An academic library in the U.S. in a digital age: A student’s perspective By Brooke Shannon PhD Student Information Science and Learning Technologies

An academic library in the U.S. in a digital age:

A student’s perspective

Brooke ShannonPhD Student

Information Science and Learning Technologies

Part I: Overview• About MU

• About MU Libraries• MU Library Services

About MU• Located in Columbia, Missouri– Population: 95,000+

About MU• Student Population: • Total: 31,314• Minority: 3,530• International: 1, 615

• Faculty: 1,991• Degrees: 285

About MU Libraries

• Ellis Library (Main)• Plus 6 branches: – Health Sciences– Veterinary Medicine– Geology– Engineering– Math – Journalism

• 2 off site storage facilities‐• University Archives (historical and admin records)

3.5 Million Volumes +

7 Million Microforms

170 Full-Time Employees (48 librarian/archivists)

About MU Libraries

• Ellis Library– Current Periodicals• 33,000 titles

– Recorded Sound– Microforms– New Books– Reference– Special Collections

MU Library ServicesDigital Resources• Core Resources

– Databases• Dissertations/Theses,

Newspapers, Patents– Electronic Books– Electronic Journals

• Digital Collections– Special Collections– University Archives– University of Missouri

Digital Library– Missouri Digital Heritage

Initiative

• Reference Shelf• Almanacs• Atlases & Maps• Biographies• Catalogs, Bibliography• Conversions & Calculators• Dictionaries & Thesauri• Encyclopedias• Quotations• Statistics, data sets, survey

MU Library Services

University of Missouri Digital Library• Free storage for digital objects for any library,

museum, or historical society in Missouri• Collections from 15 Missouri libraries– Missouri historic newspapers– Civil War in MOImages– Postcards from St Louis World Fair (1904)– World War I/II Sheet Music

MU Library Services

• Borrow & Check out Materials– Interlibrary Loan• 43,302 borrowed• 57,609 lent

– No self-checkout• Perks of self-checkout:

– Frees up personnel – Speeds up service

• Problems: – Less friendly– Someone has to answer questions about technology

• Equipment– For use in library: • Computers, laptops iPads, mice

– To check-out: • Laptop , Kindle, video camera, audio/video recorder, Tripod, iPod

MU Library Services

MU Library Services

iPod and iPad

$199

$499

MU Library Services

• Stores up to 1,500 books• 630,000 available to

download• About $10/each

• Out-of-copyright books are free

Kindle: • Digital book reader• Amazon $189

MU Library Services• Information Commons– 103 Computer Stations– 7 Meeting Rooms– Individual Study

“a physical library or online community, that exists to produce, conserve, and

preserve information for current and future

generations”

MU Library Services

Reading Room(no group study!)

Study Carrels ($50/semester)

MU Library Services

• Bookmark Café• Photocopying: DITY and service (for fee)– Digiprint Center

• Scanning• Printing• Lockers• Exhibits (digital and physical)

MU Library Services

MU Library Services

• Libraries and Collections:

MU Library Services

Institutional Repository: MOspace• Online repository for scholarly work and

resources created by faculty, staff and students at MU.

• Makes created knowledge and research products available to the wider community of researchers and students and assures preservation of these materials for the future.

MU Library Services

• Institutional Repository: MOspace

MU Library ServicesSearch: John Budd…

MU Library Services

• Homework and Research Guides

MU Library Services

• Course Reserves (Print/ERes)

Search by Instructor: Bossaller…

MU Library Services

• Course Reserves (Print/ERes)

Click here…

MU Library Services

• Homework and Research Guides: Tutorials & Video:

• Show Me How To:

MU Library Services

• Show Me How To: Find a Book…

MU Library Services

Information literacy

“the skills and knowledge to expertly identify, find, and evaluate information”

MU Library Services

A person who is information literate is able to:• Identify the ways in which knowledge is disseminated,

organized and acquired • Access the wide spectrum of information resources

made available to the campus community • Locate needed information through effective search

strategies • Evaluate retrieved information and information

sources in all formats • Use information ethically and legally

MU Library ServicesInformation Literacy instruction:• Course-integrated instruction sessions for English 1000 courses • Research instruction sessions to targeted courses across the

campus curriculum • Credit course taught in collaboration with the School of

Information Science and Learning Technologies • Research workshops for faculty and graduate students • Research instruction for high school classes and visiting scholars

736 Classes9,925 Participants

MU Library Services

Information Literacy instruction:• Collaboration with faculty to create effective

research assignments and exercises to teach information literacy concepts (e.g., the difference between scholarly, trade, and popular publications)

• Course packs for specific assignments • Librarian involvement in online courses

MU Library Services

• Cite Sources (Document)

• Avoid Plagiarism (Video)• Evaluating Web Pages

(Document)• Boolean Operators

(YouTube video)• Individual database help

(video)• Locate articles (video) (Acadia University)

Part II: Social Media and the Library

“10 Technology Ideas Your Library Can Implement

Next Week”

American Libraries Magazine March 2010

IDEA #1

Create a library video tour to welcome people 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

from any location

Idea # 1 (at MU)

IDEA # 1: Perks and Problems

• Perks: – Attract nonusers– Relatively inexpensive ($100 USD)

• Problems: – Budget

IDEA #2

Use SMS to send patron alerts and notifications

IDEA #2 at MU

• No DIRECT SMS alert• Can get SMS alerts via

Twitter• Can sign up for email

alerts• Does have reference

desk features via SMS

IDEA #2: Perks and Problems

• Perks– Popular– Convenient

• Problems– 160 character limit– Costs patrons money– May not have a system in place that can directly

send notices as SMS

IDEA # 3

Feed your library’s blog posts into Twitter without doing any

more work

IDEA #3 at MU

• Uploads blog/RSS feed to Twitter• Has 193 “followers”• “Follows” 10 related organizations:– MU Bookstore– University of Kansas– Daniel Boone Regional Library– New York Public Library– Graduate Professional Council

IDEA #3: Perks and Problems

• Perks: – Popular– Convenient

• Problems:– ?

IDEA #4

Improve customer service by developing a technology skills list for

your staff

IDEA #4 at MU

To apply for Library Information Assistant (support staff)• Duties: Circulation/Reserves desk and shelving• Required Qualifications:

-HS or equivalent diploma; Six months of responsible office experience and/or related training necessary; Ability to type may be necessary depending upon the position available.

• Preferred Qualifications:Supervisory experience; Knowledge of Library of Congress classification system; Experience with MERLIN, word processing, and Internet desirable.

IDEA #4 at MU

To apply for (Health Services) Information Services Librarian(Librarian 1 – entry level)

• Duties: Reference services, literature searches, user education, personal file management consultation

• Required Qualifications:-Masters' degree from an ALA accredited program; customer service; strong communication/interpersonal skills

• Preferred Qualifications:Supervisory experience, teaching experience, experience in searching Ovid MEDLINE, CINAHL, PubMed, Scopus; experience with EndNote &/or other personal file management programs…

IDEA #4: Perks and Problems

• Perks: – Make sure everyone is on the “same page”

• Problems: – Do “preferred qualifications” become required, or

implied?

IDEA #5

Create a special event wiki

“A wiki is a website that allows the easy creation and editing of any number of interlinked

web pages via a web browser”

A WIKI IS ABOUT COLLABORATION

IDEA #5 at MU

• Wikispaces• Example:

IDEA #5: Perks and Problems

• Perks– Easy to manage– Shares the “burden”

• Problems: – Anyone can edit public wikis

IDEA #6

Help your catalog evolve with personalization

IDEA #6 at MU

Online Library Account• Renew Books• Interlibrary Loan Requests• Reading History• Request email alerts• Accessible from off-campus

IDEA #6: Perks and Problems

• Perks– Fast and easy to request and renew books– Searches saved in one place

• Problems– Reading history requires release of private

information

IDEA #7

Put together a Guitar Hero tournament that will attract a wide range of

nonusers to your library for the very first time

IDEA #7 at MU?

• A music video game• Has not been done at MU

IDEA #7: Perks and Problems

• Perks:– Potentially attract non-users– Updated view of the library

• Problems:– Useful if no video games for rent?

IDEA #8

Use Facebook for chat reference

IDEA #8 at MU

• MU Libraries and Special Collections and Rare Books have Facebook pages

• Neither has option to “Friend”, only the option to “Like”

• Publish feeds in their “Notes” section

• Chat feature on website

IDEA #8: Perks and Problems

• Perks:– Users are already “logged in” to FB– FB is a social environment – “Friend”

• Problems:– Friends can post on your wall…

IDEA #9

Collaborate and communicate with internal blogs

IDEA #9 at MU

• External Blog: AnnouncementsArticle suggests:• Weeding blog• Training blog• Acquisitions blog• Professional development blog

IDEA #9: Perks and Problems

• Perks– Sort them by date, title, author– Keep informed about what everyone is doing

• Problems– Someone has to blog

IDEA #10

Hold a themed unconference to tackle important issues

IDEA #10 at MUWhat is an unconference?• Similar to a workshop, themed• Facilitated but participant-driven• Conversational setting

“Knowledge Café”

IDEA #10: Perks and Problems

• Perks– FREE open forum– No “agenda” – no sponsors– Everyone has opportunity to talk and share ideas

• Problems– Plethora of meetings