DE Oracle @ UMUC

ILS Repurposes LibGuides to Improve Evaluation of Electronic Resources

Lenore England

Digital Resources Librarian

Information and Library Services

Published: September-October 2011

Category: » Information-and-library-services » Support-and-services

LibGuides (from Springshare, Inc.) is an online service that UMUC's Information and Library Services has been using for several years primarily to develop subject and course guides for teaching, learning, and research (see http://www.umuc.edu/library/libresources/subjects.cfm). The Library recently extended LibGuides to help manage its complex electronic resource evaluation process with a new, limited-access LibGuide called Electronic Resources Management Evaluation Central (Evaluation Central).

Effective management and evaluation of electronic resources-which have experienced rapid growth in recent years-have become increasingly important. Articles, eBooks, videos, and other formats of electronic resources in UMUC Library databases provide faculty and students with timely and relevant research that enhances learning in the online classroom. Assessment of these electronic resources is an ongoing effort that involves librarians as well as faculty.

Typically, the five-month evaluation process begins every year in the early fall and concludes in the following January or early February. During the evaluation period, librarians initially review the electronic resources that may be discontinued, added, or upgraded and also consider database trials. Library liaisons communicate this information to their assigned academic units, and UMUC Assistant Deans, Academic Directors, Department Chairs, Program Directors, and other faculty are given an opportunity (generally 4-6 weeks) to share their comments on the proposed changes. This input into the selection, cancellation, or upgrade of resources is a crucial component of the evaluation process.

The Library currently provides access to about 135 electronic resources, including library research databases containing ejournals, ebooks, and other types of scholarly materials. During the annual evaluation period, approximately 100 new resources are also reviewed, for a total of roughly 235 electronic resource evaluations per year. Factors considered throughout the evaluation process, while keeping in mind the library’s anticipated financial resources in the coming fiscal year, include the following:

Over the past few years, the Library's electronic resources staff examined several Web 2.0 tools with an eye toward improving the efficiency of the multifaceted review process, seeking to bring together divergent resources and tools and organize them on a central site. After initially setting up a blog for this purpose, the staff determined that the blog format alone was not sufficient.

By thinking outside the box, the library staff came to see the LibGuides tool could be used to support the evaluation effort by serving as a repository for all the layers of information related to the evaluation process. LibGuides offers several advantages: It allows librarians to post content from the Web; embed videos, RSS, and podcasts; customize its look and organization; add widgets and seamlessly connect to other online services; and distribute content and services. In addition, because LibGuides was already in use at UMUC, the library staff was familiar with the tool and thus could implement it quickly and in a cost-effective manner.

The Evaluation Central site developed from LibGuides serves as an internal organizational and knowledge management tool for library staff and is grouped into sections that follow the chronology of the evaluation process. To facilitate the review, electronic resources, spreadsheets, analysis reports, blogs, and vendor sites are linked within the pages. Checklists track the progress of the evaluation. All of these elements are displayed in an easy-to-use format.

The Final Evaluation Decisions/Budget page from the Evaluation Central site.

The Evaluation Central site has proven to be an effective tool for managing the electronic resources evaluation process from a single location. It has enabled all Library staff to understand the process for reviewing electronic resources at UMUC. The process itself is now more efficient because of the time saved searching for all the necessary information. UMUC librarians have shared the Evaluation Central idea and their experiences with the broader academic library profession through presentations at national library conferences and articles in peer-reviewed academic journals.

Dr. Diane L. Finley, adjunct professor of psychology at UMUC, noted that the site is beneficial to faculty engaged in the evaluation process and helps them be better informed and involved in the decision-making about appropriate electronic resources for students:

I think that Evaluation Central has made the process of how the library chooses databases and other materials much more transparent. Faculty can see how much items cost and that helps with making a decision about how important various items really are when we are asked for input from the library. [Evaluation Central] allows faculty to be more involved with the choice of library resources and also is a way to get information about new items.

Several improvements to the evaluation process and the Evaluation Central site are currently in progress. The site will evolve over time to connect to other online tools and resources, making it even more flexible and a critical part of electronic resource planning and management.

If you are interested in learning more about the electronic resources evaluation process, please contact Library Resources.

Reference

England, L., & Fu, L. (2011). Electronic resources evaluation central: Using-off-the-shelf software, Web 2.0 tools, and LibGuides to manage an electronic resources evaluation process. Journal of Electronic Resources Librarianship, 23(1), 30-42. doi:10.1080/1941126X.2011.551093