Reference Renaissance

While reading the library literature recent I found references to the following book:

Radford, Marie L, and R D. Lankes. Reference Renaissance: Current and Future Trends. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, 2010

Based on my recent experiences as a reference librarian, I felt I had to obtain this book. It can be a real drag to sit at the reference desk for hours and get few if any real intellectual interactions. It is actually proceedings from a conference sponsored by the Bibliographic Center for Research of Aurora, Colorado and the Reference and User Services Association, a division of ALA.

I will make a few notes based on reading part I.

R. David Lankes, Director of the Information Institute of Syracuse and one of the editors said that the best days of reference are ahead, not behind. Reference librarians must become change agents and build bridges out to the community and identify innovation.

Carla Stoffle of the University of Arizona says that we must embed the library where the customer is.

Marie L. Radford of Rutgers University another editor states that cognitive and behavioral skills are important to today's reference expert.

Perhaps as I read further into this book, I'll post more comments.

Handheld Librarian Online Conference July 28-29

Registration is open for the Third Handheld Librarian Conference to be held July 28-29. Presenters include:

• Joe Murphy
• Lisa Carlucci Thomas
• Chad Marin
• Nicole Hennig
• David Lee King

Registration is $69 for one person and $99 for a group at one terminal. It would seem to be a "no brainer" to have several people come to one site and attend the conference. I posted on the VALE listserv that I am willing to host this at NJIT. This was the people could split the cost.

I haven't heard from anyone after about 4 hours, but I will give it some time. If anyone is interested they may contact me at Bruce.Slutsky@njit.edu .

Trying to Be King Solomon in Allocating Seats for Scifinder Scholar

In April 2009 I reported in this journal that many users of Scifinder Scholar still preferred the client version after I agressively promoted the newer web versions with many new features. I thought I had solved the problem by splitting my two seats between the two versions.

A few days ago I received a complaint from a professor who was blocked from accessing the web version. She felt it was time to abandon the client version and devote both seats to the web. In order to accommodate her, I changed the allocation for a 16 hour period. I also said that at the start of the Fall semester, I would run a survey to see if there was still interest in the client version. My statistics over the past year indicate that 40% still use the client version of Scholar.

Here is a message that I sent to that professor:

When NJIT obtained access to the web version of Scifinder Scholar, I promoted it and encouraged users to make a transition to it from the client version which we used since 1999. I encouraged NJIT researchers to use the features that are only available on the web version. I received complaints after I had turned off the client version, A poll of the users indicated that close to half still wanted to use the older client version. At that point I allocated one seat for the web and one for the client.

I always emphasize when I teach users how to search Scifinder Scholar that there is a limitation on simultaneous users. Every month I receive a list of new NJIT accounts. I send them the following suggestions:

You are receiving this email since you registered for the web version of Scifinder Scholar in May. I would like to make a few suggestions on using this powerful database:

Please also download the software for the client version. Since we have 1 user for the web and 1 for the client, you can search the client if the web is busy.
I suggest you evaluate the answer sets when you are offline to allow others to use the database.
Likewise, please read full articles after you have logged off Scifinder.
Many chemistry related searches can be done in Scopus if Scifinder is busy

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns about Scifinder Scholar or any NJIT Library issues

There is a 10 minute timeout for users of the web version of Scifinder Scholar.

Attached is a chart summarizing the NJIT use of Scifinder Scholar over the past year. 59.1% used the web version while 40.8% preferred the client. Although users of the client are in the minority, it is still a substantial amount.

I will do a survey of Scifinder users in the Fall to gauge the interest in retaining the client version.

Thanks for your feedback

Coping with E-mail overload

I returned to work today after being away from NJIT for 10 calendar days. It took me about 1 1/2 hours to sift through my e-mail. Perhaps 15 out of the 300 e-mails that I received during my vacation were of any value. I really think that e-mail is of worthless as an advertising medium. I delete anything where the e-mail header indicates a sales pitch is being made. I do set my listserv settings for no mail during my vacations, so that helps. Once a thread is started on a listserv, everyone has to get his two cents in on the subject.

I remember back in the early 1990s when I started using e-mail, I would smile everytime I received one. Times have changed.

NJIT is closed on Fridays during the summer

For several years NJIT has closed on Fridays during the summer. There are no classes scheduled on Fridays and the university administration claims that $200,000 is saved in energy costs. A few people are skeptical about this savings and feel that research productivity declines when there is a 4 day week. I am not complaining.

Book Review from the New York Times

On the way home from work this afternoon I found a review of:

Carr, Nicholas G. The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains. New York: W.W. Norton, 2010. Print

in the New York Times Book Review.

Carr argues that we are sabatoging ourselves, trading away the seriousness of sustained attention for the sustained superficiality of the Internet. He insists the negative side effects of the Internet outweigh its efficiencies. He even wrote an article in the Atlantic Monthly titled "Is Google Making us stupid?"

Jonah Lehrer the reviewer states "What Carr neglects to mention, however, is that the preponderance of scientific evidence suggests that the Internet and related technologies are actually good for the mind"

I will have to read the Atlantic Monthly article and get a hold of the book. A book review is successful when it inspires readers to obtain the book.

This is certainly a controversial topic. Students today learn differently from their parents. I think the Internet induces people to think in a "hypertext sense" rather than the linear method of a generation ago.

Trying to Use Google Books

A very conscientious graduate student was trying to use Google Books to try to read publications that he can not access any other way. It does provide the full text of books whose copyright has expired. Thus librarians can suggest that students use it to obtain older literature. Today, the student was trying to find books on Raman spectroscopy. He was frustrated since the books that he needed only allowed certain pages to be viewed. The help page made the following statement:

Many of the books you can preview on Google Books are still in copyright, and are displayed with the permission of publishers and authors. You can browse these "limited preview" titles just as you would in a bookstore, but you won't be able to see more pages than the copyright holder has made available.

When you've accessed the maximum number of pages allowed for a book, any remaining pages will be omitted from your preview. You can order full copies of any book using the "Get this book" links to the side of the preview page

Publishers provide the preview to try to sell their books. The student felt that random pages from each book were offered as samples.

In Ink on a Flyleaf, Forever Yours

This article written by Peter Khoury appeared in Sunday's New York Times Week in Review section. He acknowledges the popularity of reading books on electronic device such as the iPad, Kindle, and Nook. He does say that a book's value will increase if it is signed or inscribed by a noted author. E-books preserve the intellectual content of the publication, but the sentimental value of the book as an artifact will be lost.

Teaching to a class of Environmental Engineering Students

In all my years at NJIT I can only remember a few times that I gave a library lecture in the summer. Courses given in a short session are very intense and very often there is just not a chance to teach information seeking skills. All civil engineering majors at NJIT are required to take ENE 262, an introduction to environmental engineering. The Powerpoint for my standard lecture for this course may be found at http://library.njit.edu/docs/ENE262_Summer2010.ppt

The topics for the assignment are:

Lead in Paint - Nature of the problem, environmental/health implications, applicable regulations and ways to address the situation

Offshore Oil Drilling - Nature of the problem, environmental/health implications and ways to address the situation (This is certainly a timely topic)

“Organic”, or “Natural”, or “Green” Pesticides – What they are, how they are produced, costs, and the environmental benefits.