UO Science Library Blog

by bwestra | March 7, 2013 · 12:00 am

Winter 2013 Science Library Newsletter

Science Library staff continue to enhance the current physical space, plan for the new science library, develop programs and build our collections. Below are highlights of our recent activities.

New Science Library

Thank you to everyone who brought their thoughts and ideas on the new facility to the New Science Library workshop on January 22. Your feedback is very important in designing the new facility. We are continuing to work on the design phase of the project as we await funding details.

Media:Scape in the Science Library just hours after it was installed

Furniture Demos

To help plan for the new library as well as to enhance the current space we are experimenting with a variety of furniture options. Steelcase has loaned us 30 “Node” chairs for us to try out in classroom B90C&D during the winter 2013 quarter. Steelcase will run assessment at the end of the trial period to gather student and faculty comments on the chairs. More information about the chairs can be found on the Steelcase website.

Steelcase has also loaned to us for a short period of time a Media:Scape table with two monitors. This table allows up to six laptops to be plugged in at one time. Screens from two laptops can be displayed at one time with easy toggling between the remaining laptops.

Facility Enhancements

Additional electrical outlets will be installed in the floor of classroom B90 C&D over spring break.

Collections

We have purchased the Royal Society of Chemistry back files for 1841-2007. We have also purchased the Springer eBook collection going back to 2006 in Astronomy and Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Geology, Earth and Environmental Sciences, and Mathematics.

Highlighted Resource

NSF proposals now require a data management plan. Everything you always wanted to know about these plans can be found on our data management webpage at:
http://library.uoregon.edu/datamanagement/index.html

Tutoring

As a test of possible programming for the current facility as well as the new science library Chemistry and Physics are holding drop in tutoring in room 15A for a total of 35 hours per week. Computer Science is also holding drop-in tutoring sessions in the Klamath computer lab – Klamath XX. We would love to hear your comments and those of your students on how these sessions are working.

Workshops and Classroom Instruction

During fall quarter 2012 we offered classes on Excel, bibliographic management software (Zotero, Mendeley, Papers) and data management. If you would like to arrange for one of these classes or to have a subject specialist speak to your class on resources in your subject area please contact us.

New Staff

The newest edition to our staff is Megan Henning. Megan is responsible for overseeing students at the circulation desk and processing interlibrary loan and Summit requests.

Megan Henning, Resource Sharing Specialist

Non-Traditional Circulating Materials

New items available to check out include a small portable projector, portable white boards and a USB universal phone charger.

Database Trials

Scopus is the world’s largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature with smart tools that track, analyze and visualize research. Tools to sort, refine and quickly identify results help you focus on the outcome of your work. Scopus is a competitor to Web of Science which the Science Libraries currently subscribe to.
Trial Expires March 16, 2013.
Submit comments about this database here:
http://library.uoregon.edu/node/2705
.

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Filed under All sciences, Data management, Information Literacy, Journals, New science library, Newsletters, Research databases, Workshops and training

by bwestra | October 11, 2012 · 11:27 pm

Fall 2012 Science Library Newsletter

We have made a number of improvements to the Science Library over the past year to provide a more welcoming environment and better service to Science faculty, staff and students. We continue to look for ways to make our space inviting and useful. As always, we welcome your suggestions . Below is a summary of our recent activities:

Program Offerings

New! Cross-disciplinary workshops offered by Science Library reference staff

Beginning in week 6 of the fall 2012 term, Science Library reference staff will hold general subject workshops for students and faculty on topics such as Excel and bibliographic management software (Mendeley, for example). Below is the schedule for our first three sessions.

Friday, November 2, 1:00 – 2:00, Science Library room B90: “Manage Your World, Manage Your Citations, and Manage Your Bibliographies: Bibliographies Made Easy” (Demonstration)
Sign up:
https://oregon.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_4ZpHiI7252fFHvL

Friday, November 9, 1:00 – 2:00, Science Library room B90: “Excel”
(Demonstration & Hands-on)
Sign up:
https://oregon.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_b7dcAAxDNAiPh89

Wednesday, November 14, 3:00 – 5:00, Science Library room B90: “Bibliographic Management Software Drop In.” Let us help you set up YOUR laptop for Zotero, Mendley and Papers.
(Hands-on)
Sign up:
https://oregon.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_3ksQpWqD7WYbQQR

Remember that our reference librarians are available to provide other workshops and training for your classes, help with research questions, and give guided individual or group tours of the library.

Charles Darwin Exhibit

From October 22 through November 30 we will feature a four-banner display entitled “Rewriting the Book of Nature: Charles Darwin and the Rise of Evolutionary Theory” which explores Charles Darwin’s vision—“from so simple a beginning, endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being evolved.” The display will be located near the Science Library circulation desk and was developed and produced by the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health and the NIH Office of History Equipment.

New at the Circulation Desk

We now circulate power cords, non-graphing calculators (in addition to graphing calculators), universal phone chargers, a small projector, a small HD camcorder, an engraving device, and several separately-checkable mice and (Dell) laptop chargers.

Equipment

A free-use, stand-alone camera book and document scanner has been installed near the circulation desk. Scans can be emailed or uploaded to a thumb drive.

Two more public computers have been added, bringing our total to 27 (22 PCs and 5 Macs). All of our computers have a broad range of useful software. We have a new 3D monitor with a PlayStation 3 Bluray player on a rolling stand that can be reserved and checked out.

New printers were installed over winter break last year and you can print from your laptop via Wi-Fi. Black and white copies now cost $.08 and color copies cost $.25, all payable via Campus Cash on your UO ID.

Books and More

We recently acquired a selection of programming manuals from the McKenzie Hall computing help center. The books are shelved in the middle of our main reading room in a general subject order.

Databases

Academic Search Premier recently dropped some of the journals that it covers. While most of the lost content was not in the sciences you may come across the occasional article that is unavailable. Remember that you can use Interlibrary Loan to request these items.

Facility

Last fall we reorganized the reference collection and were able to exchange our floor-to-ceiling reference stacks with lower stacks. The result is that we now have a beautiful view of the atrium and more natural light in the library.

Over spring break we installed new carpeting in the reference area and around the atrium windows. In response to student demand we have also installed more electrical outlets along the west wall of the library. We have also rearranged the stacks to allow for more individual and collaborative seating.

We have moved the reference desk to the circulation desk counter to make room for exhibition space and for additional study space.

Ongoing Services and Equipment

You can check out reserve materials, laptops, graphing calculators, Tandberg video conferencing equipment, books, journals, DVD’s, video games, and video game players. We have a physiology/anatomy study room, two reservable classrooms and two reservable group study rooms.

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Filed under All sciences, Newsletters, Workshops and training

by bwestra | May 22, 2012 · 9:51 pm

Support open access to taxpayer-funded research articles

Are you ready to support open access to publicly funded research? There are many compelling arguments in its favor (for instance here, here, and see links in shared post below). If you’re ready to take action, here’s an easy and simple step you can take to advocate for change: sign the online petition to require free access to scientific journal articles arising from taxpayer-funded research.

Below is a post from Heather Piwowar on her Research Remix blog that provides some other informative links, and gives a few details about to the petition.

It is on a front page of Wired, detailed in today’s Guardian, has lots of twitter buzz, and is described in a no-holds-barred video.

If we get to 25k signatures in 30 days — and the goal is to blow that out of the water — then the petition goes to Obama’s desk for a response. This is a HUGE opportunity to bring real research results to highschools, the Galapagos, our parents, startup companies, ourselves when we are between jobs…. not to mention better research opportunities through increased access to text mining etc.

Imagine if all of the research papers you wanted to read were available, full text, for searching by hand and with computers? It is huge. It is done right now by the NIH for preprints, with no demonstrable financial hardship to the research system… the plan is to extend this successful program to all federal agencies, including the NSF.

Anyone of any citizenship can sign. This isn’t just a researcher’s issue… tell your friends and family.

Please sign, and spread the word. More info. Here’s how I asked my mom to sign, in case that helps