Including External Repositories in the Discovery Experience: Librarian Perspectives and Trends

The transition to a more unified discovery environment that encompasses both traditional library catalog content along with articles, streaming media, institutional repository content, and other additional resources, has resulted in changes to the management of library resources and the research experience. A survey was conducted to assess librarian’s and library personnel’s attitude toward and experience with the inclusion of this additional content in their discovery tools’ search results, as well as to learn what content is being searched and who is involved in maintaining these systems. Respondents generally reported being satisfied with the discoverability of these additional resources in their discovery tools and that this shift has had a positive impact on the research experience

Building Cathedrals: Mission Statements in Academic Libraries

Articulating an organization’s mission using a mission statement is a common method of communicating purpose, attitude, and priorities with stakeholders. While mission statements have been widely studied and written about in business literature, mission statements in libraries have not been studied as deeply. A survey of Association of Research Libraries library directors was conducted in 2014 to determine the current state of academic library mission statements, how they are being created, how they are informing the work of the library, and library directors’ satisfaction with their library’s mission statement

What does innovation look like? System statuses in discovery

Is Facebook down trended on Google, October 4, 2021, when Facebook became temporarily globally unavailable. Web-users proactively seek information when they encounter issues online. System statuses are one way libraries can leverage this behavior to share changes to resources or services and improve transparency, reference, and the user experience

Out of the Basement: Partnering to Enhance the Discovery and Use of Graphic Novels

This paper presents a project designed to promote and increase the use of graphic novels, previously a seldom utilized collection, at the University at Albany Libraries. Several units in the Libraries collaborated to add additional graphic novels to the collection, augment bibliographic records with genre headings to enhance discovery, and promote this collection in the University Libraries and online. The Libraries used a variety of marketing techniques, including social media. Circulation statistics were recorded before, during, and after the promotional activities. This collaboration not only resulted in an increase in circulation activity for these titles while they were on display and after they were returned to the stacks, but generated other benefits as well

Public Library Collaborative Collection Development for Print Resources

This paper will explore collaborative collection development in public libraries for print monographs. It will present an argument for collaborative collection development (CCD) programs, and describe successful existing CCD programs. It will also explain how these programs can be used as a model for a CCD project involving public libraries in the Capital District of upstate New York utilizing the existing services provided by the Capital District Library Council (CDLC)

From Stacks to Screens: Creating a Virtual Browsing Experience

The University at Albany Libraries has integrated visually compelling, subject-based Curated Collections into its discovery tool, Primo VE. These collections encompass resources on specific subjects, that highlight authors or groups, celebrate a genre, or that bring together a variety of resources to address campus initiatives, current events, or popular research topics. Curated Collections is an opportunity for the Libraries\u27 to highlight what is special, new, trending, important, or underappreciated in our collections. We propose this project as a virtual browsing model to fuel intellectual curiosity, and seek to explore similar initiatives at attendees’ libraries

System Statuses in Academic Libraries: Increasing Transparency and Improving the User Experience

is facebook down trended on Google on October 4, 2021, when Facebook became temporarily globally unavailable. Web users proactively seek information when they encounter issues online. System status dashboards are one way libraries can leverage this behavior to share changes to resources or services and improve transparency, reference services, and the user experience. The University at Albany Libraries Discovery Services Librarian and User Experience Librarian implemented Springshare’s System Status Management tool to share system statuses with library staff and the campus community. The institutional context, implementation, and impact are described in this article. The authors reviewed Association of Research Libraries members’ library websites to investigate if and how system statuses are being used to communicate with patrons. Results indicate that the majority of libraries reviewed do not employ a dedicated system status dashboard to share information with their constituents, but may use other types of alerts instead

Electronic Resources Simplexity

The current environment for electronic resource management, discovery, and access is a very complex system on the back end, with the goal of having a simple experience for users on the front end. One way to understand the ER environment is to look back to the beginnings and build the system from the ground up. The presenters will build an electronic resource environment from the basic components, simplifying the complexity, so that participants can better understand the relationship between the library services platform and integrated discovery system, and its implications for our researchers’ discovery experience

Go Team! Using Teams to Manage Electronic Resources

The increasing prevalence of electronic journals in library collections has impacted many aspects of library operations. Libraries have had to rethink workflows, processes, staffing needs, and other factors to account for the differences between print and online journals. The management of electronic journals can often cross departmental boundaries and bring into question current workflow. To address the changing landscape of electronic journal management, the University at Albany University Libraries developed two teams: one to implement batchloading electronic journal records and a second to address ongoing management and related policies. As a result of using a team approach for these responsibilities, the University Libraries was able to streamline processes, reduce duplication of effort across departments, coordinate policies and procedures, improve communication, and develop best practices