The Societal Impact of Research

 Issue 33 (June 2013) of Research Trends deals with a complex topic: the societal impact of research. One of the ways in which science is valuable to society is through its influence on technology.

Includes an excellent article on The Challenges of Measuring Social Impact Using Altmetrics

Designing researcher-centric library services

from 12th May 2013 Research Information (Analysis and Opinion)


"....findings highlighted three primary areas that would benefit from new or redesigned services. Firstly, there is the area of information discovery. In particular, there is a need to support chemists in keeping up with the literature and enabling serendipitous discovery.
The second key role is research dissemination and scholarly communications. While academic chemists publish frequently, the report revealed the need for greater support in disseminating their research outputs.
Data management and preservation was the third area identified. The report acknowledged a gap in training in how to store, manage and curate the data that is collected by chemists and their labs..."

Predatory Publishers

Interesting contribution in Library Journal newsletter:
 
"There are definitely publishers who come to mind when I hear the expression “predatory publishers.” My first thought is of the high-profile academic publishers who are increasing their journal prices by ten or 20 percent per year, leaving libraries with impossible choices to be made between maintaining their journal subscriptions in key fields or buying that year’s monographic production. None of these are on Jeffrey Beall’s “Possible Predatory Publishers” list at the Scholarly Open Access site, however. Beall’s list consists of newly formed open access (OA) journals that charge authors a fee for each article published but that allegedly do not follow accepted academic practice for quality publication or are even fraudulent in nature...."

Scholarly communication and information literacy (value of academic libraries)

"The integration of scholarly communication and information literacy has the potential to become a central element in demonstrating the value of academic libraries."

Just stumble upon the newish journal: Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication
and thought this article looked of interest
Time to Step on the Gas in Approaching the Intersections of Scholarly Communication and Information Literacy

What Students Really do in the Library: An Observational Study

What Students Really do in the Library

Reference Librarian Volume 54, Issue 2, April 2013, Pages 157-167 

Abstract: The authors observed 730 collegiate students in the library and recorded their study (or non-study) activities. Approximately 60% of behaviors were study related. The most commonly observed behavior was reading print material (18.8%). The second most common behavior was the use of social media (11.4%). These results have implications for understanding how students learn and study in the pervasive digital world.

from the discussion:

"........   Libraries, particularly in times of economic instability, must often justify their existence and use of funds. Demonstrating to library or school administration the actual observed use of the physical library for school-related behaviors can provide one or many pieces of data that may prove useful. Although our finding that 73% of those working on a computer were more likely to engage in a non-study behavior suggests that the presence of computers or other mobile devices can be major distractions, evidence presented in the literature indicates that students expect libraries to be social and study spaces. In addition, making library materials and study materials accessible via mobile technologies (e.g., iPads, smartphones) can allow for more frequent access to these resources. Little to no research has been done regarding the use of the mobile Web by students in the library, with the exception of a qualitative study conducted by. They noted that, depending on reading preferences, students may or may not read actual articles or books online, but they might begin their searches or access library services while waiting on line at the store (Seeholzer & Salen, 2011). Investigating how remote use of library resources ties in with the physical use of the building can provide stakeholders with data that can help to inform decisions.

When we can actually observe what students do rather than what they say they do in the library, we can get a fuller picture of study behaviors and how they relate to academic achievement. It is important for educators to understand that the learning environment can influence student engagement and study behaviors and that the environment is further influenced by a variety of factors. Students expect a comfortable and attractive study space not only for scholarly pursuits, but also for socializing. Social and academic activities are integral aspects for facilitating student engagement (Entwistle & Peterson, 2004; Milem & Berger, 1997; Suarez, 2007). A well-designed library should support scholarly activities, but both the current literature and the results of this study indicate that we cannot expect the library to be a building exclusively used for academic behaviors."

Massive Open Opportunity: Supporting MOOCs in Public and Academic Libraries

A new development to be aware of:

If you’re an academic librarian, you’re probably already awash, at least peripherally, in news about MOOCs—massive open online courses have been touted as the next big thing in higher ed since they burst on the scene about a year ago................................ There are multiple potential roles for libraries in the MOOC development, support, assessment, and preservation process............

 Wikipedia entry

and  MOOCs and Libraries: Massive Opportunity or Overwhelming Challenge?

e-books in Academic Libraries: Challenges for Discovery and Access

Abstract

This paper examines the recent literature on the presentation of e-books in college and university libraries, focusing on three mechanisms for discovery and access: e-book vendors' interfaces, library catalogs (OPACs), and resource discovery tools (RDTs). If libraries rely on vendors' interfaces, patrons must search on multiple platforms, many of which have limited and idiosyncratic search mechanisms. The most common strategy for discovery and access—including e-books in the library catalog—brings its own set of challenges, including limited availability of records, lack of standardization, difficulties managing the addition and removal of titles, and the generally low quality of vendor-supplied records. Likewise, libraries that use resource discovery tools face another set of difficulties: incomplete coverage, reliance on metadata from external sources, problems with subject headings and authority control, difficulties with guest-user access, and continuing dependence on vendors' platforms for access to full text.

 

Keyword Search, Plus a Little Magic

From Lingua Franca 
Google relies on at least four facts, all of them crucial, but especially the fourth one.

1. Computer memory chips have become so cheap and so tiny that in an office-sized space you can pack enough random-access-memory units to store an utterly gigantic automatically maintained concordance to the whole Web, augmented with copies of huge portions of what is on those sites.
2. Networks and processors have become so fast that your search command can be delivered to a server far away and checked against the gigantic index in just hundredths of a second.
3. The number of sites containing all of the words on a list (rather than just some of them) goes down rapidly with the length of the list, and much more rapidly when the words have low probabilities of occurrence.
4. Humans looking for a certain piece of information can on the whole be trusted to be smart enough to supply a list of words with the crucial property of having low probability in most texts but being guaranteed to occur in texts containing the desired information.

Taking it to the Stacks: An Inventory Project at the University of Mississippi Libraries

Abstract

This article examines multiple inventory methods and findings from the inventory processes at the University of Mississippi Libraries. In an attempt to reduce user frustration from not being able to locate materials, the University of Mississippi Libraries conducted an inventory process beginning with a pilot inventory of a branch library and a sample inventory at the Main Library followed by full inventory of sections of the Main Library's one-million-plus collection. The benefits of inventories, including cost effective, efficient workflows, are discussed

Altmetrics and Open Access: A Measure of Public Interest

Researchers, research managers and publishers are increasingly required to factor into their policies and practices the conditions by which publicly funded research must be made publicly available. But in the struggle for competitive funding, how can researchers provide tangible evidence that their outputs have not only been made publicly available, but that the public is using them? Or how can they demonstrate that their research outputs have reached and influenced those whose tax dollars have helped fund the research?

Interesting articles from Management INK

Top Five: Leadership, Ethics, Resistance to Change, and More

How can management scholars and practitioners better understand the factors that enable (or disable) ethics in organizational life? How are middle managers creating positive social change? These and other questions of organizational effectiveness and humane organizing are addressed in The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science's current top five most-read articles. Some classic, some new, these papers are freely available to access using the links below through April 26. Please share and enjoy!

Linda Smircich and Gareth Morgan
Leadership: The Management of Meaning
The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, September 1982

Eric B. Dent and Susan Galloway Goldberg
Challenging “Resistance to Change”
The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, March 1999

David S. Bright and Ronald E. Fry
Introduction: Building Ethical, Virtuous Organizations
The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, March 2013

Garima Sharma and Darren Good
The Work of Middle Managers: Sensemaking and Sensegiving for Creating Positive Social Change
The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, March 2013

Edward H. Powley
The Process and Mechanisms of Organizational Healing
The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, March 2013

Stay abreast of the latest most-read and most-cited articles from The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science: subscribe to the RSS feed, and click here to receive e-alerts about new articles and issues published online before they’re in print.

Who's spinning the library? Responsibilities of academic librarians who promote

Who's spinning the library? Responsibilities of academic librarians who promote

This study provides a unique snapshot of marketing initiatives across various academic libraries, in the midst of a global economic recession.

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Social Media as Collaborative Media in Workplace Learning

Organizational leaders and managers may emphasize the word social in social media and fear that the tools will be used purely for nonproductive, non-work- related activities. However, when using these tools, the importance of the contexts of work versus personal cannot be overlooked. Already, employees have drawn a distinction between social media tools by using Facebook for personal matters and LinkedIn for professional matters, for instance. Therefore, to prevent such misunderstanding or misconceptions, the term collaborative media has been proposed to describe any social media tool used for productive work-related endeavors and efforts, specifically within the context of workplace learning. By changing the term social media to one that more accurately describes the intended purpose of these tools, it is more likely that organizational leaders and managers will consider the implementation of these tools to foster informal learning among organizational members.

If the tools are accurately framed as those used for collaboration on projects, the quick retrieval of information to assist with a problem, or the broadcasting of pertinent organizational knowledge, such leaders will be more apt to view collaborative media as useful and necessary tools supporting organizational objectives and goals rather than a means for distraction and decreased productivity.

Social networking tools for academic libraries

(Since starting the Science and Pharmacy blog, my Twitter site and Delicious, which is used for our "Selected Websites", I have become more convinced than ever that social networking is extremely important in terms of liaison and communication with our users.  It is not difficult to do, it is FUN, INTERESTING, STIMULATING & CHALLENGING, and the rewards are well worth the time spent!

 Some conclusions from this article

• benefits of using these tools are perceived to outweigh the costs, which were reported to be minimal,
• Social networking tools were perceived to be helpful in promoting library services and interacting with students.
• helpful for internal staff communication
• implementation of these tools by library staff was found to be challenged by limited time and perceived inadequacy of the staff to keep pace with the development of technology
•   Provision of training for staff users was found to be inadequate, and this indicates a component that needs to be addressed by organizations that intend to launch social networking platforms effectively. 

"......The phenomenon of social networking tools is likely to continue evolving rapidly. As this occurs, libraries make up one group that may benefit from utilizing these tools in an evolving manner as well. Findings of this study suggest that factors related to time pressure and competencies of staff need to be addressed in order to encourage libraries to take advantage of benefits offered by these web technologies." 

Using LinkedIn for Career Building

Joseph G. Gerard of Western New England University published "Linking in With LinkedIn®: Three Exercises That Enhance Professional Social Networking and Career Building" in the Journal of Management Education December 2012 Special Issue on New Technological Advances Applied to Management Education.  As Professor Gerard writes in the abstract:

Getting students to network with one another can be one of the biggest challenges in college courses, despite being a highly important function of higher education. Networking can, in fact, lead to that first job or to professional advancement, and technology can improve the success of individual and institutional efforts. This article describes how one instructor moved from a systemwide “Meet the Classmates” assignment nested within the learning management system to the use of a free social networking system, LinkedIn®, and how one icebreaker assignment evolved to three larger, more comprehensive assignments that better leveraged certain social networking system characteristics for greater career preparedness. Exploratory data from 154 respondents from undergraduate capstone strategy courses provides insights into some possible advantages and limitations of the free social networking system to offset networking challenges as well as to enhance those professional and career-based advantages associated with effective network management.

Academic Library Use of Facebook: Building Relationships with Students

Academic Library Use of Facebook: Building Relationships with Students • Article
The Journal of Academic Librarianship, Volume 37, Issue 6, December 2011, Pages 512-522
Phillips, N.K.

....... Results

The analysis revealed that Facebook offers a dynamic environment for academic libraries to cultivate relationships with students. Libraries present information through status messages which suggest who they are and what they do. In addition to being informational, libraries attempt to engage and establish rapport with students through Facebook. The university setting not only creates a context for messages, but also offers a mutual set of experiences and values shared by libraries and students..........

.....

Facebook messages illustrate a range of resources and services academic libraries offer to meet student needs and interests. Information resources, writing workshops, and a variety of reference services are highlighted to address students' academic needs. By advertising events such as resume coaching and seminars, libraries also demonstrate their recognition that students may be thinking about life after graduation. Furthermore, the wide variety of library-sponsored events publicized on Facebook offer students opportunities to “take a break from all the work,” to have fun, and to explore interests in genealogy, the arts and current events. Messages about these events serve to expand the “library=book” brand.

Even messages about “the books” and other items in the collection reflect attempts of libraries to engage students, and perhaps broaden their image in the process. Whether it is B.B. King's birthday, Star Wars Day or the anniversary of a historical event, “Today is…” provides a convenient excuse to introduce a book, CD, film, website or electronic database. Current events, such as the Chicago Blackhawks 2010 National Hockey League Championships, and figures in popular culture are also used to pique the curiosity of students. In addition to using attention-grabbing headlines, libraries incorporate pictures and links to audio, video, the library catalog, websites, databases, and events, to engage students.

The posts about library services often reflect an informal tone, for example “Get ‘um while they're fresh!” referring to new books.

By Librarians, For Librarians: Building a Strengths-Based Institute to Develop Librarians’ Research Culture in Canadian Academic Libraries

In spite of the increase in formal and informal expectations for research by Canadian librarians, there have been few—if any—Canada-wide initiatives to help support librarians in meeting research expectations. Moreover, there have been few opportunities to address academic librarians’ needs and Canadian librarian research culture in any systematic way, especially on a national scale. As a way of redressing these absences and filling this need, a four-day nation-wide institute was proposed and conducted in order to bring together Canadian librarians interested in developing their own research programs and working toward fostering a positive and productive research culture in Canadian academic libraries. This article describes the principles informing the institute's development and locates the institute's objectives within discussions of research culture, mentorship, and strengths-based approaches.

Brave New World: eBooks Free With Ads

Brave New World: eBooksFree With Ads

"The Victorians gave us the Penny Press, Short form and episodic fiction, serialisation and book and pamphlet advertising. Some will suggest that today’s developing digital market can learn much from yesterday’s initial era of mass reading. Today we read of another ‘new’ Victorian‘ idea – the ebook with adverts. We see adverts on many digital services today. You have to suffer the pop-up 20 seconds, before they let you into where you want to go. Now www.eBookPlus.com , is introducing ebooks with adverts on a ‘with advertising it’s free’ model.  A service offer based on the premise that you will accept adverts at the front of the book and each chapter to get the content for free. Adverts in ebooks is going to happen, it is now a question of how it will happen and the implications of the change. We believe that no single platform will prevail and it is somewhat hard to see how it is a sustainable unique selling point. But what about the questions we need to ask ourselves? ..."