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I am very excited to introduce you to this issue on information literacy. The topic resonates deeply with librarians of every ilk as the best content in the world cannot have an impact if the
user does not perceive the need for it, or know how to locate and evaluate it.
Librarian authors in this issue describe an information literacy journey they and their organizations are taking, and I know you
will recognize yourself in one or more of these articles. From assessing user needs and program establishment to evaluation and introduction of new technologies, there are takeaways here for the most nascent and developed programs.
In addition to the tried and tested experiences of our authors, I encourage you to bookmark some of the sites Elsevier offers with video tutorials, toolkits and other resources to supplement your information literacy materials.
http://tra iningdesk.elsevier.com (admin tools and products)
www.elsevier.com/trainingwebcasts (scholarly publishing how-tos)
www.ethics.elsevier.com (ethics in research/publishing)
www.biggerbrains.com (early career researchers) LC
Colleen DeLoryEditor, Library Connect Newsletter
Volume 10 n Number 3 n November 2012 n ISSN: 1549–3725
Colleen DeLory
newsletter
In this issue
Like many library and information user services, information literacy has undergone great changes over the last decade. This evolution has been fuelled by the increased use of electronic resources as well as the shift in user behavior when it comes to searching and using information for learning, research and work.
When electronic databases were introduced in libraries, information literacy classes focused on equipping users with skills to successfully navigate the databases. Most sessions consisted of “click here” demonstrations. Back then, librarians also had to introduce various search concepts, including keywords, Boolean operators and wildcards. However, as our users evolve into today’s Google generation, information literacy classes also need to evolve.
To address these changes in user behavior and to align the library’s services with the university’s aims, information literacy classes at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) underwent
several changes over the last few years. These key points now drive our instructional classes:
Clear objectives
Classes are grouped into four categories:
Awareness: Sessions that aim to develop a complete awareness of NTU library resources and services
Research: Sessions that aim to develop research skills suchas conducting a literature review, understanding citations, or avoiding plagiarism
Subject: Sessions that aim to develop an understanding of information structure and management, specific to various subject disciplines
Tools: Sessions that aim to develop skills and competencies to retrieve needed information from various systems including library catalogs, bibliographic management systems, and interdisciplinary databases >> page 2
the constant evolution of information literacyBy Janice Chia, Head of Instructional Services, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Theme:
Information Literacy
Janice Chia
For product and admin tool video tutorials: http://trainingdesk.elsevier.com
Enhancedfeatures 2 Librarian and faculty collaboration in
building information literacy at Özyegin university
3 Innovation partnering: Insert yourself into your community of users
6 Information competence development for Lithuanian academic community
6 Back to basics: sheetal tank builds an information literacy program to address core skill levels
7 empowering best evidence use at the point of care
8 Information literacy involves learning to use the right sources: Chemists look to reaxys®
8 research now within reach
on the road 10 astronomy librarians connect with users and advance
their agenda at global astronomical conference
10 On the road album
11 e-books driving change: a librarian’s report on the unisa experience and other presentations from the aNz eBooks Library exchange forum
the zip file4 tips for creating and sharing instructional videos
5 Nus Libraries experiments with web conferencing software for instruction
behind the scenes9 engineering librarians play a vital role
in engineering Village evolution
9 what’s new on engineering Village?
quick clicks
5 elsevier’s trainingDesk: a valuable tool for librarians in building information literacy programs
12 Library leaders share best practices: Videos available online
awards
3 Maliaca Oxnam wins Library Connect Charleston Conference award
10 Library Connect travel sponsorship
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Established in 2008, Özyegin University (ÖzU) is an English-language university in Istanbul that offers undergraduate and post-graduate programs in a number of disciplines. Students without sufficient English language skills spend up to a year developing those skills before beginning their undergraduate degrees. The School of English Language Instruction
(SELI) ensures students have not only competency in English, but also life skills, including information literacy.
ÖzU has a number of information literacy programs, including general introductions to IL and seminars specific to a course or subject. The librarians, in collaboration with the SELI instructors, design the content and delivery of information skills programs, which focus on the specific needs of students with differing English language abilities. To ensure the program fits its purpose, it is modified as students move from one level to the next. With its focused content on the requirements of each level of language ability, the program is unique within Turkey.
Recently, SELI students were surveyed about their experiences and perceptions of using libraries and information resources.They were asked to assess their own competencies in accessingand using information to undertake research before and after
coming to ÖzU (Cribb & Holt, 2012). It found that the ÖzU Libraries made a difference to students’ selection of resources — including increasing their use of e-resources and decreasing the practice of starting research on the Web.
The findings helped us to understand the students’ background and experience with libraries and information resources. The results have been used to revise existing programs and to help communicate the library’s impact on student engagement and learning to stakeholders and colleagues around the world. LC
Defined user groups
User groups — along with their distinct information needs and information-seeking behavior — are clearly defined as under-graduates, postgraduates, administrators or faculty. This allows us to understand their objectives and design relevant and useful curriculum and activities.
Explanations of different sources
With increased varieties of information formats, it has become increasingly vital for students to differentiate the kind of information that can be derived from the different sources available. Information literacy should empower students with the skills required to explore, exploit and use information they need for study, research and work.
Student-centric mode of learning
We increasingly use an active, blended learning approach in our classes. It is no longer an instructor-centric mode of teaching but a student-centric mode of
learning. We have made a point of including more discussions, hands-on activities and online pop quizzes to engage users and sustain their interest. The NTU Libraries YouTube channel also has short videos to complement face-to-face sessions so our users can review the classroom sessions or even pick up tips on their own time and at their own pace.
Going beyond the students
While students are our biggest group of users, we are seeing more and more requests to assist and support the needs of not only the teaching faculty and research staff but also the university administrators.
Our Instructional Services Division became part of the larger Scholarly Communication Group in 2010. This strategic move allows greater synergy between information literacy and the promotion of scholarly communication. New topics such as managing author profiles, open access, citation analysis, and using library tools to identify where
to publish have been introduced for postgraduates, faculty members and even administrators.
Academic integrity
To complement the university’s research-intensive strategy, and taking into consideration our users’ diverse culturaland educational backgrounds, it is imperative that we include the message of research and academic ethics in our information literacy sessions. NTU Library delivers this message via a roving exhibition on plagiarism, plagiarism classes and as part of the university’s briefing to new postgraduates.
As technology keeps evolving and changing the way we discover and use information, the library must change the way we teach information literacy to help users make sense of the information landscape in this rapidly changing world. LC
www.youtube.com/user/
TheNTULibraries
�IIkay Holt
Library staff at Özyegin University
Librarian and faculty collaboration in building information literacy at Özyegin universityBy Ilkay Holt, Director of Libraries, Özyegin University, Istanbul, Turkey
Janice Chia << page 1
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ReferenceCribb, G., & Holt, I. (2012). Student Engagement and Library Use: An Examination of Attitudes Towards Use of Libraries and Information Amongst Undergraduate Students at a Turkish University Library. 2012 IATUL Proceedings. Singapore.
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Is your library just pushing information to customers, or passive in providing a site for users to access resources? What if your library actively partnered with users rather than providing the usual passive or push relationship? Partnering means joining the team, taking a vested interest in the research, and following through together to reach a common goal.
We, as librarians and information specialists, teach our customers to use the resources to which we subscribe — leading to a constant fear that if we educate our users to “do our job,” we may not have one. Well, don’t just teach them and leave them! Demonstrate your value beyond acquiring a list of results. Change their perspective by becoming their partner in the quest for information and innovation.
The innovation challenge
This year our library staff participated in a company-wide innovation challenge. This was a chance to insert ourselves into our community of users by becoming team members. The results?
n Teams that utilized the library’s services did better in the competition than those that did not.
n Teams with library staff as team members made it to at least the bronze level.
n Teams with library team members who encouraged research outside the researchers’ usual comfort zones, made it to the final round (silver or gold level).
Connections lead to collaborations
Why did library participation make a difference? Most of the employees in the competition were scientists, researchers, or engineers. This pool of users is familiar with searching for technical and scientific information, but the challenge was to find ideas that would translate into new products and business benefits. Other employees were from strategic marketing or business development. These groups search in their areas of expertise, and although they are adept at disseminating and analyzing research results to keep tabs on the competition, they are not as familiar with scientific databases.
The library staff brings it all together — and connects the right people. Because we are at the heart of an organization’s information needs, we encounter employees from different areas of the organization working on the same research. The library staff helped their teams succeed by encouraging the teams to change their perspective on the idea that was being developed, by expanding the scope of their research. In addition, the library services team knew how to make the connections needed to increase the knowledge base of the team. We heard people from the winning teams make comments like “I learned that we [Marketing Communications & Graphics] need to work with the engineers when developing materials for some of our products.” Engineers commented, “We need to work with our
graphics department when we develop products that require branding, which is almost everything!”
Not only did library personnel raise awareness about working with the library to increase a project’s success, but we made connections that will lead to lasting collaboration between departments that previously did not see the value of working together from the beginning stages of the project. How much easier is it to be successful with the right tools and the right people using the available technology?
Improving the customers’ search experience
Our users struggle with choosing the best database from the over-whelming number of choices. Is that information overload before they even begin searching? We are applying the lessons learned from the innovation challenge to improve our customers’ search experience. We are changing our virtual site to encourage users to discover information, not just search for keywords and concepts.
We will continue to connect people from all over the world whose work within the organization complements each other. We are going to provide instant access to critical topics, competitor information, and search options that make acquiring information without inundation easier for our users. More importantly, we are going to partner with our users to dig out the difficult-to-find nuggets that escape their notice or elude their imagination.
Successful libraries of the future will partner with teams in their organizations to increase innovation. We are in the best position to connect the right people with the right expertise using the right tools, to create a more collaborative environment. Expanding the knowledge base of project teams by recommending team members with related expertise — and then managing that knowledge so it is easily found — makes the library an integral component in the workings of an organization. LC
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Innovation partnering: Insert yourself into your community of users
Maliaca Oxnam wins Library Connect Charleston Conference award
By Sandra Crumlish, Manager, St. Jude Medical CRMD Library & Resource Center, Sylmar, CA, USA
Sandra Crumlish
Congratulations to Maliaca Oxnam, Associate Librarian at the University of Arizona. Maliaca is the winner of the first annual Elsevier Library Connect Charleston Conference Award for first time presenters. Maliaca will report on her 2012 Charleston Conference experience in an upcoming article on Library Connect.
Maliaca was selected by committee in a blind judging for her session entitled “Moving Technical Reports Forward: New Roles for Libraries & Librarians”; she is one of four co-presenters. LC
Maliaca Oxnam
3 |November 2012 Library Connect newsletter
Successful libraries of the future will partner with teams in their organizations to increase innovation.
Each semester I visit business classes to teach students how to use the incredible array of research tools and databases. I show them how to find information on such diverse (and fun) topics as industry ratios for the restaurant industry, market research reports for the popcorn industry, or demographic information of NASCAR fans. Thorough business research requires the use of a variety of complex databases, making it extremely challenging for students to become expert researchers in a one-hour session. To make the most of their research time and to provide on-demand help options, I started making videos that demonstrate the more complicated (but often most needed) research tools.
Customize
Because more than 250 students work on the same project simultaneously, I try to customize each video to their specific needs. I have found that a general “How to Find Market Research Reports in Passport GMID” is not as effective as a context-specific video such as “How to Find Market Research Information on the Snack Foods Market in Passport GMID.” Some may argue that this approach treads very closely to doing their research for them, while others may be concerned about the time required to make videos for each assignment.
I believe that providing video help tailored to a specific project ensures that students find and use the best resources available. Another advantage of targeted videos is that the shelf life of the content extends far beyond the class assignment. YouTube statistics show that users outside our university community searching for topics such as “popcorn industry analysis” often discover my videos via Google. More generic videos likely would not be discovered and viewed as frequently. I regularly receive comments from other librarians and researchers who have found my videos useful.
Create
When I started making videos to share with friends and family on the Web over eight years ago, it was a time-intensive and often frustrating experience. Fortunately, technology has improved so much that it is quick and easy for anyone to create and share an instructional video using tools and services such as Screencast-O-Matic and YouTube. (My personal record is six videos, edited and uploaded, in an hour.)
Screencast-O-Matic is a Web-based service used to record the computer screen, or screencast. Because it is browser-based, you can use the service with any computer or operating system— simply go to www.screencast-o-matic.com and click the big “Start Recording” button to begin. For recording sound with your screencast, a simple USB microphone or webcam will work just fine. Screencast-O-Matic’s basic service is free, though the inexpensive paid version offers advanced editing features and removes the company’s watermark from your videos. Screencast-O-Matic offers direct uploading to YouTube, or you can download the video to your computer if you would like to save or edit the file. For an in-depth video demonstration of how I make videos, visit http://libraryvoice.com/videos/how-to-make-library-instructional-or-other-educational-videos-and-screencasts.
Conquer
Many would-be video makers are more afraid of recording themselves than conquering the technology. Here are some tips for presenting information on video:
1. Explain things as if you were helping a single student in a reference interview. Take it slow, and don’t worry about saying “um” or losing your way with your mouse. In all of the comments that I have received on my videos, no one has ever told me that I say “OK” or talk with my hands too much.
2. Try to keep the demonstration short. I shoot for less than 5 minutes for each of my videos and try to get to the point quickly. You may be able to hold a student captive in your office for 30 minutes while you show him every little detail of a database, but online viewers appreciate brevity.
3. Don’t set your standards too high. While you should aim to create quality content, remember that your users are watching because they need help, not because they want to be entertained. Although you likely won’t become a YouTube sensation who can quit your day job, you can help your patrons (and many more Web users) easily with Web video. LC
the zIp fILe
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Chad Boeninger
By Chad F. Boeninger, Head of Reference and Business Librarian, Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA
4
tips for creating and sharing instructional videos
Check out Chad’s videos at www.library.ohiou.edu/subjects/businessblog/videos
I shoot for less than 5 minutes for each of my videos and try to get to the point quickly.
the zIp fILe
National University of Singapore (NUS) Libraries started using Web conferencing software to conduct information literacy sessions in August 2011. The library had previously recorded physical sessions — archived webcasts or prerecorded videos using software such as Camtasia. With Web conferencing software, we are able to host “live” sessions, allowing online questions and interaction through polls and chats.
Using WebEx, a popular Web conferencing software, the sessions vary from large-scale sessions — over 120 students and staff attending a lecture on EndNote, with one librarian presenting and a team of librarians handling questions — to presentations by one librarian to a handful of students for a small class.
Alex Liu, Resource Librarian for Mathematics, conducts information literacy classes for mathematics students. He found that setting up sessions wasn’t difficult, but he did have to “overcome the strange feeling of talking to the monitor” (though it faded soon enough).
Principal Librarian Wong Kah Wei of the Hon Sui Sen Memorial Library has conducted sessions ranging from “Finding Statistics Online” for NUS staff to “Lunch Time with Librarian,” a series of in-person sessions that she converted into WebEx sessions. While she enjoys the increased interaction in face-to-face sessions, she likes the fact
that WebEx sessions are accessible for students who can’t attend in person and that recordings are available for review.
We also experimented with WebEx for our own internal briefings and trainings. In May 2012, Librarian Linda Janti Oei (Science Library), Assistant Librarian Chew Shu Wen (Medical Library) and I used WebEx for an internal training on the Web scale discovery tool that was launching soon.
In the past, such sessions were generally conducted at the Central Library, and staff from the other six NUS libraries had to make the trip to attend in person. By conducting the session virtually using WebEx, it saved time for staff from other libraries and was more convenient for them too. Many attended from their own desks and listened in while on duty during idle periods. Like other WebEx sessions, the session was automatically recorded so staff could review it later.
The session was well received: “Just like to thank the Web Scale Discovery implementation team for coming up with using WebEx, we love it at Science Library as it saves a lot of traveling time, and we don’t miss the training when our schedule does not fit. Thumbs Up!”
We are still relatively new to using WebEx for online training sessions, and our librarians are still exploring, but I feel it fits in very well with our current push toward providing alternative ways for users to interact with us and nicely complements our growing social media and chat reference channels.
By providing various channels for learning, we cater to different user needs and preferences. For example, we conduct EndNote sessions in the following ways:
n Lectures (face to face)n Hands-on tutorials (face to face)n Clinics (face to face)n Online sessions (WebEx)n Recorded online sessions
(WebEx/webcasts)This ensures that regardless of their learning style, users are likely to find a method that is a good fit. LC
By Aaron Tay, Senior Librarian & E-Service Facilitator, National University of Singapore, Singapore
Nus Libraries experiments with web conferencing software for instruction
Aaron Tay
Principal Librarian Wong Kah Wei preparing for her WebEx sessions.
5 |November 2012 Library Connect newsletter
: a valuable tool for librarians in building information literacy programs
Find more than 100 video tutorials for librarians and library users to assist in mastering a range of Elsevier products on the TrainingDesk website. With its new interface, tutorials and other training resources are now easier to discover and include within your information literacy curriculum.
Resources, such as downloadable tip sheets, are free to access and share via Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or LinkedIn, and even to embed on library sites.
A Librarians Area tab provides dedicated video tutorials on account management tools, such as the Admin Tool and e-Sign, a new way for librarians to manage their Elsevier subscription
agreements. And if you have Elsevier journal editors at your institution, you can point them to the Journal Editors Area tab for video tutorials on using the Elsevier Editorial System.
To be informed as new resources are added to the site, sign up for one of the site’s RSS feeds for librarians, journal editors, or all notices of new content on the site.
To suggest new training resources or comment on the site, e-mail: [email protected].
By conducting the session virtually using WebEx, it saved time for staff from other libraries and was more convenient for them too.
http://trainingdesk.elsevier.com
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In July 2012, the Lithuanian Research Library Consortium completed a three-year European Union Structural Funds project called eMoDB.LT: Opening of Online Research Databases for Lithuania. The project had two objectives: to substantively improve the access to worldwide scientific information, and to enhance the competency of the academic community in searching for, retrieving and using information resources. The process of developing information competence had several stages:
Stage 1: Assessing user needs
Before researchers began the training courses,they responded to an electronic questionnaireto assess their current skill level in using online information resources. We received 647 responses.
The main findings were that we had to:n Focus on new research information resources and processes,
interactive technologies, search planning and strategy, assessment and management of information resources, and ethical issues
n Ensure the training was diverse in its complexity, subjects, scope and interactivity
n Arrange short-term training courses, workshops, presentations, and individual tutoring or consultations as needed
Stage 2: Developing training modules
Taking into account survey results we developed 10 course modules comprising training materials, practical exercises and references. We also prepared supplementary training materials that could be used with the course modules or for self-study. The first three modules developed the general skills of information search, retrieval and management. The next six modules focused on specific subjects, and the researchers could choose one that corresponded with their interests. The last module was for library professionals working with e-resources.
Stage 3: Organizing the training
Training courses were delivered at the end of 2010 and beginning of 2011 to 1,046 researchers and 84 librarians in four cities. In response to researchers’ requests, they lasted for eight academic hours and combined theoretical lectures with practical exercises. Researchers chose one of six subjects: social science, biomedical science, physical science, technological sciences, humanities or arts.
Stage 4: Analyzing evaluations
After completing the training, 965 researchers completed evaluation forms. Feedback revealed that the courses met the expectations of most researchers, and that they wanted training to continue to be offered at their institutions.
Lessons learned
n Information competence training should continue to be offered as new technological advances and search strategies are available.
n Participants should be grouped not only by their scientific field but also by their level of information competence.
n Sessions should be delivered to smaller groups.
n Training should be more diversified:
n Portions of the training should include longer sessions with more specialized materials.
n Advanced users would benefit from shorter training sessions on specific subjects (e.g., reference management tools, citation, open access resources, interactive technologies).
n Beginner sessions should feature only the key search tools and databases.
n Some trainees wished to spend more time on practical exercises, with trainers available for assistance and individual consultations. LC
Information competence development for Lithuanian academic community
Emilija Banionyte.
Gintare Tautkeviciene�˘ ..
Library Connect: How familiar are students and researchers coming into your college with good research methods?
Sheetal Tank: When they join the college neither students nor faculty in some cases are completely aware of good research methods. When students join they are purely textbook and exam oriented, while faculty members are often syllabus oriented.
What other barriers to information literacy have you seen?
Students and library staff often struggle with the English language, which presents a challenge in terms of making these programs effective. I design programs with these limitations in mind. For example, I conducted a workshop in Gujarati, a regional language, on information literacy for librarians fluent in Gujarati. They weren’t attending national workshops because they did not feel comfortable with their English language skills.
By Gintare Tautkeviciene, Head of the Information Services Department, Kaunas University of Technology, Kaunas, Lithuania, and Emilija Banionyte, Library Director, Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences/President, Lithuanian Research Library Consortium, Vilnius, Lithuania
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Sheetal Tank is Chief Librarian at the Atmiya Institute of Technology & Science in Gujarat, India. Atmiya has approximately 5,000 students and offers undergraduate and postgraduate degrees with a focus on engineering. Most incoming students have
never navigated the Internet so they have to start from scratch in terms of digital information literacy. In 2006 Tank initiated a series of information literacy programs and has had 7,000 users participate in the programs since then.
Back to basics: sheetal tank builds an information literacy program to address core skill levels
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In the fall of 2011, the University of Minnesota’s new residency director for Neurology invited me to attend their weekly in-patient rounds. I had attended morning report, journal club, and case conference in other departments, but this would be the first time I was directly involved with patients. I was nervous and unsure of what my role would be, but I had two things working in my favor. First, many of my clinical librarian colleagues had done this and written about their experiences. I read through many articles and watched many presentations as I prepared. Second, the chief residents in Neurology had worked with clinical librarians while in medical school and were excited about what I could offer.
Answering asked (and unasked) questions
The first several times I attended rounds, neither I nor the residents knew how the relationship should work. Do I follow them into patient rooms? What kind of questions can they ask me? Do I wear a white coat to blend in?
In these early days, I was asked some explicit questions, but also spent a fair amount of time volunteering answers to questions I wasn’t asked, if the resident or attending physician said “I don’t know” or “I wonder if there is any connection between...” Before I attended rounds, these types of questions would have gone unanswered or might have been investigated later, away from the bedside and past the point of need. While I could not answer every question, often I was able to come up with a new or relevant piece of information that could change the differential, affect treatment, or just boost background knowledge. Once the team learned what I could do and became more comfortable with me, they started asking more questions. In addition, the residents e-mailed me outside of rounds or saved up questions during the week to ask me when I joined them on Fridays.
Introducing library resources and services
As I worked more often with the residents, I learned that many did not know about the library’s resources or services. During downtime at rounds I introduced them to our online databases, mobile apps and tools, interlibrary loan services, our proxy server and more.
Many of the residents had questions about how to search more effectively, either for patient-related information or to get ready for case presentations. Rather than teaching them searching skills in a sterile classroom, I was able to sit down next to them and show them how to answer their questions when they had them, where they had them. I also emphasized the use of evidence-based, point-of-care tools and summaries as a way to quickly and efficiently get at the best evidence. The residents’ searching and information-use skills are much stronger now and, perhaps more important, they know where to go for more help.
Becoming a core collaborator
Developing a strong relationship with the department has been key to helping me feel comfortable and to being seen as a core collaborator. I hang out in the resident workroom before and after rounds, which has helped me get to know the residents on a personal basis and answer other questions that come up. I volunteer to help journal club presenters critically appraise their articles and plan for their presenta-tion. I attend weekly grand rounds and learn what is new in the field.
Rather than just popping in and out, I am becoming part of the department. This has resulted in new opportunities, such as evidence-based medicine (EBM) instruction, consults with faculty, and helping with grant applications.
My role and work with our Neurology department is still growing and evolving and, I hope, will continue to get stronger. Having close contact with the residents and faculty has helped me overcome some of the biggest challenges for librarians: invisibility and preconceived notions. I have been able to put a face to the library and show users that we can find valuable, just-in-time information at the point of care, advise on mobile devices and applications, and help with the critical appraisal skills that are at the heart of EBM. LC
By Jonathan Koffel, Clinical Information Librarian, University of Minnesota Bio-Medical Library, Minneapolis, MN, USA
Jonathan Koffel
What are your library’s most effective information literacy programs in raising student skill levels? a. Searching the Internet Effectively teaches how to use different types of search engines, metasearch engines, scholarly search engines (such as DeepDive, Google Scholar), portals and directories. Other lectures cover how to structure a search strategy, choose a keyword or a thesaurus, understand the hierarchy of the subject, and evaluate the search results.
b. What Are E-resources? introduces subscribed e-resources, such as ScienceDirect, with theory and hands-on training. We demonstrate why they should use journals for their research and describe what a peer-reviewed journal offers, its level of authenticity and features. They learn how to personalize a search and how to pick an e-resource depending on the final objective.
c. Citing and Avoiding Plagiarism explains what plagiarism is and the review process that starts once their paper is submitted. We introduce them to reference management tools like Zotero and EndNote.
empowering best evidence use at the point of care
>> page 12
Sheetal Tank works with students at the Atmiya Institute of Technology & Science.
Having close contact with the residents and faculty has helped me overcome some of the biggest challenges for librarians: invisibility and preconceived notions.
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The American Libraries Association website describes an information-literate individual as one who can access needed information effectively and efficiently, and evaluate information and its sources critically. With the advent of information technology, new sources are continuously being introduced. Google and similar search engines have been the most prevalent sites for gathering information irrespective of the discipline or user community (schools, colleges, research institutes, etc.).
Within the chemistry field, there is greater understanding that a specialized discipline requires a specialized tool. A scholarly database such as Scopus may be utilized more for specific topics and keywords or author-oriented searches, but a specialized
chemistry workflow solution like Reaxys provides the most comprehensive index to the chemistry literature, including substance, reaction, structure and substructure searching capabilities. I always suggest that my students use Reaxys for structure and product literature searches before they start practicing experiments on the bench.
Diving deeper, more details such as experimental procedures are accessible in Reaxys. This is very handy for students and scholars, particularly those within the synthetic organic community, who wish to spend more time in the laboratory doing practical experiments than in the library searching through hard copies for the required information.
In India, many universities are experiencing their first exposure to tools like Reaxys. The database can garner the best returns in terms of productivity and usage if the university or research institution deployingthe product undertakes a training program.
At CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, several sessions have been hosted to raise the level of awareness and fluency with the database.
With this type of training, users become well versed in searching efficiently for the desired information rather than depending on cumbersome processes. A time may come when chemistry students are not aware of the term “chemical abstracts,” yet can get the required information because of their practical knowledge of these resources. LC
The full text of this article can be found online in the June 2012 issue of Editors’ Update http://editorsupdate.elsevier.com/2012/06/
As a pediatrician at Kathmandu’s Shree Birendra Hospital, Arun Neopane is a voracious consumer of journal papers. Previously, the hospital was desperately short of the up-to-date medical literature that he and other doctors need to maintain and upgrade their skills and knowledge. As is the case in other low-income countries, university libraries and research organizations in Nepal do not have the budgets to pay for peer-reviewed journals.
Dr. Neopane and his team convinced the hospital administration in 2007 to invest in an Internet connection. This opened the window to the wider world of medical research, but, without access to journals, a key component remained out of reach. It was the new Internet connection that led Dr. Neopane to the HINARI Program. The institution was granted access to HINARI in February 2008 and hasn’t looked back since.
HINARI, along with three other discipline-specific programs, is part of Research4Life, a unique public-private partnership with four UN agencies, 150 publishers and technology partners. Ten years ago, Elsevier was one of the six founding publishers and
continues to serve as a driving force behind Research4Life, contributing a quarter of the content and a team of colleagues working to develop the partnership through their technical, communications and industry expertise.
This long-term investment has had the very best kind of returns – saving lives. For example, research published in Pediatrics showed that zinc is essential in treating diarrheal diseases in children. Ironically, although some of this work had been performed in Nepal, Nepalese institutions did not have access to the results. Using HINARI, Nepalese pediatricians like Dr. Neopane discovered the
information and changed their treatment of diarrhea, saving many lives and improving the quality of life of many sick children.
“I can remember those days,” says Dr. Neopane, “when we had to go to the library and sit in the
archives section turning page after page, reading all the abstracts and getting them Xeroxed, and finally coming back to square one, frustrated by the literature search and not finding what one needed. Gone are those days for doctors now, and all because of free access to medical literature through HINARI.” LC
www.research4life.org
Information literacy involves learning to use the right sources: Chemists look to reaxys®
research now within reach
P. Srihari
By Ylann Schemm, Senior Corporate Responsibility Manager, Elsevier Foundation, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
The full text of this article can be found online in the June 2012 issue of Editors’ Update http://editorsupdate.elsevier.com/2012/06/
By Dr. P. Srihari, Senior Scientist, Division of Natural Products Chemistry, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad, India
BehIND the sCeNes
9 |November 2012 Library Connect newsletter
There’s a saying that the squeaky wheel gets the oil. In the case of the recent Engineering Village (EV) update, this could be restated as the forthright librarian acquires the ability to reorder the facets. But action-reaction doesn’t begin to describe the ongoing partnership among librarians and Elsevier’s product managers.
Take Randy Reichardt, an engineering librarian at the University of Alberta who just celebrated his 30th anniversary at the university. He attended an Elsevier-sponsored breakfast meeting at the 1993 Special Libraries Association (SLA) Conference in Cincinnati where, he says, “I ranted.” (Though after speaking with this personable man, I suspect it more accurate to say he was outspoken in providing feedback about the product.) And his “reward” for speaking up was an invitation to join the Engineering Information Scope and Coverage Committee, which he eventually sat on for six years and chaired for two.
Drexel University’s Jay Bhatt had a similar experience. Since he began attending the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) conference in 1998, he began stopping by the Elsevier booth to offer his input on the search and discovery products for engineers. As an electrical engineer himself, he knew firsthand what users wanted. A long-time member of the ASEE’s Engineering Libraries Division, Jay received the division’s Homer I. Bernhardt Distinguished Service Award in 2010 after being nominated by his peers. He continues to visit the booth each year to see what’s new or offer suggestions, but the interaction doesn’t stop there.
Jay provided feedback on the latest release long before it was a functioning product. It started with some screenshots, then an office visit from the developers to go over the interface together, and finally a first chance to get at the functioning product. And channeled through librarians like Randy and Jay comes a host of others’ feedback as
these librarians express the needs of their institutions’ faculty and students.
“It’s invaluable for us to get this kind of input,” says Steve Petric, EV’s senior product manager. “We are so appreciative of the time, experience and talents our librarian development partners bring to the table.”
Jay and Randy concur that it’s a win-win for all parties.
“We are helping to improve the interface so that the thousands of researchers worldwide who use the Compendex database and EV product can do their research better,” Jay says, giving the example of the improved access to the alerts function in the new interface. “With the increased emphasis on undergraduate research and the research mission at many universities, keeping up with new research is more important than ever before. A lot of my students ask me to do presentations specifically on how to set alerts. Before it was not very visible and now it is much improved.”
“We’re highly encouraged to participate in anything that gives back to the profession,” Randy adds. “And by participating on an advisory board with your peers, your name gets out there while you contribute to shaping content and utility.” Randy was stunned to be recognized by these peers as SLA Engineering Librarian of the Year in 2011, yet his approach makes it no secret as to why he was chosen. He talks about the strong relationships he has built with students over the years and his faculty’s legendary support of the library. But the relationships don’t stop at his institution’s walls.
“I really appreciate the fact that Elsevier’s product managers have been so open to allow me to participate in offering suggestions to make the platform better,” Randy says. “They’re responsive. When you have that kind of relationship with the people whose product you’re buying, it’s a positive thing.” LC
engineering librarians play a vital role in engineering Village evolution
Engineering librarian Jay Bhatt (far right) discusses various research options with engineering students at the Drexel University Learning Terrace.
Randy Reichardt
By Colleen DeLory, Editor, Library Connect Newsletter, Elsevier, San Diego, CA, USA
what’s new on engineering Village?Cleaner, friendlier interface
“Add search field” added to Quick Search
More facets are visible, and facets can be reordered
Search History now on home page
Results display options include 25, 50 and 100
Search terms in an article are highlighted
For more on the July 2012 release, visit http://ei.org.
astronomy librarians connect with users and advance their agenda at global astronomical conference
ON the rOaD
10
How can librarians and scientists gain a deeper understanding of each other’s needs and challenges? That thought lay behind the establishment of a special librarians working group within the International Astronomical Union (IAU) General Assembly, a triennial gathering of astronomers from around the world.
Within this year’s assembly in Beijing, the IAU Working Group Libraries (IAU WG Libraries) developed a track to bring a global group of astronomy librarians and scientists together. The conference was successful in generating thought-provoking ideas and commentary, and helped to communicate the complex and rapidly changing environment of libraries and scholarly publishing to our users.
The series of discussions and talks, hosted by the IAU WG Libraries, focused on issues related to astronomy libraries and the role they play in supporting astronomical research. The meeting began with a panel discussion called “Scientists’ Need for Libraries in the Age of the Internet.” Panelists included astronomers Ronald Taam (Taiwan), Ray Norris (Australia) and Pieter Degroote (Belgium), and librarians Christina Birdie (India), Eva Isaksson (Finland) and Sally Bosken (USA). The discussion resulted in a better understanding of difficulties faced by the two groups and highlighted areas of agreement and misunderstanding.
Other sessions on the first day covered open access publishing in astronomy, tracking publications, the h-index, and development of astronomy in Hawaii. The day concluded with a working group discussion on the development of an astronomy thesaurus.
Day two saw the topics of bibliometrics, closing a library in a thoughtful manner that contributes to information retention, document preservation, purchasing decisions regarding e-books
vs. print, resource sharing among observatory libraries, and a method to innervate the physical library. The day concluded with an open discussion of best practices for institutional bibliographies.
This meeting would not have occurred without the generous support of our sponsors like Elsevier’s Library Connect program as well as the IAU Local Organizing Committee, especially Katherine Chen, for outstanding support of IAU WG Libraries.
We hope the next meeting, scheduled for 2015 in Honolulu, generates even more interest and participation. LC
http://libraryconnect.elsevier.com | www.facebook.com/libraryconnect | http://twitter.com/library_connect
Marsha Bishop Robert Hanisch
On the road albumThese images reflect only a small portion of the collaborative happenings Elsevier hosts and co-sponsors around the world with our customers and partners. Our goal – to continually reach out to you to improve products and services, garner new ideas to add value to research, teaching and learning processes, and to explore and promote best practices.
Library Connect travel sponsorshipAwards still available for conference travel in 2012 and 2013
Elsevier’s Library Connect Program is offering up to two US $1,500 travel sponsorships to be awarded to librarian committees at Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) conferences. The goal of the sponsorship is to foster opportunities for enhanced communication among librarians and their user communities within a STEM discipline.
We would like to congratulate the Working Group Libraries of the International Astronomical Union as recipients of the first award and encourage other librarian committees to apply. Award is made on a first-come, first-served basis after meeting all eligibility requirements.
In addition, our Elsevier Asia-Pacific team was inspired to add an additional two US $1,500 sponsorships specifically for librarian committees within APAC.
Read more about these two opportunities and how to apply at:http://libraryconnect.elsevier.com/library-connect-travel-sponsorshiphttp://libraryconnect.elsevier.com/apac-travel-sponsorship
the 3rd university forum – India
By Marsha Bishop, Observatory Librarian, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Charlottesville, VA, USA, and Robert Hanisch, Senior Scientist, Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA (co-chairs of IAU WG Libraries)
India’s University Grants Commission (UGC) - INFLIBNET and Elsevier partnered to host the 3rd University Forum in New Delhi, India. More than 80 delegates met to discuss knowledge sharing among librarians, students, professors and researchers.
ON the rOaD
In 2011, the University of South Australia (UniSA) implemented a digital strategy driving massive increases in e-book purchasing. This change is amplified by the building of a new
primarily digital Learning Centre at our City West Campus — a move that requires the City West collection to be capped at 100,000 volumes. In June, I shared UniSA’s perspective on e-books and their integration in my presentation at the ANZ eBooks Library Exchange Forum sponsored by Elsevier Asia-Pacific.
The forum, a gathering of library professionals from Australia, New Zealandand Singapore, Elsevier representatives and others, was designed to provoke thought and discussion surrounding the increasing prevalence of e-books in our professional lives. I had attended the 2011 forum and found it valuable, so I was very pleased to hear about the 2012 event on Australia’s Gold Coast titled “Rise of eBooks in the Research World.” The three-day program included nine presentations, a half-day workshop and a team-building activity.
I enjoyed all the presentations, particularly Lee Cheng Ean’s about the National University of Singapore. It was good to hear that we have so much in common regarding our preference to purchase e-books and avoid subscriptions, and also that they demand top-quality metadata. The quality of our third-party metadata is definitely lower than we like, so her perspective was of great interest.
UniSA has recognized that increasing digital collections opens up new opportunities to significantly improve access to online information resources for students and
researchers. This will offset the reduction in print titles and also allow us to rethink current teaching practice. Presentations by Tom Girke of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and Terry Lin, a postdoctoral research fellow at Queensland University of Technology (QUT), gave me food for thought in this regard. Terry spoke from a user point of view, discussing e-books as an interactive teaching tool and the potential to integrate multimedia content, while Tom gave us the CSIRO perspective on electronic resources and outlined CSIRO’s services.
Though print purchasing targets have been set at UniSA with the aim of stabilizing our print collection, the user experience cannotfail to change when e-book purchases are outstripping print. In 2011, our e-book purchases outnumbered print purchases for the first time, with 51% of monographs purchased as e-books. In 2012 so far, 85% of monographs purchased have been e-books. Any print titles that we cannot replace will become a candidate for a subject-equivalent replacement.
With this scale of change afoot, the forum was a wonderful opportunity to take time out of our hectic work schedules and sit together to talk and think about common themes. I learned a lot from the participants, and I know that each of us took away something valuable. LC
Eleanor Thomas
Mawson Lakes Library at UniSA (picture courtesy of the University of South Australia)
e-books driving change: a librarian’s report on the unisa experience and other presentations from the aNz eBooks Library exchange forumBy Eleanor Thomas, Acquisitions Coordinator, University of South Australia Library, Adelaide, SA, Australia
Code for science – India, singapore, turkey, and united states
appsBiblioteca — Mexico and Colombia
In Mexico and Colombia, librarians and researchers submitted ideas for app development to a library apps challenge named AppsBiblioteca (www.appsbiblioteca.com).
More than 294 librarians, students, professors and developers gathered for the culminating event of Code for Science India at the India Institute of Science in Bangalore in June. Code for Science events were also held in Singapore, Turkey, and the United States.
11 |November 2012 Library Connect newsletter
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Library leaders share best practices: Videos available onlinehttp://libraryconnect.elsevier.com/2012-library-leaders
I have also tailored information literacy programs per department related to a field or subject area so that the students feel more connected with what is taught.
Does your approach with faculty differ?Diverse departments at the university offer Faculty Development Programs (FDPs) on a range of topics. The library’s FDPs include sessions related to research methodology, and effective use of information and communications technology in teaching and learning. Through these FDPs users are slowly immersed in the subject, and after a year and a half they can start doing effective research work. For faculty, it is not only a case of instruction, but also of public encouragement. For example, I started a yearly award for the best researcher in terms of number of publications and publication in high impact journals.
How do you measure the success of librarian-led trainings? I interact with participants to check their knowledge of publication and research processes, and organize brief focus groups (10 minutes) after each session. I track referrals, which result in new workshop opportunities, and conduct regular surveys asking students to rate the programs and suggest new topics. I also track research output, looking at papers published every six months. In the past three years, I’ve noticed a positive impact on research skills and outputas a result of these efforts. LC
Sheetal Tank << page 7
Developing New Models of ServicePaula Kaufman, Dean of Libraries and University Librarian University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The Evolving Library OrganizationGerald Jay Schafer, Director of Libraries University of Massachusetts Amherst
Reinventing the LibraryDr. Thomas C. Leonard, University Librarian University of California, Berkeley
Redefining the Role of LibrariansDr. Nor Edzan Che Nasir, Chief Librarian University of Malaya