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School of Information Management · Te Kura Tiaki, Whakawhiti Kōrero: MIS, MLIS, and MIM Research Papers

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Browsing School of Information Management · Te Kura Tiaki, Whakawhiti Kōrero: MIS, MLIS, and MIM Research Papers by Subject "Academic discipline"

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    An Exploration of Disciplinary Differences in the Use of Talis at the University of Auckland
    (Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, 2016) Beasley, Rose
    Research problem: Resource list management systems (RLMSs) have recently seen a significant increase in popularity, but previous research has not fully explored the differences in uptake of these systems in different academic disciplines within a university setting. This research addresses this problem by identifying and exploring these differences in two academic faculties at the University of Auckland. Methodology: This research was focussed on Semester 1 2016, and used a mixed-methods case study approach comprised of statistics generated from the virtual learning environment, Canvas, and Talis, the RLMS implemented at the University of Auckland. Seven semi-structured interviews were then conducted with a range of Subject Librarians and academic staff, and the results were analysed and themes identified. Results: Three main themes in the uptake of Talis were identified – individual resistance, organisational approach, and disciplinary need. Disciplinary need was found to be the main factor affecting academic use of Talis. Implications: This research adds to the body of knowledge surrounding RLMS implementations, and may offer some insights to other universities implementing similar systems. Future research could take the form of wider studies looking at a larger range of disciplines, or more generalizable studies focussed on testing the findings discussed here.
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    ItemOpen Access
    Subject Guides and Resource Discovery
    (Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, 2020) Tyson, A. F.
    Research problem Subject guides are disciplinary resource discovery maps long created by librarians to assist library users in independently locating resources within the library. While best practices in the design and promotion of guides are well documented in the literature, analyses of usage are scant. Furthermore, given developments in resource discovery, including Web-scale discovery tools and Google Scholar, subject guide usage needs to be contextualised in relation to the usage of other discovery tools. Methodology Access data for the access of subject guides and resource discovery tools located on the University of Canterbury (UC) Library Website was collected for the last five weeks of the first term of the academic year. Subject guide access data was gathered using Google Analytics and resource discovery tool access data was gathered from EZproxy server logs. Access statistics for subject guides (hosted on LibGuides) were analysed to investigate disciplinary differences in subject guide access. To investigate disciplinary differences in resource access behaviour, EZproxy server logs were parsed and analysed to quantify resource access originating from the four main resource discovery tools offered by UC Library: subject guides (as hosted on LibGuides), Web-scale discovery (Summon), databases (via Biblioplus) and Google Scholar. Results Four disciplinary groups of subject guides were responsible for 82% of all subject guide page views, with the remaining 18 disciplinary groups of guides having relatively low access. When raw access figures were normalised according to student enrolments, subject guides for the Law & Legal Studies, Studies in Human Society, and History & Archaeology disciplines attracted disproportionately high access, while subject guides in Economics, Engineering, and Mathematical Sciences attracted disproportionately low access. Analysing the resource discovery tools used to access sample databases for these disciplines revealed different disciplinary approaches to resource discovery. Disciplines that had high access rates for subject guides were more likely to commence information resource searches in subject guides or a specific database. Disciplines that had low access rates for subject guides were more likely to commence information resource searches in Summon or Google Scholar. Implications The differences in subject guide usage and resource discovery approaches suggests different disciplinary needs for information resource discovery. Given the low usage for most guides found in this study and the dominance of Summon, in particular, as a resource discovery tool, the creation of subject guides for all disciplines may no longer be an effective method for supporting patrons in resource discovery.