Subjects Plus @ Nust Library E Ifl Foss Conference November 2011
1. SubjectsPlus
@ NUST Library
Helping library users to discover e-resources through subject-themed guides
eIFL FOSS Regional Seminar
Tanzania
4-5 November 2011
Amos Kujenga
Systems Analyst
NUST Library
Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
akujenga@nust.ac.zw
akujenga@gmail.com
2. Outline of Presentation
• Background
• Subject Librarianship
• Guided Search tools/Research Pathfinders
• Why we chose SubjectsPlus
• Project Progress
• Expected Outcomes
eIFL-FOSS Regional Seminar, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 4-5 November 2011 2
3. Project Background
• NUST Library has been involved in eIFL-FOSS
activities since 2007
• Decided to pilot SubjectsPlus in response to a
Call for Participation by eIFL-FOSS in 2010
eIFL-FOSS Regional Seminar, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 4-5 November 2011 3
4. Project Justification
• Subscription to electronic resources
• Low usage levels despite efforts to promote
awareness
eIFL-FOSS Regional Seminar, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 4-5 November 2011 4
5. Project Justification
• Findability of resources.
• Guided searching using research pathfinders is
one solution to this problem.
• Research pathfinder software helps ease the
job of the Twenty-First Century Subject
Librarian.
eIFL-FOSS Regional Seminar, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 4-5 November 2011 5
6. Subject Librarians
• library staff members
• primary contact persons between the library and
the faculties and/or academic departments.
• sometimes referred to as Subject
Specialists, Library Liaison Officers, or Faculty
Librarians.
• expected to understand the information needs
and scholarly communication patterns of assigned
disciplines.
eIFL-FOSS Regional Seminar, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 4-5 November 2011 6
7. Subject Librarians
• At NUST Library this role is played by Assistant
Librarians
• One assigned for each of the faculties:
– Applied Sciences
– Built Environment
– Commerce
– Communication & Information Science
– Industrial Technology
– Medicine
eIFL-FOSS Regional Seminar, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 4-5 November 2011 7
8. Subject Librarians’ Roles
• Collection development and organisation
• Provision of subject-specific reference and
information services
• Information Literacy Skills training
• Provision of subject-oriented library
instruction
eIFL-FOSS Regional Seminar, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 4-5 November 2011 8
9. Subject Librarians’ Roles
• Their role in the selection of electronic
resources is not just important for ‘paid-for’
resources (Pinfield, 2001).
• Increasingly, Subject Librarians are required to
identify free web resources which may be of
interest to users.
eIFL-FOSS Regional Seminar, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 4-5 November 2011 9
10. Subject Librarians
• Due to generally low Information Literacy
Skills (ILS) levels, many users find the array of
resources available on the Internet to be
confusing and daunting.
• Subject Librarians are well placed to locate
and evaluate quality resources.
eIFL-FOSS Regional Seminar, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 4-5 November 2011
10
11. Software Options
Option For more Information... Type
LibData http://libdata.sourceforge.net/ O
LibGuides http://www.springshare.com/libguides/ C
Library a la carte http://alacarte.library.oregonstate.edu/ O
Library Course Builder http://sourceforge.net/projects/libcb/ O
MyLibrary http://mylibrary.library.nd.edu/ O
ResearchGuide http://researchguide.sourceforge.net/ O
SubjectsPlus http://www.subjectsplus.com/ O
eIFL-FOSS Regional Seminar, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 4-5 November 2011 11
12. What is SubjectsPlus?
In summary, SubjectsPlus is an Open Source set
of tools aimed at enhancing a library website. It
provides facilities to dynamically manage a
library’s subject, course, and topic guides.
eIFL-FOSS Regional Seminar, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 4-5 November 2011 12
13. SubjectsPlus Features
• Open Source
• Includes:
– Subject or Course Guides
– A-Z List of Databases
– Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
– Suggestion Box (called Talkback)
– Staff List
• Database-driven (uses XAMP)
eIFL-FOSS Regional Seminar, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 4-5 November 2011 13
14. Why did we choose SubjectsPlus?
• Easy to use
• Easy to install and configure
– Good for low-technical support
environments
– Resources permitting, NUST Library intends
to train personnel from peer institutions
• Platform independent
eIFL-FOSS Regional Seminar, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 4-5 November 2011 14
15. Why did we choose SubjectsPlus?
• Subject Librarians can be given access to easily
create and update Subject Guides
– Empowers the Knowledge Workers, giving
them full control of the site contents
– Shared resources need only be defined
once
• Includes Web 2.0 features
eIFL-FOSS Regional Seminar, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 4-5 November 2011 15
16. SubjectsPlus Support
• Growing user community
– Active, Google Groups-based mailing list
• Documentation in Wiki
• Video Tutorials
eIFL-FOSS Regional Seminar, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 4-5 November 2011 16
17. Project Progress
• Training workshops were conducted for
Library staff
• SubjectsPlus installed on (Fedora) Linux server
& customised
• Assistant Librarians are responsible for
developing and maintaining guides for their
respective Faculties.
• Purchase of laptops to support initiative
eIFL-FOSS Regional Seminar, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 4-5 November 2011 17
18. Project Progress
• Building of Subject Guides is in progress. Will
proceed to Course and Topic Guides.
• Currently the focus is to make subscribed
electronic resources more visible to Library
Users.
• Guides are ordered by department and are
accessible online via
http://library.nust.ac.zw/sp/subjects with links
from the Library’s website.
eIFL-FOSS Regional Seminar, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 4-5 November 2011 18
28. Expected Outputs
• Increased usage of subscribed electronic
resources
• Increased interaction of Subject Librarians
with users
• Improved feedback mechanism
• Improved focus on user needs
eIFL-FOSS Regional Seminar, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 4-5 November 2011 28
29. Expected Outputs
• Improved student performance
• More focused or streamlined ILS training
programmes
• Improved efficiency in updating of library
website
eIFL-FOSS Regional Seminar, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 4-5 November 2011 29
30. Thank You
Amos Kujenga
Systems Analyst
NUST Library
Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
akujenga@nust.ac.zw
akujenga@gmail.com
eIFL-FOSS Regional Seminar, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 4-5 November 2011 30
31. Bibliography
Agyen-Gyasi, K. (2008) 'The Need for Subject Librarians in Ghanaian Academic
Libraries', Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship, vol. 9, no. 3, Winter.
Feldmann, L. (2006) 'Subject Librarians in the Changing Academic Library', Electronic
Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship, vol. 7, no. 3, Winter.
Hahn, K. (2009) 'Introduction: Positioning Liaison Librarians for the 21st Century',
Research Library Issues: A Bimonthly Report from ARL, CNI, and SPARC, vol. 265, August,
pp. 1-2.
Love, J. (2002) 'The Enhanced and Changing Role of the Specialist Librarian: Survey of
Education Librarians', The Reference Librarian, vol. 78, pp. 149-165.
Pinfield, S. (2001) 'The changing role of subject librarians in academic libraries',
Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, vol. 33, no. 1, March, pp. 32-
38.
eIFL-FOSS Regional Seminar, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 4-5 November 2011 31