This viewpoint aims to present the important role of liaison librarians and their relationship with teaching staff in STEM academic programs. The work provides a detailed explanation of the role of the four components of liaison librarians in the STEM higher education environment, each with the best practice proposed. The closing remarks emphasize…

Investigations on the help-seeking behavior of academic library patrons have to date primarily focused on the undergraduate experience, most often in the context of reference interactions. This study seeks to explore the help-seeking behaviors of a different audience - faculty in the natural and physical sciences at an R2 land-grant university.…

Advice for librarians' professional development sometimes includes encouragement to attend classes, but the benefits for STEM librarians have not been well defined. This article describes a study in which engineering librarians at the University of Vermont and Montana Tech of the University of Montana observed class sessions across first-year…

The CRAAP Test (Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, Purpose), is a popular tool among academic librarians for instructing students in resource evaluation. Its applicability to web-based information makes it particularly useful for students as they think about information they encounter both inside and outside of scholastic settings. However,…

How might engineering technology students make use of patent information in the engineering design process? Librarians analyzed team project reports and personal reflections created by students in an undergraduate mechanical engineering technology design course, revealing that the students used patents to consider the patentability of their ideas,…

Patent and Trademark Resource Centers are located in libraries throughout the U.S., with 43 being in academic libraries. With the importance of incorporating a knowledge of intellectual property (IP) and patent research in university curricula nationwide, this study developed and evaluated a partnership program to increase the understanding of IP…

The purpose of this webliography is to provide an overview of STEM education in the U.S. It provides easy access to research and best practices in the field, as well as specific programs, activities, and lesson plans that formal and informal educators can implement. The webliography also includes links to advocacy programs and resources for…

Our research examined the use of supplementary materials in six environmental science disciplines: atmospheric sciences, biology, fisheries, forestry, geology, and plant sciences. Ten key journals were selected from each of these disciplines and the number of supplementary materials, such as data files or videos, in each issue was noted over a…

As data as a scholarly object continues to grow in importance in the research community, librarians are undertaking increasing responsibilities regarding data management and curation. New library initiatives include assisting researchers in finding data sets for reuse; locating and hosting repositories for required archiving; consultations on…

This study used both focus groups (qualitative) and survey data (quantitative) to develop and expand an instruction program for GIS services. It examined the needs and preferences faculty and graduate students have for learning about GIS applications for teaching and research. While faculty preferred in person workshops and graduate students…