Legere Scientiam: Issues, Tools, and Innovations of Today’s Science Librarian

Program and Presentation Notes

Introduction

The Annual Upstate New York Science Librarians meeting was held at Binghamton University on Friday October 20, 2006. The theme was “Legere Scientiam: Issues, Tools, and Innovations of Today’s Science Librarian.” The Binghamton University Libraries were honored to host the 2006 annual conference.

Feedback/Evaluation Summary

8:45-9:00am Breakfast

9:00-9:30 Welcome Statement by Susan Currie, Associate Director of Public Services

9:30-10:00 Usability, Tutorials and Camtasia. Oh My! Angelique Jenks-Brown, Binghamton University.

This presentation discusses a software program called Camtasia. Topics include how it is used by the Binghamton University Libraries for usability studies and online tutorials, and its limitations.

10:00-10:30 The Next Step in IM Reference Service Linette Koren, Rochester Institute of Technology.

As IM services continue to evolve, libraries need to keep pace with what’s on the market. The evolution of IM at RIT Libraries has had us paying big bucks for commercial products but has recently seen us transition to a freely available web-based service called meebo.com. This presentation will examine our thought process as we’ve moved from one service to the next including our rationales and motivations and will include a demonstration of the meebo.com service.

11:00-11:15 Morning Break

11:15 - 11:45 Have Scholarly E-books come of age? A. Ben Wagner, Chemistry & Physics Librarian, Arts & Sciences Libraries, University at Buffalo.

Tens of thousands of scholarly books and reference materials are now available through aggregators like e-book library, ebrary, xrefer, and MyiLibrary. How can we evaluate these new platforms and access models? How can we make these virtual collections as visible as our print collections?
The speaker will share the approach used by the University at Buffalo Libraries-wide E-Reference & E-Book Packages Task Force, for which he is team leader.

11:45-12:15 Data Distribution and Archiving in Support of the Agricultural Ecosystems Program. Gail Steinhart, GIS and Spatial Data Librarian, Mann Library, Cornell University.

In spring of 2006, Mann Library began collaborating with the Agricultural Ecology Program (AEP) research group at Cornell University. This collaboration represents part of a broader initiative at Mann to explore possible roles for the library in managing research data. The AEP group’s overarching aim is to better understand the sources and sinks of nutrients and sediments in the New York portion of the Susquehanna watershed. In support of that goal, the group is highly motivated to provide valuable data and insight for people in county, state, and the Federal government, NGOs, and the public, and to serve as a catalyst for innovative cross-disciplinary research at Cornell that will produce better scientific understanding of nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment cycling in the Upper Susquehanna basin and the Chesapeake Bay. Come learn about how we’re collaborating with a specific research group to document, distribute, and archive their research data.

1:15-1:45 A Digital Class in Chemistry Bibliographic Resources. Evelyn Constance Powell, Chemical & Physical Sciences Librarian, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Last Spring I taught a digital class in Chemistry Bibliographic Resources at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The course consisted of classes on our chemistry resources, having the students collect 30 documents from these resources, and having the students format these documents into a chemistry research bibliography. This presentation discusses the experiences, problems, and positive outcomes that came out of teaching this class.

1:45-2:15 Reaching Out to Physicists. Pat Viele, Physics & Astronomy Librarian, Cornell University.

This session describes my outreach activities that specifically target physicists. Physicists traditionally have not been big users of the library. Over the course of several years I have developed some strategies for reaching them.

2:15-2:45 Annual Meeting

2:45-3:15 Tours of the Science Library and Bartle Library Information Commons

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Last Modified: 27 May 2009
URL: http://libweb.lib.buffalo.edu/unysci/2006/2006-meeting.html