September Library Office Notes


ANNOUNCEMENTS

IT NEWS

FACILITIES NEWS

HR NEWS

EVENTS AND TRAINING



ANNOUNCEMENTS: University Librarian Note
A little over a week of the fall semester is now behind us. I’m grateful for campus efforts to ensure safety, starting with developing COVID-19 testing last year and right on through providing safe environments in classrooms and on campus with vaccine and mask requirements. I have to say, it’s been wonderful having people back in the Library. Thanks to all of my colleagues (that includes you!) for doing what they can to ensure effective teaching, study, and research. Read more…
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ANNOUNCEMENTS: Library Building Project Update
Tom Teper, Associate Dean for Collections and Technical Services

Project Meetings for July and August 2021

As reported in last month’s update, representatives from the University Library, University Administration, and Facilities and Services met with members of our Architecture/Engineering (A/E) Team for meeting on July 20th-21st, July 28th, and August 4th. These meetings reviewed the vision and program, provided an opportunity to validate – or confirm – projected spaces, and by August 4th, verify the program (e.g., make sure that both parties are on the same page) and get a sign-off from UIUC on Gross Square Feet (GSF) and Assignable Square Feet (ASF) as well as shelving quantities.

At an August 18th meeting, the A/E presented options related to the addition of a loading dock to the east side of the renovated facility as well as accessible ramping on the building’s western side. The existing ramps are not ADA-compliant. The new ramping would seek to make a generally accessible entrance to the building. Multiple options for a potential loading dock addition were discussed at the meeting. As these plans would change the exterior appearance, project team members followed this meeting with a late-August meeting with the campus’ Architectural Review Committee and are scheduled to meet with the Chancellor’s Design Advisory Committee in early September.

Lastly, a meeting was held on August 26th in which members of the project team, F&S, and the A/E discussed various items related to building code as they intersect with this project. The attendees dedicated significant time to discuss plans related to fire detection and suppression and building occupancy. Additionally, the project team touched on issues related to bathrooms in the renovated facility.

Project-Related Meetings Scheduled for September 2021 (as of 8/27/2021)

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

  • 9/1/2021 – U20118: Undergraduate Library Redevelopment: Planning Options and Shelving Layout
  • 9/2/2021 – Chancellor’s Design Advisory Committee
  • 9/15/2021 – U20118: Undergraduate Library Redevelopment: Plan Selection, Coordination (MEP Systems, Envelop Consultant)
  • 9/22/2011 – Schematic Design LEED Team Meeting
  • 9/29/2021 – U20118: Undergraduate Library Redevelopment: Seating, Interior Concept, Shelving Equipment

Other Activities

While these meetings occurred, members of the Special Collection Division spent a considerable amount of time double-checking previous work they completed to assess the size of their respective collections. Additionally, a team within the division began preparing documentation related to the types of equipment that they believe will be needed in various locations throughout the renovated building. This includes recording and presentation equipment, the technology they believe will be needed for instructional and exhibit purposes, and other miscellaneous equipment. We anticipate that their work will be refined and incorporated more fully into the planning as the project moves forward.

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

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 the 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 on 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.
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ANNOUNCEMENTS: A Reminder about Business Services Operations
Susan Breakenridge, Assistant Dean – Business and Human Resources

A reminder about Business Services Operations – As we start the new fiscal and academic year off, please try to submit your purchase requests and travel request as early as possible to allow our staff time to process the paperwork so purchases don’t become urgent.  The unit is down a position with Donna Hoffman’s recent retirement so we ask for your patience as we manage through the changes.
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ANNOUNCEMENTS: OEC Outreach and Engagement Grant
Through the Library’s Outreach and Engagement funding opportunity, the Library embodies the University’s land grant values and strengthens its commitment to Strategic Direction No. 3: Societal and global impact. Proposals will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and provide funding for up to $500 per event, up to a maximum of $500 per person per fiscal year to be used for outreach and engagement activities. Matching funds from the applicant’s unit or other sources are strongly encouraged. The Outreach and Engagement Committee (OEC) will review proposals based on the OEC Grant Funding Rubric until all allocated funds have been awarded and advance recommendations to the University Librarian. All faculty, APs, and civil service staff are eligible to apply.

Purpose of OEC Funding

  1. To allow for more outreach and engagement activities per year, and to provide for the possibility of larger or more costly events.
  2. To foster the development of collaborative, change-oriented projects that advance community research, learning experiences, and societal well-being.
  3. To advance the Library as a place of convergence and inclusivity for programs that illuminate and address real world

Application Information

If you have any questions, please contact us at OEC@library.illinois.edu or reach out to any of our committee members. There are office hours on September 15 (see below). We look forward to your applications!
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ANNOUNCEMENTS: Alma Squad Report

Alma Staff Training Page

We want to remind all about the Alma Staff Training page at https://www.library.illinois.edu/staff/alma/.

At the revamped site, there are lots of introductory videos and documentation available about working in Alma and the Primo Catalog. We have links out to Ex Libris produced training information, numerous CARLI created aids, and locally recorded Zoom sessions on basic searching and navigation in Alma, Fulfillment activity, Cataloging and Maintenance of titles/records, working in the Primo Catalog. Recently, we have collected all the Alma Tips from this summer into a new section with links to information about QR Codes, working with Host Bibliographic Records in both systems, and Advanced Searching in Alma. There is also a Contact Us section when one has questions or feedback about the Alma or Primo systems.

AlmaStats – Help running analytics in Alma/Primo

We wanted to remind everyone that we have a group ready to help with questions or running analytics work in Alma/Primo. We can help with setting up analytics widgets, running and exporting advanced queries in Alma into spreadsheets of data elements, utilizing Alma or Primo Analytics to run reports for bibliographic data or library activity (loans, requests, historical events, etc.), and pulling in data from external sources to do analysis work of library collections.

There is a library email address to help answer questions about analytics. We will help run any reports to get the data and information you need. This group of Analytics experts includes Michael Norman, BA Howe, Jen Yu, Esra Coskun, Megean Osuchowski, and Janelle Sander, and one of us will guide one through the best way to produce a report or analysis of the dataset you need.

If you have any questions about doing analytics work in Alma/Primo, please contact the Alma Stats group at: almastats@illinois.edu

Information Session on Searching and Navigating in Alma/Primo

See below for an Information Session on September 13.

A previously recorded information session on Searching and Navigating in Alma/Primo is available at this link: https:/uofi.box.com/s/ij0fsmgcictdqijrdhncbiw9blp6gw5l
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ANNOUNCEMENTS: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Task Force Updates
There was one meeting of the Task Force in the past month (August 5). The next meeting is scheduled for September 8; the Year One DEIA Base Survey report will be discussed.

Co-chair and member Jessica Ballard has stepped down from the Task Force; naming a new co-chair is underway. For a list of current members, please visit the Task Force web page at https://www.library.illinois.edu/staff/committee/diversity-equity-inclusion-and-accessibility-deia-task-force/.

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

The next Office Hours will be offered on September 3 from 11-12. Please look for an email with the Zoom link from Co-chair Joe Lenkart via LIB-NEWS. The Task Force would love to hear from colleagues in the Library!
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ANNOUNCEMENTS: Did You Know? A Monthly Factoid from Library Assessment

Since September 2019, the Library has been using Splunk (a large-scale data analysis tool) to process EZproxy logs in order to record the aggregate use of electronic resources by off-campus users. As we approach September 2021, a few trends can be seen in the data over the past two academic years. Off-campus resource use tends to peak in the middle of the Fall and Spring Semesters, especially for undergraduate and graduate students. Staff and faculty also see a higher rate of off-campus resource usage during this time, but generally remain static users throughout the year. Off-campus resource use has generally remained higher after March 2020, when alternative online course delivery started due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Immediately after alternative delivery started, April 2020 saw a peak for undergraduate and staff users. Graduate students and faculty exceeded their April 2020 use in March 2021

Notes: In January and November 2020 there were some issues with Shibboleth that affected data accuracy in Splunk. As a result, the numbers of faculty and staff users during those two months were estimated (shown in dotted lines).

Interested in more EZproxy off-campus library resource use data? Check out these previous factoids:

  • February 2020: Percentage of Students Using Off-Campus Resources by College in Fall 2019
  • March 2020: Percentage of Student Off-Campus Use by College in Fall 2019
  • April 2020: Daily EZproxy Transactions from January 2020 to March 2020
  • June 2020: Comparing Percentages of Student Off-Campus Resource Use in Fall 2019 and Spring 2020

Data visualization and text created by Library Assessment Graduate Assistant Lindsay Taylor.
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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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IT NEWS: Library IT Help Desk Services
Library IT Help Desk will continue offering all services via ticket, phone (217-244-4688), or email (help@library.illinois.edu).  Walk-up service will continue to be suspended until further notice, however, face-to-face appointments will be made as needed. Our service hours are 8:30 am – 5 pm Monday through Friday. Please contact us if you need IT assistance.

Reminders: 
Please update and maintain hours of service for Unit Libraries as they now appear on the Library homepage under the Libraries and Hours tab again. If you need assistance, please contact the Library IT Help Desk.

On a related note, units may want to update their Google Business profile so that it has up-to-date information as well.  If you need assistance with accessing the unit Google Business account, please contact the Library IT Help Desk.
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IT NEWS: Assistance with Uploading COVID Vaccination Record Card
If you have received your COVID-19 vaccine, but haven’t yet uploaded your COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card to McKinley Health Center for inclusion in the Safer Illinois app, the Library IT Help Desk can assist Library faculty and staff with the technical process of uploading it. Instructions are available here. If you need additional assistance, please contact the Library IT Help Desk.
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FACILITIES NEWS: Facilities Updates
Welcome back to campus!! As a new semester has started, the Facilities Team wanted to remind everyone of a few general procedures and policies:

  • For any facility-related request(s) such as furniture needs, key request, event setup, general maintenance, and remodel, or when not sure, please submit a ticket request. This way all of Facilities can track the request and ensure that we are providing the best customer service for you. Our ticketing system has changed to Team Dynamix. These links will help with varied ticket submissions:
  • For shipping/delivery, please bring any shipments to Shipping/Receiving the day prior.  We make daily deliveries starting at 8:00 am, as well as, multiple deliveries throughout the day.  We try to accommodate rush orders but request at least a day’s notice.  Additionally, for any packages being shipped FedEx or UPS, please have them by noon at the shipping/receiving desk at the Main Library.  Lastly, ensure that you please provide as much detail regarding the order as possible (vendor, quantity, price, etc.).

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HR NEWS: Filled Positions

  • J.P. Goguen – Unit Spaces and Technology Support Specialist – UGL – 8/23/2021
  • Siobhan McKissic – Visiting Design and Materials Research Librarian – Ricker Library – 9/1/2021
  • Yungjin Shin – Visiting Project Conservator – Preservation Services – 9/1/2021
  • Sandi Caldrone – Research Data Librarian – Research Data Service – 10/16/2021
  • Evelyn Cordell – Dual Career E-Learning Librarian – Research Information Services – 10/16/2021

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HR NEWS: Departures 

  • Russell Clark – Library Specialist – Grainger – 8/2/2021
  • Erika Johnsrud – Library Specialist – ACS – 8/12/2021

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HR NEWS: Searches Completed 

  • Visiting Design and Materials Research Librarian – Ricker Library, FAC – Kirstin
    Dougan Johnson, Chair

Kick-off meeting scheduled for April 14, 2020. Vacancy Suspended until further notice.
Kick-off meeting held Nov 2, 2020. Awaiting for EC to approve JD. EC approved JD.
Live on the job board. Search closed Jan 29, 2021. Phone screenings were held on Feb 22, 23, and 24. Virtual interviews were held on March 29, April 2, April 5, and April 9. Offer extended. Siobhan McKissic’s start date will be September 1, 2021.

  • Visiting Project Conservator – Preservation Services, AP – Tom Teper, Chair

Kick-off meeting held Nov 5, 2020. JD approved by EC. Live on the job board. Search
closed Jan 22, 2021. Virtual interview held March 23, 2021. Offer Extended. Yungjin
Shin’s start date will be September 1, 2021.

  • 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 were scheduled on April 21, April 22, April 26, April 27, and April 29. Virtual interviews were held on May 17, May 18, May 27, and June 1. Sandi Caldrone’s start date will be October 16, 2021. All documents are with BOT for the next approval meeting in September.

  • 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’s start date will be October 16, 2021. All documents are with
BOT for the next approval meeting in September.
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HR NEWS: Searches in Progress or Pre-announcement

  • 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 were selected, but one withdrew. Phone screenings were scheduled for Aug 16, Aug 17, and Aug 18.

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

The kick-off was scheduled for June 22, 2021. EC approved JD. Job live on the job board. Closing date August 20, 2021.

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

The kick-off was scheduled for August 9, 2021. Awaiting EC approved JD.

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HR NEWS: Searches Approved but on Hold

  • ACS Cataloging Coordinator – Acquisitions and Cataloging Services, AP – Mara
    Thacker, Chair

Kick-off meeting scheduled for May 13, 2020. EC approved position. IHR approved JD Oct 7, 2020. Live on job board. Closed Nov 6, 2020. Phone screenings were held on Jan 4, Jan 5, Jan 6, and Jan 7, 2021. Virtual interviews were held on Feb 17, 23, and 26. CLOSED WITHOUT HIRE.
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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: NISO Webinar – Data: Creation, Stewardship, Use
September 8 at 10 AM

Now, more than ever, the information community is thinking about data and how best to
support its creation, stewardship, and use Whether we are talking about content as data, research data, or data pertaining to online use and behaviors, we continue to amass ever-more data with no plan for storing it, no good way to parse it, and nothing but a vague hope of “automating” the hard work of cleaning it up, which only creates problems down the road. This webinar will assess the data needs of researchers and the response from the information community, from a variety of perspectives.

Please email training@library.illinois.edu for login credentials or recordings.
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EVENTS AND TRAINING: September SoTL Discussion
September 9 at 3 PM

Continuation of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning series. Zoom information will be shared via LibNews closer to the event date.
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EVENTS AND TRAINING: Information Session on Searching and Navigating in Alma/Primo
September 13 at 1 PM

On September 13, 2021, we will have a new introductory session on searching and navigating in Alma/Primo. There will be a recording of these sessions posted to the Alma Staff Training page.

Topic: Introductory session on Searching and Navigating in Alma/Primo
September 13, 2021 @ 1-2 pm Zoom Session

Join Zoom Meeting
https://illinois.zoom.us/j/87966775277?pwd=TEJWampadzRLcW1qUDJ5S2xVVGRuUT09 
Meeting ID: 879 6677 5277
Password: 709925
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EVENTS AND TRAINING: Women in Science Lecture Series: Dr. Margarita Terán-Garcia
September 14, 12 – 1pm

Join us for the University of Illinois Archives’ monthly Women in Science Lecture. Dr. Terán, Assistant Professor of Nutritional Sciences, will share her research on obesity including genetic and environmental influences on obesity and diseases related to obesity. Please visit https://distributedmuseum.illinois.edu/about/women-in-science-lecture-series/ for more information and the registration link.
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EVENTS AND TRAINING: Fall OEC Grant Office Hours
September 15, 2pm

The Outreach and Engagement Committee is offering Office Hours to answer questions about the Outreach and Engagement Grant. Please lookout for an email from OEC Chair Shelby Strommer with the Zoom link.
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EVENTS AND TRAINING: Library Hangout
September 22, 10am

Mark your calendars and watch for an email (with a Zoom link) from Lucretia Williams via LIB-NEWS.
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EVENTS AND TRAINING: Mariselle Melendez: Reading Colonial Latin America through Primary Sources in the Rare Book & Manuscript Library
September 29, 3pm

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If you would like to submit content for the October issue of Library Office Notes, please submit it to Heather Murphy or Tom Teper by September 17, 2021.