UK Libraries Celebrates Chinese New Year:

As this year has been declared the Year of China by University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences, it seems fitting that the UK Libraries publically celebrate the Chinese New Year with an exhibit of materials from its collections. An exhibition of postcards and artifacts from the country can be found on display now through the spring semester at three of UK's campus libraries, the Lucille C. Little Fine Arts Library and Learning Center, the Medical Center Library and William T. Young Library.

For more information go to: http://uknow.uky.edu/content/uk-libraries-celebrates-chinese-new-year


ARC Added as Center of Excellence in ASERL Collaborative Federal Depository Program:

The University of Kentucky has created the most complete collection of Works Progress Administration (WPA) publications in the Southeast, and will now add the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) as a second Center of Excellence in the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL) Collaborative Federal Depository Program. The ARC Center of Excellence will benefit from and complement the Appalachian Regional Commission's library and archives that has been held in Special Collections since 1989.

ASERL, in partnership with UK Libraries and other depositories across the Southeast, has been working to create collaborative centers of excellence among federally designated depository libraries since 2007. These efforts are being supported by an IMLS Leadership Grant that ends this year. The objective of this project is to improve access to federal government publications and create a model for improving depository library services and operations. ASERL and its partners are testing a plan to create comprehensive collections of tangible, legacy publications for each federal agency, with cataloging and provision of expert subject-based reference support services.

More information on this ASERL project can be found at: http://www.aserl.org/programs/gov-doc/


Provost Subbaswamy Encourages Education Abroad:

Let me take a moment to enlist your help in encouraging our faculty to support, and our students to participate in education abroad.

We know that education abroad is an important pathway for graduating globally-ready students. Ongoing research continues to demonstrate that education abroad leads to improved academic performance upon returning to campus, higher graduation rates, and a broadened understanding of and engagement with the world. I know you will share my appreciation of the fact that today’s education abroad programs fit the academic needs of students in various disciplines, not just language majors, and that there are numerous scholarships and financial aid options, internally and externally, available to support them.

Important upcoming events:

• The Office of International Affairs is hosting a Spring Education Abroad Fair on Wednesday, February 1, 11 a.m-3 p.m. in the Grand Ballroom of the UK Student Center. This event is designed to encourage students to explore opportunities for studying abroad this summer. It’s also a perfect chance to learn about 30+ UK faculty-led programs, get expert advice on dozens of other summer offerings, learn about an array of international internship opportunities, and chat with students who’ve been abroad.

• OIA is also holding a Faculty Information Session on teaching abroad opportunities from 10:00-11:00 a.m. on the same day as the Spring Fair (Wed. 2/1/2012) in the Grand Ballroom. Please plan to attend, to meet with many of our partners and discuss various opportunities for teaching UK students abroad.

Esta Day Begins New Position:

Esta Day has accepted the position of Library Technician Senior in Electronic Resources, Collections and Technical Services Division, where she has been employed as a Library Technician since June, 2011. Previously, Esta worked in the Fine Arts Library and in Special Collections. She expects to complete a master’s degree in Library and Information Science from UK this May. Esta's first day in her new position was January 25, 2012. We congratulate Esta and wish her well on her promotion!


Collections and Technical Services Completes Important Transition:

Effective February 1, 2012, WilsonWeb will retire after many years of service to the library community following a merger with EBSCO. The Electronic Resources unit, along with Rob Aken, completed the migration of our current subscriptions to the EbscoHost platform. All of our Wilson databases now appear on the EBSCOhost menu and are listed appropriately under the Databases tab on the website.

Users who have set up “My WilsonWeb” accounts should transition to “My EBSCOhost” before February 1st. In some cases, we will have access to increased full text, as EBSCO has consolidated and upgraded the content of some overlapping databases. Wilson databases with only limited seats have been upgraded to site licenses at no additional cost (such as Art Index Retrospective).

The UK Libraries’ GetText service (SFX) plans to have the new resource and journal links in the February update, and until then the current GetText journal links will redirect.

• For further information, please see the FAQs: http://support.ebsco.com/knowledge_base/detail.php?topic=996&id=5702&page=1
• For a list of the Wilson vs. EBSCOHost databases, you will find a table at http://support.epnet.com/uploads/kb/wilsontransitionplan.pdf . Please contact LIB-ER@lsv.uky.edu if you have any questions about the transition.

Carpet Replacement in Young Library:

This past week a carpet renovation project was completed in the William T. Young Library. Over 1,300 square yards of carpet was replaced, which covered eleven different areas in Young Library. The 2nd floor rotunda (Toyota Room), 5th floor rotunda (Charles T. Wethington Room), study room 3-59, study room 1-49, the elevators, and a variety of other areas that needed replacement. The Facilities team worked closely with PPD to coordinate the efforts and funding was provided by the Provost Office for the installation costs.


Thanks to Stephanie Aken, John Burger, Whitney Hale, Stephen Sizemore, Provost Subbaswamy, and Mary Beth Thomson for their contributions to this week’s review.


Terry Birdwhistell
Dean of Libraries

Women and Philanthropy Gift Will Support Student Internship:

The UK Women & Philanthropy Network has provided a scholarship to UK Libraries Special Collections in the amount of $4,576 to support Deirdre Scaggs’ proposal for a Women & Philanthropy Internship.  The internship will provide a Library and Information Science (LIS) graduate student first-hand experience with archival collections. 

The breadth of the women’s holdings in Special Collections covers an important period in American and southern history - not only for women, but for adult and children's education, health, and politics.  There is not a similar comprehensive body of research presently available within Kentucky.  While each of these collections is individually significant, the collections together create an invaluable and comprehensive window to the progressive era in the south. 

Access to these materials will most certainly fill a critical gap in southern women's history.  The study of women's roles in southern history spans class, culture, race, national identity, and politics.  While these stories have often been underrepresented in past historical studies, current researchers seek out these types of collections for study. Making primary sources from Kentucky southern women reformers, innovators, and leaders available to researchers will provide much needed material for future dissertations, articles and books.

Second ASERL/TRLN Partnership Announced:

The membership of the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL) recently voted unanimously to support the “Intellectual Property Strategy for Digitization of Modern Manuscript Collections and Archival Record Groups” developed by the Triangle Research Libraries Network (TRLN).  This strategy provides a clear, reasonable process for research libraries to rely upon as they move large portions of their archival collections available online. This is also the second partnership between ASERL and TRLN in as many months, further strengthening the bonds between the two organizations. 

The TRLN Intellectual Property Rights Strategy for Digitization of Modern Manuscript Collections and Archival Record Groups can be found at http://www.trln.org/IPRights.pdf

Elizabeth Rader Gift:

UK Libraries lost a great friend two years ago with the passing of Elizabeth Rader.  But thanks to a generous estate gift her legacy of philanthropy will be felt into the next decade and beyond.

Elizabeth Gillis Huckle Rader was the granddaughter of Ezra L. Gillis, UK Registrar and Professor of Education (1910 – 1937).  Gillis played a key role in establishing the current University Archives and Records Program.  In 1937, the Bureau of Source Materials in Higher Education was placed administratively under the University President's office and the directorship of retiring University Registrar, Ezra Gillis. 

It was created for the purpose of collecting and preserving source materials relating to and documenting the history of the University of Kentucky, as well as other institutions of higher education, public and private elementary and secondary schools, and education in general in the State. As its focus in time narrowed to the University, building its collection, as it did, upon a nucleus of Registrar's Office records, the Bureau came to serve as a de facto archive of the university.  Upon relinquishing his directorial responsibilities in 1956, Gillis recommended, and the Board of Trustees approved, the change in name of the unit to "University and Educational Archives."

Elizabeth Rader was a generous and dedicated supporter of UK Libraries and its mission.  Through the creation of a Charitable Lead Unitrust, Ms. Rader’s estate will make an annual contribution for the next ten years to the Special Collections Development Fund.  Those funds will be used to make collections documenting the University of Kentucky accessible to students, faculty and researchers.

All-Staff Meeting:

This week the UK Libraries Staff Advisory Council hosted the first all-staff meeting of the year.  Staff received updates on staff issues from SAC Chair Daniel Nass.  University Senate faculty member Stephanie Aken reported on a task force reviewing evaluation forms on campus.

I shared the latest news I have regarding the anticipated budget reductions and thanked staff members for their hard work on behalf of UK Libraries.  We will continue to explore ways to provide opportunities for the advancement of all UK Libraries staff.

UK Fact Book Available:

Dr. Roger P. Sugarman, Director of Institutional Research, announced this week the availability of the 2011-12 UK Fact Book:  http://www.uky.edu/IRPE/fast_facts/fact_booklet/fact_booklet1112.pdf

 Highlights of this fact book include:

• A record high headcount of 28,094 students, the fourth straight year of increased enrollments 
• An historical high for the most doctoral students enrolled in professional practice programs
• Records set for the most African-American students (1,499), international students (412), and out-of-state students (4,203) enrolled at the undergraduate level
• The most academically prepared first-year class on record, presenting a 3.63 high school GPA and an average ACT score of 25.4
• Four consecutive years of retention rates exceeding 80%
• Research and development expenditures for FY 2010 amounted to $359,944 million, including $171,528 million in federally financed expenditures

Personnel:

In February, Carolyn Sears will join the financial services staff in the Dean’s Office on the first floor of the William T. Young Library.  This move will allow increased collaboration among financial services staff and facilitate backup roles and cross-training in essential tasks.  Previously, Carolyn’s position has been located in the Collection Management Department of the Collections & Technical Services Division.  She will continue to work closely with CTS staff as her duties require.  Her colleagues in CTS are grateful to Carolyn for her contributions over the years and wish her the best in her new situation.

Nunn Center Teams Up With OutrageUs to Fight Stalking:

As the nation remembers stalking victims at National Stalking Awareness Month events presented this January, the University of Kentucky Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History and OutrageUs are launching The Stalking Project, a series of videos and other resources meant to educate and put a spotlight on one of the nation's most misunderstood areas of partner violence.

Go here for the full press release:  http://uknow.uky.edu/content/nunn-center-teams-outrageus-fight-stalking

Thanks to John Burger, Greg Casey, and Deirdre Scaggs for their contributions to this week’s review.

Also available as a blog:  http://uklibrariesbirdseye.blogspot.com/     

Terry Birdwhistell

Dean of Libraries

Carla Cantagallo co-authors chapter on distributed learning:

Carla Cantagallo, Head of Distance Learning Library Services, has edited and co-authored “Examining Reference Assistance in Support of Distributed Learning” (with Melissa Dennis of the University of Mississippi and Jana Reeg-Steidinger of University of Wisconsin-Stout).  The chapter is in Distributed Learning and Virtual Librarianship edited by Sharon Almquist and published by ABC-CLIO. 

ASERL launches collaborative print journal archive:

John Burger, Executive Director of the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL), announced this week that “ASERL has created a new cooperative journal retention program to serve as an important tool for research libraries seeking to manage their legacy collections of printed scholarly journals.  More than half of ASERL’s 40 member libraries are contributing materials to this program, which guarantees items will be stored and made available for use through 2035.  To date, more than 200,000 volumes have been committed for retention among ASERL members, including approximately 100,000 volumes retained by ASERL libraries who are also members of the Triangle Research Libraries Network (TRLN).”

This is one of the projects Collections and Technical Services has been working on during the past year.  UK Libraries is currently in the process of contributing an additional 1,607 items from 51 Elsevier titles to the archive project.

Additional information about this new partnership can be found at http://www.aserl.org/programs/j-retain/ or http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2012/01/academic-libraries/two-academic-library-consortia-merge-efforts-to-manage-print-journals/#_

UK Libraries’ Nunn Center helps preserve stories of Haiti earthquake survivors:

Two years after Haiti was rocked by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake near Port au Prince, a New York University (NYU) graduate student and staff at the University of Kentucky Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History are teaming up to capture, save and share the stories of survivors of the terrible event and its aftermath. 

Read the full story at KyForward http://www.kyforward.com/?p=7748.     

UK Founders Day 2012, a celebration of faculty achievements:

The 2012 Founders Day Ceremony will take place on February 22, 2012 at 4:00pm in the Worsham Theatre in the Student Center.

The University of Kentucky will celebrate 147 years of academic tradition by honoring faculty and instructors for their outstanding achievements and contributions in teaching, research, and service.

In addition to these awards, the University will present the prestigious Algernon Sydney Sullivan Awards to two students from the graduating class as well as a deserving citizen of the Commonwealth. The faculty is encouraged to attend the ceremony and participate in the academic processional; all members of the University and Lexington community are welcome to attend. There will be a reception to honor all award winners immediately following the ceremony, in the Martin Luther King Center.

News from CNI (Coalition for Networked Information):

Big Data Becomes Fashionable, Mobile Devices Reshape the Information Ecology:  CNI’s View on 2011 and 2012, the opening plenary from CNI's fall 2011 membership meeting by director Clifford Lynch, is now available on CNI's two video channels:

YouTube:  http://youtu.be/DnVGzaj4dPQ
Vimeo:  http://vimeo.com/34713112

In this talk, Clifford looks back on the events of 2011, and he discusses CNI's program for the coming year.

To see all videos available from CNI, visit CNI's video channels on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/cnivideo) and Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/channels/cni).  

Terry Birdwhistell

Dean of Libraries

UK Libraries Donors Help with End-of-Year Gifts:

Thanks to all of our friends who made end-of-year gifts to UK Libraries.  Private support is essential to helping UK Libraries provide essential support to our students, faculty, and citizens of the commonwealth.  Also, last fall’s phonathon raised a record $50,027 for the UK Libraries Enrichment Fund. Your support and generosity is appreciated very much. 

Provost Kumble Subbaswamy Signs Berlin 9 Declaration on Behalf of UK:

In 2003, the Max Planck Society and the European Cultural Heritage Online project brought together international experts with the aim of developing a new web-based research environment using Open Access for making scientific knowledge and cultural heritage accessible worldwide.

Since then, over 300 of the leading international research libraries and scientific and cultural institutions have signed the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities, a document that outlines concrete steps to promote the Internet as a medium for disseminating global knowledge. 

We appreciate Provost Subbaswamy’s support for UK Libraries and open access to scholarship.  Associate Dean Mary Beth Thomson is the University’s contact with Berlin 9 and is leading UK Libraries’ open access initiatives including UKnowledge.

Frank Stanger Featured in Lexington Herald-Leader Article:

Since 1977 Frank Stanger has been providing answers to researchers using UK Libraries’ Special Collections.  Last month, the Lexington Herald-Leader had a wonderful article detailing Frank’s dedication to his work and the special services he provides researchers from around the world.

http://www.kentucky.com/2011/12/26/2007017/when-you-need-answers-uk-research.html  

Stephen Sizemore Appointed to University-Wide Finance Task-Force:

UK has established a Financial System of Accountability task force to review the University's financial systems and make recommendations to the President for any needed changes by June 1.  Stephen Sizemore, UK Libraries Director of Finance and Administration, has been appointed by President Capilouto to service on the task force which is chaired by Dr. Tim Tracy, Dean of Pharmacy, and is comprised of 11 members. 

UK Libraries to host South African Intern:

On March 10^th UK Libraries will welcome Yusuf Ras, an agricultural librarian from the University of Stellenbosch in Stellenbosch South Africa.  Mr. Ras is part of a group of 15 librarians from South Africa who are taking part in a program funded by a grant from the Carnegie Institute of New York to improve library support for researchers in South African university libraries.   

Toni Greider, UK Libraries Director of International Programs, has arranged for Mr. Ras to begin his internship here after spending two weeks at the Mortenson Center for International Library Programs at the University of Illinois.  The internship runs through April 27^th.   

Other institutions providing internships for this program are: University of Washington, Purdue University, Duke University, Yale University, University of Arizona, Washington University, St. Louis, University of Kansas, Case Western Reserve University, McGill University, University of Waterloo, Cornell University, University of Connecticut, Johns Hopkins University, and Emory University.

Annual Holiday Luncheon:

 

Over 135 UK Libraries faculty and staff plus retirees, building operators, and custodial staff attended this year’s holiday lunch in the UK Student Center.  Holiday music was provided by Tari Keller, Ruth Bryan, and Debbie Godfrey.   

T

Thanks to the Hospitality Committee for making this annual event such a great success:   

·         Toni Greider

·         Jason Keinsley

·         Mary McLaren

·         Cindy Parker

·         Peggy Phillips

·         Jennifer Richmond

UK Libraries Participates in GSP/GSA Day

On December 19, Shawn Livingston, Director of Information Services, and Stacey Greenwell, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Research, met with students and their families at the Governor’s Scholars Program and School for the Arts Day.  They also provided a tour of the William T. Young Library.  This annual event seeks to recruit Kentucky Governor’s Scholars Program and Kentucky School for the Arts participants and is one of UK’s largest and most successful recruitment events with over 300 students and families in attendance.  This was the first time in recent years that UK Libraries participated in the event, and next year we plan to expand our presence at the event.

President Appoints Deirdre Scaggs Co-Chair of Sesquicentennial Committee:

President Eli Capilouto has appointed Deirdre Scaggs, Associate Dean for Special Collections, Co-Chair of the University’s Sesquicentennial Committee.   Mike Richey, Vice President for Development, will serve as the other Co-Chair.  The committee is charged with developing academic, philanthropic and special event programming in celebration of the university’s sesquicentennial in 2015. 

Lunch with the Dean:

Staff members Laura Hall, Kevin Campbell, and Jennifer Richmond joined Terry on December 14 in his office for the first “Lunch with the Dean.”  It was a great opportunity to socialize and talk about ways to improve UK Libraries.  The second lunch will take place this month and every UK staff is invited to submit her/his name for the lunches which are held monthly.

Terry Birdwhistell
Dean of Libraries