Download - Ucla Is245 Sum07 Final
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Some Thoughts onScience & Engineering Reference
By Sara TompsonUSC Science & Engineering Library Team Leader
For Professor Mary Niles Maack'sIS-245 Information Access. Summer 2007
UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies
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S&E Reference• Introduction• Reference• Reference Librarians• Scientists and Engineers• Science and Engineering Literature• Some S&E Key Databases
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S&E Reference: Introductions - You• Any science or engineering
backgrounds?
• Any desirous of scitech librarianship?
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S&E Reference: Introductions - Me• Physical sciences
and/or engineering librarian for 20 years
• Academic, corporate, research positions
• Reference and/or research required in all
[http://isd.usc.edu/~sarat/]
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S&E Reference: Introductions - Me• USC S&E Library: 1970 to date; combined two
libraries [www.usc.edu/libraries/science] • One of 4 “center” libraries: Leavey (UG), Doheny
(Grad), and VKC (Soc. Sci.)• Current model Team=Librarians, Center=Staff• Our team of 5 selectors – Life Sciences, Physical
Sciences, Engineering• Charged with: collection development, instruction,
outreach and reference• Librarians as faculty
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Reference• New user needs
• Winnowing, vetting• New niches for librarians & info
professionals• Education, training
• Similar skills and competencies required• Listening! Core of Reference Interview• Friendliness• Patience• Curiosity• Persistence
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Reference: 21st Century User Needs• Solving Info Overload• Trusted Sources – Identifying, maximizing searches• Avoiding plagiarismRecent PAMNet discussion excerpt:Me: “…I've often found that physics grad students are quite
unfamiliar with searching citation databases, and appreciate demonstrations and tips.”
Original querent/new physics librarian* [post-analysis]: “The grad students who came to my class had never done a database search -- every paper they needed was handed to them by a professor… It threw me off a bit when they had never used Google Scholar and hadn't even heard of arXiv.org….”….”
* Used with permission
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Reference/Instruction: Blend & Expand• Have always been complementary• Instruction portion of reference has
grown, with ease of access on Net• A USC goal - integrate/embed both
services physically and electronically at point(s) of need, discovery - Can you think of examples?
• IL Standards as guides – ACRL, ASEE, etc.
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Guides that Can Also Facilitate Reference
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Reference Librarians Competencies*• Digital literacy• Commitment to life-long learning• Thoughtful, clear communicators
to diverse populations• Agents for positive change• Learning space providers
* [Re-envisioning the Mission of the 21st Century Information Services Environment: Foundational Roles for Academic Libraries. Report from the University of Southern California Information Services Division Dean’s Task Force. November, 2005.]
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Scientists & Engineers: Similar, not Same• “Engineers use their colleagues as a
resource more often than scientists”• “Scientists use literature more than
engineers”• Engineers use the literature differently from
sciences and often need different types of literature....• For instance, engineers read more trade
journals and internal reports than scientists do.”
[Tenopir, Carol and King, Donald W. Communication Patterns of Engineers. (New York: Wiley/IEEE, 2004), p. 25.]
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S&E Literature• Introduction to a field -> Specialized
Encyclopedias• Philosophy of a field:
Classic texts Annual review series
• Development of a field: Annual review series Literature review articles
[Ackerson, Linda G. Literature Search Strategies for Interdisciplinary Research: A Sourcebook for Scientists and Engineers (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2007), p. ix.]
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S&E Literature• Guides and Bibliographies [and review articles] outline the
organization of a field's literature, as well as seminal sources. For example:• Stern, David. Guide to Information Sources in the
Physical Sciences. (Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 2000)
• Craighead. H.G. “Nanoelectromechanical Systems.: Review. Science 24 November 2000, Vol. 290. no. 5496, pp. 1532 -1535 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.290.5496.1532
• LC “Science Tracer Bullets” *• ASEE-ELD Engineering Literature Guide Series *
[*Ackerson, Linda G. Literature Search Strategies ... p. ix.]
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[http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/tracer-bullets/tbs.html]
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[http://eld.lib.ucdavis.edu/publications.php]
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S&E Primary Sources• “Landmark” publications, per LC, e.g.
• Isaac Newton's Principia Mathematica, Charles Darwin's Origin of Species,
• Current research – “First hand …observations and/or measurements taken in the lab or in the field.” Univ. Calgary: http://www.ucalgary.ca/~natsci/science311/311ComparisonTableW07.pdf• Conference Proceedings• Preprints• Journals
• Raw data - even more primary? Note: Libraries are now storing more.
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S&E Key Databases& Search Engines
• Undergraduate vs. Graduate – some differences
• UG (my take; others may disagree!)• Subscription: ProQuest• Subscription: OCLC First Search platform, if at
your institution• Free: Google Scholar• Free: Google Patents• Free: Scirus (http://www.scirus.com)
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S&E Key Databases• Graduate, Faculty, Researchers (my take)
• Web of Knowledge (ISI) platform• Current Contents• Web of Science: Science Citation Index, Social Science
Citation Index, Arts & Humanities Index• Journal Citation Report• Essential Science Indicators
• Engineering Village 2 (Elsevier) platform• Compendex• Inspec, other available
• American Chemical Society’s SciFinder Scholar• ChemAbstracts much faster online• Chem sources, patents, etc.• Very useful despite local file nuisance!
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Bibliographyof items not already cited within presentation
Assoc. of College & Research Libraries/ACRL “Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education”: http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlstandards/informationliteracycompetency.cfm
ACRL “Information Literacy Standards for Science and Engineering/Technology”: http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlstandards/infolitscitech.cfm
USC Libraries “Re-envisioning the Mission of the 21st Century Information Services Environment: Foundational Roles For Academic Libraries”: http://isd.usc.edu/~sarat/TF21_Report.pdf
Tompson, Sara R. “Requisite Competencies for Recruitment and Retention.” Science & Technology Libraries, Special Issue Title: Science and Technology Librarians: Recruitment, Training, and Retention. 27:1/2, pp. 241-258.
Tompson, Sara R. “Scirus – for Scientific Information.” Electronic Resources Review. Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship. http://www.istl.org/07-winter/electronic3.html
THANK YOU!! [email protected]