Assignment #3 - Option_1

I selected option one for assignment three in which I interviewed the systems librarian at Georgia Military College, Milledgeville campus who oversees the content management system for the library’s website and usage. The interview was administered by questionnaire via email.  In order to capture a complete picture of the library and its resources and service to student, I have included an overview of the library and the resources it provides.

The Georgia Military College (GMC) library supports students and faculty by providing access to library services through its electronic collection of online resources that are consistent with the degree prams offered by this two-year, liberal arts junior college. The mission of the GMC Library is to ensure that students, faculty, and staff have access to and are able to be effective users of information. The library department provides current, unbiased materials on the level of its reading public, will make available to all students, faculty, and staff the resources of the library, assist in the use of these materials,  provide access to materials not located in the library through the Interlibrary loan program, and provide opportunities designed to foster lifelong learning and information literacy.

GMC Library facilities include the 13,000 square foot main Sibley-Cone Library at the Milledgeville campus and five branch libraries. The five branch libraries located in Augusta, Columbus, Fairburn, Valdosta, and Warner Robins are extensions of the Sibley-Cone Library.

The print collection in the Sibley-Cone Library contains over 36,000 volumes. The full-text, electronic books available online add an additional 90,000 academic titles. The periodical collection includes journals, magazines, and newspapers principally in online databases. Database collections include GALILEO, Gale, ABC-CLIO, Facts-on-File, and JSTOR. GMC students, faculty, and staff can remotely access GMC’s electronic resources 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from any computer with Internet access using the current database password. The GMC library homepage and library guides provide links to library resources, services, and contact information for all campus libraries.  

Reference assistance is available via phone, email, or personal visits on campus.  Research assistance is offered via the Ask-A-Librarian chat service on the Library Guides as well as through the Ask-A-Question form on the library’s homepage.  The Library Director and Systems Librarian are the primarily responsible for managing the content management system (CMS).

Interview Transcript

Interviewer:     Katresa Gardner, Electronic Resource Librarian – Valdosta Campus

Interviewee:    Dylan Stephens, Systems Librarian/Cataloger – Milledgeville Campus

Wednesday, May 26, 2015

1.      What is your background in working with various content management systems (CMS)?

·         I didn’t have a background with CMSs directly, but with computers, programming, and networks in general.

2.      In your experience, which CMSs do you feel are advantageous in maintaining and supporting library websites?

·         Those that combine all the library’s resources and then allows all the content to be searchable and accessed through a federated search engine.

3.      What CMS is our college currently using?

·         We currently use Mandarin Oasis.

4.      What was the motivation behind that selection?

·         We chose Mandarin Oasis for having an interface that was user friendly for both the patrons and the librarians.  We also signed up during Mandarin’s early years and got significant cost savings to fit our budget.    

5.      What was the library’s criteria used to decide on the selected CMS?

·         We needed one that combined all of the aspects of the library’s system to include cataloging, circulation, and a report tool.  The interface needs to be user friendly for both patrons and librarians and access needs to work seamlessly for both physical students and those that are only taking classes online.  It needs to combine both the physical collection and the library’s e-resources that can be searched and accessed through one search engine.  The system also needs to be hosted by the CMS vendor and accessed entirely through the internet without the need for an application to be installed.   It also needed to fit the budget of a small community college.   

6.      How long have we been using the current CMS?

·         10 years

7.      What are the advantages and disadvantages of the current CMS?

·         It has all the advantages listed in question 4 except that it only contains records for our physical books and e-books.  It doesn’t have the capability to add our academic journals from our databases, so those resources must be searched and accessed directly from each individual vendor database.

8.      What changes do you foresee in the future with the current CMS?

·         That it will start collecting license agreements from vendors to allow their content to be added to Mandarin’s system.

9.      If changes will occur, what are the reasons for making changes to the existing CMS?

·         The reason will be to have all the library’s resources stored and accessed from a central location.

10.  What are your primary duties and responsibilities as a Systems Librarian/Cataloger?

·         My duties are to administer the integrated library system, prepare copy and original cataloging records according to nationally accepted standards, create reports and extracted management data from library software as needed by library staff, provide instruction for students, faculty, and staff in the use of the library’s electronic resources, extend general and in-depth reference services to patrons in person, by email, and by phone, evaluate and recommend acquisition of appropriate library materials, and assist the library director in preparation of annual budget.

Conclusion

Content Management Systems (CMS) are conveniently changing the way libraries manage the content of the library’s resources and materials. Dylan Stephens is a librarian and although he didn’t have any hands on experience with content management systems, he was able to successfully learn how to use them effectively for the library’s website.  It is encouraging and assuring that librarians are lifelong learners and capable of learning and adapting to new technologies as they emerge in order to remain viable assets in libraries.   When considering what type of CMS is conducive for a library, particularly in this case, a small academic library, cost, user-friendliness of the interface and efficiency/flexibility are factors that should be well-thought-out.  According to the research provided by Connell (2013), the top three elements that CMS users cited as important factors in CMS selection are ease of use, flexibility, and cost (p. 51).

Reference:

Connell, R. r. (2013). Content Management Systems: Trends in Academic Libraries. Information Technology & Libraries, 32(2), 42-55.