Academic Library Interdisciplinary Studies

What is the Role of Academic Library in Facilitating Interdisciplinary Studies?

Xuemei Li

July 9, 2009

Multidisciplinary versus Interdisciplinary  Similarity  Two or more disciplines are involved  To provide solutions to solve problems  Differences  Multidisciplinary: No integration of disciplines  Interdisciplinary: Integrate concepts, theories or methods from various disciplines

Preparation for This Presentation?

Literature

Librarians

Reflection

Social Media

Serendipity from Twitter

Academic Library as a Hub to Interdisciplinary Fields Interdisciplinary Science Library  Interdisciplinary research creating more and more fields 

Between 1960s and 1990s Peer-reviewed science journals doubled  The same growth in scientific disciplines. 

 Librarians need to be aware of this trend  Help scholars to access the interdisciplinary information  Take an active role in compiling the information, e.g. the leadership role in institutional repository

Interdisciplinary Fields Detected Through Bibliometrics Research  Classification of journals in terms of bi-connected

components Earth Science

The Real Big Picture

Librarian’s Role in Interdisciplinary Studies

YES: Librarians do need to play their traditional roles NO: Interdisciplinary studies involves more complexities. Librarians need to take extra effort to provide effective services.

Information Seeking Behaviour Theories  Essential to reference services and information

literacy instruction  

Less effort preference, e.g. Google, wikipedia etc Overestimate what they know

 Key theories  Ellis’s features of information seeking  Belkin’s Anomalous State of Knowledge  Kuhthau’s Information Search Process  Dervin’s Sense-making

Challenges in Interdisciplinary Studies  Difference in profession makes one feel the world is

separated by Mountains   

Concepts and theories Vocabulary and languages Methods and techniques

 Outsider of the existing institutional

structure  

Lack recognition Lack support

 Scattered information  Information overload versus lack of relevant information

Role of Academic Library in Facilitating Interdisciplinary Studies Outline  Liaison with faculty and students  Information literacy Instruction  Reference services  Collection development

Liaison with Faculty and Students  Establish close relationship  Respect and interest  Maintain communication in their preferred ways  Found out their information needs  Research agendas  Teaching plan  Act as a connector  Point them to various resources  Direct them to experts  Help them to build their own effective network

Liaison with Faculty and Students  Two way participatory partnership  Gather seminal papers  Figure out core authors and universities  Involve in classes and projects Brock university Environmental librarian evaluates students’ assignments  BCIT library circulates Watt Meters for the Environmental Sustainability project 

 

Compile information together Invite faculty and students’ input to enhance library services

Information Literacy Instruction  Provide sessions at students’ convenience  Drop in clinics in information commons  Deliver online classes: Wimba, Second Life etc  Detailed online subject guides  With tailored content  Search library catalogue: Introducing both keywords and subject heading  Search interdisciplinary resources  Open Access, institutional repositories  ILL services

Information Literacy Instruction  Tools to deal with information overload  Manage web resources, social bookmarking, e.g. delicious, CiteULike, Connotea and 2Collab  Manage bibliographic using citation management tools, e.g., Zotero or Refworks  Keep up-to-date with information, e.g. RSS Aggregator  Build effective professional network using social media tools, and follow leader in the area  Leave positive digital tattoo on the Web

Reference Services  Understand their information needs  Use faculty or students’ language  Facilitate them to form the concepts which they

would like to know in other areas  Search with them for specific information  Offer reference services at their convenience  Direct them to other subject librarians or faculty members for in-depth consultation

Collection Development  Generate core resource list  Consult with experienced faculty members  Browse other libraries’ subject guides  Communicate with librarians both locally and internationally  Bibliometrics analysis Leydesdorff’s journal clusters  Citations from core journals  Citations from faculty’s papers and students’ theses 

 Collaborate with other subject librarians to ensure

most cost-effective collections

Conclusion  Interdisciplinary studies need more library support  Library as a hub  Traditional skills + emerging technologies  Librarians, faculty members and students need to

form a participatory partnership

Bibliographies Belkin, N. J. (2005). Anomalous state of knowledge. In K. E. Fisher, S. Erdelez, & L. Mckechnie (Eds.), Theories of information behavior (pp. 44–48). Bordons, M., Morillo, F., & Gómez, I. (2004). Analysis of cross-disciplinary research through bibliometric tools. Handbook of quantitative science and technology research, 437-456. Dilevko, J., & Dali, K. (2004). Improving collection development and reference services for interdisciplinary fields through analysis of citation patterns: an example using tourism studies. College and Research Libraries, 65(3), 241, 216. Eisen, B. (2009). The interdisciplinary science library. Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved June 28, 2009, from http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/06/17/libraries. Ellis, D. (1993). Modeling the information-seeking patterns of academic researchers: A grounded theory approach. The Library Quarterly, 469-486. Haycock, L. (2007). Interdisciplinarity in education research. Behavioral & Social Sciences Librarian, 25(2), 79-92. Haythornthwaite, C. (2006). Learning and knowledge networks in interdisciplinary collaborations. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 57(8). Jacklin, M. L., & Bordonaro, K. (2008). Drop-In Clinics for Environmental Science Students. Partnership: the Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research, 3(2). Kuhlthau, C. C. (2005). Kuhlthau's information search process. In K. E. Fisher, S. Erdelez, & L. Mckechnie (Eds.), Theories of information behavior (pp. 230-234).

Bibliographies Leydesdorff, L. (2004). Classification of journals in terms of bi-connected components. Retrieved July 5, 2009, from http://users.fmg.uva.nl/lleydesdorff/jcr01/. Leydesdorff, L. (2004). Clusters and maps of science journals based on bi-connected graphs in Journal Citation Reports. Journal of Documentation, 60, 371-427. Richardson, A., & Giustini, D. (2004). The information needs of music therapists: challenges of assessment in the clinical setting, 25, 107-110. SFU Library. (2009). Library Urban Studies collections policy. Retrieved July 5, 2009, from http://www.lib.sfu.ca/collections/collections-policies/urban-studies. Tidline, T. J. (2005). Dervin's sense-making. In K. E. Fisher, S. Erdelez, & L. Mckechnie (Eds.), Theories of information behavior (pp. 113-117). Westbrook, L. (2003). Information needs and experiences of scholars in women's studies: Problems and solutions. College and Research Libraries, 64(3), 192-210. Wilson, M. C., & Edelman, H. (1996). Collection development in an interdisciplinary context. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 22(3), 195-200.