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newsletternewsletter Volume 3 ■ VNumberolume 1 2 ■ ■ NumberJune 2005 1 ■ ■ ISSN:April 20031549-3725

In this Issue Welcome features Dear Colleagues, 2-3 Changes for Librarians It gives me great pleasure to introduce this issue of 4-6 Embracing Change at Singapore’s Library Connect, writing in late May from my Oxford office Newest Polytechnic Library where, outside the window, February and June weather seem to 8-9 Special Libraries Association be competing for dominance with intermittent gales wreaking Launches CLICK University havoc on the tree blossom. All in all a typical British spring! Michael Mabe research watch If the seasons are telling us that change is in the air, publishers and librarians can be in no doubt that change has been the order of the day for a 7 Leadership: The More We Know number of years. This forms one of the main themes of this issue of Library Connect. the More We Need to Know Bas Savenije of Utrecht University looks at the changing role of libraries and librarians center of attention in the increasingly digital universe, while Celestine Lau embraces some revolutionary technological and cultural changes in her Singapore Republic Polytechnic Library 10-11 Five Quick Questions for Bernard Aleva, where encouraging readers to talk means saying “Shhh!” is a thing of the past. At Managing Director, Engineering, Elsevier, Netherlands times of great change we all yearn for direction and guidance, so it seems entirely appropriate that the other theme of this issue is on leadership in the library world, 10-11 Researchers Speak Up: I appreciate with a fascinating article by Peter Hernon of Simmons College, Boston. libraries because . . .

Although most of my time at Elsevier is devoted to dialogue with scholars, their community connections research funders and institutions, I also attend conferences in Europe and the US 12-13 Success Story: RSS Moves into the where librarians, publishers, vendors and scholars meet on common ground. My Mainstream at the University of main interest as a researcher and commentator is in encouraging a deeper and wider Alberta Libraries understanding by all involved parties of the forces that govern scholarly communication. Many of you may have heard me speak (or read articles I've written) about these 13 Ask UCD: Should my library staff have some usability experience? matters at the Charleston Library Conference, our own Library Connect seminars or other occasions. What strikes me above all is the continuing need for communication behind the scenes whether it be face-to-face, electronically or in print. I hope you will feel as I do that the Elsevier Librarians Speak Up: How does your Library Connect program and these newsletters are a major contribution to 14-15 background as a librarian help you and your furthering that essential dialogue. colleagues improve customer focus at Elsevier?

As E. M. Forster wrote in Howard’s End (although probably not with us in mind): 19 Full Moon “Connect, . . . only connect.” on the road Best Wishes, 16-17 On the Road in Brazil, China, France, Italy and the US

18 MLA from the Inside Out Michael A. Mabe staying connected Director of Academic Relations, Elsevier, Oxford, UK Visiting Professor, Information Science, City University, London, UK 20 Upcoming Events

Library Connect Practical Assistance Pamphlets 1 15 Ways to Promote Effective Use of Online Resources Coming Soon! 2 How to Get Published in LIS journals: A Practical Guide 8 Library Marketing Resources: An Annotated Bibliography 3 15 Ways to Support Your Authors 4 Ways to Use Journal Articles Published by Elsevier 5 How to Design Library Web Sites to Maximize Usability Library Connect pamphlets are available online or in print from the Elsevier booth at upcoming How Libraries Are Training Users on E-resources: Best Practices 6 conferences (see page 20). What Counts and What Doesn't? An Insider's Guide to Usage Reports 7 www.elsevier.com/libraryconnect

Library Connect Editorial Office ● 525 B Street, Suite 1900, San Diego, CA 92101, USA ● Phone: +1-619-699-6379 ● Fax +1-619-699-6380 ● [email protected] LC NL 3_2B 6/1/05 9:38 AM Page 2

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Changes for Librarians Developments in technology and resulting irrespective of the location where that changes in user behavior are transforming information is physically stored. Of course, both the library and publishing worlds. libraries still buy books. But the number Founded in 1584, Utrecht University of books bought is decreasing annually, Library is older than the university it as is the number of books circulated. serves. Library Connect invited Bas Savenije, With the majority of scholarly journals the university’s librarian to share his Bas Savenije now electronically available, many thoughts on some of the many recent libraries are cancelling print subscriptions changes and their implications for the its physical collection. They want to in favor of electronic access. In addition, library and its staff. search, retrieve and process information, a growing number of peer-reviewed and they need computer facilities to do journals are available without a Bas Savenije, University Librarian, Utrecht so. Consequently, the library building is subscription fee as a result of the University, Utrecht, Netherlands becoming a learning resource center. worldwide Open Access movement. Back office processes and However, libraries are not restricting The changing role of libraries financial issues themselves to simply providing access. O ver the past few decades developments It is also their task to provide additional Back office processes such as selection in information technology have brought services. They provide search facilities and acquisition are changing dramatically. many changes to university library enabling users to search simultaneously To a large extent, these processes are services and infrastructure. in journal packages from multiple being replaced by license negotiations. The financial aspects of licenses differ The first wave of library computerization publishers. They develop personal alerting systems according to profiles greatly from traditional subscriptions, took place in the seventies. Manual making it necessary to develop new back-room activities, such as acquisition, defined by users themselves. They select (often with the help of research financial models for the distribution distribution and cataloguing, became of costs within the university. computer-controlled activities. This groups) the relevant open access period also saw the introduction of resources for each user group. They Where printed journals are replaced various electronic databases and the develop portals to help users search by electronic ones, the handling of online public access catalogue (OPAC). and organize information sources documents is also changing. A rational relevant to their analysis of the workflow processes work. And they give Finding themselves in a competitive involved will be necessary before advice whenever it libraries understand how to manage “environment, libraries are encouraged to innovate is needed. this particular change efficiently. outside traditional library functions to maintain In providing all of Competition their competitive advantage. these services and working to inte- Out of the blue, libraries are suddenly faced with competition. Publishers are During the second wave of library grate them with research and learning, ” libraries continue to facilitate universi- developing services directly for end computerization, which began in the users. Google has developed Google nineties, the focus was on the deployment ties’ primary processes. Scholar: a search engine directed of computer networks providing access towards scholarly information. However, to remote electronic information. Since Some important implications the library’s competitive advantage then, access to electronic information is for the library remains knowledge of research and no longer limited to so-called secondary learning, and direct contacts with faculty information. Primary information has Buildings and students. This should enable also become available electronically. libraries to create added value around On the one hand faculty are visiting the new and existing information sources In this new electronic world one library building less and less frequently. in the form of services tailored to each far-reaching consequence is the In STM disciplines especially, faculty specific target group. decreasing prominence of the library’s rely heavily on journals which are now physical collection and the corresponding electronically available. On the other Innovation increase in the importance of information hand, large numbers of students still Finding themselves in a competitive reference. The library is becoming a visit the library, but their reason for environment, libraries are encouraged gateway, referring users to information doing this is no longer primarily to use to innovate outside traditional library

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As the library is constantly changing, a “different kind of manager is needed: one who is About Utrecht University Library able to both create and implement change. Utrecht University Library (UBU), founded in 1584, is an umbrella functions to maintain their competitive also for new” developments. Libraries organization of Utrecht University advantage. A good example of this is often use open source software (for Libraries. Part of the library is the creation of institutional repositories: repositories, for example), nevertheless situated in the centre of Utrecht, archives of universities’ research this still calls for devoted IT staff. part at De Uithof campus site. output, collected and preserved by the Changes in the role of the librarian library and made accessible through The UBU collection is very varied, in university websites. A number of As the library is constantly changing, line with the wide range of courses libraries are also developing services a different kind of manager is needed: and research projects organized by to enable their faculty to publish one who is able to both create and the university. It contains approximately online without using the services of implement change. Financial 4.5 million books and journal volumes. traditional publishers. expertise also becomes more important. In addition, UBU provides access to Not only because of the different an increasing amount of electronic Innovative projects such as these licensing agreements, but also as a information, including about 7,000 place increased demands on technical consequence of decreasing budgets. periodicals available in full text. infrastructure. Libraries are making Management information and www.library.uu.nl use of a growing number of systems benchmarking are becoming beyond those traditionally used by important issues for the library. department heads are also needed. the library. And all this knowledge should be kept In summary, one might say that while up to date. Changing demands on library staff the library may need less staff in the Service staff now find themselves back office, there is also a general Last but not least, library staff need confronted by a growing demand need for staff with higher qualifications: to be more flexible than in the past. for help with the use of computers: user-driven, IT knowledge, knowledge Libraries were once a stable working technical questions, questions of the university, knowledge of environment. Now the only thing one about interfaces, but also questions where the library is going. Stronger can be sure of is that the library will concerning the search for information. management skills for managers and keep on changing. ■

Libraries used to be collection-driven. In past decades they have become Explore More more and more driven by demand, but as library use becomes more and more About the role of university libraries in publishing: interactive, libraries must take into Savenije, J.S.M., & Smith, J. (2003). Towards new models in academic publishing. account the demands of individual Proceedings of the 11th Bobcatsss Symposium. Information Policy and the users. This requires a different attitude European Union. Hogeschool van Amsterdam, Nicolaus Copernicus University and many libraries are organizing Torun, 209-220. www.library.uu.nl/staff/savenije/publicaties/bobcatsss.htm training sessions or workshops to help About SPARC: their staff meet these new demands. Savenije, J.S.M. (2004). The SPARC initiative: A catalyst for change. LIBER Quarterly, 14 Information specialists and subject (3/4), 412-439. www.library.uu.nl/staff/savenije/publicaties/ticer2004.htm librarians now have to behave like About the structure and reorganization of complex, hybrid libraries: account managers. They should possess a thorough knowledge of Savenije, J.S.M. (2002). An organisational model for university libraries in transition. their target groups and their demands, LIBER Quarterly, 12, 245 - 259. and maintain a network of faculty www.library.uu.nl/staff/savenije/publicaties/organisationalmodel.htm members valuable for the library. About changes in library services: In the back office the need for library Savenije, J.S.M., & Grygierczyk, N.J. (2001). Libraries without resources: staff in cataloguing and document Towards personal collections. Collection Building, 20, (1). handling is somewhat decreasing. www.library.uu.nl/staff/savenije/publicaties/jerusalem.htm The handling of electronic resources is relatively less intensive, but also In 2003, Bas Savenije co-authored the following article charting development of a cost/benefit financial model for academic libraries transitioning to a digital environment: less routine and, especially with new licenses, rather complicated. Kollöffel, J., Kaandorp, A, et al. (2005). Developing a cost/benefit financial model for hybrid libraries. Serials, 16 (1), 41-49. Increasing demand is also placed on IT staff: to manage library systems and June 2005 Library Connect newsletter 3 | LC NL 3_2B 6/1/05 9:38 AM Page 4

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Embracing Change at Singapore’s Newest Polytechnic Library us to keep up with our users’ tastes without having to invest too much money.

In 2002, Celestine Lau joined Singapore’s Republic Polytechnic The library embraces technology Library to help plan and prepare for its opening in 2003. As a to enhance services. For example, librarian, she works closely with academic staff to ensure library we provide users with remote services support the university’s learning environment and communication with library staff via respond to the changing needs and expectations of its users. instant messaging for inquiries and Library Connect reporter Bee Lan Swee, an account development help. We also support the campus’ manager with Elsevier Singapore, asked Celestine to share paperless concept by relying on the some of her library’s innovations and experiences with us. library website and email to relay Celestine Lau announcements and messages.

LC: Would you say the Republic Polytechnic Library is a We use the existing library system to extend our loan traditional library? services beyond books and other multimedia resources to audio-visual equipment such as digital cameras, video Celestine Lau: RP Library is not a traditional library in the cameras and webcams. This exposes our students to the sense that we don’t subscribe to the ‘silence is golden’ rule. use of technology, making them more techno-savvy in Unlike some other libraries, it is not just a place for study and the workplace. research but a vibrant place for discussion and for exchange of ideas. It is a place to relax and a place to learn. And we are always open to experimenting with new technologies to tweak traditional library systems At the library we cater our services to suit RP’s ‘techno-savvyness‘. and functions. We don’t have recommended reading lists or red-spotted books due to the nature of the problem-based learning LC: If you were to describe a library you worked in five or approach taken here, and thus we have a wide range of ten years ago and the library you work in now, what would titles/authors for each subject. Every student and staff be the most significant changes you’ve seen? member at the Republic Polytechnic has a personal laptop and wireless card which enable them to access electronic Lau: Other than how technology has changed the ways databases anytime, anywhere when logged onto the information can be stored, organized and retrieved (which is polytechnic’s network. ongoing), libraries in the past were not as customer-focused or user-driven as they are today. We preferred to adhere to our traditional ways. In the past, users had to adapt to the Most importantly, one of the key forces for change library system. But over time, libraries (as with other types should“ come from within the library, i.e. librarians. of organizations) have realized we need to continuously rethink and reinvent our role and how we deliver our Librarians need to recognize and accept change but services. Librarians now need to adapt to technology and also initiate change to improve our profession and initiate changes to keep up with our users’ changing needs our services. and expectations. LC: What do you see as the forces driving change in a LC: What’s different” about the Republic Polytechnic Library? library environment? Lau: Well, to begin with, we believe in doing things differently. Lau: I see these forces as external market forces — our users Also, our students learn through the problem-based learning and their needs, for example, but also technological changes. (PBL) approach and the library is a supporting arm of the PBL Most importantly, one of the key forces for change should pedagogy. In fact, we go beyond supporting our students’ come from within the library, i.e. librarians. Librarians need academic pursuits. We also support the polytechnic’s belief to recognize and accept change but also initiate change to in holistic education by providing musical instruments to improve our profession and our services. support our students’ extracurricular activities, as well as LC: We’ve read that the polytechnic’s objective is to add holding interactive and enrichment programs in the library. value to the student’s intellectual make-up in terms of Another distinct difference is the fact that the RP Library caters problem-solving skills and lifelong learning attitude. How to the leisure reading needs of our users with a leased collection does the library achieve that objective? from the National Library on a rotational basis. This allows Lau: The librarian’s role at RP is, in fact, no different from the familiar librarian role, i.e. librarians do not know the answer to

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We encourage discussion in open reading areas everything, but we can show “rather than restricting students to silence. However, LC: How involved is the users how and where to find we still provide a quiet reading room, one that library with the learning it. Our library plays a major environment online? part in exposing our students contains the silence rather than the noise — Does this approach to the vast resources the reverse of the traditional library. encourage or increase available for exploration. To use of online resources? ensure they don’t get lost in the maze of information, we Lau: RP is a paperless campus, something the library strongly equip them with information searching skills which will arm ” supports. We encourage the use of online and electronic them to suceed in PBL at RP and beyond. information via our databases as much as we do with the LC: Can you say a bit more about problem-based learning print collection. Since every student is equipped with a and how the library goes about supporting it? laptop and wireless connection, staff and students can access our databases anywhere on campus and even from home. Lau: PBL is a self-directed learning process in which students PBL does not restrict students to referring to a particular learn investigative and exploratory skills that bring about reading list or specific title when solving problems, and learning and the curiosity to learn more. The PBL approach we find our online resources are as popular as our print returns the responsibility, ownership and joy of learning to collection as a source of reference. the student. True learning comes about when learners make sense of their own experience and thinking by creating, and LC: How has the polytechnic’s embrace of new technologies not simply receiving, knowledge. At RP, we’ve set up a learning affected library services? environment and culture in which our students can learn more Lau: With everyone hooked up, there is now improved effectively by engaging in collaborative and metacognitive communication and flow of information with our users activities. Students work in teams throughout each day to both within and beyond the library walls. We also keep up build various approaches and solutions to the problems with the times by providing the latest technology tools to they receive. A holistic assessment approach, including daily our users. reflections and peer evaluations, is complemented by regular facilitator feedback to help students improve. LC: What innovative services or facilities are available in the library?

Lau: As I mentioned earlier, we loan out audio-visual equipment such as IM (instant messaging) communication and webcams. In addition you’ll find PCs equipped with multimedia tools for conversion and editing of video recordings readily available in our library. Such tools are usually only available to students in restricted laboratories.

LC: What else goes on in the library?

We cater to leisure as well as academic needs of our users. The library’s services and facilities offer something for every student. There’s a vast collection of books, magazines, The Reflection Zone is the only quiet area within the lively library. Students use DVDs and online resources to choose from. The library is this area if they prefer to do their work in silence. equipped with an Xbox station, music stations, plasma TV and DVD players to help students unwind. The library has been designed with an array of ergonomic furniture and spaces to facilitate PBL group discussions We also provide self-check machines, scanners and a among students. We encourage discussion in open reading 24-hour book returning service for the convenience of areas rather than restricting students to silence. However, all students and staff. Our online catalogue allows users we still provide a quiet reading room, one that contains the to check their borrower records and collection details silence rather than the noise — the reverse of the traditional anytime, as well as make reservations and renewals. library. We also have power points throughout the library All these services, like the online databases and other together with campus-wide wireless capability enabling electronic resources, are well used. Internet connection anywhere, and facilitating discussion and access to information.

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LC: What services or Lau: Our main aim is to support the PBL concept our users facilities have proved work within. However, we do let our users know what sets most popular our library apart from the traditional library, most of them are with students? used to libraries being quiet and solemn. In turn, they have shown us innovative ways of using the library to further Lau: The discussion enhance our contribution to the PBL system, for example, areas and of course having facilitators conduct coaching sessions and discussions the Xbox station. with students. LC: How do you go LC: RP has a big change coming up when it relocates to a about ensuring you’re In RP Library it’s a common sight to see groups of new campus in 2006. What will the new library be like? students engaged in discussion. always switched on to what your users want? Lau: There will be a new two-story library with the latest stock of books to meet our students’ research needs. Other than the Lau: We work closely not only with academic staff but also expansion in space, the library will continue to provide the with students, observing information-seeking behaviors same range of services to our students. Where applicable, and obtaining regular feedback. Annual user surveys are we’ll update our services to keep up with the times. For conducted and feedback from students and staff is looked into example, we’ve realized that music stations stocked with immediately. We also use feedback channels such as the Staff CDs are now out of date and our users are into MP3. This Suggestion Scheme and Quality Service Management is one area we’ll be improving on as we move into this Program. In addition, we hire student assistants and work exciting new phase for the library. ■ very closely with them.

Significantly, it helps that the library is always accessible About the Republic Polytechnic Library to staff and students beyond its walls, especially via The Republic instant messaging. Polytechnic (RP), LC: How do you work with faculty? Singapore’s 5th Polytechnic, Lau: We have regular staff-sharing sessions from which we welcomed its first gather faculty feedback and exchange and share new ideas students in July and ways to improve our library services. 2003. Education LC: What are the demographics of your user group? at RP is not just about classroom Lau: We have a mix of local and foreign students which learning. It’s about The entrance to the Republic Polytechnic adds flavor to campus life. Our students are your usual hip embracing a new Library reflects its modern interior. and trendy polytechnic teenagers. But they are somewhat learning pedagogy, different as they are experiencing the PBL regime and enjoy living in a highly conducive learning environment, and the privilege of wireless connection on campus. Therefore, engaging in diverse activities to support the well-rounded it’s particularly important for the library to be a hip and cool growth and development of the individual. place where these teens want to hang out. The library supports this new learning environment LC: Have you had to recruit people with non-traditional library with an innovative design and concept and a growing skills to support the services you offer? collection of about 32,000 volumes. Equipped with Lau: No, but we have a lot of support staff in other furniture and spaces designed to facilitate problem-based departments with whom we work closely. Their expertise learning (PBL) discussions and brainstorm sessions, is just as important as traditional library skills in making the library, like the rest of the campus, is completely our library what it is today. wireless, offering mobile access to electronic information and the Internet. Experiential and exploratory learning LC: How do you market the range of services offered by as part of the PBL process is encouraged at the library your library? through multimedia and multisensory mediums like Lau: A number of ways, including announcing new arrivals musical instruments and computer games. and other news on the library webpage, emails, e-newsletters, At RP, learning takes many forms and no two learning orientation briefings to staff and students, information skills experiences are the exactly the same. Coming to RP is workshops and staff-sharing sessions. about experiencing a unique culture and environment LC: Do you get the word out to your users that your library is created to foster future leaders. a pioneering, cutting-edge sort of place? www.rp.edu.sg

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RESEARCH WATCH

Leadership: The More We Know, the More We Need to Know LIS schools are introducing courses and other educational opportunities related to In Library Connect’s new column, Research Watch, editors of leadership. What do the courses cover? Elsevier journals in LIS and related fields take a look at subjects What impact, if any, do they have on shaping sparking the interest of researchers. In this issue Peter Hernon, the leaders of tomorrow? How are course co-editor of Library & Information Science Research, experiences reinforced throughout the suggests some unanswered questions for LIS researchers program of study, and do the courses in the field of library leadership. provide exposure to dynamic leadership in Peter Hernon different organizations? To what extent do Peter Hernon, Professor, Graduate School of Library and Information LIS schools have a student learning outcome on leadership for Science, Simmons College, Boston, MA, USA the master’s program? How is that outcome assessed and the leadership education improved? A lthough the terms leadership and management are often Leadership is definitely a key topic with multiple facets worthy used interchangeably, they differ. Leadership, one component of exploration. It would seem that editors of peer-reviewed of management, is the process of influencing others in order journals and publishers of reference works, scholarly books, to attain group, organizational, or societal goals. It involves and conference proceedings want writings that have wide factors such as motivating and inspiring people to create appeal and impact. There is a need to relate the general literature and carry out a shared vision to guide future actions of the to service organizations such as libraries. How well do the different organization. The scholarly literatures of many disciplines facets of leadership transfer to the library setting? Are some and professions address leadership; in particular, these leadership styles more prevalent than others? What situations writings, for example, focus on what leaders do; analyze call for which styles, and which traits correspond to those leadership styles and traits, the extent to which practitioners situations? How effective are leaders in switching from one have gained those traits, and the relationship between style to another? How well is the profession identifying and leaders and followers; review strategic directions that nurturing a pool of potential directors, who represent cultural management sets, the diagnostic skills of leaders, and the and gender diversity and who are able to function effectively ability of leaders to achieve a shared vision; and examine Continued on page 18. how to nurture the next generation of leaders. With so many libraries now organized into teams or small groups; Explore More with new staff members expected to work together to plan, Books implement, administer and evaluate services; and with librarians Hackman, R. J. (2002). Leading teams: Setting the stage for great having to forge partnerships at the national and other levels, performance. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. scholars in library and information science are pursuing Goleman, G. (1995). Emotional Intelligence. New York, NY: issues identified in the broader literature, especially leadership Bantam Books. principles, styles, traits, roles and training. A thorough understanding of leadership has value to everyone working in Hernon, P. Powell, R. R. & Young, A. P. (2003). The next library leadership. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited. a service organization, from staff who are empowered to solve problems that library customers encounter as they seek Mech, T. F., & McCabe, G. B., ed. (1998). Leadership and academic information, to members of teams and small groups trying to libraries. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. improve the delivery of service to the communities libraries Regencstein, C. E. & Dewy, B. I., ed. (2003). Leadership, higher serve, to middle and senior managers pursuing organizational education, and the information age: A new era for information effectiveness, intent on changing organizational cultures, technology and libraries. New York, NY: Neal-Schumann Publishers. and engaging in succession planning. Articles More and more job advertisements for academic and public Mason, F. M. & Wetherbee, L. V. (2004, Summer). Learning to lead: library directorships mention leadership as one of the requirements An analysis of current training programs for library leadership. for a successful candidate. If libraries are learning organizations, Library Trends, 53 (1), 187-217. they need leaders who can help staff develop and accept new Williams, J. F. & Winston, M.D. (2003). Leadership competencies educational roles, and take advantage of new opportunities. and the importance of research methods and statistical analysis in Furthermore, professional associations and societies need leaders decision making and research and publication: A study of citation patterns. Library & Information Science Research, 25 (X), 387-402. who help them to achieve their stated missions. Leaders, regardless of the situations in which they find themselves, build Weiner, S. G. (2003, Winter). Leadership of Academic Libraries: A relationships and encourage participation from everyone in and literature review [Bibliographical essay]. Education Libraries, 26 (2), 5-18. outside the organization whom the library seeks to influence.

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Special Libraries Association Launches CLICK University

In December 2004, the Special Libraries meeting with SLA members, she Information Association (SLA) and Elsevier announced identified that members needed Science Education). their partnership to support creation of more learning experiences but faced Syracuse and SLA’s online university. To help launch barriers, such as travel and regional the University the university and significantly advance locations of classrooms. of Illinois won professional development opportunities an IMLS grant to Janice’s idea was the same as mine, for SLA’s over 12,000 members, Elsevier form a consortium that an online learning community made a one-time gift to the SLA Campaign of universities would help SLA members. We decided John Lowery for Professional Development. Recently to establish to determine if that was the way to go. Library Connect team member Daria collaborative learning online and WISE DeCooman caught up with John Lowery, In 2004, it became obvious an online resulted. It involves 12 universities SLA’s director of professional development, community would sharing online for an update on what’s happening with be the way ...we look forward to CLICK courses and the university. forward. During students. the SLA Annual “University joining the ranks of Through WISE, Conference in a student can LC: When is the university launching? online learning success stories. Nashville we take a course at John Lowery: The launch is happening presented a any participating at the SLA Annual Conference this prototype of our online university and university and” receive credit. WISE is year in Toronto. We’re having a launch had a good response. So we put together also launching at our conference this celebration on June 6, and the a proposal, and in October the SLA June. Once WISE develops online university opens then for business. board saw our presentation and what we offerings, we’ll immediately have were planning to do and approved it. 12 partners. LC: Have other information organizations created similar online learning ventures? LC: Can you speak some more about LC: So, if I were to enroll in SLA’s online why SLA decided to take on this role? university, I could get an MLIS or MLS Lowery: As far as I know, there is no from Drexel or Syracuse? other library organization that has an Lowery: The three primary values we online learning community. There promote are innovation and learning, Lowery: That’s true. You would go certainly isn’t any other online networking and advocacy. For innovation through our portal and, after identifying university created by or supported and learning, the launch of the online yourself as an SLA member, apply to by a library association. university takes us forward giant strides. become a Drexel or Syracuse student and pursue a degree. And you’d receive LC: Please describe the a discount on tuition. We’re going where no information university’s offerings. LC: Can you explain more about the “organization has gone before. Lowery: We decided an online university’s offerings and talk about its university would help us meet our learning management system? members’ diverse needs. Through the LC: So you’re making history. ” Lowery: Learn.com, the learning university, our members will be able to Lowery: Yes, John Regazzi brought sign up with one of our partners and take management system, forms the that up when he met with us and gave advanced degrees. They also will be able university’s underpinnings. They’ll us Elsevier’s donation. We’re at the to persue courses and seminars and be hosting the university. Beyond forefront of professional development. get certificates. Or, they’ll be able to securing partnerships, we have We’re going where no information go to the library and — through one purchased libraries of courses in office organization has gone before. of our information partners — look applications, professional development, something up. personal development and business LC: How did the university come fundamentals. These courses will be into being? LC: Who are the partners? available through our site. And we’re Lowery: It really started in 2003, when Lowery: Right now, Drexel University and going to do something else a little Janice Lachance our executive director Syracuse University. We are developing a unusual. We’ll partner with individuals and I were hired. During her first partnership with WISE (Web-enabled already offering online courses, and

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they’ll become more or less adjunct it’s come together. This is a testament to libraries, marketing and so on. It’s faculty with SLA. The first person on how innovative an organization SLA is, appropriate to say Elsevier’s donation board is Leslie Harris, a copyright law and to Janice’s leadership and how at has contributed significantly to our expert. She’ll make available courses on SLA all our projects involve teamwork. ability to get the university started. copyright law and digital licensing issues. LC: Isn’t there something catchy about Through the university, our members will be able to sign up with the university’s name? one“ of our partners and take advanced degrees. They also will be able Lowery: CLICK University is the name to persue courses and seminars and get certificates. for our online university, and we’ve secured clickuniversity.com as the LC: Long-term, what do you see for Our board agreed” to fund the whole URL. CLICK stands for Continuous the university? Learn.com purchase. So the money Learning to Improve Career Knowledge. from Elsevier has allowed us to do other Coming up with ‘CLICK’ was arduous. Lowery: When we launch we hope to things needed to launch the university. We had a committee and went through have as robust as possible a university The donation’s proven very useful. iterations and got feedback, and then site, but it’s only the beginning. one day John Crosby, SLA's associate Regarding online education in general, LC: How will SLA maintain funding for executive director for marketing and it’s a matter of one to two years before the university in the future? communications, and I were sitting it becomes the preferred manner of Lowery: At our annual conference in around talking in Alexandria and it education. The paradigm was that it 2004 we launched the SLA Campaign came to us. It clicked. CLICK has a nice was just as good, but now it’s gone for Professional Development. SLA sound and everybody immediately beyond that. It’s become better. A members are making donations and knows it has something to with clicking better way to learn than sitting in the our goal is to raise a million dollars. a mouse or clicking on. classroom, taking notes, trying to go The campaign is ongoing and important back and remember what was said. LC: Is this a dream come true for you? to our aim to become a leader in The success stories are obvious, and professional development among Lowery: I came to SLA with the idea of we look forward to CLICK University information science organizations. doing this, but I’m surprised at how fast joining the ranks of online learning success stories. LC: Thank you for speaking with us.

LC: Can you tell us a bit about how Lowery: You’re welcome. ■ Elsevier’s support is contributing to the university?

Lowery: Elsevier is our only founding Explore More partner for the university. The donation ■ Special Libraries Association amounted to about half of the cost of www.sla.org our contract with Learn.com — providing ■ the learning management system. But CLICK University beyond that cost there have been other www.clickuniversity.com start-up costs — purchasing course ■ WISE (Web-enabled Information Science Education) www.wiseeducation.org

Elsevier and the Information Science Community John Regazzi, Elsevier's managing director of market development, is retiring from Elsevier this July after 17 years, to join Long Island University as dean December 2004: Janice R. Lachance, executive of the College of Information and Computer Science. We're delighted that director of SLA, receives a check in support of SLA's John has agreed to work with Elsevier as an advisor on future projects and online university from John Regazzi, representing to continue in his position as chairman of The Elsevier Foundation. Elsevier. Photo courtesy of SLA.

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CENTER OF ATTENTION

Five Quick Questions Bernard Aleva, Managing Director, Engineering Publishing, Elsevier, just in increasing accessibility to current Amsterdam, Netherlands content but also to content that was previously inaccessible, or at best Bernard is managing director of Elsevier’s global engineering business, archived so far away that no one could comprising materials science and engineering publishing, Elsevier really see it anymore. As an example, Advanced Technology and Elsevier Engineering Information (Ei). He has Elsevier's investments in digitization been in the industry for 15 years, with Elsevier since 1995 and recently of journal back files have opened up returned to the Netherlands after three years in the US, first as CEO of a window on the past that many Bernard Aleva Ei, and most recently as CEO of Elsevier MDL. Bernard has an MSc in researchers might not otherwise have Biomedical Sciences from Utrecht University, Netherlands. had available to them.

In the print world librarians were faced with the difficulty of Can you sum up the biggest changes you’ve seen determining whether their journals were being used, now since you started working in publishing? 1. publishers have been able to make this information readily The transition made by the STM publishing industry from a available to them for analysis and decision-making. print to an electronic environment is an impressive one, and The digital environment also provides opportunities to one that has opened up many possibilities both for content develop, strengthen, and integrate databases and navigation and for those who use it. In the old days, the end of an article offerings and we see all-science platforms such as Scopus was where that piece of content finished — no connection to and subject databases like Engineering Village 2, anything else beyond a literature reference. Now that same Compendex, EMBASE, and DiscoveryGate — a platform piece of content in this new data environment is just one offering structure- as well as text-searching. small unit in a huge, connected dataset. Today, there exist almost endless possibilities for making relationships between Have you noticed a change in the expectations of that piece of content and any other. This is the basis of the authors and editors? What demands are they making biggest change we are experiencing. 3. on Elsevier that they haven’t made in the past?

For our customers there are clearly enormous gains to be Generally speaking there has been a huge increase in made in this new reality in terms of accessibility and usability, expectations from authors and editors, especially in terms of better service, higher speed of availability of information, not speed and quality of service. Our customers naturally expect to mention the opportunities presented to be creative with us to immediately deliver anything they imagine should be content in ways not previously possible. possible given the technologies at hand. In response we now provide electronic submission services, known as the Elsevier From a publisher's perspective, what do you see as some Editorial System (EES), for more than 500 journals and plan 2. of the greatest outcomes of online publishing? to roll these out to almost all of our journals by the end of 2006. The experience of editors involved to date, in terms of Access to more content is now available to more concurrent the value this service provides as part of the peer review users. Publishers have made enormous advancements, not process has, been incredibly positive. The addition of online

Researchers Speak Up I appreciate libraries because… … they are at the forefront of the information age and the business of education. William Osei, Associate Professor of Geography, Algoma University College, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada ... they allow people to touch everything that makes us who we are and who we will be. Eric P. Giese, University of Wisconsin Sheboygan/Madison, Sheboygan/Madison, WI, USA … they provide a wealth of

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CENTER OF ATTENTION

administrative support to editors, once live with EES, has many things have changed and will keep changing very rapidly. been welcomed very positively too. The availability of scientific content outside of traditional publishers’ platforms has changed a lot and in future I think we’ll Another need authors and editors have, and that we have see the scientific article available in many different formats and been able to fulfill, is faster publication. The implementation on a variety of platforms. of ‘Articles in Press’ on ScienceDirect has significantly increased speed to electronic publication making peer- The more growth we see in availability of the same content in reviewed articles that have been accepted for publication differing formats, the more chaos will enter into the equation, and in our journals available online as uncorrected or corrected the more important it will be to be certain you are looking at the proofs before they appear in print. definitive version of that content. Then, the role of the publisher becomes possibly even more important than it currently is. One particular expectation of our authors is that we should be able to tell them, at any point in time, where their paper But, that is only if we are talking about the future based on where is in the production process. Elsevier’s Author Gateway we are now, and with the scientific article as we currently know it. (http://authors.elsevier.com) services do exactly that and In the crystal ball there is much more: integration of content with are extremely well-used. different content, visualization of data, navigation, relationships between content entities and extracted entities from other In addition, our Author Feedback Program has been in place content, text-mining, workflow systems to help researchers since 1999 and we monitor very closely what our authors save time and increase quality. think about us. It is clearly important that we continue to meet or exceed author requirements — it is a competitive world. In the future, we’ll see more ‘value-added’ content on top of the ‘primary’ content we know today. There will be less focus On a practical level, how have these changes on the scientific article as a content element and more focus affected the way staff, working in your publishing 4. teams, interact with their authors and editors? on integration — on being able to draw conclusions from relationships between different data sets rather than simply The work environment here is changing a lot. If you look at reading an article. how publishing editors communicate with the editorial community now it’s more frequent, quicker. It’s much easier I believe the roles of the publisher and the librarian will to share ideas with more people simultaneously and pick up become more important than ever. The key role of both feedback and response to those ideas. As a result, our interaction is to help users navigate through the expanding information with the scientific community is much more intense. universe and help them select the most valuable and relevant pieces of content, thereby improving the efficiency Looking into your crystal ball, what comes into view of the research process. Indeed, the life of the librarian may 5. for publishers into the future? become more challenging as they deal with an increasing number of players and information types. In my crystal ball In most communities the need for the peer-review system close symbiosis between publisher and librarian will remain remains — that’s one thing that hasn’t changed. Elsewhere, extremely important. ■

information. Jonathan Lieb, Associate Professor of Geography, Florida State University, Tallahasee, FL, USA … they are storehouses of knowledge. Lynn Resler, Assistant Professor of Geography, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA … they know how to find relevant information. Blase Rezndov, Biosciences Tech, USGS, NRMSC, West Glacier, MT, USA ... they provide services and information that make my job easier. John S. Oldham, Project Manager, Oncology, PPD Inc., Wilmington, NC, USA

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COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS

Success Story: RSS Moves into the Mainstream at the University of Alberta Libraries libraries are doing with blogs, and by extension, with RSS. It makes sense Randy Reichardt maintains the weblog, scitech library question that you can subscribe to Amanda’s (http://stlq.info), described as “occasional postings of interest to lists, by category, using an RSS feed! engineering and scitech librarians.” He is the co-author with Geoff Gerry McKiernan of Iowa State University Harder of the article, “Weblogs: Their Use and Application in offers a similar service with his site, Randy Reichardt Science and Technology Libraries”, which appeared recently in RSS(sm): Rich Site Services, “a categorized Science & Technology Libraries, Volume 25, Issue 3. registry of library services that are delivered or provided through RSS/XML, Atom, or other types of Web feeds.” (www.public.iastate.edu/~CYBERSTACKS/RSS.htm) Randy Reichardt, Information Services Librarian (Engineering), Cameron Science and Technology Library, University of Alberta, Library functions using RSS include announcements, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; [email protected] cataloguing, collection development, databases, instruction, Internet resources, new books, new journal issues, news, reference services, reviews, and tables of contents. R SS, or Really Simple Syndication/Rich Site Summary, is rapidly moving into our professional and personal lives At the University of Alberta Libraries, RSS feeds are avail- as a way to keep track of the ever-increasing flow of new able for library news, library instruction, and business and information. As a current awareness service, RSS allows for economic news with a Canadian emphasis. Recently, we one-stop shopping, allowing users to plug the RSS feed from added 285 RSS feeds for New Books by Library, and New their search strategy into the reader of their choice, and Books by Subject. Because the University of Alberta ending the need to rerun the search on a regular basis or deal Libraries are part of a local consortium, users can choose with more email in the form of alerts. With an RSS reader, New Books by Library RSS feeds for up to 36 libraries in users keep citations of critical interest for future reference, the consortium, in addition to any of the 15 University of deleting others as required. Alberta feeds. The RSS feeds for New Books by Subject include second level LC classifications, allowing the user to subscribe to the feeds for TJ – Mechanical Engineering, and Machinery and TP – Chemical Technology, for example. A subscription to the relevant RSS feeds ensures that users will not miss any new books announcements, such as when they are away at a meeting or on vacation.

Tired of the overflow of emails into your inbox? Subscriptions to all listservs and discussion groups, via email, can be migrated to the right RSS reader, reducing your incoming email traffic. No RSS feed is involved. Bloglines (www.bloglines.com) includes an option to “Create an email subscription.” As described by University of Alberta colleague Geoff Harder, (http://stlq.info/archives/001803.html), a few easy steps are all that is required to create a subscription to a listserv in Bloglines. Besides a reduction of incoming ‘New Books by Subject’ is just one type of RSS feed available from the University emails, a listserv subscription created with Bloglines allows of Alberta Libraries . the user to check for updates whenever convenient, and By now, many are using RSS feeds to keep track of respond from within the reader itself, rather than having weblogs, journal tables-of-contents, press releases, to create more emails to do so. Email subscriptions are a newspaper content, and more. In addition to following great way to manage your mailing lists and other sites that dozens of weblogs of interest, I use RSS to keep track of do not provide RSS feeds. movie reviews from the New York Times, search engine For those not yet convinced or still puzzled about Really alerts, and library-related weblogs and resources. Simple Syndication, consider that RSS removes the burden The application of RSS feeds has moved into the library of having to do regular, static Web searching to keep current world, riding the wave of hundreds of library-related weblogs in your fields of interest. RSS allows for steady, dynamic and other services. Amanda Etches-Johnston of McMaster Web content streaming into one location for your perusal, University maintains the site, blogwithoutalibrary.net, freeing up time to do other things. (www.blogwithoutalibrary.net/links.html), tracking what

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COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS

As RSS nears availability on bibliographic search products, such as Engineering Village 2, the challenge for librarians is to Elsevier and RSS Feeds bring these new features from databases to the users in our ALERTS institutions, businesses, companies and engineering firms. Recently, I presented sessions on library and information Engineering Village 2 offers resources to design students in materials engineering and RSS search alerts for databases chemical engineering. When asked if they knew or had available on the platform. Users can easily create custom heard about RSS, not one student raised his or her hand in RSS feeds from their database either class. In fairness to undergraduate students, this searches to stay abreast of response was not unexpected — only a small handful had published literature in their heard of weblogs. field. Search results are then delivered to the RSS readers as new records are added Clearly we have our work cut out for us. Perhaps the groups to the databases. that need targeting initially are graduate students, faculty, and engineers in industry, who have a greater need for Cell Press offers XML-based current awareness, as well as our colleagues who have yet TOC feeds so users can receive to embrace RSS. RSS has made the Web more effective updates to their desktops of all and useful by directing relevant content to the user. The the latest research from Cell, introduction of RSS into Engineering Village 2 has had the Neuron, and the other eight Cell Press journals. Each feed same effect — the Engineering Village 2 databases now are contains titles, authors and more powerful and accessible to the users. How much brief descriptions, and links longer before all major databases offer RSS as a standard back to the appropriate Cell ■ feature? Stay tuned! Press journal website. This article originally appeared in the the March 2005 issue of www.cell.com/misc/page?page=feeds EiUpdate (www.ei.org/eiupdate) and is reprinted here by courtesy of NEWS Randy Reichardt and the team at Elsevier Engineering Information. Explore More is now available in RSS at www.infosciencedirect.com/sd_updates/sd_connect Peter Scott’s RSS Compendium: http://allrss.com/index.html

Çelikbas, Z. (2004). What is RSS and how can it serve libraries? The general increase of RSS feeds and tools supporting Published in Yalvaç, Mesut and Gülseçen, Sevinç, Eds. Proceedings “ First International Conference on Innovations in Learning for the them, together with the ongoing implementation of anti-spam Future: e-Learning. Istanbul, Turkey, 277-292. laws, will make these feeds more and more popular, possibly http://eprints.rclis.org/archive/00002531/01/RSS_and_libraries_EN3.pdf as widespread as email itself in the future. We’re actively The Ontario Library and Information Technology Association’s RSS Toolkit: www.accessola.com/olita/site/showPage.cgi?page=toolkit/rss/index.html encouraging wider use of RSS throughout Elsevier.” Hammond, T., Hannay, T. & Lund, B. (December, 2004). Robert de Bruin, Publishing Technology Manager, The role of RSS in science publishing. D-Lib Magazine, 10 (12): Elsevier, Amsterdam, Netherlands www.dlib.org/dlib/december04/hammond/12hammond.html

Chris Jasek of Elsevier’s User-Centered Design Group answers your usability questions. Q: Should my library staff have some usability expertise?

A: Yes, definitely. Since the majority of library users visit the library online to find the information they need, it is critical to have usable online services. Considering the usage patterns of the library today, I believe many libraries have underinvested in the design of their online services and instead continue to overinvest in the physical library. So, how might you gain that usability expertise in your staff if you don’t already have it? First, you might consider hiring someone with this skill. A number of library schools have programs that focus on information architecture and usability. The University of Michigan’s School of Information is one of them and two graduates from this program are members of Elsevier’s User Centred Design Team. You might also consider training existing staff. The Usability Professionals Association (www.upassoc.org) offers an annual conference where practical usability training can be received. Another good usability related conference for librarians would be the IA Summit (www.iasummit.org) which focuses more on design and information architecture. A third option would be to tap into other resources at your institution. Look for students in human factors, industrial engineering, engineering psychology or computer science, whom you might fund as research assistants or enlist to do student projects related to library usability. Fourth, there are always consultants available for hire, but this option is short-term and less of an investment in the future skills of your staff. As a final thought, consider establishing a usability working group at your library and then give that group some authority to influence the design and usability of your systems. ■ June 2005 Library Connect newsletter 13 | LC NL 3_2B 6/1/05 9:38 AM Page 14

BEHIND THE SCENES

Elsevier Librarians Speak Up

Daviess Menefee, Americas Library Relations Director, Elsevier, Columbus, OH, USA

I t will come as no surprise to this readership that librarians are versatile people and exhibit a wide range of talents in their day-to-day professional activities. What may be surprising is that a major publisher, namely Elsevier, employs a number of librarians in various roles and responsibilities. Indeed, our Library Daviess Menefee Connect editorial team includes erstwhile librarians Karen Hunter, John Tagler and Tony McSeán.

Below are confessions (well, really answers to a question) from some of the librarians who work for Elsevier. Their responses reveal why these colleagues do what they do and also what they like about their jobs. In short, the close relationship between librarianship and publishing can be found here, as there are skills and traits common to both.

Elsevier is not the only major publisher to employ librarians. We (yes, I am one too) can be found just about everywhere in the information industry. Furthermore, we can expect this trend to continue as the gap between librarianship and publishing continues to narrow. It is a testament to librarians’ commitment and professionalism that we seek challenging jobs in a rapidly changing environment. ■

How does your background as a librarian help you and your colleagues improve customer focus at Elsevier?

Michiel van der Heyden, Padma Muralidharan, Kim Hill, Account Senior Product Manager Account Development Development Manager, ScienceDirect, Elsevier, Manager, Elsevier, Elsevier, New York, Amsterdam, Netherlands New Delhi, India NY, USA

The more Elsevier understands and After joining Elsevier in the early 1990s, When I tell people in the library community meets the real needs of our customers, it became apparent that to contribute that I’m a former librarian, their usual reply the more likely we are to have happy significantly to improving customer is “Once a librarian, always a librarian.” customers who come back for more relations, understanding the needs of That one statement drives my daily work and tell their colleagues. While working librarians was very important. Studying experience at Elsevier. Since I’ve walked during 2003 and 2004 as the interim their discipline seemed a good way to in your shoes, I know firsthand what life head of Utrecht University Library’s start. I earned my bachelor's degree in is like in the library world. I’m able to look Central Public Service Department, I library and information science from the at every corporate decision, product or faced challenges common to librarians University of Madras and am presently service and see the flip side of the coin — the world over. These challenges working towards my MLIS from the which in my current world, is the library’s included the emerging realization that same university. side. My colleagues often come to me faculty and students are a university when they want to know how a librarian I’ve noticed in many interactions with library’s customers, and that the Internet will react to something. Most importantly, librarians that just mentioning I have may be any library’s biggest opportunity when I’m out there talking with you, I an LIS degree has broken the ice and and threat at the same time. understand the subtext of the questions set the tone for meaningful discussions. you and your end users ask and am often My background as a librarian helps me They relate to somebody from their able to get to the heart of the real issue. I understand our customers’ viewpoint own background and are more open hope that at the end of the day when I’ve during discussions about subscriptions to discussing sensitive issues. My visited with you that you see a personal and pricing issues and during Elsevier’s library background has helped me side to Elsevier — and that’s the best development of products and services. establish lasting, positive relationships customer service we could provide! ■ I think customer focus is all about with librarians. ■ attitude, and I aim to strengthen customer focus at Elsevier. ■

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BEHIND THE SCENES

Shuqin He, Account Development Manager, changes made possible by information technology. These Elsevier, Beijing, changes pose a significant challenge for libraries and offer People’s Republic of China exciting opportunities for vendors to partner with libraries.

In my current position with Endeavor, I design learning programs for As an Account Development Manager, I focus libraries. Customer focus is at the heart of my day-to-day activities. on running localized marketing campaigns, By listening to needs and providing flexible training experiences, producing customized marketing and training materials, and I help our customers acquire the needed technological skills delivering training sessions to our customers who are mainly and practical knowledge to manage their environments and librarians. I share a common viewpoint with them because I move their libraries forward. My librarianship background studied at McGill University in Montreal for two years to get my has proven key in helping Endeavor’s customers. ■ MLIS degree and worked for the Canada Institute of Scientific and Technical Information in 2001 and 2002. With my background Mike Dicus, MS-LIS, Product Specialist, as an information specialist, I can contribute strongly to customer Endeavor Information Systems, Inc., focus at Elsevier. First, I better understand customers’ specific Des Plaines, IL, USA information needs and can accordingly produce tailored marketing materials. Second, my expertise in database/Internet searching means I can clearly explain our electronic products to Before coming to Endeavor, I worked in customers during training sessions and make the experience public and university libraries for 15 years. more useful and valuable. Third, I’m comfortable communicating I've held positions in public services and technical services, and with librarians and users, and acquiring feedback valuable even served as library director. My experience has given me a in improving our support services. ■ solid understanding of library workflows and processes, and equipped me to better understand problems and issues facing librarians today. In my role as a product specialist, I am often Karlyn Messinger, Manager, External asked to demonstrate how our software will solve problems in Communications, Corporate Relations, Elsevier, library workflows or accomplish tasks in better ways. Because I Philadelphia, PA, USA understand library practices, workflows and terminology, I enjoy explaining features and benefits of our products to My reference and research background and librarians. Also, when needed, I can interpret librarians' questions the certification as a medical librarian that I for my non-librarian colleagues. My understanding of libraries received from Drexel University have helped me to listen helps me and my colleagues better serve our customers so carefully to media and other customer inquiries, interpret that together we can find solutions to library problems. ■ and understand journalists’ and others’ needs, and then search for and provide what colleagues want quickly and Sarah Tyrchniewicz, Human Factors Engineer, efficiently. I am enjoying the fact that here I am, a good Elsevier User Centered Design Group, many years after graduating from library school, yet right Dayton, OH, USA back to my roots, finding and producing information for those who need it — in a different context to be sure, but meeting those needs, nevertheless. ■ In 2003, I earned my MSI (Master of Science in Information) from the University of Michigan's School of Information. I draw from my educational Josephine Crawford, Manager of Curriculum experience to understand what our librarian users need to Development, Endeavor Information Systems, Inc., assist in their workflows and how they are thinking about Des Plaines, IL, USA certain tasks. The fact that I have been trained in a similar way to the librarians I work with helps me connect with them I have been privileged to be an active member during user testing and in the development and design of our of the library community for over twenty years. products and websites. My personal contacts within the librarian Since earning my MLIS from the University of California, I have community give me a feel for how our customers view our served in several management positions in academic libraries and products and our company in general. Being aware of that taught as an adjunct faculty member at Dominican University in perspective helps me establish common ground with our users Illinois and the College of St. Catherine in Minnesota. that I would not have otherwise. Connecting with our users is an excellent way for Elsevier to strengthen its customer focus I have experience in most functional areas of academic and my background has helped me do so when working on libraries, have often been a trainer, and have tended to projects as a member of the User Centered Design Group. ■ advocate for thoughtful management of opportunities and

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ON THE ROAD

Strengthening Relationships in China Bibliostar Congress March, Kunming, Yunnan Province, China April, Milan, Italy A three-day Library Connect 50 participants from Seminar held in Kunming 40 Italian institutions provided an opportunity for attended a Library representatives of more than Connect Seminar 100 libraries from all over held during the China to interact and share Bibliostar Congress experiences with in Milan. The recent one another. development and Presenters Rush powerful features of Scopus were the main issues discussed Miller, from the during the seminar. With more than 2,000 participants, University of Bibliostar is the largest annual gathering of Italian librarians. ■ Pittsburgh and Ng Kok Koon from the Standing Room Only at Library Connect Editiors Session National University April, Minneapolis, MN, USA of Singapore covered “Managing and Marketing Electronic Resources” and “Building up a Digital Library” respectively. Potential LIS authors made a beeline for the Elsevier booth during ACRL to take part in our Library Connect Editors For Yuqin Qiu from the East China Normal University these Session. Short presentations providing practical hints on presentations were particularly valuable, “We were able to how to get published were given by (left to right) Jennifer learn a lot from the foreign libraries, such as how to maximise Dorner, Reference Librarian and Information Consultant to the usability of our electronic resources”, she said. Yuqin’s the Social Sciences, Millar Library, Portland State University opinion was echoed by other librarians, including Xiao Mo and Co-Editor, Research Strategies; Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe, from Guangxi University who commented, “It [the meeting] Coordinator of Information Literacy Services and Instruction, was a good opportunity for us to learn more about Elsevier University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne Library and Editor, and, in particular, get information on database development Research Strategies; Scott Walter, Assistant Dean of Libraries and share experiences with other librarians.” for Information and Instructional Services, and Visiting Assistant Professor of Teaching and Leadership, University During lively panel sessions librarians freely aired their views of Kansas; and Chris Pringle, Publisher, LIS Books and on, and posed challenging questions about, issues important Journals, Elsevier, Oxford, UK. A lively Q&A session was to them, including pricing models and open access. ■ followed by an opportunity for one-on-one discussion with the presenters. ■ Library Connect Seminar Series April, Lyon, Paris and Bordeaux, France Three Library Connect Seminars held in Lyon, Paris (pictured) and Bordeaux announced the launch of Scopus. More than 75 librarians from 47 French institutions attended the seminars which generated much enthusiasm and discussion around the creation and use of this innovative navigation tool. ■

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ON THE ROAD

Connecting with Corporate Librarians A presentation by Prof. José F. Lima, Program Director, CAPES, April, San Jose, CA, USA was a highlight of the day. He provided a history of CAPES (from its origins in 1951) and its mission to promote academic The Library Connect Seminar held in San Jose this April excellence and stimulate graduate research programs in was designed to attract participants from companies in a Brazilian universities. Lima explained how the program has variety of subject fields — biopharmaceutical, engineering grown and expanded over the past half century. ■ and high-tech. Twenty-six librarians attended. When asked about the value of the program, they Discussing the Library’s Role in Digital Content Access indicated they May, Chicago, IL, USA appreciated the The tenth annual Endeavor User Group Conference attracted opportunity to some 900 library professionals from across the globe. This year’s meet with Elsevier meeting addressed the challenges posed by popular search representatives, engines. Updating content delivery infrastructures, establishing the exchange information library as the primary place to access digital resources and delivering and have the highly personalized service were all key topics of discussion. opportunity to share their comments and concerns. While the logistics of In the keynote address, “Thriving in an Amazoogle Environment,” organizing a program of interest to an interdisciplinary Cathy De Rosa, vice president of marketing and library services audience were quite challenging, there was a synergy gained for the Online from sharing views with peers from corporate librarians Computer Library in different areas of study. The collections assembled for Center (OCLC), said high-tech corporations are very different from those in the that despite the pharmaceutical industry, but with the Web as a favorite mushrooming use resource for researchers of all types, the challenges facing of search engines, librarians in the corporate setting are similar regardless most libraries of discipline. ■ continue to chart the performance of their information Interoperability in a Changing Environment ‘containers’. May, Sao Paolo, Brazil These include More than 150 librarians attended the full-day program at the traditional measures Sao Paolo Library Connect Seminar held on May 5th. The such as total holdings, holdings moving through circulation, theme of the program was “Interoperability: Developing and total reference transactions and total courses held or Maintaining E-Products in a Changing Environment.” community programs. Speakers addressed how different electronic Challenging this practice, de Rosa suggested that instead of products and services offering containers that patrons can come to and open, libraries attain new levels of must move faster to deliver content at the click of a mouse interactivity, and Atilio using a plethora of digital services. As they do so, libraries will Bustos González of the gain valuable measures of the outcomes when patrons access digital resources. Libraries, she said, must also self-check their performance in personalized service fulfillment and their ability to deliver a dynamic, highly interactive learning space either on the premises or virtually.

Participants of EndUser 2005, which featured more than 80 user-led workshops, also gained value from the numerous best practice case studies, peer-to-peer idea exchanges and descrip- tions of system enhancements which were implemented suc- cessfully by Endeavor’s library customers during the past year. University of Chile discussed how Scopus, Elsevier’s newly launched search engine, had altered strategies for information Pictured left to right are Don Muccino, Endeavor COO: management after the service was launched on his campus Cathy De Rosa, VP of marketing at OCLC, Roland Dietz, CEO earlier this year. of Endeavor; Janet Lute, current EndUser Board president, Princeton University Library, and Wil Frost, former EndUser Board president, University of Hawaii at Manoa Library. ■

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ON THE ROAD

MLA from the Inside Out Leadership Medical librarians got a glimpse into Continued from page 7. the anatomy of book publishing, from the editor of the classic resource in stressful, political environments? How important are Gray’s Anatomy. Dr. Susan Standring traits such as good listening and communication skills, and from King’s College, London, the ability to see the big picture and to engage in change addressed a crowd of 136 librarians management? How effective are leadership institutes and at Elsevier’s annual Library Connect mentoring programs? Luncheon at the Medical Library John Tagler, Elsevier’s VP of One perspective on leadership — emotional intelligence (EI) Association meeting in San Antonio, account developement and — is currently gathering more attention. EI, which is linked Texas in May. With considerable wit library marketing, introduces to effective performance, involves managing the mood of the and wisdom, Dr. Standring inspired Dr. Standring, editor of Gray’s Anatomy organization. More specifically it involves self-management the audience with the wonders of (self-awareness, self-regulation and motivation) and human anatomy through words and pictures from the 39th managing relationships with others (empathy and social edition of Gray’s Anatomy published this year by Elsevier skills). This gives rise to research questions such as, “How Churchill Livingstone. Taking a practical clinical perspective, much EI do library leaders have?,” “Are some components Standring explained how the book has been radically more important for them to possess than others?,” “Which transformed to a ‘regional’ (region of the body, that is) rather aspects can be enhanced through training?,” and “Which than a systemic organizational structure, and how new surface, aspects are formed by life experiences?” radiologic and micro-anatomy images have been added to complement the exquisite artwork for which the book is widely Over time, an extensive body of research and other writings known. The print version now boasts 1,600 pages and is also relevant to different library and institutional environments available as an Elsevier E-dition™ online. around the globe will emerge. These writings will combine theory and practice, and will perhaps make a profound A Future for Print? impact, because there should be no non-leaders in either Always looking to the future, the audience libraries or the LIS profession. Leadership is not a fad; of librarians was quick to pose questions rather it is integral to achieving organizational effectiveness about the evolution from print to electronic and to managing change successfully. As well, libraries do formats. One librarian asked “Is there a not function in an isolated or apolitical environment. Library future for the print?” to which Standring leadership therefore transends the organization. Clearly, lifted the 1,600-page book and quickly leadership is an issue we all need to know more about. ■ replied “Not if it gets any heavier!” She went on to talk of the new opportunities Dr. Standring electronic media pose such as anatomical animations; but counter-balanced these Library & Information developments with the irreplaceable value of sitting down and “simply enjoying the printed book.” The E-dition, however, Science Research does open up options of portability. Publishers from Elsevier confirmed that some portions of the E-dition can even be Co-Editors Peter Hernon downloaded onto physicians‘ PDAs. ([email protected]) and Candy Schwartz A Future for Anatomists? ([email protected]), Graduate School of Library & Information Science, Simmons Dr. Standring lamented that there are fewer opportunities College, Boston, MA, USA for medical students to get rigorous training in anatomy, yet the need for anatomical knowledge is unquestionable in medical practice. The result of faculty emphasis on research Library & Information Science Research is a cross-disciplinary over teaching is that “Basic sciences teaching is slowly journal focusing on the research process in library and disappearing….You are now looking at a dying breed” she information science as well as research findings and, said in reference to herself as an anatomist. However, this where applicable, their practical applications and significance. phenomenon appears to have simply strengthened Articles are of interest to researchers, practitioners, policy Standring’s commitment to excellence in the revision of makers, managers and others interested in the application Gray’s Anatomy, and she later noted that we should all of library and information science research to discovery, “Watch this space” as electronic media opens new possibilities planning, problem solving and decision-making. for learning. The librarians in the audience assuredly will www.elsevier.com/locate/lisres watch with great anticipation. ■ 18 LC NL 3_2B 6/1/05 9:38 AM Page 19

BEHIND THE SCENES

Full Moon

Column Editor’s Note: Thank you very much to the many hundreds could have a bucket of water. And in the of Library Connect readers who have taken the trouble to write in UK Patricia Rey reports being approached concerning Full Moon. As you will see, because it’s back, it has by a reader who asked if she knew where sadly not been possible (or in many cases legal) for me to take all his trousers were. Fortunately for Patricia, your advice, so freely offered and so forcefully expressed. his loss must have occurred earlier, as he was fully clothed at the time. Reference Madness Anyway, due to space constraints this time round, some other reference queries we want to share with T he Full Moon editorial team is not easily surprised when faced you are being held over until the next issue. So, if you have with evidence that mankind’s main purpose on earth is to any that you think can top these please send them to us at manifest surreal degrees of psychological and social disconnect at [email protected] and you too may receive a gift. ■ library enquiry desks. Between us we have 30 years’ experience of library work — and some of this was on inquiry duty before our supervisors worked out that our interpersonal and The New Cell Affiliated investigative skills made us ideally suited to the role of night custodian in the offsite storage facility. Subscription Program From this June, Cell Press (an imprint of Elsevier) After years of dealing much of the time with medical began offering free personal, print-only undergraduates we are not easily shocked but the responses to subscriptions of Cell to anyone affiliated with an our “They Asked for What?” funniest and most unusual reference institution licensing Cell Online via ScienceDirect. inquiries feature in the last issue left us limp with wonder. For a Institutional pricing for Cell print and online second, the cynic in us wondered whether the prospect of a gift subscriptions will not change, as increased card had moved our professional colleagues to unusual heights advertising sales due to growing circulation is expected to of creativity and a frantic economy with the literal truth. But on cover the cost of the free affiliated subscriptions. consideration there is a horrible plausibility to each of the following stories which make the gift each contributor will The goals of the Cell Affiliated Subscription Program are receive seem scant recompense. three-fold: We want to put printed copies of Cell back into the hands of bench scientists so they have portable, browsable First off the mark to exorcise her demons was Fiona McLean access to cutting-edge information that will make their research who reports that when working for an asthma suffers’ more productive. We also want researchers to understand the information service she was asked why the inquirer’s inhaler value of the site licenses their libraries have purchased for wasn’t having any effect “even though I’m spraying it all them and to enhance that value by making these free copies over my chest.” Not long after that she also had to field the available as an exclusive benefit of the licensing agreement. question “My child is allergic to our cat. I was thinking of Finally, additional distribution of print copies allows Cell shaving the cat, will that help?” The correct answer is of to better serve its long time advertising and commercial course “No” but the more interesting answer is “How?” clients by increasing the impact of their advertising. Donald Keast, an Australian medical librarian reports that during Cell Press President and CEO Lynne Herndon noted, “This his career he has been asked seven times to produce information new business model has advantages for all of Cell’s on the medical aspects of crucifixion (a bit worrying that he’s constituents — researchers, institutions, advertisers, and keeping count, but let’s move on). Mike Harris of Tasmania authors — by increasing the journal’s visibility and impact in reports having to deal with this especially specific and life sciences research. Librarians have told us how difficult it challenging query: “I am a Sundance leader and need to can be for them to communicate the value of their licensing build a ceremonial arbour where the sun rises in the doorway efforts to their patrons. Putting print copies in these users’ on July 18, 2005.” For sheer oddness the following story hands is a tangible illustration of the benefit of our partnership from a dental library might just do it (and there must be with our library customers.” something in the water because this too, is Australian). Larnich Harije reports a young woman coming in and asking For more information, please visit our online FAQ at where the Elvis books were. To her eternal credit Larnich came www.cell.com/misc/page?page=misc9, or visit us at the back instantly, apologizing that Elvis had left the building. Elsevier booth at the upcoming American Library Association (ALA) meeting. You can also contact Mark Johnson, Cell Press And sometimes what you get asked has little clear linkage marketing director, at [email protected], or your Elsevier to library life at all. While on duty at a hospital library in sales representative. Australia (again) Lothar Retzlaff was asked by a patron if he

June 2005 Library Connect newsletter 19 | LC NL 3_2B 6/1/05 9:38 AM Page 1

Library Connect Editorial Office Elsevier Inc. 525 B Street, Suite 1900 San Diego, CA 92101-4495 USA

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STAYING CONNECTED Upcoming Events 2005 JUNE JULY 1-2 I-Expo, Paris, France 4-5 Library Connect Seminar Cheju, South Korea 5-8 Special Libraries Association, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 4 Library Connect Seminar, Perth, Australia 5 Elsevier SLA Dessert Reception, Hockey Hall of Fame, Toronto, 5 Library Connect Seminar, Adelaide, Australia Ontario, Canada (RSVP required) 6 Library Connect Seminar, Melbourne, Australia 5 Scopus Showcase at SLA, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 7 Library Connect Seminar, Brisbane, Australia 4-12 Twelfth International Conference, Crimea 2005, Sudak, Crimea, Ukraine 8 Library Connect Seminar, Sydney, Australia 15 Library Assessment, Thessaloniki, Greece 11 Library Connect Seminar, Auckland, New Zealand 15-18 Canadian Library Association, Calgary, Alberta, Canada 12 Library Connect Seminar, Wellington, New Zealand 16-17 Corporate Library Connect Seminar, Amsterdam, Netherlands 13 Library Connect Seminar, Christchurch, New Zealand 16-18 ANKOS Congress, Ankara, Turkey 14 Library Connect Seminar, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 17-19 INULS Conference, Cork, Ireland 15 Library Connect Seminar, Bangkok, Thailand 21-23 SAOUG Meeting, Pretoria, South Africa 16 American Association of Law Libraries, San Antonio, TX, USA 22 Library Connect Seminar, Taipei, Taiwan 21-23 Hungarian Librarian Conference, Gödöllö, Hungary 23-25 EAHIL Workshop, Palermo, Italy 25-28 American Library Association, Chicago, IL, USA AUGUST 26 Elsevier ALA Dessert Reception, Sofitel Chicago Water Tower, 3-5 Library Connect Seminar, Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, Pakistan Chicago, IL, USA (RSVP required) 10-11 Library Connect Seminar, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 26 Scopus Showcase at ALA, Chicago, IL, USA 14-18 IFLA, Oslo, Norway 24 Library Connect Seminar, Chennai, India

For more information contact [email protected]

Library Connect Editorial Team Jonathan Atkinson, Senior Marketing Manager, Social & Behavioral Sciences, Oxford, UK; Director, Library Relations, Columbus, OH, USA; Chris Pringle, Publisher, Social & Behavioral Dju-Lyn Chng, Channel Marketing Executive, Singapore; Daria DeCooman, Account Sciences, Oxford, UK; Ingrid van de Stadt, Head of Account Development, Amsterdam, Development & Channel Marketing Manager, San Diego, CA, USA; Randy Frink, Director of Netherlands; John Tagler, VP Account Development & Library Marketing, New York, NY, USA; Marketing, Endeavor, Des Plains, IL, USA; Ginny Hendricks, Marketing Manager, Amsterdam, Marike Westra, Manager, External Communications, Amsterdam, Netherlands; Managing Netherlands; Tim Hoctor, Senior Product Manager, Morristown, NJ, USA; Karen Hunter, Senior Editor: Charlotte Dewhurst, Senior Account Development & Channel Marketing Manager, San VP, New York, NY, USA; Chrysanne Lowe, VP Account Development & Channel Marketing, San Diego, CA, USA. Diego, CA, USA; Tony McSeán, Director of Library Relations, Oxford, UK; Daviess Menefee,