September Library Office Notes

ANNOUNCEMENTS

HR NEWS

FACILITIES

EVENTS AND TRAINING



ANNOUNCEMENTS: University Librarian Note
The recent controversies that have rocked our institution have been disappointing. Without a doubt, Phyllis Wise was a great chancellor who made important contributions to Illinois and helped us move forward from another set of challenges. To be clear, just as certainly, the way that Chancellor Wise conducted her work was wrong. We are a better institution and we can do better. I want to speak today about the state of the Library, and the state of the Library in the aftermath of these events. Read more…
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ANNOUNCEMENTS: Strategic Planning Update
Lisa Hinchliffe, Coordinator for Strategic Planning

The Library has now concluded all three of the Deep Dive sessions. The final post-Dive discussion is scheduled for September 17, 1-2 pm in 434 Library. We will re-cap the Research Library Ecosystem discussion as well as review the process from the Library retreat until now.

Starting in September, the Strategic Planning Steering Team will be working on drafting the Framework for Strategic Action, which will be disseminated for review and feedback in October. It is thrilling to see how ideas are coming together into a future-oriented vision for the University Library!

Strategic Planning Office Hours are scheduled in 434 Library in September at the following times:

  • September 3, 2-4pm
  • September 16, 10:30am-12noon
  • September 21, 2-4pm

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ANNOUNCEMENTS: Python Office Hours
Beth Sandore, Associate University Librarian for Research

Do you need new or additional programming skills for a research project? Having a problem with getting data out of a file or reshaping it for your needs? Do you have a task you think you could automate with a script?

The Research Data Service (RDS) in conjunction with the Scholarly Commons will be hosting drop-in hours for Python coding help. All students, staff, and faculty are welcome to drop by to get help with a coding problem or learn about other campus and community resources for programming help. Some R, SQL, and XML help can be also provided as well. Drop-in hours are meant to assist researchers in programming tasks related to research projects and not for homework help. Members of RDS staff will also be available to discuss more general data management as well.

Please bring your computer and any data files you’re trying to work with.

This is a pilot program and will run on Tuesday afternoons from August 25 to September 29 at the Scholarly Commons (Room 306 Main Library; near the Wright Street stairwell).
Questions? Contact Elizabeth (wickes1@illinois.edu) or the Scholarly Commons (sc@library.illinois.edu).
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ANNOUNCEMENTS: Oak Street Reading Room
B.A. Davis-Howe, Copyright Supervisor

Starting with the fall semester, the Oak Street Library Facility (809 S. Oak Street) now has a full-service circulation point, the Oak Street Reading Room. The Reading Room is open from 9am until 4pm, Monday through Friday.

In the past, patrons were able to request that Oak Street materials be ready for them to use at the Reading Room, but requests had to be staff-mediated. Beginning with the fall term, patrons are able to select “UIUC OAK ST. DESK” as a valid pick-up location for circulating items from all Library locations when placing requests through the online catalog.

Patrons using the Reading Room have access to a computer, scanner, copier, and printer, and are also free to use the Reading Room as a quiet place to study. We recommend that patrons wanting to use multiple volumes of journals or large-format items held at Oak Street (stos) request them via the online catalog for pick-up at the Reading Room. Those requests should be submitted the day before coming to the Reading Room, as retrieving materials from high-density storage requires the use of special equipment. (As always, material designated as part of a special Oak Street location, such as Rare Book Oak Street, will still circulate only through the designated location, not the Reading Room.)

If you have any questions, please see the Reading Room web page <http://www.library.illinois.edu/cmservices/oakstreet_readingroom.html> or e-mail Sarah C. Heald <oslf@library.illinois.edu>.
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ANNOUNCEMENTS: The Library Welcomes Aaron McCollough
Beth Sandore, Associate University Librarian for Research

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Please join me in a very warm welcome to Aaron McCollough, who officially started on Monday, August 17 as the Head of Scholarly Communications and Publishing, a new unit within the Library’s Office of Research. Aaron joins us with substantial experience in libraries and publishing. Most recently he was the Editorial Director of Michigan Publishing at the University of Michigan. Prior to that, Aaron was a subject specialist in English at the University of Michigan Library, and he also served as the Outreach Librarian for Michigan’s Text Creation Partnership. Aaron has an MA and Ph.D. in English from the University of Michigan, specializing in Renaissance and Early Modern literature, and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Iowa Writer’s Workshop. While at Michigan, Aaron was active in scholarly publishing and digital humanities. He has published several volumes of poetry. Aaron’s current office (he’ll be moving to permanent quarters later this fall) is located at 450Y in the Main Library, and his e-mail is amccollo@illinois.edu. Feel free to stop by 450Y to welcome Aaron to the Library and campus.
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ANNOUNCEMENTS: Save the Date and Call for Proposals: 3rd Annual Library Research Showcase
Dan Tracy, Library Research Showcase Coordinator

The 3rd Annual Library Research Showcase is scheduled the afternoon of Tuesday, November 10! Please mark your calendar and plan to join us to hear about faculty, academic professional, and graduate student research happening in the Library. Library faculty and academic professionals, and their research collaborators, may submit presentation proposals for lightning talks, poster sessions, and tech demos through the CFP form available at the Showcase website (http://go.illinois.edu/libraryshowcase). Watch the website for schedule details, which will appear in September and October.

For more information, contact Dan Tracy, Library Research Showcase Coordinator (dtracy@illinois.edu).
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ANNOUNCEMENTS: Data Science Across Disciplines Focal Point This Fall
Heidi Imker, Director, Research Data Service

A Focal Point project called Data Science Across Disciplines, funded through the Graduate College, offers monthly Data Science seminars as part of the program. The project is a collaboration between graduate students Halie Rando (Animal Science) and Diana Bryne (Civil & Environmental Engineering) and Library faculty mentors Ayla Stein and Heidi Imker. Working with the Graduate College, GSLIS, and the Illinois Informatics Institute (I3), the Data Science Across Disciplines Focal Point presents an opportunity for graduate students at Illinois, with a focus on women and underrepresented minorities, to begin developing basic data analytic skills in an inclusive environment. The class consists of 19 masters and Ph.D. graduate students from 10 different programs of study. Beginning programming skills are introduced during weekly seminars for those enrolled in the class. Additionally, monthly Data Science seminars featuring speakers from across campus will share creative ways for analyzing and visualizing research data. Look for future announcements if you’re interested in attending the monthly Data Science seminars.
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ANNOUNCEMENTS: Welcome New CLIR Fellow Qian Zhang
Heidi Imker, Director, Research Data Service

Qian Zhang is a new 2015 Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) postdoc fellow in data curation working with the Research Data Service at the Library and Center for Informatics Research in Science and Scholarship (CIRSS) at GSLIS. Qian received her Ph.D. from Louisiana State University (LSU) with a major in Physical Oceanography and minor in Electrical and Computer Engineering. She also has two master degrees in Engineering Science and Control Science and Engineering, respectively, as well as a B.S. in Automation. Before she joined Illinois, Qian spent the summer as a visiting scholar at the Natoinal Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, CO. Her past research is centered around writing code with the help of high performance computing (HPC) to build up/calibrate numerical models and software development. Through this work, Qian gained experience dealing with large datasets and complex data structures. She also worked on testing models, analyzing and visualizing data and model results, and applying those model/software to simulate/predict the real-world scenarios. Qian joins GSLIS and the RDS to continuing working on data and software management and preservation.
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ANNOUNCEMENTS: New Public Access Policies To Be Implemented This Fall By Federal Funding Agencies
Heidi Imker, Director, Research Data Service

The federal agencies have issued implementation plans in response to the 2013 Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) public access memo (http://go.illinois.edu/OSTP_Memo). There are changes on the horizon for making both articles and data publicly accessible – purportedly those changes will take effect in October of this year for many of the agencies. On behalf of the Scholarly Commons and Research Data Service, Dan Tracy and Heidi Imker teamed up to put together a talk to bring the Library up to speed on expectations. In case you weren’t able to make the presentation on August 19, the slides are available here: https://uofi.box.com/Public-Access-Fall-2015-PPTX

Please take a moment to learn more and help spread information about these requirements to the researchers you work with, regardless of whether you are directly involved in federal grant activities. And feel free to contact us with any questions!
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ANNOUNCEMENTS: Decision on RefWorks
Carissa Phillips, on behalf of the Citation Management Working Group

In late July, I introduced the Citation Management Working Group, which was created to review the Library’s offerings of citation management software tools and support, particularly RefWorks. After consulting with Library Administration and the fund managers who contribute to RefWorks; after receiving feedback from the Library as well as through a survey of current RefWorks users; and after reviewing usage and instruction statistics, we have decided to cancel RefWorks at the end of our current contract, July 1, 2016. Even after testing an early version of the redesigned RefWorks/Flow merged product that will be available in January, our cancellation decision stood.

Further, we have concluded that it no longer makes sense to subsidize any fee-based citation management software tool. The landscape of citation management tools has changed significantly since we first began offering RefWorks through the Library, with many more free and fee-based tools available now, all constantly evolving, giving users many opportunities to find the tool that best accommodates their personal information management style. Since citation management tools are largely indistinguishable in key areas of functionality, a user’s choice of tool most often (but admittedly not always) comes down to personal preference. By no longer “favoring” a single tool through financial support and enhanced instruction and outreach, we can instead focus our reference and instruction more broadly (and arguably, more appropriately) on helping users navigate the landscape of tools. One approach to this type of support was introduced at the GA orientation in August (http://illinois.libguides.com/citationmgmtoverview).

Next steps:

1.) The Working Group will notify each of our RefWorks account holders that “free” RefWorks accounts through the Library will be discontinued as of July 1, 2016 and that continued access to RefWorks after July 1 will require the purchase of a personal account. Assistance will be offered to those users who wish to migrate their RefWorks content to another citation management tool.

2.) If you are contacted to teach a session on RefWorks, your instructional materials based on the current interface will be accurate until our RefWorks access runs out on July 1, 2016. The expectation is that we will still support RefWorks through instruction and reference, but only in equal measure with EndNote, Mendeley, Zotero, and other major tools. Another option would be to instead offer instruction on different types of citation tools and their features. The Working Group will begin working on a basic template for such instruction.

3.) Begin updating your online guides and instructional materials to remove all mention of the “free” RefWorks account offered through the Library.

We understand this is a big change, but we are hopeful that with this early notice, there is ample time to prepare RefWorks users to transition to their own paid RefWorks account or to another tool, and for us to begin offering broader, more general support for users as they evaluate and select citation management tools that best meet their needs. Please direct any questions or comments to me at choller@illinois.edu.
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ANNOUNCEMENTS: Upcoming Advancement Event Opportunities
Scott Koeneman, Assistant Dean of Libraries for Advancement

Library Advancement is hosting or collaborating on a number of events this fall and is looking to provide units from across the Library greater opportunity to interact with Library Friends and potential donors.

One way we are looking at is a series of table-top exhibits that highlight the work and priorities of a unit. These would be set up as part of Library and campus events, and, in some cases, may be used at small donor events around the country. Exhibits could be a poster or something similar to what is presented at the Library Research Showcase. It can also be more elaborate, showing examples of collections or work done in the unit. It would be helpful if they had an interactive component that started a conversation with visitors. The key is that it would fit on a table top.

If you have a suggestion for an exhibit for your unit, please contact me.

Among the upcoming events this fall:

  • Foundation Weekend, October 1-3
  • Homecoming Parade Watch, October 23
  • Library Friends Annual Event, November 6
  • Illinois Luncheon (Chicago), November 17

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HR NEWS: Faculty and AP Searches
Below is a summary of current academic searches as of September 1, 2015 (click on graphic below to enlarge). A more comprehensive listing is sent via LibNews each month.
september2015_search_status
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HR NEWS: Civil Service Performance Evaluations
Evaluation deadline for civil service employee evaluations was August 31, 2015. If you have evaluations still not completed, please let Library Human Resources know as soon as possible. Our office will be sending out reminder notices for those that are missing.
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HR NEWS: New Employees 

Faculty

  • Karen Hogenboom, Head, Scholarly Commons, August 31, 2015
  • Alexandra Krogman, Visiting Engineering and Physical Sciences Resident Librarian, GELIC, August 16, 2015

Academic Professional

  • George Gottschalk, Acquisitions Operations Specialist, Library Acquisitions, September, 16, 2015

Lateral Reassignments – Civil Service Employees

  • Josh Hankemeier, Senior Library Specialist, Undergraduate Library to Music and Performing Arts Library, effective August 25, 2015

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HR NEWS: Civil Service Vacancies
Please note, only applicants referred from the register are eligible to interview, unless you are on the current transfer list for the noted classification.  Please direct any questions to Library Human Resources.

  • Central Access Services, Library Specialist, Mid-shift, Master Referral #4, interviews continue
  • Undergraduate Library, Library Specialist, Deep Night shift, 1st Master Referral received, interviews starting

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FACILITIES: Project Information
Please visit the Office of Library Facilities web page (http://www.library.illinois.edu/administration/facilities/) for project information (under Facilities–>Project Information).
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EVENTS AND TRAINING: Around the World in 2D: Comics, Graphic Novels, and Cartooning
On Wednesday, September 30 from 3-4:30pm, the International and Area Studies Library warmly invites you to join us for the first Chai Wai event of the year! Presented in conjunction with the Library’s September exhibit on international comics, the theme is “Around the World in 2D: Comics, Graphic Novels, and Cartooning.” There will be a lively panel discussion featuring local comics scholars, creators, artists, and animators. Audience members are encouraged to participate in the discussion. This event is free and open to the public and includes light refreshments. For more information, please e-mail Mara Thacker at mthacker@illinois.edu.
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If you would like to submit content for the October issue of Library Office Notes, please submit it to John Wilkin, Beth Sandore, or Tom Teper by Wednesday, September 23, 2015.