News from the Libraries

In the recent Faculty Survey conducted by Academic, Faculty and Student Affairs, a number of questions were asked about satisfaction with library services, resources and facilities.  Overall, responses were very positives about the library and its librarians and staff.  Approximately 94% of faculty who completed the survey noted that they were satisfied with services provided by the library.  A number of areas were identified in the free text comment section of the survey that are areas for improvement.  One thorny problem noted was difficulty in accessing the library’s online resources.  This is no surprise considering that the library through its website provides access to thousands of ejournals, ebooks and databases from a number of different publishers and vendors.  Whenever a problem is encountered, it is helpful to contact a librarian so the source of the problem can be identified and fixed.  Sending an email to AskALibrarian@uthscsa.edu should help in getting access problems resolved.

Several faculty commented that the library did not have journals they need.  In July and August, librarians finalize journal subscriptions for the next calendar year, so it would be very helpful to hear from faculty if there are titles that the library should consider for subscription.  To recommend a journal title for subscription or a book for purchase, contact John Weed, Head of Collection Resources, weedj@uthscsa.edu, 210/567-2479.

The NIH Public Access Policy requires that all investigators funded by the NIH submit to the National Library of Medicine’s PubMed Central (PMC) an electronic version of their final, peer-reviewed manuscripts upon acceptance for publication. The manuscript must be made publicly available no later than 12 months after the official date of publication. The manuscript may be submitted directly by the publisher for some journals, however, the investigator is ultimately responsible for manuscript submission in those cases where submission is not accomplished by the publisher.

Sounds easy, right? In reality, there is still confusion about how to be in compliance with the NIH Public Access Policy.   The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), a division of the National Library of Medicine, recently gave a webinar that covered PubMed Central submissions, My NCBI My Bibliography, and SciENcv. The webinar was archived for later viewing.

The webinar reviewed the various methods for manuscript submission. It also covered linking My NCBI My Bibliography to eRA Commons and assigning awards to NCBI My Bibliography citations. The webinar discussed SciENcv, an electronic system for assembling and formatting professional information for federal funding, including preparation of the NIH Biosketch.

The UT Health Science Center Library maintains a web page  that summarizes the NIH Public Access Policy and how to be in compliance.