Inside ZSR
Earlier this year ZSR Library participated in a research study. The six month study was commissioned by SAGE and conducted by LISU, a national research and information center based in the Department of Information Science at Loughborough University. It sought to study how libraries show evidence of value to research and teaching staff and we... more ›
Seeing Lauren Pressley’s picture and book cover on the screen as an example of unglue.it gave me a moment of great pride during a plenary session at this Charleston Conference. We heard that there were 1500-1600 attendees, the most ever! E-book topics were definitely a theme and “big data” was mentioned in several sessions. A... more ›
Acquiring Datasets: Two speakers from the U. of Illinois (one a “Numeric and Spatial Data Librarian”) described a pilot project managed by a Data Services Committee. Purchased datasets are stored on a section of the library’s webserver and linked in the catalog. In the long run, current processes may not be scalable and may demand... more ›
Just a bulleted list of highlights while I’m minimizing strain on a broken wrist, but call or ask me for more info if desired: Lots of questions (regarding inconsistencies, navigation, and discoverability to name a few) centered on data sets and other types of supplemental material to publications — publishers as well as libraries and... more ›
Honestly, they could’ve renamed this the “Patron-Driven Acquisitions Conference,” given the many talks on that topic. Rick Anderson’s opening plenary promoted the opposite of the Big Deal: The Tiny Deal, or, single article purchases. He reported two surprises with his library’s Espresso Book Machine: An interest in self-publishing, especially for family histories. Demand for blank... more ›
Lauren Corbett and Carol Cramer Hot topics: Weeding due to lack of space not only in the stacks but also in the storage facility (multiple people) Library workers need to focus more on adding value and meeting users needs, not just storing content (see notes from Derek Law below) Redundancy in library collections is going... more ›
My notes from the Charleston Conference: Two speakers mentioned The World is Flat as a must-read. It’s checked out right now, so I’ll have to tell you later if it’s any good! I attended two sessions where ProQuest presented the results of their research into student research behavior. In a plenary session, Jane Burke suggested... more ›
Charleston is just about the sweetest place for a library conference ever. Bill and I drove down Tuesday and I read a really interesting book in the car, Studying Students: The Undergraduate Research Project at the University of Rochester. Members of the Coffee Shop Group and 4th floor Renovation Team will want to read Chapter... more ›