Cranfield PSU and Library Services
Permanent URI for this community
Browse
Browsing Cranfield PSU and Library Services by Type "Article"
Now showing 1 - 20 of 23
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item Open Access Acquiring E-Books for Academic Libraries(Igitur, Utrecht Publishing and Archiving Services, 2007) Woodward, HazelThis paper outlines the recent work of the UK’s Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) in the area of e-books. The JISC Collections Team is responsible for negotiating deals with publishers and aggregators of e-content for all UK higher education libraries - some 180 in total. In other words it acts as a national consortium for the UK academic community, although it should be noted that all deals are negotiated on an ‘opt-in’ basis. The JISC Collections Team is advised by a series of format-based working groups - comprising senior academic librarians and library practitioners - including the E-Books Working Group, the Journals Working Group and the Moving Images Working Group. Recently the working groups have formulated vision statements to help inform both their own activities and the education community as a whole. The vision for e-books in UK education is as follows: “The UK education community will have access to quality e-book content that is of high relevance to teaching, learning and research across the broadest range of subject areas. Flexible business and licensing models will support a diversity of needs, allowing users to do what they want when they want and how they want for education purposes. All e-books will be easily discoverable and consistent standards will allow all content to be fully integrated into library, learning and research environments.”Item Open Access Authors' attitudes to, and awareness and use of, a university institutional repository.(United Kingdom Serials Group (UKSG), 2007-11) Watson, SarahThis article reports the findings of an author study at Cranfield University. The study investigated authors' publishing behaviours, attitudes, concerns, and their awareness and use of their institutional repository (IR), Cranfield QUEprints. The findings suggest that despite a reasonable amount of advocacy many authors had not heard of QUEprints and were not aware of its purpose. Once explained, all authors saw at least one benefit to depositing a copy of their work to QUEprints, but many were unsure how to deposit, preferring to depend on the Library to do the work. The authors voiced few concerns or conditions regarding the inclusion of their work in QUEprints, but felt that it would be an extra, inconvenient step in their workload. This research led to the development of the Embed Project which is investigating how to embed the IR into the research process and thereby encourage more authors to deposit their work.Item Open Access Benchmarking and library quality maturity(Emerald Group Publishing, 2005-10-26T17:55:04Z) Wilson, Frankie; Town, J. StephenIt remains unresolved from the literature whether benchmarking is a useful and appropriate tool for the library and information services sector. The aim of this research was to gather evidence to establish whether benchmarking provides a real and lasting benefit to library and information services. The study investigated the long term effects of a benchmarking exercise on the quality level of three UK academic libraries. However, an appropriate framework for assessing the quality level of libraries is not present in the literature, and it was therefore necessary for such a framework to be developed. This article describes and provides initial characterisation of the framework developed - the Quality Maturity Model. The evidence from the investigation showed that the two libraries which were at stage one on the QMM before the benchmarking exercise remained there; and the library which scored at the penultimate level, level four, before benchmarking, was, four years afterwards, at level five. The tentative conclusion drawn were that benchmarking may only be appropriate for organisations with a existing high level of quality maturity. Much further work is proposed.Item Open Access BIODOC - the transition from research project to fully fledged service(UKSG, 1998-07) Bevan, Simon J.; Evans, Janet; Harrington, John; Turner, EmmaThis is the third in a series of papers describing BIODOC, a service now in its fourth year that addresses the access versus holdings debate in a University library. The main aims of the study were to evaluate the cost effectiveness of a wholly access based information service, to analyse user perception/receptivity and the impact of such a service, as well as to improve upon the existing service to the staff and students involved. As part of the project the Library also wished to compare document supplier performance and disseminate all findings among the academic and research communities.Item Open Access Caught in the Crossfire(2004-05-24T13:02:09Z) Harrington, JohnThe new ‘Open Access’ model of scholarly communication exploits both the internet and new publishing technologies to free up research literature to the benefit of authors, readers, students, libraries, funding bodies, and society as a whole. Two OA strategies could be used to move towards a fairer and more efficient communications system; self-archiving, by which scholars deposit their publications in free electronic repositories, and open access journals, which do not charge for access to the papers, but make them available to all electronically and look to other financial models to cover the costs of peer-review and publishing. The article which looks at the origins of Open Access, traces its development, and highlights the growing dilemma faced by academic authors on whether to support these new models of publication and dissemination in preference to their traditionally favoured high profile, but expensive to buy, subscription-based journals.Item Restricted Changes in the research support landscape over the last ten+ years: reflections on the DARTS conference series 2005–2018(SCONUL, 2018-12-31) Barefoot, Anna; Cooksley, Hilary; Crossley, Jenni; Heath, Abigail; Sleat, Alastair; Smith, Mandy; Stevens, ClaireThe ‘DARTS’ conferences began back in 2005, instituted by the South West branch of what was then the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals’ University, College and Research (UC&R) Group (now ‘Academic and Research Libraries Group’ – ARLG) with the aim of providing a dedicated event for librarians and information professionals with an interest in research support. The topic had been covered as a one-day conference in the West Midlands, but there hadn’t been a research event in the south west, or anything residential. It seemed appropriate to put the ‘R’ back into UC&R!Item Open Access Consortia in Europe: describing the various solutions through four country examples(University of Illinois, 2006) Hormia-Poutanen, Kristiina; Xenidou-Dervou, Claudine; Kupryte, Rima; Stange, Kari; Kuznetsov, Alexander; Woodward, HazelThis article describes and discusses consortia models in Europe. Emphasis is given to those consortia that support content provision and access to electronic information resources in society. Four country cases are introduced as examples of the heterogeneous solutions chosen by the consortia. The main results and impact of the consortia are discussed. International cooperation has played an important role in the development of consortia in Europe. Regional and global collaboration initiatives are also discussed.Item Open Access The COUNTER Code of Practice for Books and Reference Works – a primer(United Kingdom Serials Group, 2009-11) Shepherd, Peter T.; Woodward, HazelRelease 1 of the COUNTER Code of Practice for Books and Reference Works was published in 2006 and provides an international standard for vendor recording and reporting of the usage of e-books and reference works. By July 2009, 23 vendors were compliant with this Code of Practice. It has much in common with the well-established COUNTER Code of Practice for Journals and Databases but it also has a number of important features that take into account the greater diversity of e-books. This article provides a guide to the Code of Practice for both vendors and librarians, and addresses compliance issues relevant to both groups.Item Open Access Developing a model for e-prints and open access journal content in UK further and higher education(Alpsp Publications Centre, 2005-01-12T00:00:00Z) Swan, Alma; Needham, Paul A. S.; Probets, Steve; Muir, Adrienne; Oppenheim, Charles; O'Brien, Ann; Hardy, Rachel; Rowland, Fytton; Brown, SheridanA study carried out for the UK Joint Information Systems Committee examined models for the provision of access to material in institutional and subject- based archives and in open access journals. Their relative merits were considered, addressing not only technical concerns but also how e-print provision (by authors) can be achieved – an essential factor for an effective e- print delivery service (for users). A 'harvesting' model is recommended, where the metadata of articles deposited in distributed archives are harvested, stored and enhanced by a national service. This model has major advantages over the alternatives of a national centralized service or a completely decentralized one. Options for the implementation of a service based on the harvesting model are presenteItem Open Access E-measures: a comprehensive waste of time?(Emerald, 2004) Town, J. StephenPurpose: To provide a critique, some sources of data, and a broader conception for informing development of e-measures frameworks for use in academic library services. Approach: Suggests that the broader context for e-measurement is investigated and provides a critique of current thinking. Provides four additional sources or routes for improved measures, including scholarly communication methods, information literacy, developments in measuring library and e-service quality, and the critical success factors of serials staff. Develops a proposed framework for e-measures based on the balanced scorecard approach. Findings: Provides specific suggestions arising from the four sources for relevant e-measures, and provides a framework based on the balanced scorecard which incorporates these and other suggestions for data collection under the following perspectives: financial, customers, process and projects, staff development, and organisational learning and development. Value: The paper will be valuable to library directors and managers and library researchers interested in the field of performance measurement and evaluation of e-resources. It provides some original thinking about the problem and suggests some innovative techniques and approaches to addressing the need to develop effective and useful performance measurement frameworks.Item Open Access Electronic thesis development at Cranfield University(Emerald, 2005-06) Bevan, Simon J.Abstract: Purpose – To describe the issues involved in the introduction of mandatory submission of electronic theses at Cranfield University. Design/methodology/approach – Background information on how the availability of e-theses has developed at Cranfield University is provided along with discussions and advice on issues such as the choice of software, thesis submission workflow and timeframes, particularly in relation to the publication of thesis-related articles. It also looks at metadata issues as well as both retrieval and usage of electronic theses. Finally it describes how the service has expanded from e-theses to other types of material and to the development and expansion of an institutional repository for Cranfield. Findings – It is shown that there are a number of issues that will need to be addressed from the points of view of librarians, academic staff and registry staff and that one effective method of managing the process is to set up a working group with all stakeholders in the process. There is a clear need for administrative procedures to be discussed in detail and a recognition that the time involved in changing regulations may be significant. Practical implications – It is clear that most of the issues that have arisen at Cranfield as outlined in the paper will be mirrored at other institutions that are considering the same changes, and so those institutions looking at the area of e-thesis submission may gain some useful insights. Originality/value – This paper provides useful advice on the issues that will arise as institutions go through the process of introducing the mandatory submission of electronic theses.Item Open Access From scientist to academic developer: A story(Taylor and Francis, 2023-01-31) Bailey, TraceyWhen I started in Higher Education [HE] as a Lecturer in Biomedicine in 2002, I thought a good teacher was someone who could present their subject in an interesting manner in a PowerPoint presentation for an hour. My approach to assessment was based on the academic essays and examinations I had struggled with as a student. Through the parallel processes of being a Course Director and taking a Postgraduate Certificate [PGCert] in HE, I realised that this approach was not only far from true, but the tip of a very complex iceberg. The way I thought about students, their development, their assessment, and the support they needed to reach their potential was transformed through an inspiring developer and conversations with my peers. Collectively, we were passionate about making a difference to students at our University, and although the size of the iceberg was daunting, we were determined to chip away at it and make a difference.Item Open Access IRUS-UK: making scholarly statistics count in UK repositories(UKSG, 2012-11) Needham, Paul A. S.; Stone, GrahamIRUS-UK is a new national standards-based statistics aggregation service for institutional repositories in the UK. The service processes raw usage data from repositories, consolidating those data into COUNTER compliant statistics by following the rules of the COUNTER Code of Practice – the same code adhered to by the majority of scholarly publishers. This will, for the first time, enable UK repositories to provide consistent, comparable and trustworthy usage data as well as supporting opportunities for benchmarking at a national level. This article provides some context to development, benefits and opportunities offered by the service, an institutional repository perspective and future plans.Item Open Access LibQUAL+ in the UK and Ireland: three years findings and experience.(SCONUL, 2005-09) Lock, Selena A.; Town, J. StephenThis article gives an overview of the SCONUL LibQUAL + participation, presents some of the overall results of the 2003-5 SCONUL cohorts, and describes some feedback from participants and the lessons learnt from the process.Item Open Access LibQUAL+ in the UK and Ireland: three years findings and experience.(2005-10-26T18:06:01Z) Town, J. Stephen; Lock, Selena A.This paper reports on the SCONUL participation in the use of the LibQUAL+ survey methodology from 2003 to 2005. It discusses the history of performance measurement in the UK over the past decade and sets LibQUAL+ in the context of current practices. The overall results of the SCONUL consortiums from 2003, 2004 and 2005 are presented and discussed. Feedback from the participants over the three years is also presented proving incite into how the LibQUAL+ survey has been implemented in higher education institutions within UK and Ireland.Item Open Access LibQUAL+ in the UK and Ireland: three years' findings and experience(2011-04-21) Lock, Selena A.; Town, J. StephenPresents an overview of the SCONUL LibQUAL+ participation, reports some of the overall results of the 2003-2005 SCONUL cohorts, and describes some feedback from participants and the lessons learnt from the process. The overall results for SCONUL in 2005 show that performance is a little above the minimum in Affect of Service and some problems of performance below the minimum in Information Control and Library as Place. There is a marked difference between the results for 2003 and the subsequent years, and one without obvious immediate explanation. Library as Place is the dimension which suggests more research is needed to understand the variation across the three years, and the particularly good results in the 2003 cohort. Consistently across all years the ability of libraries to deliver printed materials that staff and students require for their work, and the print or electronic periodical collection provision has scored below users' minimum expectations in the UK. For all major dimensions there was a decrease in perceptions in 2004. Library as Place is the only dimension to see a steady increase in users' expectations over the three years, Information Control expectations have remained fairly stable and Affect of Service has seen a decline in users' expectations. (Quotes from original text)Item Open Access LibQUAL+ in the UK: a brief report on the SCONUL Pilot.(SCONUL, 2003-09) Lock, Selena A.; Town, J. StephenReports on the pilot year of LibQUAL+ in the UK adopted for trial by SCONUL Libraries. Discusses the implementation of LibQUAL+ and presents feedback from the UK participants. Concludes that the trial was a success and further iterations of the survey should be encouraged and supported.Item Open Access Licencing e-journals: UK style(Haworth, 2002) Woodward, HazelThis presentation will describe the way in which academic libraries in the United Kingdom (UK) are licencing and accessing electronic journals (e-journals). This process is being facilitated by the higher and further (HE and FE) funding councils through the Joint Information Services Committee (JISC). The presentation will begin by setting the context for national e-journal licencing and explain the wider version of the Distributed National Electronic Resource (DNER). It will than go on to describe the achievemants of the National Electronic Site Licence (NESLI) initiative and examine some ot the future developments currently under consideration.Item Open Access New Research Facility: A Note on the Russian Military Studies Archive(Informa UK Limited, 2016-01-02) Daniels, RJ; Main, Steven JThe Russian Military Studies Archive (RMSA) was formally launched in November 2015. Managed by Cranfield University’s Barrington Library on behalf of the Defence Academy, the RMSA is a new research facility based at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom in Shrivenham, Wiltshire.Item Open Access Replacing print with e-journals: can it be done - a case study(United Kingdom Serials Group, 2003-09-30T13:49:57Z) Bevan, Simon J.; Nieminen, Satu; Hunn, Ruth A.; Sweet, MichelleThis article describes the introduction and management of e-journals at Cranfield University and considers the training and education issues related to this implementation