Professional Development

On Saturday, I represented the ACRL-Science & Technology Section (STS) at the “ACRL 101″ orientation session. ACRL has more than 12,500 members, and three new interest groups were recently formed. I also attended the ACRL-STS Membership and Recruitment Committee meeting. Our committee is currently working on some interesting projects, including developing a wiki for new members of ACRL-STS and sending brochures about careers in science librarianship to various library schools.

On Sunday morning, I went to Lauren Pressley’s book signing and also ran into a few ZSR folks. Next, I went to the Exhibits and talked with various vendors. I stopped by the National Library of Medicine’s booth and learned that there are some upcoming changes to the MEDLINE database. On Sunday afternoon, I participated in a panel discussion on “Information Technology and Communities of Color: Issues and Opportunities in a Global Context.” There was one representative from each ethnic caucus of ALA on the panel, and I represented the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA). We had a lively discussion about the information technology needs of our respective communities. On Sunday evening, I joined other ZSR folks and Roz’s sister for dinner at an Italian restaurant.

On Monday morning, I attended the ACRL-STS program on “Big Science, Little Science, E-Science: The Science Librarian’s Role in the Conversation.” John Saylor from Cornell University Libraries, George Djorgovski from California Institute of Technology, Melissa Cragin from the Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Chris Greer from the National Coordination Office for Networking and Information Technology Research and Development spoke about the role of science librarians with regards to E-Science. Djorgovski made a good point that “understanding complex phenomena requires complex data.” In addition, technology for information storage and access are evolving. Cragin also said that librarians need to be engaged with scientists during the research process. Next, I attended Roz’s presentation on the “Review of Web Guide Software for Libraries.” Roz spoke about LibGuides, and their presentation was informative. I was also able to attend the ACRL-STS Poster Session, which was focused on E-Science initiatives at various institutions.

It was also great roomming with Carolyn while at ALA Annual, and we were able to grab dinner a few evenings. The summer weather in Chicago was also nice. Overall, ALA Annual was busy yet productive and very informative this year.

I arrived in Denver, CO on Friday afternoon.After I unloaded my luggage at the hotel, I had dinner with Susan, Lauren C., and a couple of our Elsevier reps.On my way to dinner, I was happy to find a Starbucks near my hotel.

On Saturday morning, I went to the ACRL-Science and Technology Section All-Committees meeting.I am a member of the Membership and Recruitment Committee, and we discussed plans to create an ACRL-STS New Members wiki page, which would provide helpful information for those who are interested in joining a committee or becoming a chair of a committee.We also discussed plans to organize the New Members Breakfast, which is held every year at the ALA Annual Conference.

On Saturday afternoon, I attended the ACRL-STS Hot Topics Discussion Group.We discussed Assessment in the context of instruction.This topic has been on my mind lately, as I am planning to teach my second semester of LIB220.I shared my experience teaching LIB220 with my colleagues, and we had a lively discussion about various assessment techniques. I’m happy to share if anyone is interested in hearing more about what we discussed.

Next, I attended a discussion group on Embedded Librarians sponsored by the ACRL Heads of Public Services Discussion Group. One of my colleagues made a good point that Embedded Librarianship can inform our collection management decisions. They also provided a selected bibliography of publications about Embedded Librarians, and I will be happy to share this bibliography with others if anyone is interested.

On Sunday, I went to the Exhibits before my second committee meeting.This year, I am serving as Chair of the Scholarship Committee of the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA).Every year, the Scholarship Committee selects a librarian to be sponsored by APALA in the ALA Emerging Leaders Program and awards a $1,000 scholarship to a graduate student in library school.More information on the APALA Scholarship is available at http://www.apalaweb.org/awards/scholarship.htm. I have served on the APALA Scholarship Committee since 2005, and I have really enjoyed working with my colleagues on this committee.

I stayed at the Curtis Hotel, which was a unique, fun hotel.It was great rooming with Lauren P. at the conference, and we were able to grab dinner a couple of nights.On Saturday night, I had dinner with Steve and Lauren P., and we also ran into Debbie Nolan after dinner. It was also nice seeing snow again this winter in Denver.Overall, it was an enjoyable, productive conference.

This year, I chaired the ACRL-Science & Technology Section(STS) Research Forum at the ALA Annual Conference. Our guest commentator, Patricia Kreitz from the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center and who currently serves on the Editorial Board of Science & Technology Libraries, provided insightful commentary on the two selected papers:

“Library-based Bioinformatics Support: Who and How? An Exploration of Librarian and Scientist Perspectives,” by Michele R. Tennant, Health Science Center Libraries and UF Genetics Institute, University of Florida. As the use of bioinformatics databases becomes prevalent in biological research, libraries are stepping into the role of bioinformatics support providers.

Where are Bioinformatics Support Specialists employed?

• 45% in university or college health sciences library
• 25% in university or college sciences library
• 5% in university or college “main” library
• 5% corporate library

Summary:

• A number of bioinformatics support specialists reside in libraries; models of employment and activities vary
• Researchers, Bioinformatics Support Specialists, and directors believe that a degree in science and laboratory experience are important for Bioinformatics Support Specialists
• All groups surveyed indicated that bioinformatics support can appropriately be provided through the library

“Subject and Bibliographic Access to Sci-tech Electronic Theses and Dissertations via Digital Institutional Repositories (IRs) and Online Public Access Catalogs (OPACs): Perspectives from US and UK Science Librarians,” by Sophie Bogdanski, West Virginia University Libraries; Susan Copeland, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, Scotland; Anne Christie, University of Alaska, Fairbanks. Over 90% of US institutions provide electronic access to some portion of their theses and dissertations collection. In the survey, one US librarian expressed frustration at not being able to do a topical search for ETDs across institutions and also about not being able to search the IR and OPAC together. The survey results indicate the on-going development of ETD programs in the US And UK.

I also attended the Scholarship Committee meeting of the Asian Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA). The Scholarship Committee awards $1,000 scholarship to a student who is currently enrolled in a graduate program in Library Science. I also attended the ACRL-SPARC Forum on Open Access (already reported upon by Lynn). Overall, this program was great, and I thought that Kevin Smith’s presentation on “Campus Open Access Policies: Legal Considerations” was very informative.

On Monday morning, I attended Susan’s award ceremony, which was one of the highlights of ALA Annual. In the afternoon, I went to the Exhibits and volunteered at the Welcome Desk for the ALA Ambassadors Program, which provides orientation for first-time conference attendees. Although I was busy with STS Council meetings and committee meetings, I was able to attend the ExLibris reception and saw Disney’s fireworks with Susan, Carolyn, Lauren P., and Elizabeth N. Overall, ALA Annual was productive, informative, and enjoyable this year, and the weather was great (always a plus!).

I attended the ACRL-Science & Technology Section (ACRL-STS) Council meeting on Friday evening.  STS Council consists of the STS Executive Board and Co-chairs of STS committees and Discussion Groups.  ACRL-STS has created 2 new Member at Large positions on the Executive Board.

On Saturday morning, I attended a program on collection assessment.   Betty Galbraith and Diane Carroll from Washington State Univ. gave an informative presentation on “Using Journal-Use Statistics to Make Collections Decisions.”  They use journal-use statistics in a variety of ways: considering journals for cancellation, considering backfile purchases, new subscription decisions, establishing core titles, and research on journal-use patterns at Washington State Univ.

On Saturday afternoon, I attended the ACRL/SPARC Forum on “The Progress of Open Access Publishing Models.”  The panel included Mark Patterson from Public Library of Science (PLoS), Bryan Vickery from Biomed Central (BMC), and Paul Peters from Hindawi Publishing.  According to the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), there are currently approximately 2,500 open access journals.  PLoS was originally an advocacy organization, but it reorganized into a publishing organization in 2003.  PLoS has been innovative in the application of Web 2.0 tools to their electronic journals.  Authors can include streaming video in their journal articles.  PLoS ONE, a peer-reviewed journal which covers all of the sciences, allows readers to electronically annotate articles by highlighting minor points and contribute to threaded discussions about the articles. 

Biomed Central is the largest publisher of peer-reviewed open access journals.  BMC currently publishes over 170 open access titles.  BMC recently launched Chemistry Central and PhysMath Central, which provides access to peer-reviewed research on chemistry, math and physics in open access journals.

Hindawi Publishing Corp. was launched in 1997.  Their journals cover mathematics, engineering, biomedicine, and the physical sciences.  In 2007, Hindawi Publishing Corp. converted all of their journals to open access journals.  They publish over 80 open access journals and have a 43% acceptance rate.

On Sunday morning, I attended the ACRL-Science & Technology Section (ACRL-STS) Breakfast meeting.  We broke up into discussion groups on various topics.  I participated in the discussion group on tenure-track v. non-tenure track.  We discussed the need for mentoring programs at libraries with tenure-track programs.  Dossier preparation workshops and writing working groups, where librarians can meet regularly to get feedback on their works in progress, were also discussed.

After the STS Breakfast Meeting, I attended a RUSA-CODES Liaisons with Users committee meeting.  We discussed the results of a survey which was conducted last fall.  The survey was on liaison responsibilities in collection development among academic and public librarians.  Approximately 700 academic librarians and 200 public librarians responded to our survey.

On Sunday afternoon, I attended the STS College Librarians Discussion Group on “Replacing Subscriptions: Article Access via Pay-per-view (PPV).”  Recently, the Trinity Univ. Library cancelled subscriptions from one major publisher and switched to a pay-per-view model.  Benefits of PPV include greater immediate access and access to color copies of journal articles.  Trinity University Library set up a username and password for each department and established a budget for each department.  They discovered that faculty were accessing journals which were not available through their previous subscription. 

I attended the ACRL-STS Research Forum Sunday afternoon.  Amy Paster, Helen Smith, and Janet Hughes from the Life Sciences Library from Penn State University presented their research on “Assessing Reference Service in Academic Science and Technology Libraries.”  They are using the Wisconsin-Ohio Reference Evaluation Program (WOREP) to assess the outcomes of reference transactions and compare their results with other science library reference services nationally.  David Stern from Yale University served as guest commentator.

On Monday, I attended the ACRL-Science & Technology Section (ACRL-STS) Poster Session.  As Co-chair of the ACRL-STS Research Committee, I organized the poster session and served on the committee which reviewed the poster proposals.  Poster presentations focused on digital repositories which provide access to non-textual information.  Over 100 people attended the poster session. One poster presenter brought a book on institutional repositories, which was recently published.  It is entitled The Institutional Repository by Richard Jones, Theo Andrew, and John MacColl (Chandos Publishing, 2006).

Overall, this year’s programs at ALA Annual were informative and enlightening.  On Monday evening, I had dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant.  This was my first taste of Ethiopian cuisine, and it was excellent! 

ALA Midwinter was very busy, but productive.  I’m Co-Chair of the ACRL Science & Technology Section (STS) Research Committee, and we met on Saturday to go over poster proposals for the upcoming poster session at ALA Annual in Washington, DC.  The topic of the poster session is very interesting: institutional repositories of non-textual information (i.e., maps, images, etc.). 

On Sunday morning, the RUSA-CODES Liaison with Users Committee met, and we went over the results of two surveys on the nature of liaison work in academic and public libraries.  On Sunday afternoon, I attended the ACRL STS Program Planning Committee, where we discussed the logistics of the upcoming poster session at ALA Annual.   

On Monday morning, I went to ACRL-STS Council, which includes the Executive Board and the co-chairs of all of the committees and discussion groups.  We discussed the ACRL Environmental Scan and upcoming events at ALA Annual and ACRL National. 

Other highlights of my trip to Seattle included going to a comedy club, the Space Needle, Pike Place Market, and various Seattle coffeehouses.  Overall, it was a great trip.