Alma in the Cloud: Implementation Through the Eyes of Acquisitions

For the past few years, cloud computing has taken wing, and libraries are embracing this technology. The Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Libraries is one of the libraries that is embracing the cloud by implementing Alma, a cloud-based library management system. This article will provide an overview of the VCU Libraries’s journey from implementation up until “Go Live” through the eyes of the Acquisitions Department. The VCU Libraries was on the verge of buying two new servers to support its operations. After researching available library management systems, Alma was found to be an attractive prospect. Around the same time, the Libraries was looking for a discovery tool, Primo, and felt that Primo and Alma, both Ex Libris products, would be a good fit. After showing a true interest in Alma, VCU received an invitation to upgrade its software as an “early adopter” that was being offered to only 12 North American libraries in 2011. As early adopters, there were many challenges encountered by the Implementation Task Force. The Task Force had to make configuration decisions, attend training sessions, conduct internal training sessions, analyze existing workflows, and review configuration and migrated data. This article will document the Libraries’s journey in the cloud. A discussion of opportunities and challenges are discussed. Readers will learn about processes, cleanup and workflow issues and timetables. Finally, this article will share some lessons learned by different members of the Alma Implementation Task Force

Successful E‐Resource Acquisitions: Looking Beyond Selecting, Ordering, Paying, and Receiving to Discovery and Access

E‐resource acquisitions began as a complex process and libraries struggled to manage it. When e‐resources first arrived, librarians spent considerable time determining how to acquire these resources. A movement ensued to generate the best methods for selecting, ordering, negotiating licenses, choosing content, and paying. Libraries were prompted to develop new workflows. Time has passed and acquisitions functions have mostly been standardized. However, with the acquisition of e‐resources comes the challenges of discovery, access, and user needs. Now that many libraries feel more comfortable in acquiring e‐resources with the help of technology, cloud‐based services, and task coordination, they are moving beyond acquisitions and focusing on discovery and access. It takes much time and great effort to efficiently manage e‐resources so that there is seamless discovery and access. The transition from print to electronic is a continuous process for most libraries as they allocate funds for electronic serials and books. Workflows are being developed that incorporate, not only new technology, but also, new staff skills and knowledge. This paper will introduce new workflows and technologies that VCU libraries have adopted to provide discovery and access. A discussion of how workflows have changed since the implementation of Alma and Primo and the influx of e‐resources is included. Ideas for identifying successful methods for moving e‐resources beyond acquisitions will be shared. Readers will be exposed to a number of ideas for improving the management of e‐resources and opportunities that are available for adding value to their library

Head in the Clouds: Will a Next-Generation Library Management System Bring Clear Vision?

Multiple systems, disconnected workflows, and siloed information have plagued libraries for years. Librarians are tired of wrestling with inefficiencies and are seeking ways to unify their environment. Fortunately, they have discovered an effective tool to combat inefficiencies. Next generation library management systems are a new technology that brings many benefits. With these cloud-based systems a network of remote servers are hosted on the Internet that store, manage and process data rather than on a local server. They can transform the way services are delivered bringing streamlined workflows and enabling increased visibility and accessibility of all resources to the user community. In 2011, Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries decided to look at cloud-based library management systems to replace the legacy system they had for ten years. They were looking for ways to simplify workflows, unify job functions, and improve staff success. After researching a number of systems and finding an attractive prospect, the VCU Libraries was invited to become an Alma “Early Adopter” and successfully implemented Ex Libris’s Alma. As an adopter of the cloud for four years, they are examining their decision. This paper will summarize the Libraries’s journey from “Go Live” in 2012 up until the four year anniversary on October 24, 2016 and share successes, challenges, and downright failures. Readers will learn if the cloud really brought simplified workflows, a connected environment, and staff success

The E-Book Story: The Key to a Happy Ending

This is an exciting and challenging time for libraries. Libraries are incorporating eBooks into their acquisition, discovery and access environment to satisfy the needs of users. Users want convenience, flexibility and functionality. The ecosystem of eBooks involves a chain of events that leads from the publishing house to the user. eBooks provide diversity for users in which they can checkout, download, search, save, print, email and cite content on their electronic devices without leaving the comfort of their easy chair. Opportunities and complexities exist for stakeholders in the eBook ecosystem. Libraries, publishers, content providers and vendors find themselves challenged by such things as budgets, business models, workflows, technology, licensing, metadata, rights and discoverability. Stakeholders depend on each other to collaborate and share information. It is important that every stakeholder have access to essential information in order to make the best decisions for their institutions. What can each stakeholder do to tackle inefficiencies, disseminate information and support services? There is no one-size-fits-all solution that is best for every stakeholder, but there can be solutions that are mutually beneficial to all that will bring positive results and open dialogue in areas like bibliographic and discovery metadata, identifier schemes, and attempts to standardize vocabulary so that cross-industry collaboration can take place. In order to create viable solutions, we have to understand what are the challenges. This paper will give insight to various challenges that stakeholders encounter in efforts to bring discoverability and access to users, along with problem-solving solutions for managing these resources

How Difficult Can It Be? Creating an Integrated Network Among Library Stakeholders to Promote Electronic Access

Tracking electronic access is a major challenge for libraries that cannot be ignored. Vast quantities of electronic resources continue to be acquired, and libraries continue to seek a way to keep up with the evolving electronic resource ecosystem. Libraries are immersed in monitoring electronic resources for access performance, features, functionality, completeness of content, and usage. Publishers, providers, and vendors are immersed in their innovative business models. Users are immersed in their research needs. With these immersion silos, there is a lack of communication between stakeholders that creates an unsustainable ecosystem. Currently, stakeholders are creating piecemeal patches that partially address access problems rather than an integrated effort of the whole community to incorporate interconnected solutions. These patches are not solving the problems. They are focusing on the symptoms, but not treating the cause. Why? The electronic access ecosystem is constantly in a state of flux. The system was simpler in times past. In this digital age, the creation, dissemination, and use of data is dynamic. It is vital to the success of the electronic access ecosystem that there be interplay between all the stakeholders. One stakeholder cannot successfully manage electronic access by itself. There needs to be a concerted effort among all stakeholders for monitoring, identifying, and addressing electronic access issues. These relationships are complex. What’s hindering the communication between stakeholders? What are we doing wrong and how can it be fixed? This problem can’t be fixed overnight, but must be carefully orchestrated. Libraries need to take the lead in the development of integrated networks. This presentation will address some of the networking problems that plague stakeholders and provide suggestions for improved networking integration. Audience participation will be sought for sharing problems and suggestions

Work Study Students at VCU: Quality versus Quantity

VCU Libraries’ student full-time equivalents and budget are lower than its peer institutions in the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries, resulting in a significant lack of funding for student workers. The initial project goals were 1) to identify which steps the VCU Libraries could take to resolve this problem and 2) to investigate if this problem were university-wide in scope. Shortly following this determination, the president’s office VCU Update #10 proposed a “substantial increase in funding for student financial aid” and a university-wide survey on work-study was initiated by the VCU Career Center and distributed by the provost to university employers. The team goals were adjusted to 1) investigate the student’s perspective in obtaining work and the employment experience at VCU and 2) query both students and employers on how to improve the hiring process. Using a questionnaire to survey work-study employers along with experienced and prospective work-study students, the team collected both quantitative and qualitative data to be used by the university

Phase B: Community Outreach

Initial goal: to collect data to facilitate the 20 I 0 G EH LI class in determining the degree of success of the eight community outreach projects in preparation for Phase 2 of team projects. Evolving goal: to present an evaluation of the GEHLI project process and its possible effect on the success of the institute

Toward a Surrogate Marker of Malaria Exposure: Modeling Longitudinal Antibody Measurements under Outbreak Conditions

Background: Biomarkers of exposure to Plasmodium falciparum would be a useful tool for the assessment of malaria burden and analysis of intervention and epidemiological studies. Antibodies to pre-erythrocytic antigens represent potential surrogates of exposure. Methods and Findings: In an outbreak cohort of U.S. Marines deployed to Liberia, we modeled pre- and post-deployment IgG against P. falciparum sporozoites by immunofluorescence antibody test, and both IgG and IgM against the P. falciparum circumsporozoite protein by enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay. Modeling seroconversion thresholds by a fixed ratio, linear regression or nonlinear regression produced sensitivity for identification of exposed U.S. Marines between 58-70% and specificities between 87-97%, compared with malaria-naïve U.S. volunteers. Exposure was predicted in 30-45% of the cohort. Conclusion: Each of the three models tested has merits in different studies, but further development and validation in endemic populations is required. Overall, these models provide support for an antibody-based surrogate marker of exposure to malaria