Sunday, March 25, 2012

Chris Worland Helps Colleagues and Students at Aquinas College:

A librarian at Aquinas College recently contacted Chris Worland in Young Library’s Reference Services. The librarian asked about using one of Chris’ “Prezi’s” for an eight-week, one-credit hour class. A Prezi is an online presentation tool that operates like a digital whiteboard providing movement during transitions and also allows users to zoom in and out of content.

The librarian noted that, “I found your Prezi's when searching Google for ‘wind energy.’ I'm always looking for better ways to teach topic selection and I'm wondering if you might give me permission to use your Prezi's?”

One of the best aspects of online resource development is sharing ideas with others and making connections with new colleagues. We hope that Chris’ work is useful for the students at Aquinas College and elsewhere.


Kate Black Serves on Graduate School Fellowship Review Committee:

The University of Kentucky offers a James Still Fellowship for Graduate Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences. The fellowship provides $15,000, plus a tuition scholarship and student health insurance. Kate Black, Special Collections, served on this year’s fellowship selection committee.

“Endowed by a gift from the Bingham Fund and named to honor author James Still, the James Still Fellowship is available for graduate study in the humanities and social sciences at the University of Kentucky for an entering graduate student who graduated from a high school in the Appalachian region and encompasses a wide range of academic areas. Non-traditional students and those with financial need (as demonstrated in the student statement) are encouraged to apply. The award is potentially renewable for a second year (Master's students) or for a total of three years (Doctoral students).”


The James Still Collection is in UK Libraries Special Collections. A native of Alabama, author James Still spent most of his life in the Hindman Settlement of Knott County. In addition to his writing, Still worked as a farmer, librarian and teacher. Winner of many literary awards, including two Guggenheim fellowships, Still published novels, short stories and poems which reflect his passionate feelings for the Kentucky mountains.

The Still Collections includes typescripts, many with Still's handwritten comments, for such noted works as River of Earth, Still's first novel; Hounds on the Mountain, a book of poems; On Troublesome Creek, Sporty Creek, and many others. Files in this collection include printed copies of Still's published works, biographical information, correspondence dating from the 1930s to 1990s, photographs, reviews, and clippings. There are materials on the Hindman Settlement School where Still served as librarian (1932-1939) and 1951-1961), and Morehead College where he taught. Files of printed materials relate to Lincoln Memorial University, Vanderbilt, and the University of Illinois, schools from which Still received degrees in English and Library Science.


Freshman Composition Is Not Teaching Key Skills in Analysis, Researchers Argue:

http://chronicle.com/article/Freshman-Composition-Is-Not/131278/?sid=pm&utm_source=pm&utm_medium=en

 
National Advisory Board Member Busy with Architecture and History:

UK Libraries Advisory Board Member Alan Sullivan, Director of Healthcare Studio, KZF DESIGN, INC. spoke this week at a national healthcare conference on “Best Practices in Healthcare Engineering and Facilities Management.”

Alan is also working to complete a book about his father Claude Sullivan, one of the original “Voices” of UK sports. The Claude Sullivan Collection is in UK Libraries Special Collections. The collection is comprised of 254 1/4" reel to reel audio tapes which have been digitized. The tapes contain Sullivan announcing U.K. football and basketball games and covering his trip to the Soviet Union in 1959.


UK Libraries Helps Prepare for Severe Weather:


Sue Smith, Head of the Science and Engneering Library recently announced the availability of a new research guide. It has a wide variety of resources for tornado research as well as information on chasing extreme weather, videos, books, preparedness, and disaster relief for Kentuckians. Sue is updating daily as she finds more resources to try and keep it current for central and eastern Kentucky.


Here is the link: http://libguides.uky.edu/tornadoes


Friday, March 16, 2012

African-American Photo Collections Available Online:



       Elizabeth Beatrice Cooke Fouse


• Fouse family photographs http://eris.uky.edu/exploreuk/catalog/xt7dfn10pm9f/guide

• Collection on African Americans in Kentucky http://eris.uky.edu/exploreuk/catalog/xt7j6q1sfw2s/guide

• Joshua Soule Smith papers, 1863-1905 http://eris.uky.edu/exploreuk/catalog/xt78pk06xc5r/guide

• John Winston Coleman Jr. collection on slavery in Kentucky http://eris.uky.edu/exploreuk/catalog/xt74xg9f541m/guide

• Sallie Price papers (images will be linked asap) http://eris.uky.edu/exploreuk/catalog/xt76q52f7x6t/guide


Sara Price processed the collections under the supervision of Jason Flahardy:
ProQuest / GODORT / ALA Recognizes ASERL for Innovation in Managing Federal Documents:

The Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL) was recently awarded the 2012 "Documents to the People” Award, presented by ProQuest, the American Library Association (ALA), and ALA’s Government Documents Round Table (GODORT). This award is presented each year to an individual or organization that has most effectively encouraged the use of government documents in support of library service.

ASERL’s Collaborative Federal Depository Program (CFDP) was selected for this award in
recognition of its “achievable and sustainable plan for the development and preservation of
comprehensive depository collections on a multi-state level.” ASERL’s program for managing federal documents began in 2005 to coordinate the future development of these important library collections within the Southeast region. The program seeks to create “Centers of Excellence” within depository libraries, to develop comprehensive-as-possible documents collections relating to a government agency, SuDoc stem, subject matter, or format. This allows researchers to identify the best documents collections for their selected areas. The collections are also supported by expert librarians who manage the Centers of Excellence.  Further development of the program was supported by a 2009 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) as well as by the Government Printing Office (GPO).

The entire press release can be found here: http://laurientaylor.org/2012/03/16/aserl-govdocs-work-recognized-with-documents-to-the-people-award/
UK Libraries Advisory Board Member Writes Cantata:

Angela Rice has written an original cantata, “Thy Will Be Done,” a piece composed by setting her favorite scriptures to music. The Bluegrass Opera will debut “Thy Will” 2 p.m. Sunday, March 18 at Central Christian Church, and at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 21, at Mary Queen of the Holy Rosary Church. Both performances are in Lexington.

You can find more information here: http://www.centralkynews.com/winchestersun/news/ws-artist-draws-on-her-faith-to-pen-cantata-20120312,0,6707316.story

Angela has spent more than 25 years working as a community volunteer. In addition, she co-founded, directed, and taught at the Ashland School of Music, and served on the Lexington Philharmonic Board as Vice-President of Education. She also was a founding member of the University of Kentucky's fund-raising organization, The Friends of Music. Angela served as an Executive Board member for the UK Opera Society and chaired the UK Opera Theatre Workshop for two consecutive years.

Through UK Libraries in 1990, Angela established a special endowment fund to provide a collection of books and materials on Child Development, named in the honor of her daughter, Ellen Rice. Since 1991, Angela has been a member and a past President of the UK Libraries National Advisory Board.

This past year, Angela became co-owner of Blackfish Golf and Hunt Club in Winchester, Kentucky. Angela is married to N. Thomas Rice, a radiologist at Central Baptist Hospital and enjoys time with her three children and two dogs.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Faculty Search Committee Named:



Recently appointed members of the Coordinator, Database Integrity Unit Search Committee are:

Jen Bartlett, Chair
Ruth Bryan
Janet Layman
Paula Hickner
Kelly Vickery
Judy Sackett, Ex Officio

Thank you for volunteering to serve.
“Quest for the Perfect Bourbon” Featured on YouTube:



The Louie B. Nunn Oral History Center's award-winning documentary, “Quest for the Perfect Bourbon: Voices of Buffalo Trace Distillery,” is featured by YouTube's new "Intelligent Channel." "Quest" is being utilized to debut the "Education Archive" component of the channel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzh_RH7rW4k&list=UUeUFbtKvB4ZhEzrSink8Hvg&index=1&feature=plcp
UK Libraries Represented at 2012 Webwise Conference:



UK Librarians Doug Boyd (Director, Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History), Mary Molinaro (Associate Dean for Library Technologies), and Eric Weig (Director, Digital Library Services and KyVL's Kentuckiana Digital Library) participated in the recent Webwise conference in Baltimore.

Doug Boyd was invited to speak about new developments with OHMS, the Oral History Metadata Synchronizer system created by a partnership between the Nunn Center and Library Technologies. The theme of the conference was "Tradition and Innovation" and each session was a plenary with over 400 attendees in the audience. http://www.imlswebwise.org/agenda
Peter Hesseldenz Contributes Book Chapter:


Peter Hesseldenz, Academic Liaison for Business and Economics, has contributed a chapter to The Entrepreneurial Librarian, published by McFarland. Entitled, "Market Research Service Partnership at the University of Kentucky: An Entrepreneurial Future?" the chapter describes UK Libraries' partnership with the Small Business Development Center and explores the idea of expanding our business outreach program into a fee-based market research service.

After presenting the history of the program, the chapter looks at many of the issues involved with running a fee-based service, including marketing, staffing, and pricing, while highlighting potential benefits and pitfalls.

More information about the book is available here:

http://www.mcfarlandpub.com/book-2.php?id=978-0-7864-6468-5
Gail Kennedy Honored with Sarah Bennett Holmes Award:

Photo by Lynn Hiler

On Thursday, March 8, the UK Women’s Forum named UK Librarian Gail Kennedy the 2012 Sarah Bennett Holmes Award faculty recipient. The prestigious award, named in honor of former UK Dean of Women Sarah Bennett Holmes, has been given annually since 1994 to women working at the University who promote the growth and well-being of other women at UK. Ann Bassoni, UK Work Life Department, received the 2012 staff award. A record 60 women were nominated for the two awards this year.

Gail was praised for exemplifying the finest qualities of Sarah Bennett Holmes: dedication to the University of Kentucky over her 40+ year career, commitment to librarianship and family, and service to profession and community.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

UK Libraries Supports DanceBlue:


Once again this year, UK Libraries provided laptop computers for DanceBlue. “DanceBlue is a student run philanthropy at the University of Kentucky. It is a year-long fundraising effort involving thousands of UK students, which culminates in a 24-hour no-sitting, no-sleeping dance marathon on UK's campus. All of the money raised by DanceBlue goes to the Golden Matrix Fund. DanceBlue has been active for over five years, raising almost two million dollars for the UK Pediatric Oncology Clinic and Markey Cancer Center. Every year, over 120 campus organizations and 650 dancers help raise money to support all the DanceBlue families.”

Thanks to Shawn Livingston, UK Libraries Director of Information Services, and UK Libraries Audio-Visual Services for assisting the students.


Reference Service Available 24/7 on Site, Mobile Phones:


In case you missed it, UK Libraries announced this week that, “As University of Kentucky students hit the books these next couple of weeks for midterms, UK Libraries is coming to their aid with the expansion of online reference services. With the addition of LibAnswers, students can now get 24/7 research help from UK Libraries on site and through their mobile phones.

LibAnswers is a new online reference services platform featuring a continuously updated, fully searchable knowledge base of frequently asked questions covering everything from library policies and hours to tips for searching popular databases and finding library materials.”

Whitney Hale’s complete news article can be found here: http://uknow.uky.edu/content/libraries-reference-service-available-247-site-mobile-phones


UK Libraries Commended for Diversity Fellows Participation:

Mark Puente, Director of Diversity Programs for the Association of Research Libraries, wrote this week to commend UK Libraries for our participation in their diversity fellows program. He noted that the fellows who worked at UK over the last three years “have been quite effusive with compliments about their experiences.”


While the program’s success depends on the work and cooperation of UK Librarians across the system, Mr. Puente added, “I would like to take a moment to sing the praises of Judy Sackett (UK Libraries Director of Human Resources). I’m certain that you know this as well, but she has been great to work with on this project. She, clearly, puts a lot of thought and effort into guiding this program and is wholly committed to ensuring a rich experience for the fellows. She has gone way beyond the call of duty for this program. Thanks for making her part of our team.”

Thanks Judy!


Mary Molinaro Named to DLF Program Committee:

The Digital Library Federation announced this week that Mary Molinaro, Associate Dean for Library Technologies, has been appointed to the 2012 DLF Forum Planning Committee.


“The DLF is a program of the Council on Library and Information Resources. Drawing on its members and others in the scholarly, library, and computing communities, the DLF brings together experts needed for each DLF initiative, and awards Distinguished Fellowships for special projects. Funding comes from members and grants.”


Keeping Safe:

I want to thank all UK Libraries employees for the professional manner in which you handled this week’s weather challenges. Our number one goal is the safety of our students and our employees and everyone handled their emergency assignments well. Our thoughts are with everyone who has friends and relatives impacted by the storms.


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


Terry Birdwhistell
Dean of Libraries