Library a la Carte: open source software for library research guides

This paper was submitted and accepted for presentation at INTED2012 (6th International Technology, Education and Development Conference) held March 5-7 in Valencia, Spain.The core mission of university libraries is to provide access to books, journals, data and primary sources to enhance and enable research and education. Because students are accustomed to gathering information using commercial search engines, they can overlook high-quality library resources. To connect with student researchers when they need library resources, many libraries have built online research guides tied to specific subjects and courses. These guides can address specific assignments where research is required, and course instructors can point students to the guides to assist them in completing their research assignments successfully. In 2006, Oregon State University (OSU) Libraries developed an open source software product called Library à la Carte that librarians can use to construct research guides easily and quickly. The code was made available to other libraries, and a number of institutions have adopted the tool. A successful user community has grown up around Library à la Carte, but development up to this point has been the sole responsibility of OSU Libraries. We are now embarking on building a robust developer community, to contribute code, to build additional features and to take Library à la Carte into the future. As part of our plan to move forward, we are testing a hosted (cloud-based) version of the software. This paper introduces Library à la Carte, presents what was learned from the test and discusses moving forward with building a developer community. In addition, we touch on the benefits and challenges of building and sustaining an open source product from the ground up.Keywords: open source software, library guides, libraries, cloud computin

Academic library staff and e-readers: understanding adoption, rejection, and service development

In August 2011, a cohort of 30 Oregon State University Libraries and Press librarians and staff received free e-readers (Kindle Keyboards, Nook Simple Touches, Kobo Touches, and Sony PRS-350 Reader Pocket Editions) to use and adopt as they wished. In return, they were asked to participate in a year-long study exploring factors influencing their decisions to embrace or reject the e-readers. By removing barriers to trialing e-readers, investigators sought to: 1) understand the difficulties and hurdles encountered when adopting and using an e-reader; 2) explore factors that influenced library faculty and press staff to embrace or reject e-reader technology; and 3) learn if the experience of trialing e-readers would lead to enhanced services. The investigators used Everett M. Rogers’ innovation-decision process as a theoretical framework to analyze participants’ e-reader adoption. Key findings confirm that trialing new technology is crucial to determining if the technology fits an individual’s needs and is necessary to inform the development of library services and professional knowledge.Keywords: innovation-decision process, adoption, rejection, e-reader

In the Middle of Difficulty Lies Opportunity

Message from the last LITA President.&nbsp

WeinraubLibraryLibraryalaCarte.pdf

The core mission of university libraries is to provide access to books, journals, data and primary sources to enhance and enable research and education. Because students are accustomed to gathering information using commercial search engines, they can overlook high-quality library resources. To connect with student researchers when they need library resources, many libraries have built online research guides tied to specific subjects and courses. These guides can address specific assignments where research is required, and course instructors can point students to the guides to assist them in completing their research assignments successfully. In 2006, Oregon State University (OSU) Libraries developed an open source software product called Library à la Carte that librarians can use to construct research guides easily and quickly. The code was made available to other libraries, and a number of institutions have adopted the tool. A successful user community has grown up around Library à la Carte, but development up to this point has been the sole responsibility of OSU Libraries. We are now embarking on building a robust developer community, to contribute code, to build additional features and to take Library à la Carte into the future. As part of our plan to move forward, we are testing a hosted (cloud-based) version of the software. This paper introduces Library à la Carte, presents what was learned from the test and discusses moving forward with building a developer community. In addition, we touch on the benefits and challenges of building and sustaining an open source product from the ground up

INTED_2012_À_LA_CARTE[2].pdf

The core mission of university libraries is to provide access to books, journals, data and primary sources to enhance and enable research and education. Because students are accustomed to gathering information using commercial search engines, they can overlook high-quality library resources. To connect with student researchers when they need library resources, many libraries have built online research guides tied to specific subjects and courses. These guides can address specific assignments where research is required, and course instructors can point students to the guides to assist them in completing their research assignments successfully. In 2006, Oregon State University (OSU) Libraries developed an open source software product called Library à la Carte that librarians can use to construct research guides easily and quickly. The code was made available to other libraries, and a number of institutions have adopted the tool. A successful user community has grown up around Library à la Carte, but development up to this point has been the sole responsibility of OSU Libraries. We are now embarking on building a robust developer community, to contribute code, to build additional features and to take Library à la Carte into the future. As part of our plan to move forward, we are testing a hosted (cloud-based) version of the software. This paper introduces Library à la Carte, presents what was learned from the test and discusses moving forward with building a developer community. In addition, we touch on the benefits and challenges of building and sustaining an open source product from the ground up

2012-02-28_1658[1].swf

The core mission of university libraries is to provide access to books, journals, data and primary sources to enhance and enable research and education. Because students are accustomed to gathering information using commercial search engines, they can overlook high-quality library resources. To connect with student researchers when they need library resources, many libraries have built online research guides tied to specific subjects and courses. These guides can address specific assignments where research is required, and course instructors can point students to the guides to assist them in completing their research assignments successfully. In 2006, Oregon State University (OSU) Libraries developed an open source software product called Library à la Carte that librarians can use to construct research guides easily and quickly. The code was made available to other libraries, and a number of institutions have adopted the tool. A successful user community has grown up around Library à la Carte, but development up to this point has been the sole responsibility of OSU Libraries. We are now embarking on building a robust developer community, to contribute code, to build additional features and to take Library à la Carte into the future. As part of our plan to move forward, we are testing a hosted (cloud-based) version of the software. This paper introduces Library à la Carte, presents what was learned from the test and discusses moving forward with building a developer community. In addition, we touch on the benefits and challenges of building and sustaining an open source product from the ground up

INTED_2012_À_LA_CARTE[2].pptx

The core mission of university libraries is to provide access to books, journals, data and primary sources to enhance and enable research and education. Because students are accustomed to gathering information using commercial search engines, they can overlook high-quality library resources. To connect with student researchers when they need library resources, many libraries have built online research guides tied to specific subjects and courses. These guides can address specific assignments where research is required, and course instructors can point students to the guides to assist them in completing their research assignments successfully. In 2006, Oregon State University (OSU) Libraries developed an open source software product called Library à la Carte that librarians can use to construct research guides easily and quickly. The code was made available to other libraries, and a number of institutions have adopted the tool. A successful user community has grown up around Library à la Carte, but development up to this point has been the sole responsibility of OSU Libraries. We are now embarking on building a robust developer community, to contribute code, to build additional features and to take Library à la Carte into the future. As part of our plan to move forward, we are testing a hosted (cloud-based) version of the software. This paper introduces Library à la Carte, presents what was learned from the test and discusses moving forward with building a developer community. In addition, we touch on the benefits and challenges of building and sustaining an open source product from the ground up

Do We Have A Winner? Personal eReader Showdown

Presentation at Online Northwest, February 10, 2012, Corvallis, Oregon.As part of a year-long study of personal eReader adoption, we gave eReaders (Kobo, Kindle, Nook, Sony) to 30 OSU Libraries staff members and checked back one month later. What did they do with their new eReaders? What were they reading (or not)? Where did problems occur? Get answers to these questions and more as we discuss the initial study results and find out which readers are nearing adoption, being rooted or getting left behind.Keywords: Diffusion of Innovations, academic press staff, eReaders, librarian

Using Open Source Tools to Create a Mobile Optimized, Crowdsourced Translation Tool

In late 2012, OSU Libraries and Press partnered with Maria's Libraries, an NGO in Rural Kenya, to provide users the ability to crowdsource translations of folk tales and existing children's books into a variety of African languages, sub-languages, and dialects. Together, these two organizations have been creating a mobile optimized platform using open source libraries such as Wink Toolkit (a library which provides mobile-friendly interaction from a website) and Globalize3 to allow for multiple translations of database entries in a Ruby on Rails application. Research regarding successes of similar tools has been utilized in providing a consistent user interface. The OSU Libraries & Press team delivered a proof-of-concept tool that has the opportunity to promote technology exploration, improve early childhood literacy, change the way we approach foreign language learning, and to provide opportunities for cost-effective, multi-language publishing