Past Programs

Moving Forward Together After Pandemic-Related Change

A collaborative online event presented by ASIG, ERMIG, and ITIG

Friday, April 29, 2022
  • "Creativity, Necessity, and Pandemic-Related Change"
    René Tanner, Science Librarian/Head of Research Services, Rollins College
  • Roundtable/Discussion: New Models of Reference & Public Service
    Teresa Maceira, University of Massachusetts Boston & ITIG Co-Chair, and Eric Cruze, Bridgewater State University & ERMIG Vice-Chair
  • Interlibrary Lending of Whole Ebooks
    Michael Rodriguez, University of Connecticut and Stanley Huzarewicz, University of Connecticut & ASIG Chair
  • Roundtable/Discussion: Collaborating with Groups Outside the Library
    Becca Brody, Westfield State University, John Holm, Norwich University & ERMIG Co-Chair, Cindy Li, Bridgewater State University & ITIG Co-Chair

Transitions (2021 Virtual Conference)

Showrunner AMA: How to Make a Better Offer. By Elena O’Malley and Cheryl McGrath

Hiring falls somewhere between an exciting opportunity to rethink a position and a challenge to justify business needs, changing duties, and balancing workloads across existing staff. Two hiring managers with vastly different turnover experiences will discuss how to re-envision the workforce through the process of revising (sometimes heavily) the job descriptions of open positions. Whether the turnover is due to retirement or a younger, career-advancing employee population, or a pandemic-driven organizational restructuring, there are common themes when revising jobs. This revision process benefits the hiring manager, who has new challenges to address, and the new employee, who benefits from correctly-set expectations and accurate descriptions of responsibilities. Existing employees can also benefit, as they realize the new opportunities that come with the new challenges.
We will discuss who to talk to you at your institution to get an idea of where there might be gaps or opportunities when crafting a new job description and hiring.

FOLIO Panel. By Andrew Clark, Jay Campbell, Gus Consing, Brian Arrigo, Eliana Lima, and Walter Stine

FOLIO (folio.org) is an open source library services platform being developed by an international community of libraries, library consortia, and vendors. Unlike a traditional ILS, FOLIO is app-based and designed to be adaptable and extensible to meet libraries' ever-changing needs. In this panel, librarians from Simmons University will share their experiences collaborating with the Fenway Library Organization (FLO), a Massachusetts-based consortium, and Index Data, a company that develops software for libraries, participating in the development process, evaluating the product for their needs, implementing, using, and adapting (and adapting to) the software.

Lightning Talks

KBART Phase III Update. By Andrée Rathemacher

KBART is one of the most successful NISO recommendations today. Formally supported by over 80 organizations across all stakeholder groups, it enables a standardized transfer of data between content providers and knowledge bases. Recently KBART added an automated process to transfer institution-specific holdings data to knowledge bases.
Now, the KBART Standing Committee is beginning work on Phase III of the KBART Recommended Practice, which has not been updated since 2014.
While KBART was originally designed to deliver journal and book holdings information in support of OpenURL link resolvers, KBART files are now used in multiple systems and by various stakeholders throughout the e-resource supply chain. In addition, content providers have moved beyond journals and books to deliver multimedia and non-book/non-journal content from around the globe.
In this lightning talk, in my role as Co-Chair of the KBART Standing Committee, I will provide a brief overview of our plans around KBART Phase III (i.e. clarifying current recommendations, revising the KBART endorsement process, adding support for additional content types, improving the usefulness of KBART for non-English/European language content, and ensuring that the KBART mission accurately reflects modern usage of KBART along with the needs of KBART Automation).

6 Weeks to a Strategic Plan. By Cheryl McGrath

Strategic Planning can feel overwhelming and endless.  This is a practical walk-thru of a 6 week strategic planning program, at the end of which a team can have developed a strategic plan. We will discuss the activities for each week, how to use a multi-modal approach to ensure all team members are engaged, and what to do with the end product.

What Angelina Weld Grimké taught me about Black authors in Special Collections. By Kaitlin Buerge

This lightning talk will provide a brief overview of Middlebury College’s Reparative Cataloging Project and will explore how an encounter with a copy of Rachel by Angelina Weld Grimké in February 2020 led to the systematic updating of MARC records for works by authors from historically marginalized populations, with a particular emphasis on Black and Indigenous authors. The Reparative Cataloging Project is part of the Middlebury Libraries’ commitment to update racist cataloging and to amplify underrepresented voices.

Mergers, Electronic Resources, and You. By Chelsea Hanrahan and Russ Rattray

In July of 2018, New England College and the NH Institute of Art announced their intention to merge as one institution operating on two campuses. The implications of this required each institution’s respective libraries to combine resources and operations to best support two very different curriculums. This lightning talk will be a quick overview of how the administration of the H. Raymond Danforth Library handled the merging of electronic resources-and the unexpected implications of how their management affected other aspects of combining operations.

Visualizing Data for Libraries (January 2020 Webinar)

How data visualization supports academic library assessment: examples from the Boston College Libraries and the Syracuse University Libraries. By Allison Xu

Data visualization plays an increasingly important role in supporting academic library assessment; it not only can help libraries gain better insights into library services but also helps libraries make more data-driven decisions. This presentation will introduce some library data visualization projects that have been done by using data visualization techniques like Tableau and PowerBI.

A Basic Data Dashboard from UMass Boston. By Mary T. Moser

The phrase “data dashboard” can mean a lot of different things. UMass Boston’s basic data dashboard accomplishes several goals: a.) it systematizes the collection of data across library departments, b.) it streamlines and simplifies the process of collecting and analyzing data for IPEDS, ACRL, and the library’s annual report, and c.) it lays the foundational groundwork for future, more robust, data dashboard iterations. If your library does not have a data dashboard of any kind, this presentation may give you some ideas for starting with the basics.

Finding Gaps: Identifying and Meeting the Data Viz Needs of Patron Groups Often Forgotten. By Sally Gore

.

Data visualization is often tied in our thoughts with big data sets and/or complicated programming. While this is certainly one aspect, there are many individuals who can benefit from learning and utilizing best practices for data viz, even with small or easily manageable data sets. This talk will address who some of these groups are and how libraries can create and implement data visualization services to meet their needs.

What Are We Paying For? (ERMIG's 2019/2020 Annual Program

Evaluating Big Deal Cancellation Impact

The UMass Amherst Libraries canceled our subscription to the Royal Society of Chemistry journal bundle in 2016, after years of unsustainable price increases. This presentation will cover both the decision making process and our ongoing collaborative project to evaluate the impact of cancellation on faculty research, interlibrary loan use, and library-wide costs. This story is specific to UMass Amherst, but our methods for gathering patron feedback, comparing COUNTER usage statistics with Interlibrary Loan numbers, and setting copyright and fees from other libraries alongside subscription costs can be adjusted for any library. (Kate Zdepski, University of Massachusetts, Amherst)

Electronic Resources at Rhode Island School of Design’s Fleet Library: Assessing and Balancing Community Needs

While every library examines and assesses the resources that it provides to its community of users, the assessment of electronic resources at an independent college of art and design (AICAD), especially one that often looks outside of AICAD for its benchmarks, offers a unique experience for its team of librarians to provide online collections that best support existing and an increasing number of curricular programs. Housed in a renovated banking hall from 1917 on the National Register of Historic Places, the Fleet Library at RISD offers faculty and students a tremendous sense of place in a richly inviting environment surrounded by physical holdings. It can come as a surprise, then, to learn of the electronic resources that the RISD library also provides: e-books, for example, outnumber analog books and digital images provided via subscription stretch into the millions. This presentation will speak to these challenges through a description of how RISD evaluates its electronic resources, the decision-making process and the persons involved, optimal and prohibitive pricing models, and provide some examples of deeper user engagement. (Mark Pompelia, Rhode Island School of Design)

Implementing a Demand-Driven Acquisitions Program at Emmanuel College, Boston, MA.

This presentation will discuss how Emmanuel decided to go beyond our consortium’s shared e-book program and implement our own JSTOR DDA program.  It will discuss how we create access to the titles both purchased and non-purchased, how purchases are triggered and details of the workflow.

It will touch on how this product fits into our collection decisions and mention feedback and promotion of the product to our users at Emmanuel College.  My hope is to help other libraries understand more about this particular product and how they might incorporate something like this into their own workflow. (Catherine Tuohy, Emmanuel College)

IP filtering is obsolete. Where do we go from here?

11:00am - 12:00pm

The link to the publicly available recording of this webinar can be found here: https://youtu.be/e0_Feufr6es.

 

COUNTER Release 5 for Better Usage Reporting

We are pleased to announce ERMIG's first webinar! Counter Release 5 for Better Usage Reporting is our topic. Our presenter is Lorraine Estelle, the COUNTER Project Director. Date/time is November 17, 2017, from 11am to 12pm EST. Registration is free and open to anyone interested in COUNTER Release 5 and better usage reporting. To register, please complete this form. You should receive a link to the webinar within minutes of registering. Be sure to login early on the day of the webinar to download the Zoom plugin and test your equipment. The webinar will be recorded and distributed to registrants after the live event.

COUNTER Release 5 for Better Usage Reporting

Did you know that a new COUNTER Code of Practice was released earlier this year? The new Release 5 is a significant change from Release 4. Attend this webinar to learn about these changes and how they will affect your library's usage reporting.

This webinar will help you:

• Understand the master reports which are at the core of Release 5
• Learn about the new metric types and additional attributes
• Find out about where to get support and guidance

Launched in 2002, COUNTER (Counting Online Usage of Networked Electronic Resources) is an international initiative serving librarians, publishers and intermediaries by setting standards that facilitate the recording and reporting of online usage statistics in a consistent, credible and compatible way.

Our presenter is Lorraine Estelle, the COUNTER Project Director. She is experienced in the information industry with a background in libraries, consortia, shared services, vendors and publishers. She has managed and conducted a wide range of projects, with an interest in new business models for electronic information resources and the financial impact of gold open access. She directed the development of several national shared services in the UK including Jisc Collections and the Journals Usage Statistics Portal. She looks forward to your questions.

Eresources Management Toolkit

A free, one-day, thought-provoking program, with opportunities to network and share with colleagues

Thursday November 17, 2016 from 9:30 AM - 3:00 PM
Lesley University
Sherrill Library, 89 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA 02138

9:30-10:00

Checkin and Continental Breakfast

Sign Up for Lunch
10:00-10:10 Welcome and Opening Remarks

10:10-10:40

Find the Gaps in Next-Generation Library Systems: Survey Results
We will share the results of our recent survey on next-generation library systems. The objective of the study was to determine whether libraries that have implemented these systems are able to complete electronic resource workflows entirely within those systems. 299 survey responses were received from staff using Alma, WorldShare Management System, and Sierra. We will review the survey structure, the results, and discuss our conclusions.

  • Jane Natches, Tufts University
  • Emily Singley, Boston College
10:40-11:10

Beyond COUNTER-compliant: the Importance of Assessing E-resources Reporting Tools (Quality Testing Template)
The need to continually evaluate electronic resources should not limited to the resources themselves. The reporting tools that monitor resource use need to be evaluated as well. This presentation will cover how vendor tools, designed to “assess your collection to make better decisions and reduce costs”, can be assessed for reporting accuracy. In Summer 2015, Yale Library brought up ProQuest’s 360 COUNTER Data Retrieval Service (DRS), in which COUNTER-compliant usage statistics are uploaded to ProQuest’s system twice per year. To date DRS has freed up a significant amount of time for the E-Resources department, allowing for staff resources to be allocated elsewhere. This extra time also allowed the E-Resources department to “kick the tires” of 360 COUNTER, comparing raw COUNTER data uploaded in the system to the system-processed usage reports in Intota Assessment. Using tools already available (Excel) the E-Resources department was able to design and implement a Quality Control workflow, which has helped to better understand how the 360 COUNTER system works, whether the data is reliable, and what steps need to be taken–by both ProQuest and Yale Library–to improve reporting accuracy.

  • Kelly Blanchat, Yale University
11:10-11:25 Break
11:25-11:55

Using Tableau to Assess Electronic Resources in Context
This presentation introduces a transparent and flexible option for libraries to assess usage of electronic resources in the context of other library usage metrics. The presenters will demonstrate how this can be achieved as well as the practical application in collections decision, library instruction, etc.

  • Mark Paris, Brandeis University
  • Katherine Collins, Brandeis University
11:55-12:45

Lightning Talks (10 minutes each)

  1. ERMIG: Is It What You Need? (ERMIG Co-Chairs)
  2. Tools for a Successful E-Journal Cost-Per-Use Review (Kate E-Resource & Serials Access Librarian, Mount Holyoke College)
  3. Simplifying E-Resource Assessment Using LibInsight (Becca Brody, Collection Strategy Librarian, Westfield State University;  Ed Hill, Systems and Digital Services Librarian, Westfield State University)
  4. Shortened Not Stirred: Managing eResources with YOURLs (Junior Tidal, Web Services & Multimedia Librarian, New York City College of Technology, CUNY)
  5. Life with DDA: The Long-Term Commitment to Managing Access and Maintaining Relevance (Alana Verminski, Collection Development Librarian, University of Vermont)
12:55-1:00 Closing Remarks
1:00-3:00 Optional dine-arounds for lunch (aka informal networking opportunities) in Harvard Square; sign-up sheets will be at the registration table.

For questions or more information, contact one of the event coordinators:

TERMS of Engagement: Managing Collections and Electronic Resources Lifecycles

Wednesday November 18, 2015 from 9:30 AM - 3:00 PM
Lesley University
Sherrill Library, 89 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
Co-sponsored with the ACRL NEC Collection Development Interest Group (CDIG)

9:30-10:00

Checkin and Continental Breakfast

Sign Up for Lunch
10:00-10:10 Welcome and Opening Remarks
10:10-10:55

Text Mining Support: Are We There Yet?
Library support of text mining presents a range of logistical challenges from licensing to data management.  The panel will share recent text mining activities and invite attendees to contribute their own perspectives to arrive at common solutions to the emerging role of text mining support.

  • Jen Ferguson, Northeastern University
  • Janet Morrow, Northeastern University
  • Amanda Rust, Northeastern University
  • Bob Boissy, Springer
10:55-11:20

Using TERMS to Convert Print Standing Orders to Electronic Format
O’Neill Library has had a long history of converting print subscription content to electronic format.  Standing orders, however, had been left out of this process until we undertook a project for their conversion this year. We will discuss our motivations, working with our vendors, and our decision processes, as well reception and results of the project.
11:20-11:40 Break
11:40-12:15

Access Denied!
Turnaway data – such as COUNTER reports of "access denied" – can inform collection development decisions, but are they always a true indication of your patrons' interests? We'll look at a variety of activities and situations that can result in "access denied" reports. We will dig into examples of turnaway data and provide the audience with a "turnaway data analysis checklist – what to ask before you buy." Finally, we will look at patrons' "access denied" encounters and document delivery requests to explore the role of other content fulfillment channels. We encourage audience members to come prepared to share their own turnaway experiences – both data and anecdotes.

  • Julie Linden, Yale University
  • Sarah Tudesco, Yale University

(presentation) (checklist)
12:15-12:55

Lightning Talks

  1. Electronic Resources in Times of Fiscal Constraint: Investigations, Acquisitions and Renewals (Joseph Harzbecker, Boston University Medical Center)
  2. Are Next-Gen Library Systems TERMS-compliant? Preliminary Thoughts for a Research Project (Emily Singley, Boston College; Jane Natches, Tufts University)
  3. Content Decision-Making: Flexibility Required (Patricia Berens, Babson College)
  4. Moving Away From the Status Quo: Changing Database A-Z List Platforms (Anna Seiffert, Purdue University)
12:55-1:00 Closing Remarks
1:00-3:00 Optional dine-arounds for lunch (aka informal networking opportunities) in Harvard Square; sign-up sheets will be at the registration table.

 

Measuring Value in Academic Library Collections

Wednesday, November 12, 2014, 9:00 am - 1:00 pm
Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
Griffin Building, 670 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA 02115
Co-sponsored with the ACRL NEC Collection Development Interest Group (CDIG)

9:00 - 9:30 Checkin and Continental Breakfast
9:30 - 9:45 Welcome and Opening Remarks
9:45 - 10:30 "Putting Your Patrons in the Driver's Seat: Assessing the Value of On-Demand Streaming Video"
  • Scott Stangroom, Coordinator of Acquisitions at UMass Amherst
  • Jennifer Ferguson, Liaison Librarian at Simmons College
  • Annie Erdmann, Electronic Resources and Digital Assets Librarian at Simmons College

 
10:30 - 11:00 “Informing Collection Decisions with Massive Analysis”
  • Joelle Thomas, Reference, User Experience, & Media Technologies Librarian at University of Connecticut
  • Arta Dobbs, Collection Management Librarian at University of Connecticut Health Center

 
11:00 - 11:15 Break
11:15 - 12:30 “Using a DDA Dashboard to Inform Collection Development”
  • John Holm, Electronic Resources Librarian at Norwich University

“Ebrary on the Radar: Some Unexpected Truths About Usage”

  • Julie Linden, Assistant Director of Collection Development at Yale University Library
  • Angela Sidman, Electronic Resources Librarian at Yale University Library
  • Sarah Tudesco, Assessment Librarian at Yale University Library

 
12:30 - 1:00 Discussion and Closing Remarks

 

Cutting Edge Issues in Licensing: Text Mining, MOOCs, and More
Co-sponsored with the ACRL NEC Collection Development Interest Group (CDIG)
Thursday, April 25, 2013, 9:30am-1pm, Northeastern University, Boston, MA

The Blind Men and the Elephant: How Different Constituencies Perceive E-books
Co-sponsored with the ACRL NEC Collection Development Interest Group (CDIG)
Thursday, April 19, 2012, 9:30am-1pm, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Griffin Building, Boston, MA

Current Trends in E-Journals
Thursday, August 18, 2011, 9:30am-1:00pm, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Griffin Building, Boston, MA

Older Programs (not necessarily a complete list)

  • Many Pieces: One Puzzle: Providing Access to Electronic Journals (Spring 2007)
  • Here Today; Here Tomorrow?: Journal Archiving in the Electronic Environment (Spring 2005), Co-sponsored with SLIG and ITIG
  • Program Standards of Seriality (Spring 2003)
  • The Road That May Be Taken: Identifying Trends in Technical Processing (Fall 2000)
  • Bringing Order Into Chaos: Issues and Applications in Cataloging Electronic Journals (Fall 1999)
  • Creative Collection Development in an Electronic Journal Age: Librarian and Publisher Perspectives (Spring 1998)