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Mentoring Scenarios in a changing information world

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Conference

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Atlanta, Georgia

Publication Date

June 23, 2013

Start Date

June 23, 2013

End Date

June 26, 2013

ISSN

2153-5965

Conference Session

Engineering Libraries (ELD) Poster Session

Tagged Division

Engineering Libraries

Page Count

11

Page Numbers

23.9.1 - 23.9.11

DOI

10.18260/1-2--19018

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/19018

Download Count

368

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Paper Authors

biography

Jay J. Bhatt Drexel University (Eng.)

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Jay Bhatt received a M.S. in Library and Information Science and an M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Drexel University. Some of his interest areas include collection development in engineering, outreach to faculty and students, and teaching engineering information research skills to faculty and students. Bhatt has published and presented papers extensively in the area of information literacy for engineering students. He is the 2010 recipient of the Homer I. Bernhardt Distinguished Service award from ASEE’s Engineering Libraries Division and the 2003 recipient of Drexel University’s Harold Myers Distinguished Service Award.

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biography

Kevin P Drees Oklahoma State University

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Kevin P. Drees is the engineering librarian at Oklahoma State University and has been employed there since 2002. He received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Kansas and his M.L.S. from Emporia State University. He serves on the Publications and Mentoring Committees in the Engineering Libraries Division of the American Society for Engineering Education.

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biography

Tom C. Volkening Michigan State University

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Tom Volkening is currently the engineering librarian at Michigan State University. He received his B.S. in Biology from Oakland University in 1972 and his M.L.S. from Western Michigan University in 1976. He was an Instructional Services Librarian at the University of Detroit from 1977 to 1984 and in 1984 became the engineering librarian at Michigan State University. Tom joined ELD in 1985 and attended his first ASEE annual conference in in 1986. Tom has served on many ELD committees and has presented at a number of ASEE conferences over the years. He is also a member of several other library organizations.

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Carol A. Brach University of Notre Dame

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Mary L. Strife West Virginia University

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Ms. Mary Strife has been a science and engineering librarian for over 30 years. She has worked at Cornell, Syracuse University, University of Rochester, and SUNY Utica/Rome. She currently the director of the Evansdale Library of West Virginia University where she has been employed for over seventeen years. In addition to STEM disciplines, she has experience in instruction, access, reference, and collection management.

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Amy S. Van Epps Purdue University, West Lafayette Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-5986-5952

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Amy S. Van Epps is an associate professor of Library Science and engineering librarian at Purdue University. She has extensive experience providing instruction for engineering and technology students, including Purdue’s first-year engineering program. Her research interests include finding effective methods for integrating information literacy knowledge into the undergraduate engineering curriculum.

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biography

Bruce Neville Texas A&M University

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Bruce Neville has 20 years of experience as a science and engineering librarian at three academic institutions. He has experience mentoring from both sides of the relationship: he values the insights he received from his own formal and informal mentors and hopes that he has been able to pass on his own insights to protégés in the profession.

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Abstract

Mentoring Scenarios in a changing information worldThe Mentoring Committee of the Engineering Libraries Division has envisioned a number ofmentoring scenarios in which new librarians would be encouraged to seek guidancefrom experienced librarians. These include: diversity, emerging programs, funding and research,innovation and intellectual property and strategic initiatives on campus.Diversity: International student populations are growing at many institutions and minoritystudent scholarships are encouraging more minority students to conduct research in variousengineering related research areas.Many times new librarians need guidance on cultural issues related to international students. Minoritystudents sometime come from a totally different background and often from places that did not haveinformation resources they needed. If new librarians are not aware of the background of such students, itwill be difficult to provide the type of instructional support they need. Experienced librarians can providementoring in those situations.Emerging programs: Emerging technology areas such as bionanotechnology require newlibrarians to become familiar with their collection, research and instructional needs.New librarians often are coming from a different discipline. When new program areas emerge, they oftenneed a lot of mentoring in terms of collections, research and information needs.Funding and research: As more students are encouraged to apply for funding for research, newlibrarians will need to become familiar with providing instruction to students on how to findfunding opportunities.Innovation and Intellectual property: More than ever before, university mandates areencouraging students and faculty to engage in creative activities which result in intellectualproperties such as patents that can be licensed to create viable commercial products. Newlibrarians need more guidance and mentoring in this area to meet the growing needs of studentsand faculty engaged in these activities in the years to come.Strategic initiatives: Most universities and institutions now have well defined strategic goals intheir mission statements. Libraries and individual librarians need to be able to match their owngoals and objectives to those of the University. New librarians will need support fromexperienced librarians to do this effectively. It is likely that all librarians will benefit from thisinteraction and dialog to keep current with new developments in the field. In the process, theywill be able to engage in mutually beneficial learning environments.Many Universities face situations where their administration has changed. This may result in futurechanging of strategic plans and directions. If a new librarian happens to join a university at this time, heor she will need guidance and assistance on how to match his/her annual goals with the University’s andthe Library’s strategic directions. Experienced librarians will be able to guide the new librarians in thistype of situation. Normally, support for such a situation comes from someone within the organization buthaving a conversation with experts can shade some light on some areas.In this paper, these scenarios are discussed and some directions are highlighted that will provideguidance and tips for new librarians. It is envisioned that engaging conversations, dialog andinteractions after the presentation will generate ideas that will help the Mentoring Committeedevelop new strategies for future activities.

Bhatt, J. J., & Drees, K. P., & Volkening, T. C., & Brach, C. A., & Strife, M. L., & Van Epps, A. S., & Neville, B. (2013, June), Mentoring Scenarios in a changing information world Paper presented at 2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Atlanta, Georgia. 10.18260/1-2--19018

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