This book, first published in 1990, illustrates the nature and use of sci-tech information in relation to the environment. Sci-tech librarians, government researchers, and compilers and editors of noted indexing/abstracting services describe the efforts of their organizations to compile, maintain, and disseminate the large body of sci-tech information devoted to environmental concerns. It includes informative chapters on: a description of the Environmental Protection Agency's network of 25 libraries throughout the country, including details of the services offered by the network and the collections of the ten regional libraries and 15 specialized or scientific libraries; a review of the growth of the non-profit, non-advocacy Center for Environmental Information, Inc., with a look at its library and its programs such as the Acid Rain Information Clearinghouse; an examination of the American Chemical Society's journals, books, newsletters, meeting abstracts, and other publications devoted to environmental matters; a look at the Adirondack Research Center and its contributions to furthering the efforts of researchers who study conservation topics as they relate to this important area; and an acknowledgement of the important role played by commercial bibliographies and databases in the quest to rapidly disseminate new information on environmental issues.
Discover important Internet resources for research data made public individually and collectively by researchers from a variety of entities in the fields of environmental studies and ecology Online Ecological and Environmental Data explores innovative projects from a diverse array of institutions that have made environmental and ecological research information freely available online. You will find a wealth of Web site listings with URLs and complete descriptions, data field descriptions, controlled vocabulary examples, and Web screen shots that demonstrate how to use a specific site. The book will help you locate the data, procedures, instruments, notes, and other descriptive information that scientists and engineers need for replicating and building on the research of others. With Online Ecological and Environmental Data, you'll gain a better understanding of: * the cooperative design, development, and management of interdisciplinary data * cataloging multidisciplinary environmental data * data networking * new developments in information science and technology * extracting and compiling data * the convergence and dissemination of information via the Internet This unique resource explores the potential of distributing actual research data on the Web. The information you'll find in this book will enable science and technology librarians to provide effective access to library patrons. Online Ecological and Environmental Data will give librarians and other information specialists—as well as faculty and students in library sciences and technology—cutting-edge knowledge to meet the global data and information needs of the scientific community. The projects described in this book can serve as models for other disciplines, especially for the various aspects of handling data made available online, and for making this data more available and usable on the Internet for researchers and students.
Catch up with the many innovations now affecting sci/tech libraries! The twenty-four chapters in Innovations in Science and Technology Libraries discuss the creation of digital collections, e-repositories, personalized Web environments, and discipline-specific Web sites for students and researchers. The book also explores the use of new technologies to improve document delivery and service provision as well as demonstrations of leadership by science librarians who are willing to take risks, adapt to change, control costs, and collaborate with colleagues. Here is just a fraction of the fascinating cases and important concepts highlighted in Innovations in Science and Technology Libraries: the Drexel University Library’s transition from print to an electronic-only journal collection the benefits of adopting a just-in-time (purchase on demand) rather than a just-in-case acquisitions policy IntelliDoc—how it has raised the standard for document delivery worldwide and increased international recognition of CISTI how California State University, Sacramento, merged its science library into its central reference department—an examination of the two-year merging process the creation of branch libraries focused on electronic information—an engineering library at Kansas State University and an agriculture library at the University of Manitoba the impact of electronic information upon undergraduate science education literacy competencies in the sciences—and their implications for library instruction how the MIT libraries created and developed the Reference Vision system that now guides all of their new reference services the impact of learning communities upon library services recent additions that enhance the usefulness of the IEEE Xplore online delivery system Innovations in Science and Technology Libraries will bring you up-to-date on the latest developments, sharpen your awareness of new concepts and techniques in sci/tech librarianship, and help your library stay abreast of important changes in this ever-evolving field. Make it a part of your professional reference collection today!
Explore the issues that are changing user/librarian interactions in today’s evolving electronic libraries This book examines the rapid advances in technology and scientific discovery that have changed the way sci/tech library users seek informationchanges which have also necessitated increasingly high levels of skill in information technology and advanced subject knowledge from librarians. From negotiating the intricacies of working with e-journals to simplifying the data collection process, anyone involved in allocating library resources or prioritizing research agendas will find relevant, useful information here, as will those involved in library education. Emerging Issues in the Electronic Environment: Challenges for Librarians and Researchers in the Sciences begins with Scientific Communication: New Roles and New Players, a detailed examination of the evolution of the information-seeking behavior of scientists, from the days of print-based resources to today’s electronic media. Next, you’ll find techniques designed to maximize the ability of scientists to make lucky connections in their electronic search for information in Too Important to be Left to Chance: Serendipity and the Digital Library. Four chapters in Emerging Issues in the Electronic Environment bring you up-to-date information on various aspects of working with e-journals: For Better or Worse: The Joys and Woes of E-Journals, investigates the impact of electronic-only journal holdings on collection development decisions and the accompanying issues of archiving, economics, content, and research use Scan It and They Will Come . . . But Will They Cite It? provides citation data on the usefulness and impact of retrospective digitization projects for journal contents The Use of Online Supplementary Material in High-Impact Scientific Journals raises vital questions as to whether the print or electronic article should be regarded as the primary archival resource Challenges and Opportunities for Bibliometrics in the Electronic Environment: The Case of the Proceedings of the Oklahoma Academy of Science investigates how issues of access, copyright, and fair use, as well as differences among online file formats may impact bibliometric analysis Two chapters in Emerging Issues in the Electronic Environment are designed to help simplify the data collection process. Information Overload: Keeping Current Without Being Overwhelmed will show you how to identify needed sources by using current awareness services and e-mail filtering technologies The Impact of Electronic Bibliographic Databases and Electronic Journal Articles on the Scholar’s Information Seeking Behavior and Personal Collection of Reprints reviews organizational methods for managing large collections of electronic articles. In addition, this forward-thinking book contains four chapters that point out possible avenues for increased librarian-facilitated service to users: Biology Databases for the New Life Sciences discusses the new sequence, microarray, and protein structure databases, the emergence of bioinformatics, and the opportunities available to librarians in this developing area Map and Spatial Data Acquisitions in the Electronic Age shows how the traditionally complicated and time-consuming process of acquiring cartographic information can be simplified by efficient use of the Internet Webinar Technology: Applications in Libraries reviews the operation, application, and features of Webinars and compares this technology with Web tutorials, virtual reference, and courseware management systems, videoconferencing, and Webcasting Preserving Digital Librari
“Advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” --Arthur C. Clarke This well-researched book makes sense of the new advances in electronic services and resources available to science and technology libraries. It will familiarize you with the latest collection development, reference service, and information service technologies. Inside you’ll find case studies, examples of successful implementations of emerging information technologies, helpful tables and figures, screen shots, and more! In addition to bringing you up to date on the latest trends in the area, Electronic Resources and Services in Sci-Tech Libraries will provide you with essential background information on these important technologies. With Electronic Resources and Services in Sci-Tech Libraries, you’ll learn: how the University of Arizona Libraries access remote electronic resources how journal articles containing complex mathematics are published on the Web--including the latest developments in MathML, PDF, OpenMath, and more how the e-resource registry approach can be integrated with existing custom Web-based services how to use user-centered criteria to evaluate electronic journals how to use e-prints (electronic preprints) to break the stranglehold that journal publishers have over science libraries how to get the most from electronic reserves-with tips and techniques for implementing an e-reserves service, negotiating copyright issues, and more how to implement a successful current awareness services program how the next generation of library portals will impact sci-tech libraries and much more!
Stay on top with the latest developments in scientific and technical journal publications! In Scholarly Communication in Science and Engineering Research in Higher Education, experts in the academic community propose cost-effective alternatives to commercial publications in the face of increased journal prices and reduced budgets. This book discusses recent technological innovations that can maintain the needs of researchers who need to stay on the cutting edge of science and technology as well as scholars who must be published and peer-reviewed in order to achieve tenure and promotion. This text also examines the latest developments in information retrieval that will effectively cut time and costs for academic researchers in the library. Scholarly Communication in Science and Engineering Research in Higher Education focuses on the need for the academic community to accept new, economical methods of producing and making available publications such as peer reviews, research papers, letters, technical and experiment reports, preprints, and conference papers. This volume also emphasizes that scientists and engineers—whether graduate students or professionals—must have access to the latest relevant research in their fields and rely on libraries to provide it. Several chapters in this book examine the problem areas of information technology that will need to be fixed, such as bottlenecks to the flow of information, difficulties using information retrieval systems, and the challenges with archiving electronic journals. Using research and case studies, this book offers strategies for obtaining benefits such as: more efficient and inexpensive ways to access and navigate information more cost-effective means of authentication and quality control new initiative programs in electronic theses and dissertations to assist graduate students increased dissemination and access for conference papers at significantly less cost alternative and more effective approaches for solving underlying problems within the scholarly communication circuit of scientists activities for librarians to help expand utilization of digital technologies at the local level accurate and reliable retrieval of citation data from online sources Using Scholarly Communication in Science and Engineering Research in Higher Education, you can play an important role in improving the means and methods in this area of academics. This important guide will help librarians, science and engineering faculty and students, researchers, and publishers maintain funding, improve efficiency, and offer new methods for scientific studies.
Provide top-flight services in this highly specialized field! This groundbreaking book provides state-of-the-art information on one of the most useful library specialties. Engineering Libraries: Building Collections and Delivering Services is designed for information professionals at all levels of expertise, from new practitioners to specialists in science and engineering. It shows how you can provide top-notch service by designing programs around the genuine needs of the users. Previous books in this field have generally covered only the engineering literature and databases. However, Engineering Libraries focuses on the practical aspects of providing user-friendly information services in an engineering environment. The suggestions and advice are eminently practical and designed for immediate usability. It also reviews the state of scientific communication and progress toward digital libraries. Engineering Libraries offers solid expertise on the fundamental issues of this branch of information science, including: establishing a collection innovative uses of the Web. instructing users assessing services providing services to varied user populations Engineering Libraries is an essential resource for librarians in science, technology, and engineering programs. It is also a valuable text for graduate students and faculty in library science.
Learn leadership skills from achievements at special libraries in Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, and Central America! Leadership and Management Principles in Libraries in Developing Countries is a compilation of success stories epitomizing management and leadership strategies from developing nations around the globe. This book focuses on library administrators from Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, and Central America who have significantly transformed their library services in spite of limited funds and a lack of resources. You'll learn about their achievements, their techniques, and the strengths and skills they used—which can help you become a stronger leader at your own library. Leadership and Management Principles in Libraries in Developing Countries is a collection of selected entries to the Special Libraries Association Leadership and Management Division’s 2003 International Paper Competition for special librarians in developing countries. Each author describes the effective leadership and management that made their special library initiatives successful, providing references, tables, step-by-step instructions, and handy checklists for other librarians to use. In Leadership and Management Principles in Libraries in Developing Countries, library officials discuss the development of successful programs at special libraries such as: the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi, India—where a team of people with diverse backgrounds worked together to digitally modernize their traditional library the Agricultural Libraries and Special Libraries in Tropical Biology located in Indonesia—where special librarians found innovative ways to access funding support and expertise from foreign institutions, international relief agencies, and library associations the Information Resource Centre at The Mildmay Centre in Kampala, Uganda—where the new Mobile Patient Library Services project provides information materials to patients with HIV/AIDS and their caregivers the American Cultural Center Library (now called the Rosa Parks Library) in Niamey, Niger—where the library was restructured from a simple reading room into a diverse cultural resource of exhibitions, seminars, and multilingual reference materials the Federal Ministry of Industry headquarters Library in Nigeria—where the library transformation was made possible through good leadership style, managerial expertise, and effective staff organization the University of Swaziland Libraries in Swaziland—where a strategic planning initiative helped the library widen Internet access, secure subscription funding for database access, and purchase updated equipment to enrich the instructional, research, and administrative functions of the library This book represents a body of practical experience, problems, lessons, and techniques that can be shared and tried by those who want to know more about or deal with the special needs and circumstances of librarians in developing countries. Leadership and Management Principles in Libraries in Developing Countries will show you how to improve both service and outreach to your local community by becoming a leader at your special library, whether you are the librarian, mid-level manager, director, or information consultant. Library science faculty and students will also find that this book illustrates the benefits of good leadership and management.
Explore the future of Internet-based Science Journals! Electronic Expectations: Science Journals on the Web chronicles the convergence of financial, technical, and public policy considerations that turned what seemed like science fiction twenty years ago into a library fact of life today. The book shows that while electronic publication greatly speeds issuance of important scientific results of enduring value, it also has the potential to lower the economic threshold at which crank papers and marginal publications can gain a wide, if sadly misled audience, in the short run. In Electronic Expectations, editor Tony Stankus predicts with splendid irony that the electronic journals that will matter the most to genuine scientific progress will be the web versions of long-standing leaders among traditional print journals, whose electronic typesetting requirements gave the web its first format conventions and rules for safe content transmission. Electronic Expectations will empower you to: assess the existing print journal system and its prospects for improvement through electronic publishing discern the competing motivations and strategies of science researchers, librarians, publishers and journal aggregators in going electronic identify the web winners and losers after these first ten years understand the underlying business and technological warfare affecting the larger future of the internet Electronic Expectations demonstrates that while scientists invented the web, they no longer control it, and that even the very largest research organizations, libraries, publishers, and journal aggregators, will, to a substantial degree, be at the technological and economic mercy of commercial users of the web.
This broad overview covers the four traditional spheres of the environment: water, air, earth, and life, and introduces a fifth sphere - the "anthrosphere" - which the author defines as the sphere of human activities, especially technology, that affect the earth. Environmental Science and Technology is organized into six major areas; one for each of the five spheres and one introductory section that explains the fundamentals of chemistry, biology, biochemistry, and environmental chemistry. Throughout the book, the relationships among the five spheres and their connections to the sciences are emphasized. For better or worse, technology is closely intertwined with the other four spheres. Humans utilize resources, manufacture goods, practice agriculture, and engage in other activities that have profound effects on the planet. This unique text/reference takes a realistic look at the environmental effects of human activities, and shows how constructively directed technology can have a beneficial effect on the Earth.
