Conference papers

Working online I

'What Do You Do?' Role of the Electronic Resources Librarian

Wendy Pang

Manager, reference, Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Australia

Background

For presentation of web resources we examine the internet section. For problem-solving and maintaining IT services, we examine the role of the IT help desk. As librarians, we echo the serials/acquisitions/collection development role, but also provide a reference service. User expectations, based on library helpfulness, may be disappointed if the electronic resource librarian can't fix problems beyond their control. The organization expects the development of a digital library, but may not want to pay for resources and staff time.

The role of electronic resources librarian is so new that libraries are still arguing over the correct title. Although there is nothing new about librarians managing access to resources, electronic resources give the role a new dimension. No longer is the resource under our full control. Once a physical resource is in the hands of the librarian, well developed collection management strategies manage the items. The librarian knows where the item is, what condition it is in, and how long it is to be kept.

Because the resources that electronic resource librarians are attempting to control are not static, knowing where the item is, what condition it is in and how long it can be kept is not as simple as for physical resources.

The skills needed to manage these resources are traditional library skills. However, there are new dimensions to the role. While the role is still being invented, we need to examine other types of jobs or professions to see what we can learn from them. We also need to ensure that we are using traditional management tools fully.

Our library serves a federal government department, located mainly in one building in Canberra. The principal users of the library are researchers - veterinarians, entomologists, scientists and economists. The work of these researchers is vital in activities such as

• providing advice to Australian negotiators at Kyoto Protocol greenhouse meetings;
• providing economic forecasting and analysis to give organisations a competitive edge;
• dealing with outbreaks of disease in fisheries in Australia, through Aquaplan;
• guarding Australia's fruit, vegetable and livestock from imported diseases (biosecurity);
• examining the possible use of biotechnology to reduce the use of herbicides and pesticides;
• increasing sales of Australian agricultural products in Asia;
• participating in National Landcare, National Rivercare;
• administering the National Plan for Rural Women.

the library's goal is to connect staff with the information they need. It needs to be provided on time, in a cost effective manner. Where possible, the library wants to take advantage of electronic means.

Recently, I visited over 30 Canberra libraries to see how they are dealing with these issues. I thank them for sharing their time and expertise with me, and I will use their experience to illustrate how libraries are dealing with these issues in the real world.

The old and the new

Selection, acquisition, accession, circulation, holding periods--collection management processes are the basis of library resource management. However, electronic resources are not necessarily being treated in the same way as physical resources. Before electronic resource librarians look for new ways of working, we need to see that we are using the best of traditional library management skills. Managing a new resource type should not mean that time tested skills should be ignored. Most libraries, for example, have well developed collection management policies. Of the libraries visited, however, only one had an electronic resources collection management policy.

Selection saves money

Professional librarians select quality electronic resources for their clients, and make them easily accessible. Selection takes time, but the electronic resource librarian soon finds relevant e-mail lists and websites to make it easier. e-mail and special interest listservers set up with client groups mean that getting feedback on selected items is easier than ever. Smart libraries promote their selection skills as a cost saving to the organisation. Where possible, ask clients for feedback about how much money the library's careful selection of resources has saved. Libraries can use this information in feedback to the parent organisation, where money is always a concern. One library visited has this feedback in the centre panel on their webpage.

Gratis is not free

For a small library, acquiring an electronic resource can be very expensive. It involves identifying a resource or service, investigating it, introducing and maintaining it. Identifying a resource is simple compared with the process of making it available to clients. Firewalls, IP authentication, passwords and necessary software tools mean that setting up a new electronic serial may cost a hundred dollars in staff time. Libraries know that gratis items are not free. 'Free' electronic journals may cost even more.

Pricing electronic subscriptions

Publishers and the marketplace are still deciding the cost of electronic journals. Many ejournals are provided free with the paper subscription. Paying for electronic-only access is often the same price as a paper subscription, even though the printing costs are reduced. Sometimes electronic-only access is more expensive. As the subscribing library, managing ongoing access to the electronic-only journals means that subscription decisions are complex.

Spending to save

In order to save money, sometimes the library needs to spend money. What library clients want is access to full text journal articles at their desktop, preferably without passwords or software difficulties. Large libraries save setup and maintenance time by purchasing suites of full text electronic journals. Client usage increases, and clients are happy. However, these resources are too expensive for most small libraries. So far, setting up consortium arrangements has proved difficult. Recently, someone considering accepting a position in our organisation came to the library to inspect the range of electronic resources the library could offer. As a scientist, the more restricted range of resources that our small library can offer could affect the quality of his work.

Libraries must carefully examine the combination of just-in-case collection management (preparing access to electronic resources before the client asks) with just-in-time access, usually through document delivery. However, it is difficult to promise that the resource will be available in the client's timeframe, when the process depends on the timeframe of the library delivering the document. The document delivery survey being undertaken by the National Library will be very interesting. Publishers are changing their delivery mechanisms often. Intermediaries like Catchword and ingenta are providing access to documents. The way a library client can access a document is changing rapidly, so it will be interesting to see actual data on how normal document delivery services are performing.

Electronic resources 'on shelf'

Physical library resources need work to get them shelf-ready. Electronic resources require much more work per item. The percentage of physical resources that remain available for years is high. For electronic resources, the normal status is that a resource is temporarily available. Just as shelf checking is not a monthly task, checking that ejournals are available monthly is not realistic. Most of the libraries visited had decided that, like physical resources, they would wait to be notified by clients that resources were no longer available. Clients who use the internet regularly know that it is not always available, so they won't expect electronic resources to be always available. Make it clear whom they should contact when they find a service is not working. the library needs to focus on processes which re-establish access as quickly as possible.

Circulating e-journals

Electronic journals have a major advantage over physical journals. Many clients can access the latest issue as soon as it is available. The problem is knowing when issues become available, so clients can be notified. Using e-mail address books or groups to notify clients is an efficient equivalent of circulation lists.

Electronic journals present a new problem. Over the years, a hundred people can read a physical item. Libraries are now being faced with user licensing. the library may need to purchase a 1 - 5 user licence for a journal. Another journal may only be read by the individual client, and the licence even prevents the library from keeping a copy. The libraries visited had no alternative to these access methods.

E-journals in the catalogue

Where both paper and electronic issues of a journal are held, how should it appear in the catalogue? Libraries are split on whether a combined record with detailed holdings, or separate records for different media, is the best way. Where issue information is important to clients, libraries traditionally display this in the catalogue. No library visited mentioned a clear policy about checking in electronic journal issues.

Using a web-aware catalogue is important for easy client access. If the catalogue is only available internally, the ejournal password problem can be resolved by placing it in a catalogue note field. Some libraries have passwords displayed on an intermediate webpage that appears when the journal is chosen. Making the webpage look and feel like the target service smooths the transition from the web catalogue to the external ejournal site. In conjunction with the ejournal provider, some libraries have been able to develop scripts with embedded passwords, making access easier.

Where possible, setting up access to ejournals by IP authentication is best. The publisher site recognises the request to access the journal because it recognises the IP address from which the request comes. It is usually simple to set up, and no passwords are needed. A group of Canberra libraries faces difficulties with IP authentication because of a shared firewall. This means that the first library to set up a service has IP access, but other libraries may need to use passwords. For some services, it means that the list of journals accessible appears to be a combined list of all the libraries' subscriptions. Publishers are not sure how to respond to these issues.

Libraries that subscribe to large databases like ProQuest are grappling with the problem of how to import MARC records to their catalogue. Even finding an accurate list of what journals are provided by these companies is not straightforward, as the list changes frequently.

Holding period

Keeping the library webpages alive and interesting means selecting resources that are intended to be temporary (display/discard resources). A library needs a clear policy about what happens to items that are on the What's New page, for example. After a month, the item needs to be added to a subject based resource page, the catalogue or discarded. In fact, the principles of holding periods needs to be applied to all web resources managed by the library. Having a holding period for the actual design of each part of the site is recommended - eg after two years - check this part of the site design to see if it meets user information requirements.

The basement

Many libraries have a basement, or similar. Items that need to be kept long term, but are low usage, are stored there. The electronic equivalent applies particularly to serials, and is more complex than estimating metres of shelving. Electronic texts and serials that need to be stored long term have their own problems. If the catalogue points to a remote resource, that resource could disappear at any time. Using URL checking software helps identify broken links.

If the library decides to make a local copy of the resource - taking advantage of cheap hard disk space - time spent maintaining the resource increases. Access can be provided through the catalogue, but the strategy needs to include ongoing technology updates so that the resources will be available over time. Writing CDs is only a short term measure - how long will CD technology be with us? What strategy do we need to put into place to ensure that the item will be accessible in ten years, or twenty? Visiting Canberra libraries, we were not surprised to find that some libraries decided that printing electronic journals is a simple durable format. It combines ease of use with low technology. Print the PDF, bind it and add it to the collection. This solution seems backward looking, but it is practical. Two other libraries had stored local copies of e-resources on hard disks like electronic bookshelves.

Long term access to full text journals supplied through a commercial database is not straightforward either. A particular journal may cease to be provided. Even though you paid for access over a number of years, access to that resource may no longer be possible. Similarly, if you change to a different commercial supplier, you will lose access to the journals you paid for with the previous supplier. Reading the fine print on the contract before signing is important.

Managing electronic resources is a variation on traditional library management. Visiting libraries in Canberra highlighted many ways that traditional skills apply to new resource types. It also showed that most libraries are not yet applying the full range of traditional library resource management skills to electronic resources. However, in this fast changing world, it is useful to look at other electronic service providers to see whether they offer useful models for managing access to electronic resources.

The internet section - web masters

As we consider ways that we can manage electronic resources, we can look at how website developers manage information. In our organisation, the internet and intranet webpages are developed and maintained by the internet section. Organising and presenting information is their job. Their approach is different from a library's - what can the electronic resource librarian learn from their approach?

Information organisation

Libraries provide information access through the catalogue and library webpages. Keyword and alphabetical searches, careful selection of indexes to offer useful choices - these are the issues that libraries consider when designing catalogue searches. webpage designers consider the issue differently. They need to consider how many choices to display on a page, and how long it will take for the page to load. They consider how wide and how deep a website is to be, and how many clicks it will take for the person to find the information they need. They conduct user tests to see how they navigate to the information they are seeking.

Traditionally, libraries have addressed information structure and access issues in two ways. The first is the careful application of a hierarchy like the Dewey Decimal System. The reason is to help the client find the information they want. The second is library design and signage. Careful application of these ideas is still useful. However, libraries can start to ask new questions by working more like the internet section. We can put all kinds of information in one place, no matter whether it is a physical or electronic resource. We can then ask questions about how easily our clients can access that information. When they are searching this whole resource, how easy is it for them to locate information about the item? How easy it is for them to access the item? This new combined access method combines traditional access methods like the catalogue, with new access methods like the web, and full text article databases.

To many librarians, information architecture is a new way of dealing with information. It is a combination of functions and structure. Applying information architecture concepts specifically to the library website is interesting. What is the user trying to do at the site? How will the user move to this piece of information?

The information architect proceeds through the following steps before the website design mockup is done

• defining the website goals
• defining the audience
• creating scenarios
• performing competitive analysis
• defining the content and functions of the site
• choosing metaphors
• designing the site structure.

Learning about these processes will help librarians avoid creating websites that are difficult to navigate, or make information difficult to find.

The library webpages

Who is best qualified to code and update the library webpages? Your answer will probably be different from mine. In considering the question, examine the strengths of both the internet section and the library. Although the web developers have high level skills, developing the library website may not be high on their priority list.

Consider how much time it would take to design and code library web pages - whether from the start, or a major revamp. Consider testing. Consider the update strategy. If the library decides that investing the staff time to develop and maintain the site is worthwhile, it may be wise to actually cost the whole exercise, and compare that with the cost and speed of having the site produced by specialists. Whether the electronic resources librarian decides to develop the library webpages in the library, hand it to the internet section, collaborate, or pay someone else, it is important to recognise the strengths of each group, and the associated costs. It may be an opportunity to extend the library staff's range of skills.

Updating and maintaining webpages

These less time consuming tasks should remain in library hands. Not only will library staff gain and use web skills, but updates can be done whenever the library chooses. Keeping the site up to date and changing is important. Whether updates and changes are daily, weekly or monthly, for most libraries they are small changes. By keeping the site moving and applying collection management principles to information on the site, the library should be able to avoid needing to invest large amounts of time and money into major revamps in the future.

Maintaining up to date website links is the library's task. Libraries talk about using URL checking software, but not many libraries visited use it. For most libraries, manual URL checking is still the main strategy. This is not a good use of our time. It is better to invest time in setting up web checking software than to repeatedly perform manual checks.

The helpdesk - dealing with problems

If managing information is the speciality of the internet section, managing requests is the speciality of the helpdesk. The helpdesk in our organisation uses software that records and tracks requests. They also arrange solutions to technical problems, and ensure that users have access to the desktop services they need. The best features of an IT helpdesk are their availability, central point of contact, and problem solving skills. Outsourcing of IT services in government departments means that service agreements have been defined. Libraries can observe the way helpdesks interact with their clients, and decide if there are transferable skills.

Dealing with requests

A helpdesk has one contact point that is always in operation during office hours. Details of the call are recorded on a database. The advantage is that the clients know who to contact, and how to followup issues. Having one library contact point means that, like the helpdesk, details of the problem can be recorded. In our small library, reference requests are entered in a database, and so are electronic access problems. Like a good helpdesk, we provide progress reports to our clients, if resolving a problem takes time. The database also helps us track the time spent resolving problems, and ensures that information is available to any library staff member who can provide progress reports if required. In a small library, the absence of one staff member can easily affect services. By providing information systems accessible to all staff members, staff absence has less impact.

However, we have not included interlibrary loan requests in this database yet. That is a separate database. In the redevelopment of internal library databases, we are planning one integrated database with different views tailored to staff functions.

E-mail requests to a library staff member - often via the library webpages - work well if that person is in the office that day. Using one phone number for phone requests makes certain that the call is answered. Using a generic e-mail address means that someone answers the request - it is not left waiting in the inbox of someone who is on leave. However, this generic e-mail address must be checked frequently.

Service Agreements

The federal government has decided that services provided within the public service are subject to market testing. One facet of outsourcing government services like the provision of IT services has been the development of contracts. Drawing up a contract that specifies exactly what services are to be provided, which services are high priority, and what the associated costs are is a complex task. However, the process of defining services and their actual costs can be beneficial.

A library service agreement can specify not only the services provided by the library, but also whom the library sees as its clients, and what the service standards are. Negotiating the agreement with library client groups can clarify many issues for the library, clients and management. It can detail how and when the library provides help. This should include followup mechanisms for problems that take time to solve. The service agreement makes explicit the way the library provides normal services, the timeframe and costs, as well as how it will deal with problems. It also provides a structured way of interacting with client groups - defining client expectations, and revising them regularly. Two of the Canberra libraries I visited had service agreements in place. They found the process difficult, but it also turned out to be a good communication tool.

Service continuity

The IT section ensures that desktop computing services are available at least from 8am to 6pm. For many organisations, access is also available from home. Library electronic services include the catalogue and web based access to resources. Our aim is for them to be available during working hours, like other desktop services. When there are problems, working closely with IT staff to restore service is important. Good communication with IT staff is essential.

Access to library electronic services

Examining library website statistics by access time provides some surprising information about access times. It strengthens the argument for making resources available electronically. Providing access outside the network presents challenges. In many organisations, the library catalogue and webpages are accessible only on the internal network. Making library electronic services available outside the firewall requires a combination of the technical expertise of the IT section, and additional equipment. The main obstacle for any library is not the cost or expertise, however, but the desire of the organisation to provide this service.

If the library's electronic resources are available to anyone on the internet, licence conditions mean that access control is essential. If the library's primary client base is remote, the importance of providing extensive electronic services increases. One library visited is very focused on the thousands of remote primary clients, and has minimised the physical library in favor of extensive electronic services. They provide a library helpdesk from 8.30 to 6.00pm, after finding that extended hours to service Western Australian staff were not used. Another library with many remote secondary clients provides extensive relevant information on the web, but less direct help.

University libraries lead in providing electronic library services to remote users. Because they normally have IT staff employed directly by the library, establishing new services is easier. the library has the technical expertise as well as understanding the need. For example, university libraries are using reverse proxy servers so that the remote user will appear to be within the university's IP range. This avoids the need for the remote user to enter passwords to access resources. For libraries that need to negotiate with the IT people about external access, the difficulties are often political than technical.

Optimising use of the IT environment

Some libraries visited are using the IT environment provided within the organisation very effectively. However, the degree of expertise that library staff have developed in using, for example, Lotus Notes databases, is not the only factor contributing to the library's success. One library we visited is using the technology to provide library services that are in a format that the organisation uses extensively. They are fully exploiting the tools in place. Services like indexed Parliamentary Hansard are provided in a Notes database that everyone can access immediately. Automatic statistics are generated, and used by the library to demonstrate increased use of library services. Having Lotus Notes as the platform within an organisation is no guarantee of library success, due in part to the difficulty in getting library databases developed. However, this library demonstrates the great benefits of fully using the technology provided to extend library services.

Learning from others

Looking at the way the internet section manages website information, and the way the helpdesk manages access to resources provides ideas for the electronic resource librarian. Service level agreements, information architecture, service continuity and access - these are not common library concepts. However, by borrowing these ideas from other services, the library can ensure that it is ready to provide excellent electronic client service.

However, the visits to Canberra libraries showed that applying traditional library collection management techniques could make the biggest improvements in managing electronic resources. For our library to meet its goal of connecting staff with the information they need, on time in a cost effective manner, we need to make sure that we are using all the skills that we have available. Traditional collection management techniques are easily adapted to electronic resources. The role of the electronic resource librarian is not fundamentally different. Integrating different ideas borrowed from other areas is useful. Canberra libraries are taking a practical approach to managing electronic resources. Both these libraries and ours can benefit from an approach that integrates the best of the old with the best of the new.