Provide seamless access to a collection of high quality resources, including print, web-based resources and locally produced content, which meet the curricular and research requirements of the University. (Provost #’s 1, 2,4,5,7)
Objective
Federated Search Tool
Provide a useful tool to retrieve information from multiple online resources using a single search.
KPI
Usability Of EBSCO's Discovery Tool
EBSCO's discovery system, named Engine Orange at SHSU, provides faster access to our collections through a single search. With the discovery tool users have comprehensive access to all formats of content, print and electonic. The revelancy ranking should provide fast access to to the most pertinent information and almost instant access to full-text when it is available. Using a small group of students in the fall semester, EBSCO's discovery system will be evaluated on the ease of navigation, use and quality of the search results.
Result
Usability Of EBSCO's Discovery Tool
Summary of Key Findings in Engine Orange Usability Testing, and Summary of Changes Made, Planned, or Discussed
Overall Observations: Even when students did not use Engine Orange expertly, the Engine Orange test groups still performed better in the assigned tasks than the non- Engine Orange test groups, so there is benefit in the use of this tool. Also, student attitudes towards the tool were very positive.
Finding: Students seemed to think “Engine Orange” referred to the entire tab set rather than the first search box. The search box was hard to recognize because it was filled with default text (“Search Engine Orange to find…”). Also the Engine Orange logo was positioned above the search box, further decreasing the search box’s visibility and adding to the misconception that the logo identified the entire tab set.
Finding: Based on observation of the non-Engine Orange test group, students did seem to understand which tab to select when they knew they needed a book, article, etc. (though they eventually became lost in the process of getting to a known article from the list of databases).
Finding: One test group saw the Engine Orange tab with extra radio buttons to search Keyword, Title or Author. Our study found that, when present, the radio buttons were often used and, if used, provided more accurate searches. (When the radio buttons were not used, there was no negative impact; the user simply got the same results they would have seen without the radio buttons there at all.)
Finding: Many students had difficulty noticing the search-limiting facets down the left side. Although this could be related to numerous factors—including a simple lack of understanding—several student comments suggested that color might also be a factor. Because our interface contains so much blue in general, the blue of the facets did not stand out. The testers also noted that students were more likely to use the facets which were already expanded, but not likely at all to expand a collapsed facet.
Finding: The “Guest Access” setting occasionally created a confusing situation where the student could see that there were results but could not actually view any information at all (even the titles) of those results without first logging in.
Finding: Many students either did not notice or did not accurately understand the Integrated Search Connectors, but a few students had used them or made reasonable guesses about their purpose.
Additional Findings for EBSCO (recommendations regarding aspects that cannot be modified by SHSU Library):
For consistency and clarity with other item type icons, books that have book-cover images should also display the word “Book” under the image of the book cover.
Relevancy ranking should be improved so that searches for known titles more accurately display the item itself above related records (e.g., book reviews).
Action
Changes Made To EDS_Engine Orange
Changes Made:
The explanatory text was removed from the search box and placed on the tab in the space below the search box. Leaving the search box empty makes it more immediately recognizable as a search box.
This first change (removing the default text that obscured the search box) was also extended to the other search boxes in the tab set.
The Engine Orange logo was repositioned to sit beside, rather than above, the search box.
Based on observation of students trying to navigate the Articles tab, the list of subject areas was converted from a drop-down list format into a list of links. This change was extended to the Research Guides tab, where a list of subject areas was converted from a drop-down menu into links.
The extra radio buttons for Keyword, Title, and Author were added to the live website’s Engine Orange search tab, since they proved to be helpful when used and not harmful when ignored.
Recommendation Made: Our team recommended that the “Guest Access” setting be disabled and that all users be routed through the proxy at the BEGINNING of a search, rather than when clicking a result.
Changes in Progress:
We are experimenting with changes to the Engine Orange interface colors, in order to decrease the overall amount of blue and, ideally, make the facets more visible.
If it is possible to change these settings, there should be strategic discussion of and adjustments to the settings for which facets are expanded by default.
Changes Discussed:
The team had initially wondered whether the Engine Orange tab should be left alone as the only homepage search option. After observing student testing, it was decided that the Books tab should definitely be kept, because students were proficient in using it when they knew they needed a book.
The team recommends that additional work be done on the Articles tab, possibly integrating Engine Orange and the database listings together, or implementing some alternative approach to the presentation of databases. There are plans to assemble the bibliographic instruction librarians for a strategic discussion on this issue.
The team was somewhat ambivalent about whether to keep or remove the Integrated Search Connectors. For the time being, it was decided to maintain them, since they do not seem to be harmful to student searching and are occasionally helpful.
Objective
New Information Delivery
Provide instruction on the new information delivery systems
KPI
Introduction To E-books For Faculty
Develop workshops to introduce users to new delivery systems for scholarly content provided by the Library, e-readers, mobile devices, etc. The Library will collaborate with PACE and present a workshop/luncheon for faculty at the beginning of fall semester cover navigation of the e-book collection held in NGL, the limination imposed by publishers, download for offline use, identify free ebooks and using personal mobile devices with the Library's e-book collection and free e-books.
Result
E-book Workshop For Faculty
The Library partnered with the PACE Center to offer a workshop on the issues of using e-books in higher education. The workshop and luncheon was held on September 21, 2012 with 42 faculty members attending. The following objectives were developed for the attendees of the workshop.The faculty attending the workshop will be able to:
Discuss access limitations and licensing issues associated with e-books
Navigate to the library e-book collections
Access a library e-book for online use
Download a library e-book onto their iPad for offline use
Feedback was received from 16 attendees, 14 of whom indicated that they had improved their “understanding of e-book access limitations & licensing issues associated with e-books” by at least one level on a five-level scale; three of the respondents indicated they had improved by two or more levels. Also, all but one respondent indicated that they “would be able to find the Library’s e-book collection”.
Action
E-books Issues For Faculty
1. Continue to offer the workshop at least once a year to faculty 2. Develop a workshop on accessing the various e-book collections provided by the Library. 3. Provide information about accessing the various e-book collections in face to face instruction classes and in online classes.
Objective
Demand Driven Access
Investigate and initiate an alternative acquisition programs for e-books
KPI
Demand Driven Acquisitions
Initiate a demand driven acquisitions program for e-books to mean the just in time needs of students and faculty instead of the just in case model. Records from an e-book vendor (eBrary) will be placed in the OPAC (online public access catalog); when a user select one of the titles provided eBrary a short term loan is initiated (STL) and the Library will pay 10% of the cost of the e-book for each STL up to 3 STL's. With the 4 use of the e-book the library will purchase the book; total cost 130%, The Library should avoid purchasing books after one use and purchase only those books needed for more indepth use.
Result
E-Books Demand Driven Aquisitiations
The demand driven acquisitions program for e-books to meet the just in time needs of students and faculty instead of the traditional just in case model was launched in November. After the delayed start, records from an e-book vendor (eBrary) were placed in the OPAC (online public access catalog; when a user selects one of the titles provided by eBrary a short term loan (STL) is initiated and the Library pays 15% of the cost of the e-book for the first loan, 20% the second time the e-book is accessed, 30% the third time the book is accessed; a fourth use triggers a purchase. Of the 1477 titles opened by NGL patrons, two-thirds have been used only once; of the total number of title opened patrons access only 12% of the titles twice and only 6% three times. To date (July 25, 2013) patrons have initated a purchase of 16% of the total number of titles accessed.
Action
Demand Driven Acquisition Of E-books
The short term loan model for demand driven acquisitions provides a savings while providing access to more than one hundred thousand titles. The 1477 titles accessed by SHSU students and faculty cost $32,816.92 while purchasing all 1477 titles would have cost $115,898.54, a savings of 72%. Improved services and access to resources will remain a priority.
Objective
Reference Collection
Increase access to reference information resources and services with elelctronic delivery.
KPI
E-Reference Resources
Items in the reference collection will be evaluated to determine which resources should be duplicated in electric format.
Result
E-Reference Books
Each bibliographer reviewed the reference collections in their area and submitted a suggested list of 95 reference titles that should be duplicate in electronic format if possible. The list was submitted to Acquisitions for purchase. Many of the titles were not available in e-format; the list was revised accordingly. In addition to the list of reference titles for duplication, the Reference Librarians developed a collection development policy for e-Reference books.
Twenty-five thousand dollars was set aside in the fund created by Academic Affairs to pilot the patron driven acquisitions program for duplication of Reference books. To date 27 titles have been purchased in electronic format for a total cost of $35,798.18, and average cost of $1556.44 per title. For once exceeding the budgeted amount did not create a problem since the usage of the patron driven acquisitions program produced a substantial savings.
Action
E-Reference Books
Duplicating reference material in electronic format will depend on the need and use of the title as described in the collection development policy. Electronic format will be selected for materials that will be used in online courses whenever possible.
Objective
Special Collections And Archives
Increase acess to material located in Special Collections and Archives.
KPI
Finding Aids, MARC Records And Metadata
Develop finding aides, MARC records, and metadata quickly and easily by acquiring an archival management tool. Archon automatically publishes archival descriptive information and digital archival objects in a user-friendly website. Once the Archon web forms are completed it will produce encoded finding aids, input a catalog record, or program a stylesheet. With Archon unique collections in Special Collections and in Archives will be searchable and browsable the Library’s website and in the online catalog.
Result
Archon
The Fall of 2012 was spent working with IT on implementation of Archon. The Special Collections Librarian. the University Archivist and staff were given the green light to upload collections into Archon in December of 2012 and from December of 2012 to June of 2013 six collections were uploaded:
THR/01/2012.s004 Sanford Bates Collection, 1906-1972 THR/01/2012.s005 James V. Bennett Collection, 1905-1971 THR/01/2012.s003 Austin H. MacCormick Papers, 1923-1978 THR/02/2012.s001 Thomason Map Collection, 1499-2005 THR/01/2012.s002 Sexton Family Papers, 1844-1985 SHSU/03/2013.a001 C.B. Farrington, n.d.-1928
These six collections include hundreds of boxes and thousands of items of which are now described and searchable online. Eight more finding aids will be uploaded by the end of the fiscal year, including the Martin Row Papers, Criminal Justice Clippings Collection, John W. Thomason Papers, Wild Dog Papers, World War I Collection, Texas Parole Board Collection, John Warren Smith Papers, and the Jane Howe Gregory Papers.
Action
MARC Records From Archon To Online Catalog
With the successful development of finding aids using Archon, the next step will be to develop MARC records for the online catalog. This will require working with Cataloging to develop standards for converting the MARC format derived from Archon to RDA, making both Special Collections and the University Archives more accessible.
Objective
Embedded Librarian
Provide students taking online courses with direct linkage to a specific Librarian and material linking to online course related Library resources.
KPI
Embedded Librarian
Students taking online courses cannot visit the physical library and for a variety of reason do not use the many avenues available to contact a Librarian from the Ask the Librarian webpage when the need help. Adding a Librarian as a course builder will support students in the research process. The embedded librarian can help the student identify and access resources and services available to them.
Result
Embedded Librarian
In August 2012, Angela Colmenares developed a presentation for the 2nd annual SHSU Online Teaching + Learning Conference, “Grade a Better Paper: Embed a Librarian in you Online Course”. The presentation was designed to introduce the concept of embedded librarians to the instructors of online classes. Individual librarians contacted faculty they had worked with in the past to offer this new service. Through the efforts of the reference librarians, the Embedded Librarian initiative to place librarians in online classes providing access to books, articles, databases as well as instructional tutorials succeeded well beyond our original objective, placing librarian in 10 online classes. The librarians work closely with the course instructor in order to provide the support needed to achieve the learning outcomes of the course. In the Fall semester 9 librarians participated in 15 undergraduate courses* and 14 graduate courses* (almost 3 times the number expected). The number of classes which include an embedded librarian increased in the Spring semester, 21 undergraduate classes* and 15 graduate classes*. (*number of courses/classes does not reflect the number of sections per course) with 8 librarians participating. Links to the subject guides available in each class provided favorable usage statistics; the guides were used 5271 times, total for both Fall and Spring semesters.
Action
Evaluation
Next year the program will be evaluated with an eye toward improving the service to the students. A survey will be sent to the students to gather their input. Librarians are also developing a project focusing on comparing student products in online classes that have an embedded librarian against those students in similar classes that do not have an embedded librarian.
Goal
Library Services
Provide and improve the services that support the learning, teaching, and research needs of students and faculty. (Provost #’s 1,2,4,5,7
Objective
Guide To Enhance Teaching
Provide a tool to help faculty find Library resources to support and enhance their teaching
KPI
Digital Tool
Work with PACE to create a digital tool to support resources needed by the faculty
Result
PACE Professional Development For Faculty
In partnership with the Professional and Academic Center for Excellence (PACE) the Education Bibliographer greated a guide that identifies materials in the library on active learning, distance education instruction and leadership. The guide inculdes e-books, specific suggested articles, RSS feeds of the most current research on the topic, and lists of print materials housed in the library.
Action
Professional Development For SHSU Faculty
The PACE Professional Development for Faculty guide will be linked from the PACE website when it is redesigned. The Library will partner with PACE to provide resources need to maintain access to best practices. The guide will be updated regularly.
Objective
Embedded Librarian
Provide students taking online courses with direct linkage to a specific Librarian and material linking to online course related Library resources.
KPI
Embedded Librarian
Students taking online courses cannot visit the physical library and for a variety of reason do not use the many avenues available to contact a Librarian from the Ask the Librarian webpage when the need help. Adding a Librarian as a course builder will support students in the research process. The embedded librarian can help the student identify and access resources and services available to them.
Result
Embedded Librarian
In August 2012, Angela Colmenares developed a presentation for the 2nd annual SHSU Online Teaching + Learning Conference, “Grade a Better Paper: Embed a Librarian in you Online Course”. The presentation was designed to introduce the concept of embedded librarians to the instructors of online classes. Individual librarians contacted faculty they had worked with in the past to offer this new service. Through the efforts of the reference librarians, the Embedded Librarian initiative to place librarians in online classes providing access to books, articles, databases as well as instructional tutorials succeeded well beyond our original objective, placing librarian in 10 online classes. The librarians work closely with the course instructor in order to provide the support needed to achieve the learning outcomes of the course. In the Fall semester 9 librarians participated in 15 undergraduate courses* and 14 graduate courses* (almost 3 times the number expected). The number of classes which include an embedded librarian increased in the Spring semester, 21 undergraduate classes* and 15 graduate classes*. (*number of courses/classes does not reflect the number of sections per course) with 8 librarians participating. Links to the subject guides available in each class provided favorable usage statistics; the guides were used 5271 times, total for both Fall and Spring semesters.
Action
Evaluation
Next year the program will be evaluated with an eye toward improving the service to the students. A survey will be sent to the students to gather their input. Librarians are also developing a project focusing on comparing student products in online classes that have an embedded librarian against those students in similar classes that do not have an embedded librarian.
Goal
Development And Training
Provide opportunities for professional development and training for librarians and staff to maintain knowledge and skills in all aspects of Librarianship. (Provost #’s 1,5,7)
Objective
Training And Development
Participate in programs that will develop and maintain skills in applying knowledge effectively to established library systems; to identify best practices and adapt them to the local environment, thus ensuring they will be able to provide quality service to the SHSU community and the Library
KPI
Training Opportunities
Fund training and professional development opportunities for librarians and staff. Participate in as many training opportunities provided by Amigos, product vendors, professional organizations, etc. as possible, either face to face or online.
Result
Professional Development And Training
The majority of professional training provided by the library was for individuals to learn about new standards, and develop best practices. Librarians and staff members attended professional conferences, not only to present papers but to bring back information relevant to instruction, access to electronic resources, preservation and best practices in the use of the SIRSI integrated library system. Group training provides an opportunity librarians and staff to become familiar with new standards, processes and best practices.
The Library supported attendance at professional conferences; 3 staff members from Special Collections and Archives were able to attend the Southwestern Society of Archivists meeting in Austin this year along with the Special Collections Librarian and the Digital Resources. A total of 27 Librarians attended professional conferences; 6 librarians presented papers at TLA, Popular Cultural Association, Film and Myth, COSUGI Conference (conference for SIRIS users). The group training online covered changes in cataloging standards, best practices in demand driven acquisitions, e-books, copyright and using modules in SIRSI, the library’s integrated system. Individual online training covered many of the same topics and also included collection development, digital resources, outreach, usability, metadata, web development, and digital preservation. The Special Collections Librarian, the Special Formats Cataloger, and two staff members attended a Society of American Archivists workshop on describing special collections and archival material in Waco. The Digital Resources Librarian and the Special Collections Librarian participated in digital preservation and outreach workshops off campus.
Action
Professional Development And Training Program
The Library will support professional development activities and training. These activities help librarians sustain their skill level and develop new skills. The Library benefits from the participation in these programs. Librarians and staff are able to easily transition into the upgrades and new procedures when they participate in training classes. This makes change easier on everyone. This year's activities helped to ease the transition to new catatloging standards and bring a new look to the library's outreach program.
Goal
Promotion
Promote the Library, its services and role in the University.(Provost #’s 1,2,4,5,6,7)
Objective
Resources And Services At TWC
Communicate information regarding library resources and services to users at The Woodlands Center.
KPI
TWC Outreach Program
An outreach program for faculty and student at SHSU—The Woodlands Center will identify library resources and services available to this SHSU community.
Result
TWC Outreach
Prior to opening The Woodlands Center a LibGuide was created specifically for SHSU-TWC to showcase library services and introduce the Librarian on the TWC campus. This guide was linked from the Library's webpage and the TWC webpage. Handouts were developed and place at the information desk in the TWC lobby. The promotion of a resident librarian resulted in the Librarian:
answering over 2600 reference questions for students and faculty
providing bibliographic instruction to 20 classes, primarily graduate classes
embedded in 9 courses to provide online assistance
worked with 7 doctoral students in the Library's one to one program
developed 3 workshops on Prezi, EndnoteWeb and Education Research for students, presented each long semester
Action
TWC Outreach
The students and faculty on SHSU-TWC campus have found and made use of the Library services offered. A librarian working directly with the students and faculty has improved services. The librarian on the SHSU-TWC campus will provide additional workshops and one to one help for students. The coming year will be a good time to talk with faculty about resources and services to support the courses at SHSU-TWC.
Objective
Library Services
Develop an information campaign to acquaint faculty and students with library services.
KPI
Library Services Campaign
Posters with embedded QR code leading to web content will be placed on all bulletin boards on campus to guide students to Library workshops and tours. Faculty members in selected departments will be sent fliers with embedded QR codes leading the faculty member to information on library services that are designed for faculty.
Result
Posters
Posters and fliers with QR codes were developed; the QR codes linked to the Library's homepage. These posters were placed on 60 bulletin boards on campus and at The Woodlands Center; 150 fliers were sent to faculty in Sociology, Education, Business, CJ, and History. Unfortuately the QR codes did not provide the Library with usage statistics.
Action
Library Services Promotion
The Library will provide promotional material to faculty and students using QR codes on printed material that can provide usage statistics. Social media will be used for outreach. Library services will be promoted to the College of Science and the College of Allied Health.
Objective
Specials Collections And Archives Outreach
Promote the resources and services of Special Collections, University Archives and Digital Resources.
KPI
Outreach Plan
Design an outreach program to highlight the collections and services offered by Special Collections and Archives
Result
Outreach Plan
The plan developed includes three parts: social media, community events and participation in local professional and historical groups. The plan to make resources of the Thomason Room and University Archives more visible to the campus and the surrounding community took a leap into social media, implementing eleven new social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Pinterest, HistoryPin, Myspace, YouTube, Tumblr, GooglePlus, LinkedIn and a blog on WordPress called Out of the Box!. The new Digital Resources Librarian has taken the lead on this implementation and has found new and interesting ways to reach out to new audiences and use these technologies to educate people about our archival holdings. The promotion plan includes hosting book readings by local authors. Ed Williams, author of Hood’s Texas Brigade in the Civil War, presented his book on November 9, 2012 to an audience of 35 community members. Participation in local groups also increases the Special Collections outreach program. The Special Collections, the University Archives and Digital Resources staff has helped organize the East Texas Archives and Museums group, hosting the group for an organizational meeting in January 2013. In addition to the above group, the Special Collections Librarian and the Digital Resources Librarian are actively working with the Walker County Historical Commission to help with preservation issues, publicity and other local events.
Action
Outreach Program Special Collections And Archives
Special Collections, Archives and Digital Resources will use the Blog “Out of the Box! Treasures of the Newton Gresham Library to showcase items in Special Collections and Archives. To date (July 31, 2013), the blog has 675 followers. The use of social media increases the visibility of the resources in both these areas.
Objective
Promote Library Resources With Exhibits And Displays.
Promote Library resouces and services with exhibits and displays using books, documents, and artifacts from the Library's collection . In addition to displays created with library resources, student research and or creative activities using library resources will be showcases.
KPI
Displays And Exhibits
The Library will plan and develop monthly displays which will include Library resources and projects by student.
Result
Displays And Exhibits
The Displays and exhibits created or supervised twenty-one exhibits this year. These exhibits included 8 rotating displays of student research and an exhibit of student art created for the Bearkats Read to Succeed Program for fiscal 2013. The Special Collections Librarian constructed a guide to creating a student research for display for the Library.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Read to Succeed
Welcome Back Bearkats
Huntsville Then and Now
WPA, CCC and the Great Depression
Genocide
Welcome Back Bearkats—Bearkittens Edition
Huntsville Happenings
Plagiarism – what is it and how can you avoid it!
Texas Travel
Rotating Student research (eight posters featuring student research)
Student art exhibit created during Henrietta Lacks Read to Succeed program
Book talk display featuring Dr. Bilsen
Inauguration Celebrations in history
Texas Independence
Criminal Justice Display
Medieval and Renaissance Thought
Latin American Art Display
Archives Month
Children’s books from the Thomason Room
Cookbooks and Cookery
Sexual Assault Awareness Month
Action
Library Resources--Exhibits And Displays
The Library's resources provide a foundation for the curriculum and research; the displays provide visual evidence of the variety of resources available in the Newton Gresham. Displays in the Library provide a well traveled venue for presenting student research and connecting the research to Library resources. Plans for next year's displays are developing and will include student research.