Author Archives: Robin

Reflections on Advancing Authorship: Preprints in the Time of COVID-19

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On Friday, September 25, 2020, the Library hosted our first ever virtual Advancing Authorship event, Preprints in the Time of COVID-19.

We heard from Dr. John Inglis of Cold Spring Laboratory, founder of preprint servers bioRxiv and medRxiv. We also heard from MSK authors about their decision to publish their COVID-19 related research as preprints, including Dr. Elizabeth Robilotti, Dr. Lior Braunstein, and Dr. Marin Hultcrantz. Overall, we had 149 attendees, and an engaging Q&A session. 

Screen Shot from “Preprints in the Time of COVID-19.”

If you attended, but didn’t have a chance to fill out our post-event survey, there’s still time!

Questions? Have an idea for a future Advancing Authorship event? Please contact asklibrarian@mskcc.org. 

 

 

 

Three Questions: Jeanine McSweeney, Associate Librarian, Scholarly Communications

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For our next Three Questions interview, we spoke with Jeanine McSweeney, Associate Librarian, Scholarly Communications.

What areas can you help MSK users with?

I manage Synapse, the authoritative database of MSK authors and their publications. The Synapse Team tracks and adds new publications by MSK authors and organizes them under author profiles. Within Synapse you will find links to the full-text of a work, Altmetrics and citation counts, and integration with ORCID iD. I work with various departments at MSK to create customized groups of authors, helping them to track, showcase, and report on the publication output of their departments. Basically, if you have questions about managing your own or your department’s publications, or finding ways to demonstrate your research impact, I am here to help.

What projects have you been working on recently?

My fish tank, a recent trip to Watkins Glen, and me.

Over the summer we released our annual Synapse Publications Report, which highlights the publication output of our MSK researchers. Right now my team is working on restructuring the Synapse “journal articles” category so that our users can better pull out just the peer-reviewed research articles for their grant and reporting needs. Currently Synapse includes non-peer reviewed formats in the “journal article” category like editorials, letters, reviews etc., and we have learned from our users that breaking this down would be more helpful. We aim to have our workflow in place by the end of the year so that moving forward, pulling out needed data from Synapse is even more convenient for our users.

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?

When able, my first trip will be to Germany so I can visit with my partner’s family that I have not seen now in over a year. Aside from that, I read a lot of Agatha Christie when I was young and have romanticized notions of the English countryside that I would love to spend time exploring. So one of my bucket list trips is to spend a few weeks touring around England and the rest of the UK.

 

MSK Library Reopening With Limited Hours

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The MSK Library’s physical space has reopened with partial hours. Our user community can enter the Library on Mondays and Thursdays, 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM. Please note, the Library will be closed on Mondays and Thursdays between 12:30 PM and 1:00 PM for additional cleaning of user workstations.

All MSK staff must register for a user workstation in advance. No walk ins or casual seating is permitted at this time. 

Before making a reservation, please review our reopening guide. 

All Library visitors must adhere to the following guidelines: 

  • Entry by reservation only: All visitors must reserve a seat to use the library. Reservations can be made on the calendar below. 
  • MSK universal masking policy: Universal masking is required at all times in all MSK facilities. A procedure mask will be available from security on entry or within the Library. Please wear the MSK-issued mask while in the Library. Masks must be worn so that the mouth and nose are completely covered at all times. 
  • Physical distancing: Maintain a distance of at least six feet from others. 
  • Hand hygiene: Wash hands with soap and water frequently (for at least 20 seconds) or use alcohol-based hand sanitizer in areas without easy access to soap and water. Avoid touching your face. Sneeze and cough into an elbow or a tissue, even when wearing a mask. Staff are advised to clean hands immediately after sneezing or coughing and after cleaning and disinfecting their work areas. 
  • Alcohol wipes: Wipes have been placed in high traffic areas in the Library for our users who wish to wipe down their workstations before using.  Please note that scheduled cleaning will also be done by MSK housekeeping.
  • Employee HealthCheck Tool: All Library visitors are required to complete the MSK COVID-19 HealthCheck Tool for Employees before they begin work on the day that they will be visiting the Library. 
  • Eating/Drinking: No food/beverages are permitted in the Library at this time, with the exception of bottled water.  

Please note, the following activities within the physical Library space are currently unavailable: 

Making a Reservation

  • You may register for a morning (8:30 AM – 12:30 PM, 4 hours total) reservation or an afternoon reservation (1:00 PM – 5:00 PM, 4 hours total).  
  • You must bring a mobile device to communicate with Library staff members. No house phones or office phones will be available for Library visitors.  
  • You may only register for either a morning reservation or an afternoon reservation. No back-to-back reservations are permitted at this time.  
  • Reservations are only available to MSK/SKI staff. Visitors must wear their employee ID.  
  • Only sit in your assigned seat number while in the Library. Your seat will be numbered and clearly labeled. 
  • The Library will be closed between 12:30 PM – 1:00 PM every day to allow for cleaning. All visitors must exit the Library during this time. 

The MSK user community can access the majority of the Library’s services and collections remotely. Visit our Virtual Library Services page to learn more. 

Looking for information on COVID-19? Visit our post on the MSK Library Blog to browse vetted resources and sites.