- University Librarian Note
- Library Building Project Update – 3/1/2019
- Grant Announcements for External Fundraisers
- SCP Announces Newest IOPN Publication
- Library Tip of the Month
- Collection Development Committee Notes
- Content Access Policy & Technology Meeting Minutes
- Recognizing Excellence
HR NEWS
IT NEWS
FACILITIES
EVENTS AND TRAINING
- Staff Events Calendar
- Webinar: “How do critical educators approach student learning outcomes assessment?” (March 1)
- Research and Publication Webinar Series (March 6, 20)
- NEA Big Read: Book Club Discussion (March 7)
- “The Volcano Lover: Sir William Hamilton’s Campi Phlegraei and the Craze for Vesuvius,” a talk by Professor Gillen Wood (March 8)
- NEA Big Read: Books & Brews Book Club (March 9)
- NISO Webinar: Defining the Library: The Mission, Role and Community (March 13)
- Library 2.019: Shaping the Future of Libraries with Instructional Design (March 13)
- Creative Connections (March 14, 27)
- ACRL Webinar – Mission Driven Digital – Why University Presses Are Creating Their Own eBook Collections (March 26)
- Youth Literature Festival Community Day (March 30)
- Image of Research Reception (April 3)
ANNOUNCEMENTS: University Librarian Note
Occasionally, Heather Murphy and I brainstorm about possible LON pieces, and the December/January period struck us as a natural opportunity for a “year in review.” Of course life got in the way! For example, the provost’s office sent out guidance on our annual report and budget request over the holidays, with a March 1st deadline, very quick turnaround. We’re wrapping up that report now, and I’ll return to that in just a moment.
This was an exceptionally busy year, and we accomplished a great deal organizationally and for the campus. I’d like to highlight a few of those things here. Although I won’t try to paint a comprehensive picture, I hope this smattering of things is a reminder of the great and substantial work we’re doing. Read more…
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ANNOUNCEMENTS: Library Building Project Update
Tom Teper, Associate Dean for Collections and Technical Services
Committee and Working Group Updates
The kick-off meeting for the Programming the Main Library Building WG was held on December 19, 2019. Kirstin Dougan is chairing the working group, and more information on the working group and its efforts can be found here: https://www.library.illinois.edu/staff/committee/the-library-as-catalyst-project-programming-the-main-library-building-wg/. According to Kirstin Dougan, “The Programming Working Group is in the early phases of information gathering and brainstorming. We are looking at public workspaces, staff workspaces, instructional and technology needs, and other programming elements such as exhibit and multi-use spaces.”
The kick-off meeting for the Managing the Library’s Collections Working Group was held on January 7, 2019. Paula Carns is chairing that working group, and more information on the working group and its efforts can be found here: https://www.library.illinois.edu/staff/committee/the-library-as-catalyst-project-managing-the-librarys-collections-wg/. According to Paula Carns, “The Collections Working Groups has been busy discussing the future of the collections in the Main Library and has begun drafting criteria. A sub-group has been working on guidelines for collections in departmental libraries. To help the WG in their deliberations, they are running a 3-week (Feb 13–Mar 5) survey on use of the Main Stacks. After 2 weeks, 319 people had completed the survey.”
Following a meeting between Tom Teper and the Assessment Committee, the chairs of both working groups met with Jen-Chien Yu and myself to discuss opportunities for the Assessment Committee to support some of their work. Among other things, both groups are looking at data needs that will help inform their work.
The framework under which these and other working groups directly associated with this project will work is posted here: https://www.library.illinois.edu/staff/committee/the-library-as-catalyst-project-a-framework-for-working-groups-and-input-solicitation/.
Special Collections Consultant
Following her December 5 – 7, 2018 visit at the request of the Special Collections Division, Kris Kiesling provided her consultant’s report on the notion of using the Undergraduate Library building for a Special Collections building. While not a detailed roadmap for implementation, Kiesling makes clear the opportunities and value of the proposed strategy. Quoting from the report’s conclusion, “Creating a Special Collections Library from this group of very excellent collecting units is not only a good idea, it will have many benefits for the Library, staff, and researchers. I hope that the Undergraduate Library will be an accommodating home, with adequate spaces for the necessary functions that need to be performed there, a welcoming space for researchers and visitors, and a source of pride for the University….” The report also helped resolve two issues around the project scope, allowing us to move ahead with a program that does not include either the Map Library or the Sousa Archives and Center for American Music among the units physically included within the Special Collections Building while we seek to develop a more integrated user experience for patrons of our special collections units.
The report is now accessible from the Special Collections Building page of the Library Building Project website: https://www.library.illinois.edu/library-building-project/special-collections-building/.
Contracts and Firms
The University Library received approval to begin work with an architectural firm to help with the programming activities effective February 22, 2019. Chicago-based Johnson, Lasky, Kindelin (JLK) Architects is the approved firm, and they will be working with a firm knows as BrightSpot Strategy to help the University Library and our campus partners to begin developing the program for the Library Building Project. More information on JLK Architects, including information on other projects they have helped develop, can be found on the company’s website: http://www.jlkarch.com/. BrightSpot Strategy’s website can be found here: https://www.brightspotstrategy.com/.
A kick-off meeting will be held later in March.
Communications
- Monthly Updates – As you know, there are now monthly updates about the Library Building Project distributed via LibNews. These will be posted in a separate section of LON. The intent of both is to ensure open communication of specific information related to the Library Building Project.
- Quarterly Updates – The third Quarterly Update for the project is scheduled for March 13, 2019, from 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. in 66 Main Library. We anticipate that the live stream provided by Eric Kurt and Jake Metz from the Media Commons will be available for this one as well.
- Website – The Library Building Project has a website located at: https://www.library.illinois.edu/library-building-project/. Here you can read about the vision behind this program, seek answers to many of the Frequently Asked Questions that might arise, and read about upcoming events or project news. You can also submit additional questions to the project team at librarybuildingproject@library.illinois.edu.
- Reddit – On January 28, 2019, John Wilkin, Tom Teper, and Heather Murphy held an Ask Me Anything session with Illinois Reddit users to answer questions about the Library Building Project.
- ITHAKA Faculty Survey – The ITHAKA Faculty Survey went live several weeks ago and included some questions for members of the faculty related to the Library Building.
Facilities
The assigned project coordinator from F&S is Dennis Craig. Dennis has been involved in numerous projects across the University Library. He also serves as the Campus Historic Preservation Officer. As mentioned earlier, the University Library recently received approval to work with JLK Architects and BrightSpot Strategies. Although the dates have already shifted in the table below, we are approaching the highlighted portion of the Library Programming and Conceptual Design activity associated with this project. The PSC Kick-off Meeting was penciled in for November 28, 2018; however, the final contract was not signed until February 23, 2019, meaning that the kick-off meeting could not be scheduled. Now that it has been signed, the kick-off will be held on March 14, 2019. Once the project is kicked off, it will start approximately seven-months of work associated with this phase of the project. The dates in the chart below will change based on the final contract approval and actual scheduling of the kick-off meeting.
Long-Term Project Schedule
Jeff Schrader and Tom Teper met with Dennis Craig on November 20, 2018 in order to more fully flesh out the long-term schedule for this project. While there are many moving parts and dependencies that will impact the dates going forward, we believe that we can flesh out a reasonable approximation that will take us through the currently anticipated completion date of in 2024. Our hope is to have a more up-to-date, long-term project schedule shortly after the kick-off meeting in March.
Outreach and Engagement
As noted in the last Quarterly Update, the Library began holding “Salons” for non-Library faculty on campus to discuss some of their hopes, desires, and fears associated with the Library Building Project. The five salons were held between October – December 2018.
Salons were held for Library personnel throughout January and February 2019 and with graduate students in February.
We are also entering in preliminary conversations about holding a couple focus groups for various undergraduate students.
Finally, we will be working in the spring to find opportunities for broader town-hall type discussions.
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ANNOUNCEMENTS: Grant Announcements for External Fundraisers
NEH Grants
Sponsored Programs Administration (SPA) announced the release of the updated Principal Investigator (PI) Handbook. The handbook is designed to provide all investigators, but especially new faculty, with guidance on sponsored project-related policies and practices, to serve as a quick reference for general questions, and to identify helpful resources. It covers the entire lifecycle of a sponsored project and is available on SPA’s website: http://sponsoredprograms.illinois.edu/education-outreach/principal-investigator-handbook.
As always, if you are still interested in the general OVCR opportunities email, feel free to subscribe at: https://groups.webservices.illinois.edu/subscribe/19149.
If you have any questions or concerns please contact Heidi Imker or Kathie Veach.
NEH Grants
There are no pending IMLS deadlines at this time.
04/10/2019 – Fellowships
Output: Book, Article, Digital Material & Publications, Archaeological Report, Translation, Edition, Other Scholarly Resource
04/10/2019 – NEH-Mellon Fellowship for Digital Publications
Output: Digital Materials & Publications
05/15/2019 – Infrastructure and Capacity Building Challenge Grants
Output: Buildings, Equipment, Digital Infrastructure
05/15/2019 – Preservation and Access Education and Training
Output: Preservation Courses or Curricular Materials, Conservation Graduate Programs, Preservation Workshops, Fellow Positions in Conservation
05/15/2019 – Research and Development
Output: Web Resources, Report, Computer Program
06/12/2019 – Digital Projects for the Public
Output: Game/Simulation, Web Resources, Mobile App, Virtual/Augmented Reality, Curricular Materials
07/16/2019 – Humanities Collections and Reference Resources
Output: Digitized Collection, Web Resources, Catalogs, Databases, Encyclopedias
09/19/2019 – Humanities Connections Planning Grants
Output: Curriculum, Community Partnerships, Faculty Development, Teaching Resources
09/19/2019 – Humanities Connections Implementation Grants
Output: Linked Courses, Curriculum, Community Partnerships, Faculty Development, Teaching Resources
10/15/2019 – Dialogues on the Experience of War
Output: Curriculum, Community Partnerships, Discussions Groups, Facilitator Training
12/04/2019 – Scholarly Editions and Translation Grants
Output: Book, Translation, Edition, Music edition
12/04/2019 – Collaborative Research Grants
Output: Book, Digital Material & Publication, Other Scholarly Resource, Themed issue of peer reviewed journal, Conference, Workshop
01/15/2020 – Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections
Output: Preservation Supplies/Equipment, Reports on Preventive Conservation
01/15/2020 – National Digital Newspaper Program
Output: Web Resources, Digitized Newspapers
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ANNOUNCEMENTS: SCP Announces Newest IOPN Publication
Scholarly Communication and Publishing is happy to announce the newest IOPN publication under our Publishing Without Walls imprint, in the AFRO-PWW Series: Lost in the City: An Exploration of Edward P. Jones’s Short Fiction. Merging the best of distant and close reading, Kenton Rambsy and Peace Ossom-Williamson lead a stunning digital investigation of space and narrative in the short fiction of Edward P. Jones. This edited collection contains essays from graduate students enrolled in a literature seminar at the University of Texas at Arlington. Collectively, they examine Jones’s practice of “literary geo-tagging” to show how this master of literary prose delves into a remembered Washington, DC where the city’s African American population finds itself at the precipice of the gentrification and displacement that would lead to today’s very different city. Caught in this moment, the characters negotiate regional identities and generational conflicts. Exploring Jones’s fiction from Lost in the City and All Aunt Hagar’s Children, the authors of this collection’s investigations employ mapping and data visualization methods that make novel contributions to critical methods for literary study even as they establish how Jones embeds DC’s geography in his texts.
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ANNOUNCEMENTS: Library Tip of the Month
The Library sends a monthly email to new faculty at Illinois during the fall and spring semesters. These emails introduce many of our services and resources to this important audience.
You can view the February LTOTM at https://emails.illinois.edu/newsletter/205421.html.
If you have ideas for future emails, please feel free to share them with Heather Murphy.
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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 meetings minutes of CAPT (including work group reports) are posted at:
https://www.library.illinois.edu/staff/committee/content-access-policy-technology-capt/
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ANNOUNCEMENTS: Recognizing Excellence
Please forward journal editorships or editorial board membership, elected and invited external service appointments, honors, and awards information to Heather Murphy.
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HR NEWS: New Employees
- Bernadette Braun, Grainger (February 18)
- Mary Coker, RBML (March 16)
HR NEWS: Departures
- Gail Schmall, Retirement (March 1)
HR NEWS: In Memoriam
IT NEWS: My Emails
My Emails—a new tool available to faculty, staff and students—can help you distinguish between official messages from the university and phishing messages pretending to be official University of Illinois messages.
My Emails will show you any email from the official massmail or Email+ systems recently delivered to your University of Illinois email address. Massmail and Email+ are both services within the university’s WebTools suite.
The My Emails feature is available by visiting https://go.illinois.edu/MyEmails and logging in with your NetID and password.
Public Affairs and Technology Services worked together to create My Emails with the goal to reduce the number of successful email phishing attacks. While it cannot reduce the number of phishing attempts, the feature provides a simple and useful tool to help verify the legitimacy of the emails you receive that appear to be from the University of Illinois.
My Emails does not cover all campus emails. For example, messages sent to mailing lists via the campus mailing list service, like this one, will not appear in the My Emails list. Messages sent outside of Email+ and massmail will not appear in the My Emails list.
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FACILITIES: Facility Project Updates
- ACES Funk Library – Additional Staff Offices – F&S negotiating with consultant to design office space for staff on the second floor.
- Library Programming and Conceptual Design – Consultant/subconsultant contract is finalized and a kickoff meeting is scheduled for March 14, 2019.
- Main Library – Reading Room Renovation and 220 Conceptual Design – Schematic Design/Design Development Submittal review meeting took place on February 20, 2019 and draft conceptual design for room 220 arrived January 23, 2019.
- Main Library – 1st Floor Central Service Point – 50% construction document submittal review is complete and 95% construction document submittal arrived February 27, 2019.
For a complete list of projects in planning and construction, please see: https://wordpress.library.illinois.edu/staff/facilities/
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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: Webinar: “How do critical educators approach student learning outcomes assessment?”
Friday, March 1, 2019
1:00 – 2:00 p.m., 428 Main Library
Presenters Carolyn Gardner and Rebecca Halpern
Assessment: Necessary evil? Is assessment the solution to prove libraries’ value? A tool of institutional oppression? In this webinar, two information literacy program coordinators attempt to answer the question: How do we as critical educators approach student learning outcomes assessment in our daily practice? Assessment is an institutional reality for most of us, though we might be in tension with some of our institutions’ approaches and top-down mandates. We will provide background on critical pedagogy’s relationships to assessment and the neoliberalization of higher education. From there we will shift to how we can push back against compliance and embrace ownership of understanding how students learn. Rebecca will describe an approach to building a culture of critical assessment at a liberal arts college, Carolyn will take us through a learning outcomes assessment project where librarians scored student work at a public comprehensive university, and ultimately both will reflect on the assessment process from a critical perspective. We will spend time in the webinar discussing how do we challenge our own expectations for information literacy instruction and student expectations of librarians while remaining critical practitioners? How do we also, somehow meet the mandates of the institution?
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EVENTS AND TRAINING: Research and Publication Webinar Series
Part 2 – Research Methodologies and Data Analysis
Wednesday, March 6, 2019
1:00 – 2:00 p.m., 428 Main Library
Part 3 – Writing and Publishing Research Results
Wednesday, March 20, 2019
1:00 – 2:00 p.m., 428 Main Library
Have you wanted to perform research but don’t know where to start? Do you have an idea for research but are unsure about what to do next? Do you want to understand how to perform assessment or how to visualize data to show value to stakeholders? Then this webinar series is for you. This five-part series will introduce attendees to the research and publication process, specifically for those working in technical services areas.
Part 2 describes research methods and data analysis techniques typically used in librarianship. Part 3 discusses how to write the results of research and what editors are looking for in article submissions.
This webinar series is presented by the Research and Publications Committee of the Cataloging and Metadata Management Section (CaMMS).
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EVENTS AND TRAINING: NEA Big Read: Book Club Discussion
March 7, 12:00 p.m.
International and Area Studies Library, 321 Main Library
Join us in a discussion of our community’s Big Read: “The Namesake” by Jhumpa Lahiri.
Each weekly discussion sponsored by the International and Area Studies Library will feature a different discussion leader from our local community who will bring their unique perspective to the conversation. Our featured speaker on March 7 is Dr. Rajeshwari Pandharipande.
The conversations will explore the book’s characters and themes and how those themes fit with our own experiences.
The complete schedule of Big Read events is online at go.illinois.edu/TheNamesake. Share and follow social media posts about events with the hashtag #BigReadCU.
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EVENTS AND TRAINING: “The Volcano Lover: Sir William Hamilton’s Campi Phlegraei and the Craze for Vesuvius,” a talk by Professor Gillen Wood
March 8, 2019
3:00 – 5:00 pm, 346 Main Library
Thanks to a farsighted and generous donor gift, the Library has recently acquired one of the most beautiful and original books published in 18th century Britain, written by a leading scientific pioneer of the age. Sir William Hamilton’s Campi Phlegraei is the spectacular product of his decades-long study of Mount Vesuvius at a time of the volcano’s renewed activity in the 1760s and 1770s. Hamilton’s vivid letters from Naples describing his adventurous ascents of the flaming mountain launched Vesuvius into popular fame: it thereafter became a must-see on the European Grand Tour.
The richly-produced volume now in the library’s collection is a wonder worthy of the volcano itself, full of gorgeous plates depicting the Bay of Naples, the Italian countryside surrounding Vesuvius, and, of course, the volcano’s boiling summit in all its glory. But perhaps the coup de grâce of the book is the exquisite suite of drawings of volcanic rocks, which establish Hamilton, and the Campi Phlegraei volume, at the first frontier of modern geology and volcanology. The RBML lecture will tell the story of Sir William Hamilton’s brilliant and controversial life, and the remarkable constellation of talents that combined to produce the Campi Phlegraei.
This event is free and open to all. Refreshments will be served.
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EVENTS AND TRAINING: NEA Big Read: Books & Brews Book Club
March 9, 3:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Riggs Beer Company, 1901 South High Cross Road, Urbana
Join us in a discussion of our community’s Big Read: “The Namesake” by Jhumpa Lahiri. This special edition of our discussion series will be hosted at Riggs Brewery in Urbana! This family friendly local brewery will have beer available for purchase (for those who are 21+) so you can enjoy some brews with your book discussion.
The complete schedule of Big Read events is online at go.illinois.edu/TheNamesake. Share and follow social media posts about events with the hashtag #BigReadCU.
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EVENTS AND TRAINING: NISO Webinar: Defining the Library: The Mission, Role and Community
Wednesday, March 13
12:00 – 1:00 p.m., 428 Main Library
Nearly twenty years into the 21st century, how exactly do we define the word, library? This is hardly a frivolous question. Neither is it a settled one. If a library is less defined by its information resources or access services than by foot traffic or usage stats, then appropriate assessment of its contribution to the institution — through either quantitative or qualitative metrics — becomes demonstrably more difficult. The question has implications for administrators with budgetary concerns as much as for educators in the field. Should libraries be focused on decentralization in order to better serve specialized research communities? Or should they be more centralized as the central organ of an educational organism?
Confirmed Speakers: Patti Brennan, Director, National Library of Medicine; Stanley J. Wilder, Dean of the Library, Louisiana State University.
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EVENTS AND TRAINING: Library 2.019: Shaping the Future of Libraries with Instructional Design
Wednesday, March 13
2:00 – 5:00 p.m., 308 Main Library
Instructional Designers, technologists, and online learning specialists are in high demand across all levels of education as it shifts online. In 2004, the Blended Librarians Online Learning Community was established to promote the adoption of instructional design and technology as a vital skill set for librarians seeking to more deeply integrate their teaching and learning initiatives into the curriculum and community. Since then, instructional design and dedicated staff positions to support it, have become more commonplace in and critical to libraries, particularly at colleges and universities, but they are by no means ubiquitous.
This edition of Library 2.019 will bring together the community of librarians, instructional designers and other educators whose work happens at the intersection of instructional design, educational technology, learning, and libraries. This is also a conference for those wanting to learn more about how instructional designers are advancing the educational mission of their libraries and institutions, how the latest innovations in educational technology are being applied in libraries and classrooms, and what we can expect as instructional design and technology transitions from a peripheral to core function within libraries. While the future of libraries may be uncertain and unpredictable, this is an opportunity to explore how library professionals and their colleagues can shape it through the application of instructional design and technology.
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EVENTS AND TRAINING: Creative Connections
Thursday, March 14
12:00 – 1:00 p.m., 428 Main Library
Wednesday, March 27
12:00 – 1:00 p.m., 428 Main Library
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EVENTS AND TRAINING: ACRL Webinar – Mission Driven Digital – Why University Presses Are Creating Their Own eBook Collections
Tuesday, March 26
1:00 – 2:00 p.m., 308 Main Library
In 2019, the MIT Press and the University of Michigan Press are taking the bold step of launching their own eBook products. This webinar explores why they are choosing to do so, the problems they are trying to solve, and the processes they have gone through to work out the licensing and business terms. Join us to discover new trends in the digital sphere, give feedback on some emerging mission-driven products, and explore the continued evolution of the scholarly communication landscape.
Additional topics include:
- Why most university-based publishers deliver their eBooks through aggregators
- Interrogation of the newly intensified discussion within the university press community about “going it alone”
- A sneak-preview of the MIT Press and the University of Michigan Press’s new eBook aggregations
EVENTS AND TRAINING: Youth Literature Festival Community Day
Saturday, March 30
10 – 3 p.m., The I Hotel and Conference Center, 1900 S. First Street, Champaign
Champaign-Urbana and surrounding area families and community members are invited to celebrate youth literature at the Festival’s Community Day Celebration, a free event, open to the public.
Author readings, book signings, puppet shows, live music, art displays, and a variety of hands-on activities for children will all be part of the fun!
For more information, visit https://youthlitfest.education.illinois.edu.
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EVENTS AND TRAINING: Image of Research Reception
Wednesday, April 3
4:00 – 5:30 p.m., 220 Main Library
Please join the Scholarly Commons and the Graduate College at a reception to announce the finalists and honor the semi-finalists for the Image of Research Competition, graduate edition. You can also vote for the People’s Choice Award at the reception, which will be held on April 3 from 4:00 – 5:30 p.m. in 220 Main Library. This is always a chance to talk to graduate students from many disciplines about their research, as well as seeing some stunning images! You can see past winning entries at https://publish.illinois.edu/imageofresearch/past-competitions/.
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If you would like to submit content for the April issue of Library Office Notes, please submit it to Heather Murphy or Tom Teper by Friday, March 22, 2019.
