As we were reminded at the registration desk, this was the 30th anniversary of CIL. Like the previous ones, it was a great conference. I attended lots of interesting and educational sessions on subjects like:
MOOCs and their effects on libraries
Makerspaces
3D printers in libraries
Bibliometrics–a subject near and dear to my heart dating back to my initial experiments when I was working in the AT&T Bell Laboratories Library Network in the 1970s and 1980s. (Many searchers should be able to turn up a couple of papers that I wrote on the subject.)
New uses of social media in libraries
E-books
Graph searching
Personas
… And the list goes on!
Of course, there was the usual Exhibit Hall, and it seemed to have more exhibitors and be better attended this year that in the past couple of years–no doubt a reflection in the improving economy. I had fun in the Exhibit Hall participating again in another ITI Author Book Signing (couldn’t resist getting that in!).
Kudos to Jane Dysart and her team of organizers for coming up with another winner!
So as CIL enters its 4th decade, what will we find? You will just have to come back next year to find out. The place is the same–the Washington Hilton. Here are the dates–mark your calendars now!
Stacy Bruss, Reference Librarian at the National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST), described how she used bibliometric analysis in the NIST library to develop the collection. (The conference website contains supplementary material with details of Bruss’s methods and sample outputs.)
Annual Collection Impact Study Methodology
The annual collection impact study examines cited references and NIST publication authors to measure the impact of the collection. Doing this manually used to take 5 librarians a month. Now, using bibliometric analyses, it takes Bruss only 16 hours. Here are the key fields measured (for journals–books are not a focus of the NIST collection):
Study Output
Here are the study findings and outcomes:
Study Output and Findings
Study Outcomes
Outlying data were checked to see why journals are not in the collection; for example, a highly cited article on astrophysics by a NIST reseracher was published in a journal that was not in the library’s collection. But astrophysics is not a significant NIST area of research, so the journal was not added.
It was a surprise to realize how much historical journals (over 25 years old) continue to be used in current research.
The biannual research study is done every other year. It looks at all NIST indexed journals over the past two years and correlates citations with journal subscriptions.
Biannual Research Study Methodology
Here are the study output and findings:
Study Output
Study Findings
Many journals are obtained under contract, so changes sometimes cannot be made. It is important to note that this study prioritized journals based on downloads, publications, and citations, but not costs.
Some journals are designated as “core journals”, and those not subscribed to are often purchased if they have many downloads.
Collection Insights
Collection insights show where most of the downloads come from; the above example shows which publisher’s journals are cited the most. Journals from the top publisher are cited more than 3 times more than those of the one in second place. This study gives evidence-based data for subscription decisions. Formerly, printed surveys were sent to the researchers, but they never suggested dropping anything and just added titles! These data showed that the survey was not representative of actual use, so it was dropped, which was supported by the researchers. The advantage of a survey like this is that budget changes can be made quickly.
Archive Journal Holdings Study Methodology
The methodology for an archive journal holdings study. has been developed, but the study has not yet been conducted. Archive journals take up 20,500 feet of shelving in the NIST library. It is difficult for researchers to shift their work practices if they must come to the library to get an article in an archive journal or through ILL.
Here are the anticipated outcomes of the study:
Anticipated Study Outcomes
The NIST collection contains materials that may not be available anywhere else in the world; they must continue to be held somewhere. The archive journal holdings study will identify “nice to have” items as well as “must have” ones.
Below are the types of tools and resources used in these bibliometric studies. Note that Google Scholar does not work very well in working with bibliometric data, and Excel 2013 has a relational database built into it.
Tools and Resources Used
Top Takeaways
Summary
Bruss concluded that bibliometrics has come a long way and is finding new uses in libraries; they are “not your mother’s bibliometrics any more”!
James King, Branch Chief and Information Architect at the NIH Library described the NIH and its library, which has 48 employees working in three branches. Teams are focused on strategic and operational issues. The NIH library serves as a virtual organization for other organizations.
A key component of the NIH library is the “Informationist Program” that started in 2001 which has 15 employees. An Informationist is a technical specialist working as part of the library that can be embedded with a research team. They spend 75% of their time with the research groups and the rest in the library. Thus, they can deliver more targeted solutions than a generalized IT department, and bring information architecture and specialized solutions to their teams, although they do work with the IT department. They deliver services in these five areas:
“Informationist” Service Areas
Sample projects include development of APIs for the Pandemic Influenza Digital Archive (PIDA), creation of the International Alzheimer’s Disease Research Portfolio (IADRP), digitization for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Library, and community building.
Libraries are well positioned to be advocates for their services:
The NIH library is hosting the Drupal government conference, Drupal Gov Days and Capital Camp, on July 22-24, 2015 at NIH in Bethesda, MD.
A “Technology Sandbox” was developed in a space formerly occupied by books where people can collaborate.
Technology “Sandbox”
Technology is being offered as a service.
A 3D printer pilot was carried out. It was so successful that two more printers were acquired.136 successful models were printed.
Theresa Dillon, InfoDesk Team Lead at the MITRE Corporation, described how 3D printing was used to redefine the MITRE library. InfoDesk Services is the first point of contact for answers to research questions and document delivery. Here is a photo of the library at MITRE’s Bedford, MA location.
MITRE’s Bedford, MA Library
The open environment of the library encourages collaboration.
3D printers arrived in August 2014. Some staff wondered why 3D printers belong in the library:
Why Offer 3D Printing?
The 3D printing service is self service on a first-come first-served basis. There is no cost to users. 3D printing is for work-related uses; weapons or objects covered by copyright are not allowed to be printed. To get started, you need a printer, some filament, and tools. Here is a photo of the library’s installation.
3D Printer Installation
Some things the printer has been used for:
3D Printer Uses
Marketing and promotion of the 3D printer consisted of display screens, signage, employee news articles, demos, social media, and displays of 3D printed objects. Professional 3D printers produce higher quality objects than consumer desktop models. Here are some of the things that have been printed:
3D Printed Objects
The printer has sparked lots of conversation, with a positive reception. It has brought awareness of InfoCenter spaces and InfoDesk services. Clients have been brought to the InfoCenter to see the printer. The printer has been a success for the InfoCenter. People are very excited about the collaboration and the problem solving. Downsides are that the device needs maintenance and is often down, printing can be slow, and some people need a lot of of instruction and help.
things to consider when setting up a 3D printing service:
Considerations
Safety: ventilation is needed because fumes are generated.
Noise: the printer can be noisy
There is a lot of market volatility resulting in a lot of churn.
Downtime must be planned.
Intellectual property: objects can be covered by copyright. Liability can be against the person making the object.
From the user’s perspective, here are some important considerations :
Considerations From the User’s Perspective
The more plug & play the better.
Common problems include extruder clogging, curling, surface quality, poor extrusion, filament tangling, power outages. People’s expectations must be tempered. Have some backup extruders for when they’re clogged. Sometimes jobs must be left running overnight, so when a filament tangles and breaks, the job will fail.
3D printers have elevated the credibility of the InfoDesk and have improved it in the eyes of management. They are helping them to meet non-library users and are an exciting addition to their services.
What’s next at the InfoDesk:
What’s Next?
Resources:
Resources
Conferences to follow: MakerCon, 3D Printer World, Consumer Electronics Show
