Finding the gaps, and clarifying the methods

[Jody DeRidder]

Hi --  I'm Jody DeRidder, Head of Digital Services at the University of Alabama.  

Over the past 6 years I've compiled cost assessments, developed and implemented multiple user studies, and most recently completed a qualitative study with faculty researchers.   In the latter, we were seeking the gaps in services, trying to determine what metadata is most useful where, and find out what the major failings and successes are in interfaces for online primary source materials. Analyzing qualitative information is not simple; guidelines as to how to organize it would have helped.   And in the user studies, I've been amazed at the lack of clarity available in how to actually measure information, as it varies between studies (if it's specified at all).

So, I'm most interested in finding where the gaps are (how we can improve!) between what users need and what we're providing -- and I'm also very interested in hammering down how best to measure findings, so we can build on one another's research, and actually understand how results were obtained.

I look forward to discussing these topics further!

--jody

[joyce.chapman]

Hey everyone,

I'm Joyce Chapman, Consultant for Communications & Data Analysis at the State Library of North Carolina. I'm interested in all sorts of digital library assessment, but one thing I've been particularly interested in is cost/benefit analysis and other evaluation that assists libraries to improve services and workflows from an internal perspective. A few projects I've worked on in this area include 1. the value of more v. less metadata for digital objects and the effects of that on discovery, 2. cost and value of different levels of quality control for digitized material, 3. how researchers use/value various metadata elements in finding aids versus how much time staff spend authoring the metadata. I've found that very little information exists out there for cost/benefit analysis in digital libraries. What little there is would be useful to everyone in our community but it's not centralized anywhere, nor is collection of this sort of data standardized or common.

Like Jody, I'm interested in talking about how we best measure findings across the spectrum of different types of DL assessment, discussing guidelines or standard ways we might undertake some of this, and also thinking about how to best develop, aggregate, or disseminate best practices and research findings. If we work together, I hope we can stop re-inventing the wheel :)

[Molly Bragg]

Hi All,

I'm Molly Bragg, Digital Projects Coordinator at Duke University Libraries.   I'm extremely interested in how to effectively assess Duke's digitized resources (http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/), and use that information to improve our program as a whole.  In my role I have both an internal and external focus. One of my ongoing goals is to assess and track the impact of our digital collections, and I am also charged with the evaluation and improvement of our internal digitization and publication workflows.  I have been looking for effective assessment models, and hope that this group is a place to learn from others doing the same.     Thank you for starting this group!!

Best,

Molly

On Wednesday, April 23, 2014 2:01:58 PM UTC-4, Jody DeRidder wrote:

[Bram Luyten]

Hello,

I am Bram Luyten, co-founder of @mire, a company dedicated to enabling open access through the use of the DSpace platform for institutional repositories.

I'm primarily interested in improving the overall satisfaction with DSpace. User experience is a very important part of this, but also ensuring that search services can optimally index content in DSpace repositories to give them the widest reach and impact as possible.

Therefore I'm very interested in many of the topics in which this Google Group is structured. Hope to learn from all of you and to contribute to the discussions.

best regards,

Bram Luyten