Cecelia Brown

Information seeking behavior of scientists in the electronic information age: astronomers, chemists, mathematicians, and physicists

The information seeking behavior of astronomers, chemists, mathematicians, and physicists at the University of Oklahoma was assessed using an electronically distributed questionnaire. All of the scientists surveyed relied greatly on the journal literature to support their research and creative activities. The mathematicians surveyed indicated an additional reliance on monographs, preprints, and attendance at conferences and personal communication to support their research activities. Similarly, all scientists responding scanned the latest issues of journals to keep abreast of current developments in their fields, with the mathematicians again reporting attendance at conferences and personal communication. Despite an expression by the scientists for more electronic services, the majority preferred access to journal articles in a print, rather than an electronic, form. The primary deficit in library services appeared to be in access to electronic bibliographic databases. The data suggest that a primary goal of science libraries is to obtain access to as many appropriate electronic bibliographic finding aids and databases possible. Although the results imply the ultimate demise of the printed bibliographic reference tool, they underscore the continued importance to scientists of the printed peer-reviewed journal article.

The role of electronic preprints in chemical communication: analysis of citation, usage, and acceptance in the journal literature

This study characterizes the usage and acceptance of electronic preprints (e-prints) in the literature of chemistry. Survey of authors of e-prints appearing in the Chemistry Preprint Server (CPS) at http://preprints. chemweb.com indicates use of the CPS as a convenient vehicle for dissemination of research findings and for receipt of feedback before submitting to a peer-reviewed journal. Reception of CPS e-prints by editors of top chemistry journals is very poor. Only 6% of editors responding allow publication of articles that have previously appeared as e-prints. Concerns focus on the lack of peer review and the uncertain permanence of e-print storage. Consequently, it was not surprising to discover that citation analysis yielded no citations to CPS e-prints in the traditional literature of chemistry. Yet data collected and posted by the CPS indicates that the e-prints are valued, read, and discussed to a notable extent within the chemistry community. Thirty-two percent of the most highly rated, viewed, and discussed e-prints eventually appear in the journal literature, indicating the validity of the work submitted to the CPS. This investigation illustrates the ambivalence with which editors and authors view the CPS, but also gives an early sense of the potential free and rapid information dissemination, coupled with open, uninhibited discussion and evaluation, has to expand, enrich, and vitalize the scholarly discourse of chemical scientists.

Where Do Molecular Biology Graduate Students Find Information

ABSTRACT Molecular biology graduate students read the traditional, highly regarded scientific journals, yet do not fully utilize bibliographic databases to find information. Instead, molecular biology graduate students rely on the extensive reservoir of information in bioinformatics databases as well as that within the National Library of Medicines PubMed. Graduate students learn about bioinformatics databases in their laboratories, not the campus library, thereby bypassing the library and adopting the laboratory as their information community. The data presented suggest that science and technology librarians must expand their knowledge base to include these resources as well as provide instruction that is both palatable and transparent to the next generation of leaders in the field of molecular biology.

The Matthew Effect of the Annual Reviews series and the flow of scientific communication through the World Wide Web

Authors of the well-regarded Annual Reviews series incorporate URLs to in the text, figures, tables, and reference sections of their articles. Despite the lack of peer review, the number of pointers to scientific information on the World Wide Web in the biomedical and physical science reviews increased five fold between 1997 and 2001. However, only 34% and 76% of the URLs from 1997 and 2001, respectively, remain viable in 2003. This is disconcerting as the stability of the highly cited Annual Reviewsseries is integral to the flow of scientific information. In fact, the citation rate for the URL containing Annual Reviewsarticles was found to be less than half that observed for all the review articles analyzed. Taken together these data suggest that the viability of web information may influence the citation rate of authors who have previously basked in the halo of R. K. Mertons Matthew Effect.

Institutional Digital Repositories for Science and Technology: A View from the Laboratory

ABSTRACT Institutions across the United States are actively creating institutional repositories (IRs) and an array of field-specific online collections, especially in the biological sciences. The 20 earth and biological scientists interviewed for this article embrace online resources for use in their research, teaching, and creative activities and, although previously unaware of the functions of an IR, unanimously support the development of one at the University of Oklahoma. The ability to share scholarly information across campus and to securely archive data are seen as valuable attributes of an IR. Despite their endorsement, participants have little interest in spending time and effort in creating an IR beyond voluntarily submitting their published works.

THE BENEFITS OF SEARCHING EMBASE VERSUS MEDLINE FOR PHARMACEUTICAL INFORMATION

Searchers often avoid EMBASE due to its high cost compared to MEDLINE. However, this paper demonstrates that when searching for a variety of pharmaceutical information, retrieval from EMBASE is superior to that from MEDLINE. Duplicates were detected, but more unique citations were found in EMBASE than in MEDLINE. An EMBASE searcher has the powerful ability to use specific drug identifiers as well as brand and manufacturer names. The EMBASE record contains additional information about the drug in question that may be utilised for further searching in EMBASE. Although EMBASEs display costs are high when compared to MEDLINE, title displays are free and searching alone is not expensive. Use of DIALOG Web was found to keep the overall costs to a minimum. Employment of these cost savings measures will help the searcher to decide whether the additional drug information gained from the EMBASE record outweighs the elevated cost of its display.

Recruiting the Best

SUMMARY Analysis of position announcements appearing in the archives of the CHMINF-L and STS-L online discussion forums dated 2005 through February 2006 indicates the persistence of the requirement for a background in science for success as a candidate for a position as a science and technology librarian. This paper challenges employers and search committees to look beyond this constraint and cultivate individuals who possess a dedication to service, a love of research and learning, and a Masters degree from an ALA accredited institution. Such individuals, regardless of background, when placed in a supportive and inclusive environment where continuing education is encouraged and competitive compensation is received, will prove to be not only successful, but exemplary, practitioners of science and technology librarianship.

Research in undergraduate mathematics education

Research in undergraduate mathematics education (RUME), the study of teaching and learning of college mathematics, is a new area of research in mathematics. Information to support this discipline is found in publications from all over the world, in the form of monographs, reports, research guidelines and resource manuals, as well as journal articles. Researchers in RUME require access to materials that are specific not only to their field, but also to the broader literature of mathematics, education, learning theories, instructional strategies, alternative assessment techniques, cognitive development and human behavior. This annotated bibliography is designed to be a template for a comprehensive and up‐to‐date collection of RUME resources. World Wide Web (Web) locations for many of the items are provided, as are descriptions of several Web sites that present information of interest to RUME researchers.

Surveys of Scientists and Engineers: Ensuring Reliable Research Evidence for Good Practice

Information scientists around the globe have made tremendous progress in understanding how scientists and engineers find and use information by through the use of a wide variety of survey instruments. Librarians and publishers increasingly turn to the data generated by these instruments in an effort to design and implement information products and services that the scientific community needs and desires. Three researchers experienced in studying the information seeking behavior of academics will describe their current investigations distinguishing between the survey mechanisms found to be effective or ineffective. Discussion will be led and provoked by the moderator and reactor who both have experience providing library services to this community. The last third of the session will be an open discussion soliciting comments and questions about trends, survey design, and survey experiences.

The role of “unpublished” research in the scholarly communication of scientists: Digital preprints and bioinformation databases. Sponsored by SIG STI, SIG BIO, SIG PUB

The advent of the Internet has stimulated the emergence of novel methods of scientific discourse that have the potential to alter traditional communication channels. On a larger scale, new digital information resources have the capacity to change both the way scientists work and the core of scientific knowledge. Historically the hallmark of scientific communication has been the publication of research findings in a peer-reviewed journal. On its route to the journal, the research may be communicated in many other forms, including conference proceedings, technical reports, and preprints. Recently, models of scientific communication have been updated to include electronic submission of manuscripts, virtual conferences, e-mail, and online journal publication. In fact, electronic preprints have become a primary mode of information dissemination in physics and astronomy. In contrast, biomedical scientists are reluctant to accept the electronic preprint as a viable mode for their scholarly communication due to the lack of peer-review and the uncertain permanence of electronic storage. These same scientists, however, are willing to share their DNA and protein sequence data by depositing it in a variety of the more than 200 publicly available web-based databases including GenBank and the EMBL Nucleotide Sequence Database. The panelists in this session will discuss the current and potential impact of these large, dynamic, yet not peer-reviewed, information warehouses on the scholarly communication of scientific researchers. Their insights will provide a fresh prospective on the ways scientists in a range of disciplines are coping with the 21st century digital information flood.