Blackburn, Jean
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Item Using baskets and a rubric to assess online resources in the "messy middle"(ACRL, 2017) Reed, Kathleen; Blackburn, Jean; McFarland, DanaMoving beyond easy "keep or cancel" decisions can be difficult. This multi-attribute rubric, when used to evaluate and compare e-resources within categories or "baskets," gives librarians a holistic tool to assess all online resources. It is particularly valuable when faced with tough decisions about renewing or cancelling subscriptions.Item Cloud is Calling – Or is it Zombies of Death?(BCNet, 2016-04-27) Blackburn, Jean; McFarland, Dana; Paskevicius, Michael; Schewe, EricAt Vancouver Island University, the Library and Centre for Innovation and Excellence in Learning (CIEL) increasingly rely on cloud-based services to build capacity and manage costs. Institutional repositories, integrated library systems, digital preservation, learning management systems, media servers and e-portfolio platforms are essential academic enterprise systems, critical to the emerging academic landscape. Yet, at VIU we see a de facto move away from locally-managed to cloud-based infrastructure for these mission-critical systems, where systems are selected, licensed and managed by academic service departments such as VIU’s Library and CIEL, but the connection to the cloud is dependent on IT. Katz et al. (2009) warn that “if the institution does not create a cloud strategy, it may inherit an ‘accidental strategy’ formed around consumer choice.” But when infrastructure needs outpace the capacity of local IT, how to collaborate on strategic, appropriate policy, risk management, and governance models? Informed by Bill Klug’s research, reported at BCNET 2015, we present cloud adoption cases from VIU, followed by discussion. What are the implications of shifting computing infrastructure needs from local IT services to the cloud? How does it change our relationship with IT? Are IT departments happy when we go to the cloud, or concerned about loss of local control? How do IT decision-makers see the promise of the cloud differently than “consumers”? How can we leverage cloud computing environments, such as EduCloud, that require local IT dependencies? And how can we develop institutional strategy where cloud-based solutions have been adopted ad hoc?Item Putting a sacred cow out to pasture: assessing the removal of fines and reduction of barriers at a small academic library(Elsevier, 2014) Reed, Kathleen; Blackburn, Jean; Sifton, DanielAt the beginning of the 2012/13 academic year, Vancouver Island University library removed most fines and made other loans changes to improve access to physical collections. One year later, the changes were assessed using circulation data and staff interviews. The removal of fines had no significant effect on borrower return rates and circulation numbers, but did win significant goodwill among users. Library staff believe the changes to be positive.Item Ebooks and New Collection Models(Electronic version published by Vancouver Island University, 5/3/2012) Sifton, Daniel; Blackburn, JeanIncreasing expectations. Decreasing spending power. Disruption and transformation in publishing and information access models. As the VIU Library works to provide a rich information environment for our learning community, funding constraints and a destabilized information marketplace present both challenges and opportunities.