Janelle Sander - Going Beyond Loaning Books to Loaning Technologies: A Practical Guide for Librarians

Going Beyond Loaning Books to Loaning Technologies

Practical Guides for Librarians

About the Series

This innovative series written and edited for librarians by librarians provides authoritative, practical information and guidance on a wide spectrum of library processes and operations.

Books in the series are focused, describing practical and innovative solutions to a problem facing todays librarian and delivering step-by-step guidance for planning, creating, implementing, managing, and evaluating a wide range of services and programs.

The books are aimed at beginning and intermediate librarians needing basic instruction/guidance in a specific subject and at experienced librarians who need to gain knowledge in a new area or guidance in implementing a new program/service.

About the Series Editor

The Practical Guides for Librarians series was conceived by and is edited by M. Sandra Wood, MLS, MBA, AHIP, FMLA, Librarian Emerita, Penn State University Libraries.

M. Sandra Wood was a librarian at the George T. Harrell Library, The Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, College of Medicine, Pennsylvania State University, Hershey, PA, for over 35 years, specializing in reference, educational, and database services. Ms. Wood worked for several years as a Development Editor for Neal-Schuman Publishers.

Ms. Wood received a MLS from Indiana University and a MBA from the University of Maryland. She is a Fellow of the Medical Library Association and served as a member of MLAs Board of Directors from 1991 to 1995. Ms. Wood is founding and current editor of Medical Reference Services Quarterly , now in its 35th volume. She also was founding editor of the Journal of Consumer Health on the Internet and the Journal of Electronic Resources in Medical Libraries and served as editor/co-editor of both journals through 2011.

Titles in the Series

1. How to Teach: A Practical Guide for Librarians by Beverley E. Crane
2. Implementing an Inclusive Staffing Model for Todays Reference Services by Julia K. Nims, Paula Storm, and Robert Stevens
3. Managing Digital Audiovisual Resources: A Practical Guide for Librarians by Matthew C. Mariner
4. Outsourcing Technology: A Practical Guide for Librarians by Robin Hastings
5. Making the Library Accessible for All: A Practical Guide for Librarians by Jane Vincent
6. Discovering and Using Historical Geographical Resources on the Web: A Practical Guide for Librarians by Eva H. Dodsworth and L. W. Lalibert
7. Digitization and Digital Archiving: A Practical Guide for Librarians by Elizabeth R. Leggett
8. Makerspaces: A Practical Guide for Librarians by John J. Burke
9. Implementing Web-Scale Discovery Services: A Practical Guide for Librarians by JoLinda Thompson
10. Using iPhones and iPads: A Practical Guide for Librarians by Matthew Connolly and Tony Cosgrave
11. Usability Testing: A Practical Guide for Librarians by Rebecca Blakiston
12. Mobile Devices: A Practical Guide for Librarians by Ben Rawlins
13. Going Beyond Loaning Books to Loaning Technologies: A Practical Guide for Librarians by Janelle Sander, Lori S. Mestre, and Eric Kurt

Going Beyond Loaning Books to Loaning Technologies

A Practical Guide for Librarians

Janelle Sander

Lori S. Mestre

Eric Kurt

Practical Guides for Librarians, No. 13

ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD

Lanham Boulder New York London

Published by Rowman & Littlefield

A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.

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www.rowman.com

Unit A, Whitacre Mews, 26-34 Stannary Street, London SE11 4AB

Copyright 2015 by Rowman & Littlefield

All rights reserved . No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Sander, Janelle, 1982, author.

Going beyond loaning books to loaning technologies : a practical guide for librarians / Janelle Sander, Lori S. Mestre, Eric Kurt.

pages cm. (Practical guides for librarians ; 13)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-4422-4499-3 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-4422-4500-6 (ebook)

1. Library circulation and loans. 2. Multimedia library services. 3. LibrariesSpecial collectionsAudio-visual equipment. 4. LibrariesSpecial collectionsNonbook materials. I. Mestre, Lori, author. II. Kurt, Eric, 1979, author. III. Title.

Z712.S36 2015

025.6dc23 2014034572

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

Printed in the United States of America

To the staff of the Undergraduate Library at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Their patience, flexibility, openness to innovation, and feedback make it possible to have a successful loanable technology program.

Preface

Going Beyond Loaning Books to Loaning Technologies: A Practical Guide for Librarians covers the process and pipeline of establishing and maintaining an effective loanable technology program. Included are guidelines, suggestions, and examples of developing and maintaining a loanable technology program that supports multiple constituencies, including at school, public, and academic libraries. Many of the examples and suggestions provided here are based on creating and expanding a loanable technology program at the Undergraduate Library at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Although all the challenges, successes, and recommendations cannot be fully shared here, some of the key themes that will be further discussed throughout the book include processes and suggestions for selection, processing, cataloging, circulation, maintenance, and promotion of the equipment and services in the program. Chapters contain step-by-step information, complete with forms, templates, and examples that cover all aspects of developing, implementing, and maintaining a loanable technology program. More detailed information pertaining to the development and stages of the UIUC loanable technology program can be found in appendix A.

While many of the examples in Going Beyond Loaning Books to Loaning Technologies: A Practical Guide for Librarians are based on this program, they are presented in ways that are generic enough for implementation by all types of libraries. Additional examples from other library types are also included in the chapters. Providing loanable technology that can be borrowed by library patrons is a continuously expanding service at many libraries, especially as faculty and teachers require multimodal projects. For some libraries, loanable technology might include calculators, gaming devices, headphones, e-readers, laptops, and tablets. Increasingly, though, there is also demand for all types of cameras, lighting, voice recorders, microphones, external storage devices, projectors, peripherals, and converters, among hundreds of possibilities. This guide provides the nuts and bolts and the behind-the-scenes details of developing a program and walks librarians and information technology professionals through even some of the complex decisions and processes, such as: