It is difficult for libraries to keep track of resource accessibility when libraries often subscribe to thousands of resources. One means for recording a resource's accessibility is the Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT). Completed by the product vendor, a VPAT documents whether the resource does or does not support accessibility over…

Promoting an institutional repository (IR) to both faculty and end-users can be challenging. We surveyed academic libraries with an IR in Texas, and asked both library administrators and IR managers about their efforts to promote and grow their IR in both size and downloads. In addition, we studied the websites of Association of Research Libraries…

This exploratory piece is intended to set the stage for an ongoing conversation about Open Educational Resources (OER). The current OER landscape has hundreds of repositories and thousands of curated guides and lists for finding OER--few of which "talk" to each other behind the scenes, resulting in separate and often redundant resources…

Digitization and preservation of natural resource documents were reviewed and the current status of digitization presented for a North American university. It is important to present the status of the digitation process for natural resources and to advocate for increased collections of digital material for ease of reference and exchange of…

The purpose of this article is to examine the way community depositors can utilize Facebook to promote increased interaction with their archived language collections. The Facebook groups we are observing are run by individuals who have deposited language materials with the University of North Texas' Computational Resource for South Asian Languages…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate how participating in a multicultural education course impacted bilingual preservice teachers' (BPSTs) conceptions of identity and how they were able to use their experiential knowledge to create a virtual library based on a variety of topics related to multicultural education.…

This study analyzed digital item metadata and keywords from Internet search engines to learn what metadata elements actually facilitate discovery of digital collections through Internet keyword searching and how significantly each metadata element affects the discovery of items in a digital repository. The study found that keywords from Internet…

Three years ago, when K-12 schools started thinking seriously about creating digital libraries, the Mesquite Independent School District (TX) bought several Sony eReaders, loaded them with books, and circulated them to students. This initial attempt was not a rousing success. After the Mesquite ISD pulled the plug on its disastrous e-reader…

Smartphone users expect the presentation of Web sites on their mobile browsers to look and feel like native applications. With the pressure on library Web developers to produce app-like mobile sites, there is often a rush to get a site up without considering the importance of reusing or even restructuring the data driving the Web sites. An…

In 2010, after two previous unsuccessful attempts at electronic resources management system (ERMS) implementation, Texas A&M University (TAMU) Libraries set out once again to find an ERMS that would fit its needs. After surveying the field, TAMU Libraries selected the University of Notre Dame Hesburgh Libraries-developed, open-source ERMS,…

Far from being dusty old relics who are guardians of the book, embedded librarians need to be proactively leading students through the digital maze of the virtual library. Working with students more than 7,000 miles away changed perceptions of how to teach and learn, and how people interact online. We will share how as embedded librarians we…

During the spring of 2010, the University of Houston Libraries Digital Services Department began an initiative to promote existing and upcoming collections in the University of Houston Digital Library and drive traffic to the online repository. Spurred by an OCLC report (De Rosa et al. 2005) that only two percent of college and university students…

University of North Texas (UNT) Libraries began studying the library needs of distance learners in 2009 using a variety of approaches to explore and confirm these needs as well as obtain input into how to meet them. Approaches used to date include analysis of both quantitative and qualitative responses by online students to the LibQUAL+[R] surveys…

Introduction: Star and Bowker describe the residual as what does not fit into a category system and as an inevitable byproduct of classification. In this project, we explore what happens when we attempt to give prominence to the residual instead of minimizing it. Methods: The three authors created three "transformations" of a small…

As primary source materials in the library are digitized and made available online, the focus of related library services is shifting to include new and innovative methods of digital delivery via social media, digital storytelling, and community-based and consortial image repositories. Most images on the Web are not of sufficient quality for most…