12 · Survey Results: Executive Summary
description and analysis of the specific innovative
activity that they had chosen. Through the responses
provided, we are able to gain rich insights into more
specific types of activities that libraries consider to
be innovative. We are also able to see how libraries
have supported these activities, how they are assessed,
and who is involved in making them happen. Some
examples of innovative activities that the responding
libraries described include:
An intensive 3-workshop model for deliv-
ering basic instruction and orientation to
at-risk students as part of a library-campus-
state collaboration.
Investing resources in curating and pre-
serving collections of freely accessible web
content, with support from a foundation.
Digital Scholarship Consulting Services: a
non-service-point-based service designed
to assist faculty with any of their digital
efforts.
Implementation of a single search box on the
library’s homepage that covers all library
collections and services.
Three universities formed a partnership
in the areas of shared library systems,
remote storage and information services
and resources. The intended outcome was
to share expertise, reduce costs, and achieve
a “seamlessly integrated programme of
library collections and services.”
A three-year pilot Technology Prototyping
Service focused on developing light-weight
software application prototypes to support
library operations and services.
The Alternative Textbook Project to cre-
ate an alternate textbook or collection
of learning objects that would be free to
students and would thus enable the faculty
member(s) to stop requiring that students
purchase a commercial textbook.
Respondents reported that the genesis of the in-
novation ideas came from a number of levels in the
organization. Of the 44 ideas, 24 (55%) came from
library administration, 23 (52%) were initiated by a
department or unit head, and 15 (34%) were instituted
by librarians or other frontline staff. Respondents re-
ported that a substantial number of innovative ideas
came from external sources, including seven (16%)
from a workshop or conference, six (14%) from another
library, five (11%) from another industry, and 20 (46%)
Figure 1. Descriptions of Library Innovation Activities Word Cloud
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