Neil Rambo

1
Library Support for Bioscience Research
Cyberinfrastructure Informatics Across the
Biological Sciences?17 June 2008SLA Annual
Meeting Seattle
Neil Rambo University of Washington
Libraries Association of Research Libraries
Visiting Program Officer
ARL
2
Research vs. Teaching?

• there is a clear sense that the needs of
  researchers are not sufficiently recognised in
  the configuration of information resources and
  services provided to them.
• Only small proportions of researchers think their
  library is too focused on providing resources and
  services for researchers.
• At the same time, 61 of researchers either
  disagree or strongly disagree that their
  library is too focused on providing for the needs
  of researchers. ()
• Researchers Use of Academic Libraries and
  Their Services, Research Information Network, UK,
  2007, http//rin.ac.uk/

3
Science user needs studies

• Bioscience Research and Researchers at the
  University of Washington Needs and Implications
• http//www.lib.washington.edu/assessment/reports/d
  efault.html
• Understanding Research Behaviors, Information
  Resources, and Service Needs of Scientists and
  Graduate Students A Study by the University of
  Minnesota Libraries
• http//www.lib.umn.edu/about/scieval/documents.htm
  l

4
UW Study reasons for review

• Understand how bioscientists work and how that is
  changing
• Understand significance of bioscience to
  University and to Libraries
• Implications of significant change in use
  patterns
• Growing interdisciplinarity in research and
  teaching
• Viability of Libraries organizational
  structure/footprint
• Value of research enterprise to the University
• Strengthen library connection to research
  enterprise

5
UW Study Who counts?
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UW Study faculty interviews

• Library seen primarily as e-journal provider
• Physical library used only for items not
  available online
• Start information search with Google and PubMed
• Too busy for training, instruction etc.
• No suggestions for new library services to be
  provided

7
UW Study focus group themes

• Google, PubMed, Web of Science starting points
  for all
• Faculty identify library with e-journals
• Want more online, including older materials
• Faculty/most graduates go to physical library as
  last resort
• If not online want digital delivery
• Too many libraries
• Lack awareness of many library services,
  resources
• Undergrads rarely use print unless assigned by
  faculty
• Increasing overlap between bio research and
  other science research
• e-Science related needs just emerging not
  identified with library

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Recommendations 1/2

• Consolidate collections and service points
• Reduce print holdings focus on online
• Reorganize libraries around broad user
  communities
• Integrate search/discovery tools into users
  workflow
• Expand improve service/delivery options

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Recommendations 2/2

• Integrated collection allocation process
• Increased integration of librarians with user
  workflow
• Lead scholarly communication work
• Engage with e-science issues
• Partner with broader science biotech community
• More targeted communication marketing

10
UM Study Findings

• Information discovery and access
• Interdisciplinary and collaborative research
• Gathering, organizing, and sharing
• Role of library in research
• Graduate student research

11
UM Study Findings

• Information discovery and access Identifying and
  finding secondary research materials, including
  data sets that inform active research projects
• Keeping current
• Online resources

12
UM Study Findings

• Information discovery and access
• Interdisciplinary and collaborative research
• Traditional physical org of libraries is a
  barrier
• Digital collections mitigates physical boundaries
• Collaborative tools and virtual spaces

13
UM Study Findings

• Information discovery and access
• Interdisciplinary and collaborative research
• Gathering, organizing, and sharing
• Researchers practices regarding data curation
  and preservation are idiosyncratic, haphazard,
  and in great need of attention. A lack of clear
  standards for data preservation and assistance to
  implement and maintain standards results in a
  messy combination of data stored on hard drives,
  in offices, on servers, and in the published form
  of journals

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UM Study Findings

• Information discovery and access
• Interdisciplinary and collaborative research
• Gathering, organizing, and sharing
• Role of library in research
• Library buildings are places of disclosure
  rather than discovery, inasmuch as researchers
  go to libraries to retrieve what they have
  already identified

15
UM Study Findings

• Information discovery and access
• Interdisciplinary and collaborative research
• Gathering, organizing, and sharing
• Role of library in research
• Graduate student research
• Similar to faculty challenges
• Future faculty

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What does it mean?

• Print is dead really dead
• Our virtual space, not yours
• Its not just books journals anymore

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Cyberinfrastructure
resources

glue
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resources
computation
storage
networks
visualization
glue
instruments
software
experts
organizations
policies
services
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resources
computation
storage
networks
visualization
glue
instruments
software
experts
organizations
policies
services
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glue
software
experts
enables the use of resources
organizations
policies
services
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Christine Borgman, UCLA, 2007
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"Informatics is what occupies the gap between
computer system infrastructures (the hardware,
software, grids, and network services) and the
superstructure of knowledge producers-research
scientists, educators, decision-makers, and so
forth." - Alan Bertrand Onestein, 2007.
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library
Christine Borgman, UCLA, 2007
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E-science fundamentally alters the ways in which
scientists carry out their work, the tools they
use, the types of problems they address, and the
nature of the documentation and publication that
results from their research. E-science requires
new strategies for research support and
significant development of infrastructure.
Association of Research Libraries Report of the
Joint Task Force on Library Support for
E-Science, Dec. 2007
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(No Transcript)
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Shift from/to

• Publication phase
• Preprint/conference
• Article
• Index
• Review articles
• Handbook

• Pre-publication phase
• Data design
• Data format
• Database structure
• Data plan
• Data collection
• Data analysis
• Data access preservation

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New demands

• Data management
• Preservation
• Curation
• Supporting new genres of communication and
  publication
• Supporting the work of virtual organizations

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From access to added value

• Environment
• Ubiquitous access
• Ubiquitous technology
• Ubiquitous content
• ? Time pressures
• ? Funding competition
• ? Attention
• Awash in information chaos

• Service ? Added Value
• Save time synthesized results
• Improve research productivity
• Improve compliance
• ? Costs (?)
• PIM
• Publication assistance
• Data management

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Models from health sciences libraries

• Clinical medical librarian
• Liaison librarian
• Informationist
• Bioinformatics specialist

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Capacity questions

• Technical infrastructure
• Organizational structure
• Workforce skills

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Core librarian roles in 5 years

• as assessed by life scientists ()
• Custodian 70
• Manage IRs 70
• Administrator 65
• Teach information skills 50
• Manage datasets 40
• Technology specialist 40
• Subject expert 30
• Researchers Use of Academic Libraries and
  Their Services, Research Information Network, UK,
  2007, http//rin.ac.uk/

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Minneapolis Central Public Library, April 2008
people using a space, programs, services,
resources, in new and evolving ways