In 2005, the University of Florida (UF) Libraries created a new position, the Outreach Librarian for Agricultural Sciences, whose primary purpose is to enhance library services to the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) off-campus community. As of Spring 2006, IFAS includes more than 995 faculty and staff located at 13 different Research and Education Centers (RECs) and 67 County Extension offices throughout the State of Florida and more than 240 distance learning students from all over the world. Providing library services to IFAS is complicated, considering the distance from the main campus, the various levels of research, the wide range of subject expertise required by users, and the separation into three distinct functions-research, education and extension. In recent years many of the UF services and resources important to off-campus users-such as Interlibrary Loan, virtual reference, instruction services, and electronic resources-have dramatically improved, and yet a lack of awareness for these services and a feeling of unhappiness persists. Furthermore, competition from resources like Google Scholar makes building awareness of library services a top priority. This paper covers the various steps taken, and challenges met, to generate awareness of available library resources and services.
Cross-disciplinary, team-based collaboration is essential for addressing today’s complex research questions, and librarians are increasingly entering into such collaborations. This study identifies skills needed as librarians integrate into cross-disciplinary teams, based on the experiences of librarians involved in the development and implementation of VIVO, a research discovery and collaboration platform. Participants discussed the challenges, skills gained, and lessons learned throughout the project. Their responses were analyzed in the light of the science of team science literature, and factors affecting collaboration on the VIVO team were identified. Skills in inclusive thinking, communication, perseverance, adaptability, and leadership were found to be essential.
Family, Youth and Community Sciences (FYCS) is an agricultural science department traditionally served by a science librarian. The unique set of information requirements that have grown with the scope of the department makes it a challenge to meet the diverse needs. No longer primarily covering the rural household, the department now encompasses theoretical, methodological, empirical, and practical issues associated with urban life, social trends, and complicated life-long financial planning. The information needs of this department far exceed the standard knowledge base of the traditional science librarian and require a strong foundation in social science, business, education, and health sciences information sources. This creates a restriction in information access for the many and varied members of FYCS departments. In order to relieve the restriction, science librarians must familiarize themselves with a variety of resources from statistical databases, government and international sources, and social science databases. This article covers the changes in the FYCS department, the expansion of information needs, the resources of vital importance to research and students, and the challenges to the science librarian in meeting their needs. The article concludes that the science librarian should understand the growing interdisciplinary nature of this science field and recognize the steps that must be taken to increase access to information.
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