interviews with system librarians from library application and system divisions in 5 Malaysian universities. The interviews were conducted to understand the technology acceptance, system quality and system information, beliefs and attitude of librarians and to provide insight into a user and open system relations. These factors can be critical in order to understand what may hinder the acceptance of open source systems in Malaysia academic libraries. The findings disclose that the level of acceptance of the Koha open source system among Malaysian librarians is high as they are satisfied with the information quality, system quality and system platform. They have positive intentions to use this system and believe it meets their current and future information needs. The requirements of its implementation are focused on perceived usefulness (technology), attitude toward using (users), and perceived ease of use (system). The subsequent influencing factors are a reflection of Koha system stability and users' acceptance of this system's information quality, system quality, librarians' awareness, satisfaction, user confidence level, support for library standards, highly integrated modules, a web-based solution, intention to use a system, and actual usage of an open-source system. Practical implications include cost savings, outsourced system maintenance, and accessibility of the system after office hours. The Koha open-source system is a new paradigm in system solutions for libraries in Malaysia. The results of the current study are applicable to other library settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While librarians have frequently demonstrated a strong commitment to their patrons' privacy with physical resources, readers and researchers now experience insecure connections and third-party tracking when accessing library resources. Additionally, when libraries pay for content, that money is often going to companies that also collect personal information, aggregate data from tracking networks and sell data to law enforcement agencies. While some ways of shifting to an Open Access (OA) publication model could improve this, significant challenges remain. Currently, some of the same corporations that sell resources to libraries are also among the biggest OA service providers, and OA may also limit librarians' position for advocacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the summer of 2020, Austin Peay State University's Woodward Library added a report feature to all catalog records, allowing library users to alert technical services personnel of any errors discovered while searching, including broken links or incorrect information. With the implementation of the report feature, spot checking efforts were crowdsourced to library users, and data were collected on the types of errors appearing most often in catalog records. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Streaming video has increased the size of academic library media holdings, while leaving patrons on their own to find what they need. As a result, media collections are now exponentially larger and richer while simultaneously being less discoverable by students. That's because the way libraries organize this information serves the most information-literate users—while potentially leaving others behind. This session explored the history of library media in an effort to understand the reasons why media tends to be one of the most mysterious parts of academic library collections. It also encourages librarians to assess the accessibility of their own media collections and find creative strategies for making these important resources accessible to all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While library discovery systems offer great promise for delivering open access materials, they often fall short. Discovery tools merge multiple records together, and in the process show a preference for linking options that are less likely to successfully deliver open access full text. Third party tools offer options for bringing users to missing content, but these tools are often not fully supported in library systems. Library systems are so focused on keeping unauthorized users out of restricted content that it compromises their ability to get users into content that is freely available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The creation, sharing, and maintenance of documentation are critical to support the often detailed and complex work of library technical services units. This column examines documentation portals that share technical services policies and procedures, with a focus on library-based portals that are accessible to personnel within the associated libraries while also being fully or partially open to external users. A review of the literature is provided, as well as links to and descriptions of selected portal examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accessing ebooks from different vendors often requires switching between multiple platforms, which can be unwieldy for library users. To offer readers a coherent and seamless reading experience, the New York Public Library (NYPL) initiated a project called SimplyE (or LibrarySimplified). The end user deliverable of this project is an application (Android, iOS) that enables users to read ebooks from multiple vendors through a single interface, thereby delivering a Netflix-style experience for searching, browsing, and checking out ebooks. The back end consists of applications that manage ebook collections, circulation, and metadata for libraries. This column explores the viability of implementing SimplyE in an academic library setting. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this Standards Update column, Todd Carpenter, Executive Director of the National Information Standards Organization (NISO), provides a preview of NISO's upcoming RA21 Recommended Practice for single sign-on systems. Carpenter describes previous attempts at single sign-on standards, the essential difficulties in authenticating users, and how RA21 will address these issues while ensuring the privacy of user data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Libraries are increasingly embracing user experience (UX) and user-centered design principles to improve the satisfaction and success of library users. Electronic resources management can utilize such principles to better support users as they interact with the library's website and its electronic resources. In this column, four academic librarians discuss strategies libraries can employ to improve the user experience. These strategies include utilizing basic UX principles when designing sites and interfaces; analyzing quantitative data to inform the library on how such sites are being used; recruiting strategies for library user studies; and, finally, a call to move to a more unified user experience and to work more closely with vendors on improvements to help users succeed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The number of free or open access articles is increasing rapidly, and their retrieval with library indexes and OpenURL link resolvers has been a challenge. In June 2014, the SFX MISCELLANEOUS_FREE_EJOURNALS target contained more than 24,000 portfolios of all kinds. The SFX KnowledgeBase Advisory Board (KBAB) carried out an international survey to get an overview of the usage of this target by the SFX community and to precisely identify what could be done to improve it. The target is widely used among the community. However, many respondents complained about three major problems: (a) incorrect links, (b) full texts actually not free, and (c) incorrect or missing thresholds (years and volumes information). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this invited article, Andrew Pace discusses the functional gap that still exists for library operations as they relate to electronic resource management and integrated library systems. Pace also provides strategies for closing the content providers’ gap in order to fulfill the needs of the end user. Participants in the library information service framework (libraries, content suppliers, and vendors) need to examine their practices and push through these gaps to evolve solutions for effective electronic resource management and fulfillment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The University of Nevada, Reno Libraries made the decision in early 2012 to convert its bibliographic records from a single record approach, with multiple formats of a title on one bibliographic record, to a separate record approach, where each format receives its own record. This decision was several years in the making, as it was a change that would potentially require breaking apart more than 20,000 records. It would involve numerous staff from different departments and would require adjustments for all staff who worked with library users. This article will discuss the factors that pushed the UNR Libraries to make this decision to split its records and the challenges technical services staff faced in managing the project. The authors will present the different procedures developed for splitting monographic and serial records and the different tools that were used to make the process work: Millennium (especially the ERM and Global Update modules), MarcEdit, and Serials Solutions' MARC Updates service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study explores and compares Chinese university library users' perceptions of conventional electronic resources inside the library and unconventional electronic resources outside the library in terms of ease of use, usefulness, and usage. Data collected from 278 library users were used for data analysis. The independent samples t test and one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) present the exact nature of library users' perceptions of conventional electronic resources and unconventional electronic resources. The paired samples t test suggests that unconventional electronic resources outside the library are playing a role as a complement rather than a substitute to the conventional electronic resources inside the library. Hierarchical regression analysis indicates that both ease of use and usefulness can predict usage in the case of both conventional and unconventional electronic resources. These findings and their implications are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper examines the recent literature on the presentation of e-books in college and university libraries, focusing on three mechanisms for discovery and access: e-book vendors' interfaces, library catalogs (OPACs), and resource discovery tools (RDTs). If libraries rely on vendors' interfaces, patrons must search on multiple platforms, many of which have limited and idiosyncratic search mechanisms. The most common strategy for discovery and access—including e-books in the library catalog—brings its own set of challenges, including limited availability of records, lack of standardization, difficulties managing the addition and removal of titles, and the generally low quality of vendor-supplied records. Likewise, libraries that use resource discovery tools face another set of difficulties: incomplete coverage, reliance on metadata from external sources, problems with subject headings and authority control, difficulties with guest-user access, and continuing dependence on vendors' platforms for access to full text. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

ABSTRACT: After a two-year renovation, the Kent State University Music Library reopened as the Performing Arts Library. Before the closure, some serials were sent to the depository or reclassified within the library. In order to assist patrons browsing print journals or searching for articles in the stacks, library staff created shelf dummies detailing print and electronic holdings information as well as indexing for each title. Patron feedback has been positive, and the project has helped both library staff and patrons better understand accessibility and location of journals. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

ABSTRACT: In September 2010 members of the Ontario Council of University Libraries (OCUL) participated in a patron-driven acquisitions (PDA) pilot to determine how this purchasing model might be adapted to a consortium. OCUL understood that developing a model that would allow patrons to purchase titles for different collections would be complicated. Careful thought went into balancing the needs of individual members with the needs of the consortium. This paper describes the project and examines the results from three distinct perspectives in the hopes of gaining a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities of PDA at a consortial level. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Librarians in school and public libraries offer insights into the development and management of their serials collections. They explain how they strive to meet the diverse needs of their young library users. Serials Review 2011; 37:99-102. © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of a survey on Innovative Interfaces' Electronic Resource Management System (III's ERM). The authors distributed the survey to III ERM users through LISTSERVS in November 2009 and received sixty-one responses. The survey contained seventeen questions that focused on three themes: satisfaction with implementation, impact on workflow, and impact on patrons. The results indicated that difficulty with implementation caused some dissatisfaction with staff workflow, although a majority of informants indicated that III's ERM improved staff workflow to some degree. The major benefits of III's ERM were listed in terms of the product's impact on patrons. Serials Review 2011; 37:80-86. (c) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All right reserved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Management of electronic journal holdings information has been a challenge for librarians because of the complexities of how these resources are published, purchased, and disseminated to library users. This column discusses current practices among academic librarians for managing electronic holdings; explores tools, strategies, and innovations that librarians have used to enhance this process for the benefit of their library users and staffs; and examines the costs and benefits of different management practices. Telephone interviews with several librarians and the author's own experiences working with electronic journal holdings supplement the discussion with practical perspective and real life examples. Serials Review 2010; 36:242-250. © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Auburn University Libraries wanted to reduce the amount of work devoted to current print issues in a manner acceptable to public service librarians and patrons. The Current Periodicals collection in the Ralph Brown Draughon (RBD) Library, the main library, has been reduced to only those periodical issues for which reliable online access is not available. Current issues that have online access are kept in the Acquisitions Department in a “closed stacks” arrangement. “Closed stacks” issues are available to patrons upon request. The experience at Auburn University demonstrates that reconfiguring processes for Current Periodicals involves collaboration between technical and public services with minimal difficulties and introduces new efficiencies. The librarians hope to save time and resources and reduce missing issues and claims. They are monitoring patron reaction to the change. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

At the University of Colorado at Boulder University Libraries, the Special Collections and Cataloging and Metadata Services Departments have been testing Innovative Interfaces' Millennium Media. In a recent project, librarians and staff digitized cover images and tables of contents for issues of selected journals from the Tippit Collection and linked the digitized enhancements to the catalog records for the associated titles. This article reviews the steps involved with the project, shows the results, and describes where this now ongoing effort will fit in the workflow of the departments involved. Serials Review 2007; 33:231-237. © 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consortial licenses with online access clauses can offer libraries the opportunity to begin new journal subscriptions at no additional cost and without losing access to existing subscriptions. Mississippi State University (MSU) participates in consortial partnerships that provide online access to all Elsevier and Wiley journals to which any partner subscribes. The license agreements prohibit simply canceling duplicate subscriptions, but they allow any library to swap existing subscriptions for titles of equal cost. In 2006, librarians realized MSU was paying for access that it would retain regardless of whether it maintained subscriptions because many subscriptions were duplicated with partner libraries. This article describes a project that allowed MSU to provide online access to an additional sixty journals at no increased subscription costs. Serials Review 2007; 33:215-223. © 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In June 2006, Lisa Harrington interviewed Ellen Finnie Duranceau, scholarly publishing and licensing consultant at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Libraries in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In this interview, Duranceau discusses a range of topics including her views on the future of electronic resources, the online public access catalog, libraries, and how she thinks we can meet the needs of users. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

eIFL.net is an umbrella organization of library consortia in fifty transition and developing countries. Its main purpose is to negotiate, encourage, and advocate for the wide availability of scholarly electronic information by library users from the education and research sectors, professional communities, governmental organizations, and civil society. The paper presents the beginnings, goals, and development of eIFL.net in its five years of existence. The authors outline what it has achieved so far and provide an overview of the main challenges that developing countries face in accessing quality e-resources. Some success stories will demonstrate concrete accomplishments of the organization and its participating countries. Serials Review 2005; 31:256-260. ©2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the spring of 2003 the University Libraries at University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), conducted a Serials Assessment Project which combined technology with effective communication between library users and subject librarians to successfully identify journals that could be cancelled, should cancellations be necessary due to budgetary constraints. Although the library had conducted similar assessments in 1998 and 2000, a flesh look at past assessments resulted in an innovative approach. The project and experience proved to be tremendously positive for both the library and its users. This article describes the planning and process by which the UNLV libraries designed and conducted the 2003 review of UNLV's serials collection, comparing it to methods used in the two previous assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Finding and deciphering serials records in online catalogs is a challenge to many library users. To understand and analyze these challenges, the author conducted searches for scientific journal titles in the online catalogs of Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) libraries. The first part of the study measures the difficulty of retrieving serial records from online catalogs comparing one-word versus multiple-word titles. The second part analyzes displays for complexity by measuring the length of the complete record and the length of the holdings statements. These data show the complexity of displays and indicates the potential confusion that these displays may induce in library users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports are from a program planned by the Southern California Technical Processes Group (SCTPG) on "Managing the Electronic Monster; The Impact on the Library User" and a program at the University at Buffalo (UB) on the crisis in the scholarly communication system, "Publishing the Future: Scholarly Communication in an Information Age." The Southern California Technical Processes Group (SCTPG) chose "Managing the Electronic Monster; The Impact on the Library User" as an interesting title for the program reported on by Manuel Urrizola. Equating electronic resources with a monster certainly resonates with this column editor, who used the metaphor of battling the Hydra in a presentation at a past Florida Library Association conference. An impressive list of local California speakers addressed such issues as the single versus separate record approach, aggregator-neutral records, acquisitions and licensing of electronic resources, and public service concerns. Former Serials Review editor Cindy Hepfer played a key role in planning the content for the University at Buffalo (UB) program on scholarly communication entitled "Publishing the Future." The purpose of the program was to raise awareness in the UB community, especially among faculty, administrators, and students, to the growing crisis in scholarly communication and to look at some future developments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the growing need for tools or systems that will provide more effective management of and improved user access for journal collections, especially for e-journals. The author briefly describes initial efforts at the local library level to develop management systems and mentions the rise of vendor-supplied solutions, which have become very popular. In spite of the current popularity of vendor-based solutions, the author argues that there is still a niche for locally developed journal management systems. One such system, developed at the author's home institution, Taylor University, is featured as a case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the accessibility of electronic resources to library patrons from local online catalogs via uniform resource locators (URL) in Colorado. Use of Internet-based electronic resources in the libraries; Problem on online catalogs merging; Library management in maintaining URL in local online catalogs.

In her presentation entitled "No Mind Reading Necessary: Conducting Evidence-Based Electronic Resource Marketing and Outreach" at the North Carolina Serials Conference April 2019, Kate Hill discussed marketing research strategies and outreach tools used to increase online users' access to electronic resources and primary resources. In an effort to connect users to seldom-used resources, Jackson Library collaborated with university partners to develop surveys to identify the information-seeking behavior of its users and apply the gathered marketing research to strategically plan outreach activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps in 1961, and a library has served staffers and volunteers since its beginning. In this issue, Serials Review visits the Information Collection and Exchange (ICE) at Peace Corps Headquarters in Washington, DC, and learns about some of the unique things this library does to support its users all over the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The implementation of the semantic web based on linked data principles represents a movement toward transforming the World Wide Web into a database of linked resources, where data may be widely reused and shared. Web services can be enhanced by drawing on semantically aware data made available by a variety of providers. The Bibliographic Framework (BIBFRAME) Initiative seeks to expose rich library metadata to the semantic web, configured so that semantic data from other sources can be incorporated in meeting library user needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]