Provide Offline Access to Research Materials for Incarcerated Students
Session Abstract
Providing access to research resources to incarcerated students in our Prison Education Program is a challenge due to the lack of any intranet or internet access, so each student's computer must hold all the research tools in its entirety. I will describe how we have provided offline access to Alma print and ebook records, Wikipedia, Wiktionary, and JSTOR article abstracts. I will describe the steps to set up an offline VuFind instance for searching Alma records. I'll also touch on additional resources available for incarcerated students that we do not currently utilize. These strategies could be used to provide mediated access to research sources for any type of user that does not have internet access.
Learning Outcome #1
Describe methods used to provide a library catalog, Wikipedia, Wiktionary, and JSTOR to users without network access, such as those in a prison education program.
Learning Outcome #2
Name the steps necessary to set up an offline VuFind catalog containing records exported from Alma.
Track
Practical Applications
Applicable Ex Libris Product
Alma
Target Audience Skill Level
Intermediate