About Me
I am the Engineering & Collection Analysis Librarian at Iowa State University in Ames, IA.
In this role, I am subject specialist / liaison to three engineering departments on campus, providing research help, instruction, collection development, and outreach.
I also help evaluate and support Iowa State’s growing number of Open Access agreements with publishers, conducting scientometric analyses of our academic publications to find patterns across campus. I use Dimensions, Web of Science, Altmetrics, Open Refine, Unsub, OpenAlex, Python, pandas, R, and LaTeX to do this work.
In 2022, I conducted a study on the impact of the recently updated OSTP guidance, which will make U.S. federally funded research publicly available by 2026. A companion website hosts interactive versions of each graph from the article, allowing users to pan, zoom, hover, and explore the data more thoroughly.
In 2021, I created and launched Unsub Extender, a free Python-based web app to help libraries better analyze and understand their Unsub data. I published a paper, and the project was honored with the 2022 RUSA ETS Best Emerging Technology Application (BETA) Award and the 2022 ASEE ELD Innovation in Access to Engineering Information Award.
I hold a BS in Electrical Engineering from Iowa State and an MLIS from Rutgers University. Prior to my current role at Iowa State, I worked at Intel for 10 years as an array reliability engineer on NAND flash memory.
ORCiD number 0000-0002-6292-8221
Publications
- Schares, E. (2023). Impact of the 2022 OSTP Memo: A Bibliometric Analysis of U.S. Federally Funded Publications, 2017-2021. Quantitative Science Studies, 4(1): 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1162/qss_a_00237.
- Schares, E. (2022, October). Impact of the 2022 OSTP Memo: A Bibliometric Analysis of U.S. Federally Funded Publications, 2017-2021. arXiv preprint, https://arxiv.org/abs/2210.14871.
- Schares, E. (2022). Unsub Extender: A Python-based web application for visualizing Unsub data. Quantitative Science Studies, 3(3). https://doi.org/10.1162/qss_a_00200.
- Harris, J., Piwowar, H., Schares, E., and Pope, B. (2022). Unsub in real life: Using Unsub as part of serials decisions and negotiations. The Serials Librarian. https://doi.org/10.1080/0361526X.2022.2019543.
- Schares, E. (2021, December). An easier way to access the Web of Science API. OpenISU. https://doi.org/10.31274/b8136f97.a592e503.
- Langham-Putrow, A., Li, Y., Nelson, C., Willmott, M., Price, J., and Schares, E. (2021, November). Data sources for analyzing open access offers from publishers. SPARC Data Analysis Working Group, https://sparcopen.org/our-work/negotiation-resources/data-analysis/data-sources-for-analyzing-open-access-offers-from-publishers/.
- Schares, E. (2021, September). Unsub Extender: a Python-based web application for visualizing Unsub data. arXiv preprint, https://arxiv.org/abs/2109.00468.
- Hornbuckle, B., Togliatti, K., Cirone, R., and Schares, E. (2020, June). Be a more productive writer with online LaTeX. CSA News, 65(6), 35-38. https://doi.org/10.1002/csan.20142.
- Schares, E. (2019). ILL communication: Analyzing five years of Iowa State University’s print Interlibrary Loan requests. ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Tampa, FL. https://dr.lib.iastate.edu/handle/20.500.12876/62335
- Evans, P. and Schares, E. (2017). FLEx – Iowa State University’s mobile technology classroom. ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Columbus, OH. https://dr.lib.iastate.edu/handle/20.500.12876/62327
- Mielke, N., Marquart, T., Ning, W., Kessenich, J., Belgal, H., Schares, E., . . . Nevill, L. R. (2008, April 27 - May 1). Bit error rate in NAND Flash memories. Paper presented at the Reliability Physics Symposium, 2008. IRPS 2008. IEEE International. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/RELPHY.2008.4558857
- Stieler, D., Dalal, V. L., Muthukrishnan, K., Noack, M., & Schares, E. (2006). Electron mobility in nanocrystalline silicon devices. Journal of Applied Physics, 100(3), 036106. http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.2234545
- Outside Iowa State (2016-2022). April Fools’ Day Joke Newsletter, University Library. http://outsideiowastate.weebly.com/
Software
Presentations
- Schares, E. (2023, May 10). HHS Briefing. Taylor & Francis internal meeting. Virtual.
- Schares, E. and Lair, S. (2023, April). Attempting to make sense of the OSTP memo. LyrOpen Fair 2023, Virtual. https://lyrasis.aviaryplatform.com/r/kd1qf8kr4q.
- Schares, E. and O’Reilly, S. (2023, April). Impact of the OSTP memo: The current state of U.S. federally funded research and how universities can prepare for a more open future. ACRL / CHOICE webinar, Virtual. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58FVVQaDtrA.
- Schares, E. (2023, Feb). Guest Lecture: LS 502 - Research Methods. University of Alabama School of Library and Information Studies. Virtual.
- Schares, E. (2023, Feb). Impact of the 2022 OSTP Memo. Open Scholar Cafe. Virtual.
- Schares, E. (2022, Oct). Lightning Talk: Unsub Extender. LIS-Bibliometrics Conference 2022: Measuring What Matters. Virtual.
- Schares, E. (2022, Oct). Analyzing reference data in OpenAlex. Workshop on Open Citations and Open Scholarly Metadata 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftTlXAD-wYo and https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7120704.
- Schares, E. (2022, June). ELD lightning talk: Automating API calls with Python. American Society of Engineering Education, Engineering Libraries Division. Annual Conference, Minneapolis, MN. https://osf.io/eypb3/.
- Schares, E. (2022, February 22 & 24). Unsub Extender with Eric Schares. Unsub Webinar Series, Virtual. https://vimeo.com/680578098 and https://vimeo.com/681619823.
- Schares, E. (2021, November). Innovation Session: Unsub Extender. Charleston Library Conference, Hybrid: Charleston, SC and Virtual.
- Over, S. and Schares, E. (2021, July). ELD Workshop: Getting Started with LaTeX and Overleaf. American Society of Engineering Education, Engineering Libraries Division. Annual Conference, Virtual.
- Schares, E. (2021, July). ELD lightning talk: Introducing Unsub Extender. American Society of Engineering Education, Engineering Libraries Division. Annual Conference, Virtual.
- Piwowar, H., Harris, J., and Schares, E. (2021, May). Unsub in real life: Using Unsub as part of serials decisions and negotiations. NASIG 2021 Conference, Virtual. https://youtu.be/7xuJsVivlXU.
- Schares, E. and Goddard, M. (2021, May). Behind the scenes of open access agreements. IPAL & ILA/ACRL Joint Conference, Virtual. https://youtu.be/n1yLTd3yVRA.
- Willmott, M. and Schares, E. (2021, February). Publication and financial data gathering: An analysis for strategic considerations of OA and transformative agreements. OA2020 US Working Group and Community of Practice, Virtual.
- Schares, E. (2020, June). ELD lightning talk: Overleaf over time. American Society of Engineering Education, Engineering Libraries Division. Annual Conference, Virtual.
- Schares, E. (2019, April). Lightning talk: Adding electronics kits to the library’s circulating collection. STEM Librarians Unite! Drake University, Des Moines, IA.
- Schares, E. (2018, June). ELD lightning talk: Adding electronics kits to the library’s circulating collection. American Society of Engineering Education, Engineering Libraries Division. Annual Conference, Salt Lake City, UT.
Research Workshops
Honors and Awards
- ASEE ELD Innovation in Access to Engineering Information Award for Unsub Extender. (2022). American Society for Engineering Education, Engineering Libraries Division.
- RUSA ETS Best Emerging Technology Application (BETA) Award for Unsub Extender. (2022). ALA Reference and User Services Association, Emerging Technologies Section.
- Faculty and Staff Innovator. (2021). Iowa State University Student Innovation Center.
- Professional and Scientific Excellence Award. (2021). Iowa State University Faculty and Staff Awards Ceremony.
- Eric Schares, painting by Rose Frantzen. (2016). University Museums, Iowa State University.
Organizations I Work With
Other Profiles