Weekly Review

UK Libraries National Advisory Board Fall Meeting:

During its fall meeting this week the UK Libraries National Advisory Board had an opportunity to learn more about UK Libraries strategic goals and special initiatives. Mary Molinaro, Deirdre Scaggs, and Eric Weig made a presentation on several digital projects underway including upgrades to the KY Digital Library and Exploring UK. They also emphasized the important role that digitized unique materials play in both research and undergraduate education.

Greg Casey discussed with the board his goals as Director of Development and stressed the important role that board members play in the success of UK Libraries development.

President Eli Capilouto joined the board for lunch in the Boone Center and afterwards thanked the board for their service to UK Libraries and reviewed his goals as president.


Gail Kennedy Will Begin Phased Retirement:

Gail Kennedy will begin phased retirement beginning July 1, 2012 when she begins a half-time assignment in Special Collections focusing on unique fine arts collections.

To facilitate a smooth transition in the Fine Arts Library, Gail will step down from her current position as Director of the Fine Arts Library on February 1, 2012. An internal search will be conducted for a Head of the Fine Arts Library.

Since 1974 Gail has helped lead UK Libraries from the era of manual typewriters and catalog cards to the current digital world of librarianship. She has been a positive force for change while always keeping the needs of library users in mind. She has serve as Head of Acquisitions, Head of Circulation, Assistant Director for Technical Services, Associate Director of Libraries, Director of Branch Libraries, and Director of the Lucille Little Fine Arts Library

In every position Gail Kennedy has been innovative and a mentor and role model for generations of librarians. Beyond her specific library positions Gail found time to serve as adjunct faculty in the UK School of Library and Information Science for nearly ten years teaching cataloging, Library Networks, and Technical Services.

Gail has taught UK101 for UK freshmen since 2008. She has served on the University Appeals Board and recently chaired the College of Fine Arts External Review Committee. Gail has held numerous posts in the American Library Association and served as President of the Library Leadership and Management Association. She served on the Board of Directors of the Southeastern Library Network (SOLINET) during a crucial time of development for online cataloging.

In 1991 Gail was recognized as the Outstanding Academic Librarian of the Year by the Kentucky Library Association. This year she received the Outstanding Alumna award from UK’s School of Library and Information Science.

We appreciate Gail’s contributions during her career at UK and are pleased that she will continue half-time during her phased retirement in this important assignment.


UK Libraries Well Represented in Presidents Report to the Board:

Each meeting of the UK Board of Trustees, President Capilouto highlights recent accomplishments within the university. This week the President’s Report contained nine items that described initiatives and activities within UK Libraries and accomplishments by UK faculty and staff.

http://www.uky.edu/Trustees/agenda/full/2011/oct/pr1.pdf


Year of China:

In a recent press release, Whitney Hale focused on how UK’s Year of China initiative sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences relies on campus collaboration including UK Libraries:

UK Libraries Director of International Programs Toni Greider began seriously thinking about the Year of China last April when she had two visiting Chinese scholars in the library. UK Libraries serve the entire campus and has a unique opportunity to collaborate, said Greider.

UK subject librarians work closely with their respective units, University Archives preserves the campus history and the William T. Young Library provides a space for interaction by faculty and students from all areas of campus.

"This was an initiative that was a good match for what we have to offer," she said. "What makes it unique is the blending of classes focusing on China along with cultural events and public venues. This blending of the academic with the extracurricular makes these types of initiatives more integrated into the campus community."

UK Libraries has quite an ambitious Year of China agenda, from exhibits of Chinese literature, instruments and video, to presentations on Chinese medicine and an electronic research guide for beginning research on China.

The entire press release can be found here: http://uknow.uky.edu/content/year-china-relies-campus-collaboration


Thanks to Whitney Hale, Judy Sackett, and Lewis Warden for their contributions to the Weekly Review.


Terry Birdwhistell
Dean of Libraries

Weekly Review

Presidential Investiture:

I want to thank all UK Libraries faculty and staff who participated in the investiture activities this week. Several faculty marched in academic regalia for the investiture and many other faculty and staff attended the event.

On Wednesday morning President Eli Capilouto and Dr. Mary Lynne Capilouto were joined by over fifty family members and close friends for a tour of the William T. Young Library. Several UK Libraries faculty and staff were present to greet the group. After a brief orientation near the tapestry which included a welcome by former President Charles Wethington, our guests were divided into two groups led by Stacey Greenwell and Shawn Livingston.


Map Cataloging Project Completed:

UK Libraries faculty and staff in Collections and Technical Services (CTS) work hard to provide access to our collections. These are often very large projects that require skill, creativity, and persistence.

October 6, 2011 saw the completion of a map cataloging project that started nine years ago. Beginning in 2002, Mary Spencer, Geological Sciences Academic Liaison, identified and sent over 15,000 shelf list cards for geology maps to OCLC for retrospective conversion. OCLC found records for nearly 12,500 of the maps. In 2004, Gwen Curtis, Maps Selector and Cataloger, took over the project. Gwen solved the problems that were left over from OCLC’s work and cataloged the remaining 3,272 maps. Records for UK Libraries’ state, national, and international geologic map resources are now available to researchers via WorldCat.


White House Calligrapher:

Rick Paulus, former chief calligrapher of the White House and protocol officer for the U.S. Department of State, spoke Friday on the role the beautifully designed, hand-created graphics played at America’s Executive Mansion. "From the White House to the Sea," was sponsored by the King Library Press and UK Libraries.

Paulus also conducted a workshop during his visit. The King Library Press is devoted to the tradition of fine printing and produces books and broadsides. Recent publications available from KLP include a portfolio of five poems by Kentucky Poet Laureate Jane Gentry Vance, Necia Harkless's "Heart to Heart" and Abraham Lincoln's "Second Inaugural Address."


Estate of Professor John Keller Donates Large Collection to UK Libraries:

UK Libraries received a major gift from the estate of Dr. John Esten Keller, professor emeritus in Hispanic Studies and medieval Spanish scholar. Professor Keller is credited with the establishment of UK’s Hispanic Studies Department in 1967 when he returned to UK from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill bringing six other professors and 25 graduate students with him. He became the Director of UK's College of Letters and Languages and chair of the Spanish and Italian Department. Over the years, this department has always been one of UK’s top programs and we are certainly fortunate to have had Professor Keller's leadership and now to have his important book collection as well.

Professor Keller was known as a medieval scholar and lectured in English and Spanish on the Canticles of Alfonso X, the Learned, a 13th century Spanish king at more than 60 institutions throughout the world. In 1985, King Juan Carlos conferred the Order of Alfonso X, one of Spain's oldest and prestigious awards, for his work on Spanish literature and culture. In addition, he served on the board of the Medieval Academy of America and served on the editorial board of its publication "Speculum." He served on the editorial board of the "Studies in Romance Languages", "Kentucky Romance Quarterly", and president of South Atlantic Modern Language Association.

The gift to UK Libraries exceeds 3,000 volumes and will contribute additional strength to the collections, particularly in the areas of history and Hispanic studies.


Information Literacy and QEP:

UK's Quality Enhancement Plan embraces the concepts of teaching information literacy skills and “interdisciplinary approaches to teaching and learning through collaboration.” Translated into a classroom experience, Instruction Librarians Debbie Sharp and Robert Shapiro recently developed and co-taught an information literacy instructional session for an undergraduate writing class.

In an excellent example of interdisciplinary collaboration, Robert, who normally teaches medical students, teamed with Debbie to teach research skills to students in English 205, Intermediate Writing: The Rhetoric(s) of Disease, in which students were asked to interpret, analyze, and evaluate the rhetorical strategies surrounding disease.

The cross-campus collaboration was a success on all accounts. Instructor Katherine Carpenter called the session "outstanding library instruction" and added, "The information and activities you provided were a tremendous help to my students and the reference guide is fantastic."

UK Libraries are committed to undergraduate education and look forward to more opportunities for successful collaborations.


East Meets West in The Hub:

This past Wednesday UK faculty, staff, and students along with UK’s Confucius Center staff and invited guests participated in the unveiling of the Chinese Cultural Exhibit located in Core 1 of The Hub in the William T. Young Library. The exhibit was made possible by a grant from Haban (The Office of the Chinese Language Council) in Beijing, China and is designed to introduce Chinese calligraphy, opera, music and other cultural arts from China to American students.

The exhibit contains two kiosks which provide interactive opportunities to be a Beijing Opera performer or to learn Chinese calligraphy as well as displays regarding Chinese cuisine and paper cutting along with a Chinese dynasty timeline. Following the dedication four Chinese visitors (three from University of Shanghai and one from the Haban Office in Detroit) toured Young Library.

Jen Bartlett, Head of Reference Services, worked with the Confucius Center in designing and installing the display. The exhibit will be in Core 1 for the remainder of the academic year. Special thanks to Jennifer Richmond for creating the Chinese Art Exhibit currently running on The Hub’s video windows.


Oral History Association Annual Meeting:

The Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History was well represented last week at the Oral History Association's annual meeting in Denver, Colorado. The conference theme was “Memories of Conflict and Disaster: Oral History and the Politics of Truth, Trauma, and Reconciliation." Dr. Doug Boyd served as the keynote speaker on Friday speaking about oral history in the digital age and the recent work of the Nunn Center. Doug and Sara Abdmishani Price taught a pre-conference workshop for 40 participants about digital preservation of oral history and they both served on the panel “From Combat to Kentucky: Student Veteran Oral History Project.” Sara also chaired the panel “Community, Conquest, and Childlessness: The Role of Oral History in Gambia's Past and Present” and served on the conference program committee as well.


Personnel Update:

Lyndsey Calico has been promoted from Library Technician to Library Technician Senior and starts her new position in Digital Scholarship, Collections and Technical Services, October 24. Lyndsey, who has a Master's in Library & Information Science from UK, has been with UK Libraries since 2006.

Jennifer Richmond has resigned her position in The Hub to accept the Library Technician position in Cataloging and Metadata, Collections and Technical Services Division. Jennifer has been with UK Libraries since 2007 and will begin her new position on November 7.


Open Access Week October 24 – 30, 2011:

• A global event, now in its 5th year, promoting Open Access as a new norm in scholarship and research. http://www.openaccessweek.org/


Thanks to Kerri Scannell Baunach, Lyndsey Calico, Gwen Curtis, Toni Greider, Judy Fugate, Judy Sackett, and Debbie Sharp for their contributions to the Weekly Review.



Terry Birdwhistell
Dean of Libraries

Weekly Review

Lexington Bungalows Featured:

Dr. James D. Birchfield, Curator of Rare Books, has a new article in the fall 2011 issue of American Bungalow entitled; “The Bungalow Charm of Lexington, Ky.” The article notes that “From horse farms to family homes, bungalow style is a perfect match to Lexington’s longstanding air of Southern hospitality.”

http://www.americanbungalow.com/2011/09/issue-71-toc/

Dr. Birchfield is also the author of, Clay Lancaster's Kentucky: Architectural Photographs of a Preservation Pioneer (University Press of Kentucky, 2007)


Toni Greider Named Chair of Education Abroad Committee:



UK Libraries Director of International Programs Toni Greider has been named chair the Education Abroad committee of the UK International Advisory Council. The committee has an ambitious agenda that includes not only management of travel to State Department-warning countries but also new models for operating education-abroad programs. The committee seeks to gain open faculty input.

In making the appointment Susan Carvalho, Associate Provost for International Programs, noted Toni’s “experience and commitment” to international programs and her “recognized leadership role.”


Information Literacy Update:

This is the first of regular updates from UK Libraries Information Literacy Committee comprised of Debbie Sharp, Chair, Valerie Perry, Sara Abdmishani Price, Sarah Vaughn, and Chris Worland.

Creating re-usable content is invaluable when all of us are so busy. Chris Worland recently took an idea adapted from one of last May's LOEX presentations and turned it into a creative and engaging Prezi. LOEX (referred to by its acronym because its original name lost all meaning a long time ago) is the premier conference for instruction librarians.

Chris took the idea from "Gun Control is Not a Research Question" by Beverly Kutz at UT-Chattanooga and turned it into a creative and engaging Prezi. Sue Smith and Kathryne LeFevre saw it and immediately realized the potential and re-usability. Chris re-worked the content with their assistance and created a Prezi they used for their freshman civil engineering class.

See them for yourself:

http://prezi.com/u4mc9ebz256h/gun-control-revolving/

http://prezi.com/gjaomhnwg5ix/wind-energy-is-not-a-research-question/

This is an excellent example of collaboration between information literacy services and academic liaisons. It also enables us to deliver consistent content across disciplines. And oh, by the way, Chris shared his Prezi with Beverly Kutz. She was so pleased with it that she said she would now use his Prezi in her presentations. Collaboration goes full circle.


Great Lakes eSummit:

Esta Day, technician in the Electronic Resources Unit, attended the Great Lakes eSummit October 9-11. The conference focused on strategies for resolving e-resource access issues and sought to foster collaboration between information professionals. Sessions were conducted in a “workshop format” which combined group discussion of issues with presentations from regional experts. Attendees included a diverse mix of librarians from public, health and academic libraries and a number of publisher and vendor representatives.


Thanks to Kate Seago, Deirdre Scaggs, and Debbie Sharp for their contributions to the Weekly Review.


Terry Birdwhistell
Dean of Libraries

Weekly Review

Kentucky Library Association Fall Meeting:


UK Libraries was well-represented at the September 28 - October 1 Kentucky Library Association/Kentucky School Media Association Joint Conference in Louisville. Terri Brown and Jen Bartlett presented a session on the importance of Circulation and Reference services working together efficiently. Reinette Jones joined with Kelli Scott of the Paris-Bourbon County Public Library on a program describing how their libraries partnered on an oral history/community history project. Jason Keinsley spoke on the considerable issues Library Technologies has successfully dealt with in upgrading 700 computers, 100 printers, and associated software - all in one calendar year. Additionally, Peter Hesseldenz, Business Librarian, gave a poster session reporting his exploration of a fee-based service for business information.

A highlight of the conference was a session titled "KLA Speed Geek", facilitated by Beth Kraemer, featuring informal and interactive demonstrations of numerous electronic projects similar to the session experienced at UK Libraries’ fall faculty retreat. Those participating, some on multiple demos, included Julene Jones, Kathryn Lybarger, Kelly Vickery, Jen Bartlett, Carla Cantagallo, Jason Keinsley, Beth Kraemer, Laura Davison, Mary Congleton, Peter Hesseldenz, Susan Foster-Harper, Tag Heister, Rick Brewer, Sara Abdmishani Price, Doug Boyd, and Katie Henningsen.


Medical Center Library Receives Health Literacy Grant:

MCL has received a $25,000 grant to support "Kentucky Health Literacy for the Community." The grant runs through August 31, 2012. Funds will be used to purchase iPads and small projectors for training. The grant will also cover a percentage of Jane Bryant’s (Health Literacy Librarian) time and her travel to four partner sites in Rockcastle County, Calloway County, Jefferson County, and Fayette County.


Mary Molinaro Named to Library of Congress Steering Committee:

Associate Dean for Library Technologies Mary Molinaro has been appointed a member of the Digital Preservation Outreach and Education (DPOE) Initiative Steering Committee for the Library of Congress. LC officials noted that they hope to draw upon Mary’s “experience and insight as the Library of Congress moves forward with this nationwide effort to promote digital preservation.”

The mission of DPOE is to foster national outreach and education to encourage individuals and organizations to actively preserve their digital content, building on a collaborative network of instructors, contributors, and institutional partners.


Thanks to Judy Sackett and Janet Stith for their contributions to the Weekly Review.


Terry Birdwhistell
Dean of Libraries

Weekly Review

UK Libraries Receives IMLS Grant for Advancing Digital Resources:

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)announced this week a $195,853 grant to UK Libraries. UK Library Technologies and the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History have created an Oral History Metadata Synchronizer (OHMS) tool that allows users to search more easily for specific terms within recorded interviews, and to go to the place in the interview where these terms occur.

The project team which includes Mary Molinaro, Eric Weig and Doug Boyd, will further develop OHMS into an open-source software tool that will develop compatibility with open source content management systems such as OMEKA and KORA, and larger scale commercial systems such as CONTENTdm.

The team will work directly with multiple institutions including Michigan State University, Baylor University, Oklahoma State University and Cleveland State University that employ different content management systems in order to test the different layers of compatibility with OHMS. This tool will enable a wide variety of libraries and archives to enrich the use of digital oral history collections. The project team also will produce multimedia tutorials on the use, installation, and deployment of the OHMS tool.


Bequest Received From Former Librarian Cheryl Jones:

Many of us fondly remember Cheryl Jones, who joined UK Libraries in 1975 as Public Services Librarian in the Law Library, where she worked for the majority of her career, and served as Interim Director on more than one occasion. Later she transferred to Special Collections, where she worked until her retirement in January 2001. Cheryl became interested in preservation and did an internship in Book Preservation at the Yale University Library while on sabbatical in 1982, later serving on and chairing the Preservation Committee in its early days.

Cheryl died this past July and we recently learned that she left a bequest to UK Libraries that has been placed in the Enrichment Fund.


Personnel Changes:

Zachary Hays has been hired for the Inter-Library Loan Technician position in the Medical Center Library.
He has worked as a student assistant in the MCL since 2009 and last year was honored as one of UK Libraries' student assistants of the year. Zach is completing a Sociology degree at UK. He will transfer to his regular staff position on October 10.

Carrie Wallis, Library Technician Senior in Special Formats, Collections and Technical Services Division, has resigned her position. Carrie has been employed with UK Libraries since March 2008 and her last day will be October 7. We thank her for her good work and many contributions to the Little Fine Arts Library and to Special Collections.

Mike Howard in Facilities has given notice of his retirement, after 29 years of service to UK. Before joining UK Libraries 18 years ago, Mike worked in UK Stores and the UK Bookstore. His last day will be January 3, 2012.

As previously announced, we also say good-bye next week to Kathy Franklin who is retiring, and to Cheri Daniels, who is going to the Kentucky Historical Society.

Best wishes and congratulations to you all!


Provost Will Meet with UK Libraries Executive Committee on October 5:

Provost Subbaswamy will join the Executive Committee on Wednesday, October 5 for a lunch meeting in Young Library to discuss UK Libraries initiatives.


UK Archives YouTube Channel:

UK Archives has digitized another historical film, this one featuring President Frank Dickey and offering a glimpse of UK during the late 50’ss and early 60’s: http://ukyarchives.blogspot.com/2011/09/kentuckys-university.html

All of the historical films can be found on UK Archives’ YouTube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/ukyarchives?blend=12&ob=5

The films were digitized by the MediaPreserve at Preservation Technologies.


Fayette County UK Alumni Club Big Blue Basketball Tip-Off Will Feature Doug Boyd:

UK alumni and friends will tip-off the 2011-12 basketball season with Coach Matthew Mitchell and a trip down Wildcat Memory Lane with Dr. Doug Boyd, director of the UK Libraries Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History. The October 6 event will be held from 6:00-7:30 pm in the King Alumni House. Guests will enjoy a special Big Blue Archive video presentation featuring Kentucky greats including Coach Adolph Rupp, Bill Keightly and Claude Sullivan. Coach Mitchell will get the evening started with updates on UK Hoops!

Cost is $20 for a UK Alumni Association member and $25 for a nonmember and includes admission to the event, hors d'oevres and a chance to win two lower arena UNC vs. UK men's basketball tickets.


Open Access:

Mary Beth Thomson and Terry Birdwhistell met recently with the University Senate Council to discuss promoting open access at UK. This issue will also be the on the agenda of an upcoming Senate Library Committee to discuss a process for campus-wide conversations regarding the move towards open access. Last week Princeton University made a bold move towards open access by requiring their faculty not to give up copyright to publishers. The entire story can be found in the Chronicle:

http://theconversation.edu.au/princeton-goes-open-access-to-stop-staff-handing-all-copyright-to-journals-unless-waiver-granted-3596


Thanks to Mary Molinaro, Judy Sackett, and Deirdre Scaggs for their contributions to the Weekly Review.



Terry Birdwhistell
Dean of Libraries