Off-campus UNL users: To download campus access dissertations, please use the following link to log into our proxy server with your NU ID and password. When you are done browsing please remember to return to this page and log out.

Non-UNL users: Please talk to your librarian about requesting this dissertation through interlibrary loan.

Academic library directors' perceptions of joining a large library consortium sharing an integrated library system: A descriptive survey

Dennis E Krieb, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

Abstract

The collective holdings of CARLI' s (Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois) “I-Share” catalog total approximately 32 million items. It is the third largest academic catalog in the United States, however only 76 of CARLI' s 148 academic libraries participate in I-Share. This descriptive survey examined the factors that influenced a CARLI academic library director' s decision to join, or not join, I-Share' s integrated library system. Seventy-seven of the 145 CARLI library directors sampled completed the web-based survey. This represented a 53.1% response rate. The framework for the survey was designed around three sections; advantages, disadvantages, and obstacles to participating in I-Share. Directors were asked to select the level of importance of I-Share benefits, and their level of agreement to questions regarding the disadvantages and obstacles to participating in I-Share. These questions were based on a Likert scale and assigned numeric values. An independent samples t-test compared I-Share and non I-Share directors' responses by institution type and collectively. The difference in 11 of 12 comparisons was found to be statistically significant. Through five open-ended questions, several themes were discovered. Benefits associated with resource sharing were consistently stated as being the most influential factor for I-Share member directors to participate in I-Share. Other important benefits mentioned were I-Share' s value, centralized technical support, and the opportunity to collaborate closely with other libraries. With non I-Share library directors, reasons not to join I-Share differed with institution types. For some community college library directors, the decision to remain with a local, multi-type library system was based upon the needs of their student populations. Among the reasons given by non I-Share library directors from independent—not for profit institutions was the preference to manage an integrated library system “in-house”. The infrequency of I-Share open enrollment periods, and migration costs associated with unbundling records from a current ILS, were viewed by all survey respondents as being the most serious obstacles to I-Share participation.

Subject Area

Community college education|Library science|Higher education

Recommended Citation

Krieb, Dennis E, "Academic library directors' perceptions of joining a large library consortium sharing an integrated library system: A descriptive survey" (2011). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI3445417.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI3445417

Share

COinS