Presentations

Thursday, May 12

10:30-11:20

Concurrent Sessions 1

Growing Together: Legitimizing Creativity through Cross-Departmental Collaboration (Oak room)

Cara Calabrese, Miami University, Acquisitions & Access Librarian; Sarah Nagle, Miami University, Creation and Innovation Services Librarian; Masha Stepanova, Miami University, Coordinator of Cataloging and Slavic Librarian

Technical Services (TS) Staff have been interested in learning more about other departments and using the tools the library has to offer, but can lack the freedom to engage during their scheduled hours. TS has scheduled quite a few meet & greets and departments have been invited to TS meetings to share what their teams are working on. Unfortunately this has not fulfilled the goal of connecting TS staff to their colleagues across the library. So we took another approach by reaching out to the department we are closest to physically. The TS librarians spoke to Creation & Innovation Services Librarian, who routinely develops programming and classes to engage and empower patrons to use their space. Our idea was to plan necessary, but potentially mundane work interspersed with training on Makerspace tools. We wanted to empower our staff to engage with the space and their colleagues, bring the department closer together, & generally improve TS work. As a by-product we could facilitate increased buy-in for the Makerspace and their work. Through this collaboration we were able to reorganize internal documentation ahead of a new hire’s arrival and start a cyclical review process for our procedures. We will discuss best practices for developing maker-related staff enrichment opportunities. This type of alternative training involving creative activities is beneficial by bridging the divide between departments and building a culture of creativity.

 

Flourishing with the Introduction of Special and Unique Materials Cataloging (Walnut room)

Lori Dekydtspotter, Lilly Library, Indiana University

Cataloging is a chance to intellectually flourish no matter what one is describing, yet for catalogers who find their present duties changing to include the cataloging of unique and special materials, an introduction to the basics of special collection cataloging is vital and affords the professional a chance to bloom with new skills. This session will place an emphasis on key elements of what constitutes a special collection record and a review of instructional resources for guiding the creation of special collection descriptions.  Attendees will engage in several interactive activities to reinforce the session content.

 

Buying What’s Required: a Look into a Course Adopted Text eBook Program and Its Success (Maple room)

Mitchell Scott, Coordinator of Collections, Indiana University Southeast

In Fall 2018, St. Norbert Library started a partnership with the campus bookstore, began receiving the list of course adopted texts (CATs), and launched a new e-book strategy of purchasing unlimited access e-books for CATs.  This presentation will provide data on the reach and growth of St. Norbert Library’s CATs e-books program, including the number of courses and types of courses affected by library supplied CATs e-books, and the types and publishers of library supplied CATs. As the CATs program grew so did the costs to support it and this presentation will also discuss the usage of the CATs e-books compared to its concurrently licensed EBA content. The presentation will conclude with discussions on how, despite the potential for compatibility, St. Nobert’s determined its EBAs to be incompatible with its CATs program and how developing, sustaining, and continuing to evolve the CATs e-book program became integral to St. Norbert Library’s collection moving in new strategic directions.

 

Thursday, May 12

11:30-12:20

Concurrent Sessions 2

Promoting Diversity, Equity and Inclusion among Students, Faculty and Staff (Oak room)

Larissa Sullivant, Head of Collection Services, Ruth Lilly Law Library, IU Robert McKinney School of Law

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion are fundamental values of American Library Association and its members, and diversity is listed as one of ALA's Key Action Areas. We, as librarians, must strive to integrate diversity, equity, and inclusion into our professional activities to best position us as trusted, leading advocates for equitable access to library services for all. Awareness for diversity is essential for our profession because, on any given day, we serve patrons from many diverse backgrounds.  It is important that we are educated about these differences so that we can be more sensitive to people’s needs. This sensitivity is not limited to those we serve but also applies to the people we work with. This presentation talks about what librarians can do to foster an environment that promotes diversity and inclusion.

 

Creating Empowered Catalogers (Walnut room)

Emma Richey, Eckhart Public Library, Technical Services Supervisor

From big libraries to small libraries, from MLS-level courses to "on the ground" training - catalogers receive varying training, which may leave them lacking confidence in their cataloging abilities. How do Technical Services leaders help their catalogers to feel empowered and capable? At Eckhart Public Library, Technical Services takes a three-pronged approach to training catalogers: 1) ensuring that all catalogers receive a strong cataloging foundation at the time of initial training; 2) identifying existing resources and trainings to encourage further exploration and development; and 3) creating new resources as previously unaddressed needs arise. In this presentation, attendees will learn how to: 1) provide a strong cataloging foundation for new catalogers; 2) identify existing resources and trainings for current catalogers; and 3) create resources that will benefit all catalogers. Attendees will also be given access to training resources created by Eckhart Public Library to aid in their journey toward creating empowered catalogers at their own organizations.

 

Using Excel, Teams, and Sierra to Enhance A Project with GreenGlass (Maple room)

Sean Kennedy, Assistant Professor and Collections Strategies Librarian, Kent State University; Gregg Harris, Library Service Coordinator, University of Akron; Melanie McGurr, Associate Dean, Technical Services, University of Akron

At the University of Akron, we invested in GreenGlass for monographs to assist with the large project of closing one of our campus libraries and merging that collection into our main library collection. We knew that with everything GreenGlass could do to assist us with this project, the software would also have some drawbacks, such as the inability to mark records as reviewed, keep, or discard within GreenGlass itself. In this presentation, we will discuss how we use Excel macros to set a workflow for our GreenGlass decision lists, pull lists, and to record what items have been reviewed. We will review how we are also using GreenGlass to protect some portions of our collection (DEI, gift, and pre-1850 monographs).    

 

Thursday, May 12

2:15-3:05    

Concurrent Sessions 3

Build Better Relationships at Work and in Life with Kindness and Gratitude (Oak room)

David Seckman, Library Directory, Jeffersonville Township Public Library

Learn what science has to say about the ability of kindness and gratitude to improve your relationships and help you become a happier you. Develop and understanding of why practicing kind communication is crucial to our success in work and personal relationships.  Discover what Google found out about the components that create dynamic teams.  Practice techniques and strategies for overcoming defensiveness during difficult conversations.

 

An Overview of the MARC Format for Authorities (Walnut room)

Carl Horne, Slavic Cataloger & NACO/SACO Liaison, Indiana University Bloomington

Using numerous PowerPoint slides of examples, I will describe the use the MARC Format for Authorities. The presentation will cover the fields and subfields in authority records of all kinds--for names, for series and for subjects. The presentation should be appropriate for various levels of catalogers. Catalogers who create authority records will get a review of the full range of available fields and subfields. The presentation may be most useful to catalogers who consult authority records but do not create them--the presentation and the handouts will make it easier for them to read the records so that they benefit more fully from the information that has been encoded in them.

 

Enriching the Ground for a Successful Evidence Based Program (Maple room)

Ashley Fast, GOBI Library Solutions from EBSCO; Claire Eichman, GOBI Library Solutions from EBSCO; Moriah Guy, GOBI Library Solutions from EBSCO

The last two years have brought about many starts and stops to monograph collection development and through these changes libraries have used a variety of programs to provide access and help their patrons flourish. As librarians working on the vendor side, we have played an active role in the discussions and planning of evidence based acquisition (EBA) programs. Through this experience and with feedback from libraries, we crafted tools that provide data to help make sound decisions on supplied records. This approach streamlines the process and creates reports to give libraries all the data needed to efficiently make selections. We will be talking about the types of conversations we have been having these last two years; the value we bring to the process through the data used to inform decisions; and the blueprint for efficient selection of titles at the end of an EBA term.

               

Thursday, May 12

3:15-4:05    

Concurrent Sessions 4

You Can’t Judge a Book by the Cover (Oak room)

Elise Calvi, Head, General Collections Conservation and Preservation Services, Indiana University

Since the 1950s, when post-World War II prosperity led to increasing rates of collection growth, libraries have used many strategies to cope with space problems -- microforms, compact shelving, interlibrary lending, high-density storage. But many facilities built to house books at low cost have filled up, and financial support for yet more space has been hard to come by. Today, as the space devoted to print collections is seen as diminishing a library’s capacity for other things, such as study space for patrons, libraries are withdrawing excess copies, either locally or via shared print programs, and scrutinizing potential gifts closely. Collections and technical services staff are often in the position of making decisions about which copy of a book or journal to keep or withdraw, or if a gift should be added. As the title of this presentation suggests, however, looks can be misleading: a book that looks good from the outside may not be the one with the best chance of long-term survival. Book conservators know how books are made, and importantly, why and how they fall apart. In this presentation, a book conservator/preservation librarian shares some secrets about how to distinguish between a book that is likely to last and one that may not. This talk may also be of interest to those who just love books and want to learn something about how they are made.

 

Collection Fund Efficiency Project (Walnut room)  THIS WILL NOT BE HELD LIVE--RECORDING WILL BE AVAILABLE IN THE NEAR FUTURE

James W. Gulvas, University of Michigan, Acquisition Librarian & Order Unit Manager 

With over 340 collection fund codes, Technical Services and Acquisitions at the University of Michigan Library sought to assess the various fund structures, with the goal to look for insight into the workflows of Technical Services and Selectors (collection building behaviors) and propose changes for a more streamline processes as we migrated to a new LSP (Library Services Platform). An internal group within Technical Services first proposed an assessment strategy around the existing process; through which a survey was generated about collection budgets and how they are used. The survey was not fully developed or implemented as the topic had been embattled in organizational politics for almost a year. Engaging with stakeholders around sensitive topics can be extremely difficult, but sometimes the reward is worth the risk, other times failure provides a different path forward. In the session, learn what not to do when gathering information for assessment regarding budgets and subject specific funds. See how simple solutions can easily turn into complex problems needing immense buy-in.

 

Lightning Rounds (Maple room)

Area-Studies Cataloging Workflow Improvement with a Temporary Student Assistant

Kumiko Reichert, East Asian Cataloging Librarian, Indiana University Bloomington

Herman B Wells Library, Indiana University Bloomington consists of the East Asian Collection, whose Korean collection size is the smallest among CJK. Due to the collection size, a student with Korean-language expertise has been assigned as a cataloging assistant these years. It is believed to be manageable for a student, who is properly trained and supervised, not only because of the collection size, but also because over a half of it tends to have already been cataloged by the Library of Congress. This presentation will cover stories about the experience of the supervisor, who was appointed for such a duty at Wells Library for the first time. It will be focused on differences between training of those who did not have prior library experience and training of those with experience, for instance, MLS students, library staff and librarians, from the trainer’s point of view. The presentation will include discussions on what to expect or what not to expect from a temporary student assistant, in terms of training and cataloging workflow, as well as what to focus on or how to set priorities when working with her/him. It will provide participants with insight into preparation for student supervision and cataloging workflow improvement, in addition to reconsideration of training methods.          

 

Reworking Electronic Resources Acquisitions to work for us: A new ERA built from collaboration

Cara Calabrese, Miami University, Acquisitions & Access Librarian

Since losing our Electronic Resources (ER) Librarian mid 2019, our Subject Librarians (SL) and Technical Services (TS) have been working together to craft new workflows that distribute the workload more effectively. It started with a streaming video workflow, where SL were brought into the creation process and took an active role in triaging requests. The closure of a branch library brought a weeding project to the table. TS again worked with SL to determine common weeding list criteria and set up shared processes so these lists could be distributed faster. Our newest endeavor revolves around new ER acquisitions. These mainly land on the Acquisitions Librarian’s plate, but with the other duties that were picked up during the ER’s vacancy, communication around these suffered and with requests coming from multiple sources with varied amounts of information time to access was increased. This session will go over how SL and TS successfully collaborated once again on a new ER Acquisitions workflow, form, and ticket system. The Acquisitions Librarian will discuss the iterative process they undertook with key SL that resulted in increased communication regarding requests and allowed for SL to more accurately describe and tag new resources, which will create less confusion for students. The Head of Collections is able to easily see what is being requested, offer priorities, and approved funding. The Acquisitions Librarian was able to have an organized ticket system where they could have all necessary information captured, easily provide updates, and track requests all in one place.

 

If You Don't Build It, Will They Come? Examining the Effects of Discoverability and E-Resource Usage

Richard Wisneski, Miami University

Much has been written on the use of e-resources, particularly databases and e-book packages, oftentimes with an eye towards examining quantitative COUNTER- and non-COUNTER compliant usage data. Factors have included cost-per-use, searches, requests, and downloads. An element that hasn't been explored in great depth, however, is how discoverable e-resources are, and how discoverability affects e-resource usage. This presentation will discuss a few case studies of electronic resources whose usage was low, and examine these in the context of their discoverability, or lack thereof. In conducting statistical analyses of e-resources, the argument will be that context, particularly resources in relation to their discoverability on different platforms and via various entry points, needs to be a strategic factor.

 

Friday, May 13

10:15-11:05

Concurrent Sessions 5

The Frontlog Quandary: A Case Study of DEI in the Cataloging Community (Oak room)

Jeremiah Kamtman, MLS Candidate, Indiana University Bloomington

The Frontlog scores collection at the Cook Music Library at Indiana University Bloomington is notoriously massive, housing just over 22,000 items as of October 2021. At its inception, the Frontlog was designed to be an accessible, circulating backlog of print materials; however, it has always been a “catch-all” for any print material received that does not already have full-level cataloging available. As a result, newly published items tend to be housed there. This means that hundreds of scores by 20th and 21st century composers, especially composers of color, could end up sitting in “Frontlog purgatory” for years. With the emergence of more diverse repertoire being published and performed worldwide, it is imperative that these works be fully accessible to users. Even though Frontlog items are technically searchable in IUCAT, they are neither physically browsable nor easy to search for, and as such are only truly accessible to those who already know what they’re looking for. The purpose of this presentation is to delineate a special project undertaken in the Fall of 2021 to help alleviate this issue. In this project, local holdings of prominent BIPOC composers were identified; the percentage of these works that were held in the Frontlog were determined; and the works which still had minimal-level cataloging were enhanced to full-level in Connexion so that they could then be bound and circulated in the stacks. This presentation uses these findings to suggest to the cataloging community ways to analyze, address, and equitize their own music collections.

 

Making Lemonade from Lemons: How We Turned Streaming Video Frustrations into Engagement Opportunities (Walnut room)

Laura Edwards, Eastern Kentucky University Libraries; Ashley Cole, Eastern Kentucky University Libraries

Managing streaming videos is a multifaceted process with complex workflows that vary according to the nature of access and are complicated further by factors outside of the libraries’ control, which range from expired copyright agreements to faculty misunderstandings about the nature of the library’s provision of access. This level of complexity invariably leads to frustrations that can be hard to break out of, but being mindful of problems beyond the libraries’ control can actually be liberating. Hear how EKU Libraries pivoted their mindset from streaming video woes to faculty engagement opportunities to ultimately transform our collection development strategy.

 

What to Do in the Interim: Excelling in Library Leadership on an Temporary Basis (Maple room)

Cris Ferguson, Interim Dean of Libraries, Murray State University; Glenda Alvin, Interim Executive Director of Libraries and Media Centers, Tennessee State University

Upon the retirement or departure of a colleague, a librarian may at some point be asked or apply to serve in a leadership position, perhaps in a department / unit or over an entire library, on an open ended Interim basis. An Interim leader can sometimes feel isolated, overwhelmed, and unprepared for the role they find themselves in. With this in mind, our presentation focuses specifically on the needs and experiences of librarians serving in Interim leadership positions as Deans or Directors. The first half of this presentation will focus on the broad issues that a librarian in an Interim leadership position is likely to encounter, such as financial / budgeting matters, personnel, fund raising, hiring and staffing, faculty development, and long term planning for library facilities and collections, etc. Then, in the second half of the presentation, a seasoned leader will discuss some of the challenges she has encountered specifically in her Interim role at her library, including a total organizational restructuring, and what the results have been.

               

Friday, May 13

11:15-12:05

Concurrent Sessions 6

Deciphering Mechanical Puzzles with the Jerry Slocum Mechanical Puzzle Collection (Oak room)

Andrew Rhoda, Curator of Puzzles, Lilly Library, Indiana University

The Jerry Slocum Mechanical Puzzle Collection at Indiana University’s Lilly Library is a collection of over 35,000 “mechanical puzzles.” These puzzles are self-contained objects composed of multiple pieces and involve a problem for one person to solve by manipulating the pieces to achieve a predetermined, repeatable result. Famous examples of mechanical puzzles include the Rubik’s Cube and the Tangram. While the history of mechanical puzzles dates to before the common era, it was not until the late 19th century that enthusiasts attempted to catalog and describe mechanical puzzles as a category. When puzzle collectors began to do so, they found that cataloging these objects presented specific challenges. Ever since, collectors have adapted to these challenges in different ways in their cataloging of these puzzles. In this talk, I will discuss the history of mechanical puzzle description and how specific collectors, including Jerry Slocum, have described mechanical puzzles. I will demonstrate how that history informs the cataloging of puzzles in the collection’s catalog, the Slocum Mechanical Puzzle Database,. In addition, as images have been an integral part of mechanical puzzle description since the 19th century, I will discuss how images work in concert with the descriptive information in the collection’s database. In the end, this talk will provide a view into the description of mechanical puzzles at the Slocum Mechanical Puzzle Collection and possibly offer additional ideas about how similar objects can be described in other collections.

 

Next Steps in Decolonizing the Catalog: Application of Indigenous Subject Headings at the University of Dayton (Walnut room)

Jill J Crane, University of Dayton; Grace Huffman, University of Dayton

Inspired by our previous work to add alternative subject headings for LCSH subject headings that used the word “aliens,” attending a webinar through OhioLINK about DEI initiatives and researching work that was done by the Association for Manitoba Archives, the Roesch Library at the University of Dayton has decided to modify our catalog records with LCSH subject headings that contain the word “Indians” and other Indigenous related headings. Modifications may include adding local subject headings to supplement the LCSH and deleting or correcting headings that have recently been changed at LC. We will talk about how this technical services project is relevant to the Library’s Diversity, Inclusion and Equity strategic plan and targets the goal of  increasing discoverability and access. The session will include discussion of the decision-making process and using existing resources to create alternative headings and technical considerations.  We will also talk about our phased approach to this project, outcomes and future plans. We hope to use this experience as an example for future projects at our Library and to encourage others to add inclusive subject headings to the ILS.

 

Resources for Understanding Metadata and Description of Library Collections: Professional Development Tools for Technical Services (Maple room)

Andrea Morrison,  Head, Monographic Text Cataloging, Indiana University Bloomington; Janice Gustaferro, Metadata Librarian and Liaison to the College of Education, Butler University Libraries.

This interactive session introduces an online guide for freely available or low-cost professional development resources for library technical services staff. The guide will include categories for Cataloging, Acquisitions, Metadata, Vocabularies, Digitization, and Digital Preservation. It will link to updated standards, policies, and best practices documentation appropriate for general reference use and for technical services responsibilities. This guide will be a good resource for technical services staff, reference librarians, researchers, students, and other library staff to consult to improve their understanding of metadata standards and vocabularies, including harmful or offensive subject headings. The guide will also link to Library of Congress and Program for Cooperative Cataloging guidance for the latest revision to our official cataloging standards as well as link to online training resources. The session will be a live introduction to the guide by both presenters with time for questions. This general presentation will be appropriate for all OVGTSL attendees; no special knowledge is required. It will be particularly appealing to staff in libraries without subscription resources.