Using the Web for Name Authority Work
Beth M. Russell and Jodi Lynn Spillane
While many catalogers are using the Web to find the information they need to perform authority work quickly and accurately, the full potential of the Web to assist catalogers in name authority work has yet to be realized. The ever-growing nature of the Web means that available information for creating personal name, corporate name, and other types of headings will increase. In this article, we examine ways in which simple and effective Web searching can save catalogers time and money in the process of authority work. In addition, questions involving evaluating authority information found on the Web are explored.
Library-Subsidized Unmediated Document Delivery
Michaelyn Haslam and Eva Stowers
Throughout the 1990s, libraries experimented with subsidizing end-user unmediated document delivery as a means of expanding collections, offering faster service, and lessening demands on interlibrary loan. An ongoing project at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, is presented here to evaluate whether or not providing the service met expectations. For the most part, unmediated document delivery served to enhance collections and users appreciated the service. Since those who preferred to order articles themselves were not necessarily interlibrary loan users, workloads and costs associated with interlibrary loan were not diminished.
Monitoring Book Reshelving in Libraries Using Statistical Sampling and Control Charts
Jeffrey M. Edwardy and Jeffrey S. Pontius
Maintaining library books in their proper locations is resource intensive. Typically shelf reading, where library personnel inspect every book on the shelves, is used to identify and relocate improperly shelved books. We propose a statistical approach to determine when shelf reading of books is necessary. We use sampling to obtain data on misshelved books over time. A control chart is used to assess when shelf reading is necessary. These statistical tools will provide library managers with cost-effective approaches to monitoring and implementing reshelving activities.
Preservation Workshop Evaluation
Christine Wiseman and Sharla Darby
Preservation education programs are increasingly focused on the impact of training on improving and implementing preservation practices in cultural institutions. In spring 1996, the Southeastern Library Network’s (SOLINET) Preservation Services launched a Workshop Follow-Up program designed to measure the effects of training, provide ongoing support, and develop a long-term ongoing mechanism for evaluating workshop effectiveness. After collecting more than three years of qualitative and quantitative data, the study found that 94% of the follow-up program participants performed some type of action to improve the care of their institution’s collections in the months following the workshop. In addition, the program created an atmosphere that encouraged participants to use workshop information to effect change in their institution and to contact SOLINET for further assistance. In fact, information and referral queries received by Preservation Services increased during this period due to questions generated from the follow-up contacts. Participants continually express appreciation about being contacted after the workshop, which serves as a reminder of the importance of preservation activities.
It’s Academic: Shelf-Ready Standing Orders at the University of Florida’s Smathers Library
Michele Crump and Steven Carrico
The University of Florida Smathers Library receives many of its domestic serial standing orders from the Academic Book Center of Portland, Oregon. In February 1998, the two organizations agreed to begin an outsourcing project in which the Academic Book Center would supply the library with a large percentage of these standing orders with complete physical processing. After three years of receiving shelf-ready standing orders and monitoring a low error-rate and overall improvement in workflow efficiency, library administration declared the outsourcing project a success.