For the past seven years, HSLS patrons have had a standing invitation to Lunch with a Librarian (LWAL). This occasional series of noontime talks has been an informal way for us to demonstrate tools and techniques for finding and using information important to your work.
Some LWAL topics have enjoyed perennial popularity: “The Nuts and Bolts of Publishing an Article,” “Finding Full-Text Articles,” “Using Cited References to Identify Research Literature,” and “Grant Resources on the Web.” Others, such as “Twitter” and “Making a Dent in Your Personal Paper Silo,” have been added as social media tools became available.
It has been a good run, and the Lunching Librarian has enjoyed interacting with students, faculty, and staff in a low-key format. But now, the Lunching Librarian is going on hiatus.
Much has changed since 2005. When long-time faculty apologize for not visiting the library as they used to, we say that means that we are doing our job. You’re consuming and creating more information electronically, and we are spending more of our time in front of the screen, advising you via e-mail or chat reference. And we are all busier: academic health sciences libraries across the country recognize how difficult it can be for patrons to block out time for a scheduled library class or presentation.
So beginning this summer, we will be experimenting with new ways to deliver our content. We are currently envisioning what these will look like. We hope to make our teaching more responsive to your information needs. If you have any ideas or requests along these lines, please contact us at 412-648-8866 or e-mail medlibq@pitt.edu.
Some things won’t change, such as Wednesday afternoon training workshops on molecular biology topics. And we will still make sure that you know how to use EndNote and find full-text articles.
We’ll miss those lunch dates. But we’ll always have PubMed.
~ Patricia Weiss