Coop Student Work Projects for Fall 2017

1. PROJECT TITLE: E-book Collection Itemization

PROJECT SPONSOR: Paul St-Pierre, Kailey Brisbin
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
The library acquires increasing numbers of electronic books, both as subject packages and as one-
time purchases (firm or approval). Depending on the method of purchase, cataloguing these items
can be challenging, and there exist some gaps between what has been acquired and what has been
catalogued. This is problematic for various groups in the library:
- ERM is attempting to catch up on cataloguing e-book packages
- Acquisitions needs accurate title lists in order to ensure billing accuracy, and for sending
isbn lists to GOBI.
- Collection librarians want to know exactly what is owned in the library, in order to make
decisions about what to purchase in the future, avoid duplication, and promote collections
with faculty and students.
ERM and Acquisitions are particularly interested in knowing the exact number of titles in a package
for verification purposes. Collections want to know what subject matter is covered.
PROJECT GOAL:
Identify all existing e-book collections and place title lists (including various metadata, but not MARC
records) in a consistent shared location.
PROJECT TIMELINES:
WORK BREAKDOWN:
i. CCST members will generate vendor lists (not including aggregators) to be included (e.g.
Elsevier, Wiley, Springer, CRC Press, Taylor & Francis, Routledge, Oxford & UPSO,
Cambridge, Wageningen…)
ii. Obtain known lists. Data sources might include:
a. CCST members (Kailey, Paul, Pam,…)
b. OCUL website / Scholars Portal
c. Vendor websites
d. Sales representatives
iii. Determine suitable location and folder structure, as well as desired document formats.
iv. Obtain and store files.
v. Document procedures for future reference and use.
PROJECT DELIVERABLES:
 Create suitable filing structure.
 Locate and store lists of e-book entitlements to content from various publishers.
 Develop guidelines for future maintenance and storage of e-book lists, in keeping with the
TERMS project.
PROJECT LEARNING OUTCOMES:
 Learn about the complex workflows involved in the acquisition and organization of e-books

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  Become familiar with the diversity of e-book platforms and data sources.

2. PROJECT TITLE: E-book Usage Statistics

PROJECT SPONSOR: Paul St-Pierre
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
The library acquires increasing numbers of electronic books from various publishers and
vendors. Evidence about the usage of these titles is helpful in making decisions about future
purchases. Project COUNTER usage statistics for e-books are now available from most vendors
(BR2: chapter downloads; BR3: access denied; etc.). The library systematically collects usage
statistics for e-journals (JR1 reports), but e-book usage is gathered on a more ad hoc basis.
PROJECT GOAL:
Identify and collect BR2 reports for all e-book collections. This includes data stored on publisher
platforms, aggregators (ProQuest, EBSCO, etc), and Scholars Portal.
PROJECT TIMELINES:
WORK BREAKDOWN:
i. CCST members will generate vendor lists to be included (e.g. Elsevier, Wiley, Springer,
CRC Press, Taylor & Francis, Routledge, Oxford & UPSO, Cambridge, Wageningen…). List
will largely be derived from the UG Usage Statistics folder "S:\Managers\Information
Resources Committee\CURRENT IR\Usage Data\UG Usage Statistics", but some
publishers/vendors will be added as needed.
ii. Access usage statistics from vendor platforms, using ‘EResource Password and Vendor
Contact Information’ directory on SharePoint to obtain usernames and passwords.
iii. Download and store BR2 (&BR3?) reports for all vendors in CSV or TSV formats for the
full 2016 calendar year (and possibly earlier years?).
PROJECT DELIVERABLES:
 BR2 (&BR3?) reports for ‘all’ vendors.
 Identify problematic vendors for troubleshooting. May include faulty login information,
COUNTER reports unavailable…
 Develop guidelines for future maintenance and storage of usage statistics, in keeping
with the TERMS project.
PROJECT LEARNING OUTCOMES:
 Learn about the complex workflows involved in the acquisition and organization of e-
books.
 Become familiar with COUNTER usage statistics for e-books.

3. PROJECT TITLE: A-Z Database List, Data & Statistics, Government Publications, and Geospatial
Data Resources
PROJECT SPONSOR: Kailey Brisbin (Ext. 53451; email: kbrisbin@uoguelph.ca)

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PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Maintenance work on the Library’s Topic Guides and A-Z List, to ensure
accuracy of formatting and metadata.

PROJECT GOAL: Improve the quality, completeness, and functionality of the A-Z Database List
and Topic Guides.
PROJECT TIMELINES: Starts immediately, ongoing work through fall 2017, no permanent
deadline.
WORK BREAKDOWN:
i. A-Z Database List Maintenance: In August 2016, the library’s A-Z database list (hosted
on LibGuides platform) went live! We have been actively adding resources to this list.
This project will involve:
a. Reviewing the resources listed on the following topic guides and checking to
see if they are on the a-z database list:
i. Find Government Publications
ii. Find Geospatial Data
iii. Find Data & Statistics
b. Adding missing resources and appropriate metadata to the database list. When
necessary, collaborate with resource experts for feedback.
c. Edit topic guides, removing the old resource link and replacing it with the new
database list link.

PROJECT DELIVERABLES:
 Systematic checking and adding resources to the a-z database list
 Documentation of work to ensure that changes made are recorded and tracked.
 Provide a final report or a status report at the end of the fall semester, which will
outline what was achieved to date and what remains to be completed in future
semesters.

PROJECT LEARNING OUTCOMES:

 Technology competency with the LibGuides admin platform (library admin account info
required)
 Gain an understanding of the library’s LibGuides and A-Z Database List strategy
 Gain understanding of the use of various metadata elements to increase the
discoverability and findability of the library’s major electronic resources
 Develop/use collection knowledge to assign correct subject tags and database types to
increase the findability of the library’s major electronic resources

4. PROJECT TITLE: Restricted Books De-selection (continuing from Summer 2017)

PROJECT SPONSOR: Helen Salmon (Ext. 52121; email: hsalmon@uoguelph.ca)
PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The Restricted Books collection (normally located in Archival & Special
Collections) needs to be reviewed for functional reasons (to free up badly needed space in ASC),

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and for intellectual reasons (to ensure that all titles given this designation are appropriately
placed there and meet current criteria for placement in this location). This project will
undertake a title-by-title review of all items with a “Restricted” designation, and make
recommendations for their future disposition. Criteria to be considered will include:

o Subject scope and content (is the subject central to the UG Library’s existing
areas of collections strength? Of curricular and research focus?)
o Is the item “rare” because of it’s publication date/edition?
o Physical condition (does the item need to be “Restricted” in order to preserve it
and protect it for future use?
o Are there other copies in TUG? In OCUL?
o Are there digital surrogates for this title? (in open access repositories, or as a
reprint in GOBI?)
o Was the item likely placed in Restricted for reasons that are no longer valid (e.g.
a government report which was extremely popular at the time but is no longer
likely to be heavily consulted?)

PROJECT GOAL: Ensure that all items which remain in the Restricted Books collection in the
future are appropriately placed there, and that all items which don’t meet the current scope of
this collection are otherwise disposed of (withdrawn, sent to the circulating books collections or
the Annex).
PROJECT TIMELINES: Beginning in May and continuing until completed (no firm end date)
WORK BREAKDOWN:
i. Training on the history of the Restricted Collection (why were items placed there?
What has changed? What is the current scope and criteria for placing titles there?)
ii. Training on various bibliographic search tools (local and external library catalogues
and consortia, open access book repositories, used book sources) which can inform
decision-making about “rare” books, and/or provide more extensive bibliographic
information about books held in Guelph’s Restricted Books collection.
iii. Training on Guelph’s curricular and research programs – familiarity with the
University’s various website(s) and academic calendars. Familiarity with the Archival
and Special Collections subject strengths and areas of interest will also inform
decisions about the Restricted Collections.
iv. Using a shelf-list spreadsheet list of the Restricted Collection titles, assess and make
recommendations regarding the future disposition of those titles i.e.
o Continue to locate the item in the Restricted Collections
o Withdraw the title from UG’s collections (weeding)
o Provide linking to a digital surrogate for the title
o Relocate the item to the circulating collections
o Relocate the item to the TUG Annex
v. Provide special annotations and notes about individual titles on the spreadsheet,
insofar as these will inform decision-making about future preservation/disposition
of that title.
vi. Examination of the physical books to assess physical condition and subject content,
when this will help to inform decision-making.

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 PROJECT DELIVERABLES:
 A completed (or partially completed) spreadsheet which provides title-by-title
recommendations
 Referral of and discussion about decisions to Helen when the “right” decision is difficult
or unclear.
 Provide a final report or a status report at the end of the summer semester which will
outline what was achieved to date and what remains to be completed in future
semesters.

PROJECT LEARNING OUTCOMES:

 Increased understanding of how the Library’s collections relate to Guelph’s curricular
and research areas of strength
 Increased understanding and practical experience with bibliographic search tools and
utilities (library catalogues, open access repositories, consortial networks, vendor sites)
 Increased understanding and practical experience with collection management (de-
selection and re-location criteria, space management considerations)
 Increased ability to make judgements and decisions regarding preservation of
monograph content

5. PROJECT TITLE: VHS and DVD Format Migration Review (continuing from Summer 2017)
PROJECT SPONSOR: Helen Salmon (Ext. 52121; email: hsalmon@uoguelph.ca)
PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Over the past few years, the Library has been gradually moving towards the
provision of streaming media as the preferred format for delivery of media content to the
University’s users. Streaming media provides a better option for users in regards to access and
accessibility compliance than older formats (VHS and DVD) do. To facilitate this format migration for
the AV collections, the current project will undertake a complete review of the Library’s physical AV
collections (using a shelf-list spreadsheet). The purpose of the review will to make decisions about
weeding and/or replacement of titles in the older formats, especially for VHS titles (which is
recognized as an obsolete format under Canadian copyright law and which will no longer be
supported format on campus after April 2018).

PROJECT GOAL: Update the current physical AV collection to streaming format where possible,
replacing VHS and DVD with streaming format equivalents.
PROJECT TIMELINES: Beginning in May and continuing until completed (no firm end date)
WORK BREAKDOWN:
i. Training on various ways of searching for media (local and external library
catalogues and consortia, internet search tools and sites which specialize in
media, vendor collections) which can provide production, credits and distributor
information for media titles.
ii. Training on Guelph’s curricular and research programs which draw upon media
– familiarity with the University’s various website(s) and academic calendars,
and Open Ed course development needs

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 iii. Using a shelf-list spreadsheet list of the AV Collection titles, assess and make
recommendations regarding the future disposition of those titles i.e.
o Replace the physical format item with a digital surrogate (streaming
format) content when this is possible. Options for providing streaming
access which should be explored include:
 streaming versions of a title may exist already in one of the
Library’s subscription collections
 streaming versions may be available through a new purchase or
licensing for individual titles
 it may be possible to create a streaming copy of the title from
the Library’s VHS or DVD copy (creating a streaming version of a
VHS title is permissible for preservation purchases under
Canadian copyright law; streaming of a DVD copy will require
negotiation of rights to do so from the film’s distributor)
o Where streaming access can be provided for VHS titles, and when the
film is no longer in active use (no circulations in the past five years),
withdraw the title from UG’s collections (weeding)
o Where VHS and DVD titles are still in active use, they will be left in the
AV physical collection, irregardless of whether or not a streaming
version is also available in the Library’s collections/subscriptions
iv. Provide special annotations and notes about individual titles on the
spreadsheet, insofar as these will inform decision-making about future
preservation/disposition of that title.

PROJECT DELIVERABLES:
 A completed (or partially completed) spreadsheet which provides title-by-title
recommendations
 Referral of and discussion about decisions to Helen when the “right” decision is difficult or
unclear.
 Provide a final report or a status report at the end of the summer semester which will
outline what was achieved to date and what remains to be completed in future semesters.
PROJECT LEARNING OUTCOMES:
 Increased understanding of how the Library’s media collections relate to Guelph’s curricular
and research areas of strength
 Increased understanding and practical experience with the specialized search tools,
websites, and vendor platforms which university libraries use to enable access to media
content
 Increased understanding and practical experience with collection management strategies
for physical media collections (de-selection and re-location criteria, space management
considerations)
 Increased ability to make judgements and decisions regarding preservation of media
content

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6. PROJECT TITLE: License Inventory & Coding Project (continued from Fall 2016)
PROJECT SPONSOR: Heather Martin
PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The License Inventory and Coding Project will:
- Gather all of our licenses for our electronic resources, digitize and OCR them if necessary
and add them to the OCUL Usage Rights (OUR) database
- Interpret any licenses not already coded in OUR in order to determine the permitted uses,
accessibility and perpetual access

PROJECT GOAL: Ejournal licenses will be made available via the OUR database. Users and library
staff will be able to determine the permitted uses of ejournals via the A-Z ejournals list and the OUR
database and users and library staff will be able to fully utilize our e-resources according to the rights
and permissions negotiated in our e-resource licenses. (e.g. faculty will know how course materials
can be used; ILL staff will be able to easily determine if and how an e-resource can be shared; IR staff
will know if we have perpetual access to a resource we are considering for cancellation). As a higher
level goal, this project will help to improve the quality of our ERM data in anticipation of the U of
Guelph Library’s upcoming migration from our current Voyager ILS to the OCUL Collaborative
Futures LSP platform.

PROJECT TIMELINES: Starts in September, ongoing work through fall 2017/winter 2018, no
permanent deadline. The initial phase of this project will focus on e-journal licenses, with other e-
resource formats to be addressed at a later phase of the project.
WORK BREAKDOWN:
i. Review e-journal licenses assigned by project sponsor at a detailed level.
ii. Use the project worksheet template to fill in a record entry for each license, filling in the
information fields for all of the parameters applicable to that resource.
iii. Populate the OUR database permitted uses fields according to the license interpretation.
iv. Populate the SFX menu with the permitted uses.
v. Populate the Libguides databases list with the permitted uses.
vi. Refer questions and issues as needed to the project sponsor
PROJECT DELIVERABLES:
 The OUR database is populated with the permitted uses of our ejournal licenses and OCR
digitized copies of the most current licenses are attached
 Licenses with problematic clauses will be identified for follow up (and resolution) with content
provider either before or at the time of renewal
PROJECT LEARNING OUTCOMES:
 Learn about the complex workflows and Digital Rights Management (DRM) issues involved in
the acquisition and implementation of e-resource licenses
 Become familiar with the diversity of e-resource licensing business models
 Become familiar with the OCUL OUR database
 Improve technology competencies (spreadsheets, database querying)
 Gain understanding of the various metadata elements which increase the discoverability and
findability of the Library’s electronic resources

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7. PROJECT TITLE: Collections “Updates” webpage design
PROJECT SPONSOR: Pam Jacobs
PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Create a public facing web page that outlines collection changes in terms of
new resources/cancellations/name changes 
PROJECT GOAL: Improve communication with U of Guelph users, and enhance marketing and
promotion of our resources. Provide important information to users regarding major changes to the
Library’s resources (new resources, cancellation of resources, name changes, platform or
functionality changes)
PROJECT TIMELINES: Fall 2017 (September to December)
WORK BREAKDOWN:
 September: Review the model
https://brocku.ca/library/collections/collections-overview/subscription-changes/
#1500474883179-b6b2a30d-fd53
 October: propose a Guelph “Collection Updates” site (by fiscal year) including
o new resources
o cancellations
o title/name changes 
 November: gather information for website for FY 2015-16 and 2016-17
 December: website live

PROJECT DELIVERABLES:
 public facing web page that outlines collection changes in terms of new
resources/cancellations/name changes 

PROJECT LEARNING OUTCOMES:

 Develop web design skills
 Develop communication/professional skills through consultation with project stakeholders

8. PROJECT TITLE: Subject categorization of major subscription resources

PROJECT SPONSOR: Pam Jacobs
PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Categorize major subscription resources by broad subject areas in order to
enable reporting on funding in these areas and enable the C&C team to review the Library’s
collections more easily
PROJECT GOAL: Improve communication with U of Guelph users, and enhance marketing and
promotion of our resources. Provide important information to users regarding major changes to the

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Library’s resources (new resources, cancellation of resources, name changes, platform or
functionality changes)
PROJECT TIMELINES: Fall 2017 (September to December)
WORK BREAKDOWN: TBD
PROJECT DELIVERABLES: TBD
PROJECT LEARNING OUTCOMES:
 Develop information management skills (categorization, development of subject schema
 Develop better knowledge of Guelph’s curricular and subject strengths
 Develop communication/professional skills through consultation with project stakeholders