Smartphones: A potential discovery tool

The anticipated wide adoption of smartphones by researchers is viewed by the authors as a basis for developing mobile-based services. In response to the UNLV Libraries’ strategic plan’s focus on experimentation and outreach, the authors investigate the current and potential role of smartphones as a valuable discovery tool for library users

Using Link Resolver Reports for Collection Management

In 2007–2008, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Libraries conducted a large collection assessment project. The Collection Assessment Committee identified several possible ways to conduct the review, one of which was using reports from the link resolver SFX. The committee used several link resolver reports in conjunction with statistics from the Libraries\u27 document delivery department to identify trends in journal usage among disciplines. The link resolver reports can help identify new journals for purchase and are useful for providing information on user behavior

Journal selections: Let’s support our students’ futures

Dietetic educators concur that use of professional journals in the undergraduate curriculum promotes student reading skills, exposes students to current research, enhances computer skills and prepares dietetic students for the real world environment. Those of us in educational institutions are continually asked to review our university library holdings; prioritizing on the basis of department selections, cost, rate of inflation, use by faculty and students and availability through interlibrary loans and other document retrieval procedures. No doubt, those in industry and clinical and private practice are also watching their budgets and are asked to review expenses for professional publications

Why not just Google it? An assessment of information literacy skills in a biomedical science curriculum

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Few issues in higher education are as fundamental as the ability to search for, evaluate, and synthesize information. The need to develop information literacy, the process of finding, retrieving, organizing, and evaluating the ever-expanding collection of online information, has precipitated the need for training in skill-based competencies in higher education, as well as medical and dental education.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The current study evaluated the information literacy skills of first-year dental students, consisting of two, consecutive dental student cohorts (n = 160). An assignment designed to evaluate information literacy skills was conducted. In addition, a survey of student online search engine or database preferences was conducted to identify any significant associations. Subsequently, an intervention was developed, based upon the results of the assessment and survey, to address any deficiencies in information literacy.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Nearly half of students (n = 70/160 or 43%) missed one or more question components that required finding an evidence-based citation. Analysis of the survey revealed a significantly higher percentage of students who provided incorrect responses (n = 53/70 or 75.7%) reported using Google as their preferred online search method (p < 0.01). In contrast, a significantly higher percentage of students who reported using PubMed (n = 39/45 or 86.7%) were able to provide correct responses (p < 0.01). Following a one-hour intervention by a health science librarian, virtually all students were able to find and retrieve evidence-based materials for subsequent coursework.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study confirmed that information literacy among this student population was lacking and that integration of modules within the curriculum can help students to filter and establish the quality of online information, a critical component in the training of new health care professionals. Furthermore, incorporation of these modules early in the curriculum may be of significant value to other dental, medical, health care, and professional schools with similar goals of incorporating the evidence base into teaching and learning activities.</p

Olfactory Receptors in Non-Chemosensory Organs: The Nervous System in Health and Disease

Olfactory receptors (ORs) and down-stream functional signaling molecules adenylyl cyclase 3 (AC3), olfactory G protein \u3b1 subunit (G\u3b1olf), OR transporters receptor transporter proteins 1 and 2 (RTP1 and RTP2), receptor expression enhancing protein 1 (REEP1), and UDP-glucuronosyltransferases (UGTs) are expressed in neurons of the human and murine central nervous system (CNS). In vitro studies have shown that these receptors react to external stimuli and therefore are equipped to be functional. However, ORs are not directly related to the detection of odors. Several molecules delivered from the blood, cerebrospinal fluid, neighboring local neurons and glial cells, distant cells through the extracellular space, and the cells' own self-regulating internal homeostasis can be postulated as possible ligands. Moreover, a single neuron outside the olfactory epithelium expresses more than one receptor, and the mechanism of transcriptional regulation may be different in olfactory epithelia and brain neurons. OR gene expression is altered in several neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson's disease (PD), Alzheimer's disease (AD), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD) subtypes MM1 and VV2 with disease-, region- and subtype-specific patterns. Altered gene expression is also observed in the prefrontal cortex in schizophrenia with a major but not total influence of chlorpromazine treatment. Preliminary parallel observations have also shown the presence of taste receptors (TASRs), mainly of the bitter taste family, in the mammalian brain, whose function is not related to taste. TASRs in brain are also abnormally regulated in neurodegenerative diseases. These seminal observations point to the need for further studies on ORs and TASRs chemoreceptors in the mammalian brain

Use of Data in Collections Work: An Exploratory Survey

As libraries seek to demonstrate the value of the services and collections they provide, gathering and using data assume a central role. Librarians on collections-related Listservs were invited to participate in a survey in order to identify data practices specifically related to collections. More than 200 librarians responded. The survey explored the ways collections data are being used as well as organizational practices and attitudes that might serve to either encourage or discourage the use of data, including training, librarian evaluations, and presence of data assessment components in job descriptions

Library-subsidized unmediated document delivery

Throughout the 1990s, libraries experimented with subsidizing end-user unmediated document delivery as a means of expanding collections, offering faster service, and lessening demands on interlibrary loan. An ongoing project at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, is presented here to evaluate whether or not providing the service met expectations. For the most part, unmediated document delivery served to enhance collections and users appreciated the service. Since those who preferred to order articles themselves were not necessarily interlibrary loan users, workloads and costs associated with interlibrary loan were not diminished

Building a dental sciences collection in a general academic library

This article discusses the web and print resources used in selecting material for a dental sciences collection in an academic library at a public university without a medical library. The process of creating a collection quickly and with limited resources is described, from the initial collection assessment to the decision-making processes involved in actual selection

Appography: the Bibliography for the Twenty-First Century

Libraries have opportunities to enhance traditional library services with iPhones. Searching the iTunes store for relevant apps adaptable or targeted for library use is cumbersome. In the past, librarians have highlighted their resources by developing significant annotated bibliographies and subject guides for their users. The presenters have begun using the program, LibGuides, to produce an appography (annotated subject driven bibliography) that guides users to helpful apps from the iTunes store. We anticipate appographies will be the bibliographies of the 21st century

Creating a virtual branch library to serve a remote campus

Purpose – Aims to present an overview of the implementation of library services to a distinct user population. Design/methodology/approach – Presents a review of the decision-making process behind the development of services to support a new remote campus at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Findings – Provides the rationale behind the decisions that were made regarding the branch library web page. Recognizes the need for continuous assessment and revision of procedures and the web page. Originality/value – This paper provides a practical look at creating a virtual library in a paperless environment