December Library Office Notes


ANNOUNCEMENTS

HR NEWS

IT NEWS

FACILITIES

EVENTS AND TRAINING



ANNOUNCEMENTS: University Librarian Note
Check back next month for a new Note from Dean Wilkin.
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ANNOUNCEMENTS: Library Recognition Event
The Library will host the annual Library Recognition Event on Wednesday, January 15, at the Illini Union. We will be closing all libraries from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on the morning of January 15th for this event.

The event will begin at 8:30 a.m. that morning. We will have a breakfast, service recognition awards, civil service and AP award ceremonies, some networking time, and a lunch that will last until 1:00 p.m. We encourage everyone to attend. Those who do not wish to attend should work with their unit head to request a vacation day (or half-day) or make arrangements with their unit head to work in the unit that morning.

Please mark your calendars now and plan to attend this event. We promise a great meal, good conversation, and some light-hearted fun.
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ANNOUNCEMENTS: Library Building Project Update
Check back next month. And, plan on attending the next Quarterly Library Update Meeting for more information (watch for meeting details via LIBNEWS).
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ANNOUNCEMENTS: ILS Coordination Team Report
Michael Norman, Discovery Services Librarian and ILS Coordinator

The Alma/Primo VE implementation is progressing into the 2nd Test Phase for both systems. The Library received the Alma Test Instance on October 23rd. It was in a read-only state through November 6th and it has now been released to the ILS Coordination Team to start the configuration and customization work to re-establish the settings we instituted during the Vanguard Test phase of the implementation. By mid-December, we will have the configuration we want and then we will be ready to show the Alma system to the Library in January. Currently, Ex Libris is running a little behind schedule in releasing our Test Instance of Primo VE. We were supposed to gain access to this test instance on November 11th. Within the next 2 weeks, we should get access to the fully functional Primo VE Discovery layer, work to return the configurations to the previously determined settings during the Vanguard Test Phase, and then the ILS Coordination Team will do an internal launch and showcase the new Primo VE instance to the Library after January 2, 2020 for everyone to explore.

Timeline for introduction of Alma/Primo VE going forward into the Spring Semester, 2020:

Library-wide Alma/Primo VE information session: To see both Alma and Primo VE in action, there will be a Library-wide information session on January 16th, 2020. It will be a live onsite session from 10 to 11:30 am in Room 106 but we will also broadcast the presentation out as a Zoom interactive video conference session as well. The session will be recorded and posted to the ILS Coordination Team website as well for later viewing.

Alma/Primo VE Early Adopter Test Stage: Starting in January 2020, we will kick off the Alma/Primo VE Early Adopter Test Stage as well. We are pulling individuals from departmental and unit libraries into learning the Alma Back-End work functional areas and have this team of early adopters help us continue the testing of data migrated and mapped over from Voyager to Alma. These sessions will start on January 8th and continue through the end of January 2020.

Library-wide Training on Alma/Primo VE: Starting in February/March 2020, we will start offering Library-wide training sessions of Alma and Primo VE to get everyone familiar and ready to use both systems before the Go-Live date in June 2020. Stay tuned for announcements after the first of the year for these hands-on training sessions.

For more information about the Alma/Primo VE implementation, see the full monthly report of the ILS Coordination Team at: https://www.library.illinois.edu/geninfo/discoveryservices/ils-coordination-team/ 
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ANNOUNCEMENTS: Grant Announcements for External Fundraisers
As always, if you are interested in all grant opportunities across disciplines, feel free to subscribe to the OVCR’s list at https://groups.webservices.illinois.edu/subscribe/19149.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Heidi Imker.

01/15/2020 – University of Illinois – Campus Research Board

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

01/16/2020 – NHPRC – Access to Historical Records: Major Initiatives (Preliminary)

02/01/2020 – IMLS – Collections Assessment for Preservation Program

02/05/2020 – Public Scholar Program
Output: Book

02/13/2020 – Summer Seminars and Institutes for Higher Education Faculty
Output: Conference/Institute/Seminar

02/13/2020 – Summer Seminars and Institutes for K-12 Faculty
Output: Conference/Institute/Seminar

03/04/2020 – University of Illinois – Campus Research Board

03/04/2020 – Institutes for Advanced Topics in Digital Humanities
Output: Conference/Institute/Seminar

04/08/2020 – NEH-Mellon Fellowships for Digital Publication
Output: Digital Material & Publications

05/15/2020 – NEH Research and Development
Output: Web Resources, Report, Computer Program

05/15/2020 – NEH Preservation and Access Education and Training
Output: Preservation Course or Curricular Materials, Conservation Graduate Program, Preservation Workshop, Fellow Positions in Conservation

05/15/2020 – NEH Infrastructure and Capacity Building Challenge Grants
Output: Buildings, Equipment, Digital Infrastructure

06/19/2020 – NEH Digital Projects for the Public
Output: Game/Simulation, Mobile App, Virtual/Augmented Reality, Website

07/15/2020 – NEH Humanities Collections and Reference Resources
Output: Digitized Collection, Web Resources, Catalogs, Databases, Encyclopedias

08/20/2020 – NEH Fellowship Programs at Independent Research Institutions Output: Fellowships

09/16/2020 – NEH Humanities Connections Implementation Grants
Output: Linked Courses, Curriculum, Community Partnerships, Faculty Development, Teaching Resources

09/16/2020 – NEH Humanities Connections Planning Grants
Output: Curriculum, Community Partnerships, Faculty development, Teaching Resources
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ANNOUNCEMENTS: Did You Know? A Monthly Factoid from Library Assessment

The University Library recorded 322,962 initial circulations during Fiscal Year 2019, which shows a 2% increase from Fiscal Year 2018 (316,273). Academic libraries use “initial circulations,” which does not include reserves and loanable technology or e-book usage, as an important metric to assess the use of a physical collection. During FY18, the Library recorded the second highest number of initial circulations among BTAA libraries (#8 among 116 ARL university libraries).
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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 November LTOTM at https://emails.illinois.edu/newsletter/238589.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: Departures

  • Kathie Veach – Resignation, BHRSC (November 18)
  • Megan Ozeran – Resignation, Scholarly Commons (December 15)
  • Carole Kopp – Retirement, BHRSC (December 31)
  • Eileen Schroeder – Retirement, BHRSC (December 31)
  • Candice Woodrum – Resignation, BHRSC (December 31)

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HR NEWS: Filled Positions

  • Brenda Brown – Office Support Associate, BHRSC (November 11)
  • Carrie Lingscheit – Office Support Specialist, RBML (December 9)

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HR NEWS: Vacancies

  • Library Specialist – ACES
  • Library Specialist with language specialty – ACS
  • Grants & Contracts Specialist/Coordinator – BHRSC
  • Distribution Clerk – Facilities
  • Distribution Clerk – Oak Street Library Facility

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IT NEWS: IT Accessibility Liaisons in the Library
The Technology Accessibility Review Committee (TARC) was formed and charged with the duty of finalizing and implementing the policy. One of the initiatives started by the TARC is called the IT Accessibility Liaison (ITAL) program. The purpose of this program is to establish point-people in all campus units to serve as resources for digital accessibility. We have had 4 staff participating in this program from the Library since it started in February, and 2 additional staff members have been participating this fall.  The goal is to enhance our accessibility expertise within our Web Team and SCaRS development team so that we can deliver an accessible virtual experience to our patrons through our websites and repository applications and so that we can provide that expertise to the Library.

If you would like to engage the team for an assessment of a website, application, or product, please email help@library.illinois.edu. The team had training in building accessible email as well. If you would like any of your mass distribution email templates reviewed, feel free to request an assessment of those also.
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IT NEWS: No Change Period
Library IT will observe a no-change period leading up to and through final exams. IT will make no changes to production services between 12:01 a.m. Monday, December 9, through 11:59 p.m. on Friday, December 20. Changes may still be made if necessary for stability or security, but as many changes as possible will be deferred until after the new year.
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FACILITIES: Update
Tim Newman, Assistant Dean for Facilities

Progress continues within the Reading Room (Room 200) and with the 1st floor information desk. Both projects are still on schedule.

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: Brownbag: Illinois Experts: Exploring Your Faculty Profile
December 4, 2019
12:00 – 1:00 p.m., 314 Main Library

Presenter: Mark Zulauf, Coordinator for Researcher Information Systems
Please register for this event
This is a brownbag so feel free to bring your lunch!

Since the Publications by University of Illinois Library Faculty database is being retired, the Research and Publication Cmte would like to invite you to a brownbag where you can learn more about Illinois Experts and how to setup your profile and add publications. All are invited and we would like to especially encourage Library faculty to update their Experts profile.
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EVENTS AND TRAINING: NISO Webinar – Where Does It Live?

Finding the Space: Redesign and Re-Allocation, Part One
December 11, 2019
12:00 – 1:30 p.m., 428 Main Library

String Collections On and Off Campus, Part Two
December 18, 2019
12:00 – 1:30 p.m., 428 Main Library

Particularly in the humanities where the scholarly monograph is of critical importance, where and how scholars may access books is a sensitive issue. How should libraries be communicating with their communities about issues of access, convenience and responsiveness when it comes to the printed volumes that may take up so many valuable square feet of the library’s physical plant? Automation and off-site storage represent a wonderful benefit to institutions, but do researchers feel their needs have been slighted? How best to engage with the community on sensitive issues of preservation and best practice?
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If you would like to submit content for the January issue of Library Office Notes, please submit it to Heather Murphy or Tom Teper by December 13, 2019.