November Library Office Notes


ANNOUNCEMENTS

HR NEWS

EVENTS AND TRAINING



ANNOUNCEMENTS: University Librarian Note
I’d like to take this opportunity to elaborate on staffing plans and the Main/Undergraduate Library Integration Project.

The services that we provide to undergraduates are, and will continue to be, an important part of the Library’s offerings. I am excited about the sorts of connections the move of UGL services into Main and other libraries will foster. We’re all part of a larger whole and we’ll work together to ensure all students feel welcome and comfortable in all of our campus libraries, especially when the UGL closes next summer.

As services transition out of the Undergraduate Library, all of the librarians and staff in the UGL will be moving into the same or related roles in other libraries. There is a place for everyone. Particularly for those who have been concerned about the future of our staff in the UGL, I hope this provides a greater sense of certainty. Read more…
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ANNOUNCEMENTS: Library Building Project Update – 11/1/2021
Tom Teper, Associate Dean for Collections and Technical Services

Project Meetings for October 2021

Representatives from the University Library, University Administration, and Facilities and Services met with members of our Architecture/Engineering (A/E) Team on October 5th, 6th, 12th, and 20th, 2021. These meetings evaluated elevators within the current Undergraduate Library and Tunnel; helped to verify collection size for RBML; reviewed initial AV and security proposals; prepared for further presentations to the campus’ Architectural Review Committee; discussed the proposed Recording Studio; and provided additional scope clarification as the A/E finalized their draft proposal.

Members of the A/E team also completed a presentation for the campus’ Architectural Review Committee on 10/19/2021.

In addition to the meetings involving members of the A/E team, Library personnel met to tour instructional spaces in the Siebel Center for Design, discussed the next project phase, and made presentations about the project’s status to the Library’s Board of Advocates, the Special Collections Division, and the Library at-large. Library personnel also met with our F&S project manager to discuss the status of the A/E’s draft document.

Project-Related Meetings Scheduled for from November 2021 – February 2022 (as of 10/29/2021)

The following meetings include both scheduled project meetings (with project designation of U20118) as well as additional meetings that involve select representatives of the A/E, F&S, and University Library.

  • 11/3/2021 – U20118 – UGL Redevelopment – Design and Estimate Review
  • 11/4/2021 – Chancellor’s Design Advisory Committee (CDAC)
  • 11/10/2021 – U20118 – UGL Redevelopment Plan Meeting
  • 11/17/2021 – U20118 – UGL Redevelopment Plan Meeting
  • 11/18/2021 – U20118 UGL Redevelopment – Security Meeting
  • 11/18/2021 – SCL/University Library Town Hall
  • 11/–/2021 – Chancellor’s Review Committee – date TBD
  • 11/24/2021 – UGL Redevelopment Plan Meeting
  • 11/30/2021 – President’s Review Committee
  • 12/1/2021 – U20118 UGL Redevelopment Plan Meeting
  • 12/8/2021 – UGL Redevelopment Plan Meeting
  • 12/15/2021 – U20118 UGL Redevelopment Plan Meeting
  • 1/5/2022 – UGL Redevelopment Plan Meeting
  • 1/12/2022 – UGL Redevelopment Plan Meeting
  • 1/19/2022 – UGL Redevelopment Plan Meeting
  • 1/26/2022 – UGL Redevelopment Plan Meeting
  • 2/2/2022 – UGL Redevelopment Plan Meeting
  • 2/7/2022 – UGL Redevelopment Plan Meeting

Other Activities

The A/E submitted a draft of their schematic design in mid-October. With two weeks to review the documents and submit comments, members of the Library’s project team and F&S went to work. In the end, compiled comments were submitted back to the A/E on 10/28/2021 for discussion at the forthcoming 11/3/2021 meeting.

In addition to this work, the leadership within the Special Collections IHLC, University Archives, and RBML worked with personnel in their units to identify those who will help with Furniture, Fixtures, and Equipment (FFE) in the project’s next stages.

Efforts to barcode and improve inventory management continued over the last month. The Division is already beginning preliminary work related to their opening exhibit.

Members of the Library’s Administrative team worked to develop a script for a fund-raising video that will be developed in the coming months.

Proposed Project Schedule

The kick-off meeting included a review of the proposed project schedule from the point that “conceptualization” began on July 21, 2021 through what is called “substantial completion” of construction work. Those dates in the future become increasingly speculative. At present, the schedule is as follows:

  • Conceptualization
    07/21/2021 work session
    08/12/2021 submission date
    08/26/2021 est. Concept review meeting
  • Schematic Design
    11/09/2021 submission date
    11/23/2021 est. SD review meeting
  • Design Development
    01/22/2022 submission date
    02/04/2022 est. DD review meeting-BOT Preparation
  • Construction Documents 50%
    03/31/2022 submission date
    4/14/2022 est. 50% CD review meeting
  • Construction Documents 95%
    07/04/2022 submission date
    07/18/ 2022 est. 95% CD review meeting
    08/18/2022 100% CD completion
  • Bidding/Award
    08/18/2022 Advertise for Bids
    08/25/2022 Pre-bid /Pre-pricing meeting
    09/30/2022 Bid Opening – To be confirmed
    01/04/2023 Notice Proceed
  • Board of Trustees approval (required on if individual contract is over $2,500,000.)
  • Construction – Start/End *
    01/05/2023 – 05/29/2024

Communications

Elements from last month’s LON were incorporated as news items in the new project website at: https://www.library.illinois.edu/specialcollectionsbuilding.

Based off communications with Heather Murphy and Kathryn Risor-Heise, we anticipate additional items on the project appearing on both the fall and winter issues of the Friendscript.

As noted earlier, efforts as underway to develop a video associated with the project, and we anticipate the potential addition of new imagery to the website in the coming weeks.
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ANNOUNCEMENTS: Grainger Engineering Library Information Center Announces Launch of STEM Entrepreneurship Services with National Entrepreneurship Month
The Grainger Engineering Library Information Center (GELIC) is launching STEM Entrepreneurship services in conjunction with National Entrepreneurship Month for November. Last month, Grainger Engineering Library announced that Business Information Services (BIS) will be operating out of GELIC, leading to transformation and the formation of STEM Entrepreneurship services. Associate Professor Becky Smith joined GELIC in a new role as STEM Entrepreneurship & Business Librarian.

The Grainger Engineering Library Innovation, Discovery, Design, and Data (IDEA) Lab is coordinating events for its new “Dolphin Tank Days” during the week of November 15th to 19th. Dolphin Tanks are cooperative events where groups can showcase and demo their products and services that help serve the public good as well as entrepreneurial ventures. Come, learn, and experience innovation at Illinois. The IDEA Lab is located in the lower level west of the Grainger Engineering Library. Events planned thus far are as follows:

  • November 16th: IDEA Lab Open House, from 5:30pm to 7pm.
    The IDEA Lab will be showcasing its array of technology-rich spaces and innovation support services, including: The new Immersive Learning Lab, equipped with 10 new Alienware gaming and Virtual Reality (VR) ready workstations and VR headsets. This space is set up for gaming, experiencing VR, and immersive teaching and learning. Visualization Theater, an 8’x14’ 8K display wall comprised of 16 46” monitor combined into one large-format true 8K resolution. The Visualization Theater is powered by a high-end Windows 10 workstation with NVIDIA Quadro 6000 video card. This space is set up for presentations, collaborations, and teaching.3D Printing Studio equipped with 7 state-of-the-art 3D Printers. This space is set up to meet the rapid prototyping needs of faculty, students, and staff through senior design and capstone courses, student startups, and other entrepreneurial ventures.
  • November 17th: Health Innovation Day, from 11am to 2pm.
    Come join our speakers and view demonstrations of the innovations at Illinois that help solve society’s greatest health challenges. Participants include the Carle Illinois College of Medicine, past winners of the Health Make-a-Thon, and the Health Care Engineering Systems Center.
  • November 18th: Venture Capital, Private Equity, and Market Research, from 11am to 3pm.
    Venture Capital, Private Equity, and market research database publishers will present virtually over Zoom or Teams and broadcast from the Visualization Room for the best viewing. There will be the usual option to view remotely from home or office. CB Insights, Preqin, PrivCo, Mintel, IDTechEx are among the publishers who will be talking about their products and some trends related to entrepreneurship.

Questions? Contact Alex (Elisandro) Cabada, cabada@illinois.edu, or Becky Smith, becky@illinois.edu.

Look for further announcements on LibNews!
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ANNOUNCEMENTS: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Task Force Updates
There were two meetings of the Task Force in October (the 7th and the 20th); some items on the agendas included:

  • October 7: Reorganization of teams and next steps, review of the Communications Team’s Communications Process document, final discussion about the Assessment Team’s Year One Base Survey Report
  • October 20: Review of Consultancy Support Team’s report, discussion abut Assessment Team’s focus group questions, review of the Communications Team’s Communications Process document

The next meeting is scheduled for November 4.

Minutes from past DEIA Task Force meetings are online on the Task Force web page.

The Task Force invites Library colleagues to its office hours. Please keep on the lookout for an email via LIB-NEWS from Co-chair Joe Lenkart with the Zoom link for the next set of office hours.
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ANNOUNCEMENTS: Did You Know? A Monthly Factoid from Library Assessment

“A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….”

The pre-pandemic life could seem like a long time ago when there were no social distancing and indoor restrictions. The Wi-Fi usage at the Library was down significantly during the 2020-2021 academic year because of limited capacity at library buildings and spaces. However, Wi-Fi usage is back on the rise this fall. During the Sweeps Week (October 11-17), 93,635 Wi-Fi sessions (when a user’s device such as a computer or a cell phone connects to the Wi-Fi network) were initiated in ACES (Funk) Library, Grainger Engineering Library Information Center, Main Library and Undergraduate Library.  Averagely, a Wi-Fi session lasts 1 hour and 13 minutes – and altogether 114,968 hours and 49 minutes (more than 13 years) were spent on the Wi-Fi between October 11-17. In that one week, enough data came over the Wi-Fi to stream 49 years of music! (Music streaming years were calculated at a normal quality — or as Spotify puts it: 96kbits/sec).
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ANNOUNCEMENTS: Collection Development Committee Notes
The most recent meetings minutes of the CDC are posted at:
https://www.library.illinois.edu/staff/committee/collection-development-committee/
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ANNOUNCEMENTS: Content Access Policy & Technology Meeting Minutes
The meeting minutes of CAPT (including workgroup reports) are posted at:
https://www.library.illinois.edu/staff/committee/content-access-policy-technology-capt/
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ANNOUNCEMENTS: Recognizing Excellence

Please share your award, recognition, or grant! To initiate a request for publicity, employees (or their supervisors) should submit this Awards/Recognitions/Grants Publicity Request Form.
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HR NEWS: Filled Positions

  • Sandi Caldrone – Research Data Librarian – Research Data Service – 10/16/2021
  • Evelyn Cordell – Dual Career E-Learning Librarian – Research Information Services – 10/16/2021
  • Kimberly Johnson – Associate Director for Fiscal Operations – Business & Human Resources Service Center – 10/18/2021

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HR NEWS: Departures 

  • Alicia Taylor – Monographic and Media Cataloging Coordinator – Acquisitions & Cataloging Services – 10/5/2021
  • Rob Wallace – IT Technical Associate – Grainger Engineering Library – 11/22/2021

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HR NEWS: Vacancies

  • IT Specialist – Library IT – Closed 09/28/2021
  • Library Specialist with language specialty (Arabic & Western European) – Acquisitions & Cataloging Services – will be posted soon
  • Library Specialist (E-Resources) – Acquisitions & Cataloging Services – will be posted soon

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HR NEWS: Searches Completed 

  • Research Data Librarian – Research Data Service, FAC – Carissa Phillips, Chair

Kick-off meeting held February 16, 2021. Live on the job board. Closed April 9, 2021. Phone screenings scheduled April 21, April 22, April 26, April 27 and April 29. Virtual interviews held May 17, May 18, May 27 and June 1. Offer extended. Sandi Caldrone start date will be October 16, 2021.

  • Dual Career-E-Learning Librarian – Research Information Services, FAC – David Ward, Chair

Kick-off meeting held May 24, 2021. Virtual interview held June 4, 2021. Offer Extended. Evelyn Cordell start date will be October 16, 2021.

  • Associate Director for Fiscal Operations – Business & Human Resources Service Center, AP – Skye Arseneau, Chair

Kick-off meeting held June 7, 2021. EC approved JD. Awaiting IHR approval. IHR approved JD 6/29/2021. Job live on job board. Closed July 16, 2021. Five candidates selected, but one withdrew. Phone screenings scheduled for Aug 16, Aug 17 and Aug 18.  Virtual interviews held August 30, September 1, and September 2. Offer extended. Kimberly Johnson start date will be October 18, 2021.

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HR NEWS: Searches in Progress

  • Metadata Librarian – Acquisitions and Cataloging, FAC – Dan Tracy, Chair

Kick-off scheduled for June 22, 2021. EC approved JD. Job live on the job board. Closing date August 20, 2021. Phone screenings held Sept 7, Sept 8, Sept 9, and Sept 14. Virtual interviews scheduled for Oct 13, Oct 15, Oct 19 and Oct 20. 

  • Visiting Research Specialist, Slavic Reference Service (grant funded) – International and Area Studies Library, AP – Kit Condill, Chair

Kick-off scheduled for August 9, 2021. EC approved JD. Submitted JD to IHR for approval 8/25/21. Job live on the job board. Closing September 15, 2021. Phone screenings held September 24, 2021. Virtual interviews scheduled for Oct 14 and Oct 18.

  • Classics Librarian – Literature and Languages Library, FAC – Marek Sroka, Chair

Kick-off held October 5, 2021. Awaiting EC approved JD.

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EVENTS AND TRAINING: Staff Events Calendar
To see the most up-to-date staff events calendar, please visit https://uiuc.libcal.com/calendar/staff.
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EVENTS AND TRAINING: Hub Training
Tuesday, Nov. 2 from 2-3 PM and Friday, Nov. 5 from 3-4 PM
Chat Transcript Review

Tuesday, Nov. 16 from 2-3 PM and Friday, Nov. 19 from 3-4 PM
Working with Users with Disabilities

Tuesday, Dec. 7 from 2-3 PM and Friday, Dec. 10 from 3-4 PM
Working with International Students

Zoom information for the sessions: https://wiki.illinois.edu/wiki/pages/viewpage.actionspaceKey=libemployees&title=Hub+Training+Schedule 

Please contact Sara Holder at sholder@illinois.edu if you have any questions
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EVENTS AND TRAINING: Player Piano Virtual Demonstration
November 5 at 12 PM

Location: Online (Zoom)
Contact: Music & Performing Arts Library (mpal@library.illinois.edu)
Description: Join the Music & Performing Arts Library for a virtual lunch hour demonstration featuring the Library’s Steinway Duo-Art reproducing piano and collection of piano rolls. See the piano in action and learn more about the instrument and roll collection. The demonstration will last approximately 30 minutes and there will be additional time for questions.

Register here: https://go.library.illinois.edu/pianoregistration
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EVENTS AND TRAINING: NISO Webinar – Working with Semantics: Technology and Tools
November 10 at 10 AM

Today’s sophisticated information resources are engineered in ways that emphasize relationships between related but disparate data elements. This webinar will focus on the emerging techniques and technologies that support these functionalities. A roundtable of information professionals and developers will discuss the theory and practice of building smart systems in service to the information and research communities.

Please email training@library.illinois.edu for login credentials or recordings.
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EVENTS AND TRAINING: NISO DEIA Workshop 2: Metadata and Accessibility
November 15 at 8:30 AM and 7 PM

This two-hour-long virtual event is the second in a series of three, and will focus on metadata to support accessibility. Moderated by NISO DEIA Committee members Michael Johnson (Benetech) and Gabi Rundle (Emerald Publishing), it will be held twice (9.30-11.30am ET and 8.00-10.00pm ET) to accommodate all time zones. A combination webinar/workshop, the agenda includes:

• Welcome and objectives for the workshop
• Keynote – George Kerscher, DAISY Consortium
• Discussion/Q&A
• Small group moderated discussions
• Report back by moderators/discussion
• Wrap up and next steps

Registration for 8:30 AM: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/niso-deia-workshop-2-metadata-and-accessibility-930am-1130am-et-tickets-169628472327

Registration for 7 PM: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/niso-deia-workshop-2-metadata-and-accessibility-8pm-10pm-et-tickets-169641300697
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EVENTS AND TRAINING: “Dolphin Tank Days” Events
November 16-18

See Grainger Engineering Library Information Center Announces Launch of STEM Entrepreneurship Services with National Entrepreneurship Month above for more information.
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EVENTS AND TRAINING: Illinois GIS Day
November 17

Please join us on Wednesday, November 17th for Illinois GIS Day 2021, the annual showcase of geographic information science (GIS) and geospatial data science applications. Faculty, students, and industry leaders will share how they use GIS data and methods to tackle a wide array of social, environmental, and economic challenges.

Please stay tuned for further event details including the agenda, keynote speaker announcement, and career panel participants. Visit GISDay.illinois.edu to learn more and contact geography@illinois.edu with questions or sponsorship inquiries.
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EVENTS AND TRAINING: OEC Skill Up Session: Making your Outreach Accessible
November 18, 2 PM, via Zoom
Presenter: JJ Pionke

In this session, we’ll talk about best practices for outreach and marketing as it relates to accessibility. We’ll also talk a bit about presentation best practices. There will be a minimalist PowerPoint presentation with plenty of time for Q&A so bring your questions!

Zoom link forthcoming on LibNews.
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EVENTS AND TRAINING: Archives and Special Collections Building and Undergraduate Library Services Town Hall
November 18 at 3 PM

The Senate Committee on the Library and the University Library will host a campus-wide Town Hall on Nov 18 from 3-4:30pm via Zoom. Representatives from the Library will provide background and logistics for the project and speak on Undergraduate Library services. The architecture/engineering teams will give a project presentation. There is also an opportunity for Q and A.

Register at:
https://go.library.illinois.edu/Nov18
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If you would like to submit content for the December issue of Library Office Notes, please submit it to Heather Murphy or Tom Teper by November 19, 2021.