Leveraging Student Expertise to Jump-Start a Proactive Course Reserves Program (Lightning Talk)
Location
Online
Start Date
14-10-2026 12:30 PM
End Date
14-10-2026 12:45 PM
Description
Abstract:
The course reserves team at OSU’s Valley Library recently shifted to a proactive model, preemptively identifying, purchasing and placing course materials on reserve using data from the university bookstore instead of relying on instructor requests. Prioritizing the purchase of unlimited-user licensed ebooks, this project significantly lowers the cost of textbooks for students who take advantage of it.
This was all possible through the work of a library student employee who applied their computer science knowledge to write Python scripts that pull and aggregate data, plus a script that powers instructor notification emails. The student employee ended their library tenure with an impressive project for their portfolio and the course reserves team was able to experiment with new technology without immediately impacting an already-stretched-thin IT department.
This lightning talk covers the successes and challenges of this project and offers guidance on how to start something similar at your institution.
Outcomes:
At the end of this talk, attendees will be able to:
- Identify four sources of data needed for proactive course reserves collection development and promotion.
- Evaluate when a script is optimal to human labor and vice versa.
- Develop a strategy to best supervise a student employee on a project outside the regular scope of course reserves.
Bio:
- Jennifer Wells is the Affordability Manager at Oregon State University Libraries and Press, working within the Collection Strategies unit. Her background is in media studies, with a degree in new media communications, in addition to a Master of Library Science. Jennifer’s work includes overseeing course reserves, regularly staffing the Borrowing & Information Desk, supervising student employees and coordinating book displays for the main library location. When not working to make college more affordable for students, she enjoys all things related to television and pop culture, plus spending time with her husband and two cats. Go Beavs!
Leveraging Student Expertise to Jump-Start a Proactive Course Reserves Program (Lightning Talk)
Online
Abstract:
The course reserves team at OSU’s Valley Library recently shifted to a proactive model, preemptively identifying, purchasing and placing course materials on reserve using data from the university bookstore instead of relying on instructor requests. Prioritizing the purchase of unlimited-user licensed ebooks, this project significantly lowers the cost of textbooks for students who take advantage of it.
This was all possible through the work of a library student employee who applied their computer science knowledge to write Python scripts that pull and aggregate data, plus a script that powers instructor notification emails. The student employee ended their library tenure with an impressive project for their portfolio and the course reserves team was able to experiment with new technology without immediately impacting an already-stretched-thin IT department.
This lightning talk covers the successes and challenges of this project and offers guidance on how to start something similar at your institution.
Outcomes:
At the end of this talk, attendees will be able to:
- Identify four sources of data needed for proactive course reserves collection development and promotion.
- Evaluate when a script is optimal to human labor and vice versa.
- Develop a strategy to best supervise a student employee on a project outside the regular scope of course reserves.
Bio:
- Jennifer Wells is the Affordability Manager at Oregon State University Libraries and Press, working within the Collection Strategies unit. Her background is in media studies, with a degree in new media communications, in addition to a Master of Library Science. Jennifer’s work includes overseeing course reserves, regularly staffing the Borrowing & Information Desk, supervising student employees and coordinating book displays for the main library location. When not working to make college more affordable for students, she enjoys all things related to television and pop culture, plus spending time with her husband and two cats. Go Beavs!