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David Walker receives 2015 LITA/Library Hi Tech Award

From American Library Association

For Immediate Release
Tue, 03/17/2015

Contact:

Mary Taylor
Executive Director, Library and Information Technology Association (LITA)
312-280-4267 or mtaylor@ala.org

CHICAGO — David Walker has been named the winner of the 2015 LITA/Library Hi Tech Award for Outstanding Communication in Library and Information Technology.

Emerald Group Publishing and the Library and Information Technology Association (LITA) sponsor the award that recognizes outstanding individuals or institutions for their long-term contributions in the area of Library and Information Science technology and its application.

Walker is being recognized for his dedication and commitment in developing the open source library portal application Xerxes over the past decade. Originally designed as an improved interface to the Ex Libris Metalib federated search system in 2004, Xerxes now supports a variety of back-end search engines, including commercial library discovery systems, such as Primo, EDS, Summon, non-cost web service (EBSCO Integration Toolkit, Worldcat API) and other search engines (Solr, Google Appliance).  Through this effort, Walker has worked with a variety of vendors to develop and test their application programming interfaces and has been recognized by OCLC and Ex Libris for innovative uses of their services.  In 2007 Walker released the system under an open source license, and today, Xerxes platform is implemented by over 40 institutions around the globe, with some also contributing code back to the project.

Walker said, “These days, academic libraries are increasingly opting for hosted discovery systems and library services platforms.  It’s still vitally important that libraries retain responsibility for the interfaces we present users, and explore new and creative ways to integrate library content and services into learning management systems and other online spaces, which cannot be easily achieved by vendor discovery systems or services platforms.  Xerxes continues to provide a flexible and open source platform to explore such projects, regardless of the underlying discovery system or library services platform.”

Currently, Walker serves as director of systemwide digital library services at the California State University (CSU), Office of the Chancellor.  In this capacity, he oversees a systemwide discovery system, link resolver and institutional repository service for all 23 CSU campuses.  His recent work has focused on moving the CSU libraries from a disparate and disconnected set of local ILS and ERM systems toward a consortium library services platform, as well as exploring integration of library systems and services with learning management systems.

Walker received his MLIS from UCLA.  As a librarian, programmer and interface designer, he has led and contributed to a number of open source initiatives in the library community, including developing scripts, plugins, and interface designs for the SFX link resolver, Innovative ILS systems and other library services.

The Library and Information Technology Association and Emerald, the publisher of Library Hi Tech, are pleased to present the 2015 LITA/Library Hi Tech Award to David Walker for his outstanding contributions to communication in library science and technology.  The award will be presented during Sunday Afternoon with LITA on June 28, 2015, at the ALA Annual Conference in San Francisco.

About LITA

Established in 1966, LITA is the leading organization reaching out across types of libraries to provide education and services for a broad membership including systems librarians, library administrators, library technologists, library schools, vendors and many others interested in leading edge technology and applications for librarians and information providers.  For more information about LITA go to www.lita.org, or contact the LITA office by phone, 800-545-2433, ext. 4268; or e-mail: lita@ala.org

About Emerald

Emerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,500 books and book series volumes. It also provides an extensive range of value-added products, resources and services to support its customers’ needs. Emerald is COUNTER 4 compliant. Emerald is also a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. It also works in close collaboration with a number of organizations and associations worldwide.

The California State University’s Council of Library Deans supports the University of California’s push for open access to publicly funded research

Posted by on May 7, 2019 in Stories | Comments Off on The California State University’s Council of Library Deans supports the University of California’s push for open access to publicly funded research

As the nation’s largest four-year public university system, the California State University’s (CSU) Council of Library Deans stand in full support of the University of California (UC) in their decision to not renew its subscriptions with Elsevier after protracted negotiations.

The UC’s firm stand is one that serves scholars of the world, including the citizens of the great State of California. The California Master Plan for Higher Education “created a system that combined exceptional quality with broad access for students.” In today’s world of diversity, inclusion, and equity, the idea that research and scholarship written by UC and CSU faculty and funded by taxpayers is not accessible across all educational systems and to all citizens is a travesty.

In a few months, the CSUs will begin negotiations with Elsevier, the world’s largest and most profitable scientific publisher, as our Elsevier Science Direct subscription is up for renewal in December 2019. We expect a repeat of past practices: another price increase that exceeds inflation and state budget allocations and student tuition and fee payments.

We are continuing conversations with our administrators, faculty, and students as to the true costs of academic publishing and research. We are educating our campuses on open access options and other ways in which we can ensure that our scholarship is open and accessible. We also hope to find a shared path forward, in partnership with Elsevier.

We are thankful to our UC colleagues and to many others who have added their voices to exposing unsustainable academic publishing practices, in which for-profit companies package and sell the intellectual output of our university professors and researchers.

 

Signed,

 

Curtis M. Asher
Dean of Libraries
California State University, Bakersfield

Emily Miller Bonney
Dean, Pollak Library
California State University, Fullerton

Stephanie Brasley
Dean, University Library
California State University, Dominguez Hills

Cesar Caballero
Dean & University Librarian
California State University, San Bernardino

Tracy Elliott
Dean, University Library
San Jose State University

Jennifer L. Fabbi
Dean, University Library
California State University, San Marcos

Emma C. Gibson
Interim Dean, University Library
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

Del Hornbuckle
Dean of Library Services
California State University, Fresno

Amy Kautzman
Dean & Director, University Library
California State University, Sacramento

Roman Kochan
Dean & Director of the Library
California State University, Long Beach

Deborah C. Masters
University Librarian
San Francisco State University

Patrick McCarthy
Interim Dean
San Diego State University

Patrick Newell
Dean, Meriam Library
California State University, Chico

Cyril Oberlander
University Library Dean
Humboldt State University

Adriana Popescu
Dean of Library Services
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

Juan Carlos Rodriguez
Dean, University Library
California State University, Los Angeles

Ronald Rodriguez
Dean of Library Services
California State University, Stanislaus

Karen G. Schneider
Dean of the Library
Sonoma State University

Mark Stover
Dean, University Library
California State University, Northridge

Michele Van Hoeck
Dean of the Library
California State University Maritime Academy

Alicia Virtue
Incoming Dean, John Spoor Broome Library
California State University, Channel Islands

John Wenzler
Dean of Libraries
California State University, East Bay

Frank M. Wojcik
Library Dean
California State University, Monterey Bay

Frequently Asked Questions about the Electronic Core Collection (ECC)

Posted by on Apr 8, 2019 in Stories | Comments Off on Frequently Asked Questions about the Electronic Core Collection (ECC)

Thanks to the advocacy of many partners over the 2018-2019 academic year, the plea for additional funding for the Electronic Core Collection was heard. Thank you to Executive Vice Chancellor, Dr. Loren Blanchard, for allocating an additional $1 million in base funds to this critical resource that benefits all California State University students, staff, and faculty. This case could not have been made without the support of the Statewide Academic Senate and the senates of many CSU campuses, listed below. We still have a way to go, but this goes a long way.

 

Resolutions in support of the ECC

The Statewide Academic Senate and several CSU campuses — including ChicoEast Bay, FullertonHumboldt, Long BeachLos Angeles, Monterey BayNorthridgeSacramentoSan Bernardino, San JoseSan Luis Obispo (also ASI), and Sonoma — have passed resolutions in support of increased funding for the ECC.

 

What is included in the ECC?

The ECC currently includes a collection of subscription databases of published content, including scholarly articles, popular news and magazine articles, reference articles, business data, and e-books. See the full list of 2018-19 ECC databases at the bottom of this document.

 

Who is responsible for the ECC?

The ECC began in 1999 as an initiative of the CSU Council of Library Deans (COLD). It is funded by the CSU Chancellor’s Office, Academic Technology Services Division. Decisions about subscribed content included in the ECC are made by COLD, based on recommendations made by a COLD standing committee, EAR (Electronic Access to Information Resources), whose ten members include two deans, plus librarian representatives from small, medium, and large CSU campuses, each serving two-year terms.

 

Who can access the ECC?

All CSU students, faculty, and staff have unlimited access.

 

What is the current budget for the ECC?

$5 million per year, which has stayed flat since 2008. This cost equates to about $10 per CSU student.

 

What disciplines are covered by the ECC?

The ECC has a range of disciplinary content, including business, humanities, social sciences, law, technology, music, and physical and life sciences. The ECC is weak in STEM content, however, with several core resources missing. For example, the ECC does not include the most recent six years of the journals Science or Nature. Neither does it include the top science journal database, Elsevier’s ScienceDirect or the key resource for chemistry majors and faculty, American Chemical Society Journals.

 

How is the ECC being used?

This material is used for faculty and student research, creation and completion of course assignments, information literacy instruction, and a variety of other faculty, student, and staff projects. In 2017-18, there were over 17 million full-text downloads from all library databases procured by the CSU Chancellor’s Office, including the ECC.

 

If a resource is not included in the ECC, how do students and faculty at CSU campuses get access?

In some cases, individual CSU libraries subscribe to core resources not included in the ECC, which may be accessed by just those campus users. In other cases, particularly at smaller or less-resourced campuses, the individual library cannot subscribe to all core, necessary resources. Those students and faculty must rely on interlibrary loan, a slower, more onerous process and limited by copyright restrictions on quantity, or do without. This creates educational opportunity inequities between CSU campuses, and these access gaps have grown over time.

 

Does the system save money by purchasing content consortially for the ECC rather than individually by campus?

Yes. Savings for system-wide subscriptions vary but buying as a system is almost always less expensive.

 

How has the ECC been affected by stagnant funding and subsequent erosion of buying power?

With stagnant funding over the last ten years, there has been a loss of approximately $1 million of buying power due to inflation alone. Unfortunately, subscription price increases have exceeded the inflation rate during that time period, so loss of buying power is actually much higher. For example, Elsevier recently claimed its average annual price increases were among the lowest in the industry at 5% per year. Using Elsevier’s estimate as a minimum, loss of ECC buying power in ten years would be a minimum of $3.4 million.

With at least $3.4 million loss of purchasing power, the core collection has had to be modified over time in order to stay within the $5 million budget, pushing the costs of core information resources onto individual campuses, with many campuses losing access altogether. A recent example is the cancellation of LexisNexis Academic Universe—an online service composed of approximately 5000 full text legal, news, reference, and business sources—in 2017. Nineteen campuses were not able to retain subscriptions to LexisNexis.

See the full list of databases that have been cut from the ECC at the bottom of this document.

 

What’s happening with the ECC budget for 2019-2020?

The ECC is facing more than $600,000 in cuts in 2019-20, as reserves from other budget areas that have been used in past years to cover this overage have been spent down to zero. This underfunding will translate to dropping subscriptions to several core research databases.

 

What budget increases are needed to make the ECC whole?

Increasing the ECC to $10 million would address losses in purchasing power from ten years of stagnant budgets. Increasing the ECC to $15 million would allow the system to expand access to new types of content not included in the ECC to date, such as streaming media.

 

What would the CSU libraries do with increased funding?

While decisions about ECC content are made via a shared governance process, there are several options that would serve the entire CSU system. Several core databases and journal collections that the majority of campuses pay for individually could be added. Subscriptions to emerging and in-demand content types could also be added.

 

What would it cost to make the ECC whole?

For the equivalent of $10 more per student in general funding, the ECC will provide fair and equitable access to core information resources for all CSU students and faculty, and restore access to fundamental resources for science, business, and legal research.

 

What will happen if we maintain the status quo in the ECC?

Without increased funding, the ECC will continue to shrink, information access inequities will grow across the CSU, and opportunities for system-wide purchasing efficiencies will be lost.

 

What specific databases are included in the 2018-19 ECC?

  • ABI/Inform (business)
  • Academic Search/Business Source Premier
  • Academic Complete eBooks
  • ACLS (humanities eBooks)
  • America History & Life/Historical Abstracts
  • Biological Abstracts
  • CINAHL Complete (nursing)
  • Communication & Mass Media Complete
  • CQ Researcher
  • Dissertations & Theses Abstracts
  • Ethnic NewsWatch
  • GenderWatch
  • Global Newsstream (regional, national, international news)
  • Grove (Oxford) Music
  • JSTOR (13 collections) (humanities)
  • MathSciNet
  • MLA Intl. Bibliography (humanities)
  • Mergent (business)
  • Oxford English Dictionary
  • Project Muse (humanities)
  • PsycInfo / PsycArticles
  • Safari (technology eBooks)
  • Sociological /Social Services Abstracts
  • Westlaw

 

What specific material has been cut from the ECC since 2010?

  • Encyclopedia Britannica
  • Factiva (news, business)
  • Grove’s Art
  • Hoovers and Oxford Research (business)
  • Lexis Nexis (legal, news, business)
  • Philosopher’s Index
  • Rand California

In addition, the following databases were previously partially funded via the ECC. In 2013, that funding was eliminated.

  • American Institute of Physics Journals
  • American Chemical Society Web Editions
  • Elsevier Science Direct
  • Springer
  • Wiley Interscience

Resolution in Support of Student Data Privacy

Posted by on Jun 22, 2017 in Stories | Comments Off on Resolution in Support of Student Data Privacy

On June 15, 2017, the CSU Council of Library Deans (COLD) adopted a resolution affirming “the crucial importance of privacy in the collection and retention of student data.”  CSU Library Deans will “communicate the importance of student data privacy to library staff and faculty, to students, and to the campus community” and will “encourage the creation of a publicly posted library policy on patron privacy in all CSU libraries, both online and in the physical environment.”

Full text of the resolution.

OneSearch: The New CSU Library Discovery System

Posted by on Jun 13, 2017 in Stories | Comments Off on OneSearch: The New CSU Library Discovery System

OneSearch: The New CSU Library Discovery System

Long Beach, CA – Coming this summer, all 23 of the California State University (CSU) library collections will be integrated into new Library Discovery System called OneSearch.

As a joint effort led by the CSU Council of Library Deans, the primary goal of this upgrade is to enrich the research experience of students while assisting faculty and staff in their scholarly and professional pursuits.

OneSearch features an intuitive, mobile-friendly interface that makes it easy to find, cite, save, and share books, ebooks, ejournals, articles, and streaming video from the CSU Libraries.

csu-plus

OneSearch includes CSU+, a new book sharing system for the entire CSU. Through CSU+, students and faculty will have direct access to over 29 million books held by the CSU Libraries; they will be able to request a book from any other campus to be delivered to their home campus within 2-3 days.

“Many of the libraries are currently using catalogs that are over 20-years old,” said John Wenzler, chair of the Council of Library Deans. “By migrating from these outdated systems, we can improve access for students, faculty, and staff, in a more user-friendly interface.”

Gale Etschmaier, library dean at San Diego State University, said, “This is truly a revolutionary initiative that will transform academic libraries across the CSU. OneSearch is a powerful tool that will advance research, discovery, and academic achievement.”

Gerry Hanley, Assistant Vice Chancellor, Academic Technology Services for the CSU said, “Our big and important goal is to support equity across all campuses so all CSU students, faculty and staff have equally successful, innovative, and powerful library services for learning, teaching, and scholarly activities.”

CSU libraries can expect to see this upgrade in June of 2017. For more information, please see Unified Library Management System.

CSU Council of Library Deans Passes Resolution in Support of Open Access for CSU Faculty Publications

Posted by on Nov 16, 2016 in Stories | Comments Off on CSU Council of Library Deans Passes Resolution in Support of Open Access for CSU Faculty Publications

Open access refers to free, online public access to scholarly and scientific works in open access journals (gold open access) and university repositories (green open access). All CSU campuses have open access institutional repositories. Open access resolutions and policies for faculty are currently in place at more than 200 American universities, including a mandatory (opt-out) policy for the entire UC system, as well as resolutions at a small number of CSU campuses.

On October 27, 2016, the CSU Council of Library Deans (COLD) unanimously voted for a resolution in support of Open Access for CSU Faculty Publications. The CSU libraries are committed to increasing equitable access to scholarly research by supporting faculty efforts to publish in Open Access Journals and Repositories.

Full text of the resolution (PDF).

Library makerspaces enhance student learning

Posted by on Aug 17, 2016 in Stories | Comments Off on Library makerspaces enhance student learning

Library makerspaces enhance student learning

Makerspaces have become increasingly popular additions to libraries, allowing visitors to learn and apply hands-on creative skills in tandem with traditional scholarship. Several CSU campus libraries have developed maker spaces, adopting maker culture, which values creation as an alternative to consumption. Both makerspaces and libraries provide informal learning opportunities, so it’s not surprising that libraries are serving as facilitators and incubators for the accessible, collaborative culture that makerspaces strive to create, according to Isis Leininger, Coordinator at Oviatt Library’s Creative Media Studio, CSUN.

“Beyond just providing access to innovative technologies, makerspaces are a place to discover those technologies, use them, and in turn cultivate student engagement,” added Jenny Wong-Welch, Director at Love Library’s build IT, SDSU.

Establishing a makerspace

Both the Creative Media Studio at Oviatt Library and build IT at Love Library were among the first mini makerspaces to appear on CSU campuses. “In the beginning we had a more basic makerspace focusing on providing more general, multimedia software and better cameras in response to increased multimedia projects in classes,” Leininger said. “But now we’re going beyond equipment.”

According to Wong-Welch, the makerspace that she helped to found grew out of a personal interest in technology. “Right about the time I started doing 3D printing, I did some workshops, so that became the stepping stone for incorporating my own interest in electronics into helping students actually make things,” Wong-Welch said.

Benefits of a makerspace

From virtual reality equipment to advanced digital editing software, students have access to explore and utilize a variety of tools and platforms. Even in their infancy, the two makerspaces at Love and Oviatt libraries have given students opportunities to grow beyond what they learn in the classroom.

“Students here are really gaining the opportunity to build interdisciplinary skills and go beyond their major. Meeting people from other majors and being in a collaborative environment like this is preparation for their future careers,” Leininger said.

“I think that this learning community helps to build universal digital skills in a newer manner than you would in a class. But you are also building workplace skills and you get a chance to learn about the design process which lets you conceptualize, design, engineer, evaluate, and reiterate,” Wong-Welch added.

Campus receptiveness

Building a community is at the core of the makerspace ethos, and Leininger believes the makerspace she coordinates has been successful at not only attracting students but cultivating a community.

“Students here are engaged and love being here. The recording studio is pretty much occupied all the time. People from all different majors have come together to make this a very popular space,” Leininger said.

Student involvement

Students excited to learn and share new skills become so highly involved with these spaces that makerspaces are able to organically foster student communities and connections, Leininger explained. Oftentimes, students have the opportunity to play larger roles within their makerspace community as student assistants.

“The biggest way to keep a makerspace going is to involve students and give them ownership of their learning community, so that they can call it their own and feel more invested,” Wong-Welch added. “By maximizing student engagement we are also providing internships and work experience that could lead to real jobs.”

CMS student assistants

CMS student assistants, Alyse Kollerbohm, Rose Rieux, and Eva Cohen, training each other on 3D modeling and printing.

 

Future plans and opportunities

As library makerspace communities grow, staff are actively planning to provide students with greater access to more maker tools and nurture even more creativity across their campuses.

“I think makerspaces will become even more popular and become part of every library. We’re looking forward to expanding and we’re always trying to improve,” said Leininger. “Hopefully if we get enough funding we can start a maker club and get a green screening room next.”

“What I love about the makerspace is that students might have an idea and they know that there is a community where they can actually produce what they envisioned,” Wong-Welch said. “And I believe the library, as a huge social hub of different students, is a great place to foster and help actualize those ideas.”

Maker culture across the CSU

Many other CSU libraries are enhancing their campuses’ learning potential by fostering maker culture. Here are some of the exciting initiatives being implemented.

    • Cal State San Bernardino, launched fall, 2015
    • San Jose State University, launched fall 2015 – fall 2016
      • Creative Media Lab: Students use this lab for high-end video and audio editing, animation and game development
      • 3D Printing: Piloting 3D printing in the library with a TAZ Lulzbot 5, and adding a Lulz Mini and Glow Forge 3D laser printer
      • Maker Technology Checkout: Raspberry Pis, Arduinos, makey makeys, 3D printing pens and Google Cardboards are available for checkout
      • Pop-Up MakerSpace: Converting laptop storage cart into a convertible maker space. It will include the kits listed above, soldering kits, servo kits and a mini 3d printer.
    • San Francisco State University, launched November 2015
    • Cal Maritime, launched September 2014
      • Maker Days: Monthly events, ranging from Arduino and 3D printing to quilling and pumpkin carving.
    • Sonoma State, launched January 2016
      • Innovation Lab: Partnering with SCI220, a science class, the Library piloted an Innovation Lab in January 2016 in a Library classroom. The lab featured 3-D printers, Arduino kits, and other gear. The pilot was deemed successful, and SCI220 will be repeated in the fall of 2016. Additions to the lab for fall 2016 may include a 3D Scanner and Raspberry Pi computing.

At time of publication, still more programs are taking shape across the state. At Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Robert E. Kennedy Library is collaborating with the campus’ Innovation Sandbox to expand and move their location to the library. Cal Poly Pomona University Library has allocated a section of their building for a maker space with plans to hire staff. At Chico State, the Meriam Library plans to establish a maker space in the future, and the Sacramento State University Library is in the process of raising funds.

CSU libraries are operationalizing maker culture in a variety of styles, formats, and programs, but their goals remain consistent: provide access to information and technology, teach new skills, and create a safe, welcoming learning environment. These core values have always been at the heart of the libraries’ mission, and the future holds exciting possibilities for maker culture to continue enriching library learning.

New funding for open educational resources improves access to course materials

Posted by on Jul 1, 2016 in Stories | Comments Off on New funding for open educational resources improves access to course materials

New funding for open educational resources improves access to course materials

In October Governor Brown signed Assembly Bill 798, the College Textbook Affordability Act of 2015, which establishes a $3 million grant fund to be awarded to CSU and community college campuses that demonstrate their commitment to increasing adoption of high-quality, no-cost and low-cost course materials.

Since then at least 17 CSU libraries have collaborated with staff across their campuses to apply for grant funding, which would allow them to more widely adopt affordable learning solutions (ALS) and open educational resources (OER). Each campus may apply for up to $50,000 to fund faculty professional development and technology support.

Faculty adoption of affordable learning solutions

AB 798 aims to reduce costs of course materials for students by providing OER adaptation and adoption support for faculty. For many faculty, time is “one of the most challenging things” about shifting toward OER, according to King Library Sr. Assistant Librarian Ann Agee.

Brian Beatty, Associate Professor of Instructional Technologies and Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs Operations at San Francisco State adds that “Designing classes and incorporating new instructional materials often requires a lot of major work, additional work that faculty may not have planned for.”

In response to these concerns, both Agee and Beatty hope that grants from AB 798 will make it easier for faculty to make the switch over to more accessible course materials.

“We’re developing a 2-3 hour faculty workshop to help link faculty to OER resources,” Beatty said.

On an institutional level, Agee believes that a tenure process that acknowledges faculty contributions to using or creating affordable course materials could also facilitate faculty willingness to adopt. “The tenure process doesn’t recognize or reward creating open resources,” Agee said. “If the incentive were there, then I think more faculty would make the shift to OER.”

New grants’ potential benefits to more programs

At San Jose State, Agee has noticed that health science, library science, and computer science departments have been the biggest adopters of ALS. For the time being, San Jose is focused on adopting resources for “high-enrollment GE courses,” but other disciplines such as meteorology are also interested in adopting more accessible resources.

At San Francisco State, Beatty has seen interest from the economics, statistics, and English departments. San Francisco State has given all faculty members the opportunity to switch over to ALS, even for courses with small enrollments, according to Beatty. Their grassroots approach capitalizes on faculty enthusiasm for promoting the benefits of ALS. “These early adopters are like case studies for other faculty,” Beatty said. “We rely on these faculty to help tell their story to their colleagues.”

Cultural impacts of AB 798

Beyond the faculty professional development opportunities AB 798 offers, many ALS specialists hope that this legislation will bring about a shift in institutional culture. “We want faculty to think of the cost of instruction from the very beginning so that we can change the culture and attitude toward OER,” Beatty said.

Agee echoed Beatty by adding, “We want to make OER adoption more mainstream and not just a library thing.”

According to Nicole Bohn, Director, Disability Programs and Resource Center at San Francisco State, AB 798 is “helping faculty think in new ways…Anecdotally we’re finding people learning more about accessibility.”

Supporting and expanding future ALS efforts

Looking forward, Beatty hopes this legislation will have far-reaching impacts on student experiences beyond the class sections funded by the first round of grants. “We want to reach as many courses as we can,” Beatty said.

Bohn believes the CSU’s commitment to accessibility will continue to be at the forefront of designing educational content. “My biggest hope is that we continue to be ambassadors in designing accessible courses for everyone,” Bohn said.

For more information about AB 798, participating faculty and courses, and helpful e-textbook reviews, visit http://www.cool4ed.org/.

Vanguard Libraries create CSU-wide Alma sandbox

Posted by on May 27, 2016 in Stories | Comments Off on Vanguard Libraries create CSU-wide Alma sandbox

Vanguard Libraries create CSU-wide Alma sandbox

For the past few months, staff at San Jose State’s King Library, CSU Northridge’s Oviatt Library and Fresno State’s Madden Library have been working collaboratively as “vanguard” campuses to create and share test instances of Ex Libris Alma. The CSU Chancellor’s Office is leading all 23 California State University libraries in implementing Alma as a shared Unified Library Management System (ULMS) platform. Testing the platform on a smaller batch of data is an important stepping-stone towards achieving that goal.

“This is really the first chance to migrate data onto this new platform,” said Madden Library systems analyst María Peña. “By vanguard campuses going first, it gives our sister institutions a peek at what their data will look like in Alma. This will help the CSU libraries streamline the migration process as we make the transition to a unified management system.”

Advantages of a vanguard approach

The three vanguard campuses had the unique opportunity to test the process of migrating to the Alma platform before all 23 campuses migrate permanently in spring 2017. The vanguard libraries are serving as a model for other campuses, troubleshooting problems, and strengthening the CSU’s working relationship with Ex Libris.

“The reason why the vanguard approach is so helpful is that sister institutions get to watch us make mistakes that they can avoid, making them feel more comfortable about the entire migration process,” said Madden Library IT staff member Renaldo Gjoshe.

“The great thing is you get a sense of what to expect from the migration experience,” Peña added. “You know you’re going to have a chance to do it again, evaluate the data and clean things up.”

Because issues within the platform will be ironed out beforehand, the vanguard approach has also made it possible for all 23 CSU libraries to migrate onto this new system at the same time. Previous migrations this size have been rolled out in waves, a more costly and complicated process.

“Historically, we were not able to migrate all 23 campuses to a new model the way we can with Ex Libris,” said King Library associate dean Rae Ann Stahl. “This migration process really changes the way we approach implementation.”

Becoming familiar with Alma

Throughout the process, the vanguard campuses have had the chance to gain a better understanding of Alma and how to work with the software and the Ex Libris team.

“Ex Libris has been very responsive to all of our inquiries which helped us address the problems we encountered very quickly and effectively,” Gjoshe said. “To me, Ex Libris is constantly innovating and constantly building to make Alma better. I hope their level of responsiveness continues as other campuses begin to implement the platform.”

Team effort between campuses

According to the vanguard campuses, this project has strengthened cross-campus working relationships. With the promise of even more collaboration through a unified library management system, teamwork is an important component of the ULMS migration process.

“When we decided to go with Ex Libris, a lot of people came together both on our campus and system-wide to make this migration work out successfully,” Peña said. “That’s what really made it possible — the team effort.”

Setting the standard

The process of migrating 23 campuses’ data all at once will be a massive undertaking, but the vanguards’ hard work proactively solving problems before the full migration occurs should make the process smoother for all involved.

“Hopefully, this will benefit a lot of other campuses and future library systems will learn from our model,” Stahl said.

The CSU system may be blazing a trail for other university libraries with its unified migration model.

Fresno State pioneers collaborative project to digitize aerial photos

Posted by on Apr 26, 2016 in Stories | Comments Off on Fresno State pioneers collaborative project to digitize aerial photos

Fresno State pioneers collaborative project to digitize aerial photos

Staff at Fresno State’s Madden Library recently partnered with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s Kennedy Library for a pilot aerial imagery digitization project to strengthen maps and aerial imagery collections, discoverability, and access across CSU campuses.

“In general, maps and aerial photographs are not easily discoverable by potential users and can require extensive assistance from library personnel to identify and access,” said Fresno’s project members Carol Doyle and David Drexler, and Patrick Newell, who was recently named Dean of CSU Chico’s Meriam Library.

Developing MALT

To address the growing need for accessible aerial images, the group used a wide-format scanner and vacuum wall to photograph delicate images. Project members then digitized thousands of aerial images spanning decades of historic development in the Central Valley. After this initial processing, Fresno State developed the Map and Aerial Locator Tool, or MALT, a map interface able to identify aerial images by year for a given area.

“We had long dreamed of an online, end-user accessible, interactive, map-based locator tool that would facilitate searching for maps and aerial photographs corresponding to a specific user-defined location: one search finding specific location matches across different flights, individual maps or maps series, and collections,” the group added.

Accelerating the process

Cal Poly’s Kennedy Library staff and faculty contributed to MALT’s map-based index by devising novel, time-saving ways to geolocate images in MALT, and the team is currently exploring automated approaches to rapidly geolocate bulk sets of scanned imagery.

Cal Poly’s unique, indexed, and suitable aerial image sets from various years were another reason why the campus was a perfect partner for the project, according to Russ White, Kennedy Library Numeric and Spatial Data Specialist.

“Fresno has the hardware and the expertise to do the scanning, so our role revolved around providing the content and methodology for streamlining this project,” White said.

Expanding the project

By combining digitization capacity, new content, and best practices, Fresno and Cal Poly are motivated to expand this successful pilot to content held in Cal Poly’s Special Collections and Archives, regional local history partners, other CSU libraries, and other organizations with historical images.

“The more collections and collaborators added, the more useful the tools will be.  We have spoken to University of California libraries, public libraries, government agencies, and historical societies about the project and are interested in furthering those conversations,” Fresno State said.

MALT as a model

Ultimately, the team believes this proof-of-concept project can serve as a model for other libraries and agencies to identify, process, and provide access to historical maps and aerial imagery not currently available for web mapping and research.

“Map collections that digitize and share maps online have a large number of overlapping, common needs,” the Fresno State group explained.

Beyond the project

In addition to creating a platform and method for other organizations, this ongoing project aims to develop MALT metadata for eventual inclusion in broader catalogues and searches, such as Open Geoportal.

“I hope to see MALT as something that can eventually be integrated into a larger catalogue or group,” said Jeanine Scaramozzino, Data Services Librarian and a project leader at Cal Poly. “Joining forces and working cooperatively is not always easy to do but I think this is a good example of how CSU campuses can work together.”

Next generation library system project launches October 2015

Posted by on Sep 14, 2015 in Stories | Comments Off on Next generation library system project launches October 2015

Next generation library system project launches October 2015

The 23-campus California State University system will launch a two-year migration project on October 5, 2015 with Ex Libris, an industry leader in integrated, next-generation shared library systems.

The CSU system currently uses a variety of library systems to manage their collections, support discovery of digital resources, and provide the back-end services that are needed to acquire resources on behalf of thousands of faculty and nearly 500,000 students.

By June 2017, all 23 campuses will be using a common platform – Ex Libris Alma, together with Ex Libris resource discovery system, Primo. In addition to increased efficiency and equity, this means that students and faculty will have easier access to the materials they need for their research and scholarship.

The Council of Library Deans (COLD) voted in October 2014 to adopt a unified library management system, and worked closely with Gerry Hanley, CSU’s Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academic Technology Services, to develop the RFP and ultimately select Ex Libris.

“This process has been visionary and transformational for COLD,” said Dean of Library and Information Access and COLD Chair Dr. Gale Etschmaier. “The ULMS project and our work together to make this vision a reality will change how the CSU libraries will work together to serve our diverse campuses and students.”

Vanguard Campus Pilots

A team of experienced library systems engineers and project managers at the Chancellor’s Office will support the data and workflow migrations. In addition, campus project leaders and functional experts will guide implementation through two major phases: a “Vanguard Campus” phase in which Fresno, Northridge, and San Jose, three of the larger campuses, will create a test environment to explore capabilities and configurations.

Single Wave Migration in 2017

The second phase of migration will begin in March 2016. Based on consultations with other libraries that have implemented a shared system, the CSU and Ex Libris have agreed to a single wave migration plan in which all campuses will migrate to the Ex Libris platform together in spring 2017. This option means a lengthier training and testing timeline than would have been possible otherwise.

Partners in Development

The system-wide project includes opportunities to develop Alma’s user interface, workflows, accessibility and ADA compliance. Ex Libris will also provide usage data for electronic resources via COUNTER reports in Alma Analytics by the end of 2017.

Project Updates

The Chancellor’s Office is leading the migration project. Brandon Dudley is the ULMS project director who is working in close collaboration with David Walker, the Director of Systemwide Digital Library Services. Project updates and details can be found on the project website: ulms.calstate.edu.

Previous stories about the ULMS project: