Web usability survey and script

This document supplies the survey and script used in the usability tests for the article "Side by side: What a comparative usability study told us about a web site redesign", which will appear in the Journal of Web Librarianship. The script and survey will not appear in the article itself.unpublishednot peer reviewe

Implications of Online Media on Academic Library Collections

Libraries’ market share of discovery has been declining rapidly, and in some cases this is directly related to where the content users need and want resides. Music recording delivery models have changed dramatically in the last several years, with more performers and labels offering content directly to consumers via downloads only. Unfortunately, this model is one in which libraries cannot usually legally participate due to licensing agreements. Another issue at play is the growing presence of quality content on sites like YouTube, which users are already very familiar and comfortable with. In light of this, user behavior has been evolving to incorporate more and more nonlibrary sources of music discovery and acquisition. Patrons no longer see the library as the sole source for music content (if they ever did). This is due in part to the convenience of online sources and the fact that, while libraries may still need to buy CDs, users would rather have recordings they can listen to anywhere and anytime. So how can academic libraries address these challenges to continue to meet our mission of building collections and serving our patrons? This paper will discuss current music delivery models, collections and acquisitions pressures involved with online media (primarily audio), the current music discovery and access environment, and information seeking behaviors of music faculty and students. We will offer some suggestions for librarians wishing to address these issues

Notes from the Music and Performing Arts Library--Fall 2017

--Welcome to Notes from MPAL --Staff Notes --Services (Circulating Technology, Schedule Research Appointments, Course Reserves Best Practices) --Significant Acquisitions (New Databases) --Tool Tip (WorldCat catalog)Ope

The “Black Box”: How Students Use a Single Search Box to Search for Music Materials

Given the inherent challenges music materials present to systems and searchers (formats, title forms and languages, and the presence of additional metadata such as work numbers and keys), it is reasonable that those searching for music develop distinctive search habits compared to patrons in other subject areas. This study uses transaction log analysis of the music and performing arts module of a library’s federated discovery tool to determine how patrons search for music materials. It also makes a top-level comparison of searches done using other broadly defined subject disciplines’ modules in the same discovery tool. It seeks to determine, to the extent possible, whether users in each group have different search behaviors in this search environment. The study also looks more closely at searches in the music module to identify other search characteristics such as type of search conducted, use of advanced search techniques, and any other patterns of search behavior.Ope

Sound Recordings

This article is part of a special issue on the state of the profession in music librarianship.</p

Finding the right notes: an observational study of score and recording seeking behaviors of music students

Researchers have more entry points than ever into library collections, and access to many non-library sources for scores and recordings. Given that searching for music has always been challenging, what tools are students using and how do they search?unpublishednot peer reviewe

Best Practices for Creating LibGuides

These slides are the author's portion of the panel presentation on best practices for creating LibGuides for music libraries.unpublishedis peer reviewe

Where Have all the Dissertations Gone?

published or submitted for publicationis peer reviewe

Music to Our Eyes: Google Books, Google Scholar, and the Open Content Alliance

The Internet has changed how scholars perform their research. With more and more content available online that is fully searchable (often even for free), it is not surprising that students and others may turn there first before coming to the library. This study aims to identify the utility of three of the largest free access points to print materials online???Google Book Search, the Internet Archive, and Google Scholar???for use in conducting music research. This study discovers that there are print music materials represented in all three of these tools and that they should not be eschewed by music librarians and others researching music topics.published or submitted for publicationis peer reviewe