Engineering Students and the Library

1

Engineering Students and the Library
Forging That Critical First Link
2

Ed Perry Engineering Librarian and Head
Library Research Services
Ed.Perry_at_uregina.ca
3

• Current Library School Enrolments

4

• Establishing Librarian Credibility
• Anyone who is a librarian at an academic
  institution and knows only library will have
  difficulty establishing credibility with both
  faculty and students, especially in fields like
  science and engineering.
• Cornell engineering librarian, 1987

5

• How can a librarian with a degree in Arts or
  Humanities establish credibility with Engineering
  FACULTY and STUDENTS????

6

• Look at research in progress in the engineering
  faculty.
• Pick 2-3 of areas in which you already have an
  interest.
• Read heavily in the related literature to develop
  expertise.
• Join societies covering those areas and attend
  their conferences.
• Try to attend socials for Engineering staff,
  such as coffee parties. reference questions.
• Enlist head librarian to get you added as member
  of the engineering faculty council
• Forward items of interest to individual faculty
  members.

7

• Its a hook

8

• Major issues for Engineering Educators
• Are we properly training students to function
  in
• the workplace?
• Are our graduates meeting the expectations of
• employers?

9

• Needed Areas of Improvement
• Technical training is excellent - but1)
  Teamwork
• 2) Accurate in-depth research
• 3) Communication Communication Communication

10

• I updated the status report for the four
  discrepancies Lennie
• forward to us via e-mail they in Barry fileto
  make sure my
• logic was correct It seems we provide Murray
  with incorrect
• informationHowever after verifying controls on
  JBL JBL
• has the indicator as B????-I wanted to make sure
  the recent
• changes-I processed today- before Murray make
  changes
• again on the mainframe C
• Dillion, 2004, New York Times

11

• Major Issues on the Library Side
• 1) Information overload
• 2) Research skills to address this overload

12

• C N E A B Criteria
• 1. Technical knowledge
• 2. Oral and written communication skills
• 3. Function as an effective team member
• 4. Ability to find / use appropriate
  information
• 4 key to the librarys role

13

• A systems engineer is an engineer trained for
  the
• analysis, design and evaluation of natural and
  
• man-made systems, with a particular awareness
• of the economic, humanitarian, environmental
  and
• administrative implications of her/his work .
  
• 
  Dean John Mantle 1979

14

• Expanded faculty of engineering goals
• 1. Role of the university in education system
• 2. Learn university rules and regulations
• 3. How do you survive in a university ?
• 4. Learn the different branches of engineering
• 5. Discern the role of the engineer in society
• 6. Examine the role of technology in society
• 7. Good/bad impacts of technology on society ?
• 8. Develop oral and written communication
  skills

Contd
15

• 9. Develop skills in locating/evaluating
  information , with emphasis on resources of the
  university library
• 10. Carry out a group engineering project
  study and present results verbally and in
  writing 50 of grade
• 9 and 10 key to the librarys role

16

• Where Does the Librarian Enter this Picture?
• Graduate student level?
• Intermediate classes?
• Introductory level?
• Impact of the Universitys Co-Op Program

17

• Engineering 103 Fall Semester
• 2 Library instruction sessions
• a. Intro. to the basics.

18

19

• Engineering 103 Fall Semester
• b. Introduction to the research process

20

• Its a hook

21

• Engineering 113 Winter Semester
• Individual analysis of an engineering catastrophe
• Gimli Glider presentation by Librarian
• Tetra society handicapped aids group design
  projects
• Intro. to free patentsonline database
• Introduction to REFWORKS

22

• It was great to see the Faculty of Engineering
  and the Library working collaboratively. Im used
  to the typical one-off session. A librarian
  comes into the class almost as an afterthought ,
  gives a one hour presentation that most
  students dont even pay attention to , then
  vanishes never to be heard from again.
• Ian Glass, June 2007

23

• Learning how to find information, and to learn
  something about the reliability of different
  sources of information is extremely important to
  all university students. It has turned out that
  one of the most important things in this course
  has been learning how to search for and retrieve
  information in the University Library system.
• 
  Dr Art Opseth, June 2007

24

• Its a hook