Location
Thad Cochran Center 218
Presentation Type
Concurrent Session
Start Date
27-4-2018 2:00 PM
Description
IR managers are often tasked with proving the value of their programs. Stakeholders want to know that the time, money, and staffing they have invested in developing the IR is successful. The challenge of how success is defined is a matter of much debate within the digital library community. Content reuse, or how often and in what ways digital library materials are utilized and repurposed, can be a key indicator of the impact and value of a digital collection. Traditional library analytics focus almost entirely on simple access statistics, which do not show how users utilize or transform unique materials from digital collections. The danger in this approach, is that these digital objects are then compared to journal or database access statistics, and found wanting. This lack of distinction, combined with a lack of standardized assessment approaches, makes it difficult to develop user-responsive collections, or highlight the value of these types of specialized content. This in turn presents significant challenges for developing the appropriate staffing, system infrastructure, and long-term funding models needed to support digital collections like IRs.
The grant project Developing a Framework for Measuring Reuse of Digital Objects, an IMLS-funded project (LG-73-17-0002-17) by the Digital Library Federation Assessment Interest Group (DLF-AIG), is working to address this critical area. The work has begun with an in-depth needs assessment of the Digital Library community to determine desired functionality of a reuse assessment toolkit. The development of well-defined requirements and use cases will serve as the building blocks of an assessment toolkit that goes beyond use, and focuses on transformation.
This presentation will review the methodology, goals, and results thus far of the grant project, including top-level takeaways from survey data analysis and focus group sessions. Specifically, this presentation will illustrate the variety of ways digital library objects, including those found in IRs, are being reused. Finally, the presentation will engage the audience to contribute their feedback on the project and deliverables.
Developing a Framework for Measuring Reuse of Digital Objects: Project Update
Thad Cochran Center 218
IR managers are often tasked with proving the value of their programs. Stakeholders want to know that the time, money, and staffing they have invested in developing the IR is successful. The challenge of how success is defined is a matter of much debate within the digital library community. Content reuse, or how often and in what ways digital library materials are utilized and repurposed, can be a key indicator of the impact and value of a digital collection. Traditional library analytics focus almost entirely on simple access statistics, which do not show how users utilize or transform unique materials from digital collections. The danger in this approach, is that these digital objects are then compared to journal or database access statistics, and found wanting. This lack of distinction, combined with a lack of standardized assessment approaches, makes it difficult to develop user-responsive collections, or highlight the value of these types of specialized content. This in turn presents significant challenges for developing the appropriate staffing, system infrastructure, and long-term funding models needed to support digital collections like IRs.
The grant project Developing a Framework for Measuring Reuse of Digital Objects, an IMLS-funded project (LG-73-17-0002-17) by the Digital Library Federation Assessment Interest Group (DLF-AIG), is working to address this critical area. The work has begun with an in-depth needs assessment of the Digital Library community to determine desired functionality of a reuse assessment toolkit. The development of well-defined requirements and use cases will serve as the building blocks of an assessment toolkit that goes beyond use, and focuses on transformation.
This presentation will review the methodology, goals, and results thus far of the grant project, including top-level takeaways from survey data analysis and focus group sessions. Specifically, this presentation will illustrate the variety of ways digital library objects, including those found in IRs, are being reused. Finally, the presentation will engage the audience to contribute their feedback on the project and deliverables.
Comments
Elizabeth Kelly, Digital Programs Coordinator at Loyola University New Orleans, manages digitization activities for Special Collections & Archives and is also responsible for collecting, maintaining, and assessing usage data for the library’s digitized collections. Kelly publishes and presents on archives, digital library assessment, and library pedagogy, and co-founded the Digital Library Federation Digital Library Pedagogy group.
Santi Thompson, Head of Digital Research Services at the University of Houston (UH), serves as Primary Investigator for the grant. At UH Santi develops policies and workflows for the digital components of scholarly communications, including digital research support and digital repositories. He publishes on the assessment of digital repository metadata, software, and content reuse. Santi is currently the co-facilitator of the DLF AIG.
Genya O’Gara is the Associate Director of the Virtual Library of Virginia (VIVA), a consortium of 72 academic libraries. In this position she implements consortial projects, coordinates assessment, develops collection management workflows, negotiates on behalf of members, supports committees and working groups, and assists in the preparation and management of consortial grants. She publishes and presents on emerging models of content development and assessment, with a focus on digital collections, scholarly publishing, and collaborative collection development.
Caroline Muglia, Head of Resource Sharing and Collection Assessment Librarian at the University of Southern California (USC), manages the InterLibrary Loan and Document Delivery department and leads the collection assessment efforts for the Library system. In this capacity, she is responsible for qualitative and quantitative assessment and evaluation of all resources, the return on investment, and ways in which the library resources support research at the institution. Her current research interests include collection assessment, open education resources (OER), and streaming media opportunities in libraries.
Ayla Stein, Metadata Librarian at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). She supports the metadata needs for scholarly communication, data curation, and preservation in the Library. She has published and presented on digital repository evaluation, metadata development for data repositories, and digital library system migration. Her research interests include digital repositories; metadata and linked data; and the place of metadata in critical librarianship.
Liz Woolcott, Head of Cataloging and Metadata Services at Utah State University, manages the MARC and non-MARC metadata creation of the University Libraries and is the co-founder of the Library Workflow Exchange. She publishes and presents on workflow and assessment strategies for library technical services, innovative collaboration models, the impact of organizational structures on library work, creating strategic partnerships for libraries, and building consortial consensus for metadata standards.