The Liaison's Role in Serving Agriculture & Life Sciences Information Users: A Review of the Literature

Abstract

Developing an effective agriculture and life sciences (ALS) liaison program at a land grant institution can be challenging, as the liaison serves a wide variety of stakeholders with research, teaching, and Extension goals. New liaisons seeking to identify effective ways to support the land grant mission may desire guidance to select priority service areas. This article reviews ALS information user needs, as articulated by the users and their literature, to shed light on what they deem important. Services new ALS liaisons can consider to meet these needs within the 21st century land grant environment are then identified.

KEYTERMS:

• agriculture
• subject specialist
• liaison
• user needs
• land grant institution

Notes

University administrators appear to recognize the close relationship that exists among the agriculture, natural resources, biological, environmental, and life sciences disciplines, as evidenced by the renaming of what were once perhaps simply known as Colleges of Agriculture to formally incorporate one or more of these related subjects.

Those institutions tasked through the Morrill Act of 1862 with the mission to teach, conduct research in, and disseminate information related to agriculture.

Although users may not expressly articulate this need, it is still paramount that the library provide access to information resources. To manage the ALS collection effectively, the liaison may need to stay abreast of new developments in ALS information, such as evolving options to access electronic content.