Jennifer Duncan

An Entrepreneurial Approach to Librarianship

Flora G. Shrode et al. — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 09:44:51 PST

Librarians from Utah State University explain recent efforts to encourage subject librarians to take a more holistic view of their roles. We are shifting from a traditional emphasis primarily on collection development and refocusing on natural connections between collections, instruction, liaison, and reference service. The poster provides background about Utah State University’s situation and explains our approach to analyzing local needs and culture to inform development of a new organizational structure. We describe our vision of subject librarianship, the process by which we assessed librarians’ ideas and goals for performing as subject librarians, and the actions we are taking to accomplish our goals.

Collaborative Copyright – or copyright is not just a library issue

Jennifer Duncan et al. — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 09:44:50 PST

Copyright law does not change often; the technology that allows us to use copyrighted works changes all the time. Faculty often assume fair use covers all use of copyrighted material in their classes (both face to face and online) and they become confused and frustrated when they learn of limitations in the electronic environment. Students rarely think about copyright; they are generally unaware of how their actions might infringe the rights of copyright holders or that they themselves might hold these rights in their own works. Librarians have traditionally had some copyright knowledge – after all copyright notices have been part of library signage for a long time, especially in copy services, interlibrary loan, and reserves.Questions about how to responsibly manage and promote use of our electronic collections, particularly in the wake of growing online course offerings, requires increasing understanding of the changing copyright landscape. Though the library may have become the go-to place for copyright information, it is becoming clear that copyright is not just a library issue for our campuses. At Utah State University a committee came together to provide support, training and service to the campus on issues related to copyright. Committee 68membership spans campus communities – from library and IT to the teaching support center and distance education office, from the trademark and patent office to the university bookstore and the university press. Bringing these diverse groups together encourages collaboration and provides a broader perspective on copyright issues to everyone involved.

Collaborative Copyright--or Copyright is Not Just a Library Issue

Jennifer Duncan et al. — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 10:43:24 PST

Questions about how to responsibly manage and promote use of our electronic collections, particularly in the wake of growing online course offerings, requires increasing understanding of the changing copyright landscape. Though the library may have become the go-to place for copyright information, it is becoming clear that copyright is not just a library issue for our campuses. At Utah State University a committee came together to provide support, training and service to the campus on issues related to copyright. Committee membership spans campus communities – from library and IT to the teaching support center and distance education office, from the trademark and patent office to the university bookstore and the university press. Bringing these diverse groups together encourages collaboration and provides a broader perspective on copyright issues to everyone involved.

Piloting Purchase on Demand: Collection Development Through Interlibrary Loan

Carol Kochan et al. — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 15:55:11 PDT

This presentation addresses Utah State University’s (USU) philosophy of patron driven acquisition and collection building, the development and workflow of our pilot interlibrary loan purchase on demand policy, and our assessment of the program through spring 2010.

The Role of Information Architecture in Designing a Third-Generation Library Website

Jennifer Duncan et al. — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 13:14:12 PDT

Library web sites have evolved over the past decade, from simple pages with a few links to complex sites that provide direct access to hundreds of different resources. In many cases, this evolution occurs with little overall planning, often resulting in web sites that are hard to manage and difficult for users to navigate. This article outlines the process of using Information Architecture (IA) to re-design a third-generation library web site from the ground up. The result was a much more usable and cohesive library web site that meets the needs of a broad range of users.

An Entrepreneurial Approach to Subject Librarianship

Jennifer Duncan et al. — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 15:50:41 PDT

Librarians from Utah State University explain recent efforts to encourage subject librarians to take a more holistic view of their roles. We are shifting from a traditional emphasis primarily on collection development and refocusing on natural connections between collections, instruction, liaison, and reference service. The poster provides background about Utah State University's situation and explains our approach to analyzing local needs and culture to inform development of a new organizational structure. We describe our vision of subject librarianship, the process by which we assessed librarians' ideas and goals for performing as subject librarians, and the actions we are taking to accomplish our goals.

Serials Standards: Envisioning a Solution to the Online Serials Management Mess

Jennifer Duncan — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:47:55 PDT

Whereas the transmission of data relating to the initiation, renewal, or cancellation of serial subscriptions has developed into a robust and standardized system based on Electronic Data Exchange (EDI), the ability of serialists to effectively exchange and manipulate information pertaining to data about the specific content and access rights to the subscriptions at a given library has become increasingly problematic. The rapid development of local and vendor systems designed to handle subscription data has necessitated that this data be standardized for smooth exchange. Ted Fens' and Regina Reynolds' discussion of the standards work underway at NISO and EDltEUR. as well as the current ISO revision of the ISSN. provides an overview of the framework for potential resolution to this challenge.

NASIG Conference Report: Serials Standards: Envisioning a Solution to the Online Serials Management Mess

Jennifer Duncan — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 10:30:08 PDT

Flex and Balance: Exercising Reform in Twenty-First Century Library Work Environments

Jennifer Duncan — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 10:15:19 PDT

I am an assistant librarian on the tenure-track and responsible for all aspects of the electronic collections at a large research university. I am also the mother of a two-and-a-half year old little girl. Those two identifying characteristics make me one of at least 26.2 million U.S. working-women with children at home. According to my favorite reference source, The Statistical Abstract of the United States, I am also one of 229,000 civilian librarians, of whom 84% are women. I couldn’t find a statistic for how many women librarians have children at home, but, by extrapolation, you can see that there are probably a lot of us. Oh, and by the way, I’m exhausted. Finding time to be an excellent mom as well as an excellent librarian is a challenge, but both roles are very important to me. In fact, being the mother of a little girl makes me even more determined to have a successful career so that I can be a good role-model for my daughter.

Working from Afar: A New Trend for Librarianship?

Jennifer Duncan — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 10:15:18 PDT

Telecommuting, which once seemed impractical for librarians, is swiftly becoming a viable option for employees in both technical services and public services. Societal changes such as increased commuting time, rising numbers of dual working-parents, and an explosion of technology that facilitates remote work have fueled both the desirability and the feasibility of alternative work arrangements. Traditionally, librarians have been tethered to a facility either because their public service role demands face-to-face interaction or because they work with materials housed in the building. As collection formats and service mechanisms change, however, librarians may be poised to take advantage of more flexible scheduling arrangements. In Spring 2007, I embarked on a six-month telecommuting experiment between Washington, D.C. and Logan, Utah that proved to me that most of my daily responsibilities are perfectly compatible with a more flexible work arrangement.

NASIG Conference Report: Electronic Resources Management and the MARC Record—The Road Less Traveled

Jennifer Duncan — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 09:26:09 PDT

The question of how to track administrative metadata for electronic resources has become a real conundrum for serialists over the past few years. As the number of electronic resources licensed by any given library has grown, we have discovered the need to communicate technical and licensing terms to (among others) the public, the reference librarians, and the Interlibrary Loan office. Paula Sullenger, the Serials Acquisitions Librarian (and a former Serials Cataloger) at Auburn University, discussed a relatively new approach to making the licensing terms available: enhancing MARC records.