Open source ERM through ERMes

ERMes is a no-nonsense ERM tool offering effective electronic resource management capabilities for libraries of all sizes. It’s free, built with simplicity-of-use in mind and up and running in an instant without requiring assistance from the IT department.

ERMes builds around a standalone Access 2007 database with an intuitive data-input interface. It covers all the basic facets required in effectively managing a library’s pool of e-resource subscriptions. ERMes' functionality includes the following features:

1. Capture vendor names/contacts including all necessary contact information
2. Identify e-resource authentication methods, user limits, subscription status, subject/department affiliations
3. Specify rights statements for ILL, document delivery and e-reserves (this is particularly useful when providing services to non-standard library users)
4. Include URL links to journal lists, licence agreements
5. Track database down-time incidents and causation
6. Pull a range of standard reports, including count by database type (e-book, FT for all content, FT reference, music, index-abstract+FT etc.); payment history; database spread by subject; list by subscription status; renewals; year to year price comparison
7. Hyperlinked A-Z list of databases for posting on a library webpage
8. Collect usage statisics (Counter and non-Counter compliant) (see also previous post on Counter stats)

A crucial selling point for ERMes is that it can be easily tweaked and comprehensibly customised to your local needs. For sure, bigger operations might require a more sophisticated set-up (see for example Coral (free) or Cufts (hosting not free)). However, ERMes offers an effective solution to sustainable e-resource management. For example, it's easy to track a database's cost history over time and record licence requirements and user allowances. You can keep relevant URLs and vendor contact details in one central place and access usage statistics in a simple and straightforward manner. Basically, ERMes pulls information you hold on electronic resources subscriptions into one, easily managed space.

Resources:

ERMes software download

ERMes user guide (PDF)

ERMes (all in one)

Below is a location map of institutions that utilise ERMes

View ERMes Users in a larger map

For the purpose of informing your decision making process, it's also worth your while to check out the excellent Open Source ERMS Presentation below (ALA Conference, June 2011). It discusses why the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse (ERMes) and the University of Notre Dame (CORAL) developed their respective in-house ERM solutions, as well as covering perceived benefits and inherent challenges.

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Free and Open Source Tools for Libraries

Recently the Computers in Libraries conference took place. One presentation that caught my attention was the Free and Open Source Tools presentation by Nicole E. Engard. As Open Source is far more cost effective than proprietary software, it has become an increasingly popular alternative for libraries. Engard outlines what Open Source entails:

1. Open source software is software that users have the
   freedom to run, distribute, study and modify for any
   purpose.
2. Open source is a collaborative software development
   method that harnesses the power of peer review and
   transparency of process to develop code that is freely
   accessible.
3. Open source draws on an ecosystem of thousands of
   developers and customers all over the world to drive
   innovation.

A good Open Source alternatives to Microsoft Office is Libre Office. Its 'Writer' word processor has similar functionality to Microsoft Word. Libre Office also has spreadsheet, presentation, vector graphics editor and database management programmes.

Koha is an Open Source web based Integrated Library System with a highly configurable user interface with social media facilities built in. Evergreen is another Open Source alternative Integrated Library System which includes an OPAC as well as cataloguing, acquisitions and circulation modules.

Zotero is a superb free alternative to the likes of EndNote or RefWorks. This citation management software is now used in many academic libraries for students to cite and create bibliographies easily. A superb guide to Zotero can be found here.

Omeka is an interesting looking web publishing system for online digital archives that can create professional looking online exhibits for libraries' digital collections.

Finally, the presenter highlights the excellent Portable Apps service which enables users to install many Open Source apps on a memory stick and install them on different machines.


The full presentation can be seen below.

Free and Open Source Tools for Libraries

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Stylish Academic Writing - Helen Sword (Review)

When writing a review of a book about elegant expression it is difficult not to feel instantly self-conscious of your own stylistic weaknesses, which are all too readily picked out by the fine-tooth comb of Helen Sword’s Stylish Academic Writing. However, thankfully the author’s analysis is not so much concerned with highlighting the flaws of others, but rather in raising the question: if convention should not constrain academic thought, why should it be allowed to dictate the style of academic writing?

Of course, this is not to suggest that authors should start overloading papers with creative and colloquial language, but perhaps to keep in mind that for everything, there is a time and a place. Sword likens this idea to the contrast between a researcher explaining an idea over coffee, perhaps sketching out diagrams loosely on a serviette, and listening to a monotonous PowerPoint presentation. The difference is clear: engagement. It is true that a more creative, stylish approach may not appeal to every reader, or indeed play to every writer’s strengths. However, it should not be the case that research is not taken seriously unless expressed in passive, dry and esoteric tones. The argument that “I write that way because I have to” should not be the reason offered, Sword argues.

Her survey of the relative frequency of various stylistic attributes across disciplines may be enough to make some historians (the use of first-person pronouns!) or medics (engaging title!) shut their eyes and plug their ears. Style, after all, is a subjective attribute. However, Sword also draws on three key principles which are pretty much universally accepted as being hallmarks of good writing: using concrete nouns and vivid verbs rather than abstract terminology, keeping both close together within the sentence, and avoiding weighing down sentences with needless “clutter”. Tight writing is something I always enjoy reading, and I believe there is great beauty in the efficient use of language. However I often forget this when writing myself, and Sword’s book serves as a useful reminder in this context: Do I really need that adjective? What is the value to the reader in using such an abstract noun?

Spotlight on Style callouts highlight the approach of selected researchers who are noted for their engaging prose. These examples tend to be largely drawn from the broad spheres of the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, where it is perhaps ‘easier’ or more acceptable to be more creative in your expression; it is disappointing that there are limited examples from more technical or scientific disciplines. The importance of paying attention to your audience – a hidden but essential component of stylish writing – is openly addressed throughout. Some of her tips - like using imperative verbs or the second person pronoun, you, to establish a bond with your readers, or penning more imaginative titles to make your papers attract an audience - are useful take home points which are easy to pick up on and incorporate. A Things to Try section at the end of each chapter challenges readers to consider how they currently write, and how they might change their approach in the future. The tone is very much ‘try it and see, you can always go back’. Good writing is a continuous learning process, and one with no right (write? :)) answer.

There is an awful lot to digest here - perhaps too much; it is not the kind of book that is easy to read from cover to cover. Even a few lines can provide much food for thought and demand re-reading to fully absorb the stylistic nuances and contrasts imbued within. There is great subtlety in good writing. Indeed arguably the best writing should never make you think about how it was written, and so to force yourself to deconstruct vivid and effortless prose can be extremely challenging at times. Fortunately however, Sword generally practices what she preaches. A book about academic writing should not, by convention, be particularly entertaining, but by peppering the text with illustrative anecdotes she lights up the dull task of reading about writing. It is this which makes the struggle at times ultimately worth the effort.

Stylish Academic Writing by Helen Sword is published by Harvard University Press, April 2012, £16.95. Helen Sword also maintains the Writer's Diet (resources for writers) website.

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Archiving tweets using a Google Docs spreadsheet

There are lots of web apps which store your tweets but some have limitations, such as a maximum number of tweets etc., and also there is nothing quite like having your data in csv format :) This is why I like using Martin Hawsey's Twitter Archiving Google Spreadsheet (TAGS).

• Simply save a copy of the spreadsheet and follow the instructions on Martin's web page
• As part of the set-up process you will need to get a Twitter API key at http://dev.twitter.com/apps/new and fill in the consumer key and consumer secret

If any of this sounds complicated, don't worry, it's not! You can set the script to run every hour or every day to 'collect' and archive tweets containing a particular hashtag e.g. #irelibchat. This is how we archived the tweets from the first #irelibchat. You might also want to use it as a research tool - for example if there is a specific product, organisation, event or topic you want to keep track of. You can then manipulate your data easily in spreadsheet format, and it is easier to identify common themes and relationships.

Not only will the TAGS spreadsheet generate a nice date-stamped archive spreadsheet of all relevant tweets and tweeters, it also generates other summary statistics such as the top tweeters, the number of retweets and the number of unique tweets. There is also a neat Tags Explorer Visualisation tool which generates a picture of the connections between the tweeters. Here is the #irelibchat visualisation - pretty stuff :)

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CPD #irelibchat tweet archive - June 21st 2012

A big thank you to everyone who joined in with the first #irelibchat. Despite some technical problems with Twitter, it was a great opportunity to share ideas and experiences. As promised we have archived the tweets from the first chat in Google Docs for those who were unable to take part. All feedback on a suitable day / time for the next #irelibchat as well as future topic suggestions are welcome - tweet us @libfocus or leave a comment :)

CPD #irelibchat June 21st archive

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Guest Post: CONUL Annual Seminar, June 14th 2012

Guest post by Alan Carbery, Assistant Librarian at WIT. Alan also runs the information literacy blog edlibbs.

The CONUL Advisory Committee on Information Literacy held their annual seminar in TCD’s Nursing and Midwifery College on Thursday 14th June. It was a packed day, with over 12 speakers taking to the stage.

Ellen Breen, Committee chair, opened up the seminar with a short report on CONUL’s survey of academics on the overall value and impact of librarians’ contributions to academic courses. Overall, libraries’ contributions are viewed positively with lecturers seeing improvement in the quality and range of information sources being used by students. There is also anecdotal evidence that grades have improved as a result of information literacy teaching. The survey also found that over 80% of academic staff specifically want further information literacy support and materials online.

Dr. Jane Secker, London School of Economics, was up next to talk about her joint project with Dr. Emma Coonan on developing an information literacy curriculum that addresses the need of undergraduates entering Higher Education over the next 5 years. Jane’s work is part of the ARCADIA Fellowship project, and was carried out in 10 weeks. The study used a modified Delphi Study method and talked to experts in the area of information literacy about what their concept of information literacy was, and how a curriculum might look. According to ANCIL (A new curriculum for information literacy), how you teach information literacy is as important as what you teach. Students don’t see information skills as separate to any of the other learning they do. The focus for a new curriculum should be on skills, knowledge and behaviours, rather than technologies and tools. According to Jane, librarians have to work with academic partners to implement ANCIL. Information literacy is everyone’s business. ANCIL is presented to us as a pizza metaphor with 10 strands to Information Literacy:

1. Transitional (from school to higher education) 
2. Becoming an independent learner 
3. Developing academic literacies 
4. Mapping and evaluating the information landscape 
5. Resource discovery in your discipline 
6. Managing information 
7. Ethical dimension of information 
8. Presenting and communicating new knowledge 
9. Synthesising information and creating new knowledge 
10. Social dimension of information literacy 

More information can be found on ANCIL from http://newcurriculum.wordpress.com and http://implementingancil.pbworks.com. Jane rounded her presentation off with a short clip from the ANCIL video.

The first round of Pecha Kucha’s took place. The Pecha Kucha presentations were designed to provide a short showcase into the various information activities ongoing in CONUL institutes around the country.

• Jack Hyland, DCU - Jack spoke about using Moodle discussion forums for assessing IL in undergraduate business students. Jack gave an honest critique of the initiative highlighting some of the snags met along the way.
• Philip Cohen, DIT - Philip spoke about the NDLR funded initiative in DIT to create a suite of online reusable learning objects in for business, law and media studies. Seven tutorials highlight DIT’s library resources.
• Monica Crump, NUIG - Monica explained that following a merging of their circulation and information desks, NUIG devised a classroom and mentorship programme for their library assistants that saw them living the student experience through a series of information retrieval tasks.
• Donna Ó Doibhlin, UL - Donna spoke about the use of student peer advisors during the University’s 7 week programme, designed to orientate and familiarise students with services in an effort to boost retention. Donna spoke favourably about the initiative.
• Peter Hickey, UCD - Peter highlighted UCD library’s video tutorials initiative. Peter reminded us that we have 30 seconds to get our message across and capture our user’s imagination. 
• Pauline Murray, NUIM - Pauline highlighted NUIM Library’s acquisition and lending of Kindle ebook readers to its patrons in an effort to develop its mobile library initiatives. The initiative has been a real success. Pauline highlighted some issues regarding personal amazon account restrictions.

After lunch, Dr. Claire McAvinia, a learning technologist from NUIM, spoke on her research into student’s use of VLEs. According to Claire, students’ use of a VLE is influenced largely by their lecturer’s use. According to Claire, students are the consumer in the VLE, not the content driver. Their use of discussion forums, chat facilities, etc, is relatively low. The biggest student usage of a VLE is to obtain lecture notes. It’s suggested that the assumed behaviour of the digital native is not displayed in the VLE. Claire states that we need to ‘wrap-up’ the various learning supports that are out there and find a way to present them collaboratively.

Dr Suzanne Guerin from the School of Psychology, UCD presented her reflections on implementing a learning to learn module in the School. The module was designed in conjunction with the library. Suzanne tells us that students were somewhat resentful of the module, claiming they were being taught skills that they already had. Despite this, the School felt that the module did lead to worthwhile learning experiences.

The final Pecha Kucha saw three more speakers provide snapshots:

• Geraldine Prendergast, UCC - Geraldine spoke on UCC’s generic postgraduate module for Arts, Humanities and Social Science students.
• Una O’Connor, Athlone IT - Una spoke on her use of LibGuides to drive information literacy instruction in Athlone.
• Finally, Siobhan Dunne, DCU - Siobhan reflected on her experiences of being a student in an online classroom, and how it can help inform her teaching. Siobhan spoke about the benefits of reflection as a teaching and learning tool. 

As one of the only Irish events dedicated entirely to information literacy, the CONUL seminar is excellent for gaining an insight into the information literacy initiatives occurring in some of the academic institutes around the country.

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