So for LIBR 530, we were to make a mini-subject guide and write up services that we would propose for the use of a specific type of person. To explain, the persona I chose is a computer science faculty member working on the more ‘theoretical’ side of things.
Lack of Literature
It was actually very difficult to find any research done on information behaviours for computer science faculty, especially anything recent and in the library context. I had to extrapolate from other research on scientists or computer science professionals and much of it I actually got from asking people I knew who had either done research or current faculty members.
The Resources
Interestingly, on the flip side, it was not hard at all to find out which resources were the most important ones. As conferences and its proceedings/reports are so important in the field, the big associations have their own publications and digital libraries. Google Scholar is frequently used because it indexes proceedings, reports (including technical reports), and online writings (vs. formal publications) from academic and research sites.
The Services
I don’t feel as if the services are original in any way, but I thought they were the most useful regardless. The hardest part of putting them into place, especially the first two, is the licensing and copyright involved. I wonder if lecture notes database already exist in an academic institution, in which case, it should be fairly easy to simply replicate.
Reflection
Honestly, not my best work. I didn’t spend as much time on it as I would have liked, because I just didn’t have the time to. If I could do it over again, I would have taken more time to research and interview people, possibly even do a mini-study. I probably would have focused on the more application and technology side of computer science as well since that’s where my interest lie or do a completely different subject that I know nothing about.