1,720,974 research outputs found
Innovations for Access in Alabama: 1) Testing VuFind as an Index for AlabamaMosaic; 2) New Membership Structure for Alabama Digital Preservation Network
Get PDFIn the last decade, the Network of Alabama Academic Libraries (NAAL) has launched two statewide initiatives dealing with digitized cultural heritage materials. The first, AlabamaMosaic, is a digital library of materials from 21 institutions. Up until now, it has been necessary that all participants publish their materials using the same content management software (CMS). Most recently, this CMS has been CONTENTdm, with OCLC’s Multi-Site Server (MSS) software being used to index the collections and provide the search interface.
Although members have been exploring the use of alternative CMSs, these non-CONTENTdm collections cannot be indexed by MSS and thus could not be included in AlabamaMosaic before now. This past year, we have been testing the use of VuFind, an open-source next-generation catalog software, to index AlabamaMosaic collections. VuFind index records are created from OAI metadata harvesting feeds. Thus far, collections in three CMSs -- CONTENTdm, dSpace, and Acumen -- have been harvested into the VuFind index. Like MSS, VuFind allows searching across all indexed collections. Unlike MSS, VuFind facets then allow these search results to be narrowed by institution, collection, author, and/or subject term.
NAAL’s second statewide digital initiative is the Alabama Digital Preservation Network (ADPNet), a Private LOCKSS Network (PLN). Many of the digital collections indexed by AlabamaMosaic are also preserved in ADPNet. The original configuration for ADPNet involved seven server nodes, one each at the state archives and at six colleges and universities scattered around the state. Recently, a new membership model (presented here by Tom Wilson in 2011) was established with four tiers of membership. This new model allows smaller institutions to join without being required to host a server node and has resulted in the addition of two new ADPNet members, both public libraries
This Goodly Land: Creating an Online Reference Source
Get PDFThis paper describes the creation of the online literary map This Goodly Land: Alabama's Literary Landscape, from January 2005 through June 2011. The literary map was designed and created at Auburn University by a small paid staff assisted by volunteers from around the state. Funding was a combination of grant support from state arts organizations and grant and in-kind support from the university. In its fullest form, the project consisted of 168 author profiles, nine audio podcasts, one streaming video, 23 lesson plans created for the site and links to 19 external lesson plans, a calendar-based reading list, and an interactive feature "This Day in Alabama Literary History." Page views showed that use of the resource paralleled the academic year but increased from one year to the next. Factors in the project's success included support from Auburn University, state funding agencies, and stakeholder organizations, a modular design (core content first, features later), a dedicated project manager, and effective use of volunteers. Additional recommendations for those planning similar projects include: 1) a descriptive project name; 2) target audience research; 3) granular user tracking; 4) online promotion; and 5) a sustainability plan updated annually.Not publishe
Using Google Analytics to Examine Use Patterns for a Collection of Electronic Theses and Dissertations
No full textThis poster presents an examination of use patterns for a dSpace collection of electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) using Google Analytics. During the one-year study period: (1) in-state patrons used university Web sources and search engines to find the overall collection, then used internal navigation to find individual bibliographic information (metadata) pages; (2) out-of-state patrons used search engines and scholarly databases to go directly to the bibliographic information pages; (3) over 95% of page views for the ETDs themselves (not just bibliographic information pages) were from out-of-state users.Ye
Embargo Periods: How Do They Affect the Use of Electronic Theses and Dissertations?
No full textEmbargo periods for Electronic Thesis and Dissertations (ETDs) collections are usually discussed from the point of view of publishers and/or submitters, not that of digital library end-users. This poster examines the impact of embargos on use patterns for a university ETDs collection. Data obtained from Google Analytics are compared for individual item page views and item downloads for both in-state and out-of-state end-users. The impact of global vs. university-only embargos is also examined.Presente
Embargo Periods and External Publication for History Dissertations
No full textA policy statement issued by the American Historical Association (AHA) in July 2013 recommended that institutions with mandatory deposit allow creators to embargo their ETDs for a period of up to six years. The reason given for the policy was that open access might endanger publication of ETDs as monographs and that lengthy embargos could protect graduates’ ability to publish their work. Implementation of embargo in the U.S. has been far from uniform; every institution has its own policies and procedures. Nonetheless, since 2013, any institution which makes its ETDs openly available has had to deal with the expectations raised by the AHA policy statement. This presentation will examine the influence of the AHA policy by comparing history PhD candidates’ embargo decisions before and after 2013. It will also examine the publication of monographs based on history dissertations. Numbers of published monographs derived from electronic dissertations will be compared for unrestricted and restricted titles to evaluate whether access restriction confers a publication advantage. The time elapsed between dissertation date and monograph publication will also be compared for both groups. This presentation will expand on my earlier research which was limited to dissertations at Auburn University and will look at history dissertations from other research universities around the U.S. to see if the AU results were a local phenomenon only or part of a wider trend
Electronic Theses and Dissertations: Differences in Behavior for Local and Non-Local Users
Get PDFThis study examines two research questions: (1) How do users in different locations find Auburn University Electronic Theses and Dissertations? (2) Do users in different locations interact differently with the collection and, if so, how? Google Analytics data for user visits, landing pages, and page views were separated into groups based on user location. Visits data were also correlated with source (referring Web site), and landing pages and page views were grouped by type. Most local users came to the repository via Auburn University Web pages. This group usually landed on the collection home page and used internal navigation pages to find what they needed. Submission page views showed that most ETD depositors were local. Most out-of-state users came to the repository via Web search engines. This group usually landed directly on bibliographic information pages for individual ETDs. They used internal navigation pages less frequently than local users. Users located within the state but outside of the local area interacted with the collection in a way that was intermediate between the two groups. Institutions interested in improving repository access for depositors will probably find it helpful to focus on in-state usage reports, while institutions seeking to improve access for end-users should exclude in-state users from their assessments. This is the first detailed examination of ETDs usage published since 2001 and shows that filtering tools available in Google Analytics allow comparisons of user behavior based on location and source (referring Web site).PublishedYe
Comparing Apples to Apples? Examining User Behavior for an Open-Access ETDs Collection vs. ProQuest
No full textMany institutions that maintain their own open-access repository for Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) also deposit ETDs into the vendor database ProQuest Theses & Dissertations. Since ETDs are the products of scholarly research, one might assume that both types of collections would have the same target audience and that their users would exhibit similar behavior and be seeking similar materials. One might also assume that (free) open-access collections would be more heavily used in developing countries while ProQuest would be more heavily used in so-called First World countries.
To examine these assumptions, this poster compares Google Analytics user statistics for a research university’s open-access ETDs collection created in DSpace with similar data obtained for that institution’s ETDs available from ProQuest. Comparisons are made for: (a) Overall collection use (including user visits, metadata page views, and ETD downloads data, as available); (b) Most-accessed materials (including fields of study and issue dates); (c) Users’ geographical locations (by country).Presente
AlabamaMosaic: How Does It Fit into the Museum Community?
Get PDFAlabamaMosaic is a statewide project in which participating institutions create and manage their own collections of digital objects, and a central catalog makes these objects findable from the AlabamaMosaic Web site. Although originally created by the Network of Alabama Academic Libraries, AlabamaMosaic has become a collaboration between academic libraries, public libraries, archives, historical societies, and museums. Project participants make their digital objects available through AlabamaMosaic so that the public can use them for educational and other non-commercial purposes. There are no fees to participate, and smaller organizations can get help in creating their digital collections. Midge Coates, Auburn University, Project Manager for AlabamaMosaic Project, will talk about the AlabamaMosaic project as a whole and about the benefits of participation for a small (or large) organization
Profiling Digital Collection Users: Using Google Analytics to Learn More about Users of an ETDs Collection
No full textThis poster presents preliminary Google Analytics usage data for a collection of electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs). Correlation of page views with page type, user location, and source (referring link) shows that, during the study period, most in-state users found the collection via internal sources (University links) and viewed mostly home and navigation pages, while most out-of-state users found the collection via external sources (search engines, databases) and viewed mostly bibliographic information pages. Nearly all of those who viewed actual ETDs were out-of-state “direct” users who may have bookmarked the collection during a previous visit.Ye
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