The research purpose was to learn about existing joint use public-academic libraries in Canada including their establishment, structure, benefits, and challenges and to determine the requirements for successful partnerships. Following a literature review, a short survey was conducted to gather data on the number, location, and types of public-academic library partnerships. In-depth telephone interviews were then held with key personnel from joint use libraries to learn more about the libraries and the nature of the partnerships. The research surfaced three unique examples of joint use public-academic libraries. In addition, key requirements for successful partnerships that were posited through the literature review were supported by the research data – commitment, a shared vision, and a need that requires fulfillment. Possible limitations of the research are the initial survey’s reliance on responses from academic library directors and the survey timing. There is limited information about partnerships between Canadian public and academic libraries and no single document that brings together data on partnerships across Canada. With this study, public and academic libraries will learn of successful joint use Canadian public-academic libraries along with the key requirements for sustainable partnerships.

National Informatics Centre had established a subject repository in May 2005. It is meant for Medical and Allied Sciences and named as OpenMED@NIC <http://openmed.nic.in>. It has MeSH® based subject categorization and this makes it one of its own kind. Taking OpenMED@NIC as a case â this paper discusses key issues in establishing and maintaining an open access repository. Librarians and information science professionals can play active role in providing access and exposure to quality research and academic content generated in their institutions. Mature and standard open sources softwares are now available for setting up repositories. Libraries can install one of these on existing institutional or library servers to setup repositories. However to ensure better access and faster response time dedicated hardware and reliable connectivity would be required. Librarians and information science professional can play important role in exposing intellectual content produced by their organizations. They can take of various roles like â generating awareness among staff, researchers and students about benefits of self arching in institutional or subject repositories; training them in uploading their articles and other documents in such repositories; acting as meta-data editors and repositories managers. Establishing a repository, administrating and inviting authors to deposit their articles and other works in it is golden opportunity available to librarians and information science professionals. This opportunity should be grabbed with open hands.

Plenary session from the Living the Future 7 Conference, April 30-May 3, 2008, University of Arizona Libraries, Tucson, AZ. / The proliferation of IT and research application tools has changed the way that readers and researchers work, which is frequently labeled as eResearch or digital scholarship. Building strategic partnerships with faculty, PI’s and industry players is called for, yet often difficult to execute. Strategic planning, business management tools, and technology-based approaches often still fall short. Using the Emory University Libraries as an example of navigating in this arena, this talk with provide a mix of inward and outward focused examples of forging new approaches to enabling digital scholarship.

Poster presentation from the Living the Future 7 Conference, April 30-May 3, 2008, University of Arizona Libraries, Tucson, AZ. / The Digital Information Management (DigIn) certificate program is a new effort to help information professionals thrive in an increasingly digital environment. The program features a hands-on approach to learning technology, alongside a strongly multi-disciplinary curriculum designed to help students understand how technology is changing collections and services in a broad range of institutions. This program could not exist without collaboration among funding agencies, partner institutions, several units within the University of Arizona, as well as a national panel of advisors. We believe that the long-term success of DigIn will depend heavily on partnerships with libraries and other cultural heritage institutions, educators, and alumni.

Poster presentation from the Living the Future 7 Conference, April 30-May 3, 2008, University of Arizona Libraries, Tucson, AZ. / WE (Wellness Education) Search is a mentorship program that focuses on consumer health information resource development and education for teens and their surrounding communities, as well as hands-on exposure to health sciences librarianship. It is a collaboration between health sciences information professionals, Knowledge River Scholars from the School of Information Resources and Library Science at the University of Arizona, and Sunnyside High School in Tucson, Arizona. Six Knowledge River mentors and twelve Sunnyside High School students develop and provide consumer health information services to teachers, students, and the Tucson community. These services include creating awareness of resources through outreach programs, presentations, school events, and community events. The Knowledge River mentors provide instruction in information resource skills and career development to the students in the WE Search program. The students are empowered through active involvement in the planning and implementation of programs, presentations, and events. The poster provides a comprehensive look at the WE Search program through four modules which increase awareness of consumer health information resources. This poster will be an opportunity to share the findings and outcomes of a collaborative program that strives to bridge the consumer health information gap.

Breakout session from the Living the Future 7 Conference, April 30-May 3, 2008, University of Arizona Libraries, Tucson, AZ. / As is happening on many campuses, Dominican University has in recent years expanded its emphasis on diversity. It is also true, however, that the term diversity carries various understandings and assumptions which can create barriers to communication and progress. To that end, we recognized that to be effective in campus-wide dialogues regarding diversity, it would be essential to include voices from across the full campus community. In spring of 2004, Brown and Marek joined with another graduate library school colleague to organize a series of university-wide events which brought together administrators, faculty, staff, and students from both undergraduate and graduate divisions to promote a better understanding of cross-cultural communication. This session will provide an overview of the initiative, focusing on the role campus-wide collaboration played in the development and implementation of the event series.

Breakout session from the Living the Future 7 Conference, April 30-May 3, 2008, University of Arizona Libraries, Tucson, AZ. / The work of science is being transformed by the dynamics of several circumstances: change in many social, technological and environmental domains is so rapid that science has difficulty keeping up; science is becoming more data-intensive, driven by the need to observe and articulate theories about more and more complex phenomena, and data collection grows exponentially as new technologies facilitate data acquisition on a massive scale; ever more work occurs at the points where traditional scientific disciplines intersect; and there is a growing social expectation that science should help solve emergent, practical problems and project solutions into the future. In sum, the processes of science need to accelerate, to become increasingly inter- (and trans-) disciplinary, and to become more "solution-driven." What is the role of research libraries in addressing these challenges? In the absence of clear, successful organizational models, the ASU Libraries has been modeling cyberinfrastructure services in collaboration with multi-disciplinary, data-intensive sponsored research projects. This presentation presents a broad case study of the experience of the past three years, identifying challenges encountered and describing how strategic direction has been charted in response to needs of the scientific community. Topics to be discussed include: library identify and the culture of science; challenges of data classification and organization to enable integrative, multi-domain research; the role of data scientists; integrating scientific and data curation workflows; implementation of digital repository services; and how emergent synergies with research centers and institutes, informatics/computer science, and high-performance computing begin to blur administrative boundaries.

Breakout session from the Living the Future 7 Conference, April 30-May 3, 2008, University of Arizona Libraries, Tucson, AZ. / RLG Programs, a part of OCLC Programs and Research, pursues a work agenda with its partners that bridges institutional sectors, national boundaries and technology infrastructures. Projects address common needs in libraries, archives and museums and are shaped to most effectively amplify the value of consensus-building and applied research. Underlying characteristics of these international collaborative efforts will be shared as will examples of current projects that demonstrate the widening impact of collaboration on the cultural heritage community

Poster presentation from the Living the Future 7 Conference, April 30-May 3, 2008, University of Arizona Libraries, Tucson, AZ. / The University of Arizona Library is participating in the "Preservation of the Literature of Agriculture" project, which is overseen by Cornell University. We are one of three Libraries in the final phase of this USAIN/NEH funded grant project, and are coordinating the digitization over 1,000 books, serials, pamphlets, and other printed materials on the history of state and local agriculture and rural life in Arizona published between 1820 and 1945. All digitized content will be made freely available on the web. These materials were selected and rated by a scholarly panel of historians and scientists at the University of Arizona with the assistance of librarians. Our poster will describe the creation of the bibliography and ranking system, the outsourcing of the digitization process, and the challenges inherent in securing copyright permissions and locating and arranging for the digitization of rare materials that are not widely held. We will also describe the development of a tracking database being used to manage the project and provide an overview of our technical specifications and quality control process. Details on the project can be found at http://usain.org/.

Poster presentation from the Living the Future 7 Conference, April 30-May 3, 2008, University of Arizona Libraries, Tucson, AZ. / Historically, The Gelman Library System (GLS) has often not been considered in University Development planning and funding strategies. Additionally, all academic libraries face the challenge of identifying a natural constituency base. In the past two years, the GLS has taken several steps towards reversing these trends. The objective is to change the culture so that it becomes one where the Library is a natural place to look for programs and events. By engaging partners in the campus community through meetings, education, and seeking out active collaborations, we have begun to experience success. Our goal is that the GLS is regularly consulted by our campus partners to increase our visibility and funding to meet our mission and that of the University. We serve as a place for those otherwise uncommitted donors to become reconnected to their University. Our poster will describe collaborations through events, activities and joint fundraising efforts.