Academic and Research Libraries' Portals

Abstract

This chapter presents a synthesis of the literature on academic library portals. Library portals remain a component of the modern academic library. Portal features differ, but typically contain a single authentication process and access to metadata as well as some services (Laouar, Hacken, & Miles, 2009). The authors examined 87 papers in their review. This examination revealed six themes including: developing library portals, utilizing assessment strategies, collaborating on portal projects, incorporating personalization and customization features, conducting environmental scans, and creating instructional portals. The authors assigned themes to the papers based on the primary focus of the material. The findings revealed various issues with the development of academic library portals. The content of academic library portals continues to evolve as their importance to the user increases. Ultimately, an examination of the literature illustrated academic libraries' efforts to remain relevant through the availability of new resources and services on their portals.

Nurturing doctoral excellence: effective strategies for research support services in public university libraries of Kenya

“…Based on the responses from the university librarians and the library staff, the most common methods of informing these students about the said services included university corporate and library websites, social media tools/platforms, particularly WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter, personal and students' group email alerts, posters, notices and brochures, word of mouth from other students, supervisors and also direct communications through the school/faculty administration and the directorates of research. According to Blummer and Kenton (2021), interactive webpages in academic and research libraries' portals can enhance user engagement and improve information literacy skills. The preceding authors noted that interactive features such as search filters, virtual reference services and multimedia resources could help users locate relevant information and engage with library resources more effectively.…”