COVID-19 as an Opportunity to Expand the Instructional Portfolio of STEM Librarians

The pivot to online teaching caused by the COVID-19 pandemic enabled science and engineering librarians at Vanderbilt University to expand their teaching roles within graduate-level courses in biomedical engineering, chemistry, and physics. In addition to addressing traditional information literacy skills related to information retrieval and resource evaluation, these new lessons addressed important science process skills such as academic reading, responsible conduct of research, and research data management. A facility with cloud-based teaching tools such as Zoom breakout rooms and Excel for Microsoft 365 allowed for engaging instructional experiences, even within synchronous online instructional environments. By integrating these topics into the graduate curricula, these guest lectures supported the professional development of early career graduate students and deepened relationships with the course instructors of record.

Makerspace Implementation and Pandemic Response

Makerspaces have continued to be a popular addition to the services offered by libraries. This article will address the creation and implementation of one at a mid-sized medical library. The writer will summarize their personal experience of the steps taken towards opening the makerspace and give insight into the process. This article will also address the trying times brought on by Covid-19 and the challenges faced in an operational perspective.

Potential Roles for Science Librarians in Research Data Management: A Gap Analysis

As many sciences move to be more data-intensive, some science librarians are offering more research data services and perform research data management roles. Job analyses provide insight and context to the tasks employees actually do versus what their job descriptions depict or employers assume. Two separate job analyses studies investigated the roles and responsibilities of data services librarians and research integrity officers among the top 10 private and top 10 public higher education institutions. The focus of these interviews was research data management support roles. Comparing these two groups’ responses indicates that the role-based responsibilities for research data services are not always clear within institutions and are predominantly placed on individual researchers or research teams, but science librarians may provide some solutions to address this gap. This paper presents a model for the potential roles of science librarians in research data management.

Librarian and Biochemist’s Experience Building a Collaborative Partnership in the Classroom and Beyond

A challenge for instruction librarians is building strong, collaborative partnerships with faculty who value your expertise as both a librarian and a faculty member. This article discusses how a request to “help with citations” evolved into scaffolded information literacy instruction that focuses on the shared value of open resources and led to a partnership providing more opportunities to support each other.

Research Support Services in STEM Libraries: A Scoping Review

As science and technology libraries continue to evolve, specialized research support services are developed and offered at academic institutions or research organizations. Making sense of this changing landscape and determining the best programs for an institution can be a daunting task, especially for early-career librarians. This article aims to provide an overview of various small to medium size non-traditional or specialized research support services in academic and special libraries serving Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. A systematic search of five databases was conducted for articles that described the development and implementation of research support services. Non-traditional or specialized research support services identified in this scoping review fall in the following areas: bibliometrics/altmetrics, data management services, geographic information systems, patents, and systematic reviews. The paper provides a detailed foundation for novice and experienced STEM librarians to offer innovative library services or enhance existing research support services.

Network Visualization: What and How

The third in a series of columns around data visualizations by three librarians at the University of Maryland (and one collaborator from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency).