Document Type
Poster
Preview
Embargo Period
6-29-2024
Publication Date
6-29-2024
Department
Academic Affairs Faculty
Description
Interdepartmental collaboration between reference or instruction librarians and technical services librarians can foster an environment that helps create the best user experience and accessibility of the catalog and library resources. It can help build the bridge between the technical work behind the scenes and how users interact with and utilize the catalog. At our institution, this collaboration takes many forms and is built on a foundation of communication. Our entire library collection is digital, and ease of accessibility and discovery of our catalog and library resources is one of the top priorities. The Information Resources and Collections Services (IRCS) team and the Research and Education Services (RES) team have a standing monthly meeting to explore possible education sessions and updates on how the catalog works, copyright, and Interlibrary Loan information. In turn, the RES librarians can use this knowledge to strengthen their instruction sessions and ! provide feedback on how users find information easily and intuitively. This informs the technical services librarian on areas of opportunity such as changing titles in a series, new editions not linking properly, including alternative titles for journals, and providing new ways to discover content based on user needs. Additionally, IRCS coordinates with vendors to provide demonstrations of newly available resources or features for the RES team. These demos allow the RES librarians to become more fluent in the inner workings of each resource to support our users better. Finally, this collaboration supported the creation of a direct line of communication to troubleshoot when problems arise and the creation of spreadsheets to streamline existing processes. Overall, enhancing the catalog to work for the user’s needs is the best practice to create a catalog that reflects the wants and needs of the user.
Rights
Copyright is held by the author. All rights reserved.
Keywords
academic libraries, technical services, user experience, reference services