Mary E. Piorun

Trends in health sciences library and information science research: an analysis of research publications in the Bulletin of the Medical Library Association and Journal of the Medical Library Association from 1991 to 2007

OBJECTIVE This study analyzed trends in research activity as represented in the published research in the leading peer-reviewed professional journal for health sciences librarianship. METHODOLOGY Research articles were identified from the Bulletin of the Medical Library Association and Journal of the Medical Library Association (1991-2007). Using content analysis and bibliometric techniques, data were collected for each article on the (1) subject, (2) research method, (3) analytical technique used, (4) number of authors, (5) number of citations, (6) first author affiliation, and (7) funding source. The results were compared to a previous study, covering the period 1966 to 1990, to identify changes over time. RESULTS Of the 930 articles examined, 474 (51%) were identified as research articles. Survey (n = 174, 37.1%) was the most common methodology employed, quantitative descriptive statistics (n = 298, 63.5%) the most used analytical technique, and applied topics (n = 332, 70%) the most common type of subject studied. The majority of first authors were associated with an academic health sciences library (n = 264, 55.7%). Only 27.4% (n = 130) of studies identified a funding source. CONCLUSION This studys findings demonstrate that progress is being made in health sciences librarianship research. There is, however, room for improvement in terms of research methodologies used, proportion of applied versus theoretical research, and elimination of barriers to conducting research for practicing librarians.

Digitizing dissertations for an institutional repository : a process and cost analysis

OBJECTIVE This paper describes the Lamar Soutter Librarys process and costs associated with digitizing 300 doctoral dissertations for a newly implemented institutional repository at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. METHODOLOGY Project tasks included identifying metadata elements, obtaining and tracking permissions, converting the dissertations to an electronic format, and coordinating workflow between library departments. Each dissertation was scanned, reviewed for quality control, enhanced with a table of contents, processed through an optical character recognition function, and added to the institutional repository. RESULTS Three hundred and twenty dissertations were digitized and added to the repository for a cost of

Employee onboarding: identification of best practices in ACRL libraries

23,562, or

Challenges and lessons learned: moving from image database to institutional repository

0.28 per page. Seventy-four percent of the authors who were contacted (n = 282) granted permission to digitize their dissertations. Processing time per title was 170 minutes, for a total processing time of 906 hours. In the first 17 months, full-text dissertations in the collection were downloaded 17,555 times. CONCLUSION Locally digitizing dissertations or other scholarly works for inclusion in institutional repositories can be cost effective, especially if small, defined projects are chosen. A successful project serves as an excellent recruitment strategy for the institutional repository and helps libraries build new relationships. Challenges include workflow, cost, policy development, and copyright permissions.

Teaching Research Data Management: An Undergraduate/Graduate Curriculum

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify best practices of employee onboarding, the process by which a new employee is introduced to an organization and its vision, mission, and values.Design/methodology/approach – Researchers requested that members of the Personnel Administrators and Staff Development Officers Discussion Group of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) share documents related to employee onboarding and three researchers independently reviewed the documents. The collected documents were compared to the socialization model proposed by Raymond Noe, including the detailed aspects of the organizational phase and the key components identified in the best practices literature.Findings – In total, 17 institutions submitted documentation for review. All institutions discussed at least one or more of the key areas identified in the socialization process. Every institution in the study included a discussion of job expectations and evaluation criteria (100 percent); ten (5...

Envisioning the Library’s Role in Scholarly Communication in the Year 2025

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to chronicle the Lamar Soutter Librarys effort to build an educational image database, and how the project developed into an institutional repository.Design/methodology/approach – The paper is divided into three phases and highlights the organizational, political, technological and resource issues that are unique to a specialized library with a medium‐sized staff, lacking the resources of a traditional university campus. The case concludes with a list of barriers and facilitators to success and a summary of lessons learned.Findings – The paper finds that a library with limited staff, funding, and systems development resources can initiate and support an institutional repository. Facilitators of success include clear lines of authority, a strong champion, and the appropriate technology for the project.Originality/value – This paper serves as an example to libraries that are in the beginning phases of developing an institutional repository by discussing the barriers t...