ICML 2009: Meeting Room 1 Session 25

Theme: ICAHIS-International Conferene of Animal Health Information Specialists

Time:10.30-12.00
Date: Thursday 3rd September 2009
Chair: Trenton Boyd

Getting It All Together: Building an Institutional Repository Collection of ICAHIS Papers
Vicki Croft, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, United States

Vicki Croft, head of the Health Sciences Library, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, USA, has been at WSU since 1976. Kay Vyhnanek is Washington State University's Scholarly Communication Librarian.

Abstract:
Since the first meeting in 1992, the International Conference of Animal Health Information Specialists (ICAHIS) has created a large collection of informative papers that has been largely inaccessible even in this age of Internet access. Development of the Washington State University (WSU) Libraries’ institutional repository, the WSU Research Exchange, created a venue to provide accessibility. Vicki Croft, Head Librarian, Washington State University Health Sciences Library, and Kay Vyhnanek, Scholarly Communication Librarian at WSU, began the project to create a Web-based collection of papers from all five ICAHIS meetings. This presentation will give descriptions of the design and planning, the process and procedures for obtaining copyright permissions from the authors, the methods employed in capturing and/or creating digital images of the papers, the creation of the metadata representing the papers, and posting the papers to the Research Exchange. The use of the collection as the basis for an ICAHIS Website, the value of using the repository for this purpose, and a summary of data on access to the papers will be presented.

Objective: Obtain and process all papers, including author(s) permission, from the five ICAHIS meetings.

Methodology: Gather papers from disparate locations; contact authors for permission to post articles in the repository; add portable document file copies, including metadata.

Result: A complete collection of papers from all ICAHIS meetings in one Web location.

Conclusion: A complete collection of papers has been established within the WSU Research Exchange, making the conference papers available globally and the basis for an ICAHIS Website.

Medical and Life Science Journal Usage in Veterinary Medicine: Identifying the Complementary Core
Mr Gregory K Youngen, United States

Professor Youngen serves as the Veterinary Medicine Librarian at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Prior positions include: 10 years as Physics-Astronomy Librarian at Illinois and other library contract positions with US Environmental Protection Agency and the US Department of Energy.

Abstract:
Researchers in veterinary medicine employ the literature of many complementary fields of study. The literature of biology, including anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, toxicology, and many other laboratory sciences are essential. Also, most aspects of human medicine overlap in varying degrees with veterinary medicine. This paper describes the resources and processes that individual collection managers can use to identify the non-veterinary journals of importance to veterinary researchers at their institutions. The methodology employed in this study will also be useful to libraries supporting other allied health fields, especially where large medical research libraries or collections are absent. The paper describes an ongoing process that can be employed when reviewing journal subscriptions to ensure the collection’s relevancy to the user base.

Objective: Identify the primary non-veterinary journals used by researchers at a college of veterinary medicine.

Methodology: Employing the analytical components of commercial and open-source bibliographic resources (Web of Science, Scopus, et al) to measure local article authorship and usage.

Result: A list of journals falling outside the core field of study - yet evidenced as essential - to the research needs of a specific user group.

Conclusion: Identification of the “complementary core” is possible, but it can also be elusive. It will vary by institution and with the changing internal research priorities.

Assessing dissemination of animal health research findings
Mrs Kristine M Alpi, North Carolina State University, William Rand Kenan, Jr. Library of Veterinary Medicine, United States

Kristine Alpi, MLS, MPH, AHIP is Director of the William Rand Kenan, Jr. Library of Veterinary Medicine at North Carolina State University. She holds the MLS from Indiana University and a Masters in Public Health from Hunter College, the City University of New York.

Abstract:
Funding agencies such as NIH and the Wellcome Trust have advanced public access policies to ensure dissemination of findings from their funded research. Morris Animal Foundation (MAF) is a major animal health funder interested in dissemination of its grantees’ research results. The MAF completed studies database provided five years of source data for a three-part investigation on dissemination of research findings. The extent of availability to practitioners of published literature resulting from MAF funding was measured by the time to publication, journal type, and access level (abstracts online, open access, society membership, indexing). The use of the published papers was examined through cited reference searches in Web of Knowledge and Google Scholar, review of reference lists of relevant practice guidelines, and popular press articles that discuss the topic. An assessment of whether companion animal caregivers seeking information on these topics would retrieve the findings from MAF studies will be done through Internet searches of Google using both the researcher’s abstract terms and educated lay consumer terminology. The top ten sites retrieved by each search will be characterized and compared. The ranked position of the MAF website will also be identified. Selected areas (canine, equine, and oncology) with other funding will provide comparisons to see how studies on similar topics have been disseminated. Recommendations drawn from information retrieval, health literacy, and scholarly information sharing will suggest dissemination strategies that may impact the availability of new knowledge from funded research in animal health.

Partnering Across Libraries and Institutions to Manage Veterinary Grey Literature
Esther Carrigan, Texas A & M University, United States

Abstract:
Problem: A significant portion of the literature of veterinary medicine is grey literature. Each of three national libraries of the United States covers some portion of the veterinary literature. There is no comprehensive plan to collect, ensure access and preserve the veterinary grey literature.

Objective: Conduct a needs assessment for use in developing an action plan to improve access and preserve the veterinary grey literature.

Population: All libraries worldwide serving veterinary schools accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA).

Methodology: In September 2007, a focus group of seven veterinary librarians from across the United States met at Texas A&M University to discuss issues surrounding veterinary grey literature, brainstorm potential remedies and begin the development of an action plan. In March 2008 a survey on veterinary collection practices, emphasizing archives and grey literature handling, was sent to librarians at all AVMA accredited schools of veterinary medicine.

Results: Response rate for survey completion was nearly 75%. Findings indicate: half of respondents are under space constraints; more than 75% of respondents regularly withdraw collection materials; fewer than half of respondents actively acquire grey literature; over half of respondents have a preservation program at their institution; and, 90% of respondents have digitization programs and/or institutional repositories.

Conclusion: Efforts directed at bringing veterinary grey literature under the umbrella of existing preservation/digitization projects and institutional repositories holds great promise as a feasible solution to improve both access and preservation of veterinary grey literature.