Open Access Day

A haiku for Open Access Day:

Let's create a rule
Information is a tool
Everyone can use!

Maybe Bathroom Breaks Are Bad

The last time I talked about bathroom breaks, I ran into a woman with a serious case of OCD. There was also the time a woman was singing "Jesus Loves The Little Children" in the stall next to me, but we won't get into that.

This time it was about child rearing techniques. Who knew such interesting research topics could be found in the ladies room?

In any case, an older woman was talking to a younger woman about ways to prevent poor behavior in children called the "extinction technique." The older woman explained that recognized behavior is repeated behavior, so if bad behavior is ignored and good behavior is recognized and rewarded, then it is the repeated behavior. If bad behavior is ignored, then to a child's mind, it didn't happen.

I'm not certain if I agree with that entirely, but it got me thinking about how this might be researched and applied by educators and others who specialize in child development.

I decided to try the ERIC database through the Marriott Library Article Databases.



This database has what I think is the best resources for education available, so I thought it would be a good place to start. To get there, I went to the library home page, clicked on Article Databases & More, and then on the letter 'E' to get to a list of databases that start with that letter. I scrolled down until I got to the one that said ERIC (Ebsco). There are several places to get information from ERIC because it originally from the U.S. Department of Education, but I like working with the Ebsco database vendor interface best.

Once I was in the database, I searched for "extinction technique."

And there they were, articles about exactly what the women in the bathroom were talking about. They ranged from information about how to help children with potentially dangerous self-destructive behaviors to behavior management information for parents using the extinction technique.

Ah, I do love when a good search comes together and I learn something new!

Bimbos and Zombies in the Library

I was wandering through the “stacks” today; that’s what we library nerds call the general collection here in the library. I usually browse the “stacks” for eye catching books, furry covers, heat reactive paper, or catchy titles. Untidy gender was my favorite until today when I came across…Bimbos and Zombies. No kidding you can really find bimbos and zombies in the library! I’m not much one for bimbos, but I am quite fond of zombies so I asked myself: “how can I come up with a tidy search to find out how many zombies we have in the library?”

I like to start by doing a general key word search in the library catalog…feel free to try this yourself. When I enter zombie the catalog produces 49 titles, if I try zombies the catalog gives me 32 titles. I can use a Boolean operator 'OR', so I search 'zombie or zombies' and that produces 77 titles. That is just not enough zombies for me, I mean I’m not one for math, but doesn’t 49+32= 81. Tricky you say, well yes it is, but I can show you how to be tricky right back…with the zombifying power of TRUNCATION!

Truncation allows you to search words that begin with similar letters, but end differently. Most catalogs and databases use an asterisk (*). Truncation allows you to identify part of a word and search for that expanding your results and reducing the length of your search statement. So I can do a general key word search for zombi* and ….POOF 81 results. So we have at least 81 zombies in the library, how many bimbos can you find?

Mathematics and the Aesthetic

Back a few weeks ago I posted an interdisciplinary proposal for the union of chemistry and political science. On the BBC news site I found another great example of working outside your field of study to enhance understanding and the essential transfer of knowledge (something we're keen on in libraries as you can well imagine). Watch the video The Art of Mathematics at the BBC Link and turn on your speakers for a great commentary by the creator.

You may ask yourself (how did I get here!?) and you may also ask yourself why I'm using a resource from the free and open web. The BBC, as you may or may not have noticed, has no advertising! Their american counterparts (CNN, local newspapers, etc.) all have advertising which could be construed as an editorial influence. I'll let you make the call on that one, but speaking as a librarian, I would say the BBC News services have an excellent editorial balance and are very credible.

Open Access Awareness Day--Tuesday, October 14

Open Access Day is an international event being held to broaden awareness and understanding of Open Access

Here's a listing of U of U events to be held on Tuesday, October 14th as well as the following week. For more information, contact Allyson Mower, allyson dot mower at utah dot edu; 585-5458.

Date: Tuesday, October 14
Event: Publishing SMART

Description: Authors want their scholarly articles to be seen, cited and utilized. This class provides opportunities for researchers to increase their visibility by exploring various publishing and archiving choices. Tools for evaluating journal impact factors, online usage, local online availability, retaining copyrights, and submission to online archives are covered.

Time: 9:00 am – 11:00 am
Location: Marriott Library, Room 1735
Sign up here

Date: Tuesday, October 14
Event: Sir Richard Roberts, Ph.D., F.R.S. Broadcast

Description: Dr. Roberts will discuss how Open Access impacts research and will answer questions on this topic from participating campuses.

Time: 5:00 pm
Location: Health Sciences Education Building, Room 4100 C
26 S. 2000 E.
(801) 581-8771
Directions

Date: Tuesday, October 14
Event: Philip E. Bourne, Ph.D. Broadcast

Description: Dr. Bourne will discuss how Open Access impacts research and will answer questions on this topic from participating campuses.

Time: 8:00 pm
Location: Salt Lake City Public Library, Sweet Branch Meeting Room
455 F St
(801) 594-8651
Directions


Date: Tuesday, October 21
Event: Publishing SMART

Description: Authors want their scholarly articles to be seen, cited and utilized. This class provides opportunities for researchers to increase their visibility by exploring various publishing and archiving choices. Tools for evaluating journal impact factors, online usage, local online availability, retaining copyrights, and submission to online archives are covered.

Time: 10:30 am – 12:30 pm
Location: Health Sciences Education Building, Room 3100 B
Sign up here


Date: Wednesday, October 22
Event: Clinical Research & Methods Panel Discussion

Description: Panelists will discuss the larger scholarly communication system and how funding agencies, publishers, editors, reviewers, authors and libraries impact clinical research. The panel members include Dr. Kathleen Digre (Neuro-Ophthalmology), Dr. James Scott (Obstetrics and Gynecology), Mary E. Youngkin (Eccles Library) and Dr. Pat Murphy (Nursing) with Allyson Mower (Marriott Library) moderating.

Time: 12:00 pm
Location: Health Sciences Education Building, Room 2120

Cut the CRAAP!

The blogosphere is a buzz with talk of a budding new interest in librarianship…sexy librarianship. While I may not be a card carrying member of that elite force I am still a library specialist and just happen to wear my hair in a bun and sport stylish frames. VP candidate Sarah Palin has everyone talking or should I say typing about her, is she a “sexy librarian”, dose she promote censorship in libraries, was that really her in the American flag bikini with the rifle?
Any librarian sexy or otherwise would recommend that you cut the crap and use the CRAAP test created by the sexy librarians at Chico State. Card carrying librarians and most of us folks serving in libraries enjoy seeing research that is checked for Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose. Check it out, does this blog pass the test?

Googling Health Info

Did you know you can use Google to find quality health information? Librarians have teamed up with staff at Google to create tools that lead searchers to reliable health information. Do any search for a health-related topic, such as asthma, and you will see options for refining your search:


It's a great way to begin a search for basic health information. If you need more advanced health information, check out PubMed. It's a free database from the National Library of Medicine. You can get to full-text articles the campus libraries have paid for by using the library icon.


Or, look for the PubMed Central icon for free full-text.