Established in 1994 ScHARR's Information Resources team has established itself as a key national player in providing information support to health technology assessment and health services research. The team is made up of professional, highly trained Information Specialists who are involved in the forefront of research, teaching, support and development. This is our blog where we talk about the diverse work we do: #Teach #Research #Search #Support
This week, ScHARR Library welcomed our new Postgrad students. Information Specialists, Claire Beecroft and Mark Clowes, delivered an information skills session teaching students about searching for literature. ScHARR Library even created some goodie bags for the occasion!
Rachel Walker
The library is a place to work within the department, use the PCs and Chromebooks or sit on the soft seats for a coffee and a chat. The meeting table is also bookable for group work.
Myself and Rachel, Information Officers on the library enquiry desk, look forward to meeting and helping our new students.
Here are our #ScHARRIntro17 tips for new ScHARR students:
Improve your assignments by working on your information skills – try the IRIS quizzes on MOLE to find out how good you really are at finding and organising
We can help you find information –if you have any burning questions please ask Rachel or Sheldon at enquiry desk
Our books and dissertations can be searched through our catalogue here (Note: our items are not on StarPlus)
Our latest recruit to ScHARR's Information Resources Sheldon Korpet attended the MmIT Conference last week and writes about her experiences over the two days. Sheldon is an Information Officer at ScHARR and a current MSc Digital Library Management student at the University of Sheffield.
This year's Multimedia and Information Technology Conference (MmIT) focused on “Digital Citizenship: What is the library's role?” and included a fabulous range of talks from librarians, head of services, computer specialists and suppliers which really reflects the scope and depth of the topic. As a relatively new professional, one who had never attended a conference before, I decided to join in mainly because I’d heard good things about the food. However I am always keen to broaden my horizons and I’m pleased to say not only did the food exceed my expectations, so did the conference itself. MmIT are a special interest group within Cilip.
MmIT Journal
Dr Chris Stokes (Joint Director of Digital Learning, University of Sheffield) spoke about his team’s process to make the University of Sheffield’s first Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). This was inspired by an outreach scheme designed to give 16 to 18 year olds the knowledge, information and guidance to make a competitive application to the University of Sheffield’s Dental School. This digital course aimed to use technology to increase access to a course that promoted inclusion within higher education and unexpectedly inspired an online community that facilitated communication between a range of user groups. This group ranged from aspirational A Level students to individuals with fear of dentists and even dental nurses refreshing their knowledge before returning to work after maternity leave.
What I learnt from Chris: MOOCs aren’t just for graduates, or a specific age range - they can be all inclusive and empowering if you design interesting, interactive content which simplifies the subject.
This issue of safe and knowledgeable digital access for the masses was something which inspired Lee Fallin and Mike Ewan to create a website called “The Digital Student”. This project aimed to educate students at the University of Hull by creating a mobile optimised website applicable to all students which could also be embedded within the VLE (Virtual Learning Environment). This idea not only gives students convenient access to information from a point on the university system which they already utilise but also standardised, quality information which can be updated centrally and easily replicated over a large number of users quickly. Further to this, the site is also mobile enabled and also designed to appeal to a range of different abilities using a content layout inspired by the popular website, Buzzfeed. After creating this content to improve the digital literacy of their students, the project will next release guides which aim to help students sell the digital skills when applying for jobs.
What I learnt from Lee and Mike: Take content to channels students are already using and display it in a way they are familiar with, in a format they like.
The socio-economic benefits of digital literacy was the focus of Helen Milner CEO of the Tinder Foundation. Her keynote speech, based on digital social inclusion, explained work of the Tinder Foundation which aims to connect and empower individuals. This is as a result of an aim to raise not only digital literacy locally, but also for the awareness of the need and benefits of digital literacy and digital access on a national scale.
What I learn from Helen: In 2015, a shockingly large amount (12.6 million) of the population were still offline. What was even more shocking was finding out was that if you were uneducated, retirement age, disabled or had a low income you were less likely to have access to the internet despite the potential benefits including being able to apply for jobs (25% of which are online-only applications), making online savings as well as maintaining social connections.
Communication and digital access was a key part of Ian Clark's talk focusing on the digital privacy divide. He highlighted the clash between the government’s desire to protect society by observing their browsing and borrowing history versus the negative effects of surveillance on information exchange. Although there are benefits of surveying information exchange between individuals and groups undertaking illegal activities however GCHQ have undertaken projects (such as “Karma Police”) which aim to create unique profiles for each individual of the population, regardless of whether they are law-abiding citizens or not.
Although there are methods to avoiding online observation, such as encryption technologies and browsers such as Tor, these have received a negative spin as a result of illegal activities linked to the Dark Web and the popular attitude, “you have nothing to worry about, if you have nothing to hide”. These tools, while increasing security for individuals who want to protect their communications, are also complex to execute.
What I learnt from Ian: Individuals who thought they were under surveillance changed their information searching behaviours and automatically censored themselves. This arguably reduces freedom of thought which is indusive to critical thinking, idea generation and the democratic process.
Another highly informative talk was hosted by Kevin Curran, who is a Reader in Computer Science at Ulster University. His overview, “Hacking: Child’s Play” highlighted just how hackers can locate unsecured databases and webcams by using Google dorks, hold a company to ransom with a simple denial of service attack program and receive money from illegal activity anonymously using a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin.
What I learnt from Kevin: Great tips to improve your security online.
Check if your details have been breached. You can also sign up to the “Notify me” service which will tell you when you need to change your password so no unauthorised snoopers can access your accounts https://haveibeenpwned.com/
Don’t invest in expensive anti-virus. Windows Defence is freely available available from Microsoft and will do just as good a job as Norton and other popular paid-for antivirus softwares.
Don’t use the same password for every website. You can use a password manager like LastPass (link https://lastpass.com/) to simply this for you
All of the presentations I attended were thoughtful and particularly made me reflect on the idea of using the benefits of technology to empower - Chris and his team's outreach MOOC gave disadvantaged students the chance to participate in a highly competitive career path. Additionally, Helen and the Tinder Foundation, as well as Lee and Mike from University of Hull, had recognised the need for further digital literacy training and the benefits of enabling individuals to use technology, in terms of both increasing employability and confidence.
Digital Privacy & Digital Citizenship
The knowledge brought to the conference by Ian of Infoism and Kevin of Ulster University did however highlight some of the areas in which there is much at stake if individuals and organisations use the technology in an irresponsible way. The main thing I’ve taken away from the conference is the idea that using digital technology is like driving a car - it doesn’t matter how bright, young or reactive you are - if you aren’t taught how how to operate the machine and navigate the system there’s the potential for a crash.
Andy Tattersall is secretary of the Cilip MmIT Committee and this year they will be hosting their fourth conference in Sheffield at The Edge conference centre on the theme of Digital Citizen. Calls for papers are now taking place, details below. MmIT's remit is to promote the use of technologies within the library and information sector.
A conference which explores and discusses several digital citizenship themes and the role and responsibility of the library and the librarian in supporting citizenry in the digital world.
Keep your diary clear on 12th-13th September 2016 so you can come and join us for our annual conference!
Digital citizenship is a term often used to describe how people acquire and use their digital and online skills and experiences in order to further achieve and develop in their personal, professional and social roles. MmIT believe that libraries across all sectors play a significant role in supporting and developing digital citizenship with our user communities.
With four expert keynote speakers confirmed, the conference seeks to facilitate discussion and the sharing of good practice in answer to some of these questions plus more, with colleagues from across all sectors of the library and information world.
Call for papers
Have you got something to say about the library's role in digital citizenship? Respond to our call for papers now! Deadline 5:00pm Monday 16th May.
Every year we host a bake sale in our library at ScHARR in aid of a local charity. This year we chose the North Derbyshire charity Fairplay that works to support disabled children and young adults.
All of the team came together to create a host of delicious creations as well as some of our friends from within ScHARR Towers. We had everything from two types of scones, brownies, carrot cake, gluten free options, biscuits and even a Guinness cake...hic! This year we ran the charity picnic on the same day as we welcomed our new intake of students, so we took it as a good opportunity to say hello and introduce ourselves. I was worried that the students wouldn't venture down from a day full of talks and inductions, but they did thankfully. In fact we were overwhelmed by how many came to see us. At one point the library was as full as I'd ever seen it in my 14 years at ScHARR. Everyone was fed and watered with juices and hot drinks provided by the library team. Although there may still be money to be donated we probably broke our record for donations from our cake sales (this is about the 8th one we've run it). At present we have raised £156 for a very worthwhile charity - so well done all. Salads are the order for today. Thankfully there was very little left at the end of the day, and my beetroot brownies (with my own orange beetroots) and scones (with homemade and picked jam) all went.
For more information about Fairplay and the work they do, go to: http://www.fair-play.co.uk/ Next year we hope to have Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry on hand to do some judging.
Hi! My name's Eleanor Rimmer (also known as Melanie Rimmer's daughter). I'm a year 10 student at Poynton High School, and I've been doing a one week work experience in the ScHARR library.
I want to work with books, either in a library or a bookshop, once I'm done with education, because I've always liked books and organizing things. I think my house counts as a miniature library in its own right-family and friends are always 'borrowing' books, and there are even shelves in the bathroom!
Work experience may not be over yet, but I've really enjoyed it so far. Everyone I've met has been really friendly and helpful, and I've learned a lot about databases and social media and shelving and things like that. It's obvious that the people working here take pride and enjoyment in what they do-that attitude is inspiring. This has been a great learning experience for me, and I'll definitely have a lot to think about when I'm done with my GCSEs.
I was asked by CILIP a couple of months ago whether I would like to write something for their popular blog on the topic of Altmetrics. So, I decided it would be good to write about what Altmetrics can mean for librarians and why perhaps they should pay more attention to it as a possible role for them in the future.
Altmetrics is probably a term that many readers of
this blog will have heard of but are not quite sure what it means and
what impact it could have on their role. The simple answer is that
altmetrics stands for alternative metrics. When we say alternative we mean alternative to traditional metrics
used in research and by libraries, such as citations and journal impact
factors. They are by no means a replacement to traditional metrics but
really to draw out more pertinent information tied to a piece of
academic work. A new way of thinking about altmetrics is to refer to
them as alternative indicators.
Scholarly communication is instrumental to altmetrics
There
is also the focus on scholarly communication as altmetrics are closely
tied to established social media and networks. Scholarly communication
is instrumental to altmetrics and much of what it sets out to measure.
These include tools such as Twitter, LinkedIn and blogs as well others
including Mendeley and Slideshare. The main protagonists of the altmetrics movement are ImpactStory which was set up by Jason Priem who coined the term ‘altmetrics’. They are joined by Figshare, Altmetric.com, Mendeley,
PLOS and Kudos, amongst others. These were mostly established by young
researchers who were concerned that research was being measured on the
grounds of just a few metrics. These were metrics that gave an
unbalanced view of research and did not take into account the
technologies that many academics were using to share and discuss their
work.
Altmetrics is not just about bean counting, though obviously the more
attention a paper gets whether that be citations or Tweets the more
interesting it may be to a wider audience, whether that be academics,
students or the wider world. The more Tweets a paper gets does not
necessarily mean it is better quality than those that do not get Tweeted
as much, but the same applied to traditional metrics, more citations
does not always mean a great piece of research, it can occasionally
highlight the opposite.
Altmetrics provide an insight into things we have not measured before
What
altmetrics sets out to do is provide an insight into things we have not
measured before, such as social media interaction, media attention,
global reach and the potential to spot hot topics and future pieces of
highly cited work. In addition altmetrics allows content to be tracked
and measured that in the past had been wholly ignored. Such as datasets,
grey literature, reports, blog posts and other such content of
potential value. The current system recognised a slim channel of academic content in a
world that is diversifying constantly at a much faster pace than ever.
The academic publishing model has struggled to catch up with the modern
world of Web 2.0 and social media and therefore academic communication
has been stunted. Tools such as Twitter, blogs and Slideshare have
allowed researchers to get their content onto the Web instantly, often
before they have released the content via the formal channels of
conferences and publications. Tools such as ImpactStory, Figshare and Altmetric.com look at the
various types of scholarly content and communication and provide metrics
to help fund holders, publishers, librarians, researchers and other
aligned professionals get a clearer picture of the impact of their
work. Fundholders can see where their funded research is being discussed
and shared, as can researchers who may get to discover their research is
not being talked about; which at least gives them reason to perhaps act
on that. Publishers can view in addition to existing paper citations,
how else they are being discussed and shared. Library and information
professionals have an important part to play in all of this.
What is the role of the library and information professional?
There
are certain roles in the library and information profession that have
plenty to gain by becoming involved with altmetrics. Firstly those that
deal with journal subscriptions and hosting content in repositories can
gain a new insight into which journals and papers are being shared and
discussed via altmetrics. This becomes increasingly important when
making yearly subscription choices when journal and book funds are being
constantly squeezed. Obviously this is not a solution or get-out clause
for librarians when deciding which subscriptions to cancel, as you
should not always pick the most popular journals at the expense of
minority, niche journal collections, but altmetrics do offer a new set
of identifiers when making those tough budgetary decisions. LIS professionals are often technically proficient and for those who
deliver outreach services and support for academics and students there
is much they can do to help explain the new forms of scholarly
communication and measurement. Many library and information staff are
expert users of social media and tools such as Slideshare, Mendeley and
blogs. Whilst library and information professionals are in the position
where they are often in a neutral role, so can make informed decisions
on what is the best way to aid staff discover and communicate research.
These skills are starting to spread slowly within the academic community
and LIS professionals are in an ideal position to capitalise on
altmetrics.
The future
Certainly how academic outputs are
measured in the future is anyone’s guess. We could move away from
metrics to something that focuses on case studies, or move more towards
open public peer review of research. Certainly the impact factor and
citation indexes are with us for the foreseeable future. It’s likely we
will see an amalgamation of systems with some regarded as more uniform
and formal than others. As each month passes we see another set of tools appear on the Web
that promises to aid researchers share, communicate and discover
research, so we could be at risk of information overload and decision
fatigue when it comes down to choosing the right tools for the job. The
reality is that we are unlikely to discover a magic silver bullet
solution for how we measure scholarly work. All of the options offer
something and if they can be designed and coerced to work together
better; scholarly communication and measurement could reach a plateau of
productivity. Yet this requires an awful lot more engagement from the academic
community, one that is already under pressure from various angles to
deliver research and extract from it examples of impact. Nevertheless,
altmetrics clearly look like they are here to stay for the mid-term at
the very least and are gaining acceptance in some parts of the research
and publishing sphere. For now I suggest you investgate Figshare, ImpactStory, Mendeley and
Altmetric.com to name but a few in addition to signing up for an
Altmetric.com librarian account and installing their web bookmarklet. To summarise, if we were to draw a Venn Diagram with social media in
one bubble, metrics in another we would clearly see librarians in the
overlapping area alongside altmetrics. It’s really down to whether you
want a share of that space?
We all know about the power of YouTube, we have all seen it, that way of getting information, humour and marketing amongst other things across the globe in seconds. We see polished film trailers alongside home-made videos of children and animals falling down, whilst the real hidden gem of YouTube and other such platforms is that they teach you useful things, and this is a key part of a librarian’s role: how to search a database?, how to appraise information?, how to use a piece of software?, how to stay safe online?, so on and so forth.
So why are so few library and information services out there using such platforms as YouTube or nicer, less trolled platforms like Vimeo? There are several issues for libraries and information services and they can be broken down into these key areas:
Time, Money, Content, Audience, Knowhow, Technology and Confidence.
Before we address these issues there are also two strands of video we need to look at: pieces to camera video and screencasts. Most instructional videos will be recorded as screencasts, whilst more confident members of the library community will deliver a piece to camera. Screencasts require less preparation as you do not need good lighting, someone to hold the camera or to worry about people walking into shot. That said, you can record pieces to camera quite simply using your smartphone these days and have them published online within minutes.
The evidence- although not immediately apparent to those of us who have grown up watching a textual based Web dominate for so long- is that video is now becoming the dominant medium on the Web. As said earlier we have seen a multitude of videos go viral featuring talented cats, Gangnam dances and smiling babies, and given that library and information videos are not likely to knock these off their perch they are no doubt valuable to those who care. In 2011 Cisco predicted that video would make up over 50% of all consumer Internet traffic by 2012, and would make up for over 70% of all mobile data traffic by 2016. So what about those earlier concerns, how can we best tackle them? There is no silver bullet or one size fits all solution to this, but at least I can try to alleviate your fears.
Time:
Of course, time is very precious for library and information professionals, everyone needs your help and support and therefore your time. Yet how many times in your working week do you get the same enquiry? How often have you thought to yourself ‘Google it’?. Without wanting to sound like you should outsource such enquiries, you could use video to maximise the time you can spend on more complex enquiries.
Make instructional screencast videos using free software like the superb Screencast-o-matic or the Windows standard Live Movie Maker or even get your service to invest in better packages with quality editing options like Camtasia. By making videos that show your users how to search a database or renew a book you are not making yourself detached or redundant, you are freeing up more time for other problems that need solving and opening your service up to home-based users. There will always be enquiries that will require face to face communication and support, your users will always want your help.
Money:
Money for libraries has been a very sensitive topic in recent years and we know they are under increasing pressure to make do with less resources. Making videos feels like a big thing, that it could be expensive, that it will eat up money better spent elsewhere. Yet video is good money spent elsewhere if you use it correctly. Nevertheless there are plenty of free things you can do to make screencasts and videos for your service. Firstly use the camera on your smartphone to record a welcome video for your service or just to announce yourself. If you are an outreach and liaison librarian you can simply reach out to users by making a little film saying hello and what you can do to help. Make a video walking around your library showing the various resources you have at hand. Obviously these will not be Oscar-winning recordings, but as long as the sound is clear and you have good lighting you can make something quite effective. Myself and my colleague Claire Beecroft have made video trailers for conference presentations using our phone, it is simple, quick and effective.
You can make screencasts using simple tools like Screenr and Screencast-O-Matic for free and then download them to edit with various free editing packages starting with Windows Live Movie Maker or iMovie on the Mac. You will find dozens of good quality free video editing tools on the Web by searching around, obviously they are limited compared to professional packages such as Adobe Premiere and Sony Vegas but will still help polish and produce your video.
Content
I have touched on some of the ways you can use video to create content for your library and information service, but the reality is that much of it depends on your confidence and imagination. There are dozens of innovative and humorous library videos from the United States. The video Librarian Lays Down the Law, although fictitious and humourous is about the Dewey catalogue system and has had over 180,000 views.
A good place to start is to think about any processes and enquiries you get on a regular basis- if you maintain a list of FAQs start there. Once you have identified a few, think about how you can script them into short instructional videos and start recording them. The main three things to remember is that you do not have to capture the recording first time, that you need to capture the audio clearly and that your video needs to be kept short, ideally less than three minutes. Think about what your service offers and turn it into a promotional video, even consider having a colleague present a live tour of your library. You can make videos explaining anything from how you use self service machines to copyright legislation. Once you have started collating content you can build collections and channels within such platforms such as YouTube, it can help filter content that is most relevant to your users.
Audience
For anyone working in front-line services you will always know who your customers are, whether they be students, members of the public, children, doctors, academics or others. Try to break down the services you offer to them, what communications do you currently use? If you are you using Social Media, think about the channels you can use to get your content to your clients. The good news is that there are plenty of free outlets to host your content on, especially YouTube and Vimeo, whilst getting into the communities is made easier if you know of any online groups you can post your content on. Use Facebook and Twitter to promote your videos to a wide audience. Your video does not have to be watched thousands of times, just a few dozen times can reap rewards for your service as it helps your users and builds the profile of your organisation.
Know-how, Technology and Confidence
These are very much part and parcel of helping build a video profile for your library and information service. Hopefully this short article will have demystified and encouraged some people to go out and attempt to make their first videos. The key thing you need to remember is that you can have several attempts at making a video, it does not have to be perfect first time. If you are happy with your first attempt move on and make another one. Videos can date very quickly, as with traditional learning resources so do not get too hung up on it being totally perfect. If you wanted an example of the kind of videos you could try looking at the ScHARR Library YouTube Channel I set up in 2009 - http://www.youtube.com/user/scharrvids and there are countless other videos online that can also inspire your own.
Technology can be as simple or as complicated as you wish. As I touched on earlier, start simple, use your smartphone and simple screencasting software like Screencast-O-Matic and editing software like Windows Live Movie Maker. Don’t underestimate the quality of video you can produce with free tools and tools you already have.
If you can identify some funding even better, £1000 could go a long way and guy you a simple video camera, tripod and external microphone for capturing better quality audio. You can purchase a copy of Camtasia for around £200 and make your videos even better with titles, music and nice edits. As for getting your video recordings up and running you will find several tutorials on how to capture video and edit it on YouTube, so try not to lose precious time reading manuals if there is a quicker and more effective option online.
By taking these steps forward you will find your confidence increases naturally and more ideas about what you can record can be applied. Obviously remembering some key points along the way:
Your audio needs to be clear
Your video should be as short as it reasonably can be- aim for under 3 mins
Your use of images/music must be compliant withcopyright law
There are growing numbers of Creative Commons licensed music and images you can apply to your videos for no charge depending on the correct attribution. Google ‘CC Search’ for access to this fantastic resource.
The evidence is clear that video has become the dominant medium on the Web. We may have millions of pages of text, but the hours of video online is staggering and given the growing evidence our of shortening attention spans even more important.
YouTube recently reported that one hour of content is uploaded per second. so it is a good time to start using video within your library and information service- regardless of the setting there is so much that video can do- the possibilities are endless!
