Web Reviews: NSF Data Management Plan: A Primer

Breaking away from the usual format, this month I’ve decided to focus on a hot topic that should be on the minds of anyone who deals with science and technology researchers and organizations: the National Science Foundation (NSF) Data Management Plan (DMP). This new requirement will open the door to many new conversations with our users about how they manage their data and what we, as library and information professionals, can do to help preserve and disseminate their research data for future generations of researchers. You may use this column as a guide to getting started on developing your own handouts and training

Web Reviews: Augmented Reality

The web no longer lives on the web only. Now with the help of your webcam or a compass-enabled smart phone, the web and the information within can be projected onto your world. Augmented reality may be one of the latest buzz words, but this emerging technology has been entering mainstream quickly though the development of smart phone apps (ie. iPhone, Android) and ingenious ad campaigns. What is augmented reality? The real-world example is the artificial glow around the soccer ball or hockey puck to enrich TV sport viewing. But, in short, augmented reality (AR) uses devices, like phones or web cams, to overlay virtual elements onto your real-world environment, thus creating a mixed reality. There seem to be many interesting possibilities for libraries too. Imagine aiming your camera phones at a row of books and seeing the LC subject headings hover above them? Since most AR applications haven\u27t left the lab yet, I\u27ve included a video demo for AR apps presented here. It seems that the world of AR is quickly expanding; so many more recent tools may have already come into existence. But this technology is certainly something to keep an eye (real or computer-aided) on in the future

Web Reviews: QR Codes for Sci-Tech Libraries

QR Codes are popping up everywhere…classroom walls, conference posters, and even T-shirts (http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/41/09shirt.html). These “Quick Response” Codes are essentially 2D barcodes that work with your mobile phone’s built-in camera and a reader application ( like “Google Goggles”) to easily point to a web-site or application with one click…rather than typing in a full URL. They also can add a bit of excitement or tech savvy to your promotion materials, such as displays and signs in the library and are very easy to implement. Recently a group of librarians in my library got together to brainstorm how we can use QR codes in our science library. Here is a list of our ideas, best practices and resources that we uncovered. Special thanks to Charlie Heinz, Megan Kocher, and the STS-listserv for all the help with this topic

Web Reviews: Astronomy Star Gazing Tools

Spring is here, and when this arrives at your email doorstop, summer will be around the corner! What this means, in the SciTech library, is recreational astronomers appear looking for answers. So next time an astro-newbie is attempting to check out a reference book on Deep-Space NGC Objects (when all they really want to know is what that bright star above the garage is each night), you can smile and say, Let me show you some great online tools that will help find out which star, or planet, that is. All of these web applets are freely available and easy to use. When possible I have included information on their portability away from the computer, out to the night sky. Of course, mobile phones make portability a snap and development of mobile sky apps will be the subject of a later column

Web Reviews: User Experience (UX) in Libraries: Web

In early 2011 SLA offi cially launched the User Experience (UX) Caucus1 with a focus on how users experience their libraries. (Join the SLA discussion list at [email protected]). UX Librarian at Rice University, Debra Kolah, will convene the first meeting of the caucus at SLA 2011 in Philadelphia with the goal to “permanently embed the user experience within the culture of librarianship. To accomplish this goal, the caucus will provide structure, advice and support for usability studies. The caucus will ultimately give its members clear strategies to search for, identify, and address areas in their own organizations where usability can be improved.

Value of Curation

This presentation focuses on explaining the value of data curation, foundation data curation activities, and an introduction to the CURATE steps

Data Repositories: The Answer that Actually Came with a Question

Data repositories: the answer that actually came with a question. Funders, journal publishers, and disciplinary societies recognize the benefits of long-term access to valuable data that could validate results, increase scholarly democracy, or possibly lead to future discoveries. With this in mind, a majority of research now being done in academia is subject to data sharing requirements that the underlying data be publicly accessible, citable, and persevered. As many subject-based data repositories help make this happen, particularly for computing-intensive disciplines with shared infrastructure, such as high-energy physics or real-time climate monitoring, who will manage the long-tail of smaller or multi-disciplinary research data? Our institutional repositories (IR) could be the answer. With a few key policy decisions, and robust review and curation procedures, libraries are well-positioned to help researchers comply with mandates to share and archive their data. Whether you use Hydra, DSpace, Fedora, E-prints, or Digital Commons, this talk will outline important issues to consider as you build new capacity with existing IR infrastructure or a custom data repository, including staffing, curation procedures, and metadata and documentation requirements. Finally it will explore the results and faculty response to launching the Data Repository for the University of Minnesota in 2015, which is based on the Libraries’ existing IR service. Our data submission process, curation procedures, faculty usage, and lessons learned will be placed in context of our broader data management and curation program. Lisa Johnston is Research Data Management/Curation Lead and Co-Director of the University Digital Conservancy, University of Minnesota