Statement of Need
What are the needs of the students?
The primary service of the library is to provide information whenever the student or the user needs it. The librarian, of course, plays the role of an information enabler. The student or the user could be all patrons of the Arizona School of Health Sciences and it is of prime importance that we clearly understand their needs and requirements.
Librarians at the A.T Still Memorial Library have garnered a combined experience of over 50 years, over which every one of us has tried to introduce new technologies that better services. According to Boucher and McLance (1992), libraries play a critical role in providing access to education by imparting knowledge and teaching information related skills, developing expertise and leadership in students in the usage of information technologies and information and moreover, by making accessible participatory resources through networking and broadening the mind of the student.
We conducted a survey among students that regularly visit the library. The survey was conducted online as well as through forms at the librarian’s desk. The goal of the survey was quite simple – to deduce if they found the usage of the current generic search engine sufficient and how much time they usually spent on trying to find the information that they sought. The findings have revealed something that has been displayed in libraries other than ours in the country, as with The Western Health Library Experience (Craven, 2007), that students do not want to click more than thrice to find the information that they are looking for. One secondary aspect the survey helped in was to assess the effectiveness of the library and its librarians. Most of the feedback we received on the effectiveness of the librarians was related to the availability of ready information. An aspect that emerges clearly from the survey is that librarians, in addition to being the custodians of knowledge, have to be information technology specialists.
Moreover, they would like customized search in their domain rather than the entire universe. It was also surprising to see many of the students extremely knowledgeable about search methodologies. About 75% of the students felt that generic search providers do not have access to knowledge databases relevant to their domain and feel the necessity for a customized research tool similar to a federated search engine. More than 45% of the students mentioned the term federated search engine, which displays their awareness of modern tools and the accessibility to relevant information.
It is quite clear from the findings of the survey that students feel that customized search engines are a necessity in the current environment and have the capabilities of adding a further impetus to the current availability of information. However, it is our advice that the decision to install the right federated search engine be a logical one, as is showcased in the following sections.
How would the installation of a Federated Search Engine improve student academics?
A Federated Search Engine performs the duty of culling together and sifting the contents of several online library subscription article databases and many more resources. The primary benefit that a federated search engine serves is to being able to search through a humongous database while allowing the user to customize his search depending on the subject, particular discipline or wide theme.
As researched by Sol Lederman (2009), there are several advantages that benefit student’s academics through the federated search engine. Beginning with
Efficiency, Time savings
The federated search engine simultaneously searches several sources instead of having going through traditional seach engines and then having to go through each source information. Another advantage of this customization is the fact that since source forms are already filled out, it doesn’t restrict the search if it finds a sort of a wall, like other search engines.
Results quality
The federated search engine is unlike traditional search engines and performs rigorous quality checks before presenting results. This provides sources and information that needs to be sifted any further and can be directly used as research material, that has the potential of improving academics to a dramatic extent
Most current content
In addition to the above, the most critical aspect is the contemporariness of the content. Older content might not be relevant in the context, which ultimately contributes to the quality of the research, dissertation and in our case, life saving aspects.
The best solution for the installation.
Naturally, the decision to procure a federated search engine needs to be considered after thorough research, in consultation with other universities and like-minded folks.
According to Jack Fitzgerald (2009), the information technology specialist at the Auburn University Libraries, who has used the services of Serial Solutions, at the outset, two months into using the services, we wondered how they were managing earlier. In addition, the results post installation has been far more accurate than what we have seen at other locations and universities of other software vendors.
He further says that the initial reluctance that the library staff showed, was instantly resolved by looking at the potential and the results it could offer rather than single searches. More so, the necessity to move to e-resources was far more the need than traditional methods.
Proposed Program
Overview and Goals
The principal goal of any academic library is to support and enhance the goals and pedagogies of their respective universities; if a university welcomes a new change, such as service-learning, academic libraries must “adapt to these changes or lapse into...academic irrelevance” (Riddle, 2003, p.72). While supporting Arizona School of Health Sciences’ overall mission and to remain true to its motto of preparing top class healthcare professionals, the initiative detailed below will most prominently attend to the needs of the students and librarians at the school.
Our specific goals are twofold. First, the students at the school will be able to enhance their research methodologies resulting in better academics and in turn, we hope, become better healthcare professionals. It is advisable to put a figure to this goal of ours currently we see Second, it is also critical that the library staff embrace new technology and get accustomed to it at the earliest.
In order to achieve these goals, two separate programs will be rolled out to enable the smooth functioning and operation of the systems. One program addresses the students, providing rigorous training to enhance their research methodologies and the other to train our staff thoroughly, so that they act as the guiding light, as they have always been.
Program Specifics
Phase 1: Materials needed.
Taking a leaf out of Nina McHale’s (2008) experiences in the installation of a federated search engine solution, the primary necessity is a project leader. I would like to nominate myself as the project leader, and also recommend that the assistant librarian be the second in command. In addition, there would be the requirement of a student body member (s), in order to provide their perspective to the overall installation. We will, of course, be assisted by a representative from the information technology department, who will provide the critical requirement from the technology installation side – the shortfalls and the solutions.
Together as a team, we will be able to ascertain the necessities of the A.T Still Memorial Library at the Arizona School of Health Sciences to initiate a system of federated search engine. These could be manifold beginning the types and aspects of libraries and more importantly, the assessment of the future of technology in the next five years.
Phase 2: Planning.
Considering the amount of the current investment, we have ensured an effective planning cycle to cover all aspects of the impending project. The team (already created) has allocated a two month planning timeframe which would also include a detailed research into the needs and requirements of students on the campus. We have already reviewed existing case studies such as Fitzgerald (2008) at the Auburn University and others and their program planning to assess their pitfalls and provide sufficient cushion and risk planning.
In effect, we will be sticking to Duncan and MacLeod’s (2007) five step plan of learning the technology, review the service areas, consider in detail the needs of the patron, what is required to be supported, implemented, trained, and finally and most importantly, what is the risk tolerance of the group and the exit strategy.
The major part of the project, of the vendor selection, is already in place and what follows is the effective planning and implementation of the project.
Phase 3: Implementation Schedule.
We estimate at the moment that the project would take a total of two months – a month for planning and another month for the implementation, training and launch. Everything hinges on the implementation of the project, as Charan and Bossidy (2002), put it as the discipline of getting things done. They also say that when an organization executes well, it’s not to brought to its knees when there are dramatic changes in the environment.
Again, referring to Nina McHale (2008), the implementation is basically divided into two aspects – the vendor’s responsibilities and the librarian’s responsibilities. Most of the vendor’s responsibilities are technology related, dealing with preparing the server environment, managing IPs, customizing and so on whereas the librarian’s is more dealing with softer issues such as providing the research information on the requirements and the customization, the marketing and promotion plan, the training program and finally assessing the effectiveness of the entire program.
According to Linoski and Walczyk (2009), the most effective schedule for implementation is as below:
Phase 4: Evaluation.
As depicted in the overviews and goals section, the primary evaluation on the effectiveness of the project, will be the grades of students. Currently, the average GPA is between 3.2 and 3.6. With our practices, we would like to see it increase to closer to 4.0 in a time span of 1 year.
In addition, the target is to increase the number of students currently using the services of our library. Currently, close to 65% of the students make use of the resources available. Through this program, we plan to increase it to 90% in a span of eight months.
Proposed Budget
Conclusion
“This is the time for academic libraries…to get closer to other sectors who have embraced the power of information technology” (Westney, 2006). Our proposed installation of the latest federated search engine program meets this challenge head-on, as we strive to serve all members of the Arizona School of Health Sciences community. Through our proposed program, students will be able to improve their academics tremendously due to the extent of knowledge now available in a simplistic manner. In turn, we maintain the motto of our university of “preparing the educating proficient healthcare professionals” set by our founder.
References
Linoski, Alexis and Walczyk, Tine. Chandos. Federated Search: A Librarian’s Guide.
(2009)
Duncan, Jim and MacLeod, Debbi. Using Your Head: Integrating the Right
Technology for Your Library. (2008)
Craven, Vanessa. Federated Search Engines – the Unified Search Environment: The
Western Health Library Experience. (2007)
Boucher, Julie J and Lance, Keith Curry. The Roles of Libraries in Education. (1992).
Charan, Ram and Bossidy, Larry. Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things
Done. (2002)
Stebbins , Leslie Foster. Student guide to research in the digital age: how to
locate and evaluate information sources. (2006)
Lederman, Sol. (2009)
Fitzgerald, Jack. (2009),
http://www.atsu.edu/
Riddle, J. (2003). Where’s the library in service learning? Models for engaged library
instruction. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 29(2), 71-81.
Westney, L. (2006). Conspicuous by their absence: Academic librarians in the engaged
university. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 44(3), 200-203.
