2016 Charleston Library Conference

Hunter Library at Western Carolina University is a mid-sized academic institution managing ten large eBook packages and about 80,000 individual eBook titles. Managing eBooks involves working with multiple vendors and staff from different areas of technical services. This presentation will examine issues in eBook workflows; in particular we will share the results of a project to document our eBook workflows and utilize an existing technology, Microsoft SharePoint, to better manage our eBook workflow and share information and communication among necessary staff. The idea for this project came with the almost simultaneous hiring of the Electronic Resources Librarian and the Metadata Librarian, who took over the responsibility for loading eBook MARC records into the catalog. We found the existing workflow related to downloading MARC records from vendor's sites confusing because of the involvement of multiple units within the Technical Services department. We also noticed that there were questions from both users and library faculty about eBook user limits and download rights. These questions were not easily answered by looking at the catalog record nor could we find the information readily.

How might we share unique access information with users and public services staff? How might technical services staff better communicate with each other regarding their individual roles and responsibilities in this process? How do we maintain necessary information for technical services staff? This project is meant to not only deal with our eBook workflow but to help eliminate knowledge silos we see in our Technical Services department.