How Do We Assess this Mess? Assessing Webscale Discovery at FIU and UNF

Florida International University and the University of North Florida have both implemented or trialed discovery systems in the past year and have been working on strategies to assess these systems. We will share what we have done so far, and then would like to open the floor to see what assessments attendees have planned or performed

Rapid Rural Appraisal, Gender and Health – Alternative ways of listening to needs

Summary The article describes the use of Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA) in training development workers to think differently about the issues of gender and health. It is argued that unless a change in perspective takes place at field level, there is little prospect for improvement. RRA is a concept and methodology which challenges conventional assumptions about communities and their needs. Various examples of different RRA techniques are used to illustrate the kind of information which development workers can learn for themselves about the communities with whom they work, provided that they know how to and are ready to listen. Resumé L'évaluation rurale accélérée, le genre et la santé: des moyens alternatifs pour s'informer sur les besoins Cet article décrit l'utilisation du RRA (Rapid Rural Appraisal ou Evaluation rurale accélérée) dans la formation des personnes qui travaillent dans le développement pour leur permettre de réfléchir d'une manière nouvelle aux questions qui entourent le genre et la santé. A moins qu'un changement de perspectives n'intervienne dans le champ même, l'auteur estime que les possibilités d'amélioration resteront faibles. Le RRA est un concept, une méthodologie qui remet en question les suppositions traditionnelles concernant les communautés et leurs besoins. Divers exemples des techniques variées de RRA sont offerts pour illustrer les types d'information que les travailleurs dans le développement peuvent acquérir pour eux?mêmes au sujet des communautés avec lesquelles ils travaillent: à condition qu'ils sachent et qu'ils veuillent écouter à ce qu'on leur dit. Resumen Género y salud; Una evaluación rural rápida y métodos alternativos de descubrir necesidades El artículo describe el uso de la Evaluación Rural Rápida en la estimulación de los trabajadores en él area de desarrollo hacia un cambio de perspectiva en los temas de género y salud. A menos que este cambio ocurra in situ, hay pocas probabilidades de progreso. La Evaluación Rural Rápida es un concepto y una tecnología que desafía las presunciones convencionales sobre las comunidades y sus necesidades. Se usan varios ejemplos de diferentes técnicas de ERR para ilustrar la clase de información que los trabajadores en esta área pueden adquirir por sí mismos sobre el ambiente en el que trabajan, siempre que sepan, y estén dispuestos, a escuchar

The Great Transition of Scholarly Communication at the Thomas G. Carpenter Library

Many factors are changing the ways academic libraries are disseminating scholarly communication. Libraries must meet new expectations of how scholarly information is communicated and delivered to students and faculty. Due to shrinking budgets, Florida universities\u27 libraries are tasked with providing information within a defined monetary amount. Open access journals, institutional repositories, and libguides are a way to offset the cost of expensive subscriptions. We would like to present how the Thomas G. Carpenter Library at the University of North Florida contributes to the UNF community by providing and presenting alternative electronic resources while remaining within a limited budget

Disconnect Between Literature and Libraries: The Availability of Mentoring Programs for Academic Librarians

Our goal in this study was to determine the likelihood that a recent graduate entering his or her first professional position or a transitioning librarian would have access to formal mentoring programs. The study suggests that, while formal mentoring is valuable, more emphasis needs to be focused on creating formal mentoring programs to make them more widely available

Don’t Touch that String! There Went the Databases

Web discovery tools can change not only the way users search and retrieve information, but also, how libraries and librarians work with information. When the University of North Florida implemented web scale discovery tools, we discovered that the technical implementation was challenging, but the most difficult changes were related to the library culture. Our students were “early adopters” moving from over 26 different entry points to finding most library materials in one search. But our staff and faculty were more resistant to the change. Technical challenges related to implementation included coordinating the various technology pieces to customize the search interface, convert link resolvers, and to maintain interaction with the proxy server. Because of the complicated nature of web-scale discovery, we learned that no matter how much you prepare for implementation, there will be new and unexpected issues to resolve. Solutions for these problems require input from external entities and not just the library. Cultural challenges involved library faculty and staff that had the perception that the discovery tool did not produce comparable results to a search done directly in a specific database. When we analyzed this issue, we found that not only did the discovery tool return more accurate results, but also more relevant results. In addition, the results were from databases faculty and staff would not have normally thought to use. The issue then demonstrated the need for more training for library faculty and staff to learn how to refine searches in the discovery tool to achieve maximum results. By implementing web scale, we essentially untied the string that contained our expectations and experience regarding how search engines work and how users interact with them--and this unraveled all our previously held assumptions about how the library provides research service. The University of North Florida Library’s internet presence consisted of access points to over 300 databases which were available to users only by subject grouping and alphabetized lists. The Library realized that we were limiting access to content by forcing users to choose a database before starting a search. Therefore, relevant content in databases that the user might not think to search was excluded. Additionally, it was difficult to becomingly increasingly difficult to maintain the subject access approach using a list. In the past, UNF Library had dabbled unsuccessfully with federated search services. We chose to look for a technical solution that could unite our databases, make access to content easy, and make searching less cumbersome for our users. So we chose to look at new web scale discovery tools to answer our needs. We looked at emerging library discovery tools such as EDS by EBSCO, Summon by Serials Solutions, and Primo Central by Ex Libris

Walker Dialogues and Film Retrospectives: The First Thirty Years

Review of Walker Dialogues and Film Retrospectives: The First Thirty Years, Reviewed December 2020 by Alice Eng, Electronic Resources Librarian Wake Forest University, Z. Smith Reynolds Library [email protected]

Fashion Photography Archive

Review of Fashion Photography Archive, Reviewed December 2017 by Alice Eng, Electronic Resources Librarian Z. Smith Reynolds Library, Wake Forest University [email protected]

Here Comes Everybody (A Fishbowl Conversation)

This session intended to introduce the “unconference” experience to the conference. Participants sat in a “fishbowl” configuration and discussed the major issues regarding electronic resources and libraries. In this way, every attendee had a chance to speak

Assessment and improvement of the Plasmodium yoelii yoelii genome annotation through comparative analysis

Motivation: The sequencing of the Plasmodium yoelii genome, a model rodent malaria parasite, has greatly facilitated research for the development of new drug and vaccine candidates against malaria. Unfortunately, only preliminary gene models were annotated on the partially sequenced genome, mostly by in silico gene prediction, and there has been no major improvement of the annotation since 2002

Antimicrobial resistance among migrants in Europe: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are rising globally and there is concern that increased migration is contributing to the burden of antibiotic resistance in Europe. However, the effect of migration on the burden of AMR in Europe has not yet been comprehensively examined. Therefore, we did a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify and synthesise data for AMR carriage or infection in migrants to Europe to examine differences in patterns of AMR across migrant groups and in different settings. METHODS: For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, and Scopus with no language restrictions from Jan 1, 2000, to Jan 18, 2017, for primary data from observational studies reporting antibacterial resistance in common bacterial pathogens among migrants to 21 European Union-15 and European Economic Area countries. To be eligible for inclusion, studies had to report data on carriage or infection with laboratory-confirmed antibiotic-resistant organisms in migrant populations. We extracted data from eligible studies and assessed quality using piloted, standardised forms. We did not examine drug resistance in tuberculosis and excluded articles solely reporting on this parameter. We also excluded articles in which migrant status was determined by ethnicity, country of birth of participants' parents, or was not defined, and articles in which data were not disaggregated by migrant status. Outcomes were carriage of or infection with antibiotic-resistant organisms. We used random-effects models to calculate the pooled prevalence of each outcome. The study protocol is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42016043681. FINDINGS: We identified 2274 articles, of which 23 observational studies reporting on antibiotic resistance in 2319 migrants were included. The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or AMR infection in migrants was 25·4% (95% CI 19·1-31·8; I2 =98%), including meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (7·8%, 4·8-10·7; I2 =92%) and antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (27·2%, 17·6-36·8; I2 =94%). The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or infection was higher in refugees and asylum seekers (33·0%, 18·3-47·6; I2 =98%) than in other migrant groups (6·6%, 1·8-11·3; I2 =92%). The pooled prevalence of antibiotic-resistant organisms was slightly higher in high-migrant community settings (33·1%, 11·1-55·1; I2 =96%) than in migrants in hospitals (24·3%, 16·1-32·6; I2 =98%). We did not find evidence of high rates of transmission of AMR from migrant to host populations. INTERPRETATION: Migrants are exposed to conditions favouring the emergence of drug resistance during transit and in host countries in Europe. Increased antibiotic resistance among refugees and asylum seekers and in high-migrant community settings (such as refugee camps and detention facilities) highlights the need for improved living conditions, access to health care, and initiatives to facilitate detection of and appropriate high-quality treatment for antibiotic-resistant infections during transit and in host countries. Protocols for the prevention and control of infection and for antibiotic surveillance need to be integrated in all aspects of health care, which should be accessible for all migrant groups, and should target determinants of AMR before, during, and after migration. FUNDING: UK National Institute for Health Research Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, Imperial College Healthcare Charity, the Wellcome Trust, and UK National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Healthcare-associated Infections and Antimictobial Resistance at Imperial College London