ITAL Information Technology and Libraries (E-Journal)
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Facing What’s Next, Together
Get PDFLITA President's message reflecting on the Core vote and COVID-19 related changes in libraries
In the Middle of Difficulty Lies Opportunity: Hope Floats
Get PDFMessage from the last LITA President. 
Are Ivy League Libraries’ Websites ADA Compliant?
No full textAs a doorway for users seeking information, library websites should be accessible to all, including those who are visually or physically impaired and those with reading or learning disabilities. In conjunction with an earlier study, this paper presents a comparative evaluation of Ivy League university library homepages with regard to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) mandates. Data results from WAVE and AChecker evaluations indicate that although the error of Missing Form Labels still occurs in these websites, other known accessibility errors and issues have been significantly improved from five years ago
Using Augmented and Virtual Reality in Information Literacy Instruction to Reduce Library Anxiety in Nontraditional and International Students
Get PDFThroughout its early years, the Oral Roberts University (ORU) Library held a place of pre-eminence on campus. ORU’s founder envisioned the Library as central to all academic function and scholarship. Under the direction of the founding dean of learning resources, the Library was an early pioneer in innovative technologies and methods. However, over time, as the case with many academic libraries, the Library’s reputation as an institution crucial to the academic work on campus had diminished.
A team of librarians is now engaged in programs aimed at repositioning the Library as the university’s hub of learning. Toward that goal, the Library has long taught information literacy (IL) to students and faculty through several traditional methods, including one-shot workshops and sessions tied to specific courses of study. Now, in conjunction with disseminating augmented, virtual, and mixed reality (AVMR) learning technologies, the Library is redesigning instruction to align with various realities of higher education today, including uses of AVMR in instruction and research and following best practices from research into serving
online learners;
international learners not accustomed to Western higher-education practices; and
learners returning to university study after being away from higher education for some time or having changed disciplines of study.
The Library is innovating online tutorials targeted for nontraditional and international graduate students with various combinations of AVMR, with the goal to diminish library anxiety. Numerous library and information science studies have shown a correlation between library anxiety and reduced library use, and library use has been linked to student learning, academic success, and retention.[1]
This paper focuses on IL instruction methods under development by the Library. Current indicators are encouraging as the Library embarks on the redesign of IL instruction and early development of inclusion of AVMR in IL instruction for nontraditional and international students
Google Us! Capital Area District Libraries Gets Noticed with Google Ads Grant
Get PDFCapital Area District Libraries enrolled in Googe Ad Grants in 2018 and receives up to $10,000 of in-kind Google Ads each month. This article describes how we obtained the grant, the campaigns we've developed, and the impact it has made on visits to our online branch
Navigation Design and Library Terminology: Findings from a User-Centered Usability Study on a Library Website
Get PDFThe University Library at California State University, Stanislaus is not only undergoing a library building renovation, but a website redesign as well. The library conducted a user-centered usability study to collect data in order to best lead the library website “renovation.” A prototype was created to assess an audience-based navigation design, homepage content framework, and heading terminology. The usability study consisted of 38 student participants. It was determined that a topic-based navigation design will be implemented instead of an audience-based navigation, a search-all search box will be integrated, and the headings and menu links will be modified to avoid ambiguous library terminology. Further research on different navigation and content designs, and usability design approaches, will be explored for future studies
Public Libraries Respond to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Creating a New Service Model
Get PDFDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, public libraries have demonstrated, in many ways, their value to their communities. They have enabled their patrons to not only resume their lives, but to help them learn and grow. Additionally, electronic resources offered to patrons through their library card have allowed people to be educated and entertained.
The credit must go to the librarians, who initially fueled, and have maintained this level of service by re-writing the rules—creating a new service model
Virtual Reality: A Survey of Use at an Academic Library
Get PDFWe conducted a survey to inform the expansion of a Virtual Reality (VR) service in our library. The survey assessed user experience, demographics, academic interests in VR, and methods of discovery. Currently our institution offers one HTC Vive VR system that can be reserved and used by patrons within the library, but we would like to expand the service to meet the interests and needs of our patrons. We found use among all measured demographics and sufficient patron interest for us to justify expansion of our current services. The data resulting from this survey and the subsequent focus groups can be used to inform other academic libraries exploring or developing similar VR services.
 
Using the Harvesting Method to Submit ETDs into ProQuest: A Case Study of a Lesser-Known Approach
Get PDFThe following case study describes an academic library’s recent experience implementing the harvesting method to submit electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) into the ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global database (PQDT). In this lesser-known approach, ETDs are deposited first in the institutional repository (IR), where they get processed, to be later harvested for free by ProQuest through the IR’s Open Archives Initiative (OAI) feed. The method provides a series of advantages over some of the alternative methods, including students’ choice to opt-in or out from ProQuest, better control over the embargo restrictions, and more customization power without having to rely on overly complicated workflows. Institutions interested in adopting a simple, automated, post-IR method to submit ETDs into ProQuest, while keeping the local workflow, should benefit from this method. 
LibraryVPN: A New Tool for Protecting Patron Privacy
No full textDescribes the state of the LibraryVPN project. This is an IMLS funded project (LG-36-19-0071-19) to develop VPN software that libraries can host for their patrons. This will allow patrons to secure their internet traffic from wherever they are using their local library's VPN