Showing posts with label Academic Library. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Academic Library. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
How should academic libraries communicate their own value?
Libraries are not synonymous for a 'large undergraduate study hall'. Instead, they can provide vital support to research and teaching roles, says Stephen Barr
A library is more than a ‘large undergraduate study hall’. Photograph: David Levene
A common complaint from my librarian friends: too often users fail to appreciate that the resources they use online are only available to them because the library has purchased them. This is aggravated by confusion about what an academic library is. Researchers actively using library resources online may not think of themselves as using the library because they have not recently visited the building.
Libraries need to overcome such confusion to ensure that the contributions they make to the university are fully appreciated. Demonstrating value is key if libraries are to be able to continue to claim their share of institutional funding.
As part of a wider focus on working with the library community, SAGE recently commissioned a research project from LISU, the Library Information Science unit at Loughborough University. Although not the first research piece on this issue, LISU's research offers an up to date, accessible insight into best practices for libraries in demonstrating value, not just in terms of use, but also in terms of impact on research and teaching outcomes.
Drawing on research from the UK, the US and Scandinavia, the LISU study shows a world in which libraries are actively engaged in gathering evidence to demonstrate their value – but challenges remain. Though a good deal of evidence is collected, much of it is evidence of activity rather than evidence of value and impact. The kind of evidence provided by the 2009 CIBER global library study, demonstrating that per capita expenditure and use of e-journals is strongly correlated to research performance, is more challenging for individual institutions to develop.
Evidence is critical not only because administrators are increasingly required to justify expenditure, but also because librarians cannot take faculty support for granted. Though librarians do get a lot of positive feedback from faculty, the LISU study shows many librarians believe that researchers do not really know how to use all the library's resources. There is also a strong sense that teaching staff are often surprised by the sorts of support on offer.
Library buildings are increasingly geared towards meeting the needs of students, with cafés and social space provided alongside information resources. At the University of Utah, a recent survey showed that many teaching and research staff regarded the library as a large undergraduate study hall. With material available online and document delivery being made directly to offices, many faculty never visited the library building.
This creates an increased risk that faculty support for libraries will erode if faculty no longer perceive themselves as actively supported by the library. Disconnects of this kind are widely perceived. One librarian said: " ... most faculty really do ignore us or take [the library] for granted, while most librarians think that we are a central part of the faculty's mission".
The LISU study highlights a number of areas where libraries are actively engaging with faculty and students, providing evidence of value more effectively. The biggest trend is in collaborative working between librarians and faculty to support research and teaching roles. Library teaching embedded in departmental courses has become an important role for libraries, contributing to enhancing students' skills in information literacy and other areas.
Some universities, particularly in the US, have moved further in developing co-teaching courses. At others, there is librarian involvement in curriculum design with a view to ensuring that information skills are embedded in the course from the start. This kind of close working between faculty and librarians can also apply in research partnerships. An example cited is the involvement of subject librarians at the University of Nottingham in systematic reviews: their time is costed and documented as part of the research project in recognition that library skills are key to the successful delivery of the project, and librarians contributing to systematic reviews are cited as co-authors on the publications.
While there are gains to be made, library contributions to teaching and research can also pose significant challenges - notably that of time management. Providing embedded information training is a time-consuming support service for the library. Librarians are also aware of the limitations on faculty time in any partnerships.
For librarians to understand the perceptions of faculty and students and know how to reach and influence them, requires effective marketing - but this isn't just a question of promotion. The research found that in delivering shared services, Purdue University emphasises the importance of framing services from a faculty rather than from a librarian perspective. Librarians engaged in research support need to "present themselves as someone who can solve a problem research staff are having directly". A similar concern came across in the issue of using appropriate language – at the University of Sussex, sessions on electronic resources are presented as 'awareness raising' rather than 'training' to avoid generating unnecessary resistance.
Asked about the biggest impediment to promoting library services, one librarian summarised the issue as: "lack of time: for library staff to have time to promote resources to individuals; for academic staff to read and digest emails or other communications". This challenge was expressed in all three regions surveyed. Given the reality of time challenges on both sides, libraries need to be smart in identifying ways of building relationships and communicating value which are effective and scaleable.
There are also recommendations for senior university managers – the full report can be downloaded here. We undertook this project as a chance to better understand how libraries can support teaching and research staff. What LISU has reported on are just a small number of examples of best practice from case studies internationally: we'd welcome further input from you and your experiences here or on the Library Value blog.
Professor Stephen Barr is president of SAGE International
Read More at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Monday, July 16, 2012
Role of Libraries in Academics(Education Times Article)
Aaditi Isaac/TNN
Stressing on the role that libraries and library-sources can play in fostering academic and research excellence in the Indian universities,a seminar was organised by the Information & Library Network Centre (INFLIBNET),an Inter-University Centre (IUC) under the University Grants Commission,India.Traditionally,libraries and library sources have been important but have been invisible globally.The role of libraries in a technology-driven world has changed.Technology has brought about a revolution in terms of sharing resources and we must make use of it for the benefit of students and faculty, says Jagdish Arora,director,Information and Library Network Centre,an autonomous inter-university centre of UGC.
In India,universities,which have funds,update their libraries through e-books,online journals,etc.What about universities which do not have funds The UGC infonet digital library consortium provides access to 7,500 journals in about 200 universities,which are funded by UGC.The universities that run all kinds of programmes,get access to all journals.We follow a model that allows us to get access to quality material that can be given out to the membercolleges.We have opened another gate for universities,not part of the forum.They can get their own subscriptions at the rate the other 200 universities pay and access quality material for five years.We are giving them access to the market,which they cannot afford, says Arora.
Talking about the challenges that are faced by Indian universities,Arora says that infrastructure is the biggest hurdle.We can give universities cables but how they use it,is up to them.Connectivity is something we have to work on harder.
Paula Kaufman,dean of libraries and university librarian,University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign says that there is a need to look at a sustainable model for the growth of a library that will be beneficial to users.
The value of a library is different from one institution to the other.It is a challenge to get funds to upgrade the library and the resources within but unless we do that,we cannot measure the impact the library resources are creating for the users.
The model that we follow,measures things such as growth of e-books,cost per-use,etc.This allows us to keep track of what resources are being used and what resources are needed and what arent.Use of resources in our university is not just restricted to students coming to the library physically and reading.With technology,students access material from outside the campus through the internet.This is a positive development because it has changed the way we offer library services, she says.
Source: Times of India, Education Times, 16th July 2012, Pg No. 37
Friday, June 8, 2012
Libraries Have a Key Role in Academic Accountability
The continuing drive for more accountability in academe presents “a unique opportunity” for libraries, which are well placed to connect students, faculty members, and administrators. That was the takeaway from two summits on the value of academic libraries organized by the Association of College & Research Libraries, or ACRL. The association today released a report, “Connect, Collaborate, and Communicate,” that recaps the summit conversations and offers a few recommendations.
The summits grew out of a major 2010 ACRL report on the value of academic libraries, part of the association’s effort to help its members document and demonstrate that value. Convened late last year in Chicago, the meetings brought librarians and administrators from 22 institutions together to talk about the broader landscape of assessment and where libraries fit into it. According to the new report, participants at the summits acknowledged the importance of faculty research but mainly focused on “student learning and success, an issue facing increasing public scrutiny.”
The report lists five “overarching recommendations for the library profession” that came out of the gatherings. Participants stressed the importance of helping librarians understand and measure how their libraries affect student success, and the need to develop “assessment competencies” to help put effective practices in place. They wanted to see more professional-development opportunities for librarians to learn about assessment practices. They saw a need to expand partnerships with other groups on campus who are also interested in assessment. And they wanted more integration of existing ACRL assessment tools into what librarians are doing at individual institutions.
The report suggests that libraries can make the most of the current accountability push and “spark communities of action” around the question of assessment. “Academic librarians can serve as connectors and integrators, promoting a unified approach to assessment,” it concludes. “As a neutral and well-regarded place on campus, the academic library can help break down traditional institutional silos and foster increased communication across the institutional community.”
Karen Brown, an associate professor of library and information science at Dominican University, and Kara J. Malenfant, the association’s senior strategist for special initiatives, wrote the report. Summit participants included teams of provosts and library directors from a variety of state universities and smaller colleges, including California State University, Drexel University, Grinnell College, Kansas State University, Linfield College, Moraine Valley Community College, Mount Holyoke College, Pennsylvania State University, Rio Salado College, San Diego State University, the University of West Florida, and Utah State University, among others.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Who cares about libraries?
By Christine Sheehy
There was a time when I would have been embarrassed to admit that I love libraries.
A love of libraries has inspired a new book about the importance of the public place.
As a teenager the library was distinctly uncool, except as a place to check out members of the opposite sex while pretending to study for School Certificate. At least, that was the only socially acceptable excuse.
But deep down I loved the place: from childhood days of Margaret Mahy and Richard Scarry, to pre-teen years when "I have a project to research" was the only excuse capable of persuading Mum that I should be allowed to get off the school bus in Takapuna and hang out by myself for a precious hour or two. I still recall the burgeoning sense of independence and freedom. And believe it or not, most of the time I did actually go to the library.
These days I take my kids to the library most weeks, and usually come away with something for myself. There's almost always a book on the "new release" stand calling out "borrow me", even though I already have far too many on my bedside table.
Now, a love of libraries has inspired The Library Book, a collection of musings on the importance and meaning of public libraries from writers including Zadie Smith, Julian Barnes, Kate Mosse and Alan Bennett.
The book was first published in the UK, where the future of tiny village and suburban libraries is in peril. It's a similar story in the US, where huge public spending cuts threaten the survival of libraries from New York to California.Many write that they would not have become writers, but for the sanctuary and inspiration offered by their local library during difficult teenage years.
In both countries, vigorous campaigns are underway to save public libraries. For one week last year, the shelves of the Stony Stratford library in Buckinghamshire stood empty of all 16,000 titles, after a Facebook campaign encouraged members to borrow their maximum 15 books. The protesters wanted to demonstrate the great void that would be left in the heart of the community if the library were shut down.
Here in New Zealand, proposed reductions in library services also face strong community opposition. A recent petition opposing the axing of Tauranga's mobile library service has gained over 1500 signatures, while last October, Hamilton City Council was forced to back down from aproposal to charge $2 per book borrowed.
The Library Book is a tribute to and celebration of that place in the community. "There really aren't many things in life that can enrich you for free yet ask for nothing in return," writes Nicky Wire, bass player and lyricist for the Manic Street Preachers.
Stephen Fry writes movingly of how discovering his library helped him to understand and accept his homosexuality. It also led him to many great writers, with a side-effect that his own appetite for knowledge caused him to "educate myself to a degree that was beyond anything a school could hope to achieve".
Others note that without well-funded libraries willing to take a chance on new writers, many would never see their work in print. As Lionel Shriver points out, a lot of books would simply disappear from sight within weeks of publication if not acquired by libraries.
There are tales of pointless bureaucracy, formative meetings, a mobile service that became a vehicle for illicit affairs and even a mobility scooter ram-raid. Whoever said the library was boring?
Not me, obviously. I think even I would be surprised by a print-out of my complete borrowing history over the last 30-something years. I've borrowed books on Baltic politics, Steiner education, Rita Angus, macro-biotic cooking, the AIDS crisis, Mary Queen of Scots, round-the-world sailing, meditation, architecture, crochet and all manner of cookbooks and health and fitness fads. And those are just the topics I can remember.
It's an odd mix, but I'm a firm believer that such eclectic reading has the capacity to expand our minds and enrich our lives. One of the bonuses of Auckland's transition to a supercity is that the library catalogues have merged. Auckland readers can now request books from any branch be delivered to their local library at no cost. Books zooming everywhere from Wellsford to Waitakere to Waiuku probably creates all sorts of inefficiencies, but with 3.5 million items on offer, the available range has expanded enormously.
So I write this blog in celebration of the public library, but I couldn't put it better than broadcaster and writer Catlin Moran. "A library in the middle of a community is a cross between an emergency exit, a life raft and a festival. They are cathedrals of the mind; hospitals of the soul; theme parks of the imagination. On a cold and rainy island, they are the only sheltered public spaces where you are not a consumer, but a citizen instead. A human with a brain and a heart and a desire to be uplifted, rather than a customer with a credit card and an inchoate 'need' for 'stuff'."
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