Richard Guajardo

The Evolution of Discovery Systems in Academic Libraries: A Case Study at the University of Houston Libraries.

ABSTRACT For the past several years academic libraries have been adopting discovery systems to provide a search experience that reflects user expectations and improves access to electronic resources. University of Houston Libraries has kept pace with this evolving trend by pursuing various discovery options; these include an open-source tool, a federated search product, and two index-based discovery systems. In our pursuit of better options for users and improved access to electronic resources, important criteria for evaluating discovery systems have been identified, as well as valuable lessons that may be applied during future system-evaluation processes and implementations.

Large-Scale RDA Enrichment of Legacy Data at the University of Houston System Libraries

ABSTRACT University of Houston (UH) Libraries, along with three other UH Systems libraries, took the initiative to implement Resource Description and Access (RDA), the new resource description standard, across their shared library database. An RDA Implementation Task Force was established to develop a plan and a strategy for the implementation process. The task force targeted a major goal of retrospective enrichment of all existing bibliographic records with RDA elements. This article discusses the RDA implementation planning, systems configuration, vendor collaboration, local RDA guidelines, training, and communication. Authors also identify challenges, benefits, and lessons learned from this process.

Partnering with Vendors to Limit Compromised User Accounts

ABSTRACT This conference report relates a librarian’s, a publisher’s, and a vendor’s experiences with compromised user accounts and describes what can be done to minimize the incidence of abusive downloading of e-resource licensed content. Richard Guajardo, Head of Resource Discovery Systems at the University of Houston, discusses how phishing attempts can lead to compromised user accounts, and how the library determined that the activity was not conducted by university affiliates. Peter Katz, Vice President, Customer Lifecycle Solutions Support at Elsevier, provides background information on how the issue of compromised user accounts is an international problem and how it continues to spread. Don Hamparian, Senior Product Manager Identity Management at OCLC, discusses what can be done to manage the issue, and how libraries can participate in developing future solutions. Readers will leave with a variety of potential solutions for detecting and preventing similar activity at their libraries.

ER Sleuths are on the Case: Best Practices for E-Resource Acquisitions

ABSTRACT This conference report describes a discussion about e-resources acquisitions work from the perspectives of a continuing resources acquisitions librarian, an electronic resources librarian, and a subscription agent. Topics addressed include the use of ticketing systems to track e-resources problems, the role of the subscription agent in the e-resources lifecycle, and best practices for communication in e-resources workflows. The presenters used real life situations as case studies to share tips, tricks, successes, and pain points in the e-resource lifecycle. They emphasized setting realistic expectations and employing effective communication strategies to solve e-resource cases with more success and less stress.

Next Steps in Discovery Implementation: User‐Centered Discovery System Redesign

This paper will discuss a discovery system redesign project at the University of Houston Libraries, and in particular the Discovery Redesign Team’s collaborative, user‐centered approach. Throughout the redesign process, the team collected information about the needs and expectations of internal and external users regarding the Library’s discovery system. The team worked with two internal working groups to gather and evaluate the collected information. The results of this evaluation were used to make user‐centered design decisions. The Discovery Redesign Team worked with the Discovery Advisory Group, made up of library employees from various departments, to seek feedback and suggestions throughout the redesign process. Working collaboratively with this Group informed design decisions made by the team while also generating buy‐in for the discovery redesign. The team worked with the Discovery Usability Group to collect information from end‐users to inform the Team’s design decisions. The Committee held focus groups with the Library Information Desk staff to learn how the discovery system was serving users, and where it was falling short; they conducted usability tests with students to find out where users were experiencing breakdowns while completing common tasks. The methodologies and findings of the team’s various activities will be discussed. Changes to system interfaces affect both internal and external users. The University of Houston’s discovery system redesign is an example of a successful, user‐centered, collaborative design project.

Converting Your E-Resource Records to RDA

The presenter describes the process of successfully implementing a full-scale Resource Description and Access (RDA) conversion and authority control project in the midst of migrating to a new integrated library system at the University of Houston Libraries. This presentation focuses on the impact on electronic resources, although the project was a full-scale conversion. The project allowed the library to create more granularity with the material type codes, which had an impact on both the Online Public Access Catalog and the discovery layer. The goal for the project, while time consuming, resulted in the conversion of RDA records to be done in a large batch project rather than record by record over the course of several years.