The StreamNet Regional Library is administered by the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission under the Columbia Basin Fish Accords. The library serves the natural resources community of the Pacific Northwest and those researchers working in cooperation with the Region's fish and wildlife recovery efforts who are not otherwise served by a research library. We also serve the general public who are interested in the issues surrounding the Columbia Basin's natural resources and Pacific salmon recovery efforts.
The library provides access to technical information and scientific research on Columbia River Basin natural resources, especially the fisheries. We also provide information on ecosystems and other relevant subjects for states and provinces in the Pacific Northwest (northern California through Alaska, Idaho, Montana, and Alberta). This information can be found in a wide variety of formats. The library places particular emphasis on collecting the scientific research that is not commonly available, also called 'grey' and 'black' literature These types of scientific reports are created by consultants, state, local, and tribal governments as well as non-profit organizations. We continue to receive donations from scientists and researchers as they retire and no longer require their professional collections. We have also been the recipients of mass donations from scientific agencies closing their libraries.
The library maintains a partnership with the PSMFC StreamNet Project. We organize and coordinate the reference documents that provide the data and share with the project as needed. The state fish and wildlife agencies for Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana along with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service share responsibility for the StreamNet Regional database and provide the source documents which are housed in the library. In addition to working with PSMFC StreamNet, the Library also works with the Tribal Data Network (2008-507-00), to gather information sources from the Columbia Basin tribes for inclusion in the library collections as part of the Columbia Basin Fish Accords.
The library offers standard library services including research assistance, interlibrary lending and borrowing, document delivery, and bibliography development and review. The library provides assistance with metadata development for datasets and other online resources. Our subscription databases through Ebsco provide access to journal literature for our patrons.
Our library catalog provides access to our records (inventorying our collections (
http://catalog.streamnetlibrary.org/)). The records created in the catalog also link to electronic copies as they are available (metadata development). The library catalog combines information from a large number of digital repositories so researchers are able to retrieve materials with fewer searches. This library database is stored in XML format and is accessible to Internet search engines as well as the search functions included in the software. We currently subscribe to full text databases for journal articles. Products include Ebsco databases for current publications, JSTOR databases for archives and current subscriptions to the American Fisheries Society journals and Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. Our Ebsco databases can be used remotely with an assigned username while the other products are based on IP address verification and must be used in the library.
Usage statistics for FY2018 are projected to rise as we implement a written marketing plan to increase our visibility in the scientific community. We continue to capture electronic copies and create digital copies of documents for researchers. Our website and social media outreach has created a large audience which helps more patrons find our collections and request our services. We partner with the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission to attend local natural resources events to promote the library and our services. Library staff are also invited to be members of committees and boards of related non-profits and other agencies as we can provide our expertise on collection organization and also advertise the library as a resource for related efforts.
Through the CRITFC StreamNet Regional Library contract, the Fisheries Science Department manager participates on various committees and regional groups to coordinate data collection and research throughout the Columbia Basin. The library coordinates with local agencies and non-profits to maximize access to relevant collections and reduce duplication of collections in the area. We are working on creating a consortium of small, natural resource collections in the Portland area. This consortium will contain collections housed at the partner facility or offer the option of having the collection at the StreamNet Regional Library for ease of access to all the materials. As a member of the International Association of Aquatic & Marine Science Libraries & Information Centers as well as OCLC Worldcat, the library has access to collections around the world. We also provide documents to other libraries as part of the resource sharing agreements with these groups.
Details of the individual tasks performed by the project are detailed in the Milestones under each Work Element.