October/November 2004 (Volume XII, No. 1)

• Subscribe to Information Times

  • Acceptable use of electronic publications and resources
  • Spyware - the latest concern for PC users
  • Library presents preliminary LibQUAL+™ survey results
  • New training Web site available

Rather than put a trademark symbol at every occurrence of trademark names, we state that we are using the names only in an editorial fashion with no intention of infringements of the trademark.

Subscribe to Information Times

Information Times has gradually scaled back printing to compensate for rising printing costs, tighter departmental budgets and increased use of the Web version.

As part of these changes, the abstract flyer will no longer be printed and distributed through campus mail. Instead, a description of available articles will be e-mailed to faculty and staff and refer recipients directly to the Information Times Web site for more detailed information.

To subscribe to the Information Times e-mail list follow these simple steps.

1. Go to http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/infotimes.
2. Go to "Subscribing to Infotimes."
3. Provide your GroupWise mailing address (example: Firstname.Lastname@utsouthwestern.edu).
4. Create a password and confirm it.
5. Select "No" to the question, "Would you like to receive list mail batched in a daily digest?"
6. Click the "Subscribe" button.
7. You will receive a confirmation e-mail from infotimes-request@lists.utsouthwestern.edu. To confirm that you want to be added to this mailing list, simply reply to the message, keeping the Header and Subject lines intact.
8. You will receive one final e-mail with the subject line "Welcome to the 'Infotimes' mailing list."

The library has developed an extensive collection of electronic publications. UT Southwestern faculty, staff and students now have access to thousands of journals, books and databases from computers in their offices, from home or in the library. The introduction of electronic resources has changed the way both the library and our clients conduct our business. It has also imposed new rules on the use of electronic information.

The use of printed materials is governed by the United States Copyright Act, which was originally established in Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the U.S. Constitution. It states: "[The Congress shall have power] To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries."

The law has been changed and amended many times and currently exists as Title 17 of the United States Code. The provisions of the Copyright Act and guidelines for fair use of copyrighted materials are well known to most librarians and library users.

However, the use of nearly all of the electronic resources available through the UT Southwestern Medical Center Library is governed by license agreements. Licenses are negotiated between UT Southwestern and the electronic product vendor. In many cases, the licenses are negotiated by another group, such as the UT System, to which the library belongs. Once a license is negotiated and signed by both parties, the terms of that license govern the use of the electronic product. These terms may not conform to the Copyright Act or fair-use guidelines. The terms of each license differ in what may be considered acceptable use.

Since the library and its clients are bound by the terms of these licenses, we have listed the most common provisions below:

• Use is restricted to authorized users, defined as faculty, staff and students currently employed or registered at UT Southwestern or walk-in users of the UT Southwestern Medical Center Library.
• License agreements generally permit the following for personal or research use only:
  • Print limited amounts of data
  • Download limited amounts of data
  • E-mail search results or articles to self or another authorized user
• License agreements generally prohibit the following:
  • Print or download large amounts of data or an entire journal issue
  • Retransmission of data to non-authorized users
  • Any commercial use
  • Preparation of a derivative work or incorporation into any other work or system

Publishers monitor the use of their electronic resources and will notify the library if they detect abuse of license terms. When the library learns of license abuse, staff will make every attempt to resolve the issue with the vendor and the abuser. Abuse of license terms may result in termination of individual privileges, temporary loss of campus-wide access to a resource, or even cancellation of the resource.

The University of Texas Crash Course in Copyright (http://www.utsystem.edu/OGC/IntellectualProperty/cprtindx.htm) provides useful information about acceptable use of licensed electronic information. If you have questions about resources licensed by the library, please contact Laurie Thompson, director of libraries, at 214-648-2626.

Contributed by Laurie L. Thompson (laurie.thompson@utsouthwestern.edu)

As responsible UT computer users, it is important to keep university computers safe. There has been a lot said and written about viruses and worms. Most know the necessity of keeping Sophos Anti-Virus up-to-date with the Auto-updater and Windows Software up-to-date by configuring Windows Auto-updater.

Now it is necessary to use software to keep computer data safe from Internet invaders. Information Resources (IR) suggests PestPatrol software to protect against non-viral malicious software attacks.

PestPatrol

"As with most uninvited guests, there does not seem to be a surefire way to get rid of spyware and its buddies permanently. Your anti-virus software will turn away its rowdier friends, and your firewall will keep spyware and its cousin, adware, from broadcasting your most personal details back to their puppet masters, which is no small thing. Trojans in spyware figured prominently in the $2.4 billion that Internet scammers stole from consumer bank accounts between spring 2003 and spring 2004, reports technology research and consulting firm Gartner." -- Entrepreneur Magazine (September 2004)

Traditional security solutions cannot prevent all intrusive programs from sneaking onto your PC through spam, legitimate Web sites, "free" host programs, and a limitless number of other ruses. That is why IR recommends a spyware detection program called PestPatrol.

Client Services and Dell Corporation have tested this application with excellent results. Testing comparisons against shareware such as Adware and Spybot have proven that PestPatrol is more effective than these free unsupported shareware applications.

PestPatrol is a powerful security and personal privacy tool that detects and eliminates destructive pests like trojans, spyware, adware and hacker tools. It complements anti-virus and firewall software, extending protection against non-viral malicious software that can evade existing security software and invade personal privacy. 

To obtain a free evaluation copy check out this Web site: http://www.pestpatrol.com/.
 
Infinite Source offers license discounts for the full version of PestPatrol. A 25-license pack is available for $27 per license. A 100-license pack is available for $22.46 per install. Keep checking the IR home page at http://inside.utsouthwestern.edu/irhome under "New Items" for updates.

Disclaimer: Currently PestPatrol has not been tested and approved for use on clinical workstations.

Earlier this year, the UT Southwestern library invited more than 9,000 faculty, staff, students, fellows, and residents to participate in the LibQUAL+™ survey project. LibQUAL+™ is an ongoing project developed and implemented by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) in collaboration with Texas A&M University and is intended to measure user expectations and perceptions of library service quality.

The library received 711 valid survey responses, including 169 from students (24 percent), 201 from faculty (28 percent), and 329 from staff (46 percent). Of the valid respondents who indicated a specific school or hospital affiliation, 56 percent were affiliated with the Southwestern Medical School, 25 percent with the Southwestern Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, 6.5 percent with UT Southwestern support services, and 5 percent with one or more of the affiliated hospitals (Parkland Health & Hospital System, Children's Medical Center, Zale Lipshy University Hospital, or St. Paul University Hospital).

Using the "gap measurement model," LibQUAL+™ scores are measured by locating "perceived" results within a "zone of tolerance," which is defined as the area between the "minimum" and "desired" scores. Generally, if the "perceived" score is closer to or more than the "desired" score, the library is doing a better job than if the "perceived" score is closer to or less than the "minimum" score.

After analyzing the individual report for UT Southwestern and comparing it to similar libraries, it appears that UT Southwestern library service quality compares favorably with the other institutions. On a scale of 1 (lowest) to 9 (highest), the UT Southwestern library received an overall mean "perceived" score of 7.39, a mean "minimum" score of 6.72, and a mean "desired" score of 7.87. Similar libraries received an overall mean "perceived" score of 7.12, a mean "minimum" score of 6.68, and a mean "desired" score of 7.99.

The three most important library services to UT Southwestern respondents were:

• Making electronic resources accessible from my home or office
• Print and/or electronic journal collections I require for my work
• A library Web site enabling me to locate information on my own

Sixty-one percent of UT Southwestern faculty responded that they accessed library resources daily through a Web page while only 50 percent of faculty at our comparable institutions indicated they used the library's Web site daily. In contrast, 7 percent of UT Southwestern faculty -- compared to 6 percent of the similar libraries' faculty -- use library premises daily. Student responses indicate greater use of the library facilities, but Web use is fairly consistent.

All UT Southwestern respondents also indicated the library overwhelmingly excels at providing community space for group learning and group study. They also agreed the library is adept at keeping users informed about its services and library staff is caring and courteous and provides users individual attention when needed.

Overall, this initial analysis indicates that UT Southwestern library users are satisfied with the service the library provides, but more analysis is yet to be done. We are currently in the process of analyzing the more than 250 comments received from survey respondents, and will post comments with responses from library staff on the library's Web site later this year.

For more information about the survey, go to http://www4.utsouthwestern.edu/library/about/aboutLibQUAL.cfm. Questions or comments about the survey results may be directed to Jon Crossno, Information Desk manager and survey coordinator, at 214-648-2562 or LibraryResearch@UTSouthwestern.edu.

For more than a decade, many UT Southwestern departments have offered employee training in their areas of expertise. Employees may be unaware that hundreds of classes ranging from fire prevention to management certification are available. Departments offering training have collaborated to create a home page with all of the training opportunities available.

The new Web site has been designed by topic making it easier to explore the extensive training available. For example, a new administrative employee will want to look for classes in "administrative forms/processes" as well as in "mandatory" and "orientation." For those familiar with training options, users can go directly to the specific department through the links on the left side of the home page.

Over the next several months other processes for training will be announced. The quickest way to view the new training home page is by going to http://utsouthwestern.edu/training.