American Association for the Advancement of Science Pacific Division Conference: Panel Presentation Questions

Questions asked of the panel regarding scholarly communication, open access publishing, copyright and intellectual property

Getting Down to Business: Library Staff Training

Develops a model for a library staff training program for business reference. The program identifies core business reference competencies for library staff and uses performance measure standards to meet Reference and User Services Association guidelines. Provides a training program that offers insight into the information-seeking habits of business students, general knowledge of the business discipline and assistance in identifying appropriate library resources. Covers all aspects of establishing a training program including planning, implementation and assessment. Effective training programs covering business and other disciplines provide library staff with an opportunity for professional development and give the library an avenue to improve the quality of reference assistance

Benchmarking Usage Statistics in Collection Management Decisions for Serials

Starting in 2007, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Libraries began a collection assessment project to examine the usage of library resources and analyze user behavior of library patrons. To complete the project, a collection assessment committee was organized, and a subgroup of the committee was selected to gather and analyze data including usage statistics, collection specific information, and other data as needed. Once the data had been gathered and analyzed, the collection management department began using the statistics in decision making and changed the collection development policy for electronic resources to incorporate benchmarking of usage statistics

Collection Assessment of Monograph Purchases at the University Of Nevada, Las Vegas Libraries

The purpose of this article is to describe an assessment project of the monograph collection at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Lied Library. The circulation statistics and in-house use of all monographs for the nine colleges at UNLV were assessed analyzing the last five years of data. The analysis included an assessment of the circulation statistics and in-house use of books purchased on an approval plan compared with books purchased by individual liaison librarians. The findings illustrated the fact that overall use of the monograph collection has declined over the past five years. The findings also showed that books purchased on an approval plan had slightly higher use than the books purchased by individual liaisons. The study shows that academic libraries need to monitor usage of the monograph collection to be certain that money is spent in the most efficient manner and that usage data can be helpful if there is a need to reduce budget allocations for monographs or if a reallocation of funds for monographs is necessary

Taking Care of Business: Selecting the Best Periodical Database for Your Business Patrons

This study compares ABI/INFORM and Business Source Premier, the two major periodical databases in the business field, to determine which database is covering the major scholarly journals most thoroughly. The comparison was made by compiling a list of major journals based on scholars\u27 choice in the fields of accounting, finance, MIS, and marketing. In the field of management, the journals studied are based on ISI\u27s Journal of Citation Reports. The list was compared with the title lists of journals indexed in each database. The results indicate that the two databases are very similar. ABI/INFORM is more comprehensive in the number of journals and in the number of unique titles. However, Business Source Premier has better coverage of full-text holdings and more unique titles held in full-text format

Ebook Collection Analysis: Subject and Publisher Trends

Purpose – This paper aims to provide an assessment of an ebook collection in an academic library, and attempts to locate usage trends by subject and publisher. Design/methodology/approach – The research was based on: three years of usage data from two e-book packages: NetLibrary and Ebrary; two methods of purchase: NetLibrary was a one-time purchase; Ebrary is purchased on a subscription basis. The research evaluated usage difference over time between the two packages and analyzed subject and publisher usage. Findings – The research found that Ebrary showed increased usage over time; NetLibrary demonstrated decreased usage; subject analysis showed ebooks in health sciences and hotel had highest usage; publisher analysis results illustrated the fact that five publishers had highest usage in both ebook collections. Research limitations/implications – For circulation rate of each ebook package, two years of data were not available for Ebrary, resulting in incomplete comparison over three-year period between the two packages. Practical implications – The paper assists in identifying usage patterns of ebooks across publishers and subjects; compares two different business models of obtaining ebooks; and helps with effective selection of ebooks to support teaching and learning. Originality/value – Usage data over three years provided evidence to help libraries select a business model for acquiring ebooks; the research provides assessment of ebook collections to identify trends across publishers and subjects

Database Support for Research in Public Administration

This study examines the extent to which databases support student and faculty research in the area of public administration. A list of journals in public administration, public policy, political science, public budgeting and finance, and other related areas was compared to the journal content list of six business databases. These databases included ABI/INFORM, Business Source Premier, General Business File, Academic Search Premier, Expanded Academic Index, and International Academic Research Library. The results show that Expanded Academic Index, Business Source Premier, and International Academic Research Library have the most comprehensive holdings of public administration journals

Developing a Chat Reference Training Program

In the last few years, chat reference services have been implemented by public, college and university libraries. One important aspect of the chat reference service is library staff training. Literature shows that this is a vital step in offering a chat reference service. Library staff need to be well-trained in areas of chatting, reference interviewing in a digital environment and using electronic resources, such as the Internet and databases. This article discusses the chat reference training program at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The following text provides an outline for establishing a chat training program including planning, organization, implementation and assessment. Areas of discussion include the chat reference interview, chatting and patron management techniques

University Library Partnerships: Promoting Economic Development

Abstract The article discusses an innovative partnership at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). The collaborative project involves the UNLV Libraries and the Nevada Small Business Development Center, which is affiliated with the College of Business. The partnership was created to assist the University\u27s goal of promoting economic development in the Las Vegas and Southern Nevada region

Development of Midcareer Librarians

This article examines career development issues faced by midcareer librarians and discusses challenges these librarians encounter during their career path. The article also analyzes how midcareer librarians can deal with these challenges through career development and planning using self-evaluation and assessment