Log 14.2 Continuing work on LibAnswers, Creating my LibGuide, instruction in OER, and BiblioChat.
UTEP University Library/9am-5pm
Access Services and Research & Instruction
TiJeat B.
Supervisor: Joy U., Angela L. Les A.
LibAnswers
Here is a link (click -->) to LibAnswers2. I was not able to finish this assignment, but I did get some good takeaways from Tessy. Reference questions can be answered by email, in person, phone, chat (BiblioBot), and text message; for this assignment text questions were incorporated which meant answering in 160 characters and only allowed to send two texts.
For the above I was instructed on how to use 2 of the business databases. IBISWorld and Gale OneFile:Business
In IBISWorld, Tessy and I searched Tesla to get their financial information, but the website displays results by industry so we had to filter results by company, and we were not only able to see the financial reports for Tesla in different years, and toggle the page to see comparisons between Tesla and different companies that are also in hybrid car production. When providing this kind of information you want to do some light exploration of the website to make sure the patron will be able to find the information they need.
Open Education Resources
University Library OER: https://www.utep.edu/library/oer/
OER Research Guide: https://libguides.utep.edu/oer
Scholar Works at UTEP: https://scholarworks.utep.edu/oer/
OER Commons: https://oercommons.org/
OER License Explanation: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Tessy is the OER librarian, she works to explain to the professors the benefits of OER which has course materials that were created by educators that have been licensed in a way to allow other educators to reuse or modify; PPT, books, handouts, anything that has an OER stamp means you have free access to view. Different stamps have different meanings,
What I learned about OER is that the purpose is to lower the reliance on textbooks produced by the normal publishing avenues which are biased and expensive; provide free and localized course materials without the need of copyright, the person using someone else's creation are unable to profit from it.
Creative Commons is a non profit international organization that provides license and legal guidance; their licensing designates if a work is ~Attribution ~Derivative Work ~Share Alike (SA) ~Non commercial (NC); with most OER's being in the SA, NC, and CC by (which means document where you obtained the work) categories.
This is the list she showed me explaining the different types of licenses
For the above image the CC by-SA 3.0 means I can share adapt the material but I have to give credit, use the same license, and provide credit --> https://gccazctle.com/2021/12/10/oer-understanding-open-licenses/
Tessy can also provide help for a professor who is being taken advantage of, by someone using their work. There are biases in publishing, based on gender or race, rather than disengaging with the big publishers as a whole; I counter there must be a balance between the normal avenues and OER. Some professors seem reluctant to use OER, and I discovered that UTEP does participate in OER and some faculty are involved, but because OER is only about 20 years old it has not yet obtained a reputation that can rival publishing. As a result if a faculty member publishes using OER it will not be allowed as proof of published work for their tenure trek; and if they are denied tenure they lose their faculty position. If that happens, I wonder what is the likelihood that they will get hired at another university after they had been denied tenure. As I interpreted it, professors who need to publish are encouraged not to do so thru OER.
In addition, OER does peer review differently usually being classed under user review or evaluation, this makes academic instructions reluctant to use research materials that has not gone through the typical peer review process.
The copyright question is something that I am still a novice in, I think there has to be a balance that involves the concerns of the publishers who of course do not want to put in so much work without payment.
I liked the way that Tessy explained how the different publishers are working like streaming services, with companies allowing diverse access or materials without a single source that inhabits all materials For example:
Want to Watch Star Wars
Netflix | Disney | Hulu | Peacock | Roku |
Y | Y | N | Y | N |
So you will purchase Netflix, Disney, or Peacock to obtain access to Star Wars. But later:
Want to Watch Bridgerton
Netflix | Disney | Hulu | Peacock | Roku |
N | N | Y | N | N |
Oh no, I brought Netflix, but now need to spend money on Hulu. Under these type of circumstances, it would be best to either purchase access to all the companies materials, or choose the one that has the most of what you want, and do without. She mentioned that there is work to get all the materials under one umbrella so that institutions do not have to pick and choose.
UTEP does not have the ability to publish textbooks, but the University of Arlington does.
Different OER Sources:
Merlot= repository for anything OER can search by resources, audience, user reviews, what other people have looked at,
OER Commons
OERTX.
Reference Interview Observation
While I was sitting at my designated computer at access services, I witnessed a reference exchange with Jenny. The patron was looking for a physical copy of a textbook so that he could use it for an open book exam that was due at the end of the day; the library did not have it. If the professor did not request that the textbook be in the library then the library did not have the physical copy, this is related to the libraries slow transfer to a fully digital collection. Jenny tried different avenues to get the patron access to the material, ILL would not work because of time limits. She also was able to tell that the item would not be available online because of the publisher; I cannot remember the exact name but it was a big publisher of textbooks either McGraw or Pearson. His options were to take the exam and use the textbook on his phone. Before he left, Jenny anticipated that he might need ILL in the future so explained the process.
LibGuide
due July 9th at noon
Topic: Metadata
LibGuides :
Intern should make at least one libguide that is not on their expertise. It should be based on a
real course, prepared from the syllabus, class assignment and any additional handouts or
information from the professor.
If there is enough time or the student would like more practice, another guide can be made on
their expertise or a collection of the Library.
LibGuide Requirements
● Friendly URL – At least main page. Subpages if so needed.
● Guide Type – what type of guide is it? Course, general, subject, etc.
● Course guide – if a course guide follow course guide naming standards. (see email)
● Databases – copied from the A-Z Resource List.
● Images/Screenshots – use if needed to clarify information or a process in explaining a
database or other source to be used.
● Video tutorials – Recommend the use of at least 2 video tutorials.
● Tags – add all relevant tags that will help people find page.
● Subjects – Mark appropriate matching subjects.
● UTEP VPN – include info on UTEP VPN vs. Library Proxy
● Quick Links – create a list of quick links for quick access for top resources in the Library
or campus, for example: course reserves, ILL, Technology Support, remote access, etc.
Rubric: created by Les.
I just started this assignment today, so will discuss it more in later logs. One of the instructions was to use the other LibGuides created by faculty and other interns for ideas.
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