Due to the growing presence of artificial intelligence (AI) in developed countries, this study investigates the awareness and perception about artificial intelligence in the management of university libraries in Nigeria. The study is a survey design that is based on both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The population of the study comprised eighty academic librarians from eight purposively selected university libraries in the country. The finding of the study revealed that academic librarians are aware of the existence of AI usage in the university libraries and that the fear of job loss is the major constraint they face in the adoption of the technologies; even though they are aware that the innovative technologies will enable efficient user satisfaction. The study recommends the need for academic librarians to make themselves relevant in this era of the fourth industrial revolution, by acquiring necessary skills that are in line with the technologies. It is also critical that library management educate academic librarians to understand that the adoption of AI in the library does not translate to the loss of jobs.
Abstract Libraries worldwide were physically shut down, although remotely quite active, for some or much of 2020 in reaction to the COVID-19 virus sweeping the globe. This happened mid-semester for many academic libraries, as the pandemic hit the U.S. and transmission rates started to rise in March 2020. Yale University needed to quickly pivot a heavily physical course reserves service - print books and physical video material held at library service points, - to all-electronic formats. Using data driven methods, Yale was able to match print holdings on physical reserve with digital items held in or able to be licensed through various fulfillment methods. This article outlines that process and provides suggestions for further development of Course Reserves services in remote learning environments.
Abstract During the spring of 2020, a number of health sciences library personnel who continued to provide Interlibrary Loan (ILL)/Document Delivery (DD) during the COVID-19 (COVID) pandemic anecdotally noticed an increase in the volume of requests. These were presumed to be from peer libraries that were unable to access their print collections, and few seemed specific to COVID-information needs. This raised the question, “What are libraries doing about providing requested materials in this resource sharing environment, especially when requests cannot be filled through ILL/DD?” This report introduces a multi-institutional research effort by health sciences library staff that is being planned to understand the demand for, and efforts to supply, content from library print and online collections, as well as third-party providers, during COVID. The purpose of this report is to describe the research-in-progress and encourage additional research into maintaining access to information during extraordinary conditions. The expectation is that the results of such research efforts may provide insight on how libraries can adapt their ILL/DD services and workflows during emergencies to license and share resources even more effectively in the future.
Abstract Alongside increasing tuition and fees, textbook costs remain an expensive hurdle for students seeking a college education; however, university libraries are implementing strategies to ease this financial burden. Initiatives like income-based textbook programs, library textbook collections, and partnerships with faculty to encourage the use of free e-textbooks are just a few ways libraries are easing the financial strain. It is in this spirit that LSU’s interlibrary loan department supplemented such initiatives by revising its decades old no-textbook policy. In the spring of 2017, a pilot was launched, and for the first time, graduate students were able to make requests to interlibrary loan for textbooks. Prior to launch, some concerns were expressed about the ramifications of allowing such a service. This case study will respond directly to those concerns using data collected from ILLiad over the course of the pilot as well as discuss the strategy used to carefully implement the service.
In July 2017 the California State University system of twenty-four libraries started an unmediated interlibrary loan service for print materials, known as CSU+. This paper examines four years of interlibrary loan data, from two years before CSU+’s launch to two years after, to explore the impact of the new service on interlibrary loan usage. The data shows that CSU + dramatically increased interlibrary loan use across the California State University system.
