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Libraries in Transformation

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Logo of Beilstein-Institut zur Förderung der Chemischen WissenschaftenBeilstein-Institut zur Förderung der Chemischen Wissenschaften
 McEwen, Leah Kettner, Carsten

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Libraries in Transformation
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Abstract
Interview with Leah McEwen: Cornell University, Ithaca, USA, recorded at the BEILSTEIN OPEN SCIENCE SYMPOSIUM (22 – 24 May 2017). Leah McEwen discusses libraries in transformation with Carsten Kettner. The Physical Sciences Library at Cornell dispersed stacks in 2009, so they are operating totally electronically since nearly 10 years. The library is becoming more digital and getting closer to research process, supporting scientists with publication preparation, data management, working with publishers and repositories. The Cornell University Library system has a technical team of database developers, ontologists, and other technical specialists working with librarians who have specific domain knowledge in various disciplines. A challenge for the Physical Sciences Library today is visibility, which means going out and getting to know the scientists and students, and also describing the value-add can be more difficult now that information access is no longer via printed works. Leah, who is the chemistry librarian at Cornell, enjoys getting beyond the formal aspects and getting to grips with the data. At the symposium Leah has described projects involving environmental health and safety – which necessitates working closely with researchers. In terms of health and safety, chemists look at chemistry on the molecular level; most issues which occur have to do with the transportation of chemicals on the macro level. Students do not generally have any lab background, so they need special consideration. Students are required to do risk assessment exercises during the course. Researchers are not yet required to do safety assessments in the US. Leah is hopeful that this will change.
Keywords
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ChemistryTransformation <Genetik>Library (computing)UmamiPharmacyProcess (computing)ChemistryIsotopenmarkierungOperonWursthülleCollectingHuman subject researchMolecularityPhysical chemistryStockfishStuffingIce frontBase (chemistry)Protein domainFunctional groupData conversionBottling lineWalkingHost (biology)Sea levelSense DistrictSoilWaterComputer animationMeeting/Interview
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Grading (tumors)Ice sheetChemistryEconomic sectorMaterials scienceProcess (computing)Meeting/Interview
Transcript: English(auto-generated)
00:05
So, Leah McGeown, you're a librarian at Cornell University in Attaca. So we all know that the librarians' work seems to change, some transformation from a paper-based library to a digital-based library.
00:24
So can you draw a picture for us on this transformation process? So actually, the library that I work with at Cornell University, the Physical Sciences Library dispersed the stacks in 2009, so we're operating on a completely electronic-based access to the collections.
00:42
And then augmented to that are the specialist librarians, and those librarians actually have advanced degrees in the subjects of chemistry and physics and astronomy and mathematics. And so we definitely, in the last almost 10 years now, since that transformation, we've been slowly increasing our, what we call digital services, where we're getting
01:01
closer into the research process and working with them on their publication preparation, data management, and then after they publish, working with publishers and repositories. So we're trying to do the full cycle of the research object. So also computer scientists are involved in this work?
01:22
Yeah, to some extent. So in the library, we do have a technical team, and it includes database developers, it includes ontologists, it includes a lot of other different specialized expertise in working with information science, so that's a great augment to those of us with the domain knowledge who are embedded in the different disciplines around the campus.
01:45
This also results in a complete change of a business model. When it's a paper-based library, you were there, people came to you and looked for research materials, and now I think you're kind of a service provider?
02:03
Yes, I think that's probably a good characteristic. So the primary challenges we actually have with that are visibility, of course, and it kind of devolves down to one person, the librarian in any one subject, so trying to get yourself out there and get people to know you. On the other hand, the good side is that you get to really know people and get to know their research over time, and you get to work with the students very closely.
02:23
And the other challenge, of course, is accountability, right? We haven't really figured out how to, you know, used to be able to check out how many things you checked out. That's easy. How many people come in your library? So trying to understand how to describe the value add that we give in different terms is an interesting challenge.
02:42
And what about the researchers? Are they seeking for your advice, for example, or where to look for data, for information, or even look for the appropriate journal where to publish? All of the above. Yeah, and I've been at Cornell almost 20 years now, so I'm really well-known
03:01
by the research community that touches on chemistry in any way, and so I can foster those conversations over time. So absolutely, it's been fun, and I like actually getting more into the data. I'm a scientist myself, and so when I can kind of get past the policies and stuff and actually get right down into the data with them, that's my favorite part.
03:23
I see. I've learned that there's also an interesting side effect of your work coming out. Can you talk a little bit about that? So I just gave a presentation on the work I've done in the chemical health and safety and laboratory work, and I didn't think about other, there are many other people at a large university
03:43
that support the science and research that happens there, and so one of those groups is environmental health and safety professionals, and they asked for some help managing the information that they provide to scientists, so I've been working with them for the last several years. I've also started to work with more instrument labs and research staff,
04:02
so I feel like there's a lot more opportunities to get closer into the process where researchers are by also working with their support professionals. I was really wondering when I heard this that actually I expected when chemists are working on a bench in a lab, they should be aware of what they are working with, even with the single compounds,
04:23
and if they combine the compounds, they should expect that this might be explosive or dangerous or toxic, and you also have all these flasks with all the labels on it. It's explosive, and this should make the chemists aware that they should behave very carefully,
04:43
but obviously it is not the case. I think there's two interesting challenges there, and one is that chemists think about chemistry at the molecular level, and it's very focused, and it's easy to kind of lose track of what's happening on a laboratory level, so where most of the challenges actually really happen are with walking across the laboratory,
05:04
carrying stock flasks or transporting some stuff from one lab to another. These kind of things aren't really part of the research part, so while they're doing their research, they tend to be very careful because they want to do the research well, but it's the other parts of the process of working in a laboratory where things kind of get challenging.
05:23
And the other thing is with students, they don't have any background really to come in with about how dangerous any one of those chemicals sitting in front of them could be. They look pretty innocuous sitting in a bottle, but in fact, actually. So it's hard for them. That's a pretty abstract concept.
05:43
Teaching on the safety and health risk should be part of the basic education for students, and obviously you are entering now this part, giving lectures on that? So I'm working with chemical educators to incorporate the safety principles and the information concepts into their curriculum,
06:03
so into their lectures and then also into their lessons plans for the lab classes. Yeah, and safety has always been mentioned, of course, in the academic sector in education, but not anything about teaching methodologies about what does it mean to be safe
06:21
and how you can take extra precaution when you're running an experiment, and how you approach your experiment makes a difference. So we're trying to incorporate those right into lesson plans. So when you're setting up an experiment, not only do you plan what materials you want to use and how much of them and what your process is going to be,
06:42
but how you are relating to that process so you're doing it in a safe manner. So you're providing a lot of materials on safety and health risk stuff, and how do you make the researchers really follow to at least really read these instructions? That's always the tricky part, isn't it?
07:02
So for the education it's part of the grade requirement, right? So the students are required to submit that. In fact, actually one technique we've been using with the students is to have them do a risk assessment exercise early on, and then they have to do an independent one later on, and then they have two chances so they can improve it. And this idea of improving, I think they get the idea that if they want to do well,
07:25
they have to pay attention. With researchers it's a lot harder and kind of anything to do to get in their face with it. I know in the United States we don't require a safety assessment as part of the notebook, but I'm hoping that's a direction that we can move in,
07:41
because now we do require signed notebooks. So if there was one sheet at least that had some kind of place where they wrote down their thoughts about the safety, that could be a start. I know they do that in the United Kingdom, for example.