Recently I gave a high level presentation and overview of Library Services and focused attention on three major talking points – Content/Website, Services, and reaching Library Staff. I didn’t want to overload the audience because I really wanted them to walk away with at least one piece of information they felt was relevant to them.
When I give this type of presentation, I often wonder when I start talking about various resources available through the Library – what is/are their current “GoTo” info resource(s) they count on when conducting research? Well, this time around, I decided to ask! The target audience was incoming graduate students and after going around the table to find out what resources they use, PubMed and Wikipedia rose to the top.
While PubMed is certainly a great starting point (depending on your research topic), I was surprised that this audience was not aware of other resources, apps, and productivity tools that could support their research. We don’t know what we don’t know! So, how do we improve our knowledge gaps especially with the rapid growth of scientific literature? How do our future researchers manage the volume of scientific literature they need to consult, read, and organize in order to excel at their work?
A starting point for researchers is to connect with their librarians and information professionals – to include them in their network as a point person to better understand available resources and what’s new in the information and published literature ecosystem. This is an ever-changing environment and difficult to stay current with if it is not your primary work activity.
Librarians should also continue to develop strong relationships with their user community and promote workshops and opportunities to interact. We need to better understand the various workflows of our user community so that we can continue to share relevant information products, apps and tools.
In the end, closing knowledge gaps often start with a conversation – ASK US!
Donna Gibson
Director of Library Services