Libraries enable users to discover information in all formats through effective use of technology and organization of knowledge.
Performance Indicator 4.3
The Library develops resource guides to provide guidance and multiple points of entry to information.
The SCC library currently maintains 97 online research guides representing disciplines across SCC. In addition to providing access to library services, guides highlight information resources which support specific assignments, classes, disciplines of study, campus initiatives, and service areas (e.g., Peace Studies, Disability Awareness Month, Academic Transfer, etc.).
As part of the goal to “provide multiple points of entry to information,” these guides serve to connect students with information sources within the SCC/SFCC library collection and beyond. Instructors and librarians often link to guides in Canvas, providing an additional route through which students may discover information.
Examples of information resources contained in library research guides include:
Usage patterns have not changed significantly over the last several years, though 2017-18 saw a slightly higher number of uses overall. Throughout 2018-19, librarians engaged in ongoing maintenance of existing guides, updating content and optimizing accessibility.
Performance Indicator 4.4
The Library creates and maintains interfaces and system architectures that include all resources and facilitates access from preferred user starting points.
Developing tools which enable students to successfully discover and access needed information sources is a core function of the college library and a high priority for librarians. In 2016-17, the libraries migrated to a new discovery system (Alma/Primo) which has the capability to provide access points to both digital and physical library resources from a single search bar. Additionally, in 2017-18, the District and campus websites were completely redesigned. During this time, CCS Libraries also implemented a new authentication system (Open Athens) which enables users to login to library databases from off-campus.
In adopting each of these new systems, there was a need for expedited implementation, providing very little time to properly approach each undertaking and thoroughly leverage all the tools available in each system. Further, the 2018-19 academic year saw a great deal of change in library staff and organizational structure. Rapid deployment of changes in systems architecture combined with a loss of staff who were, in large part, responsible for the nuanced interoperability of these infrastructures has forced us to focus on maintaining basic functionality rather than on assessment and improvement of these systems.
While our new discovery system, Alma/Primo, has the potential to integrate digital subscriptions, a majority of our digital resources remain un-indexed. This means students must navigate through multiple tools when searching for information instead of being able to successfully conduct a single federated search, the intended purpose of the Primo. The ACRL goal of providing access via “preferred user starting points” has not been assessed from a user-experience perspective in either Primo or the library website.
So that we can make more robust use of our library systems, collection team librarians ar planning improvements which will increase student discovery of information. To aid in this work, there is a dire need that a staff cataloger be hired to fill the vacant post. Hiring a cataloger would enable us to begin properly addressing catalog inconsistencies, accessibility issues, linking to digital objects, and maintaining general functionality of the integrated library system.
Performance Indicator 4.6
The Library provides one-on-one assistance through multiple platforms to help users find information.
Reference Desk
Assisting students at the library Reference Desk is one of our most valuable methods for teaching students about research and connecting them to needed information sources. One adjunct and four full-time faculty librarians man the Reference Desk during all 62 hours that the library is open each week. Depending on the allotted adjunct hours, full-time librarians generally spend between 11 and 17 hours per week on this service desk. Fluctuations in external demands such as teaching requests, meetings, committee work, other professional responsibilities, or employee leave can have a drastic impact on the number of Reference Desk hours required of a librarian during any given week, increasing that number to over 20 hours at times. SCC librarians answer between 3500 and 4000 questions per year on average; students are highly satisfied with our service. A student satisfaction survey of reference service was conducted in Spring 2019 with results to all questions receiving a rating of 95-100% satisfaction (Reference Desk Survey of Students).
Consultations and embedded librarianship
SCC librarians provide assistance to students and other patrons in-person and via phone, email, and live chat. We frequently teach in-depth information literacy skills during Reference Desk consultations. Often students return repeatedly over several days as they move through the research process. In classes in which the librarian is embedded, we will often receive email requests for assistance. Librarians are responsible for recording and coding each of their reference interactions. Lack of a convenient system to easily track and plan for reference consultations poses a challenge; our measures of the number and kind of reference consultations we provide are marked by inconsistencies.
QuestionPoint 24/7 live-chat reference service
As a member of the QuestionPoint 24/7 reference cooperative, SCC librarians join with other academic librarians to provide live research help any time of the day or night, every day of the year to SCC/SFCC students along with students from other colleges and universities. We're responsible for weekly shifts during which we monitor local, national, and some international queues. We also monitor the SCC/SFCC queue at every opportunity. Under our current agreement with QuestionPoint's parent company, OCLC, SCC and SFCC share a combined account, however QuestionPoint has recently been acquired by the vendor Springshare. As this service is migrated to the new platform, and in light of the newly announced library reorganization, SCC Library should review our agreements with SFCC and Springshare as there will be budgetary, workload, and technology implications.