SciTech Library Question

.: With her permission, I am happy to present Susan Salo's report from the ASEE Conference in Chicago in June 2006. Susan is a CISTI Information Specialist and is Head of the NRC Information Centre in London ON, and is a member of the Engineering Libraries Division of ASEE.

ASEE Main Plenary, Advancing Education: Launching a Year of Dialogue
Not unique to the librarians division, this panel session was set up to launch a dialogue on key issues and concerns in American engineering scholarship and education.
Key points of interest (not political):
Promotion of K-12 engineering is and should be occurring
ASEE is sponsoring its 5th Global Colloquium for Engineering
Teachers are getting out into industry and virtually having coop terms; the faculty are learning to be engineers

Get Acquainted Session
I found myself deep in a discussion on library assessment. Some things that came up:
(University of New Mexico) During a particular assessment project they had great support from the University management, the Regent(s) showed up, other very important people provided support and funds during the planning phase. However, during the assessment phase, they only had 4 people volunteer to participate.
(Colorado School of Mines) Same complaints on a regular basis over the years: printers, weak collection, hours.
(Penn State) They tried giving questionnaires to every fifth person who logged in. They were successful with a one-minute questionnaire given to people as they were leaving the library.
(Missouri-Rolla) Bring in a consultant.
(MIT) 1.5 hour student interviews
(Texas A&M) They did usability studies. Problem: Pre-tested on grads, then found out undergrads did things very differently

Continue reading "Conference Report: ASEE Engineering Libraries Division - Chicago June 2006 - by Susan Salo" »

Posted by Randy Reichardt at 10:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

.: For those attending ALA Midwinter in San Antonio later this month (this does not include me - how do people afford to go to multiple conferences each year?), please note the following, as posted on STS-L:

The Science & Technology Section (STS), Publishers/Vendors Relations Discussion Group will be hosting a discussion on "Best Practices for Electronic Resources". The focus will be the Punchlist of Best Practices for Electronic Resources prepared by Engineering Libraries Division of the American Society for Engineering Education. This is the first time that this document will feature in a public forum.

On behalf of ASEE's Engineering Libraries Division, and as one of the original group of seven ELDers who created the Punch List, please be assured that we want as many librarians, publishers, vendors, etc. as possible to review and comment on the PL (see the comment form on the Punch List web page...). We very much believe this document is, and will continue to be, a work in progress. As conditions in the electronic publishing industry change, the Punch List will be adapted to address those changes, encouraging and supporting what we collectively believe to be best practices in particular areas.

And to make sure that happens, in a decision at this past summer's ASEE conference, ELD elected to spin off what had been the ad hoc task force that created the Punch List into an ongoing Scholarly Communication Committee. That 15 person committee, which I was asked to initially chair, will be working, via subgroups, on a number of projects, with the ongoing refining and enhancing of the PL being one of them. More info about that committee and our activities, some of which we believe will be of interest to STS members, will be posted to STS-L and elsewhere sometime after the first of the year (and presumably before Midwinter).
I'm looking forward to the PL discussion in the session at San Antonio.

Posted by Randy Reichardt at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

.: From various discussion groups:

This is your chance to tell us what you want to learn about! The results from this survey help us plan conference programs and other continuing education opportunities on topics that are current and interesting to you.

It is available at: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=445321287697
The survey is only open until November 18, 2005. Please take a few minutes to fill it out.

ALA's ACRL Science and Technology Section, the American Society for Engineering Education Engineering Libraries Division, and the Special Libraries Association Science-Technology Division are collaborating on this survey. Your participation will help these organizations as they plan for continuing education events in the future.

Questions about this survey should be sent to:
Terri Freedman, Head, Collier Science Library, Bryn Mawr College, tfreedma AT brynmawr.edu

If you have technical difficulties taking this survey, please contact:
Betsy Spackman, Life Sciences Librarian, Brigham Young University, betsy_spackman AT byu.edu

Thanks for your participation!

Posted by Randy Reichardt at 10:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

.: From an STS-L e-mail: "Want to learn more about the latest topics in the sci/tech library world? Here's your chance to tell us what you want to learn. ALA's ACRL Science and Technology Section, the American Society for Engineering Education Engineering Libraries Division, and the Special Libraries Association Science-Technology Division are collaborating on this survey. Your participation will help these organizations plan relevant conference programs and other continuing education. Follow this link to take the survey:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=445321287697

Questions about this survey should be sent to:

Terri Freedman, Head, Collier Science Library, Bryn Mawr College, tfreedma AT brynmawr.edu

If you have technical difficulties taking this survey, please contact:
Betsy Spackman, Life Sciences Librarian, Brigham Young University, betsy_spackman AT byu.edu

Thanks for your participation! The survey will be open until November 18, 2005."

Posted by Randy Reichardt at 9:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

:: The ASEE Conference Blog: Portland 2005, is available. The Engineering Libraries Division's program includes links to a number of presentations from the conference last week. Included among the presentations is one by STLQ contributor George Porter, and Hema Ramachadran, Opening the Vaults of Academe.

Posted by Randy Reichardt at 9:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

:: The Engineering Libraries Division of the American Society for Engineering Education hosts a Duplicates Exchange on the Internet. It is not a listserv; lists are sent to the coordinator and are distributed to the current members of the exchange.

Engineering librarians who would like to get the lists or submit their own lists should send lists and/or e-mail addresses to me, the coordinator. Lists should be sent as e-mail messages and include a statement that tells users how to obtain issues and whether postage will need to be reimbursed.

For more information see the enclosed Microsoft Word document or go to the ASEE/ELD Duplicates Exchange web page: http://eld.lib.ucdavis.edu/duplicates.php

Please contact Orion Pozo if you or someone at your library would like to receive and/or submit lists of engineering-related duplicates.

Orion Pozo, Coordinator
ASEE/ELD Duplicates Exchange
NCSU Libraries, Box 7111
NC State Univ., Raleigh, NC 27695
Email: orion_pozo AT ncsu DOT edu
AOL IM: FOrionPozo
http://eld.lib.ucdavis.edu/duplicates.php
tel: 919-515-7557 fax: 919-513-1108

Posted by Randy Reichardt at 10:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

:: Looks like it's an All Awards Tuesday in the engineering library world.

ASEE Engineering Libraries Division Awards Committee Call for Nominations

The ELD Awards Committee is seeking nominations for three annual awards. Nominations are an essential part of the awards process. The committee welcomes input from engineering librarians and other colleagues. The awards are listed below along with basic summaries and their respective requirements. A link to the ELD Awards web page is also included. Send all nominations via regular and/or e-mail to:

John C. Teleha
F.D. Bluford Library
North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University
1601 East Market Street
Greensboro, NC 27411
teleha AT ncat.edu

Continue reading "ASEE Engineering Library Division Call For Award Nominations" »

Posted by Randy Reichardt at 9:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

:: Much discussion has ensued recently on ELDNET-L, regarding the coverage of the annual proceedings of the American Society for Engineering Education. The 1997 and 1998 proceedings are in Compendex, but some editions have not been indexed yet. Rafael Sidi, of Elsevier Engineering Information, Inc, responded on ELDNET-L:

ASEE Conference Proceedings are an intended part of the Compendex coverage, but due to acquisition hurdles, some editions (2003,2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1996) have not been indexed. We place a high priority upon adding ASEE Conference Proceedings and are currenty in the process of acquiring the missing years. The content will appear in Compendex shortly.

Sincerely,
Rafael Sidi
VP, Publishing Engineering :: Elsevier Engineering Information, Inc. ::
r DOT sidi AT elsevier DOT com

Posted by Randy Reichardt at 2:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

:: Another post from Jay Bhatt, which appeared on a few listservs, may be of interest to some of you. Jay writes:

I will be the moderator for the session on 'Vendor Partneships with Engineering Libraries' during the next year's ASEE conference in Portland, Oregon. The theme for this year's conference is 'Exploring the World of Engineering Education'. The Engineering Libraries Division seeks papers related to innovations in the presentation and delivery of information resources and services for engineering constituents.

Guidelines for Abstracts Submission:

http://www.englib.cornell.edu/eld/programguidelines.html

Submission of abstracts through CAPS. The CAPS system is now open at http://www.asee.org/caps. It will remain open until October 6, 2004.

Important Deadlines

Abstract Deadlines

August 2, 2004 - Abstract submission opens via CAPS.
October 6, 2004 (3 pm EST) - Abstract submission closes.
October 8 - Ocotober 22, 2004 - Abstract review period

Brief description of my session:

Vendor partnerhips with engineering libraries

Effective partnerships with vendors can often be instrumental in promoting library resources to their faculty and students. In that sense, they can play a crucial role in reaching out to faculty and students with not only the vendor's own resource(s) but also other library services and its website as well. In this particular session, I am inviting presentations on such partnerships where engineering libraries have collaborated with electronic resource vendors or any other types of library vendors to plan, organize and carry out related activities for their faculty and students. In a way it may not be just outreach but also can encompass possible instructional and information literacy related activities emerging from such partnerships. I am also inviting submissions on any future or envisioned such partnerships and in that case, what you plan to achieve in the process as a team.

Continue reading "SLA-ENG: ASEE Engineering Libraries Division (ELD) - Call for Abstracts for the Session on Vendor Partnerships" »

Posted by Randy Reichardt at 8:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)