It is the dawn of a new academic year and students from all over the world are flocking back to campuses, many of whom have been studying or working from home for some time. One of these academics is our loyal Lean Library Workspace user, Leonardo Pegollo. He is a public health resident physician in Italy, and in this story, he explains how Lean Library Workspace has been instrumental to his work and studies, and why he’s so eager to recommend our service to others.
After six years of medical school, Leonardo tells us that each time he starts a new academic year, he feels that the cycle starts anew and this is an exciting but daunting realisation at times. But one thing he can count on is the knowledge that there are tools available that will make his life easier as a researcher, and one of those is Lean Library Workspace.
Leonardo explains, “Back in the day when I was just a PDF hoarder, I used different apps and tools to regulate my flow of information. Storing articles, getting metadata and incorporating them into projects was a tedious process that often clashed with my writing software.” He continues. “Each app I tried, was just a different kind of nightmare. Working with other people further complicated the matter as integrating citations or working on a group of papers for a common project was afflicted by errors, program conflicts and cumbersome syncing.”
Leonardo would often dream of a service that would be easily accessible from a computer for handy PDF upload and could easily integrate into collaborative platforms. He explains “I wasn’t really questioning the status quo, I was just dealing with the issues that every researcher does at some point, and thinking of them as an obstruction to my modest scientific production.”
”There is a lot to love about Lean Library Workspace and I could not be happier to use a software tool that is worth every cent of its subscription.
Leonardo recalls that a day he will definitely remember was the day he was introduced to Lean Library Workspace. “It was the very beginning of my final thesis development. The pandemic was hitting hard and I needed to work with many collaborators, online, without losing precious time with citations, styles and endless syncing errors.” He explains. “A dear friend of mine suggested Lean Library Workspace as a solution for all my problems. A wonderful world made of seamless interaction, effortless citations and a variety of options to satisfy journal formatting guidelines. Not only this, but Lean Library Workspace gives me the ability to bring all my papers and project folders together, using just my access credentials. This has been a real game-changer!”
He goes on to explain that since he first became aware of Lean Library Workspace he has begun a personal quest to convert friends and colleagues to using it, as he has found that Lean Library Workspace has blurred the boundaries between ideas and production of a scientific article. “The idea of zipping through draft papers with citations and their style already in order, perfectly linked and updating with the text, has earned me the (benevolent) envy of my department!”
”Lean Library Workspace gives me the ability to bring all my papers and project folders together, using just my access credentials. This has been a real game changer!
With the new academic year upon us, Leonardo sees this as the perfect time to share his experience of Lean Library Workspace with colleagues. “With Lean Library Workspace, both myself and my colleagues have been able to publish two systematic reviews. This is because Lean Library Workspace finally allows us to be scientists rather than robotic compilers, as I now save so much time managing my references.”
He also explains how much he likes the discovery tool available on Lean Library Workspace. “Lean Library Workspace also helps the discovery of new papers that is based on my imports. This has made Lean Library Workspace the place to not only write my papers but also to stimulate ideas!”
He finishes his glowing review of Lean Library Workspace by telling us how much he enjoys it overall. “There is a lot to love about Lean Library Workspace and I could not be happier to use a software tool that is worth every cent of its subscription. Of course, the free tier has very few limitations but as we say in Italy “appetite increases by eating (or “l’appetito vien mangiando”), you will love the flexibility of project folders and they will become your ally in organizing your ideas.”
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Lean Library Workspace User Case Study: Jocelyn Anderson June 4, 2024
We spoke with avid Lean Library Workspace user and forensic nurse, Jocelyn Anderson, her pronouns are she/her/hers. Her work in forensics led her to work in the field of violence research. This means that her work tends to answer questions related to how violence impacts health and ways in which health care providers can help to improve health and justice outcomes for patients. In this story, she shares how she first learned about Lean Library Workspace and how it has helped her research.
Jocelyn’s initial inspirations for pursuing a career in nursing started when she was in college. “I was trying to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up, and a mentor who was a nurse told me that if I went into medicine I’d complete residency and then end up stuck in a speciality and bored.” She continues “But that as a nurse there are nearly unlimited options for career movement, growth, and change. No shade to the fabulous physician colleagues out there, but I think she was right, and I am super happy I chose the path I did.”
Jocelyn has never looked back since entering the field of nursing, and her favourite part of her job is that as a nurse and researcher she will never be bored. “Some days I am seeing patients who were sexually assaulted via a telehealth program, some days I’m doing research about sexual violence and alcohol use among college students, some days I’m teaching students Introduction to Forensic Nursing, and some days now I’m working with community organizations to give COVID-19 vaccines in high school gyms and on dairy farms.” However, she does mention that like many jobs out there, the downside to her work is completing the dreaded task of paperwork (which I’m sure many of us can relate to).
Jocelyn mentions that she was originally introduced to Lean Library Workspace during her postdoc. “The lab I worked in during my postdoc switched to Lean Library Workspace shortly after I left. Some of my friends and colleagues there said they really liked it and that it was way nicer than the product we had been using before.” she continues, “I was still tying up with this lab, so I also switched over to Lean Library Workspace and I started dabbling. I eventually got hooked and switched my own fledgling lab over.”
Her favorite feature available on Lean Library Workspace is the Google Docs integration. “(Previously), having to upload and download the files from Google to Word to work on the file as a team then work on the references – and not being able to have everyone see or edit the references in real-time was definitely annoying. (With Lean Library Workspace) being able to work with friends and colleagues geographically divided, on a paper or grant and have the references be up-to-date is so fabulous.”
”Science doesn’t happen in a vacuum, teaching don’t happen in a vacuum. It’s been really challenging to be or feel productive without the opportunity to be in the spaces I’m use to and with the people I’m use to.
Recently Jocelyn has been working on a couple of different projects using Lean Library Workspace – some of this work includes looking at HIV post-exposure prophylaxis (medications to prevent HIV given after an exposure) following sexual assault. “My team has been doing interviews with patients and health care providers to discuss what the conversations around that currently look like – with an ultimate goal of building an internet-based, multimedia tool to help share information in an accurate and more streamlined manner.”
She explains that she found moving over to Lean Library Workspace a pretty straightforward process. “I have been in pretty much every reference manager you can imagine at this point, tried many to try to figure out what I like and don’t,” she says. “I used some because they were what was accessible during undergrad or grad school. So I’ve had a lot of practice moving libraries around at this point. Lean Library Workspace’s ability to import with just a list of DOIs is another fabulous feature though!”
Find out more about Lean Library Workspace.
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Lean Library Case Study: University of Lancaster June 4, 2024
User-centred strategies and point of need content: working with Libraries as Partners
“We want to move away from having our special collections and archives locked away in rooms and, of course the physical is important, but we want to make sure that people who have an interest in our collections can see it and make use of it be they in Lancaster or be they in Texas, China or wherever. So, using Lean Library to help us surface that content within Lancaster Digital Collections will be absolutely key.”
Andrew Barker, Director of Library Services & Learning Development
Ever wished you could nudge your patrons away from Wikipedia or Google and showcase the wealth of relevant content you have collected and collated for them? With Lean Library Futures, you can showcase relevant publisher content at the point of need – whether it’s research methods on Wikipedia or medical terms on Google.
Our premium service bringing all of your library into your patrons’ workflows, increasing usage and relevance of your library services and resources. Lean Library Futures has all the features of our other options plus more.
“I was particularly impressed by Lean Library’s proposal to work with them as development partners. So much resonated with me in terms of where our users go and what they would like the library to do and where they would like the library to be visible when we’re not the first port of call. Given the amount of money we spend on content it was very central to our vision with Lean Library that we get as much value in surfacing the content and making our users aware that the content they’re using, or can use, is ours.”
Andrew Barker, Director of Library Services & Learning Development
Lancaster University are working with Lean Library to:
“Working with Lean Library as a development partner is as much about how we can be innovative within our university, as it is about working in a more imaginative and creative way with our vendor colleagues to think differently about what library content looks like and how it is pushed out and how we can make use of the Open Access content that is clearly vital to our future successors. The idea of working together with our students to co-create content and ensure that content is available at ‘point of need’ fits in very well with both Lean Library’s ambition and what we want to do as a library in relation to content.”
Andrew Barker, Director of Library Services & Learning Development
Lean Library Features: Library Service Workflow Integrations Themes: User centricity, demand driven acquisition, point of need content, special collections, librarian/ patron interactions
Figure 1: The Workflow Librarian sidebar, which shows the various options available to patrons when searching on Google, including the ability to chat directly with the library, without leaving their workflow.
Figure 2: An example of Lancaster University content popping up on Wiley’s Open Access pages, to advise patrons on Lancaster’s existing open access agreements.
Figure 3: An example of Lancaster Digital Collections deployed on Wikipedia, using Lean Library’s keyword feature.
“It’s early days for us but we think our developing partnership with Lean Library will ensure that we live our vision and leverage value from our existing content as we move forwards.” – Andrew Barker,
Director of Library Services & Learning Development
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If you’d like to hear more about becoming a library partner please email info@technologyfromsage.com.
