Building an e-Science Portal for Librarians: A Model of Collaboration

Donna Kafel, University of Massachusetts Medical School
Myrna E. Morales, University of Massachusetts Medical School
Robert Vander Hart, University of Massachusetts Medical School
Sally A. Gore, University of Massachusetts Medical School
Andrew Creamer, University of Massachusetts Medical School
Javier Crespo, University of Massachuetts Medical School
Elaine R. Martin, University of Massachusetts Medical School

Abstract

Purpose: This poster focuses on the collaboration among science and medical librarians from multiple diverse New England research institutions in designing and aggregating content for an e-Science portal.

Brief Description: This project is funded through a subcontract with the National Network of Libraries of Medicine New England Region. It is based on a collaborative framework consisting of a project advisory board, an editorial board of content editors, and a web development technical team. This comprehensive portal, aimed at librarians, provides news, links to annotated e-Science resources, and a discussion forum. Members of the portal editorial board include science and medical subject librarians identifying and aggregating content on e-science news/events, tutorials, and current practice accessible through the portal. Editorial librarians are developing a virtual community using social tools to foster discussion and collaboration among New England librarians interested in e-Science. This poster describes the planning process and the roles of the editorial team, project coordinator, and portal design team.

Results/Outcome: The collaboration of biomedical and science subject and technology librarians is crucial to developing an e-Science portal that will provide the essential tools and knowledge for librarians to effectively engage in networked science.