No.19 July 2007

News from the University Librarian Library services for researchers are a highlight of this Library News. The Library is ready to support the RQF process through the ePrints repository, and will be working closely with the Research Office. Each RQF research group will have a liaison librarian to assist them with Library services and support. We are also providing Postgraduate Workshops in July to help new candidates manage information for research. Anyone needing a refresher is also welcome to attend, or contact your liaison librarian for advice. The Learning Hubs continue to be very popular, but there is a shortage of quiet study space in Morris Miller Library as a result. We identified many journal volumes that are now available electronically and have moved them into storage. This has cleared an area on Level 4 for quiet study – as you can see from the photo, some students found the space very quickly.

This month has seen a number of senior staff changes. We farewelled Lana Wall, who has been the heart and soul of the Launceston Campus Library for many years and has now retired. We also farewelled Richard Dearden, Morris Miller Librarian, who has provided significant leadership in information services. Richard has moved to QUT as Branch Librarian at Kelvin Grove. Both Lana and Richard have made a significant contribution to the University Library. We welcome Wendy Hoyle as the new Launceston Campus Librarian. She started her career in Launceston with Lana and so we know she has a good foundation providing good library service. Next month we will welcome Karmen Pemberton as Morris Miller Librarian. We will have some more background on her in the next newsletter. Linda Luther University Librarian

Supporting Research

Publish or Perish

Publish or Perish is a software program for researchers that retrieves and analyses academic citations.  It uses GoogleScholar to obtain the raw citations. Publish or Perish also calculates citation metrics such as the h-index, the g-index and the hc-index. http://www.harzing.com/pop.htm Researchers may already be aware of Library databases such as Web Of Science and SCOPUS which also allow calculation of the h-index and other impact data. Comparison between the data in each of these sources is recommended as is caution in interpretation. Ask your Liaison Librarian for further information.

ePrints hots up for researchers

Have you deposited your best papers?  UTas ePrints is a digital archive that provides full-text access to publications by current University of Tasmania staff and higher degree students including journal articles, books, conference papers and theses. It is a growing collection providing free, searchable, open access to the research output of the University of Tasmania.
http://eprints.utas.edu.au/

Frequently asked eprint questions

Database News for Researchers

Web of Knowledge redesign coming soon

From next month there will be changes to the interface of Web of Knowledge databases, including Web of Science.   Here is a preview of the completely redesigned interface for the Web of Science search page:  Users will be able to quickly refine and analyse their search results.

Library Services

Update:  New Document Delivery system in final testing stage

The ‘Soft launch’ of our new system happened in week beginning 2nd July.

Hobart Phone: 03 6226 2230
E-mail docdel.hbt@lib.utas.edu.au

Launceston Phone: 03 6324 3571
E-mail docdel.ltn@lib.utas.edu.au

Silent Study Spaces

Client Services Staff have been busy over the semester break creating a new quiet study space on Level 4 of the Morris Miller Library.   Thousands of serial volumes were moved to give clients improved seating area with a view toward the mountain.   Thanks to Jules Witek and team for all their efforts.

UANA Wireless Network Setup Workshops

Teaching and learning

Law Librarian Delivers in Malaysia 

Deb Bowring (UTAS Law Librarian), has recently returned from Malaysia where she delivered the Legal Research Skills Programme to students at KDU College.   The students undertake a UTAS Law degree by completing 3 years of their study in Malaysia, and the final year of study in Tasmania.

The Law School and the Library have worked closely together to embed legal research skills vertically across the Law degree. The training mirrors the programme undertaken by local students ensuring equity in learning between both on-shore and off-shore students. 

Deb Bowring with Semester 5 students who will travel to Tasmania in 2008.

Whilst in Malaysia, Deb also took the opportunity to visit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.  The Law School has an exchange agreement with UKM and two of their students recently visited Hobart to undertake a 6 week exchange programme.   Visiting the UKM Law Library, provided a wonderful opportunity to exchange ideas, discuss our Law Library Skills Map, and form a closer working relationship with both Faculty and Library staff.

KDU College Semester 2 students in the new Teaching & Learning Centre.

Are you a New Postgrad research candidate?

Come to the July Postgraduate Workshops and learn how to find track and manage information for your research eg. using SCOPUS, Web of Science, Alerts and Endnote.

Workshop Details –Book here for July 2007

Information Literacy in the Clinical School

First year medical students have recently completed a 13 week information literacy course.  A skills test worth 10% of the student’s mark for semester 1 was conducted at the end of semester.  In this test 89% of students scored 9 (out of 10) or better. During first semester, first year pharmacy students participated in a course of library lectures and workshops covering topics such as analysing essay questions, developing search strategies, finding and evaluating information and EndNote.  The students have recently completed a library assignment which will assist them in researching for their major essay. For further information contact Ian Barton or Katrina Dewis in the Clinical Library.

students in the Clinical Library

New on the internet Census 2006:  The first release of data is now available Find data on a particular geographic area, or data on a specific topic. http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/d3310114.nsf/Home/census Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies Conducts research on the governance of modern societies.  Read the latest working papers, discussion papers, and research reports written by researchers and staff members affiliated with the Institute. Some topics include the sociology of markets, the governance of global structures, and institutional change in contemporary capitalism. http://www.mpifg.de/index_en.asp [From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2007. http://scout.wisc.edu/ ] ManagEnergy- European Commission Internet Broadcasts home page on energy efficiency and renewable energies.  See how cities such as the Swedish city of Växjö reduced emissions of carbon dioxide per inhabitant by nearly a quarter. http://www.managenergy.tv/me_portal/mst/home Australian Screen Australian film and television industry, from its earliest days to the present. Contains information and clips about over 500 film and TV titles. http://australianscreen.com.au/ MusicAustralia MusicAustralia, hosted by the National Library, showcases Australia's musical culture and helps people to discover and explore all types of Australian music - from the earliest published to the latest hit. Its innovation lies in the way it links the business, arts, academic, cultural and information sectors to provide a coherent vision of the nation's music. http://www.musicaustralia.org Rare Book Room Read some of the great books of the world." Includes digitized facsimiles of "some of the great books in science, including books by Galileo, Newton, Copernicus, Kepler, Einstein, [and] Darwin";  most of the Shakespeare Quartos; musical scores by Beethoven and Mozart; the 1455 Gutenberg Bible held by the Library of Congress; and many more. Searchable, or browsable by topic, author, or library.  Books are photographed at very high resolution.  [Source: Librarian's Guide to the Internet] http://www.rarebookroom.org/ Biodiversity Heritage Library Contains 324 digitised early titles from ten major natural history and herbaria library collections including Natural History Museum (London, UK), Smithsonian Institution Libraries (Washington, DC) and American Museum of Natural History.  Search/browse the fulltext of rare items by subject, title, author, species and location. http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/Default.aspx Social tagging takes off.  Two examples of the use of web tag clouds are: The Steve research project at the Museum of Contemporary Art (www.steve.museum) Library Thing (www.librarything.com)  Tag your books and explore others' tags. Tag Clouds makes it easier to see what tags people feel best describes an item.  The bigger the font the more people have used that word.    New open access journals International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Peer reviewed online journal published twice a year by Georgia Southern University http://www.georgiasouthern.edu/ijsotl/ African Journals Hot off the press is ‘Academic Journals’ a broad-based journal organisation providing 18 peer reviewed full text new journals, many of African origin.  Includes International NGO Journal, African Journal of Agricultural Research and Educational Research and Reviews. www.academicjournals.org Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health An international platform for rapid and comprehensive scientific communication on child and adolescent mental health across different cultural backgrounds. http://www.capmh.com/home The Journal of Emergency Primary Health Care is a free online journal from the Australian College of Ambulance Professionals and the Monash University Centre for Ambulance and Paramedic Studies.  The journal provides information for clinicians, researchers, educators, policy makers and administrators in the emergency care field. www.jephc.com Advances in Multimedia is aimed at presenting comprehensive coverage of the field of multimedia. The journal covers research and developments in multimedia technology and applications. http://www.hindawi.com/journals/am

Library Staff News

Arrivals 
Launceston Campus welcomes Wendy Hoyle- New Launceston Campus Librarian

Wendy started her library career as a temporary Lending Assistant at the then TCAE, in April 1980. She spent nearly 8 years working in Lending, Inter Library Loans and Acquisitions, nearly completing her Arts Degree with TSIT, before moving to Queensland, for what was only supposed to be a year.She worked at the University of Queensland from 1988 to 1999 in a number of different UQ libraries, as a library assistant and later as a liaison librarian. She also accepted a secondment to Griffith University in 1995, as the Lending Services Librarian. It was during the first few years at UQ, that she finished her degree and her library qualifications externally. The later through Charles Sturt University. In 1999, Wendy accepted the position of Monographs Team Leader at Griffith University, a position she held until 2004. During that time she also spent time as acting Technical Services Manager for seven months during the major restructure of 2000/2001 and acting Lending Services Manager while the incumbent was on LSL in 2003.

Wendy was seconded to the State Library of Queensland in 2005, to assist with the setting up of a new Lending and Document Delivery Team, created after a restructure and was involved with planning for the delivery of reference services in the new redeveloped SLQ, opened at the end of 2006.

In 2006 Wendy returned to Griffith as the Team Leader for Library and IT support for the Nathan Campus via the Information Desk and for the whole University via a phone contact centre, also based at Nathan Campus.

Highlights are so many, it is hard to pick a couple out but they would probably be:

Departures

Lana Wall - Launceston Campus Librarian

Interview with Lana Wall who is retiring after 35 years in Academic Libraries. 

When you started working in libraries in 1972, what job did you have and who were some of your colleagues? I started work at the Resource Materials Centre of the TCAE at Mt. Nelson on 28th Feb, 1972.  The carpet was laid, but shelving was not yet erected. The staff played lawn bowls at lunchtime on that first day.  I was appointed as an acquisitions assistant for less than $3,000 pa. The salary soon increased with an 8% national wage increase.  My first supervisor was David Waters and the head of the RMC was John Levett. Other staff I worked with were Helen Crosby, Andy Smithies, Chris Halloran, the late Twila Herr, Margaret Harmon, Denis Abbott, Meg Taylor, Bev Ewins, Mary Thompson, Jayne Clark, Gill Ward, Peter Cohen, Elizabeth Cook Richardson (who worked at ANU under Colin Steele), the late Mildred Squire (who at 65 outdid us all in terms of work capacity – she was marvellous and very knowledgeable about cataloguing).  There were many others around at the time – Dick Goodram and Mererid Roberts and did work with Anne Batt, who followed her husband to WA. I am sure I have missed out a few.

In 1973 I started the librarianship course part-time at Mt. Nelson under Dr. Geza Kosa. Ian Barton was one of my fellow classmates, as was Dr. Sue Kilpatrick now with Rural Health, and Angela Bridgland now at Uni of Melbourne. Several other classmates are still working either in schools or with the State Library, such as Warwick Lee
.
What experiences did you have when you shifted from Mt. Nelson to Launceston with the relocation of the Tasmanian College of Advanced Education?

In 1979 I moved from a technical services environment to reader services. My boss, David Miller, would ask me reference questions to test my skills (hopefully I passed muster – he stopped asking!).  I worked alongside Tina McGlynn, whom I admire and have learned a great deal from. She very willingly shared her knowledge and opinions. Also the Newnham Library had just been extended. I was very unhappy where the reference collection had been moved – it was too far away! It took awhile to rectify that. We have had three major additions since 1979. Planning for those additions has gotten harder over the years, because of the vast IT requirements. We have reached the point of no return – no more fixing – there has to be new, including a new lift and loading bay, more adequate ventilation so we don’t go limp in summer on Level Two.

What do you consider as some of the highlights of working at the University Library?

I always viewed the Library resources in the state as a shared resource and it was a joy to be able to have the whole of the University collection to be available for all University students in the State. It was also a joy (in the end, but not at first) to move to one Library system, URICA. We had such fond memories of our Mini-circ system (devised and programmed by Di Worth).
Under Christine Crocker a lot of effort was spent on staff development.  In that changeover from TSIT to UTAS the Library received some funding to backfill my position so that I could finish my Masters Degree. I am very grateful for that opportunity.

You have seen many changes in the ways libraries offer their services, what do you consider has been the best change?

The last change is always the best eg electronic serials and databases. However, what is really good is how new staff come along, with new enthusiasm, skills, etc. It is the people who apply from their learned past to make the new systems, procedures work and provide even better service for the staff and students. That is what is important. Of course the best change is the current University Librarian.

What have been some of the amusing incidents you’ve experienced while working in libraries ?

My first office in Launceston used to be upstairs next to the toilets on Level Two.  We had modernized and joined the world of Dialog – reaching out to the world through an acoustic coupler. The telephone handset was put in this contraption and then a phone number was dialled. Sweat immediately began pouring out, because of our concern for the high telecommunication charges and our own inexperience!  Everytime the toilet was flushed – I lost connection and we had to start again! Needless to say, and thankfully, another location was found and since then every year things got better and better!

Farewell to Richard Dearden 
Interview with Richard Dearden, upon his departure from UTAS, July 2007.

When did you move to Tassie and from where? In May 1997 – I accepted a six month job-swap from UQ Biological Sciences Library where I was working as a liaison librarian and Information Skills Coordinator. What was the greatest “culture shock” in coming to Tassie? Leaving friends and having to re-establish myself; Tassie was in the doldrums so friends felt sorry for me… until they visited!  They were surprised by what Tasmania has to offer. What was your first position at UTAS? Science Librarian, starting end of 1998, in the newly amalgamated Science Library.

What was the biggest challenge you faced in this role?
The amalgamation of the SciTech and Biomedical Libraries was controversial, with many academics and students unhappy – they had an emotional attachment with the Biomed. Library and were used to its culture and the staff knowledge and assistance.  It was a forced change that might have evolved anyway due to increasing web access to tools and resources.  Initially, I needed to demonstrate services that showed the benefit of amalgamation, such as ejournals.  There was a hiatus in service leading to the amalgamation, with lots of staff changes and this needed to be overcome.

Information literacy - it was a challenge to get it off the ground.  Only one science unit had an information literacy component, with no honours or postgraduate programmes.  There was an apparent need, so I identified academics interested in developing information literacy programmes, and started from there.

What do you see as your greatest achievement in this role?

Over the five years as Science Librarian, people were increasingly interested and showing their interest in information literacy.  A Teaching and Learning grant was attained with Jon Osborn and Sue Jones to survey information literacy skills of students, as a way of starting a Faculty-wide approach.  The results supported a model of incremental skill development, with information literacy seen as a core generic skill.  The Science Information Literacy model is now being applied to the Arts Faculty.

What’s your role now?

I’ve been the Morris Miller Librarian since January 2004. I have been managing the Morris Miller Library and coordinating Information Services library-wide.

What have you enjoyed most about this position?

Progressing the liaison programme and drawing out our priorities so that teams are clearly focused on teaching and learning, research and collection development.  This has developed over the last 18 months or so, with a team approach to identify core services and how to deliver them.

For what do you hope you will be most remembered by your library colleagues?

Where are you headed and what’s the biggest attraction of this move?

I’m off to QUT, Kelvin Grove campus, as Branch Library Manager.  There are approx. 12000 students learning creative industries ie visual and performing arts for the real world; health and education and with a multi-discipline health research centre.The appeal is in the bigger organisation and seeing what they do, the challenge and  adventure, and in seeing how my experience at UTAS can apply there.  It has a good reputation of the library’s role in Teaching and Learning and Research.  I’m leaving at a time when I’m really enjoying work here.  I really value the relationships with library staff and academics at UTAS;  I think that the Uni’s at one of its most exciting moments in many years.

What do you think you’ll miss most about Tassie and will you return?!

For any enquiries/comments please contact:
Heather.Mitchell @utas.edu.au

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