Talking in the Library

Open Access Week 2011: K-State Research Exchange #oaweek

The basic of premise of Open Access – that all research should be freely available online – is also a guiding principle of the K-State Research Exchange (K-REx).  In a nutshell, K-REx enables students and faculty to put their scholarly work online and make it available for anyone to view and download.  Sounds simple, but the benefits can be enormous.

Let’s look at the example of Matthew Vanden Boogart, a K-State graduate student who deposited his masters thesis Uncovering the Social Impacts of Facebook on a College Campus in K-REx in 2006.  Since that time, his paper has been viewed or downloaded over 5,000 times and cited in 3 books.  Based on this interest, Matt is planning a follow-up study.  If his thesis had been submitted as a paper copy and placed on the library shelves, rather than freely available through K-REx and discoverable in Google, it’s unlikely it would have generated as much interest and led to further research.

Similarly, faculty use K-REx to facilitate access to and uptake of their work.  Melody LeHew (Apparel, Textiles, and Interior Design) deposited her article Tourist Shoppers’ Satisfaction With Regional Shopping Mall Experiences in K-REx.  Within a few weeks time she received an invitation from a publisher, who had found the article in K-REx, to include it in an anthology.  Although the article was published in the International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality, depositing the article in K-REx provided access to readers (and editors) beyond the usual journal subscribers. 

Peter Pfromm and Peter Czermak, both in the Chemical Engineering department, have deposited 36 articles in K-REx, and these papers have been viewed or downloaded from K-REx an astonishing 16,422 times!  The authors submitted these articles to peer-reviewed journals, as scientists have done for centuries, and the articles were published and distributed to the journal subscribers.  But what Drs. Pfromm and Czermak do that vastly expands the reach of their work is to also submit copies of those articles to K-REx.  The goal of K-REx is not to replace traditional scholarly publishing, but rather to take advantage of the Internet and OA to increase the impact of scholarly research.

Want to jump in?  Contact Marty Courtois, 532-4428, courtois@ksu.edu for details on how to add your work to K-REx.

-Marty Courtois

This is our third open access post for the week.  Hope you're enjoying the series.

Exploring Print Reference

Our online resources are vast and full of wonder, but in the digital age it behooves us to remember that sometimes the answer is housed in a more analog format.  To that end, some of us librarians have undertaken a mission to (re)acquaint ourselves with our Print Reference Collection.  I got Art and Law.

First, there's Every Tenant's Legal Guide. Ours is the 2nd edition, which is a bit dated now that the 6th is out.  Law moves quickly - likely on minor details the 2009 6th edition is dated, let alone the 2006 2nd ed.  But its usefullness hasn't totally evaporated.  Students (and probably more than students) are vulnerable in a community where landlords hold far more power than tenants, but there are rights and you can exercise them.  Use this book with caution, and if you're in a situation involving legal matters get legitimate counsel as quickly as your resources permit, but if you're lost as to where to even start this isn't a bad choice.  Good for everyone.

Unreasonable Searches and Seizures: Rights and Liberties Under the Law.  I don't want to get to civil libertarian here...wait...yes I do.  If we ordinary citizens don't take it upon ourselves to defend our rights (and the first step is knowing all we can about them) then we might as well just hand them right back to the authorities.  "No thanks, guys.  You keep your Fourth Amendment."  Well, that's not for me and it's not for you.  Written in 2006 as part of a series on America's Freedoms, this text lays out what abuses of the law citizens can expect from Authority and how to react.  Great for students of law, political science, criminology, philosophy, and rabble-rousers like myself.

On the Art side of my assignment, I found this delightful little number by Helene E. Roberts: The Encyclopedia of Comparative Iconography: Themes Depicted in Works of Art (v. 1&2).  This is the cure for what in modern terms could be called the "haven't seen Star Wars syndrome."  If you haven't seen Star Wars, there's a whole lot of popular culture that can go right over your head.  That same thing can happen if you're unfamiliar with Ovid's Metamorphoses.  If you're knowledge of art, mythology, literature, and history is incomplete from, say, the origin of culture to today, this set will help you fill in the gaps for why certain themes in art are portrayed certain ways.

Short Cuts: Get (re)acquainted with K-State Libraries (we rearranged the collection on you!)

It seems as if Hale Library has taken on a mind of its own these days. It's become a sentient being whose sole desire is to make finding that book you need just a little bit harder. So you think that quantum physics book is still on that shelf in Stack C where you told yourself you'd return for it? Nope! Now it's on Stack B. First we confuse the masses at K-State, then the world (insert evil laughter here)!

Ok, so we confess that while making research slightly more inconvenient is not a solid stepping stone to world domination, it does beg the question as to why all this movement is taking place, and it has nothing to do with Hale becoming self-aware.

As strange as it may sound, all this rearranging is to better serve you, the patrons... eventually. Insert whatever cliché proverb you want into this situation --- "It's always darkest before the dawn," "You have to spend money to make money," "You had me at hello," --- the point is that when it's all said and done, a completely reorganized library will benefit you in terms of accessing materials. It has also opened up considerable amount of space to take in a bevy of new materials, ranging across countless subjects to keep your research relevant, current, and competitive.

So what will be the end result of this massive reorganization? Well, if all goes according to plan, 4th floor will house a number of unique collections separated from Hale Library's main collection. Let's take a look at what collections are now currently placed on 4th:

• Music & Art Collection: If you're looking for any books with an M or N call number in Hale Library, the music and art books respectively, they have been placed on the east side of the 4th floor into a newly-created collection conveniently known as the "Music & Art Collection." This collection also includes all Music and Art Oversize materials, as well as the Music Reference section, placed next to the 4th floor elevators. That means in the main part of the collection, we'll jump from the L call numbers to the P call numbers. (Fun fact: there are no O call numbers in the Library of Congress System. Also no I, W, X, or Y. Any guesses as to why?)
• Media Collection: Want to watch Patton or listen to a Beethoven recording? Our media cabinets containing the majority of Hale's audio and visual materials have been moved to the middle of 4th floor. In addition, all Media and CD Oversize materials have been placed next to the cabinets.

Wait, there's more! We are currently in the final stretch of the shift, attempting to get as much of the main collection off of 4th floor as we can in order to leave a section of empty shelves. What will be going in that big empty space you ask? Well, ideas like a jungle gym, go-kart track, and karaoke bar were thrown around but those seemed a little counterintuitive to what a library is all about. Instead, we decided to place more collections in those shelves. Here's what will be making its way to 4th this semester:

• LP's, which are currently located in storage, are going to see the light of day once again and rest alongside the media cabinets. Yep, the vinyl is back!
• Rooms 306 and 309 can no longer contain the growth of Juvenile Literature and the Curriculum Materials Collection so a plan is in place to move them to 4th, though no time frame on the move has been set yet.
• Folio (big books) and Oversize (really big books) are to be placed back on 4th. They will be located at the beginning of the movable stacks. If you are looking for either collection now though, Folios can be found on the west side of Room 117 and Oversize items can be requested from Library Help on 2nd floor.

Well, that's about the sum of what's taking place at Hale this moment. We are working hard to keep our stacks guide updated and the online version will generally be more up to date than the paper version, but we hope to be in sync soon!

The Library may be a little puzzling now, but a staff of friendly librarians and students are at your disposal to help you with any troubles you may have. Just visit us at Library Help and we'll be happy to assist. All we ask is that you bear with us as we get our shift in order.

Ben Hedges

Can't See the "Elephant" in the Room?

For those of you who've been delighted to find your favorite movies and CDs in our Media Collection but wonder where they've gone, fret not!  We've been in the process of doing some rearranging and all of our media will eventually make it's way to the fourth floor (watch for an update when the move is completed).  In the meantime, whether you need to watch the 21-part series Bioremediation or enjoy the comedy of Lenny Bruce just ask at the Help Desk and we'll grab it for you!

Media Collection will be unavailable June 1-9

We’re moving our media collection (dvds, cds, etc) from the 3rd to the 4th floor of Hale Library. Because of the move, the collection will be unavailable from June 1st-9th. We’ll let you know when everything is moved and ready for your listening or viewing pleasure.

Sorry for any inconvenience.

 

Researching Fun-Karts, hydraulic cement, or detection of deception? Get your favorite ASTM standard online now!

Whether you are searching in our catalog, or going directly to the ASTM Standards and Digital Engineering Database, you have access to the complete set of ASTM standards, as soon as they are in effect. According to Alice Trussell, our engineering librarian, "We have access to historic standards, journals, manuals, data series, symposia papers and selected technical papers."

I think a few people just changed what they are thankful for this Thanksgiving!

What's old is new

True confession: I may be a librarian, and therefore presumably a print fetishist, but like most people in networked nations, things have reached the point where if it is not online, I'm not going to go find it. Sad, but often true.

During a recent conversation with our dean, she suggested that I read a couple of Wikipedia pages for some background information on some interesting people (yes, a librarian referring a librarian to Wikipedia; this is a sign of the end of days). While checking these pages out, I ran across a citation to an album review in a 1977 edition of Rolling Stone. Being an online slave, I trundled over--which implies movement, but required perhaps a wrist movement of .06 cm and a slight tap of the index finger--to the E-Journals page with fingers crossed hoping to find a source for RS vintage 1977. Curses! Full text coverage begins with 1992.

Long story short: I trudged the 70 yards or so to the stacks, retrieved the volume, and read the review. While doing so, the ads caught my eye, not least those pictured on this missive. With many states seriously discussing the legalization of marijuana, and at least one state perhaps on the cusp of starting a trend in that direction, these ads reminded me that this issue is hardly new and that our national relationship to the "potent herb" has gone through many phases. I also discovered the Amazing Iso-2 Machine, and will now puzzle for days over how it worked. Seems clear, however, that spearmint extract was not its intended purpose, but I could be wrong about that.

Were one writing a paper on such a cultural issue, this would be fabulous primary source material, and the kind that one cannot find online. We should all take off our "online" blinders on occasion and flip through some of the crazy stuff found on libraries' shelves.

New Leisure Reading Books on CD

Here are our latest books on CD in the Leisure Reading collection

Nine Dragons by Michael Connelly

Flirt by Laurell K. Hamilton

UR by Stephen King

Dark Matter by Peter Straub (will arrive soon)

Deep Shadow by Randy Wayne White

New Leisure Reading books

Here are the newest additions to our Leisure Reading collection.  Who are your favorite contemporary authors?

"Say, say, little playmate..." We have an app for that!

OK, it won't work on your iPhone, but we now have a really simple way to find sheet music, scores, and sound recordings. Perhaps you want to find out if K-State Libraries has a recording of the song, Your feet's too big, or the score for Playmates by Saxie Dowell.

Well, you can go to the library catalog and use the quick limits to tell the catalog you need a sound recording or sheet music.

The new option is to use the Music Finding Tool from the Music Subject Guide. With the Music Finding Tool, you just enter the composer's name (Saxie Dowell), the title of the work (Playmates), or the performer (Fats Waller). Then choose if you want the score or the sound recording. The Music Finding Tool does all the talking with the catalog and will produce a list of possible scores or recordings.

And yes, I already have a request in with our developer to see if we can make this embeddable, so you can plunk it in your iGoogle, or on Facebook, or otherwise put it exactly where you need it. When that happens (I'm crossing my fingers and promising chocolate), we'll let you know here, first.

Your Feet'S Too Big - Fats Wal...

Playmates - Puppini Sisters

By the way, I was completely surprised to learn that "Playmates" wasn't a clapping game created on the playground, but was composed by a real live musician. And that makes me wonder about Miss Mary Mack, and Found a Peanut. It could be a little devastating to learn that my playground and campfire songs were written by adults.