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ABSTRACT In this poster, we describe partial findings from a larger study that explored the co-first and co-corresponding author phenomenon in two biomedical research areas, pharmacy and anesthesia. The top 10 journals in the two areas by the five-year impact factor as listed in 2013 JCR were used for the paper sources. A total of 17802 pharmacy papers and 35801 anesthesia papers were included in the analyses. Each paper was manually examined to identify the co-first and co-corresponding author papers. In this poster, we will show the distributions of the paper numbers and percentages of the co-first and co-corresponding papers over twenty years (1995-2014), the distributions of author numbers sharing the co-first and co-corresponding authorship, and the combinations and distributions of the authors' byline positions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This paper gives a summary of the activities of Watson Davis (1896-1967) during the first half of the 20th century in the area of information organisation and dissemination. Starting from Davis's views on the purpose of information, the paper subsequently describes his projects for the establishment of 'one big library', the Auxiliary Publication Service, 'one big journal', and the 'world brain'. Considering Davis as a member of the Special Libraries and Documentation Movement, his connections with its other members are explored. Subsequently, Davis's ideas are analysed and his legacy to Information Science investigated. The paper argues that Davis is an important link between Information Science and its predecessor Documentation, and therefore that he deserves to be subject of deeper research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the library profession has long defended readers' privacy, a public library patron's personal information is no longer solely in the hands of intrepid librarians determined to defend intellectual freedom. Libraries use vendors to provide a large portion of their digital content. These vendors gain access to extensive personal information about patrons. Libraries often must negotiate with content providers to ensure privacy protections for their patrons that are in accordance with the American Library Association's Code of Ethics. This paper presents the results of a content analysis of the privacy policies of five of the top digital content vendors of American public libraries. We examined whether these privacy policies (1) meet the privacy standards of the library community, (2) meet other industry standards, and (3) are accessible and understandable to public library patrons. Our results demonstrate that while vendors are largely meeting the Fair Information Practices standards of American industry, the policies fail to meet the heightened standards of the library community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The study of information science and technology has expanded over the years to include more kinds of people, more kinds of behavior, more methods, and a broader inclusion of fields. There is at least one area, however, where very few information studies scholars have tread: entertainment, particularly fiction. Yet many fields indicate that information studies should consider fiction. In this paper, we discuss how fiction is an informative genre and reasons why information studies scholars have mostly ignored fiction. We also identify potential research directions for studying fiction. We provide a summary of works about fiction and information, discuss motivations for expanding (and not expanding) information studies beyond what it is and has been, and we use an exploratory study of one example of a fiction-interaction - reading Young Adult novels - to illustrate how fiction is important to information behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twitter popularity, which measures the total frequency of mentions on Twitter, is proposed as an altmetrics indicator to assess the social impact of a given journal. Based on the 2013 Journal Citation Report, 30 journals with high impact factors in the library and information science (LIS) field were identified as top-tier journals. Through the investigation, the Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology (JASIST), College & Research Libraries (CRL), and Scientometrics are the most prevalent LIS journals with 2668, 1730, and 625 mentions, separately, on Twitter. To explore the association between the proposed altmetrics indicator and citation-based measures, Spearman's rho nonparametric correlation analysis was conducted to test the correlations between Twitter mentions and 8 citation-based measures (total cites, impact factor, 5-year impact factor, immediacy index, articles, cited half-life, Eigenfactor score, and article influence score). There is a significant and moderate correlation observed between the Twitter mentions and Eigenfactor score for the investigated journals. In conclusion, although the proposed altmetrics indicator, journal Twitter popularity, may not measure the scientific impact as the citation-based measurements do, this study puts forward the possibility of using journal Twitter popularity as a complementary indicator of journal impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Serendipitous discovery has been a research topic for more than one hundred years, but only recently has it been the focus of attention in library and information science (LIS). In 1960, Bernier published the first article on serendipity in a LIS journal. The number of publications gradually grew until 1990s, after which the field experienced a significant interest by the LIS researchers. Currently, LIS researchers are studying serendipity and information encountering from different perspectives, ranging from analyzing various conceptual frameworks to conducting bibliometric studies and investigating factors that trigger and affect the phenomenon. The panel of experts will discuss the issues and challenges of conducting research in this new field of study in LIS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This poster elaborates a research technique--that of the guided tour--that has previously been used in qualitative research, including in some studies carried out by information scientists. The guided tour technique hybridizes visual and aural methods; it involves a researcher's relatively shortened, planned entry into a field site, a participant then leading him or her through a personally meaningful location therein while describing and explaining its features, thinking-aloud the ideas, thoughts, and feelings to which it gives rise, and responding to gentle, conversational inquiries (Thomson, 2015). In prior information science work, the technique has offered up-close, in-depth perspectives on information-rich settings, be these home collections, workplace archives, or public spaces like museums. After the technique is introduced, the second portion of this poster is devoted to a comparison of use of the guided tour technique in two research scenarios. The first of these involves guided tours during an in-person study, following the example laid out by prior researchers. The second involves examining data unobtrusively gathered online as a further guided tour adaptation. From these scenarios, it is possible for researchers to see how the guided tour technique can best be applied, its shortcomings, and ways in which it may accommodate research contingencies. The poster concludes by reiterating the value that guided tours can bring to information science work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although methods exist to identify well-defined relations, such as is_a or part_of, existing tools rarely support a user who wants to define new, domain-specific relations. We conducted a situated case study in plant science and introduce four new domain-specific relations that are of interest to domain scientists but have not been explored in information science. Results show that precision varies between relations and ranges from 0.73 to 0.91 for the manufacturer location category, 0.89 and 0.93 for the seed donor-bank relation, 0.29 and 0.67 for the seed origin location, and 0.32 and 0.77 for the field experiment location. The manufacturer location category recall varies from 0.91 to 0.94, the seed bank-donor location recall ranges between 0.93 and 1, the seed origin relation from 0.33 to 0.82 while the field experiment location from 0.67 to 0.83 depending on the classifier and using a combination of lexical and syntactic features in the background. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Members and others attending the 2015 Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T) conference will be aware of a need to regularly revisit and redefine an information discipline continuously in flux. Constant change likewise demands that we consider new models and approaches to educating professionals equipped with cutting-edge skills in critical thinking and applied best practice responsive to a dynamic information environment. This proposed three-segment interactive panel session will report on action research on, and findings emerging from, a re-visioning of information education. Initial outcomes from pilot projects involving the design and testing of innovative proofs of concept will also be discussed. Attendees will engage in an activity that identifies trends, and debates issues and controversies that are at the core of the dialogue surrounding our information future and how to educate for it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This is a special panel to introduce the editors of prestigious international journals in library and information science, who will discuss the aim and the scope of the journals and elaborate on the expectations from potential contributors to help young academics understand and appreciate the process of academic publishing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The poster will present a summary of the arguments and topics raised in protest and support letters against the forthcoming closure of the Department for Information Science at the University of Duesseldorf, Germany. Case study-like this will shed light on how peers and stakeholders perceive the role and relevance of information science in general as well as the contribution of the Duesseldorf Department in particular. The poster aims, however, at providing a historical description on the actions taken and the arguments made. It will rather present indicators than significant evidence about perceptions of information science. The results of the small-scale topical analyses of the support letters, tweets, and comments to an online petition reveal that typical fields like information retrieval and knowledge management as well as skills like research or assessment of information are seen as assets of information scientists. However, popularizing the benefits of and - along with it - establishing information science as main subject within the (information) society is still due. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT As management of research data becomes increasingly important to scholars and academic institutions, academic libraries can play a major role by offering research data services (RDS). This poster presents the results of a survey of the Ligue des Bibliothèques Européennes de Recherche-Association of European Research Libraries (LIBER) academic member library directors to find out what types of RDS their libraries are currently offering and what services they plan to offer in the future. The survey found that while most of these libraries currently offer or are planning to offer at least some RDS, consultative or reference-type services are offered more often than are technical or hands-on services. Most of these libraries are in discussions regarding data policies, collaborate with other organizations within or outside their own institutions to offer RDS, and most provide support for RDS skills development for staff members. This poster discusses the implications of these findings and offers directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT We conducted a pilot study to explore refugee students' access to and use of information during the settlement process. Using arts-based elicitation and semi-structured interview techniques, we probed the information world of a refugee student studying in Canada. Our findings begin to identify the scope and variety of information sources that students consult at various stages of settlement and their utility. Our continued work in this area seeks to assist the Student Refugee Program (SRP) on our campus to advocate for and meet the information needs of refugee students by understanding what information is needed, when it is needed, and how to provide optimal access to it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the spirit of the theme of ASIST 2015, the influence of Kurt Lewin's Maxim--"there is nothing as practical as a good theory"--in the applied social sciences (including Information Science) is examined through the lens of Obliteration by Incorporation text analysis. Six hundred ninety three English language scholarly journal articles published between 1945-2013, retrieved through a search of broad and specialized full-text bibliographic databases as well as back issues of JASIS/JASIST using known variants of Lewin's Maxim, were categorized based on the text associated with the Maxim. Psychology, Management, and Education articles dominated the retrieval (~70%) while Information Science was essentially invisible. In successive 5-year periods between 1989 and 2013, the proportion of Explicit Citations to Lewin's writings increased in all three subject areas, while the proportions of invocations of Lewin (attribution without citation) and Implicit Citations (use of the Maxim without attribution) varied from one period to the next; Lewin's influence appears to be increasing rather than being obliterated. The influence of Lewin's ideas in Information Science was not visible here but merits further exploration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aims to examine information seeking and sharing behavior of IT professionals in a virtual community (VC). In total, 200 threads with 1623 postings were extracted from ChinaUnix.net, an IT VC. A content analysis was performed and descriptive statistical analysis was conducted. The study identified four types of information seeking and sharing activities: resource sharing, experience sharing, asking questions, and asking for resources. The results indicate that asking questions is the dominant activity in this virtual community (VC), while experience sharing threads are browsed most in comparison to other threads. Browsing information in the VC is much more preferred by the users than contributing information to the VC. The important information behavior chain in this VC consists of asking, responding, interacting, uploading, linking, posting, and browsing. Interacting is an important vehicle for effective information exchange. The study helps people understand how the users of a VC seek and share information. The study reveals typical information seeking and sharing activities as well as behavior characteristics that support users' engagement in a VC; it also identifies an information seeking and sharing chain in that context. It also adds new knowledge to users' information seeking and sharing behavior in the information science area. The study could help designers develop and improve the design of VCs as well as help administrators improve and maintain an active and effective VC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academics are increasingly being asked to demonstrate the impact of their research beyond the walls of the academy. Societal impact measures were introduced as part of the Research Excellence Framework exercise in the UK in 2014 with a number of other countries, including Australia, considering similar assessments. As societal impact measures continue to proliferate there will be significant implications for academics, institutions, and academic libraries to document and support these activities. Information science is well-placed not only to guide practical supports within our institutions, but also to develop metrics and qualitative approaches to assess this type of research impact. This exploratory qualitative study -- situated in a constructivist grounded theory methodology -- investigated academics' experiences and perceptions of the concept of societal research impact and the supports needed to facilitate this work. The definition of impact varied greatly among participants, but regardless of the participant's conception, interviewees felt that they were not prepared, trained, or had access to the needed supports to adequately document non-academic types of impact. The data point to a number of emergent themes including a lack of relevant methodologies for tracking societal impact, the shortcomings of metrics approaches to document impact outside of academe, and the need for academic libraries to extend current reference and training supports to provide researchers with the tools and skills needed in this new impact landscape. Implications for research and development in information science related to scholarly communication, researchers' information behaviors, and impact measures are also explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are many indicators about the worldwide rise of agerelated neurodegenerative diseases, especially Alzheimer's Disease (AD). Significant and urgent improvements are needed in the areas of prevention, drug discovery, treatment, cost-effective delivery of health-care service, and caregiver support. Researchers and professionals from medicine, nursing, health care, computer science, economics and other disciplines have intensified interdisciplinary efforts to address this looming global crisis. To-date, Information Science has been peripheral to these collaborative developments, contributing primarily in traditional areas of user information needs and services. The presenters in this interactive panel will challenge participants with a simple but provocative question: "How can Information Science (IS) contribute to research on AD?" To inspire the generation of ideas for connections among existing streams in IS research and questions critical to AD, the panelists will describe briefly their own research in AD or related areas, and speak to their potential to advance research in AD. The audience will then engage in small group discussions for rapid idea generation, exchange and exploration. The discussions will be structured around interdisciplinary research areas developed at the University of Pennsylvania's Ware Alzheimer Program Model: 1. Drug Discovery, 2. Biomarkers, 3. Recruitment, Retention and Outcomes, 4. Care Coordination. The objective is to discuss: the potential for Information Science to contribute in the areas of research identified in the Model; unique perspectives (methods, theoretical frameworks, service models) that IS could provide; and potential research partnerships that could be established within and outside of IS. The session will conclude with a collective development of priorities for Information Science engagement in AD research. The participants will be encouraged to become instigators of an IS focus on AD research in their own disciplinary areas, and to contribute to the development of a collaborative virtual space for continuing discussion of these priorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This poster explores the role of design in the disciplinary identity and positioning of librarianship and information science through examination of the term "design" in two prominent contemporary library and information science vocabularies: the thesaurus for H.W. Wilson's Library Literature & Information Science Full Text database and the American Society for Information Science & Technology's Thesaurus of Information Science, Technology and Librarianship. Findings include conflicting and fractured identities, power struggles and paradigm entrenchment. Further research into disciplinary identity is necessary not only to improve controlled vocabularies but also to solidify and unify professional identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Human libraries are events intended to provide readers with access to the knowledge and lived experiences of their fellow community members. These events are growing in popularity worldwide, and while often hosted by traditional libraries, can take place in a variety of community organization settings. Human library events depend on the services of the 'human books' who volunteer to participate, though recruitment of these volunteers remains one of the most challenging aspects of hosting the events. Previous work has shown that human books enjoy participation in these events, though the specific benefits of human libraries for the human books have not been explored. In this study, we analyze the post-event survey responses of human books from four different human library events hosted by various institutions. Participants reported a variety of benefits ranging from altruistic to more self-focused. Reviewing their responses, we suggest eight major categories of benefits for human books. Findings hold implications for effectively recruiting and motivating potential human books, as well as how host institutions may adapt human libraries to the needs of their communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]