18th Annual Atmospheric Science Librarians International Conference
Phoenix, AZ  January 7-8, 2015
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“Fulfilling the Vision of Weather, Water, and Climate Information for Every Need, Time, and Place”

Wednesday, JANuary 7, 2015
ASLI program and dinner
Room 129B (Phoenix Convention Center, West and North Buildings)

ASLI is pleased to bring Dr Heidorn and Ruth Kneale to present on the topic of librarian competencies and the roles our professional organizations play in our development. With challenging budgets, job redefinition, and the need for ongoing skill and knowledge creation, how do these groups support us? How might they evolve to further meet our educational needs? We will explore these questions, aware of our relationships to some scientific societies.

With roots in discussions at SLA in 1996, ASLI was designed to bring professionals together from various types of libraries: academic, federal, corporate and more. We will review how, and why, ASLI began.

ASLI began just as the Internet itself became open to all. Information needs in the field have changed in some ways but not diminished. Where does ASLI find itself today? What changes in our profession have caused ASLI to respond in what ways?

Any discussion of present or future information needs and delivery is incomplete without highlighting the increasing role of data management among users, librarians and other information staff. This presentation will address data management education and training resources such as short courses and tools created by librarians and scientists.

Pressures continue to deliver quality information in these fields despite changes in our budgets, libraries, and job responsibilities. What roles might or should ASLI play in our professional development? What needs can and should it meet?

With the help of our first speakers, we will wrap up our morning by having the group discuss our mission and what we need to fulfill it. Perhaps the use of a “Mind Tool”TM will help us.

This panel will engage the ASLI community in a discussion of alternative metrics (Altmetrics): what they measure, what librarians need to know, and how they are being used.

Thursday, January 8, 2015
ASLI Program, Data Stewardship Joint Session, Vendor Updates
Room 129B (Phoenix Convention Center, West and North Buildings)

Research revolves around answering questions, and for a researcher, this requires being on top of articles in their field. How researchers consume and communicate new knowledge continues to evolve. Publishing and disseminating multiple content types also continues to evolve. Springer is at the forefront of publishing innovation, providing numerous resources for both Academic and Corporate markets. The ‘Lunch and Learn’ will present some of these innovations relevant to academics, librarians and societies.

This session will feature common ground these two archivists find in their interwoven disciplines: past, present and future.

6.1: Embracing the Research Data Curation Challenge: A Library’s Journey with a CLIR Postdoctoral Fellow
Timothy Norris, CLIR Postdoctoral Fellow
Elizabeth A. Fish, Director, Rosenstiel School Library, Acting Director for Collection Strategies and Scholarly Communications (University of Miami, Miami FL)

Research libraries are developing services, staffing and skills to meet expected grant funders requirements for long term accessibility and discoverability of research data. The challenges of what is becoming known as data curation are particularly difficult for smaller university libraries when staff already fill multiple roles. The University of Miami Libraries has been fortunate in recruiting a postdoctoral fellow for data curation through the Council on Libraries and Information Resources (CLIR) Postdoctoral Fellowship program. A postdoctoral fellow trained in the sciences and experienced with data management can play a valuable “bridge” role.

Legacy paper weather records often remain hidden in department drawers and closets. So it was at Plymouth State University until an effort was undertaken to digitize and load these artifacts into the PSU Institutional Repository. With the help of meteorology undergraduates, thirty-five years of detailed, unique local weather data were scanned, cataloged, and uploaded to the CONTENTdm platform. The processes and decisions involved in making the invisible not only visible, but discoverable through several new channels including the repository itself, WorldCat, and Google will be discussed, along with a tour of the digital collection. The presentation will detail the technical and personnel resources required for the project, as well as the challenges and benefits.

The array of digital data and tools continues to grow. This presentation will provide an overview of Earthcube and its community-driven approach to building cyberinfrastructure. What role(s) might we have?

The 21st century promises a new era for scientists of all disciplines, the age where cyberinfrastructure enables research and education and fuels discovery. How do soon-to-be professionals discover, share and/or store their data? How do they interact with current repositories or tools like EarthCube?

From a small library setting through major changes in the UCSD system, Amy will describe how the space and services for her community have changed in the last 5 years.

For many years, the Goddard Library has been in need of a facelift. The Building housing the library is over 40 years old and, even though the library reading room space with its large windows is a beautiful, open space, the furniture and functionality of the room needed a change. A new design was proposed, creating a flexible, multipurpose, collaboration center within the Library reading room space. This presentation will highlight some of the design considerations and the process of how different organizations within Goddard worked together to achieve a common goal and the long road it took to achieve these goals.

The NOAA network of libraries continues to serve its clientele in 29 locations across the country. This presentation will highlight how these libraries have built collaborations and undertaken innovations to continue to deliver high quality service and collections of weather, climate and related information to those who need it.

Friday, January 9, 2015
Annual ASLI Field Trip