Using a Portfolio Platform as a Tool to Engage: A Case Study of Nanyang Technological University School of Art, Design and Media

Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Libraries and the School of Art Design and Media (ADM) have recently embarked on a project to develop a school-wide portfolio platform – ADM Portfolios. Using an open-source platform, WordPress, the project aims to further engage the NTU-ADM community by collecting, curating, sharing and promoting the creative works of ADM students and alumni. Playing the dual roles of a consultant and a project manager, NTU Libraries work closely with the different ADM stakeholders, which includes the school’s top management, Office of Technical Operations, Offices of Publicity & Alumni, ADM Alumni Association (ADMAA), ADM Student Club and industry partners. This poster showcases the key components of the platform, the initiatives introduced to engage the ADM community, and the crucial roles that NTU Libraries has played in the project

Altmetrics is an Indication of Quality Research or Just HOT Topics

With the widespread use of social media tools in the discovery, dissemination and discussion of research output, altmetric measurements are fast gaining popularity and they supplement the traditional research metrics by tracking the number of social mentions of research articles. In recent years, there a few such tools and they adopt different models and have different coverage. Publishers such as Scopus and PLoS have already incorporated altmetrics in their websites. This paper seeks to make sense of these available tools and evaluate their effectiveness. Do they identify quality research or just HOT topics? This paper also analyses most cited papers from 18 different subject categories in Web of Science (WOS) and compares the results with an altmetrics database to find out the correlation between these 2 sets of data. This paper ends by highlighting how users could leverage altmetrics effectively to disseminate their works to a wider audience

The survey on mobile library services in Hong Kong and Singapore academic libraries

The captioned survey wasco-organized by libraries of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, The City University of Hong Kong, Nanyang Technological University and The University of Hong Kong in October 2011. The primary objectives of this survey are: 1. To identify the needs and preferences of students with regard to mobile library services; and 2. To recommend a suite of pertinent mobile library services for students. In this survey, the mobile library services are referring to library online contents and resources, which can be delivered and accommodated for display in mobile devices. We hope that the results and responses to this survey will be useful to participating libraries in order to plan and deliver pertinent mobile library services. Thank you to colleagues fromthe participatinglibraries who contributed and helped with this important survey. Last but not least, we would like to express our gratitude to Annie Talve and Monica Redden, our facilitators of Next Gen /Next Decade 2011–the Staff development programme for university librarians in Hong Kong, Singapore and Shanghai. This project could not have happened without Annie and Monica’s inspirations and encouragementto bring four academic libraries from two cities to work together on this survey

Fostering a Sticky Relationship: A Case Study from Nanyang Technological University

In their book Attention Economy: Understanding the New Currency of Business (Davenport and Beck, 2001) published in 2001, Professors Davenport and Beck focus on what they see as one of the most pressing concerns for the business world, the increasing difficulty in getting the attention of the consumer. At the beginning of the twenty-first century ‘capital, labor, information and knowledge are in plentiful supply…what’s in short supply is human attention’ (p.2). The reason for this ‘attention deficit’ (p.2) is a surfeit of information, such that humans, who have limitations in their ability to process information, have developed the skill of filtering out less relevant information and devoting attention to things most important to their survival. The key to business success therefore, for Davenport and Beck, is attention. Attention has become like a monetary instrument, ‘those who don’t have it want it. Even those that have it want more’ (p.2). This is what Davenport and Beck call the ‘Attention Economy’. To compete in the Attention Economy, a company must be good at getting and retaining attention. This ability to gain and retain attention is what Davenport and Beck call the ‘molasses principle’ of ‘stickiness’. Using as an example, the effectiveness of websites for electronic commerce (e-commerce), they assert that the success of a ‘sticky’ site is that it ‘lures web surfers, holds them and keeps them coming back for more’. To obtain stickiness, Davenport and Beck identify four essential factors; Relevance, Engagement, Community and Convenience, these four form what Davenport and Beck call the ‘Sticky Qua Non’ (Davenport & Beck 2001, p.115). It is the application of these four factors that is the key to success in the Attention Economy. Since the publication of Attention Economy there has been exponential growth in the amount of information produced and available especially online. If as Davenport and Beck cite, ‘a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention’ (Davenport & Beck 2001, p.9), this is even more so in 2012 than in 2001. Although they are not businesses, academic libraries face the same need as companies to gain and retain the attention of the community they exist to serve. The online revolution has made a plethora of information so available and accessible that students and faculty do not always see the benefits of using the library’s resources and services vis-à-vis those of other information providers. Thus, the central role of the library to learning and research in universities is sometimes challenged such that the library has to learn to compete to gain the attention of its intended users

BAGAN MURAL PROJECT – BUILDING A ROBUST DIGITAL LIBRARY ON WORDPRESS

With the advent of powerful computing devices, ubiquitous connectivity and affordable gadgets, a large amount of research data is produced every day. In the Bagan Mural project, a history professor had taken many photographs of the mural paintings in the temples of Bagan in the course of her field trips. These photographs are simply stored in her computer folders and are therefore not easily searchable or shareable. Ideally, these photographs should be made available online and come with descriptions to provide users with a perspective on the meaning behind the murals. Over one year, NTU librarians collaborated with the professor to design and implement a low cost solution to archive, organise, and search the photographs. Equally important, it will enable and promote access to this repository of photographs which may otherwise remain under-utilised. Leveraging on the internally hosted WordPress platform, the team encouraged user participation by integrating a number of social media tools. Now, the content is more easily shared and retrieved and user contribution is supported, leading to increased use of the site materials. The project suggests that: 1) WordPress is a suitable platform for storing digital content. This would lower the barriers for librarians who are keen to offer digital content management services but are deterred by the complexity of elaborate content management systems. 2) There should be adequate communication between the librarians and the faculty member involved so that a storage platform fully customized to his needs can be created. 3) In providing an alternative to traditional content management systems, it is important that the social media tools do not distract users from the main content but add value to the user experience

Bagan Mural project : building a robust digital library on Wordpress

With the advent of powerful computing devices, ubiquitous connectivity and affordable gadgets, a large amount of research data is produced every day. In the Bagan Mural project, a history professor had taken many photographs of the mural paintings in the temples of Bagan in the course of her field trips. These photographs are simply stored in her computer folders and are therefore not easily searchable or shareable. Ideally, these photographs should be made available online and come with descriptions to provide users with a perspective on the meaning behind the murals. Over one year, NTU librarians collaborated with the professor to design and implement a low cost solution to archive, organise, and search the photographs. Equally important, it will enable and promote access to this repository of photographs which may otherwise remain under-utilised. Leveraging on the internally hosted WordPress platform, the team encouraged user participation by integrating a number of social media tools. Now, the content is more easily shared and retrieved and user contribution is supported, leading to increased use of the site materials. The project suggests that: 1) WordPress is a suitable platform for storing digital content. This would lower the barriers for librarians who are keen to offer digital content management services but are deterred by the complexity of elaborate content management systems. 2) There should be adequate communication between the librarians and the faculty member involved so that a storage platform fully customized to his needs can be created. 3) In providing an alternative to traditional content management systems, it is important that the social media tools do not distract users from the main content but add value to the user experience.Accepted versio

Altmetrics is an indication of quality research or just HOT Topic

With the widespread use of social media tools in the discovery, dissemination and discussion of research output, altmetric measurements are fast gaining popularity and they supplement the traditional research metrics by tracking the number of social mentions of research articles. In recent years, there a few such tools and they adopt different models and have different coverage. Publishers such as Scopus and PLoS have already incorporated altmetrics in their websites. This paper seeks to make sense of these available tools and evaluate their effectiveness. Do they identify quality research or just HOT topics? This paper also analyses most cited papers from 18 different subject categories in Web of Science (WOS) and compares the results with an altmetrics database to find out the correlation between these 2 sets of data. This paper ends by highlighting how users could leverage altmetrics effectively to disseminate their works to a wider audience.Published versio

A vision for a knowledge society and learning nation : the role of a National Library System

This paper reflects on the evolution of a knowledge society--a key ingredient of economic competitiveness. More specifically, it reviews the relevant literature on the subject in order to perform a grounded theory case analysis on the policies of the National Library System (NLS) in Singapore. The research methodology comprises three stages--formulating a model for communal knowledge sharing, an environmental scan of news and policy releases about the national library, and in-depth interviews with senior library professionals about the impact of national libraries. The findings of the field study indicate that most information and knowledge professionals depend on an effective NLS to promote learning and knowledge sharing by cultivating social and relational capital as well as the well-understood structural repositories. The article concludes that effective policies inexorably lead to a culture for learning and development.Published versio