Information Literacy Forever

With profuse apologies to John Lennon and Paul McCartney

Let me take you down, 'cause I'm going to Information Literacy.
Nothing is real and nothing to get hung about.
Information Literacy forever.

Living is easy with eyes closed,
misunderstanding all you see.
It's getting hard to be someone but it all works out.
It doesn't matter much to me.
Let me take you down,
'cause I'm going to Information Literacy.
Nothing is real and nothing to get hung about.
Information Literacy forever.

No one I think is in my tree,
I mean it must be high or low.
That is you can't you know tune in but it's all right.
That is I think it's not too bad.
Let me take you down,
'cause I'm going to Information Literacy.
Nothing is real and nothing to get hung about.
Information Literacy forever.

Always no sometimes think it's me,
but you know I know when it's a dream.
I think, er No, I mean, er Yes but it's all wrong.
That is I think I disagree.
Let me take you down,
'cause I'm going to Information Literacy.
Nothing is real and nothing to get hung about.

Information Literacy forever.
Information Literacy forever.
Information Literacy forever.

Comparing Herbal Medicines to traditional pharmaceuticals

A student was looking for case studies comparing the use of herbal medicines with traditional pharmaceuticals. I showed him how to search for it in Scopus which includes the records for Medline. We did find some good articles, but the problems were that many of the retrieved records were from journals not held in print or electronically from the NJIT library.

I announced to the NJIT community the coming of Scifinder Scholar on the Web

I am pleased to announce that NJIT will be moving to a web version of Scifinder Scholar in the spring semester. It will no longer be necessary to download software or remember the site.prf file. The database will not change, but there will be some new enhancements. A major change will be that every NJIT person wanting to search SFS will have to create their own username and password to use the web version. Each user must have an active NJIT e-mail address. In early 2009 I will send instructions on how to register. The client version of Scifinder Scholar will be available until the beginning of the spring semester. I will make an announcement when NJIT access to it will cease.

Chemical Abstracts Service is giving e-seminars on the web version of Scifinder Scholar.

Finally a couple of chemistry reference questions

1. A student wanted information on testing of pharmaceutical packaging. We searched Business Source Premier, Scopus, and Scifinder Scholar. Some of the retrieved references were on the testing of the pharmaceutical ingredient not the packaging. "Testing" was a stop word in Scifinder Scholar so we used integrity of pharmaceutical packaging to search. Again, my friends at Chemical Abstract Service through a curve ball at me. Integrity mapped to integral which created false hits.

2. A second student was looking for information on the effect of pore size on membrane filtration. Scopus had the advantage since one could sort by relevance. He only needed two references on the topic.

NJIT's Provost has stepped down

Provost Priscilla Nelson announced that she is stepping down as Provost, the chief academic officer at NJIT. In the organization scheme, the library is under the Provost so my big boss Richard Sweeney reports to her. I assume that for now Dr. Nelson will assume another position at NJIT. I wish her well in her future endeavors.

Volunteered to Serve as Assistant Editor of the Chemical Information Bulletin

I don't think I've ever mentioned on this blog that for many years I have been active in the American Chemical Society Division of Chemical Information. I have contributed in the following capacities:

• Chair of the Careers Committee – organized several careers in Chemical Information Workshops
  
  Chair of the Publications Committee
  
  Editor of CINF E-News
  
  Education Committee - member

Today there was a call on one of the listservs for someone to volunteer to be the Assistant Editior for the printed Chemical Information Bulletin which is pulbished twice a year. I volunteered and was told that I would have to be approved by the editor. Let's see what happens.

Met with a TIAA-CREF Counselor Today

Like everyone else I am worried about the loss in value of my TIAA-CREF pension. Part of it is in a savings account while the other part is in stocks which have obviously diminished in value. I still have at least 9 years before I will retire which is a very long time. Certainly, the stock market is likely to recover in that time. He told me that at any time I can withdraw the funds in stocks and put them in savings. I have decided to stay the course and not change my withdrawls to this pension fund.

Reference Questions of the Day

I received this question when I was on QANDANJ this morning. Someone needed information about a Samuel Mason Clark who lived from 1910-39. I received on other information. After I checked the most likely sources and couldn't find anything, I went back to the chat and tried to ask the patron if he knew the field of endeavor for this person. The person had left the chat. This my general complaint about chat reference. They just don't want to wait.

At the reference desk someone wanted information about the adverse effects of human growth hormone. I started out by showing him Scopus and Medline, but those sources seemed too technical. I then referred him to http://medlineplus.gov/ where he found some web sites that gave him the information he needed at the appropriate level.

A student came into my office asking for the prices of bulk chemicals. I was able to find her information from the Business Source Premier database.

Students are very often vague when they pose a question and we must get them to be more specific. Here is an example:

A student ask for articles on engineering management. I referred him to Business Source Premier and found too many articles. He then said lets try chemical engineering management. He then said he a pharmaceutical engineering student as was looking for information in that area. He only needed one article.

Thought of the Day - Interlibrary Loan Requests

No library can provide all items to all patrons, no matter how big it is. I worked for the Research Library of NYPL from 1983-90. People were always asking for materials that we didn't have. There was a myth that NYPL had everything and had a telephone reference service that could answer any question. Anyway, the NJIT Library always has budgetary problems and often graduate students and faculty rely on the interlibrary loan service. I remember one graduate student who complained that she had to order everything she needed from outside. What bothers me is when people don't bother to look things up in our catalog or journals listing to see if we have the item they need. They essentially waste their own time.

Recent Reference Questions

Where can I find matlab program that generates AM signals?

What wer the cave paintings of altamira?

1650s Puritan attitudes towards sex, adultery and gender roles

I'm trying to find research on back-alley abortions.

New Jersey Transit is Unreasonable on the Newark Light Rail

New Jersey Transit has a very primitive way of collecting fares on the Newark Light Rail. You must purchase a ticket and stamp it. At times, fare inspectors are on duty to check tickets. I had a discussion with a student yesterday who was given a summons for $71 because she forgot to stamp the ticket. Couldn't those turkeys given her the benefit of the doubt and just given her a warning? The fare from Newark Penn Station to NJIT is 65 cents except from 4 - 6 PM when it is $1.35. Yesterday I observed two students being issued summons since they had the wrong ticket. Can't they just pay the difference? This primitive method of fare collection just preserves antiquated jobs. I read the New Jersey Transit loses $200,000/year from passengers who don't pay the fair and are not caught. With all the technology available today, can't they devise a modern method of fare collection? If you don't pay, you just can't get on the train.

METRO Science Librarians SIG Meeting today

Location - Baruch College, William and Anita Newman Library, 4th Floor Conference Room, 151 East 25th Street, New York, NY

Topic - Updates on Digital Projects in Science Libraries
Scheduled Speakers:

Ron Jantz - Rutgers University - An Institutional and Architectural Framework for Creating and Preserving Authentic Digital Objects

Mike Luby - National Science Digital Library - Updates to the NSDL

Reference Questions of the evening

1. A student was looking for information on the importance of the family. One of the problems was finding articles in psychology journals that were too technical for him. I showed him Academic Search Premier and Lexis-Nexis. We found better articles using the terms family values and family relations.

2. A second student needed information on green offices. i strated him off in Scopus where we found some relevant information. Some good articles were in conference proceedings not available to us. I showed him Academic Search Premier and the Avery Architecture database. When I did a book search I found him this perfect source:


Title:
Green office buildings : a practical guide to development /
Primary material:
Book
Publisher:
Washington, D.C. : ULI, c2005.
Persistent URL for this Item:
http://librarius.njit.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=130246
ISBN:
0874209374
Google Book Search:
More Information About This Book


Location:
Arch Desk
Call Number:
NA6230 .G74 2005
Num items:
1

September 14, 1992 -

Today I was honored for 15+ years of service at an Awards Ceremony in the Campus Center Ballroom. Where did all these years go? There are good days, bad days, interesting days, and boring days as well. You have to be happy to have a job these days.

Fundamentals of Engineering Design for Civil Engineering Freshman

I was asked to give a class for freshman civil engineering majors taking the Fundamentals of Engineering Design class. Most of these students had already been taken the library lectures given to Humanities 101 students. I talked about the structure of the technical literature and how state of the art information originally presented at conferences or published in research journals eventually is discussed in college textbooks. Students should begin their research using books and then do a database search for more recent research developments. The instructor asked me to demonsrate how to find information on earthquake resistant buildings. I found that there were several books written on this topic which should be consulted first. I then did the search in Scopus and showed how displaying by relevance was helpful. When I speak to freshmen, I always say the information seeking skills are developed over time.

A Challenge for Library Instruction

The opinions expressed in this entry are of Bruce Slutsky and not anyone else at NJIT. If anyone would like to discuss it with me, please see me in person. There are certain types of communication not appropriate for e-mail.

Teachers can not force students to like a subject. This includes chemistry, physics, history, literature, or library science. In recent years, librarians have pushed for information literacy in the curriculum. Most university administrators have been receptive to this initiative. It is simply defined as the ability to both search and access information, not only through traditional means, but also through the use of information and communication technologies. Librarians do play an important role in the information literacy process, but some of it belongs with the teaching faculty.

There is anecdotal evidence that students frown on library lectures. I remember back in junior high school we had one period a week when the librarian showed us how to search the card catalog and Readers Guide. I received no other formal training until I changed careers and went to library school. There is a technique to make students at least receptive to the class. I think that is to show that what they are learning now will be relevant to them in the future. The worst thing we can do is to teach library science to them. They will be bored to death and possibly even hostile. They need to learn enough to integrate information resources to their academic and personal lives.

This semester, I have taught some students in Humanities 101, the writing course given to freshmen. I start out by asking them to put their names in Google and see if they can find themselves or someone else with their name on the Internet. I use this as an ice breaker to show them that online searching can be fun. The aim of a second class is to evaluate the validity of web sites. I start out by asking them to Google their favorite entertainer and see if they think the retrieved web sites provide valid information.

Most of my experience has been in teaching students to find information in chemistry and related fields. I start out by saying that as they advance in their academic careers, their needs for information becomes more difficult. They will no longer have readings assigned to them by their professors. They must use online and print resources to find information they need. I always say that before they do their dissertation research, they must search to see that nobody else has done the same research. They will all eventually work in industry where they must be aware of what their competitors are doing.

It is always frustrating to see inattentive students in class. You can often see them doing homework, whispering among themselves, and playing with their cell phones. We really need to show the students that what we are teaching them is relevant now and in the future.