Shannon Gordon

One box to search them all: Implementing federated search at an academic library

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present how, in May 2008, the Ad Hoc Committee on Federated Search was formed to prepare a preliminary report on federated searching for a special meeting of Librarians Academic Council at Memorial University Libraries. The primary purpose is to discuss current implementation of federated searching at this institution, explore what other institutions have done, examine federated search technologies, and offer recommendations for the future of this resource.Design/methodology/approach – Information was drawn from a recent usability study, an informal survey was created, and a literature/technology review was conducted.Findings – These four recommendations were proposed and unanimously accepted: actively develop the current federated search implementation by developing a web presence supporting “federated search in context”, re‐evaluating the need for consortial purchase of a federated search tool, continuing to assess the current federated search marketplace with a...

Evolution of a summer research/writing workshop for first-year university students

Purpose – The paper aims to describe a framework for a summer research/writing workshop for new university students, and its evolution over time and across institutions.Design/methodology/approach – The University of Toronto at Scarborough (UTSC) has successfully offered its award‐winning two‐day Summer Learning Institute on Research, Writing and Presentation Skills for four years (2004‐2007), to increasing enrolments. Memorial University of Newfoundland (Memorial) adapted the UTSC model and successfully piloted its four‐day workshop, Summer Program in Academic Research and Communication (SPARC), in August 2006. Both programs were low‐cost, non‐credit summer workshops for new students to help them prepare for university‐level research and writing. Memorial offered its program a second time in August 2007. This paper focuses on the Memorial experience.Findings – The success of these programs is attributed to a common framework used in each case: program planning, marketing, and delivery and assessment.Prac...

White Paper: Measuring Research Outputs Through Bibliometrics

The suggested citation for this white paper is: University of Waterloo Working Group on Bibliometrics, Winter 2016. White Paper: Measuring Research Outputs through Bibliometrics, Waterloo, Ontario: University of Waterloo.