Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Declining importance of journal Impact Factors, and move the impact to Open Access

I left this comment on an internal Elsevier forum called Innovation Explorers.
 
"It was interesting to see the several comments about impact and Thomson's Impact Factors (IF). I should note that the impact factor of the journal title containing articles is becoming less and less important. Administrators should try to determine the impact of individual articles, not the impact of the journal title container. (A great article for someone can appear in a small publication with low IF, while mediocre tangential articles can appear in high IF journals.) It has been shown that over the last 20 years, it is becoming less important for authors to get published in high IF journals to get their research noticed. See http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/pamphlet/2012/06/14/more-reason-to-outlaw-impact-factors-from-personnel-discussions/ and "The weakening relationship between the Impact Factor and papers' citations in the digital age." Many are in favor of moving the prestige (and impact) to OA publications because anyone can read the articles, not just subscribers. See http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2012/05/10/moving-the-prestige-to-open-access-publishing/."

My Prelim 2012 SLA Chicago Conference Schedule

----- Saturday, July 14, 2012 -----
Frontier Airlines 531 - 11:50am flight
10:00 AM-12:00 PM
Depart Denver, Colorado Frontier Airlines 531
Economy | Airbus A319
11:50 AM Denver International Airport (DEN)
Arrive Chicago, Illinois
3:06 PM Midway Airport (MDW)
Fly out to Chicago for SLA
12:00 PM-2:45 PM
PAM Early-Bird Dinner
6:00 PM-9:00 PM (755 South Clark Street, Blackie's of Chicago)
Please meet at the restaurant for this member-paid event.
----- Sunday, July 15, 2012 -----
Sci-Tech Newcomers Lunch
11:30 AM-1:00 PM (get location)
Lunch for those who are new to the division or first-time conference attendees. 
Meet each other and the Sci-Tech Division leadership.
DST Board Meeting
1:00 PM-3:00 PM (Hilton Chicago, Joliet Room, Chicago, IL)
Annual board meeting of the Science & Technology Division. 
Open to all division members and any others interested. 
MODERATING:Cheryl Hansen, Engineering Systems Inc.
Taste of Chicago Welcome Reception
3:00 PM-5:00 PM (Convention Center, INFO-EXPO, Chicago, IL)
All conference attendees are invited to celebrate the start of the SLA 2012 Annual 
Conference & INFO-EXPO. Come join us in the INFO-EXPO to network with 
fellow attendees,enter to win one of many terrific prizes, and enjoy food and drink 
before the General Session.
Sunday General Session and Awards Presentation
5:15 PM-7:15 PM (Convention Center, Arie Crown Theater, Chicago, IL)
Join us as we honor our 2012 Award Recipients and outstanding conference 
partners before featured speaker, Guy Kawasaki, takes the stage of the 
impressive Arie Crown Theater. Guy Kawasaki is the co-founder of Alltop.com, 
an “online magazine rack” of popular topics on the Web, and a founding partner 
at Garage Technology Ventures. He is also a columnist for the Open 
Forum of America...
----- Monday, July 16, 2012 -----
Sci-Tech Business Meeting and Breakfast
7:30 AM-9:30 AM (Convention Center, Room S402A, Chicago, IL)
PRICE: $20.00 Member/ $5.00 Student Member/ $25.00 Non-Member Annual
 business and breakfast meeting of the Sci-Tech Division.  Come have some 
breakfast, network with your colleagues old and new, and find out what the 
division is doing. MODERATING:Cheryl Hansen, Engineering Systems Inc.
Collections in Transition: E-Books and Collection Development
10:00 AM-11:30 AM (Convention Center, Room E351, Chicago, IL)
As collections move from the print to the electronic world, libraries must 
change their collection development practices and policies to reflect new 
opportunities and challenges.  In this session you will learn how libraries 
are transforming their collection development practices and policies to 
address the proliferation of electronic books, including acquisitions based
on patron demand. In a...
PAM-wide Roundtable
10:00 AM-11:30 AM (Convention Center, Room S403A, Chicago, IL)
Discussion of issues related to Physics-Astronomy-Mathematics information 
and libraries.  MODERATING:Zahra Kamarei, University of Rochester
PAM Business Meeting and Lunch
12:00 PM-1:30 PM (Convention Center, Room S401A, Chicago, IL)
Sponsored by the American Physical Society (APS).
Use of Social Media by Non-Profits
12:00 PM-1:30 PM (Convention Center, Room E451A, Chicago, IL)
Social media offers a powerful yet low-cost way for nonprofits to demonstrate, 
through pictures, words, and video, how they are making a difference and why 
they need support.  Whether you're considering social media for your organization
 or you've been using it successfully for years, this session is for you.  Participants 
will learn best practices for creating an engaging social media p...
INFO-EXPO Magnificent Mile Networking Refreshments
2:00 PM-4:00 PM (Convention Center, INFO-EXPO, Chicago, IL)
TBD
Computer Science Roundtable
4:00 PM-5:30 PM (Convention Center, Room S403B, Chicago, IL)
Join us in this roundtable discussion on issues in computer science librarianship. 
SPOTLIGHT SESSION: Reinventing Library Skills
4:00 PM-5:30 PM (Convention Center, Room E450B, Chicago, IL)
Case studies and practical advice for transporting library skill sets to new
 areas of the information profession or to entirely new careers, with a focus
 on reinventing skills to stay competitive in a tight economy; branching out, 
and developing in areas that are still relevant to SLA.
 MODERATING: Mary Talley, Talley Partners SPEAKING:Richard Hulser, 
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles...
PAM Book Group Discussion
5:30 PM-7:00 PM (Convention Center, Room S404A, Chicago, IL)
This event will be held in the PAM Division's Hospitality Suite at McCormick Place. 
Please contact Elizabeth Brown at 607.237.2917 with any questions.
MODERATING:Elizabeth Brown, Binghamton University
American West Reception - 6-8pm
6:00 PM-6:00 PM (TBA, Chicago, IL)
A hosted reception for members of SLA’s "western" chapters, their colleagues and friends. 
Please meet at the Newberry Library and contact Philip Gust (cell: 650.367.-7652; e-mail: pgust@stanford.edu) 
with any questions you may have.
SLA Chicago APS Dinner
6:00 PM-8:00 PM (Gioco’s Restaurant, 1312 South Wabash Ave.)
By invitation only
Gioco’s Restaurant
Monday, July 16th, 2012 at 6:45 pm
1312 South Wabash Avenue
Chicago, IL 60605
(312) 939-3870
PAM Open House
7:00 PM-10:00 PM (Hilton Chicago, Williford Room A, Chicago, IL)
Sponsored by the AIP Publishing.
Knovel - Join us for the best cocktail party of SLA 2012!
8:00 PM-10:00 PM (The Gage, 24 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60603)


Chocolate Reception
8:00 PM-9:30 PM (Newberry Library, 60 West Walton Street Chicago, IL 60610)
Continue a wonderful day of sessions and activities by connecting with colleagues while enjoying offerings of delectable chocolate. MODERATING:Richard Hulser; Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
----- Tuesday, July 17, 2012 -----
PAM Vendor Update and Networking Breakfast
8:00 AM-9:30 AM (Convention Center, Room S401A, Chicago, IL)
Publishers and vendors, especially in physics, astronomy, and mathematics, will present on agility in changing times. MODERATING:Julie Arendt, Southern Illinois University; Kim Hukill, American Institute of Physics Niels Bohr Library and Archives SPEAKING:John Haynes, AIP; David Marshall, SIAM; Eric Pepper, SPIE; Olaf Ernst, IOP Publishing
Go to PAM suite.
10:00 AM-12:00 PM (PAM Division Suite (S404A, Convention Center))
INFO-EXPO Lincoln Park Networking Lunch
12:00 PM-2:00 PM (Convention Center, INFO-EXPO, Chicago, IL)
Academic Division Roundtable
2:00 PM-3:30 PM (Convention Center, Room E271B, Chicago, IL)
A networking session designed for small-group discussions on the most important and relevant issues facing academic librarians today. Bring your problems, solutions and ideas and be prepared for lively discussion!
How and Why Things Fail - Forensic Engineers and Information Specialists
2:00 PM-3:30 PM (Convention Center, Room E253C, Chicago, IL)
Real Forensic Engineering not made for TV.  Librarians, information researchers, and libraries of all types and forms are essential to the field of forensic engineering. Come hear Michael Stevenson of ESI talk about what forensic engineering really is and how the gathering of information is key to the field. MODERATING:Cheryl Hansen, Engineering Systems Inc. SPEAKING:Michael Stevenson, ESI
PAM Physics Roundtable
2:00 PM-3:30 PM (Convention Center, Room S402B, Chicago, IL)
Small discussion topics include: physics library instruction, non-traditional services, institutional repositories, historical exhibits, faculty interaction and outreach, and space planning and redesign.  MODERATING:Michael Chesnes, LAC Group / NASA Goddard; Kathleen A. Lehman, University of Arkansas
Open Access to Federal Science Technology Information
4:00 PM-5:30 PM (Convention Center, Room E253C, Chicago, IL)
The session will address Open access through the Federal Science Repository Service (FSRS) and the collaboration between NTIS and the scientific and engineering communities. Learn the what, why and how of this collaboration and find out how it is working and what it can do for you. SPEAKING:Wayne Strickland, National Technical Information Serv
SLA Contributed Papers - Tuesday Session
4:00 PM-5:30 PM (Convention Center, Room E253A, Chicago, IL)
Adding Value - Honing Our Craft:• “Copyright in Special Libraries: Overview and Suggestion of Best Practices” (Susan Craft)• “How the Agility of Librarians Led to the Development of TRAIL” (Daureen Nesdill)• “Models of Agility: Lessons from Embedded Librarians” (David Shumaker)• “People-focused Marketing: Showing Value, Gaining Loyalty,...
All-Sciences Poster Session and Reception
6:00 PM-8:00 PM (Hilton Chicago, Williford Room BC, Chicago, IL)
This event highlights multiple themes representing innovation, creativity, and change, with support from multiple  divisions. Join your colleagues for food, drink, and networking, and learn new ideas to take back to your library.
Joint Poster Session
7:00 PM-9:00 PM (Hilton Chicago, Waldorf Room, Chicago, IL)
The theme for this year’s poster session is “Jumping over the Candlestick: Individual and Institutional Efforts to Be Nimble and Quick in an Interconnected World.”  Posters will present case studies, research and innovative ideas about how information professionals and/or their institutions are staying agile in today’s open world economy.  This session is a relaxe...
----- Wednesday, July 18, 2012 -----
Science and Engineering 101
8:00 AM-9:30 AM (Convention Center, Room E264, Chicago, IL)
This year in 101 our experts will introduce the best tools to help you discover, obtain, and work with resources in nuclear engineering and physics. SPEAKING:Mary Frances Lembo, PNNL Tech Library Pacific Northwest Technical Laboratory; James Manasco, University of Louisville PRESENTATION HANDOUTS: http://www.sla.org/pdfs/sla2012/SciEngineering101MaryFLembo.pdf
UX for Non-UXers
 8:00am - 9:30am @ Convention Center, Room E253C
  Gretchen McNeely, Tilla Edmunds (Thomson Reuters) , Debra Kolah (Convener of the SLA UX Caucus) and Mike Corbett, will share stories about their UX experiences, and introduce you gently to: relevant terms in UX, information architecture (IA) and service design; elements of design thinking that play into UX discussions; areas where content strategy, IA and UX intersect; the challenges addressed by effective experience design;...
Open Data in Chicago
10:00 AM-11:30 AM (Convention Center, Room E253C, Chicago, IL)
Chicago has recently launched major government transparency efforts.  Learn more about open data initiatives in the Windy City, particularly the work of the Metro Chicago Information Center.SPEAKING:Virginia Carlson, Urban Rubrics
PAM Mathematics Roundtable
10:00 AM-11:30 AM (Convention Center, Room E267, Chicago, IL)
A discussion of issues related to mathematics information and libraries. MODERATING: Jane Holmquist, Princeton University; Andrew Shimp , Yale University
Gov on the Go: Mobile Apps
12:00 PM-1:30 PM (Convention Center, Room E253C, Chicago, IL)
Government information is now being made available on the go via smart phone applications.  This session will explore creating mobile applications using government information as well as one government library's experience evaluating mobile applications for use in an agency setting.SPEAKING:Heidi Peters, DARPA Support Contractor; Katrina Stierholz, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
SLA Webmasters Meetup (Operation Vitality)
12:00 PM-1:30 PM (Convention Center, Room E252, Chicago, IL)
Calling all SLA Unit Webmasters and members of the Webmaster Section (IT Division)! Join Daniel Lee and Quan Logan for this interactive meetup to discuss "Operation Vitality" SLA's effort to adopt Wordpress as the CMS of choice for unit websites. We'll share tips and strategies for optimizing Wordpress, discuss what the future holds and have a general Q & A session. Bring your lunch and your lapto...
SLA Annual Business and Membership Meeting
2:00 PM-3:00 PM (Convention Center, Room E450, Chicago, IL)
Come hear SLA CEO Janice R. Lachance deliver the annual state-of-the association presentation. In addition, SLA President Brent Mai and Treasurer Dan Trefethen will report on the successes and planned initiatives of the association.
Future Now: A Panel Discussion
3:00 PM-4:00 PM (Convention Center, Room E450, Chicago, IL)
SLA 2012 is turning the conference closing session on its head!Join us for a new and exciting panel presentation by leading information pros who will discuss and debate topics that were popular during the conference and will continue to be important throughout 2012. This highly engaging event will build on the momentum created by conference sessions and attendee interactions and will include conte...
Get ready to go to O'Hare to get to bus for 6 or 7pm.
3:30 PM-6:00 PM
Closing Reception
4:30 PM-6:30 PM (TBA, Chicago, IL)
PRICE: $20.00 Member/ $5.00 Student Member/ $20.00 Non-Member The Kentucky Chapter invites all conference attendees to join us in putting the icing on the cake of another successful conference.  We hope you will take this chance to bid adieu to your friends and colleagues before you travel back to your place of origin. We also hope to ease your parting tears by including a drink ticket and a...
Get to janesville at either 8:30 or 9:30.
6:00 PM-9:30 PM
----- Saturday, July 21, 2012 -----
Van galder bus from janesville to Midway
9:30 AM-1:00 PM
http://www.coachusa.com/vangalder/ss.details.asp?action=Lookup&c1=Janesville&s1=WI&c2=Chicago+Midway+Airport&s2=IL&resultId=132612&order=&dayFilter=&scheduleChoice=&sitePageName=%2Fvangalder%2Findex.asp&cbid=504997805425
Frontier Airlines 536 - 3:50pm Midway
2:00 PM-5:30 PM
Return Sat, Jul 21 2hr 29min Total time
Depart Chicago, Illinois Frontier Airlines 536
3:50 PM Midway Airport (MDW)
Arrive Denver, Colorado
5:19 PM Denver International Airport (DEN)

Monday, July 9, 2012

Someone moved my eggs and cheese in a basket to Japan

Yes, that is an interesting title.  I hope the following with explain it a little bit.

I've had a bit of a job change in the last month.  I am now officially the Collections & Electronic Resources Analysis Librarian at the University of Denver.  Thus, I am no longer the Science & Engineering Librarian.  [Someone moved my cheese.]

Way back in 1994, I had the realization that I could be a darn good science librarian because of my love of science, because I like helping people find scientific information, and because I like learning about the scientific publishing business.  However, because of some staffing changes in the library, I was asked to focus my energies in this different position.  [You shouldn't put all of your eggs in one basket.]

1) I read a blog post concerning the impact scientists have via twitter, and Ted Hart wrote that "the beauty of saying you're big in Japan is that no one can ever really verify the statement (or at least that was more true in 1999)."

That rang true for me.  I spent (and still spend) a lot of time and energy working with SLA and the various scientific divisions (PAM Division Chair in 2007 and Sci-Tech Division Chair in 2011) from 1995 to the present so I could be a good science and engineering librarian.  Maybe SLA is like my Japan.  I may be influential within SLA, but that didn't seem to matter in this case.

For the next two thought pieces, Jenica Rogers was the base inspiration.

2) Wayne Bivens-Tatum wrote this post, Services, Stuff, and Size for the Academic Librarian Blog at Princeton.  This was a response to Jenica Rogers who wrote Killing Fear Part 1.

He noted that "by the time people have finished their PhDs and gotten jobs at colleges and universities that require research and publication for tenure, they hardly need librarians to teach them how to do research, which is why they rarely ask for research help, and almost never within their fields of expertise. They don’t need “information literacy,” they need stuff."

Other evidence to support this idea of stuff is the Ithaka Faculty Survey from 2009. Here is a synopsis from IHE.  "The declining visibility and importance of traditional roles for the library and librarian may lead to the faculty primarily perceiving the library as a budget line, rather than an active intellectual partner."

And ACRLog wrote: "Almost three-quarters of humanities faculty indicated teaching support is a very important role of the library, while a notably lower share of social scientists and scientists saw teaching support as very important."

In short, many science and engineering faculty see the academic library as a wallet.  We are there to purchase stuff for them and their students.   It seems like the DU science and engineering faculty think of the library mainly as the purchasing agent as well; they don't really think of the library as a teaching partner.

3) The Library Loon wrote When Heroes Fall which is a response to Jenica's Killing Fear Part 4. The Loon noted:
If we can’t defend Troy, we’ll found Rome. Perhaps the topless tow’rs of Ilium are indeed past their useful life as configured, but they are too hard for even Hector the hero to rebuild from within. Very well. Let us see what sort of tent-city we can erect between the walls and the sea.
Much of this article talks about fighting battles within libraries, and the person asks what kind of risk one should take when those battles are fought.  What is the worst that can happen if one looses?  The thing I like about the quote above is the idea that if we don't succeed to transform the institution from within, we can try to create a new ecosystem that exists outside of the library's or the institution's walls.  Hence, this is the reason I am becoming more and more involved in OA journal publishing initiatives.

If you follow me on twitter, you know that I link to and think a lot about Open Access resources.  That is the ecosystem I would like to support that exists outside of the library walls.  I would love it if more scholars and scientists supported the Open Access movement.  Thankfully, the Academic Spring Revolution took place, and this has gotten more scientists and librarians to talk about methods to open up their research and the supporting data.