Make Big Brother Work for You:Mining Patron Data for Enhanced

Library Services Yosef Branse

Younes and Soraya Nazarian LibraryUniversity of Haifa

IGeLU ConferenceSeptember 2014

University of Haifa

Faculties: Humanities, Social Sciences, Education, Science and Science Education, Law, Social Welfare and Health Sciences

As of 2013-2014 academic year, approximately:

- 17,700 fulltime degree students - 2470 academic staff - 830 administrative staff

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Younes and Soraya Nazarian Library

central library, single acquisitions budget, open stacks 65 staff positions approximately 2 million items: monographs,

periodicals, audio-visual materials, electronic texts and journals, archival collections, digitization projects, etc.

Ex Libris products in use: Aleph v. 20, SFX v. 4, bX, Metalib v. 4, Primo v. 3, Primo Central, Digitool v. 3

tradition of in-house support and development – Library Information Systems Department

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Summary of systemsPresentation of patron data during reference

consultation Storage of reference session data for statistics Follow up on patron satisfaction with reference

serviceAccess to required course readings Management of access privileges to online systems

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Summary of systems - 2

Display of user’s library notices in student and staff portals

Creation of mailing lists for distribution to specified groups (by degree, department, etc.)

Automatic insertion of personal data in online forms

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A stable yet evolving system

1985– Pre-Aleph; in-house software c. 1990 – Aleph 2c. 1995 – Aleph 300 2003-2004 – Aleph 500 – major conversion2014 –Aleph 222015-16 - Alma ?

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Software infrastructure

L inux operating systemA pache Web serverM ySQL databaseP erl script languageO racle database, PL/SQL packagesP hp script language

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The Library as information producer and consumer

Cataloging: MARC records (consumer); Local data fields (producer)Value-added services based on information from outside sourcesClose cooperation with University’s MIS department for receipt of latest patron data and export of Library data to other University systems, for mutual benefit

Sources of data from University’s SAP System

Libr

ary

FTP

dire

ctor

yPersonal data – academic and administrative staff

Personal data - students

Current courses and student course registration

Reader data entered by Library staff

Paying readersPatrons from other Israeli universitiesProxies (lecturers’ assistants authorized to

perform transactions on their behalf)

Update of Aleph reader data

Daily run of service p_file_20 (upload of patron data via xml file)

Relevant Aleph tables(Library HAI50)

z303 – Global Patron Information z304 – Patron’s address(es) z305 – Patron’s local information local library tables

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Selected data from user tables z303, z304, z305

z303_rec_key, z304_rec_key, z305_rec_key (ID number)

z303_name z303_title z304_address, z304_zip z304_email_address z304_telephone (up to 4 entries) z305_bor_type, z305_bor_status z305_expiry_date

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Compact reader-data view

What we know about (nearly) every patron

Name ID numberExpiration date of library privilegesHome address (street, city, ZIP code)Telephone number (up to four)Email addressBorrower status and typeDepartmental affiliation(s)CoursesAttendance at library orientation sessions

Borrower statuses

StudentsAdministrative staffLibrary staffAcademic staffTeaching assistants Inter-Library Loan No borrowing rightsMiscellaneous categories

Borrower types

Students: BA, MA, Ph.D., foreign students, academic preparatory course, external studies, etc.

Staff members: tenured, non-tenured, adjunct faculty, unpaid leave, sabbatical, retirees, field instructors, etc.

Borrowers from other institutionsPaying readers

Library privileges

Patron’s status and type determine nature of privileges granted, such as:Borrowing books, periodicals, audio-visual

materials Number of items that may be borrowed Loan durationAccess to online databasesReference services

Patron helpdesk session

Additional information displayed when relevant

Item requested by patron has arrived and can be retrieved from Circulation desk

No email address recorded – patron is advised to notify relevant parties

Attendance at Library orientation sessions

Followup questionnaire

Summary of Responses,9.2013 – 8.2014

1995 letters sent ; 237 responses (11.9%)

Not at all Somewhat A great deal

Helpfulness of session

4 20 213

Use of material obtained

6 33 198

Selected respondents’ comments on reference service

“courteous, professional service…endless patience…quick, thorough, efficient…assisted me in searching and learning how to search…wonderful people…thanks to them I now know how to manage in the Library…”“The staff help because they want to, not just because it’s their job”“The service I received during the past three years was simply excellent. Period.”“Keep up the good work!”

Access to required course readings Data regarding current courses, student course registration and assigned readings is the basis for an interface by which student can efficiently access digital offprints, electronic texts, video and other materials.

Flow of data from sources to Aleph tables

HAI01/z00

SAPCourse data

SAPCourse registration

HAI30/z00, z13

HAI50/z108

HAI50/z107

Management of access privileges to online systems

Authentication – “who are you?”Authorization – “what resources are you

allowed to access?”SSO (Single-Sign On) – when users need to

access multiple resources: - avoids repeated authentication - manages authorization

Library resources accessible via SSO

Aleph (reader card)DigitoolPrimoOnline databasesCourse readings“Kushiya” – online examination system

Daily automatic update of patron privileges

Detect new users and those whose rights have expired

Record, in a text file, user’s ID number and codes denoting the services to which they are entitled (as indicated by borrower status and type)

Update a local database table with these details, triggering an update of the central SSO database – including deletion of records for ineligible patrons

Authorization management

In practice, nearly all users have access to all resources. Usual exceptions are restrictions on access to online databases for users from outside the University. Authorization management enables flexibility in dealing with new resources, changes in patron status, etc., regardless of the source of patron data (SAP or internal)

Display of user’s library notices in student and staff portals

Loan can’t be renewed due to hold placed by other reader

Non-renewable loan due tomorrowPlease return overdue item(s)Please settle outstanding fine owed to

LibraryLibrary privileges will expire soonItem requested has been returned and can

be borrowed at the Circulation desk

Update of portal notices

Twice a day, a file is prepared containing patron ID numbers with numerical codes denoting type of notice

File is used to update an Oracle table Data in table triggers insertion of relevant

notice text in designated location of patron’s personal space in student/staff portal

Library notices in staff portal

Library notices in student portal

Creation of mailing lists for distribution to specified groups

Irregular email announcements of lectures, training sessions, service interruptions, vacation schedules, etc.

Some announcements are relevant for specific groups: all lecturers; Ph.D. students; students and lecturers of a specific faculty or department, etc.

Relevant email addresses can be retrieved based on borrower status or type, and academic affiliation

“Include me out!!”

Nearly every mass mailing results in at least one angry response from someone who is no longer affiliated with the University or just doesn’t want to receive notices from the Library

Entry of user’s ID number in online form adds their address to a stoplist to prevent their inclusion in subsequent mailing lists

Automatic insertion of personal data in online forms

Library forms for academic staffRequest for monograph acquisitionRequest for periodicals acquisitionPersonal details (ID number, name,

borrower status and type, phone) are sent as hidden values in form

Patron data sent to script as hidden form elements

Food for thought:ethical considerations

Databases retain information on potentially sensitive material, such as research topics, book loans, courses attended

Employees with access to databases must sign “Commitment to Maintain Confidentiality”

Data stored in Library databases is for internal use only

Obligatory declaration for IT workers with access to databases

“I commit myself to: … avoid accessing or using any data without permission of the user or a relevant University authority… to relate with strict confidentiality to data of any sort and refrain from disseminating it in any form… to take all acceptable precautions to preserve confidentiality of the data …”

Questions?

Thank you!

Yosef BranseYounes and Soraya Nazarian Library

University of HaifaInformation Systems Dept.

jody@univ.haifa.ac.il 972-4-8240288

972-52-8666430http://aleph.haifa.ac.il/www/public/staff/yb/Igelu_2014.ppsx

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