2008 Conference Program

11th Annual Atmospheric Science Librarians International Conference
New Orleans, LA    January 23-25, 2008
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“Forging Connections: The Role of Librarians in Creating Connections between Researchers and Resources.”
This theme, which corresponds with the AMS Annual Meeting theme of “Enhancing the Connectivity between Research and Applications for the Benefit of Society,” will focus on the role of libraries and librarians forging and reinforcing essential ties between researchers and the resources they need to create applications. Among the topics to be addressed by librarians and researchers are data curation and how librarians can work with researchers to make datasets more accessible to a broader group of users, collaborations with researchers and faculty, and the future of atmospheric science librarianship in academic, research, and international settings.Meeting minutes provided by Eugene Major, ASLI Secretary 2006-2008
Links to the recorded presentations are available at the AMS Conference site.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008
ASLI program and ASLI dinner
8:30am Registration and Coffee
8:45am Welcome Address and Introductions
Jean Phillips, Chair, Atmospheric Science Librarians International (ASLI),
Space Science and Engineering Library University of Wisconsin-Madison
9:15am 1.1 Widgets and Wikis and Blogs, Oh My! – Emerging Technology Tools to Connect You to Your Users
Emerging technology tools offer new ways to interact and connect with users. Applications range from social networking and virtual reality sites to widgets aimed at allowing users to create personalized web spaces. Determining which applications may be useful in achieving your organization’s goals can be challenging, however.Linda Musser, Head, Fletcher L. Byrom Earth and Mineral Sciences Library, Pennsylvania State UniversityLinda’s presentation covered the use of exciting new Web 2.0 tools to engage library users. Web 2.0 tools promote mobility, personalization using an array of multimedia formats.
– Widgets are chunks of code embedded in a web page. The library could have their own widget, which is easy for users to download, making branding more visible and makes library web pages more interesting and interactive. Some popular widgets:
– Google gadgets
– iGoogle to customize your own google experience
– Pageflakes
– ToolbarsAnother tool are wikis. Collaboration builds community and wikis provide collaborative construction. These allow users to comment and review.
See: Library Thing (http://www.librarything.com).Blogs are widely used collaborative tools that encourage conversation and discussion. Example: Library Marketing blog: http://librarymarketing.blogspot.comRSS and alerts send information directly to the users. Pre-selected content can be pushed out to a variety of media (personal computers, mobile devices).Podcasts and V-Casts add another dimension to your web site by providing audio and video. V-Casts are useful for training. See: scivee nsf : . Text messaging meets the users where they are. Instead of email, use IM to send messages to and from patrons. Example: meebo.comGo where the users are: a host of social networking sites:
– Myspace
– Facebook
– Second LifeUsers want personalization and choice including email, RSS, IM, and even “snail” mail.Some audience questions:
Q: Students usually start working at 10pm and want access online 24/7.
Stay logged in; users like to know if you’re available.
Q: How long do staff work on their individual pages.
Not much to set up. Staff should have their own ipages thru igoogle.
Q: Second Life seems to take a lot to create a presence.
In one example, a library used Second Life to redesign library space and virtually have people move through the space.
Q: What have you had to give up to do this?
Leverage knowledge of librarians. Give up desk hours to do this. Can’t want for people to wander through and ask questions. Be where the users are (online).
9:45am Break
10:00am 2.1 Keynote Address:
Divine Wind: The History and Science of Hurricanes
Hurricanes have inspired literature and art through the ages and changed the course of history. In this lecture, the science of hurricanes and their role in human history will be discussed, along with the effect of climate change on hurricane activity and the role of hurricanes in regulating climate. Professor Emanuel’s book, The Divine Wind, is a winner of the ASLI’s Choice Book Award.Kerry Emanuel, Professor of Meteorology, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyDr. Emanuel gave a fascinating look at the science of hurricanes, a topic of particular interest since ASLI was being held in New Orleans. His talk covered the history of hurricane research, describing some of the most powerful U.S. land-falling hurricanes since 1900. He also described the latest theories of hurricane formation, such as Hurricane Potential Intensity theory.
For access to Dr. Emanuel’s papers and research, see: http://wind.mit.edu/~emanuel/home.html.
His book “Divine Wind: The History and Science of Hurricanes” was an ASLI Choice Book Award Honorable Mention in 2005.
11:00am 3.1 The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Library: Re-inventing Services and Re-Connecting Users
The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Library, as other Federal libraries, is faced with reductions in staff and hours of operation, purchasing freezes, and budgetary cutbacks. In spite of these pressures, the Goddard Library remains open and continues to provide enhanced services to NASA researchers through expanded access to digital resources.Gene Major, Program Manager, Library Associates, NASA/GSFC LibraryGene presented a status of the NASA Goddard Library. Despite rumors as to its demise, the Goddard Library remains open and is serving the Goddard community. Although hours and staff have been reduced, the Library continues to provide electronic access to many databases, e-books, and e-journals. Gene showed the use of OpenURL technology that allows Goddard users to access e-journal content directly through search engines such as Google Scholar.
11:45am Lunch
1:00pm 4.1 Usage of Article Databases and Electronic Journals by Academic Atmospheric Scientists
Academic researchers in the atmospheric science field rely on journal articles as sources of information relevant to their work. This study investigated which databases and other tools researchers use to search the literature, and how they actually conduct their searches.Kari Kozak, Science/Engineering Librarian, Texas A& M University LibrariesKari presented a survey that was distributed to 200 atmospheric scientists on the when, why and what of online searching. This was an email survey that consisted of 12 open- and close-ended questions. There was an 18.5% return rate. The responders were of varied expertise; most were doctorates and there was an overwhelming use Web of Science.
Other journals and databases accessed:
– AMS journals
– Science Direct (Elsevier)
– MGA
e-journals:
– American Geophysical Union journals
– Journal of Climate
– Monthly Weather Review
– Geophysical Research Letters
Publishers:
– AMS
– AGU
– AAAS
Conclusions: What scientists were looking for:
– Features
– Times cited
– Index of publications
– Journal abbreviations
– More coverage
1:45pm 5.1 Using Climate-Scale Resources for Mesoscale Modeling
Research on the impact of large volcanic eruptions on global climate has been a topic of much discussion, particularly with the increased interest in global climate change. Natural curiosity leads us to think about what implications smaller volcano eruptions can have on regional weather. These impacts on local weather will be discussed, as well as how resources on climate-scale research were used for the desired analysis on a smaller scale.Morgan Brown, Graduate Research Assistant, Atmospheric Sciences- Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks.Morgan talked about how the library and search tools were used in her research for he dissertation on volcanoes. She showed how large volcanic eruptions impact climate and the need for older archived material, especially older datasets.
2:30pm Break
3:00pm 6.1 Why the Weather?
Charles Franklin Brooks, the founder of the American Meteorological Society, composed daily public service announcements for the Science Service beginning in May 1923. The NOAA Central Library’s collection of these transcripts starts in May 1923 and continues through April 1941. This presentation will summarize and analyze the weather facts and often humorous proverbs broadcast during this era.Doria Grimes, Chief, Contracting, NOAA Central LibraryDoria’s presentation was on Charles Franklin Brooks, the founder of the American Meteorological Society. Brooks composed daily public announcements for the Science Service beginning in May 1923 on weather topics aimed at the public. His work was later taken up by Charles F. Talman, and Alfred H. Thiessen. His column, “Why the Weather?” ran from 1923-1941. The NOAA Central Library has a collection of these transcripts from 1923-1941, although missing 1938-39. The transcripts were imaged at 300 dpi B&W and are available online at the NOAA Central Library: http://docs.lib.noaa.gov/rescue/whytheweather/whytheweather.html The transcripts are arranged in alphabetic order by Subject, Title and Author. All the documents are downloadable as PDFs. Much of the material contains informative and often humorous weather stories, including weather proverbs, such as “Beware of weather proverbs”, and “Thunder does not sour milk!” Go to the link above to view this entertaining collection of unique weather information
3:30pm 7.1 Linking Earth Science Data Information and NASA Scientific and Technical Information
The NASA Langley Research Center Atmospheric Science Data Center is collaborating with the NASA Agency’s Scientific and Technical Information Program office to link data holdings and technical publications through the use of Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting. This pioneering partnership allows users to simultaneously retrieve traditional information from library information systems along with associated data descriptions on Earth-observing satellite data.Juliet Pao, IT Research Manager Atmospheric Science Data Center, NASA Langley Research CenterJuliet and Nancy presented on the NASA Langley’s Atmospheric Science Data Center collaboration with the NASA Scientific and Technical Information Program Office to link data holdings and technical publications using the Open Archives Initiative (OAI) Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (PMH). The combination of over 4 million technical reports, conference papers and journal articles with descriptions of NASA Langley atmospheric data set information available in one search provides a powerful tool for researchers. Over 200 data set descriptions were converted from the NASA GCMD’s Directory Interchange Format (DIF) to MARC and harvested using OAI-PMH.
4:00pm ASLI Sessions end for the day
4:30pm ASLI’s Choice Book Awards
Presentation at ASLI Booth in Publishers’ Row in the
Exhibit Hall. Open until 6:30
6:00pm Annual ASLI Dinner
Cochon (www.cochonrestaurant.com)

Thursday, January 24, 2008
ASLI program, vendor updates, business meeting
8:00am Coffee
8:15am 8.1 Discovery – Access – Preservation: Libraries’ Roles in Data Services
Moderator: Colleen NunnLibraries and librarians are playing an increasingly important role in the stewardship and curation of data and in helping their clients discover and access data sets that are publicly available. Panelists address the challenges of this role from the perspectives of academic, research, and government-sponsored librariesPanelists:
Chris Sherratt (Librarian, Lindgren Library, MIT), Joey Comeaux (Data Support Section, UCAR), Juliet Pao (IT Research Manager, Atmospheric Science Data Center, NASA Langley Research Center), Nancy Ritchey (Head of User & Data Services, Atmospheric Science Data Center, NASA Langley Research Center), and Allaina Wallace (Librarian and Analog Data Archivist, National Snow and Ice Data Center)Each of the panelists gave a short statement followed by audience discussion. Librarians often do not know where to go to find the data. Chris Sherratt said that requests mostly come from outside of atmospheric science. Where do librarians go to find data, what sources, and what logical progression of portals to visit?
Joey Comeaux said that users are looking for data, and anything librarians can do, will help. For example, NCAR has 603 data sets and it is especially difficult to find older hard copy data.
Juliet Pao asked how we could make things more accessible for search. Perhaps using local access tools or propagate metadata into ScienceDirect and science.gov.
Nancy Ritchey offered that data is really to support data providers or researchers and not general users. Thereby making it difficult to access for librarians or their non-expert patrons.
The session was lively and informative and many science and technical librarians face similar issues of finding, preserving and accessing data.
9:30am 9.1 Forecasting the Future of Atmospheric Science Librarianship
Moderator: Madeleine NeedlesMany forces are changing the current roles of atmospheric science librarians, including the closing of government libraries, the cessation of the distribution of government-sponsored reports in print, the demands by clients for a larger role in the management of data sets, and the changing library and information science curricula. Attendees are invited to participate in a discussion of the future of the field, drawing from their own experiences and their own unique professional contexts.Madeleine led an open forum discussion on the future of atmospheric science libraries. Many government libraries have closed and the distribution of government reports in print has ceased.
Many libraries face challenges of budgets, staffing and bureaucracy. International libraries are also facing similar issues as Federal libraries. Other perspectives include a trend towards libraries are heading more into archiving then ever before as they head more into electronic resources. Some libraries are working with digital management systems such as DSpace. Other libraries are exploring more social venues such as snack/coffee bars in the library or more study space. Some libraries are focusing on proposal support, citation searching, digitizing older material, copyright support, and editorial support.
10:00am Break
10:15am 10.1 AMS Publishing updates
Welcome
Keith Seitter, Executive Director
American Meteorological Society (AMS)Keith graciously welcomed the ASLI to the AMS meeting.AMS Publishing Update, including Progress on Glossary Changes
The online version of the AMS Glossary of Meteorology is undergoing substantial revision. Over the last two years, scientists and librarians have reviewed existing terms and suggested new terms and definitions related to satellite meteorology. In addition, ASLI Board members have reviewed the functionality of the online glossary and suggested a number of changes to improve its usability. Phillips provides an update on current status of the Glossary.Ken Heideman, Director of Publications, American Meteorological Society (AMS)

Jean M. Phillips Librarian, Space Science and Engineering Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Ken talked about the current state of AMS publications.
In 2007, 24,926 pages were published. Prior to 2005, AMS publications were all paper, now all are online.Jean talked about the ongoing revisions to the online AMS glossary:
http://amsglossary.allenpress.com/glossary
This has been a great collaboration between ASLI, AMS, and the science community. Dave Johnson (NCAR) and Wayne Feltz (CIMSS) are updating Geostationary satellite terms:
– GOES
– GMS
– Metosat
– INSAT
– WEFAXThey are also revising sensor terms related to geostationary satellites.
New and revised items added to glossary.
Recommendations from the ASLI board:

  1. Enable searches that “contain a certain word” or “begin with a certain word” and allow truncation of words.  Status: Under implementation by Allen Press
  2. Format results so that terms retrieved are part of defined term
  3. Under implementation by Allen Press
  4. Under review by Allen Press
  5. Will address after recommendations 1-3 are implemented

Next Step: Review polar satellite terms

AMS Book Publishing Update
Sarah Jane Shangraw, Book and Monograph Manager
American Meteorological Society (AMS)

New AMS books:
Lewis&Clark: Weather and Climate Data from the Expedition Journals

BAMS Update
Jeff Rosenfeld, Editor
Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (BAMS)

Ken Heideman filling in for Jeff Rosenfeld
Some highlights:
– Adding extra content to BAMS.
– New journal on policy and societal impacts coming in 2009.
– Open access to content: 5 years and older is free and open.
– Future of print? No paper anywhere, but death of print has not happened.
Electronic plus paper: Online subscriptions and for a little more you can get print.
– 90th anniversary of AMS next year and goal is to get all of BAMS online back to 1920.

Questions from the audience included:
– Increase in production time for e-content
– Quality of imaging for some issues

What is the Future of AMS Conference Proceedings?
Given that preprint literature does not undergo the same scrutiny as peer-reviewed literature, are conference proceedings, and in particular, AMS conference proceedings cited in peer-reviewed literature? What is the value of this type of literature and should it be preserved? Has the nature of conference literature changed? Do different user constituencies view the value of this literature differently? We examined the AMS journals for the period 1991-2006, in five-year intervals, looking at the frequency with which conference and other types of literature are cited. We offer some observations and questions and invite opinion and discussion from ASLI members and their preprint users.

Jean M. Phillips Librarian,
Space Science and Engineering Center
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Jinny Nathans
AMS Librarian

Jean and Jinny led a discussion on AMS conference proceedings.
Are AMS conference proceedings cited in peer-reviewed literature?
A study conducted by Jean and Jinny examined the frequency of conference and other non-peer related citations found in AMS journals for the period 1991-2006 in 5-year intervals.
Conclusions: Conference papers do not have same status as peer review, but they have a different intent and audience.
Recommendations:
– Acknowledge that conference literature is actively used and is an important part of the AMS record.
– Archive all conference literature including those distributed on CD-ROM.
– Archive web-published literature using approved utilities of LOCKSS and Portico.
– Continue to encourage extended conference abstracts.
– Publish results of study in BAMS.
– Include Confex presentations from AMS conferences starting in 2000.

This conference had 1,023 recorded presentations.
11:45am Lunch
1:00pm 11.1 Vendor and Publisher Updates
Proquest (Meteorological and Geoastrophysical Abstracts)
Christopher Readinger, Editor, MGA
Michael Miyazaki, ProQuest Marketing ManagerTopics include an update to MGA for 2007 as well as some upcoming developments for 2008. In addition there will be an introduction to some new products available from ProQuest (formerly CSA and ProQuest Information and Learning) and a discussion of the merger between CSA and ProQuest.Chris gave an overview of several ProQuest products (CSA bought out ProQuest):
– MGA database has over 366,000 records with over 41,000 new records added this year. Over 600 serials titles including 159 core source titles and some Astronomy & Astrophysics especially foreign titles. In 2008, the focus will be on retrospective indexing and expanded global coverage of grey literature.
– CSA Illumina:
New MyResearch feature to create search alerts. Other features include:
– Edit/run saved searches
– Personalize interface options
– Personalize databases
– Personal login
– Discovery guides
AMS titles are now included in CSA Illustrata
Michael Miyazaki, ProQuest also talked about MGA and CSA Illustrata: Natural Sciences:
– Deep indexing of graphs and charts
– Captions captured
– 1708 titles, 1,645,866 indexed objects
– Publishers include AMS and Springer-Verlag
– Copyright module – permissions to use objectsOther ProQuest resources:
– 450 newspapers; 77 countries, 37 languages, full color, full page format.
– 60 or 90 day rolling back file.
– Critical Mention: database of TV and radio news broadcasts from U.S. and international sources. With this resource you can find video clips online.
– Digital National Security Archive, DNSA.
– Military Collection – 69000 declassified docs since 1945, 530 titles cover topics across all government and military branches.
2:00pm American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Karen Blaufuss, Group Manager
Marketing and Membership, American Geophysical Union (AGU)AGU Products and Services: News and Updates
AGU has introduced new services in 2007 such as dynamic tables of contents and a new option to view accepted articles while they are still “in-press”. The biggest new product is the new AGU Digital Library launched in early 2008. This product makes available over 100,000 articles from as far back as 1896.Karine talked about new AGU products and services:
– Papers-in-Press: Articles available within days of acceptance; available to all subscribers including institutional subscribers.
– Space Weather: impact factor of 1.610
– e-commerce site to buy books
– AGU digital library
– Books older than 5 years will be added
– Reviews of Geophysics 1963-2002
– Earth Interactions (with AMS) (1997-2003)
2:30pm Web of Science, Thomson Scientific
Paul Torpey, Global Sales Support Manager, Thomson ScientificTopics will include a discussion of recent enhancements to both Web of Science and Web of Knowledge. These include improvements to the user interface and the new All Databases search in Web of Knowledge.Paul talked about the new updates to Web of Science and Web of Knowledge: ISI Web of Knowledge serves 20 million individual users; 150,000 users every day. Web of Science formatting change beginning February.
See: newisiknowledge.com
3:00pm Break
3:15pm ASLI Business Meeting
5:00pm ASLI Sessions end for the day

Friday, January 25, 2008
Annual ASLI Field Trip
8:30am-4:30pm Annual ASLI Field Trip
The field trip will feature a tour of the areas most affected by Hurricane Katrina with a local geologist as tour guide looking at what happened before and after the hurricane. The tour will leave at 8:30 am and arrive back by 2-3 p.m. Cost of the field trip will be approximately $40.
Please join us by making a reservation with Judie Triplehorn.
907-474-7512 or gilibrary@gi.alaska.edu.