Global research priorities for sea turtles : informing management and conservation in the 21st century

Over the past 3 decades, the status of sea turtles and the need for their protection to aid population recovery have increasingly captured the interest of government agencies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the general public worldwide. This interest has been matched by increased research attention, focusing on a wide variety of topics relating to sea turtle biology and ecology, together with the interrelations of sea turtles with the physical and natural environments. Although sea turtles have been better studied than most other marine fauna, management actions and their evaluation are often hindered by the lack of data on turtle biology, human–turtle interactions, turtle population status and threats. In an effort to inform effective sea turtle conservation a list of priority research questions was assembled based on the opinions of 35 sea turtle researchers from 13 nations working in fields related to turtle biology and/or conservation. The combined experience of the contributing researchers spanned the globe as well as many relevant disciplines involved in conservation research. An initial list of more than 200 questions gathered from respondents was condensed into 20 metaquestions and classified under 5 categories: reproductive biology, biogeography, population ecology, threats and conservation strategies

Changing roles of reference librarians: The case of the HKUST Institutional Repository

Purpose - This paper proposes describing how reference librarians in an academic library recruit content for its institutional repository, and how their roles have been changed in the process. Design/methodology/approach - This paper describes the background on how institutional repositories have developed in response to the open access movement. The case of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) Institutional Repository is described in detail, showing different strategies that reference librarians employed in recruiting content. The strategies include encouraging researchers to self-archive papers, scanning web sites, capturing pre-existing collections of grey literature, and downloading from open access sources. Findings - The paper illustrates how the roles of reference librarians are changed in the process of building the institutional repository. There are extensions of existing roles in terms of system evaluation, advocacy and reference services. Brand new roles include content recruitment and interpreting publishers' policies. It also points out possible directions which can make the repository sustainable. Practical implications - The paper provides a very useful case study to which other academic libraries may refer when they plan to develop their own institutional repositories. Originality/value - This paper provides in-depth descriptions on the changing roles of reference librarians not covered in previous literature. Discussions on policies, strategies, barrier and challenges will have reference value for academic libraries who want to embark on a similar project. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited