Browsing by Author "Westra, Brian"

Now showing 1 - 8 of 8
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    Chat Widget Placement Makes All the Difference!
    (Oregon Library Association, 2010) Frantz, Paul; Westra, Brian
    Library chat widget placement enhances the use of chat by patrons at the University of Oregon Libraries, and is a growing mode of interaction for reference services.
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    Conducting a Science Data Services Needs Assessment
    (2010-06-28T21:02:07Z) Westra, Brian
    The science data services librarian is a relatively new position at the University of Oregon Libraries, and has provoked conversations about the libraries’ vision for data management. An initial project of this position has been the development and implementation of a science data services needs assessment for researchers in the natural sciences. Faculty in biology, chemistry, human physiology, geology, physics, and psychology were interviewed. The assessment and ongoing conversations with faculty are guiding the next steps in developing research data services. The assessment laid the groundwork for greater collaboration among stakeholders, and provided an entree for conversations about the utility of library and information management skills toward meeting data management needs. The poster summarizes the development and implementation of the assessment, including resources, such as the Data Audit Framework (DCC/HATII) and data curation profiles (Purdue Libraries), that were sources for many of the interview questions. It also relates some of the outcomes of the assessment, and some of the issues and barriers that were encountered.
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    Data Management Plan Poster
    (2012-03-28) Sharp, Sean; Westra, Brian
    This item is a poster used at the 2012 Regional Educause Conference. It was a poster-session presentation on the University of Oregon's Data Management Plan consulting process.
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    Developing an Approach for Data Management Education: A Report from the Data Information Literacy Project
    (International Journal of Digital Curation, 2013) Carlson, Jake; Johnston, Lisa; Westra, Brian; Nichols, Mason
    This paper describes the initial results from the Data Information Literacy (DIL) project designed to identify the educational needs of graduate students across a variety of science disciplines and respond with effective educational interventions to meet those needs. The DIL project consists of five teams in disparate disciplines from four academic institutions in the United States. The project teams include a data librarian, a subject-specialist or information literacy librarian, and a faculty member representing a disciplinary group of students. Interviews with the students and faculty members present a detailed snapshot of graduate student needs in data management education. Following our study, educational programs addressing identified needs will be delivered in the fall of 2012 and spring of 2013. Our findings from the project interviews are analyzed here, with a preview of the training approaches that will be taken by the five teams.
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    HealthLinks: A ColdFusion Web Application
    (Haworth Press, 2002) Westra, Brian
    Libraries are beginning to use Web applications as they grapple with sites of increasing complexity, and the move of more user services to the Web. This article reviews the basic concepts of a Web application, and outlines some of the features of the HealthLinks Web application and site at the University of Washington Health Science Libraries, and the transition from a Java-based application to ColdFusion.
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    Initial Characterization of the Organophosphate Acid Anhydrase Activity of the Chicken, Gallus domesticus
    (Elsevier, 1992-06) Westra, Brian; Landis, Wayne
    Supernatant solutions from kidney and liver homogenates of the chicken, Gallus domesticus, were found to hydrolyze the organophosphate (OP) compound diisopropylfluorophosphate (DFP). The activity on DFP as substrate was heat-inactivated and was characterized for temperature and pH optima, enzyme kinetics, and requirements for manganous ion. Gel column chromatography indicated that the DFPase in both tissues is in the range of 82,100 to 93,300 D. This activity is strongly inhibited by N,N'-diisopropylphosphorodia-midofluoridate (mipafox). The chicken has organophosphate acid (OPA) anhydrase activity comparable to other eucaryotic sources in its ability to hydrolyze DFP. Although birds may not have paraoxonase activity comparable to mammalian species, they do not differ significantly in the ability to hydrolyze DFP and probably related compounds.
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    Leveraging and Repurposing RSS
    (FreePint Ltd., 2010-01-12) Westra, Brian
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    Selected Internet Resources on Digital Research Data Curation
    (Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship, 2010-11-30) Westra, Brian; Ramirez, Marisa; Parham, Susan; Scaramozzino, Jeanine
    This bibliography presents lists of online information resources about digital data curation. Links are grouped into: Policies, Best Practices, and Guidelines; Roles, Services, and Skills; Sustainability and Cost Projections; Directories of Data Repositories; Metadata Standards; Software and Middleware; Assessment Tools; Associations and Organizations; Open Access Journals; and E-mail Lists.