Many research libraries are looking for new ways to demonstrate value for their parent institutions. Metrics, assessment, and promotion of research continue to grow in importance, but they have not always fallen into the scope of services for the research library. Montana State University (MSU) Library recognized a need and interest to quantify…

This dissertation analyzes how North Carolina State University's (NCSU) James B. Hunt Jr. Library extends the ways in which the information architectures of academic research libraries can function as a technology, as discourse, and as rhetoric. The starting point for the analysis is the libraries of antiquity, which functioned technologically as…

The Michigan State University (MSU) Libraries' Website has a case of TMI: too much information organized by librarians for librarians. Finding relevant information about various library services, including the 24/7 Distance Learning Support Line, and access points to scholarly resources is often cumbersome, and given the limited time and staffing…

The long-term future of the scholarly record in its fullest expression cannot be effectively secured with stewardship strategies designed for print materials. The features of the evolving scholarly record suggest that traditional stewardship strategies, built on an "invisible hand" approach that relies on the uncoordinated,…

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…

Backups are a modern fact of life. Every organization that has any kind of computing technology (and that is all of them these days) needs to back up its data in case of technological or user errors. Traditionally, large-scale backups have been done via an internal or external tape drive that takes magnetic tapes (minicassettes, essentially) and…

In September 2008, the Albert S. Cook Library at Towson University implemented an intranet to support the various functions of the library's Reference Department. This intranet is called the RefPortal. After exploring open source options and other Web 2.0 tools, the department (under the guidance of the library technology coordinator) chose…

As libraries face a veritable explosion of electronic resources and as the interconnectedness of print and online resources becomes increasingly complicated, many librarians are challenged to find efficient and cost-friendly ways to manage these resources. In this article, the authors describe how a team of people from various library departments…

The Digital Initiatives department at Miami University, like most digital initiatives and special collections departments, has a large number of rich digital image collections, stored primarily in a third-party database. Typically, these databases are not findable to the average Web user. From a desire to expose these collections to the wider Web…

In October 2009, California Digital Library (CDL), where the author serves as manager of strategic and project planning, jumped into the world of social networking by joining Twitter. From Twitter, the CDL staff publish the content of their monthly newsletter, "CDLINFO News," and also additional content created by CDL programs and…

Library intranets require flexibility and efficiency and enhance the internal communication and collaborative nature of creating and organizing the institution's information. At the University of Houston Libraries, the focus was on public services, so little attention was given to the intranet--the tool every department relied on for quick access…

The days of top-down communication and controlled internal messages at a library organization are--or should be--behind us. Modern libraries must be fluid and flexible organizations with equally nimble internal communication infrastructures in place to keep up with the fast-paced environments that have been created in these organizations. As is…

iTunes University is a free service offered by Apple iTunes to educational institutions. It serves as a platform for the management and distribution of educational, instructional, and informational resources through both audio and video podcasts. Participation in the service among colleges and universities continues to grow since its official…

Planning is necessary in selecting the appropriate digital asset management system for your institution. Key issues one should consider in planning: the objects to be stored, where they come from, and how they will be accessed; the end users; and the needed staffing levels for system maintenance. During the development of the system requirements,…

The University of Maryland University College (UMUC) serves a dispersed patron base, and its library has developed, over time, a circulation system for distributing physical research materials to its patrons throughout the United States. This article discusses the development of this system and its associated interface/database management system…