Strengthening Relationships in China March, Kunming, Yunnan
Province, China
A three-day Library Connect Seminar held in Kunming provided an opportunity
for representatives of more than 100 libraries from all over China to interact
and share experiences with one another. Presenters Rush Miller, from the
University of Pittsburgh and Ng Kok Koon from the National University of
Singapore covered “Managing and Marketing Electronic Resources” and “Building
up a Digital Library” respectively.
For Yuqin Qiu from the East China Normal University these presentations were
particularly valuable, “We were able to learn a lot from the foreign
libraries, such as how to maximise the usability of our electronic resources”,
she said. Yuqin’s opinion was echoed by other librarians, including Xiao Mo
from Guangxi University who commented, “It [the meeting] was a good
opportunity for us to learn more about Elsevier and, in particular, get
information on database development and share experiences with other
librarians.”
During lively panel sessions librarians freely aired their views on, and posed
challenging questions about, issues important to them, including pricing
models and open access.
Library Connect Seminar Series April, Lyon, Paris and Bordeaux,
France
Three Library Connect Seminars held in Lyon, Paris (pictured) and Bordeaux
announced the launch of Scopus. More than 75 librarians from 47 French
institutions attended the seminars which generated much enthusiasm and
discussion around the creation and use of this innovative navigation tool.
Bibliostar Congress April, Milan, Italy
50 participants from 40 Italian institutions attended a Library Connect
Seminar held during the Bibliostar Congress in Milan. The recent development
and powerful features of Scopus were the main issues discussed during the
seminar. With more than 2,000 participants, Bibliostar is the largest annual
gathering of Italian librarians.
Standing Room Only at Library Connect Editiors Session April,
Minneapolis, MN, USA
Potential LIS authors made a beeline for the Elsevier booth during ACRL to
take part in our Library Connect Editors Session. Short presentations
providing practical hints on how to get published were given by (left to
right) Jennifer Dorner, Reference Librarian and Information Consultant to the
Social Sciences, Millar Library, Portland State University and Co-Editor,
Research Strategies; Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe, Coordinator of Information
Literacy Services and Instruction, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne
Library and Editor, Research Strategies; Scott Walter, Assistant Dean of
Libraries for Information and Instructional Services, and Visiting Assistant
Professor of Teaching and Leadership, University of Kansas; and Chris Pringle,
Publisher, LIS Books and Journals, Elsevier, Oxford, UK. A lively Q&A session
was followed by an opportunity for one-on-one discussion with the presenters.
Connecting with Corporate Librarians April, San Jose, CA, USA
The Library Connect Seminar held in San Jose this April was designed to
attract participants from companies in a variety of subject fields —
biopharmaceutical, engineering and high-tech. Twenty-six librarians attended.
When asked about the value of the program, they indicated they appreciated the
opportunity to meet with Elsevier representatives, exchange information and
have the opportunity to share their comments and concerns.
While the logistics of organizing a program of interest to an
interdisciplinary audience were quite challenging, there was a synergy gained
from sharing views with peers from corporate librarians in different areas of
study. The collections assembled for high-tech corporations are very different
from those in the pharmaceutical industry, but with the Web as a favorite
resource for researchers of all types, the challenges facing librarians in the
corporate setting are similar regardless of discipline.
Interoperability in a Changing Environment May, Sao Paolo, Brazil
More than 150 librarians attended the full-day program at the Sao Paolo
Library Connect Seminar held on May 5th. The theme of the program was
“Interoperability: Developing and Maintaining E-Products in a Changing
Environment.” Speakers addressed how different electronic products and
services attain new levels of interactivity, and Atilio Bustos González of the
University of Chile discussed how Scopus, Elsevier’s newly launched search
engine, had altered strategies for information management after the service
was launched on his campus earlier this year.
A presentation by Prof. José F. Lima, Program Director, CAPES, was a highlight
of the day. He provided a history of CAPES (from its origins in 1951) and its
mission to promote academic excellence and stimulate graduate research
programs in Brazilian universities. Lima explained how the program has grown
and expanded over the past half century.
Discussing the Library’s Role in Digital Content Access May,
Chicago, IL, USA
The tenth annual Endeavor User Group Conference attracted some 900 library
professionals from across the globe. This year’s meeting addressed the
challenges posed by popular search engines. Updating content delivery
infrastructures, establishing the library as the primary place to access
digital resources and delivering highly personalized service were all key
topics of discussion. In the keynote address, “Thriving in an Amazoogle
Environment,” Cathy De Rosa, vice president of marketing and library services
for the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC), said that despite the
mushrooming use of search engines, most libraries continue to chart the
performance of their information ‘containers’. These include traditional
measures such as total holdings, holdings moving through circulation, total
reference transactions and total courses held or community programs.
Challenging this practice, de Rosa suggested that instead of offering
containers that patrons can come to and open, libraries must move faster to
deliver content at the click of a mouse using a plethora of digital services.
As they do so, libraries will gain valuable measures of the outcomes when
patrons access digital resources. Libraries, she said, must also self-check
their performance in personalized service fulfillment and their ability to
deliver a dynamic, highly interactive learning space either on the premises or
virtually.
Participants of EndUser 2005, which featured more than 80 user-led workshops,
also gained value from the numerous best practice case studies, peer-to-peer
idea exchanges and descriptions of system enhancements which were implemented
successfully by Endeavor’s library customers during the past year.
Pictured left to right are Don Muccino, Endeavor COO: Cathy De Rosa, VP of
marketing at OCLC, Roland Dietz, CEO of Endeavor; Janet Lute, current EndUser
Board president, Princeton University Library, and Wil Frost, former EndUser
Board president, University of Hawaii at Manoa Library.
