International Conference on Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries
Special Sessions - Workshops
You may send proposals for Special Sessions (4-6 papers) or Workshops (more than 2 sessions) including the title and a brief description to the Conference Committee at: secretariat@isast.org or from the electronic submission at the web page: http://www.isast.org/abstractpaperregister.html
Contributions may be realized through one of the following ways a. structured abstracts (not exceeding 500 words) and presentation; b. full papers (not exceeding 7,000 words); and c. posters (not exceeding 2,500 words). In all the above cases at least one of the authors ought to be registered in the conference. Abstracts and full papers should be submitted electronically within the timetable provided in the web page: http://www.isast.org/importantdates.html). The abstracts and full papers should be in compliance to the author guidelines http://www.isast.org/abstractpaperregister.html
WORKSHOPS
1. WORKSHOP TITLE: Statistics for library associations At the QQML2010 meeting in Chania the IFLA Statistics and Evaluation Section would like to pilot its new course on statistics for advocacy. The Section would like to recruit up to ten people who can participate actively in the first trial of this course, and who would also be willing to:
Participate in pre-workshop surveys, and evaluation sessions during the workshop
Critically review and evaluate the relevance of workshop content
Share their experiences
Evaluate whether the workshop met stated objectives
Assess whether the training method effectively delivers the content and achieves learning objectives
Discuss the development and rollout of the programme, including transition to a blended learning environment.
The course itself is described below. Purpose When we communicate with politicians, funding bodies or library stakeholders, we need numbers, statistics and evidence to prove our points and underline our arguments. Advocacy and lobbying are not possible without relevant data. This is the reason why statistics are a vital issue for library associations and libraries who want to influence political processes in their country or on an international level. Project This one day course deals with the role of statistical reasoning and documentation when we need to argue the case of libraries. The content was developed at an IFLA Workshop in The Hague in December, 2009 by members of IFLA's Statistics and Evaluation Section. The course project is part of IFLA's new development programme for Building Strong Library Associations (BSLA). The project work, which still continues, is documented at the project blog. Program The course will be highly interactive, including brief lectures, discussions, case presentations and practical exercises. The day is divided into seven sessions.
Opening session: plan for the day, brief self-presentations, overview of the BSLA programme (55 mins.)
Why should we study statistics?
Which aspects of library work should we focus on?
How can we interpret data?
How can we collect data?
How can we present data?
Final session: next steps, course evaluation, certificates
Participation The course is offered on Friday, May 28, 2010. To get your feedback, we will organize a brief evaluation session immediately after the course. The whole program lasts from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. including a one hour lunch break. It will be directed by Tord Hoivik (Norway) and Colleen Cook (USA). Please sign up for the course with Dr. Anthi Katsirikou - c/o secretariat@isast.org - within May 15, 2010. Resources
About the course project at http://iflastat.wordpress.com/
About BSLA at http://www.ifla.org/alp/bsla
Course adaptation to the QQML2010 Chania schedule: Friday 28 May 2010 08:30-9:00 Registration Statistics for library associations 09:00-9:45 A. Opening session 09:45-10:30 B. Why should we study statistics? 10:30-10:40 Short break 10:40-11:30. C. Which aspects of library work should we focus on? 11:30-12:00 Coffee Break [Back to QQML2010] 12:00-12:50 D. How can we interpret data? 12:50-13:00 Short break 13:00-14:00 E. How can we collect data? 14:00-15:00 Lunch 15:00-15:45 F. How can we present data? 15:45-16:30 G. Final session Course evaluation 16:30-17:00. Post-course evaluation session Return to main QQML2010 programme 17:00-17:30 Closing Ceremony 17:30-21:00 City tour
2. WORKSHOP TITLE: Greening the Library by Building Partnerships and Opportunities: Creating Authentic Learning Experiences for Students, Librarians and Faculty Using a Theme-Based Interdisciplinary Approach to Education Summary:
By proactively assessing the instructional trends and cultural climate of an institution, a library can provide service-learning opportunities for undergraduates and graduates that are core to the research and educational mission of that institution. At Iowa State University (ISU), administrators strongly encouraged the development of course work and research that support sustainability. As an integral part of the ISU community, the library conducted an environmental scan of sustainability activities and possible partnerships during the spring months of 2009. After completing this process, the assessment librarian created authentic learning opportunities, based on the theme of sustainability, for students across a variety of disciplines.
Assessing campus instructional needs, developing interdisciplinary partnerships and creating instructional rubrics are part of the process in creating successful learning opportunities that benefit the students, faculty and the library. A case study of a graduate internship that involved the disciplines of marketing, rhetoric, and library science will illustrate how thinking outside the box can create partnerships and collaborations in key instructional areas. In this case study, the graduate student created a comprehensive A to Z sustainability research guide. The guide, generated at the library, links to the University's "Live Green" homepage and to departmental web pages that provide Iowa State University with a unique and powerful discovery application. In addition, this service-learning opportunity required that the graduate student create a marketing campaign and outreach plan to the community. The student took the "show on the road" presenting his work to campus departments, symposiums and student groups. The student, not a librarian, "advertised" the library as an essential resource for both learning opportunities and as a research resource.
And from all the work done at ISU library you might wonder what is happening now? We are developing the outline for a rigorous and exciting service-learning course that will be offered each semester that meets the needs of the library, students and various academic disciplines.
Conference participants will be provided with a brief overview of ISU library's service learning case study. In addition attendees will:
Review the philosophical grounding of theme-based interdisciplinary learning
Assess their institution's needs and trends
Identify potential collaborations with faculty, administrators and/or campus centers
Develop an understanding of benchmarks and rubrics
Understand that benchmarks and rubrics are core assessment tools for any library instruction
Have the tools needed to replicate ISU library's success at their own institution
From this experience, workshop participants will receive resources and tips for developing service-learning opportunities at their library that they might not have known existed. It is expected that members in this workshop will have an instructional interest that they want to develop into a collaborative learning opportunity. Workshop organizer: Sarah Passonneau, Assistant Professor, Assistant to the Dean of the Library, Iowa State University (USA).
3. WORKSHOP TITLE: Quantitative and Qualitative Research Methods Workshop Summary: Have you ever considered whether the data and the evidence you collected is valid and reliable? How do you determine validity and reliability in quantitative research? And what does it mean to have trustworthy information in qualitative research? The Quantitative and Qualitative Research Methods workshop will introduce you to some of these concepts. Bruce Thompson will discuss issues of score reliability and validity and bring forward examples from the library and information science literature and in particular the LibQUAL+(R) protocol. He will present some of the examples in the context of data analysis with a statistical package that used to be known as SPSS and has recently being rebranded as PASW. The key goal is to develop an understanding of judging the trustworthiness of quantitative data in the social sciences. The workshop will also be an opportunity to showcase some of the qualitative grounding that took place during the development of the LibQUAL+(R) protocol.
Martha Kyrillidou will introduce you to qualitative research issues through the ARL Library Profiles research project which is based on analysis of textual descriptions of ARL research libraries with a software package known as Atlas.ti. She will discuss with you the dynamics of a multi-constituency iterative research process that includes multiple ARL libraries, key stakeholders, and a core team of researchers and coders. The key goal is to understand how library leaders are transforming historical ways of describing research libraries and seeking new ways to define and measure the research library of the 21st century.
Workshop organizers: Bruce Thompson, Texas A&M University, USA, and Martha Kyrillidou, Association of Research Libraries, Senior Director of ARL Statistics and Service Quality Programs, USA. Dr. Bruce Thompson is Distinguished Professor of Educational Psychology and CEHD Distinguished Research Fellow, and Distinguished Professor of Library Science, E-mail: bruce-thompson@tamu.edu Bruce Thompson is a former member of the Council of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), a former nominee for AERA President, and a former editor of American Education Research Journal, Section on Teaching, Learning, and Human Development, and several other journals. Bruce is especially known for (a) his work on effect sizes, and (b) his contributions to creating the LibQUAL+(R) protocol. He has published numerous articles and papers in both areas, and has written several standard textbooks in statistics. Dr. Martha Kyrillidou, E-mail: Martha@arl.org Martha Kyrillidou is responsible for all aspects of the Statistics and Assessment capability at ARL, which offers assessment products and services to the library community ranging from descriptive statistics to evaluative tools focusing on service quality improvements in libraries. Martha provides analytical support to libraries and other program areas within the ARL office and has widely disseminated assessment developments through a rich publication record. She has been one of the developers of LibQUAL+(R) and co-chairs the biennial Library Assessment Conference.
SESSIONS
1. SESSION TITLE: Assessing and Evaluating Reference: Views from the Academic Library Reference Desk Coordinator: Lynne M. Rudasill,Associate Professor of Library Administration, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA Scope and rationale Access to the wide variety of available resources through the World Wide Web has greatly changed the nature of the reference desk in the academic library. In pure numbers alone, the face-to-face reference transaction has seen a severe downward spiral. This does not mean, however, that individual users are navigating the wealth of electronic and print resources alone. The use of chat/IM reference, co-browsing, class related resource pages, and other means of pushing information out to our users have changed the face of reference. How do we assess reference services in the academic library today? What do we define as reference events? What are the new service models that are required to facilitate our users′ access to information? This panel will explore these questions and others with a view to the issues, challenges, and solutions to reference assessment at a large public academic library and a medium-sized private academic library in the United States. Presenters: 1. Elizabeth Cooper, Collection Management, Research and Instructional Services, Emory University, e-mail: liz.cooper@emory.edu Using Data to Make Quick Decisions about a New Merged Service Desk: A Case Study. The Robert W. Woodruff Library at Emory University is working on a project to merge its reference, circulation and technology help desks into one service point. The timeframe to implement this project is very short. Therefore, reference staff, working with circulation staff, have developed quick methods to analyze existing data and quickly gather new data to help inform decision-making about staffing levels, training, and a location for the new service point. This paper is a case study detailing some of the methods and processes used by staff to make decisions. Keywords: Simulations, Reference desk, Merged service desk, Data collection, Wordle, Service desk location 2. JoAnn Jacoby, Office of New Service Models, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, e-mail: jacoby@illinois.edu Moving from the Behind Desk and Into The Flow: Assessing the Impact of Research Support Activities. An Academic Library Manifesto (Bourg, Coleman and Erway: 2009) calls upon academic & research libraries to embed library content, services, and staff within researchers′ regular workflows and redefine reference as research consultation. Over the past few years, the University of Illinois Library has developed a range of new service programs that aim to provide research support that is closely integrated into scholarly practice. These initiatives include librarians that are embedded, physically and virtually, in campus departments and programs (e.g., Biotechnology, Global Studies, Labor and Employee Relations, Library and Information Science) as well as more broadly-focused programs such as the Scholarly Commons (which will provide coordinated support for data services, digitization, and scholarly communications) and the development of mobile and digital library services. This paper will review these research support services, with a focus on how these new initiatives have complicated and extended our traditional definition of reference and provided the opportunity to rethink how we measure and assess the impact of library support for research, teaching and learning. Keywords: Reference, Research Support Services, Assessment, New Service Model Programs 3. Kathleen Kern Μ., Reference, Research and Government Information Services, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, e-mail: katkern@illinois.edu One Story with Many Chapters? Assessment in Complex Library Organizations. The adage with size comes complexity is as true in library organizations as it is in biological organisms. The University of Illinois Library is an example of complexity with a campus community of 40,000 users, 35 libraries serving 150 academic programs, a collection of 12 million volumes, and a staff of 400 people. Recent trends in higher education coupled with a desire to improve services to our users, has lead the University of Illinois Library to embark on a program to assess its services. For assessment, the challenge lies in collecting data that can be comparable across our departmental libraries while preserving flexibility to reflect the unique services and clientele of each library. Even the first step in assessment, deciding the assessment needs and what questions need to be answered, requires central coordination and input from a broad constituency. Thinking ahead to anticipate data collection needs, quantitative and qualitative, is essential as we cannot report on what we have not collected. Prioritization is another issue for the complex organization to stage the various requests for assessment. This paper will outline the challenges and techniques of telling a cohesive story that still highlights the unique aspects of the library′s diverse services and how the University of Illinois Library is coordinating an assessment program to tell the story of a complex organization. Keywords: Reference, Assessment, Organizational complexity 4. Lynne Rudasill, Global Studies Librarian, University of Illinois, e-mail: rudasill@illinois.edu View from a Virtual Reference Desk. A number of articles have been published in recent years relating to the field or embedded librarian. In addition, this changing model of librarianship, many more librarians are working a virtual world with users approaching them through chat or IM reference sites and e-mail. What are the other ways in which reference can be provided in the virtual world, and more importantly, how do we assess these avenues? This paper will discuss the variety of tools that are available to the librarian who works without a physical library and explores efficient and effective ways to assess of virtual reference that are both quantitative and qualitative. Keywords: Reference, Assessment, Embedded Librarian, Virtual Reference Desk 5. Cynthia Johnson,
University of California, Irvine, Head of Reference and Carol Ann Hughes,
University of California, Irvine, Associate University Librarian for Public Services One Librarian at a Time: Group Assessment via Self Assessment. Two components comprise success in a reference transaction: providing the correct answer and creating a comfortable learning environment using verbal and non-verbal behaviors. Analyzing and improving customer service and behavior is an important aspect of reference assessment.This paper looks at two modes of assessment to improve reference customer service.The first mode is self-assessment: librarians choose a specific skill from the RUSA Guidelines for Behavioral Performance of Reference and Information Service Providers and focus on improving that one skill. Librarians and other service providers then engage in regular self-reflection on his or her reference skills and practice the behavior, regularly articulating their self-assessments in writing.The second mode of assessment uses digital reference transcripts as a learning opportunity.Individual librarians review reference transcripts for behavioral positives and negatives, discovering behaviors to emulate and behaviors to avoid.This paper will discuss the questions we asked each librarian to reflect upon for these two assessments, the broad themes and commonalities of what people wanted to work on, and how we used this information to develop more formal training to improve customer service in our many reference services (in-person reference, in-depth consultations and digital reference). Keywords: Reference, Assessment, Customer Service, Train
2-3. SESSION TITLE: Library and Information Science Post-Graduate Student Research Coordinator: Prof., Teresa S. Welsh, University of Southern Mississippi School of Library and Information Science, USA Presenters: User and Non-user Studies: A Bibliometric Research Project Sheila Hammond-Todd, Mesa County Libraries, Grand Junction, CO, USA Studying user behavior is an essential component of determining successful delivery of services and materials to library patrons. The study of non-users can be of equal importance in fulfilling the mission of a library within a community, yet more difficult to accomplish due to the necessity of determining in advance who those non-users might be and where they might be found. The aim of this research project was to determine whether studies of non-users of library services are underrepresented in relationship to the number of user studies, using bibliometric methods. In addition, this study looked into various publication patterns of user and non-user studies, in the hope of encouraging library and information professionals to undertake use studies in areas determined to be lacking, thus contributing to the overall body of professional knowledge.
A Comparative Study of Five Topics in ERIC and Library Literature and Information Science Full-Text Databases Margarita Rhoden, School of Library and Information Science, The University of Southern Mississippi, USA The purpose of this study is to compare the Educational Resource Information Center (ERIC) and the Library Literature and Information Science Full-Text (LLISFT) databases′ coverage of five topics to find if relevant information to the topic would be omitted by restricting searches to one database. A comparison of two databases′ search attempts to answer three research questions and the results found on issues in education and topics of general interest. This illustrates the importance of knowing various databases and search terms to use in providing extensive information to researchers. Universities and public libraries invest a large portion of their materials budget in providing the best access to information they can afford to meet the needs of the users and knowledge of what the databases offer is critical to its use.
Anthropological literature on social phobia: An examination of publishing and indexing patterns Julie D. Shedd, Mississippi State University Libraries, USA Social phobia, also known as social anxiety disorder, afflicts ten to thirteen percent of the American population with anxiety that prevents them from entering performance situations, and with physical symptoms of anxiety including nausea, sweating, and muscle aches. As a uniquely human ailment and as a possibly culture-bound disorder, social phobia is worthy of anthropological study. This study seeks to establish a basis for further anthropological research and fieldwork by determining the extent to which social phobia and shyness have been discussed in past anthropological literature. Word frequency analysis, a technique from the rapidly developing field of information science, is applied to thirty-six years of the anthropological journals with the top ten impact factors as determined by Journal Citation Reports. A selection of words related to social phobia is searched for and counted. Conclusions include implications for further study, proposed solutions to anthropology′s endemic gray literature problem, and reasons why social phobia should be considered for further specific anthropological research.
Documentation of Library Compliance in Regional Accreditation Standards: A Survey of Accreditation Liaisons and Librarians of Level-One Institutions of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Donna Ballard, District Library Director, East Mississippi Community College, USA Due to the complicated differences in levels of academic institutions, it is difficult to determine a specific set of guidelines for accreditation of libraries. The purpose of studying the perceptions of accreditation liaisons and librarians of Level-One, Associate degree-granting institutions, was to examine their compliance to regional accreditation standards of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). This study included the following: (1) the surveyed institutions′ accreditation findings or sanctions; (2) whether documents of compliance were provided for the findings or sanctions; (3) the importance of standards and regulations in documenting library compliance for accreditation; (4) examples of supporting documentation provided by the institutions; (5) the importance of the new accreditation standards for libraries; and (6) the importance of types of data required in new accreditation standards. Suggestions for further research on the documentation of library compliance in regional accreditation standards include multiple collaborative authors, with varying skills such as survey writing, statistical analyses, and experiences in accreditation. In addition to SACS, other regional agencies could be the focus of similar research, which would help libraries understand accreditation procedures. The inclusion of librarians on accreditation committees and in training sessions, as well as collaboration with overall institutional effectiveness could be studied and encouraged.
Publishing Patterns and Authorship in the Scholarly Literature of Digital Object Identifiers: A Bibliometric Analysis Donna Ballard, District Library Director, East Mississippi Community College, USA A Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is an alpha-numeric standard for the use of identifying intellectual property within computer networks and is a recent trend in the field of the electronic publishing of scholarly articles. This study examines the publishing patterns in the scholarly literature of digital object identifiers. The research includes core journals, professional affiliations, gender, and geographic locations. Additionally, the primary disciplines represented in the authorship of the DOI literature are observed.
Characters of Color. A Content Analysis of Picture Books in a Virgin Islands Elementary School Library Marilyn M. Brissett, Gladys A. Abraham Elementary School, Virgin Islands Department of Education, USA The purpose of this qualitative content analysis is to determine if the picture book collection at the Gladys A. Abraham Elementary School Library accurately reflects and therefore serves the needs of the majority of its students. A disparity exists between the actual ethnicities represented by the school population and those depicted in the picture book collection. Less than ten percent of the books most frequently selected by kindergarten through 3rd grade students depict realistic stories and a disproportionate percentage (88%) of books have settings in the United States. This study can be used as a model to examine elementary school libraries on each of the three main islands (St. Croix, St. John, and St. Thomas) in order to identify how well their collections reflect the ethnicities of their students. Bibliometric Study for a Three-Year Citation Analysis of Scholarly Literature on K-12 Education Technology Christine A. Garrett Davis,
School of
Library and Information Science, The University of Southern Mississippi; Bertha
C. Boschulte Middle School, Virgin Islands Department of Education, USA The purpose of this study is to identify certain basic elements of citation behavior as it pertains to literature in ″education technology.″ Journals and books were ranked highly as scholarly sources of literature in ″education technology.″ Other notable occurrences of scholarly communication included government reports, the Internet, periodicals, conference papers, theses and dissertations. Journal citations were spread across multiple disciplines and subject categories without yielding a dominant number of occurrences to unique journal titles. The tendency of journal citations to overlap disciplines and subject categories revisits a suggested trend by earlier research of interdisciplinary linkages that should be further explored.
4-5. SESSION TITLE: Using qualitative and quantitative methods in digital library education and research Coordinators:Sirje Virkus, Lecturer, Tallinn University, Institute of Information Studies, Estonia, e-mail: sirvir@tlu.ee&Aira Lepik, Associate Professor, Tallinn University, Institute of Information Studies, Estonia, e-mail: aira.lepik@tlu.ee
Scope and rationale: Access to the wide variety of available resources through the World Wide Web has greatly changed the nature of the reference desk in the academic library. In pure numbers alone, the face-to-face reference transaction has seen a severe downward spiral. This does not mean, however, that individual users are navigating the wealth of electronic and print resources alone. The use of chat/IM reference, co-browsing, class related resource pages, and other means of pushing information out to our users have changed the face of reference. How do we assess reference services in the academic library today? What do we define as reference events? What are the new service models that are required to facilitate our users′ access to information? This panel will explore these questions and others with a view to the issues, challenges, and solutions to reference assessment at a large public academic library and a medium-sized private academic library in the United States.
6. SESSION TITLE: LibQUAL+ Lite and Related Experiments: All you ever wished to know and some of it in Greek Moderator: Martha
Kyrillidou, Association of Research Libraries, USA
Scope and rationale: The Association of Research Libraries has been experimenting to offer an improved LibQUAL+ survey to the hundreds of libraries that have implemented the protocol. One of the major improvements is the ability to offer a shorter version of the survey that reduces respondent burden and improves response rates, a protocol known as LibQUAL+ Lite. Research published in 2009 (Kyrillidou, 2009 and Thompson, Kyrillidou, and Cook, 2009) indicates that the LibQUAL+ Lite protocol reduces respondent burden and improves response rates. Furthermore, LibQUAL+ Lite and long scores are essentially equivalent and there is no need for score conversion. The low effect sizes regarding the difference in the scores for total scores, dimension scores and linking item scores indicate that there was little, if any, practical difference between responses in the long and Lite forms. For the purposes of the research presented in this session we are proposing to analyze data from more than 12,000 library users from institutions that implemented randomized control trials during the spring 2008, fall 2008, and spring and fall 2009 survey cycles. The sample of institutions implemented the Lite protocol in a variety of languages: American English, British English, French, Greek and Hebrew. The Greek version was the first implementation in this language and was initiated and implemented successfully at the University of Cyprus. The University of Cyprus implementation was also the first multi-lingual implementation in more than two languages - it was implemented simultaneously in three languages: Greek, English, and French. The papers presented here will attempt: (a)To ascertain the equivalence of long and Lite scores for the desired and minimum expectation scales identifying whether there are differences in the total, subscale, and linking item scores between the long and the Lite protocol overall as well as within the three main user groups: undergraduate students, graduate students and faculty. (b)To examine the reliability and validity of LibQUAL+ Lite and long forms for different languages, institutions and user groups. (c)To establish a set of norms for LibQUAL+ Lite for institutions to use for benchmarking purposes. (d)To compare experimental methods for point of use surveys and identify lessons learned from their implementations. Presenters: Bruce Thompson, Martha Kyrillidou, Colleen Cook. Reliability and Validity of LibQUAL+ Lite: 2008-2009 Beta Results Colleen Cook, Bruce Thompson, Martha Kyrillidou. LibQUAL+ Lite Norms: 2008-2009 Beta Results Martha Kyrillidou, Coleen Cook, Bruce Thomson. Differences in LibQUAL+ Lite and long scores for desired and minimum expectations scales: 2008-2009 Beta Results Terry Plum and Martha Kyrillidou. Point of Use Web surveys: yet another experimental approach
7. SESSION TITLE: Measuring usage and impact of online content provided by academic libraries Session organizer: Herbert Gruttemeier, International Relations, INIST-CNRS, President ICSTI, France. Presenters: 1. JoAnn Jacoby, University of Illinois Library, New Service Model Programs Coordinator, USA and Paula Kaufman, University Librarian and Dean of Libraries, USA The University Library as Strategic Investment: Results from the Return on Investment Study, Phases I & II. How can university libraries demonstrate their value to the institution in easily articulated quantitative terms that focus not on inputs, but on outputs and impact? This presentation reports on a Return on Investment study undertaken at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign that sought to measure the return on the university's investment in its library, as well as a follow-up (Phase II) study involving eight institutions worldwide. Both phases of this study sought to develop a quantitative measure that indicates the library's value in supporting the university's strategic goals, including the impact of electronic resources on faculty productivity and grant funding. The results of this study represent only one approach to the challenge of assessing the value of the library in higher education, but can be a key component in telling the story of the benefits of investing in academic and research libraries. Keywords: University Libraries, Return on Investment, Measuring Value, Academic Library Assessment 2. Magali Colin, User monitoring Project Manager, INIST-CNRS, Dominique Lechaudel, Database Administrator, INIST-CNRS Usage statistics for online resources made available by libraries through portals: the INIST-CNRS example. The Institute for Scientific and Technical Information (INIST), a unit of CNRS, France′s national scientific research organization, is in charge of negotiating, on behalf of CNRS, with publishers and producers access to the electronic resources (journals, databases, added-value services) contained in INIST′s various information portals. INIST-CNRS is also in charge of the technical implementation and management of these portals. It provides publishers with a single IP address by portal and manages password and authorized users′ logins of each CNRS unit. To know more about how the portals′ content is used, and in particular to fill the existing gap in terms of lack of data between resource usage (articles accessed) and resource user (scientists and laboratories accessing these articles), INIST started developing its own internal statistics, based on publishers′ data, CNRS user directories and internally observed logfiles. The obtained data prove to be more homogeneous and more exhaustive than the ones previously received from publishers. Most importantly, they enable to have a closer look at costs related to usage. The presentation will focus on how these statistics are established and handled by INIST, on what kind of data INIST collects and why, and how they are analyzed. Keywords: Scholarly information, Library portals, Usage statistics, Acquisitions 3. Helle Lauridsen, Summon service Manager, Serials Solutions Usage as an Acquisitions tool, is it valid? All over the globe Academic libraries are fighting the budget cuts brought on by the financial crisis and one of the most common ways of making ends meet is cancelling the least used products. However as recent research shows that users in many cases are abandoning the library in favour of open web search engines like Google, this might be a very dangerous policy for the future of the academic library −is the present usage statistics really reliable enough to make such big decisions? And wouldn′t it be better to try to make the users actually USE the already paid for library content? This talk will investigate these problems as seen by international researchers and the measures various institutions have used to drive their users to the library content by using locally developed Web 2.0 systems based on library catalogue statistics, as well as the broader initiatives such as changing the entire way the library website and search system works by the help of Next generation interfaces and Web Scale Discovery searching. Keywords: Acquisition, Driving usage, Data analysis, Google, Financial crisis, Next generation interface, Web scale discovery 4. Philip Vaughan, Program Manager, UKPMC, British Library Developing UK PubMed Central in response to user behaviour UK PubMed Central (UKPMC) is a free digital archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature (http://ukpmc.ac.uk ). Based on PubMed Central (PMC) in the USA, it is being developed into an innovative resource for the UK research community. It is funded by the 8 major funders of medical research in the UK. UKPMC now gives users access to 1.7 million full text journal articles, as well as 19 million PubMed abstracts, UK National Health Service (NHS) Clinical Guidelines and PhD theses. It also incorporates grant reporting tools to enable researchers and their funders to manage their publication portfolios and assess the impact of funded research through metrics such as citation analysis. The new interface (launched in January 2010) has been developed and shaped by feedback from the user community. The UKPMC team based at the British Library conducted a number of focus groups, workshops and one-to-one testing sessions to trial interface designs and new search functionality (such as text mining) and to understand the workflows of the user community. The team has also conducted detailed statistical analysis of user behaviour on the site which has influenced design and functionality. The result is an innovative service driven by user requirements. Keywords: Statistics, Scholarly information, Website design, Text mining, Open Archive
8. SESSION TITLE: Balanced Scorecard tools in libraries Scope & rationale: This session seeks the dynamic face of 21st century library, derived by the balanced scorecard (BSC) framework. It focuses to: Cause-and-effect relationships, Relationship between cost and profit, Performance measurement systems, Financial and non-financial measures, Felationship among learning measures and innovative processes, Scenario planning as a method of BSC. Strategy effected by the internal and external conditions, BSC, linear and non-linear forecasting, 9. SESSION TITLE: Human resources and Knowledge Management Scope & rationale: This session seeks the framework for intangible asset management in libraries and information centres. It is no longer impossible for libraries to compete in a knowledge-based economy without human resources′ involvement. The most valuable equipment is the knowledge of their employees that produces new ideas, innovation, and technology. The session focuses to: The strategy of revealing and identification of the intangible asset management, The contribution of the intangible asset to the library processes and the financial improvement, The monitoring of assets to functional departments of the organization and the consequential effectiveness, The knowledge management concept and technology, The connection of learning strategies to the organization's mission and strategic planning process. 10. SESSION TITLE: Performance Measurement and Competitiveness Scope & rationale: This session aims to declare the relationships between performance indicators and performance results. Especially it examines: The criteria of performance indicators (PI) selection for libraries and the kinds of PI. The different methodologies proposed for library assessment, The technological effect, Financial indicators, Organizational performance, The comparison among governmental and non-governmental organizations' performance. 11. SESSION TITLE: Financial Management for Excellence Scope & rationale:
This session seeks about how libraries and information centres are currently budgeting. Some relevant topics are: Survey research, interviewees and annual reports, within a single library and/or samples of libraries and information centres across multiple countries, are the methodological tools, Budgeting processes, in connection with the operational and strategic planning, are primarily the conceptual organizational problem that usually justifies the Excellency, Cost assessment and cost effectiveness are crucial decision making factors that justify the competitiveness of the organization, Fund raising methods, best practices and lessons learned, Risks Assessment and Control measures.
12. SESSION TITLE: Development and Assessment of Digital Repositories Scope & rationale: Establishing quality control into digital libraries, institutional repositories, disciplinary repositories, learning object repositories or cultural heritage repositories meant various complex issues including technical support for quality evaluation, automation of quality assessment for log files or implementation of the their organisational framework. Nowadays, Librarians and Information specialists are challenged to manage and organize these digital libraries, storage, digital knowledge mining, digital reference services, electronic information services, and manage the archive and their access. The session is targeted shedding light on trusted digital repositories and their challenges, such as: Preservation of their records for the next generations. Demonstration on fiscal responsibility and sustainability. Development of new metrics of their usages. Evaluation and best practices. 13. SESSION TITLE: Data Seal of Approval Quality guidelines for digital research data in the Netherlands Scope & rationale: Objective of the Data Seal of Approval is to safeguard high-quality and reliable processing of research data for the future without it entailing new thresholds, regulations or high costs. Making data future-proof can be accomplished by ensuring that data sets and metadata meet certain requirements. In consultation with large data producers and managers, DANS laid down what those requirements need to be in its Datakeurmerk (Data Seal of Approval), which will continue to be developed further. The 17 quality guidelines for digital research data formulated in Data Seal of Approval are of interest to researchers and institutions that establish digital research files, to organizations that archive research files, and to users of research data. The seal of approval: Gives researchers the assurance that their research results will be stored in a reliable manner and can be reused, Provides research sponsors with the guarantee that research results will remain available for reuse, Enables researchers, in a reliable manner, to assess research data to be reused, Allows data repositories to archive and distribute research data efficiently, The associated guidelines relate to the implementation of these criteria and focus on three operators: The data producer, The party responsible for the data repository and The data consumer. 14. SESSION TITLE: Technology transfer and Innovation in library management Scope & rationale: The recent technological developments and the economic crisis have their impact to libraries and the interdependent context they act. The session seeks the strategies and lessons learned relevant to libraries management for survival. The transformation of the library involves initiatives and the organization commitment. Consequently, the redesign of responsibilities for the staff is a matter for research. Innovative management Human resources management Competence management Communications in organizations Intercultural management Information technology and knowledge management Library's ethics and social responsibility. 15. SESSION TITLE: The Change of Libraries and the Managerial techniques Scope & rationale: Libraries are in a phase of continuing changes. The challenge of competitiveness and excellence guide to modern management strategies. In order to survive, libraries start re-thinking and redesigning their administrative services. It is a matter of research, how does organisational culture and structure effect on the choice and implementation of modern managerial processes. It is also researchable if libraries resist or not to the improvement of efficiency and the flexibility of organisational structure, Human resources management, Organizational challenges, Strategic management, Re-engineering change in higher education, Fast-responded library, Learning organization. 16. SESSION TITLE: Information literacy: Information sharing, Democracy and lifelong learning Scope & rationale: The session seeks the new trends in information literacy, the innovative ideas and the methods of the implementation and the assessment of information literate people. The session focuses on the following topics: Information Literacy and citizenship, Strategic approaches to Information Literacy, New pedagogic challenges for libraries Collaborative work between librarians and academic staff, Independent learning skills, online information skills and lifelong learning, Concepts of learning, teaching and the developments in networked technology, Staff development and Information Literacy, New areas of practice and research, Information literacy projects on special scientific disciplines, Advocacy, marketing and promotion, Benchmarking, Evaluation and assessment. 17. SESSION TITLE: Library Cooperation: Problems and Challenges at the beginning of the 21st century Scope & rationale: Library′s cooperation should be developed widely. The relations among libraries are dependent on the network environment and technology. However, the cooperation and needs organizational infrastructure and human support. Some common items on library cooperation and sharing are the following: Union catalog and storage equipment, Collection policy and collection development, Joint acquisitions (purchasing, access, inter-library loan and document delivery), Joint digitization′s projects, Local, regional and country heritage, Human resource in local, regional and country level, Organizational culture The management and the economics of the cooperation. 18. SESSION TITLE: Information and Knowledge Services Scope & rationale: The importance of the Information and Knowledge Services advanced because of the support of technology. The new conditions bring new theories and technologies, new processes, tools and standards, and team work. Especially, the session focuses on: Resource development policy, Resource project description, Research and development of the services, Knowledge discovery and knowledge creation, Knowledge mining, Team building and management. 19. SESSION TITLE: Human resources and competencies for the 21st century Scope & rationale: The qualities of library director and of the staff are crucial for the success of knowledge innovation. A variety of multilateral skills are requested for the achievement of the competitiveness. On the other hand, staff development is prerequisite in order that they fulfil innovative, flexible goals. Topics: Staff training, Creativity skills, Lessons learned, Ideas exchange, Core competencies, Fast response organisation, Reorganisation restructure, The impact of internal and external factors, Expectations satisfaction services system analysis, Advocacy of profession and professionals. 20. SESSION TITLE: Technology in the Communication: an interactive tool for development Scope & rationale: The session discusses the change that come in libraries, museums and archives by using technology. One of them is Web 2.0 which brings Library 2.0 and Culture 2.0. There are open topics for discussion, such as the organizational structure, the management of changes, the strategy and the potential users′policy. Topics: New audiences, new target groups, potential users. Social networks and social cohesion. The diversity and the participation to library′s initiatives. The scientific knowledge and sustain cultural participation. New models of interaction and participation for future libraries, archives and museums. Effective models of participation and collaboration to improve services and products. Analytical Communication and Knowledge Management. Means and methods for Knowledge Communication. 21. SESSION TITLE: E-Learning and the contribution of the libraries, archives and museums Scope & rationale: The session seeks the effect of the e-learning to the operation of libraries, archives and museums. It also seeks how libraries, archives and museums distribute to the effectiveness and efficiency of e-learning projects. Topics: The value of learning and the new educational concept Purposes and Objectives of E-learning Educational, technological, organizational processes New roles of the library and new services Distance learning and the role of the library Knowledge Based Systems and their Applications Knowledge Communication and Learning Evaluation methodologies Effect on Research, Peer review publishing. 22. SESSION TITLE: Scholarly Information and the new communication technologies Scope & rationale: The session aims to find out the context of scholarly communication, the influence of new technologies and innovative business models to research activities and knowledge dissemination. Topics: Knowledge Reception, Depreciation, Evaluation and Estimation, Conceptual and Organizational Perspectives of Knowledge Communication, Library services and operations relevant to the scholarly communication process, Creation, organization and structure of scholarly resources, Preservation, archives, retrieval, availability, Scholarly communications campains, Benefits of researchers, faculties, students, Library's lessons learned, The needs of scholars, students, the academy, and society, New Publishing Models, Processes and Systems, Open Access and Open Source.
23. SESSION TITLE: Quantitative and Qualitative Methods in Library Management: a Practical Approach
Coordinator: Prof.dr. Angela Repanovici, Transilvania University of Brasov, Romania
How to teach Library Management?
Quality of library services is in fact the goal of a good library management. We present the method of teaching and how to do library management and practical approach using some strategical models for Information Science students in Library management course at Transilvania University of Brasov, Romania. In this paper we try to present Christin Abbot strategic model and Deming Weel scheme in libraries- PDCA (plan- do-check-act) like methods to approach strategic plans to improve different services in the library. After theoretical presentation the students do strategic plans working in teams. They are in double perspective: as users and as managers wanted to improve library services. The students are taught to use statistical methods to interpretate data. We will present the pedagogical method and the students conclusion, the very inventive strategic plans proposed by Transilvania university of Brasov, Romania students in Information Science field. Keywords: Library management, pedagogical aspects, strategic plans, statistical methods
Ane Landoy, University of Bergen Library, Norway
Using statistics - quality management in the library. In the light of the ever changing and developing technology in the libraries, library managers all across the sector and over the world need to utilize all possible means of ensuring that the quality of services remain optimal. This paper shows some of the uses of different evaluation tools in an academic library. The paper will describe the practical use of surveys, larger and smaller, questonnaires, focus groups and stake holder meetings, all of which will yield different kinds of data. As part of quality management, the practical uses of this data will be explored. Keywords: Evaluation tools, Surveys, Service quality, Quality management
Prof. dr. Luciana Cristea, Prof. dr. Angela Repanovici
Digital Library Management for Visibility of Academic Staff Scientific Research: a case study at Transilvania University of Brasov, Romania. In information society research departments of university starts to organise digital libraries with documentation in the field and with working papers like research results. At Transilvania University of Brasov we build the first institutional repository from Romania. In this paper it will be presented scientometry as a science and a fundamental instrument for determining the international value of a research department as well as for the statistical evaluation of scientific research results. The impact of the research measurable through scientometric indicators is analyzed. It will be presented the strategy to promote repository in mechatronics department. In this department are very good research results and the teaching staff involved opinion were very different. It will be elaborated the marketing strategy for implementing and developing digital repository at the Mechatronics department to Transilvania University of Braşov. Keywords: Digital libraries, Repositories, Scientific research, Mechatronics department
Manolis Koukourakis, University of Crete Library, Greece
Greek academic repositories: Policies (?) for making available scientific and cultural content. Most Greek academic institutions have in our days implemented and put into productive operation depositories for the registration, promotion and preservation of scientific / intellectual work produced in them. Many of them also operate digital repositories that contain various cultural material. The vast majority of them make use of open source repository systems, and have adopted open access policies for the disposal of the contained material to the global public through the Internet. This paper surveys the current situation with respect to systems used, interoperability standards and policies adapted, with a view to the visibility of the contained material, examining if and how the need for making available Greek material to the general public is served by recent developments regarding IRs and open access in Greece. Keywords: Digital libraries, Institutional repositories, Open Access, National policy, Interoperability standards, Metadata harvesters
Luiza Baptista Melo and Cesaltina Pires, University of Evora, Portugal
Electronic academic libraries services valuation: a case study of the Portuguese electronic scientific information consortium b-on. Most public institutions are under increasing pressure regarding their budgets. Portuguese research and academic institutions are no exception and consequently it is urgent to estimate the cost and the benefits of academic libraries services. This paper explores some aspects of the value for the users of the Portuguese electronic scientific information consortium b-on (Biblioteca do Conhecimento Online). This scientific electronic scientific information consortium provides unlimited access to the researchers of academic institutions to the full texts of more than 16,750 scientific publications, via Internet, at the national level. In order to be able to estimate this value in monetary terms we used the contingent valuation method based on a willingness to pay scenario. Data was collected through an e-survey sent to the whole Portuguese academic users. The main aims of this study are: (i) to investigate how the academic community values b-on; (ii) to investigate whether the willingness to pay is influenced by a set of factors (the frequency of use, whether the user knew previously b-on or not, the type of the user, the scientific area of the user, and the institution of the user); and (iii) to estimate the demand function of b-on services as function of the price and the previously mentioned factors. In order to achieve these objectives we use several regression analysis techniques-linear probability model (LPM), Logit and Probit and Tobit models. The results show that the frequency of use, whether the user knew previously b-on or not, the type of the user and the scientific area of the user are all important explanatory variables of the willingness to pay for b-on and important determinants of demand for b-on services. Moreover, the demand for b-on services is quite sensitive to the price. Keywords: Academic libraries, Electronic sources, Impact evaluation, Logit, Probit, Tobit
Jerald Cavanagh, Institute Librarian, Limerick Institute of Technology, Republic of Ireland and Padraig Kirby, LNSS Librarian Project Coordinator, Limerick Institute of Technology, Republic of Ireland
Library Network Support Services: quantitative and qualitative measures for assessing the impact if information literacy initiatives on learners. Significant work is being done by many international organisations to measure the information society (UNESCO 2008). Recent developments have seen an interest in quantitative and qualitative measures in the field of information literacy now widely considered the trademark pedagogy of librarians (Kapitzke 2003 cited in Montiel-Overall 2007). International frameworks for assessing information literacy through which positive developments at both international and national levels can be demonstrated and future efforts can be better focused are being ident if ied. This article reports on the Library Network Support Services (LNSS) project- a collaboration to implement and champion online information literacy initiatives across a consortium consisting of a university, a teacher education institution and two Institutes of Technology in the Republic of Ireland The paper describes the origin and development of the LNSS, deals with the growing importance of information literacy- in the Republic of Ireland and internationally. We will describe the process and methodology for implementing online information literacy initiatives including information literacy teaching across the consortium and also suggest possibilities for measuring the impact of information literacy initiatives on learners for the development of knowledge societies.
Ion Voncila, Mioara Voncila, Dunarea de Jos, University of Galati, Romania Management of integrated systems for digital information porcessing using biomimetic structures. This paper presents a new principle for the structuring of integrated systems which may used in organizing the institutional repositories (IR) at the level of university consortium and in improving the management of digital information. The new principle is based on the imitations of the most performant biologic structures. The structural particularity of most of them systems is the arborescent organization, nonlinear and complementary double structures like in the case of DNA, of the kydneys, the lungs, etc. The structures suggested in the present paper provides the highest rate of information transfer and highly qualitative management, is the one which imitates the arborescent structure of the lungs. The aim of the paper is to prove that the use of biologic structures, validated in time as regards their functional stability, in the development of same complex integrated systems for the processing of digital information is a way to optimize the quality performance of the technical systems and to ensure a qualitative management. The validity of the methods suggested in this paper is demonstrated by means of methods specific to the fractals and constructal theories. Keywords: Digital information management, Institutional repositories, Biomimetic structures, Fractal theory, Constructal theory
Mihaela Dragu, Romanian Academy Library, Bucharest, Romania
Digital Library: trend and challenge in digital world. The digital era brings along major changes concerning the manner to save, access and disseminate information. Digital Library is conceived as collective memory of the cultural patrimony, the values of the human intelligence being distributed in a global system of universal knowledge. The dissemination of information is no more possible than using flexible and open systems. Within this new paradigm, Library has to redefine its strategies. New competences, new abilities and more creativity are now needed in a competition which has to answer the challenges of digital era. A problem to discuss is to what extent digitization is to be integrated into the profession of librarian, if it involves an excessive valorization of this profession, while the Library transforms itself in a complex, progressive and dynamic system. Is it true that such an evolution can determine loss of profession identity facing the new technologies? Even much time from now on, the user will need mediation to support his approach. For the librarian this means another level of implication, achieved only by the extention of his own qualification. The digital era requests higher competences about how to manage information as compared to the traditional ones. Digitization, instead of cancelling the profession of librarian, can create the frame to confirm the importance of this profession, opening new perspectives for it. But, nothing which is fundamental will disappear. In the same time, it is no more possible to ignore changings in a world of tranformations, whose dimensions are amplified by the level of globalisation. Keywords: Digital library, Digital era, Digitization, Librarian