Reordering Ranganathan: Shifting User Behaviors, Shifting Priorities

Megan Pinheiro da Silva

Connaway, Lynn Silipigni, and Ixchel M. Faniel. 2014. Reordering Ranganathan: Shifting User Behaviors, Shifting Priorities. Dublin, OH: OCLC Research.  http://www.oclc.org/content/dam/research/publications/library/2014/oclcresearch-reordering-ranganathan-2014.pdf

Summary

Connaway and Faniel’s OCLC Research Report is written for academic librarians who face unique challenges and opportunities in working with university researchers—faculty and students—who need different kinds of library services, particularly in the area of data collection and management. The authors devote a chapter to each of S. R. Ranganathan’s 5 Laws of Library Science. The introduction, “Same Laws, New Lens.” gives the historical context of the laws and posit that the laws are still very much relevant today. Each proceeding chapter focuses on one law giving its background context, their interpretation of the law, and its application in today’s information services. Connaway and Faniel place the 4^th law—save the time of the reader—1^st as they argue that time is the most precious commodity for the user today. Connaway and Faniel interpret save time of the reader to mean, “embed library systems and services into users’ existing workflows” (p. 105). The reason given for this interpretation is that users have relocated their information activity to the Internet. Convenience is included in saving time. The 2^nd law--every person his or her book the authors reinterpret as to be “know your community and its needs”. The 2^nd law is about accessing the content; if you cannot find what you need, saving time is useless. The 3^rd and 4^th laws-–books are for use and every book its reader—are about developing the infrastructure to deliver the materials and increasing the discoverability/use of those resources within the users’ workflow. The 5^th law—a library is a growing organism—is the only law that is not reinterpreted, as it remains true in a literal and figurative sense. The ultimate goal of this resource is to help libraries and librarians “as they think about making changes in practice and developing an agenda for future research” (p. 105).

Evaluation

This report is well worth the time it takes to read it. It has helped me to understand collection/connection development in the context of the current shift in user behavior to Web-based information services. It also confirms my belief that librarians who acknowledge users’ information preferences, reach out to patrons to better understand their needs and frustrations, and who are willing to bring resources to where it is most convenient for the user, are needed more than ever. Librarianship is growing more and more complex and time continues to become scarcer and scarcer it seems. Connaway and Faniel address complexities in the field that I had never imagined—such as library systems that are complicated even for researchers to use—with an authority and compassion that comes from understanding library systems, research, and user needs. But the icing on the cake is their reinterpretation of Ranganathan’s 5 Laws of Library Science (1931) which bring all the complexity back to the basics: all our services, systems, collections, should facilitate the access and use of information for our patrons.

From Library to Learning Commons: A Metamorphosis.

Olsen, Kristina

Diggs, V., & Loertscher, D. V. (2009). From Library to Learning Commons: A Metamorphosis. Teacher Librarian, 36(4), 32–38. Retrieved from http://libaccess.sjlibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eft&AN=502975209&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Summary: A teacher-librarian transforms her school library over the course of several years from an ordinary library into a vibrant learning commons. The article has commentary throughout her description of the process that point out the ways that the steps she took could be translated into any library. The secret appears to be to create client-side focused programming to bring patrons in.

Commentary: According to the article, "There is much more to this transformation than just a name change, new paint, carpeting, and furnishings." However, that always seemed to be what articles prior to this one indicated: a facelift will transform the culture of your library. Like other articles, it has an anecdotal story about how one library changed from a tired, worn-out, unused space into a learning commons where everyone in the school goes to learn. However, unlike those other articles, the commentary detailed why things worked and how the specific actions taken by that teacher librarian could be applied in other situations. The most important takeaway is probably that the program is much more important than the space. Once the programs are in place, people are more likely to want to transform the environment. The article helped me see that I don’t have to have "all the things" so much as having the desire to better serve the school and community and creating the programs to do that.

OERs as a Social Platform

Peretiako-Soto, Alexandria

Cohen, A., Reisman, S.l, & Sperling, B. B. (1 October 2015). Personal spaces 
in public repositories as a facilitator for open educational resource usage.  
International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 16(4), 
156-176.

Summary: 

OERs are offering many benefits to educators and students as they allow for free
access to many resources. Learning object repositories are a popular means of 
sharing OERs as well as storing them and accessing them. A study was done on 
OER user behaviors such as use, commenting, learning exercises used for, and 
content building materials. Both OER collections and users are growing over time 
showing that they are becoming increasingly important and popular. There are 6 
types of contributors to the OERs studied: teachers, librarians, admins, faculty, 
students, and other. Faculty members were markedly high in uploading content as 
well as submitting learning exercises. OER repositories show high rates of reuse 
of materials, with almost 30% of content being reused. The ability for personal 
expression among repository users would be beneficial. Many repositories require
member status to upload, edit, or comment on resources, but allow anyone to view 
them.

Evaluation:

This article was very interesting as it discussed not only the relevance and benefits 
of OERs, but also the social aspect of OERs. For instance, who is uploading content? 
Who is viewing it? Are people starting educational discussions amongst each other in 
the comments? Who is allowed to comment? As someone who is fairly new to the 
world of OERs, I was not aware that there were platforms used where content users 
and generators could interact with one another.

Collection Mapping of Topical Collections at UC Riverside

Peretiako-Soto, Alexandria

Article Citation:
Haren, S. M. (18 June, 2015). Data visualization as a tool for collection assessment: 
Mapping the latin american studies collection at university of california, riverside.  
Library Collections, Acquisitions, & Technical Services. (38)3-4. pp. 70-81.     
 https://doi.org/10.1080/14649055.2015.1059219


Summary:

This article describes how a university employed the use of visual aids to better 
understand the content of a current topical collection, much like the collection 
mapping technique practiced in this course. Collection mapping and the use of 
visual aids is a key method large libraries can use to understand the contents of 
their collection, including size, strengths, formats, etc. Collection mapping helped 
UCR find that their Latin American Studies collection was heavily print based, 
multilingual, globally sourced, and primarily focused on history and literature. 
With this visual aid, the library has a good grounds to determine how effectively 
this topical collection is meeting this departments curricular needs.

Evaluation:

This article served as a nice supplement to the course text readings on creating 
a collection map. It explained the ways in which developing a visual aid helps 
understand the collections strengths, weaknesses, and content in general. It 
allows individual topics to be looked at and evaluated for relevance to the 
collection as a whole. A good article for anyone looking to read more on 
collection mapping, especially in academic libraries!

Solving the Self-Published Puzzle.

Macchio, Monica

Landgraf, G. (2015).  Solving the Self-Published Puzzle.  American Libraries, 46 (11/12), 44-47.  Retrieved from http://libaccess.sjlibrary.org/login?

 Summary

     This article from 2015 highlights the problems that public libraries are faced with when local authors want to have their items included in collections.  One of the public libraries mentioned is in Canada.  The staff at the Glen Ellyn Public Library has decided to include some self-published books only if they don’t have books on those topics.  The library launched a makerspace area to facilitate the creation of these materials. 

     Another library profiled is Mulnomah County Library in Oregon.  This library partnered with an e-book self-publishing platform called Smashwords.  Since Smashwords has a partnership with OverDrive, the library’s e-book vendor, it helps make purchasing these titles easier and less time-consuming.  In 2015, about 2,000 people were visiting the library’s Overdrive site per day.  Another stipulation that is placed on the self-published author is that these items must be donated to the library.  Librarians will then provide original cataloging to provide bibliographic records for these self-published works.  The library had 300 requests per year from self-published authors, but it accepts significantly less works. 

Evaluation

     The author, David Landgraf is a regular contributor to American Libraries magazine.  I liked his use of typewriter graphics because it was a reminder that not all self-published authors know the latest tools to use when creating their works.  I liked his touch of including the hot topic of Makerspaces to showcase the partnerships created between Public Libraries and the communities these writers live in.  He used quotes sparingly yet effectively to engage my attention. 

LGBTQ Titles in Academic Library Youth Collections

Ramirez, Carmina

Williams, V. K. ginger. williams@wichita. ed., & Deyoe, N. nancy. deyoe@wichita. ed. (2015). LGBTQ Titles in Academic Library Youth Collections. Library Resources & Technical Services, 59(2), 62–71. Retrieved from http://libaccess.sjlibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lls&AN=102629829&site=ehost-live&scope=site 

The authors of this study analyzed the LGBTQ collections of academic libraries to find out how well equipped they were. The role of academic libraries is to collect youth literature for student teachers and librarians to evaluate and use books with youth. Their study shoed that the academic libraries lacked LGBTQ titles for many different reasons such as lack of need, limited budgets, unfamiliarity with this emerging literature, and limited time to devote to collection development. The authors hope that the study will prompt librarians to assess their collections to be more inclusive. Some of the   recommendations made by the authors specified that librarians include questions in their surveys about the needs of LGBTQ titles, updating collection procedures to consider LGBTQ themed titles and assess whether local collections provide adequate access to LGBTQ themed youth literature for curriculum support.

This study is very extensive and important. Academic libraries support the development of teacher and librarian programs therefore having access to LGBTQ titles to evaluate and familiarize with is vital to their education.