Seems that journal bills are beloved like cable bills

Posted on October 6, 2015 by urquizo

As I sit down and think about ASIS&T’s strategic plan and what it means to me, I thought about the usual …career, jobs, how to find the unlisted ones (hint hint strategic plan)….Then my thoughts went to the future a little bit more. What happens when I leave school and don’t have access to all the databases that I currently wander around in? There are public libraries, but what if I wanted more specific journals?

There is value in membership to associations (like ASIS&T) who offer journal subscriptions built into their membership.
As an alum, you can have access to your schools library, but you usually need to come in person. Maybe university libraries could partner with off-campus alumni and share some cost?
Along those same lines, maybe small business could partner with public libraries to purchase some of the larger databases of journals.

Has this happened already? If you are a librarian can you envision this working? Tell us your story

If someone wants to consult or work independently – How much would it cost me to buy my own suite of journals? What if I want to build a library for my organization and incorporate industry specific online journals? It is impressive how libraries are managing the cost and this article from lj.libraryjournal.com highlights some of the costs:

The Winds of Change | Periodicals Price Survey 2013

Some summary highlights:

The authors noted that “All elements of the information marketplace-libraries, publishers, and vendors- will continue to be impacted by the changing market conditions.”
Changes in how a e-journal packaging is defined
Cost rising easily over 6% in one year
- High Schools and Public Libraries: 5-6%
- University and College libraries: 5-7%
Open-Access
- A business model to pay attention to
- Fair Access to Science and Technology Research Act (FASTR)
  - Open access to well-funded federal agencies research articles
- SCOAP3 and CERN working with publishers towards open access (oh, don’t go too crazy DaVinci conspirators…)
- Open Access to science journals-great! They have funding…but wait, say it isn’t so…the humanities are not big fans of open source? Oh the humanity of it all.

So could LIS associations be one part of the solution? Can partnerships between entrepreneurs, small business, and libraries off-set journal costs? Could there be a NETFLIX model for these professional groups and public libraries and strategically move away from the costly grip of publishing cable companies offering 100 journal channels?

Check out our facebook page and let us know your two cents…

Spring into Summer

Posted on May 26, 2015 by urquizo

Why not take advantage of some free time and get a head start on some upcoming classes.

Free being the important word here….LIS Grad students love these sites.

Only after your morning bike ride and reading some chapters from your summer novel…there are free opportunities to learn some LIS skills. First, Simmons offers a free account to lynda.com to their students using their own Simmons user name and password. You can review html, Google analytics, or Excel to name a few general ones plus more advanced tutorials. Second, check out Treehouse.com which my local library (mhl.org) offers as a free subscription. Your local library might too! They have individual courses or tracks to complete that focus on starting your own business, android development, or CSS. Personally, I like healthcare and medical subjects so if you are interested as well take some free courses offered by the National Library of Medicine. They have online courses specifically geared towards librarians using PubMed. Finally, if you came to our ASIS&T Year End Event you would have heard about Kanopy. This database is full of video based learning, documentaries, and independent films. Just log into your Simmons Library account, [Research&Resources], [Databases], and [K] for Kanopy.

After your hard work learning on the couch don’t forget to relax. Keep your local library card handy because they might have free subscriptions for you to use Hoopla or Freegal. Also, take in some art, chase the ice cream truck, and head to the beach!

ASIS&T 2015 Travel Awards-Apply by May 29th

Posted on May 8, 2015 by urquizo

~Professionals and Students~

The Association for Information Science & Technology, New England Chapter (NEASIS&T) is pleased to announce the availability of

Two awards of up to $1,000 each to reimburse expenses for attendance at the

ASIS&T Annual Meeting (November 6-10 , St. Louis, Missouri).

With this year’s emphasis on bridging research and community impact, we are excited to announce an award for professionals, alongside our traditional student award.

The award will fund a year-long membership to ASIS&T and conference registration at the member rate, and will offset some travel costs. Membership benefits with ASIS&T include:

Discounted annual meeting conference registration
Year subscription to the Journal of ASIS&T and the Bulletin
Free webinars and discounts on other publications
Membership in our New England regional chapter

Each applicant must submit a cover letter and 2 short essays by Friday, May 29th. The winner will be notified by Monday, June 15th, 2015. Click Here to learn more!

Good Times at our End of the Year Event

Posted on April 30, 2015 by urquizo

SimmonsASISTdinner2015

This past Friday, Simmons ASIS&T Student Chapter, with the help from SLIS Alumni Board and Faculty Advisor, successfully hosted our annual end of the year event.

There was fun, friends, and food which always makes for a good party. This year we had 2 presentations, 2 past ASIS&T presidents (Candy Schwartz & Michael Leach), and 2 Simmons Beatley College Librarians joining our party to end another successful year.

SimmonsASISTdinner2015

Jennifer Ferguson (Liaison Librarian) and Annie Erdmann (Digital Asset & Electronic Resource Librarian), both from Simmons College, discussed their current project about analyzing usage, metadata, and vendor contracts related to digital media resources.

SimmonsASISTdinner2015

They highlighted the concept of paying per use versus the traditional up-front flat rate and how this has created a positive turn of events for Simmons Library. Librarians are taking charge of their budgets in new innovative ways, evaluating patron usage using sophisticated technology, collaborating with other libraries, and initiating conversations with their vendors about terms of service.

Also, one of our own past ASIS&T Presidents spoke that night as well! Michael Leach, Head of Collection Development at Harvard Cabot Library, cleverly addressed the many professional avenues for curious LIS students. Knowledge Management, Information Architecture, and UX were just some examples that require a mix of information science and a dash of tech savvy. All of these skills are enhanced with a network of supportive folks in professional associations, like ASIS&T. One of the key points Michael mentioned is ASIS&T is the perfect place to hone your public speaking abilities, event planning savvy, communication techniques, and other countless skills.

SimmonsASISTdinner2015

On behalf of Simmons ASIST&T, New England Chapter (NEASIS&T), and our Alumni Board…We Thank You for coming to the dinner and we look forward to what the future holds for us. Happy End of the Semester and Looking forward to a fun Summer!

Usability & User Experience Course offered this Fall @ Simmons GSLIS!

Posted on May 15, 2014 by apepitone

I’d like to call your attention to the usability and user experience (UX) class that Rong Tang is teaching this Fall 2014. This course involves students working in teams running usability tests and user research for live websites or web systems, then subsequently making recommendations for design improvements to these systems. It establishes the basis for a new career in user research. In the past, multiple students who took the class graduated and found exciting full-time positions.

If you are interested register now! The course number is LIS 531Y.