The following is a summary of University of Waterloo Library information resources and services in support of the undergraduate program in Neuroscience, prepared by Anne Fullerton, Liaison Librarian for Biology.
Material is collected to support learning, teaching and research for Neuroscience with emphasis on:
Materials are obtained in a variety of ways including firm orders, open orders, approval plans, and subscriptions. As Neuroscience is not an academic department, there is no individual Liaison Librarian, Collection Development Policy or library acquisitions budget dedicated to this subject area. Instead, materials are selected by several Liaison Librarians from relevant departments (e.g. Biology, Physics, Applied Math, Psychology, Computer Science) and paid for from these library departmental budgets as appropriate.
Monographs and Journals
In response to user preference, the Library obtains resources in electronic format whenever it is possible and practical to do so. Some electronic resources are obtained directly by the University of Waterloo Library and some are obtained through membership in the Ontario Council of University Libraries (OCUL) and the Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CRKN). Access to and use of electronic resources is generally governed by licence agreements with the publisher or vendor.
The UW Library subscribes to over 4,200 current electronic and print journals in areas of interest to Neuroscience. The collection also includes approximately 20,000 monographs in the subject areas of interest to Neuroscience (print and eBooks).
The depth and breadth of local materials available to Neuroscience students and faculty is enhanced by UW Library’s membership in the Tri-University Group of Libraries (TUG) consortium (with University of Guelph (UG) and Wilfrid Laurier University (WLU).
Access to Print Collections
The Library’s print collections for Neuroscience are housed primarily in the Davis Library. Access to the entire Library collection, as well as materials held by UG and WLU, is available through the Web accessible tool known as PRIMO (http://primo.lib.uwaterloo.ca).
With the exception of the current issues of print journals and reference materials, most of the material in the Library’s collection circulates. Faculty, graduate students and staff may borrow most monographs for a term at a time. The usual loan period for undergraduates is two weeks with online renewal anytime.
Books and journal articles not owned by the Library, but held by UG or WLU or in the jointly-owned storage facility may be requested through Primo. Books and print journal articles will be delivered to uWaterloo within three working days. The cost of these services is absorbed by the Library.
Access to Electronic Resources
The primary tool for accessing electronic resources selected by the Library is its Web site (http://www.lib.uwaterloo.ca). This site organizes and provides access to licensed resources including research databases, full text journals, monographs, numeric data, and government publications available to only uWaterloo faculty, students and staff, as well as select Internet resources freely available to anyone. The site also provides access to consortially purchased electronic resources hosted by the OCUL Scholars Portal program (http://www.scholarsportal.info/index.html).
The following are some of the electronic resources of particular interest to Neuroscience:
The Library has embedded linking technology (SFX) into research databases (including Google Scholar) which allows users to link directly from the database to the UW Library full text electronic journal subscription or to the Primo catalogue record for holdings and call number information. The Library also provides access to RefWorks bibliographic management software.
UW faculty, students and staff may access electronic research databases and full text electronic journals from off-campus via the Library’s Proxy Server / Connect from Home feature.
Access to Resources from Institutions other than TUG
The Interlibrary Loan/Document Delivery (ILL) service provides faculty, students and staff with books, copies of journal articles, theses, and government documents from libraries within Canada and elsewhere via OCUL’s RACER Web-based interlibrary loan system. (http://racer.scholarsportal.info/vdx/index.html). With minor exceptions, the library absorbs the cost for this service.
Most Canadian university libraries extend, at no charge, in-person borrowing privileges to faculty, students and staff from across the country. Faculty, students and staff are entitled to borrowing privileges at participating libraries (http://www.coppul.ca/rb/rbindex.html).
Information Literacy: Research Skills, Critical Appraisal, Ethical Use
The Liaison Librarians collaborate with faculty to develop workshops and assignments to meet information literacy learning objectives. Neuroscience students who master literature research skills, critical thinking and the ethical use of information will be more confident and resourceful information users in their professional work. When relevant assignments are embedded throughout the curriculum, skills are practiced and reinforced and students attain mastery. This approach is grounded in both the OCAV UDLES¹ and the ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education.
For example, the neuroscience curriculum learning objective - Demonstrate literacy in writing lab reports and other assignments - could be reached if students learned where and how to locate supporting information (references) for lab report introductions and discussions. Student skill is tested through the lab report submitted or a quiz where they choose a relevant citation given a sample introduction. Students could be asked to explain the steps they would follow to locate a relevant citation for a specific sentence in an introduction. The instruction and the testing could be completed within LEARN, the course management system.
Liaison Librarians can develop online learning modules, research guides (e.g. Biology Subject Guide: http://subjectguides.uwaterloo.ca/biology) and screencasts or videos (e.g. Reading Articles: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIjld2VFkEs ). These can be linked into LEARN.
Learning Support Outside the Curriculum
Liaison Librarians are also available for consultation with individuals or small groups of students. They may be contacted directly in person, by phone, and by e-mail if a personal visit to the Library is not convenient.
Reference assistance is available through the Ask a Librarian service. (In person; by telephone at the Library's Information Desks; via e-mail and online chat) (http://www.lib.uwaterloo.ca/asklib/index.html).
The Library also offers general workshops on research skills, and seminars for students. In addition, each fall, the Library participates in a campus-wide orientation program for incoming students, including programs specific to international students and students with disabilities.
Faculty, students and staff may keep abreast of new services and developments in the Library by reading news @ your library (http://www.lib.uwaterloo.ca/newsatlib/), an electronic newsletter prepared periodically.
The Library does not have a distinct budget for the Neuroscience program. Materials will be purchased from relevant budgets e.g. Biology, Physics, Applied Math, Psychology, Computer Science.
I believe that the Library can provide a high level of support for the Neuroscience Program both in information resources and services. More detailed information, including lists of print and electronic journals purchased for Neuroscience and the number of monograph titles in subject areas of interest to Neuroscience, can be provided on request.
Librarians look forward to collaborating with faculty to give neuroscience students good opportunities to become resourceful, confident and ethical users of scientific research information.
I would be pleased to discuss the Library's holdings and services with the appraisers at the time of a campus visit.
Anne Fullerton, Liaison Librarian for Biology
Reviewed by Susan Routliffe, Associate University Librarian, Information Resources and Services for Mark Haslett, University Librarian.
¹Ontario Council of Academic Vice-Presidents’ Guidelines for University Undergraduate Degree Level Expectations. http://cte.uwaterloo.ca/teaching_resources/OCAV/index.html
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