Elizabeth Lovsin

LIS 806.02: Barthelmess

Big Dream

Goals and Objectives

Goal 1: An electronic database of the Ellin Greene Storytelling

Collection will be created to enhance access and use of materials
in the collection.
o Objective 1.1: Students and professionals will be able to
access and search this database online within two years of
the start of the project.
o Objective 1.2: Instructors of the Storytelling course at
Dominican University will create a project utilizing the
resources to familiarize students with the collection after

the completion of the project.

Goal 2: Students in the Graduate School of Library and
Information Science at Dominican University will develop the
database under faculty supervision.
o Objective 2.1: Each semester for two years, two to four
students will work together through independent study
courses in Dominican Universitys GSLIS to develop and
manage the database.
o Objective 2.2: Students will compose and be assessed
through weekly reflective journal entries that will be posted

online to share their experiences of database creation with

other students and professionals.
o Objective 2.3: The cost of tuition for the students enrolled
in these courses will be covered by the Butler Center
donation.
Statement of Need
The Butler Childrens Literature Center is home to the Ellin
Greene Storytelling Collection, donated by renowned storyteller and
librarian Ellin Greene upon her retirement. In order for students and
professionals to efficiently search and access this collection, an
electronic database must be created. The creation of an operational
database will benefit not only those who access the collection, but also
the students who will establish the database as a part of their graduate
degree coursework.
While this collection of storytelling and folklore materials has
great potential as a resource, the lack of a searchable database greatly
impedes its use. Many students in Dominicans Graduate School of
Library and Information Science would benefit from better access to
this collection, particularly students in the youth services program.
Ease of access would encourage instructors of the Storytelling course
at Dominican to include a project involving the collection, which would
familiarize students with the resources therein and encourage further
use. Librarians, educators, and storytellers could also enhance their
professional endeavors through this collection.

Dominicans GSLIS students benefit from practical experiences to

prepare them for the workplace. Utilizing the efforts of students
enrolled in independent study courses to develop the database
provides these students with the rare opportunity of fulfilling a real
need while completing a practical experience under faculty
supervision. The Butler Center and Dominican University also benefit
from these students efforts by accomplishing a project that the Butler
Center does not currently have adequate staff resources to complete.
Project Description
Over the course of two years, GSLIS students working in
independent study courses will develop an operational online database
for the Ellin Greene Storytelling Collection. Increasing access to this
collection supports the mission and motto of the Butler Center by
providing resources to help adults connect young people with a wide
array of stories (Barthelmess).
Twenty-two students will be involved in this project over two
years, or six semesters. For the first five semesters, four students will
work together on the project. Two of the students each semester will
have a strong background in data management, and will work to
develop an effective database and create and manage metadata. The
other two students each semester will have a youth services
specialization, and will help to create user-friendly annotations for the

items in the collection. In the final semester as the project is winding

down, only one student of each background will participate.
Each student enrolled in the project will require a faculty member
to act as an advisor (LIS 801). It will be efficient to have two faculty
advisors each semester: one who specializes in data management, and
the other who specializes in youth services. Each faculty member will
then advise and direct the work of the two students who share their
area of expertise. Finding faculty advisors who are able and willing to
devote the time to the project while balancing other responsibilities
may prove challenging.
The database should be developed from an existing product,
since trying to develop a database structure would be difficult and
time-consuming (Kowalczyk). While it is possible that the database
could build on the catalog of the Rebecca Crown Library, the school
might need to pay money to expand the services of the database
provider. If the arrangement with the database provider is a yearly
license, the funds from the Butler Center donation will not be able to
extend past two years. Another option is to buy a library software
package, which can be a complicated task (American Library
Association). There are numerous products, and while some of them
do not advertise their costs, PrimaSoft is an example of one software
program appropriate for smaller collections that costs $245

(PrimaSoft). It seems appropriate to set aside $1,000 for the cost of

the database until further research can provide a more precise number.
As the students involved in this project will take on a great
responsibility, their selection for participation must be carefully
considered. The independent study courses should be advertised to
GSLIS students, with any prerequisites or guidelines the faculty
advisors think necessary. Interested students should then apply to be
involved, and may perhaps take part in an interview process before
final selections are made. The fact that the tuition will be paid for by
the Butler Center should be clear in the marketing for the courses.
Students in the GSLIS program have a limited number of electives to
take, and this project will likely require a greater amount of time and
effort than many other independent studies. The fact that students will
not have to pay to participate will make it more appealing and perhaps
less daunting to interested candidates.
Each Masters three-credit course in the GSLIS program costs
$2,448 (Costs). The cost of the course for twenty-two students will
take up the bulk of the Butler Center donation. After the $1,000
devoted to the database program, another $4,000 would be well spent
on four laptops devoted to the project, one for each student involved in
the first five semesters. The remaining money could be spent on office
supplies or for unforeseen expenses of the project.

Every semester, the faculty advisors will set goals for what they
hope the students will accomplish. These goals should be divided into
weekly benchmarks, so that students are able to keep up with the
demands of the project. If it is discovered that the goals for a
semester are too ambitious, they should be altered accordingly.
Students working on this project will be assessed in two ways.
They will be assessed on their completion of the tasks set forward by
the faculty advisors, keeping in mind that these may need to be
adjusted. They will also be assessed through weekly journal entries
chronicling their experiences. These journals should be brief so that
they do not require too much of the time the students have available
for this project. The journals should be published online so that
students involved with the project in future semesters and other
interested parties can learn from the students experiences.
The faculty advisors must measure the effectiveness of the
database itself throughout the project so that they can direct students
to address problems as they arise. Students not involved in the
creation of the database can test its efficacy, both during its
development and after its completion. A project developed within the
Storytelling course, or other GSLIS courses, could ask students to
utilize the database and then provide feedback through a survey about
ease of use and functionality. Survey results from students as work on

the database is ongoing could help guide its development, and survey
results after completion will show the impact of the project.

Budget
Year One
Semester
Tuition for
Students
Specializing in
Data
Management
Tuition for
Students
Specializing in
Youth Services
Database
Software
Four Laptops
Office Supplies
and Sundry
Expenses
Semester
Totals:
Year Totals:
Project Total:

Year Two
Summe
Spring
r

Fall

Spring

Summ
er

Fall

4896

4896

4896

4896

4896

2448

4896

4896

4896

4896

4896

2448

1000

4000

200

200

200

200

200

144

14,99
2

9992

9992

9992

9992

5040

34,976

25,024
$60,000

Works Cited
American Library Association. Automating Libraries: A Selected
Annotated Bibliography. ALA. American Library Association,
2014. Web. 20 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.ala.org/tools/libfactsheets/alalibraryfactsheet21>.
Costs. GSLIS Dominican University. Dominican University Graduate
School of Library and Information Science, 2014. Web. 20 Mar.
2015. <http://gslis.dom.edu/tuitionaid/costs>.
Barthelmess, Thomas. Butler Center Background. LIS 806 02.
Dominican University Instructure, 2015. Web. 20 Mar. 2015.
<https://dominicanu.instructure.com/courses/325185/pages/butl
er-center-background>.
Kowalczyk, Stacy. RE: Question from Thoms 806 Class. Message to
Elizabeth Lovsin. 12 Mar. 2015. E-mail.
LIS 801 Independent Study in Library and Information Science
GUIDELINES. Dominican University Graduate School of Library
and Information Science, n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2015.

<http://domin.dom.edu/Depts/gslis/myDU/forms/Independent
%20Study_LIS801.pdf>.
PrimaSoft Database Software: library software solutions. PrimaSoft
PC Software. PrimaSoft PC, Inc., 2012. Web. 20 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.primasoft.com/products/library_software_solutions.h
tm>.

E-mails with Dr. Kowalczyk

Lovsin, Elizabeth
Wed 3/11/2015 3:55 PM
Sent Items

To: Kowalczyk, Stacy;

Dr. Kowalczyk,
I am a student in Thom Barthelmess's 806 class about grant writing. I
am working on completing our "Big Dream" assignment for that class,
and I was wondering if I could bother you with a couple of questions?
My idea for this assignment is to create a database for the Ellin Greene
Storytelling Collection utilizing the efforts of students completing
practicums or independent studies funded by the grant money. As I
began developing the idea, I realized I have no idea what is involved in
the creation of a database.
Do you have any recommendations for resources that would give me a
basic understanding of the steps involved in developing a database?
Alternately, are there any database systems you would recommend for
this type of project? I could then research those specific systems and
hopefully gain an understanding of the process.
I appreciate any advice you can give me.
Many thanks,
Elizabeth Lovsin

Kowalczyk, Stacy <skowalczyk@dom.edu>

Thu 3/12/2015 9:21 AM

To: Lovsin, Elizabeth;

You replied on 3/12/2015 12:41 PM.

Hi Elizabeth, If you are interesting in cataloging the collection, you

could use the DU library catalog. But it won't be too helpful if you
expect to digitize the collection - it won't manage the digital objects
very well. If you want to have a separate catalog, one good place to
start looking for a system (or database) for metadata is Google - you
could look for metadata catalog software. Creating a database is a big
process and will be unlikely to be as useful as some existing products.
Here are a couple os existing products to look at:
http://www.extensiblecatalog.org/
https://www.oclc.org/contentdm.en.html
___________________________________________
Stacy T. Kowalczyk, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Graduate School of Library and Information Science
Dominican University
skowalczyk@dom.edu
708-524-6482 v
708-524-6657 f