Valdes, Zachary

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11875/4678

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    Where’s the EASY Button? Uncovering E-Book Usability
    (2019) Mueller, Kat Landry; Owens, Erin; Valdes, Zachary; Williamson, Cole
    E-book platforms have multiplied among vendors and publishers, complicating not only acquisitions and collection development decisions, but also the user experience. Using a methodology of task-based user testing, the researchers sought to measure and compare user performance of eight common tasks on nine e-book platforms: EBSCO eBooks, ProQuest Ebook Central, Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL), Oxford Reference, Safari Books Online, IGI Global, CRCnetBASE, Springer Link, and JSTOR. Success and failure rates per task, average time spent per task, and user comments were evaluated to gauge the usability of each platform. Findings indicate that platforms vary widely in terms of users’ ability and speed in completing known-item searches, navigation tasks, and identification of specialized tools, with implications for library acquisition and user instruction decisions. Results also suggest several key vendor design recommendations for an optimal user experience. The study did not aim to declare a “winning” platform, and all the platforms tested demonstrated both strengths and weaknesses in different aspects, but overall performance and user preference favored ProQuest’s Ebook Central platform.
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    Ready, Set, Hire! Perceptions of new technical services librarian preparedness
    (Library Leadership & Management, 2015) Mueller, Kat Landry; Thompson, Molly; Valdes, Zach
    Previous studies have investigated technical services librarian job availability and preparedness, but have not compared library administrators’ and librarians’ assessments of entry-level technical services librarian preparedness. In this study, the researchers explore the perceived preparedness of entry-level technical services librarians upon graduating from a Master of Library Science/Information Science (MLS/IS) degree program, and assess library administrators’ employment projections for technical services librarians, including hiring, retiring, position consolidation, and elimination. An electronic survey was distributed to library administrators and technical services librarians from public and academic libraries located across the United States. The researchers identified discrepancies between how prepared entry-level technical services librarians felt upon graduating, and how prepared administrators perceived them to be. Data gathered from both administrators and entry-level technical services librarians suggests the majority of respondents feel entry-level technical services librarians are adequately to exceptionally qualified for their first entry-level position upon graduating from a MLS/IS degree program. However, both groups felt current MLS/IS degree programs do not fully prepare technical services librarians for their first professional jobs, yet the desired skills and areas of knowledge which were identified as lacking varied between the two groups. The researchers discovered employment data which indicate relatively low turnover or consolidation for technical services librarians, and which support projections of low to moderate growth for this area of librarianship over the next decade.
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    Are Serials Worth Their Weight in Knowledge? A Value Study
    (Journal of Academic Librarianship (Elsevier), 2015-09) Jones, Glenda Flanagan; Cassidy, Erin Dorris; McMain, Lynn; Strickland, Susan; Thompson, Molly; Valdes, Zachary
    The researchers aimed to use qualitative measures to define value as applied to print and electronic serial publications held at Sam Houston State University. Researchers examined faculty key activities—namely, Research, Publishing, Course Preparation and Development, Service, and Personal Interests—and also asked about the perceived extent of support that library journals provided for these key activities. The results of a survey sent to the faculty of two major colleges, Education and Criminal Justice, emphasized the importance of electronic over print serials for research, publishing, and teaching. Many respondents reported that they never used print serials for key activities but have recently used electronic serials. The print serial collection was reported to provide only minor support for the key activities whereas the electronic serials collection was reported to support those to a major extent. Most faculty respondents reported that they would drop subscriptions to personal interest journals if the Library obtained electronic access.
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    Collecting Sex Materials for Libraries
    (Taylor & Francis Group, 2017-02-21) Martinez, Michelle; Landry Mueller, Kat; Cassidy, Erin Dorris; Shen, Lisa; Thompson, Molly; Valdes, Zach
    This article analyzes data gathered over a year-long survey of library employees’ opinions of sexually related materials in library collections. Surveys generally examine patron attitudes rather than the attitudes of library employees, whose attitudes and beliefs can have a strong effect on the collection. The researchers discovered themes in the data such as: varying definitions and differences between pornography and erotica, legality issues and misconceptions, differing perceptions of censorship dependent on library type, and a possible unacceptance of non-heteronormative material. The survey and analysis serve as a contribution to the ongoing discussion of the appropriateness of sexually related materials in libraries