Using Research for Strategic Priorities & Innovation

The academic community has many ways to engage in the information environment, making academic resources in both physical and digital formats only one option among many. Institutionally provided resources, such as those provided by libraries, often are not the academic community’s first choices. They often choose the more convenient, easier-to-use, open access sources. In order to create a library environment centered on user needs and habits, and to provide services and systems of value, it is necessary to identify how, why, and under what circumstances individuals use the various available systems and services. Get the results of some great research and learn how it was used for brainstorming, discussion, prioritization, and planning

Public Libraries Respond to the Opioid Crisis in Collaboration with Their Communities: An Introduction

The nation is experiencing an opioid epidemic. As communities across the country feel the epidemic’s impact, public health and human service organizations are implementing responses that include healthcare, education, law enforcement and the judicial system, emergency services, drug and addiction counseling, and community services. Public libraries around the country are choosing to be part of this response. With funding from a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, OCLC and the Public Library Association will identify, synthesize, and share knowledge and resources that will help public libraries and their community partners develop effective strategies and community-driven coalitions that work together to address the opioid epidemic in America. This project is called, “Public Libraries Respond to the Opioid Crisis with Their Communities.” This article is the first of two about the project and it focuses on the issues and preliminary themes surfacing in interviews with library staff and the partners. A second article will focus on the data analysis and overall findings

Service sea change: clicking with screenagers through virtual reference

Web-based reference services such as synchronous, (chat reference or \u27Ask-a-Librarian\u27 services) and asynchronous (email) virtual reference services (VRS) have become common features of academic library home pages. In the current economic and technological environment, evaluation to determine the sustainability of VRS is crucial. An international research project, funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, and OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc., investigates factors that influence the selection and use of synchronous VRS. This study, one of the first large-scale VRS studies to include both users and non-users of the Millennial Generation, innovatively addresses issues concerning the evaluation, sustainability, and relevance of VRS for academic libraries by soliciting screenagers\u27 perceptions. Three focus group interviews were conducted with "screenagers" - twelve to eighteen year-old non-users of VRS. These potential future academic library users are comfortable in a virtual environment, use instant messaging (IM) for socializing and collaborative homework yet perceive VRS differently than these other virtual encounters. The results of these focus group interviews provide new insights to why screenagers choose not to use VRS and what would make them try VRS. The study identifies ways to increase the visibility and use of VRS, and to improve service, which could help secure funding allocations, and the growth and improvement of services. These results can influence the development of academic library services and systems for the Millennial Generation

Seeking Synchronicity: Revelations and Recommendations for Virtual Reference

A new membership report from OCLC Research, in partnership with Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, Seeking Synchronicity distills more than five years of virtual reference (VR) research into a readable summary that features memorable quotes that vividly illustrate very specific and actionable suggestions. Taken from a multi-phase research project that included focus group interviews, surveys, transcript analysis, and phone interviews, with VR librarians, users, and non-users, these findings are meant to help practitioners develop and sustain VR services and systems. The report asserts that the "R" in "VR" needs to emphasize virtual "Relationships" as well as "Reference".Among the topics addressed are:The exaggerated death of ready referenceThe importance of query clarification in VRWays to boost accuracy and build better interpersonal relationships in VRWhat can be learned from VR transcriptsHow convenience is the "hook" that draws users into VR servicesGenerational differences in how people perceive reference interactions and determine successThe need for more and better marketingThe report is based on a multi-year study funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS); Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey; and OCLC. A rich resource for further exploration of this important topic, it includes valuable statistics, lists of references, additional readings, and specific recommendations for what libraries and librarians can do to move VR forward in local environments.Today's students, scholars and citizens are not just looking to libraries for answers to specific questions—they want partners and guides in a life long information-seeking journey. By transforming VR services into relationship-building opportunities, libraries can leverage the positive feelings people have for libraries in a crowded online space where the biggest players often don't have the unique experience and specific strengths that librarians offer

Use of circulation statistics and interlibrary loan data in collection management

The authors analyzed the holdings, circulations, and interlibrary loan (ILL) borrowing requests of the English-language monograph collection at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Data for each area were mapped to conspectus subject areas, using Library of Congress Classifications, and then compared. The resulting data and subject distributions were analyzed by overall holdings, transactions per item, percentage of collection circulated, and a ratio of ILL holdings to requests. The method of analysis used in this study could be fruitfully applied to other research collections to assist with remote storage, preservation, and collection development decisions

Public Libraries Respond to the Opioid Crisis with Their Communities: Research Findings

The nation is experiencing an ongoing opioid epidemic, and communities across the country are feeling the epidemic’s impact. Public health and human service organizations, professional associations, and nonprofits continue to implement responses to stem the rising overdose deaths; public libraries, too, are a part of this response. This article is the follow-up to Public Libraries Respond to the Opioid Crisis in Collaboration with Their Communities: An Introduction (Collaborative Librarianship, volume 11, Issue 1, 2019), and identifies, synthesizes, and shares knowledge and resources that will help public libraries and their community partners develop effective strategies to work together to address the opioid epidemic in America. Eight public libraries and their respective community partners participated in this research study, which is based on interviews with library staff, library board members, staff at community partner organizations, and members of the community. This article highlights the findings from the eight case study sites selected to participate in this research and provides an overview of the partnerships formed and the resources and programming developed to meet community needs

"Libraries model sustainability": The results of an OCLC survey on library contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals

Ce document constitue un modèle de durabilité en bibliothèque. OCLC a mené une enquête auprès de 1700 employés de bibliothèques dans le monde entier pour déterminer comment les bibliothèques contribuent à cinq des objectifs de développement durable des Nations Unies. Dans cet article, du Journal de l’IFLA, nous découvrons des résultats détaillés, montrant que les bibliothèques non seulement mettent en œuvre elles-mêmes des pratiques de durabilité, mais promeuvent également activement un comportement durable parmi leurs utilisateurs

“People Need a Strategy:” Exploring Attitudes of and Support Roles for Scholarly Identity Work Among Academic Librarians

Exploring Attitudes of and Support Roles for … This study explores this challenge by investigating academic librarian practice and potential support for SI management and addresses the following research questions: RQ 1. What, if any, practices do...“People Need a Strategy:

Where Does Originality End and Plagiarism Start? Discussing Plagiarism in Information Science

This paper describes a session for interaction and engagement to be held at iConference2014. The session for interaction and engagement focuses on researchers at iSchools and as such is an intellectual follow-up to the systematic check of all iConference2014 paper submissions in a copying detection system. The session offers a platform for discussing whether the use of such a system is justified for a conference that attracts submissions from highly respected researchers. Panel members and the audience will discuss the amount of text a researcher is allowed to reuse and when a submission would no longer be considered to be original and starts to be considered self-plagiarism. Parts of the discussion will center on the question of whether information science researchers can actually avoid repeating the same words when today they have to publish results from research projects in as many publications as possible.publishedye