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Four years after the release of a responsive design website that provides a dynamic screen layout across three access devices (computer, tablet and smartphone), a repeat study was conducted to determine changes in the way that library website functions are and are not accessed.

A survey, similar to the original study, was used to determine the rate of access of 20 website functions by three access devices (computer, tablet and smartphone) and a “did not use” (DNU) category. A two-proportion Z-test was used to determine significant differences in the rate of access for each website function and the “did not use” (DNU) category by each access device from 2014 to 2018.

The computer is still the primary tool used to access website functions, but its rate of use is declining, while access via the smartphone is increasing, including research and for learning functions traditionally accessed only by computer. Access by tablet, with poor website function access rates in 2014, declined in use, with some rates approaching zero. Increases in the DNU category for website functions occurred, but reasons why were not determined. The increases raised questions about the relevance of some of the website functions and if other actions are needed to increase use.

Repeating the 2014 study provided insights into the changing landscape of device preferences for accessing library website functions. The number of significant changes identified demonstrates the importance of recurring studies to determine how online access to library website functions evolves over time.

The purpose of this technical paper is to evaluate the emerging standard “Allotrope Data Format (ADF)” in the context of digital preservation at a major US academic library hosted at Brigham Young University. In combination with the new information management system ZONTAL Space (ZS), archiving with the ADF is compared with currently used systems CONTENTdm and ROSETTA.

The approach is a workflow-based comparison in terms of usability, functionality and reliability of the systems. Current workflows are replaced by optimized target processes, which limit the number of involved parties and process steps. The connectors or manual solutions between the current workflow steps are replaced with automatic functions inside of ZS. Reporting functionalities inside of ZS are used to track system and file lifecycle to ensure stability and data preservation.

The authors find that the target processes leveraging ZS drastically reduce complexity compared to current workflows. Archiving with the ADF is found to decrease integration complexity and provide a more robust data migration path for the future. The possibility to enrich data automatically with metadata and to store this information alongside the content in the same information package increases reusability of the data.

The practical implications of this work suggest the arrival of a new information management system that can potentially revolutionize the archiving landscape within libraries. Beyond the scope of the initial proof of concept, the potential for the system can be seen to replace existing data management tools and provide access to new data analytics applications, like smart recommender systems.

The value of this study is a systematic introduction of ZS and the ADF, two emerging solutions from the Pharmaceutical Industry, to the broader audience of digital preservation experts within US libraries. The authors consider the exchange of best practices and solutions between industries to be of high value to the communities.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of a targeted email advertising method that informs university students about library resources relevant to their major.

Over the course of one semester, students with business and communications majors who reserved group study rooms received customized confirmation emails that included targeted advertisements for library databases. These advertisements invited students to click a link that led to a database related to a student's major. Near the end of the semester, students were invited to complete a short survey about the advertisements. Survey questions were designed to discover whether the advertisements were seen and to measure database relevancy. The survey also gathered participant perceptions about the value of this targeted awareness advertising approach.

Overall, the technique of appending database advertisements to reservation emails proved ineffective; very few students recalled seeing the advertisements or clicking the links. On the positive side, this study showed that very few of the survey respondents disapproved of receiving advertisements. Another positive result was that a majority indicated the selected library databases were relevant to their needs. Respondents also offered suggestions for improving this marketing technique.

This research introduces a novel, unobtrusive approach to advertising library resources to a targeted audience. The results can be used by library administrators as a starting point for experimenting with similar (yet improved) methods of sharing information about relevant library resources with specific user populations.