Like other academic libraries, Oregon State University Libraries (OSUL) diligently reaches out to a wide variety of campus groups as part of its mission to develop user-focused services that contribute to student success. Outreach to student groups focuses on equipping “students with tools and resources needed to succeed in and...
In August 2011, a cohort of 30 Oregon State University Libraries and Press librarians and staff received free e-readers (Kindle Keyboards, Nook Simple Touches, Kobo Touches, and Sony PRS-350 Reader Pocket Editions) to use and adopt as they wished. In return, they were asked to participate in a year-long study...
New unified discovery tools are designed to help students easily identify and retrieve library content. Students want quick and easy discovery of quality sources in a “Google-like” environment. Librarians have often expressed frustration with federated and metasearch systems that cannot take full advantage of discipline specific database features. As new...
Usability, user studies, and evaluating user experiences have been a part of academic libraries for many years. In the last 20 years libraries have created ad hoc usability teams to do user studies. Oregon State University (OSU) Libraries started its ongoing team in 2006, resulting in an increased focus on...
This article describes the selection, implementation, configuration, and assessment of a proprietary federated search product. The decisions made and processes used to facilitate the implementation are outlined. Users' perception of the product based on a usability study and survey responses are presented. Also described are unique and innovative implementations of...