Database trials do not often garner a lot of feedback. Using community-organizing techniques can not only potentially increase the amount of feedback received but also deepen the relationship between the librarian and his or her constituent group. This is a case study of the use of community-organizing techniques in a series of database trials for…

This case study shares the experience of building an in-house faculty publications database that was spearheaded by the Touro College and University System library in 2010. The project began with the intention of contributing to the college by collecting the research accomplishments of our faculty and staff, thereby also increasing library…

This case study describes the planning, implementation, and migration process of Eastern University Library's information literacy digital badge. Prior to implementing a badging program, information literacy sessions were informally embedded in first-year college writing courses as a "one-shot" presentation. Spurred on by accreditation…

In 2013, the Center for Digital Scholarship at Miami University was established and coincided with the redesign of the Children's Picture Book Database, which had a successful web presence for nearly 20 years. We developed the Digital Literacy Partnership (DLP) website project in order to upgrade the project to Omeka as a new digital management…

Big data sets and powerful computing capacity have transformed scholarly inquiry across many disciplines. While the impact of data-intensive research methodologies is perhaps most distinct in the natural and social sciences, the humanities have also benefited from these new analytical tools. While full-text data is necessary to study topics such…

The authors discuss the long-term accumulation of unstandardized and inaccessible content within the Libguides system and the decision-making process to create and implement a set of standards using the migration to the LibGuides2 platform as a vehicle for change. Included in the discussion are strategies for the creation of standards and…

As research data complexity and quantity grows and funding agency requirements for data management are articulated, there is a growing need for data management services (DMS). Within these services, one important role emerging is that of data management consultant (DMC). Roles were analyzed that these professionals play through case study analysis…

A small, private academic library took the risk of moving from a traditional integrated library system to adopting a system "in the cloud." This case study presents the setting, history, and local needs of the library, including staffing challenges, and explains the decision-making rationale and process. A description of the library's transition…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyse the current situation and the social and economic benefits from the consortia acquisitions of electronic resources by the China Academic Library and Information System (CALIS) South China Regional Centre and to recommend improvements for consortia acquisitions. Design/methodology/approach: Analyses…

Collection development librarians have long struggled to meet user demands for new titles. Too often, required resources are not purchased, whereas some purchased resources do not circulate. E-books selected through patron-driven plans are a solution but present new challenges for both selectors and catalogers. Radical changes to traditional…

Like many libraries, Seton Hall University Libraries has suffered budget cuts that forced a reduction in serial subscriptions. As science librarian, I report on my efforts to streamline subscriptions and to address the question "Why are science journals so expensive?" Our science journals are significantly more expensive than journals in…

Differing from those of their liberal arts and Association of Research Libraries counterparts, today's comprehensive universities face a variety of unique challenges and opportunities when it comes to assessing their collections. This article looks at the different needs and interests of comprehensive universities and focuses on the challenges…

Auraria Library purchased Innovative Interfaces, Inc.'s Millennium Electronic Resources Management (ERM) to manage data about acquisitions, licensing, troubleshooting, and usage statistics of electronic resources. After 3 days of implementation, the software vendor enabled resources records to display. As a result, the electronic resources team…

Modern academic libraries have a great number of information resources available online in the form of electronic catalogs, books, journals, and subject subscription databases. To determine whether users can easily retrieve the information they are seeking, academic librarians conduct usability testing of their libraries' Web sites. There has been…

In the past decade, academic libraries have struggled with the design of an effective library home page. Since librarians' mental models of information architecture differ from those of their patrons, usability assessments are necessary in designing a user-centered home page. This study details a usability sequence of card sort and paper and…