Sciences Advisory Group – Requests for future meeting topics

Post your requests for Sciences meeting topics here!  (click on the “Comment” link below, then “Leave a Reply”)

5 comments

  1. RefWorks: We invite faculty to request RefWorks instruction (the earlier students start using it, the more time they save)

  2. Leftovers from fall 2011 meeting:

    • Classrooms and labs: Plans for upgrades: Currently there are 44 “non-smart” classrooms on campus, plus several other spaces used as classrooms during the Language Schools. What is the best method and what should be the schedule and priority for converting them? LIS will convening a group this fall to prioritize upgrade requests, resulting in a budget request for conversion. This group will also be looking at near-future technologies such as small portable projectors that might impact the upgrade decisions.
    • Ebooks: 44,000 ebooks added to MIDCAT. Can be read online in a browser or downloaded for offline use. We save money by paying only for the books that are used.
    • Summon: Your students are using it – do you know what it is? Do you like it? Summon is the Library’s Google-like search box. It’s a single search for books, newspaper articles, journal articles and citations, and more. Summon will try to link directly to full-text if we have it. It searches MIDCAT, the Library’s Digital Collections, and over 90% of our journal articles. For more details see the What’s Summon link next to the search box on the library homepage.
    • Scopus: Replaces Web of Science. Similar coverage and easier to use. Thoughts?
    • Innovation: Digital humanities, cyberinfrastructure: Three College-wide task forces on innovation have been created, each of which will have LIS representation. Additionally, LIS is forming a group to provide services to the community relating to digital resources and ideas relating to their use in a liberal-arts pedagogy. The LIS group, led by our Head of Collections and Digital Initiatives, is still in its formative stages, but they will be charged with thinking about the services needed and how best to deliver them. This may include an inventory of what is already happening on campus. LIS is investigating how digital resources from special collections, the lecture archive and other sources could or should be integrated. Midd Lab may fit in as sort of a “PR” arm to highlight interesting uses of digital technology in humanities research and pedagogy.
    • Moodle and course hub: Is up and running. The number of classes using either Moodle or WorPress is similar in number to the numbers of Segue sites in the past. Segue will become read only by the spring and migration tools, or the ability to archive material on the sites as static HTML or PDF will be available in the spring. Workshops will be offered during J-term, so look for future announcements or see go/lisworkshops. Also short Moodle video tutorials are available on Lynda.com http://go/lynda.
    • Google/MSLive evaluation: Shel Sax is heading up an evaluation of moving email hosting from the college to the cloud. LIS will be evaluating two services – Google and MicroSoft Live. There are a number of questions/issues: cost, ease of migration, functionality, service level agreements with the vendors, etc. Should we change mail services, there will be a way of migrating any information stored in our current system and we will retain a middlebury.edu address.
    • Data management/storage
    • Liaison Program
    • Open access
    • Help Desk
    • Mobile Midd site/portal

  3. I would like to lead a discussion about data management in general, data management plans and the NSF, and data repositories. I am hoping to get feedback and suggestions. The DMP Tool mentioned in the previous comment will be folded into this discussion.

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