The June 2024 issue of Information Technology and Libraries (ITAL) was published on Monday, June 19. Peer-reviewed items in this issue are:
Implementing Library Maker Projects Outside of the Makerspace: A Case Study / Monica Maceli
The popularity and relevance of the library makerspace has been well-established and documented in the previous decade of researcher and practitioner work. This case study examines the potential for wider use of such projects in an academic library setting.
A Framework for Measuring Relevancy in Discovery Environments: Increasing Scalability and Reproducibility / Blake Galbreath, Alex Merrill, and Corey M. Johnson
There have been numerous discovery layer research inquiries centering primarily on user satisfaction measures of discovery system effectiveness. This study focuses on the creation of a largely automated method for evaluating discovery layer quality, utilizing the bibliographic sources from student research projects.
On-Demand Circulation of Software Licenses: Checking Out Software on Patrons’ Own Devices / Ken Irwin and Michael Bomholt
The Miami University Libraries (MUL) developed an open-source Software Checkout system to allow patrons to make use of software licenses owned by the library. The system takes advantage of user-based licensing under the Software as a Service license model and vendor-created APIs to easily and legally assign access to users.
In addition to the peer-reviewed content, we also publish a contributed column in our Public Libraries Leading the Way series: Making Magic Happen: Building and Launching a Reader’s Advisory Kiosk, by Kara Reuter, Digital Library Manager at the Worthington (Ohio) Libraries. In this column, Reuter and colleagues built custom book recommendation kiosks using the NoveList and Polaris APIs. This column discusses how these kiosks were developed and explores how they are used by library patrons.
New Columns
We are introducing the first of two new contributed (not peer-reviewed) columns, joining the five-year-old Public Libraries Leading the Way. This new contributed column, “ITAL &”, focuses on ways in which the library’s role continues to expand and develop in the information technology landscape. The emphasis will be on emerging ideas and issues, with a particular aim to recruit new-to-the-profession columnists.
The column is edited by ITAL Editorial Board member Shanna Hollich, who welcomes column proposals from all who are working in the broad area of libraries and technology. For more information, please see the call for “ITAL &” column proposals which is open until June 30, 2024. Watch for details on our second new contributed column coming later this year.
Contributing to the Journal
We invite all readers to contribute to the journal. If you are involved in any aspect of libraries—we consider this an inclusive scope, including cultural memory institutions such as museums, archives, and more—we welcome submissions for peer-reviewed articles or communications. Information Technology and Libraries is proud to be diamond open access — that is, it is free to read for all, charges no article processing fees to authors or their institutions, and content is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Want to know more? See our Call for Submissions. If you have questions or wish to bounce ideas off the editor and assistant editor, please contact either of us at the email addresses below.
Ken Varnum, Editor varnum@umich.edu
Marisha Kelly, Assistant Editor marisha.librarian@gmail.com
