Introduction

Hello, my name is Karen and I am almost a librarian. This blog, Musings on a Scientist, is a requirement of Bibliography of the Sciences. This is an elective course that is part of the Master of Library Science program at Clarion University. Bibliography of the Sciences, according to the graduate catalog is a “survey of the literature and practice of librianship in major areas of the sciences, including biology, chemistry, engineering, geology, mathematics, medicine, and physics.” Sounds rather straight forward, review and analyze different literature and how librarians in those specialty fields can best serve those seeking information.

Unfortunately, nothing is that simple. Librarians are in the information profession; we are the experts in seeking, retrieving and storage information. What makes logical sense to us – books filed by author not title – can be mind boggling to others. Not everyone thinks about information as we do and once scientists, engineers, and medical professional leave the hallowed halls of academia there information needs change. But to be the best, one must understand the search methods and needs of the user. In the readings for this class, the information seeking behavior of engineers, scientists and nurses have been reviewed and understood (see endnotes). This blog is a study of one such scientist and is the analysis of their individual information seeking behavior. Over the course of the next several weeks, the following questions will be addressed, explored and I hope answered.

Where might you find more complete description of their research?

Can you see any patterns in their literature use?

Would they serendipitously scan for ideas? Where?

Where might they systematically look for information?

Are there interdisciplinary aspects to their work? If so, how would this complicate their information from sub-discipline or disciplines that have historically been working somewhat in isolation from one another?

Is there any evidence that they participate in some form of social (computerized or otherwise) networking –especially ones where they are exchanging information with colleagues?

Are the journals, or other information that they citing, open access?

By exploring and answering this question, I will have gathered, and analyzed information in both print and electronic formats, and more importantly this blog is a way to disseminate this information. Library and information science is more than just retrieving the data, but also sharing the information; a library is not a static mausoleum of information and musty books, but a growing organism.

Next posting: Greg Asner – A Brief Biography