Strategic Actions, Goals and Accomplishments
Library Technology & Development Coordination
- Nancy Turner
Key Activities and Accomplishments FY 17-18
Dspace
In spring of 2018, we initiated a project to implement Dspace as an institutional repository. The IR is going to connect directly with Elements allowing faculty who use Elements to also deposit a copy of their publication into the IR. We also plan to get electronic theses and dissertations into Dspace instead of CONTENTdm. As a phase 2 of this project, we will look at options for a public interface to promote open access.
Symplectic Elements
The majority of the library work is focused on on-boarding new schools and colleges and assisting with the review of publications. Work in the library is split between student workers (data entry) and librarians (Quality Assurance work) and largely managed by Rachel Appel.
Alma Support post go-live
The Libraries went live with Alma/Primo in July 2017. We assisted departments throughout library with modifying Alma to meet evolving workflows. Throughout the year, we gradually transitioned ongoing support and maintenance of Alma to LTS. Alma Integrations with new library building More specifically with the Dematic ASRS. Towards the end of FY18, we will need to begin planning and implementing the integration between Alma and Dematic. This will not only require a technical integration, but will also likely require policy and protocol changes. Other Alma configurations will also likely change as a result of moving to the new building.
Web Presence Interface Redesign
Phase 1: User Survey and Click Tracking - In the fall, we conducted a user survey to get an idea of why patrons come to our website and what they do while they're there. We received over 400 responses with some very useful information. Also in the fall, we set up click-tracking on several pages of the website to see where people are clicking on the site.
Phase 2: Content Review - As part of the second phase of the website redesign project, we led a series of practices to review content on the current website. This included a systematic review and documentation of every page in the current web environment, totaling over 1500 pages. In the winter, the team began thinking about the different content types that would be on the new website and what metadata would be used to describe them. In the spring, we came up with draft metadata profiles for several different content types and began assigning content to each content type. The process of describing each entity will begin shortly.
Phase 3: Infrastructure Design - Work on the website infrastructure began in Spring of 2017. The site is being developed in Ruby on Rails. Initial frameworks are complete and data entry for some of the entities will begin shortly.
Phase 4: Website Design - The final phase of actually designing a user interface with graphic identity has begun. We are working to complete this process with solicited input from others as needed. Web Content Policies - With the redesign of the library's web presence, a small sub-committee has completed work on a content style guide that is similar to what is currently in place for LibGuides.
Data Infrastructure
In the past year, we have successfully gotten EZproxy and ILLiad data files to load into LibStats automatically. We have also set up a connection with ITS to receive demographic data that can be coupled to the transactional data. We will continue to look at how best to organize this data to produce useful mechanisms of reporting.
Blacklight Discovery Layer
One very important component of the web presence interface redesign is the discovery of library materials in what will eventually replace Primo. The discovery layer built on Blacklight had a first beta release in February of 2018 and a second beta release in June of 2018. The official release is planned for August 6, 2018.
Technology Projects & initiatives Roundtable
Convened in June 2018, the TPI Roundtable is tasked with standardizing documentation and communication as it relates to project management. This work will be done primarily through Jira and Confluence. The group will serve to coordinate project timelines and review project requests and make recommendations for project initiation.
Hardware
Library Technology Services continued to provide exemplary service to library patrons using the public computers and printers. This past year saw additional refinements in training and managing the Tech student workers to better serve the patrons technical needs. Also with regards to public computing, Cody and Chris replaced hard drives in the public computers and reimaged computers to enable optimal computer performance.
On the staff side of hardware support, LTS joined LTD in tracking all staff requests for support using Jira issue submission. This has significantly streamlined the technology support process for library staff. Additionally, approximately 30 staff computers were replaced as part of the regular refresh cycles.