Celebration of Mexico at UK Libraries

Blossoms of Fire Black Velvet

Visit the atrium of the William T. Young Library or lobby of the Science Library and you will see a space bursting with color as we showcase indigenous clothing from southeastern Mexico.  The huipiles (pronounced Huipil ['wipil] – from the Nahuatl word huīpīlli [wiː'piːlːi]) is the most common traditional garment worn by indigenous women from Mexico and other parts of Central America.   These loose-fitting cap-sleeve tunics are generally made from two or three rectangular pieces of fabric joined together with stitching, ribbons, or fabric strips, with an opening for the head and arms.  The garments are decorated with both hand and machine embroidery and come from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in southeastern Mexico. 

The combined physical exhibits showcase 14 huipiles mostly from the collection of Dr. Francie Chassen-López  of the History Department with a few from Dr. Monica Udvardy and Dr. Karen Tice.  The virtual exhibit will include additional huipiles from the collection of Dr. Chassen-López.  The Huipil display in Young Library and Science Library will be available until November 22^nd.  

The Huipiles exhibit joins “A Glimpse of Ancient Mexico”, exhibiting Mexican Codices displayed on the walls of Young Library’s Rose Street entrance and “Mexican Medicine from the Aztec and Mayan People” in the display cases in the entrance to the Medical Library.  Both exhibits include descriptions by Dr. Chris Pool of the Anthropology Department.  “A Glimpse of Ancient Mexico” will run through December 15^th and “Mexican Medicine from the Aztec and Mayan People” will be available for viewing until November 15^th.  All of these exhibits are part of the UK Libraries’ contribution to the Arts and Sciences Passport on the World program, ¡Viva Mexico! 

Reel to Real: Special Collections goes to the movies

The Special Collections Library is pleased to announce its new movie series, Reel to Real: Special Collections at the Movies, beginning Tuesday, October 29, 2013, at Worsham Theater in the University of Kentucky’s Student Center.

The five-movie series will explore popular movies through a historically accurate perspective based on primary source materials found in Special Collections.  Screenings are free and open to the public, and will be held in Worsham Theater.

The current schedule is:

Tuesday, October 29, 2013, 7:00 p.m. – “Daniel Boone, Trailblazer” (1956)

Tuesday, November 19, 2013, 7:00 p.m. – “In Country” (1989)

February 2014 (time and date, TBD) – “Beloved” (1998)

March 2014 (time and date, TBD) – “Coal Miner’s Daughter” (1980)

April 2014 (time and date, TBD) – “Our Day” (1938)

Topics will be relevant to the following departments in the College of Arts & Sciences: African American and Africana Studies, American Studies, Appalachian Center & Appalachian Studies Program, Army ROTC (Military Science), Earth & Environmental Sciences, Economics, English, Folklore & Mythology, Gender & Women’s Studies, History, and those in the Center for Applied Energy Research.

Interested faculty and staff are welcome and encouraged to assign viewing of the movies for extra credit.  Every movie will include a guide 
to materials that can help students and faculty utilize Special 

Collections and archival documents in their teaching and research.

The project is sponsored by the University of Kentucky Libraries. For additional information contact Stacie Williams, Learning Lab Manager, Special Collections, at (859) 257-8371 or stacie.williams@uky.edu.

Where Am I Wearing

UK Libraries hosted a breakfast reception for author Kelsey Timmerman October 15^th. Timmerman’s book’ Where Am I Wearing, was featured this year as the Common Reading Experience book.  Each incoming freshman receives a copy and it is taught in all of the UK 101 sections as well as being incorporated into the curriculum of numerous other classes. 

 The book describes the author’s travels to several locations around the world in an effort to find out where his clothes are made.  He visited factories in Honduras, Bangladesh, China, and Cambodia and learned first-hand of the challenges facing garment workers.  He also highlights globalization, child labor, and poverty. 

The reception included UK 101 instructors and other faculty using the book in their classes as well as UK Libraries faculty and staff.  

Timmerman’s library visit was coordinated by Peter Hesseldenz and Sarah Vaughn, both of whom served on the Common Reading Committee.  Peter and Sarah are both also serving on the committee choosing next year’s book.  

Former UK Dean begins term as ARL president (by Sarah Segura)

“Carol Pitts Diedrichs, vice provost of university libraries, the Ohio State University, began a one-year term as president of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) on Thursday, October 10, during the ARL Membership Meeting in Arlington, Virginia. She succeeds Wendy Pradt Lougee, university librarian and McKnight presidential professor, University of Minnesota.“  http://www.arl.org/news/arl-news/2965-arl-board-of-directors-2013-2014-elected-by-arl-membership   

Observations and Reflections

I am proud of the scholarly publishing by UK Libraries faculty and staff.  To share my pride with the larger university community a new exhibit case has been placed in William T. Young Library outside the Dean’s Office to feature some of the recent publications.  I think that viewers will be impressed with the wide range of subjects.

UK Libraries Welcomes National Advisory Board

This week UK Libraries hosted the fall meeting of the UK Libraries National Advisory Board, a group of individuals who serve as an external advisory body to the Dean, advocate for UK Libraries among their peer groups and in the community, and give of their time and their resources to help us fulfill our mission.

The board was treated to a first-hand look into archival research and publishing last Sunday afternoon with a presentation by Associate Dean for Special Collections Deirdre Scaggs who spoke about her new book co-authored with Andrew McGraw, The Historic Kentucky Kitchen: Traditional Recipes for Today’s Cook.  Sunday evening UK Libraries Advisory Board President Gail Hart hosted the board, their spouses, and other guests at her home for a delightful reception.

Monday morning the board heard updates from Jaime Marie Burton, Education and Outreach Archivist, Stacie Williams, Learning Lab Manager, and Beth Fuchs, Undergraduate Learning Librarian.  Each presentation reviewed the impact UK Libraries is having on student success.

In the afternoon, Rick Brewer, Interim Director of the Medical Center Library, update the Board about the services of the MCL including some recent updates to the infrastructure made possible by private gifts.  Following that presentation the board convened to select the 2014 recipients of the UK Libraries Award for Intellectual Achievement and the Paul A. Willis Outstanding Faculty Award.  The award recipients will be announced in the coming weeks. 

Open Access Week October 21-25

Several informative events have been planned for 2013 Open Access Week.  You can find details about the upcoming programs here:  http://uknow.uky.edu/content/open-access-panel-address-research-impact-and-social-media

Haggin Funds support faculty travel

Haggin Funds, provided by UK’s Vice-President for Research, have been awarded to Julene Jones for an upcoming presentation at the ExLibris Users of North America (ELUNA) conference, April 29 to May 4, 2014 in Montreal.  Julene’s paper is entitled, “Capturing collective updates and upgrades: using OCLC Worldshare MARC record delivery at UK Libraries.”   

The OCLC Bib Notification service has fundamentally changed in the last year, migrating to WorldShare Metadata Collection Manager, and allowing for much greater user customization of the service.  UK Libraries has begun to utilize the new iteration of this free service and Julene will discuss findings from the delivered records, the impact that it has had on their workflows, and the selected customizations they have made.

Congratulations Dr. Greenwell!

Last week Stacey Greenwell, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Research, successfully defended her dissertation entitled, “Using the I-LEARN Model for Information Literacy Instruction: an Experimental Study.”  Dr. Gary J. Anglin, in the College of Education chaired Stacey’s committee and directed her dissertation.

Agricultural Information Center Fall Harvest of Activities

Agricultural Information Center personnel have participated in various outreach and promotion activities this fall. Valerie Perry gave a presentation during the CAFE Orientation for New Faculty. Both she and Jason Keinsley participated in the reception for New CAFE Faculty hosted by the Ag Faculty Council.

The AIC showcased their resources and services, including a new Research Guide supporting Master Gardeners and Extension, as exhibitors in Ag Roundup. This is the major College of Agriculture outreach event held each year and is an excellent opportunity for the AIC to reach nearly 2,700 persons.

Attendees during the four day event included:
• 700 staff from throughout the state for Staff Appreciation Day
• 500 Rotarians & LFUCG Officials and 200 high school student recruits for Rotary Day
• 500 attendees for the campus Student/Faculty/Staff Picnic
• 225 State Legislators, Farm Bureau Officials, Ag Development Board members, and Tobacco Task Force members for Ag Leadership Day
• 750 alumni for department reunions and the closing Roundup festivities before kickoff on Saturday

The AIC exhibit was created by Lauren Robinson (AIC Graduate Intern), Beth Reeder (AIC Staff), and Jason Keinsley. Additional exhibit staffing included Renae Newhouse (AIC Graduate Intern) and Valerie Perry.

Jason Keinsley traveled to the Campbell County Extension Office for the annual statewide Master Gardener event. He promoted the Master Gardener Research Guide during a poster session and interacted with 100 hundred Master Gardeners from around the state of Kentucky.

UK joins universities nationwide in support of Open Access

UK has a history of supporting public access to research.  In 2008 the University Senate passed a resolution supporting the 2008 National Institutes of Health’s policy providing public access to publicly funded research.  Former Provost Kumble Subbaswamy signed the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities three years ago.  In addition, UK Libraries is a member of the Coalition of Open Access Policy Institutions (COAPI).

Provost Riordan

  This week Provost Christine Riordan signed an open letter supporting the Fair Access to Science and Technology Research Act (FASTR) demonstrating UK’s support for public access to research.  FASTR “would require that U.S. Government departments and agencies with annual extramural research expenditures of over $100 million to make manuscripts of journal articles stemming from research funded by that agency publicly available over the Internet.” 

“The manuscripts will be preserved in a digital archive maintained by that agency or in another suitable repository that permits free public access, interoperability, and long-term preservation.  Each manuscript will be available to users without charge within six months after it has been published in a peer-reviewed journal.”   http://www.sparc.arl.org/advocacy/national/fastr/faq

The open letter and list of signatures are available here: http://www.sparc.arl.org/blog/opportunity-

UK Libraries completes NDNP initiative

UK Libraries has concluded our current project with the National Digital Newspaper Program.  Kopana Terry who served as the NDNP Project Director gave a presentation on Newspapers on Microfilm at the annual conference September 11-13 at the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress.

Kopana Terry

 The final NDNP batch was sent to the Library of Congress last week, bringing UK’s total newspaper page count in Chronicling America to roughly 380,000 pages from 78 historic Kentucky newspapers.  Kentucky has contributed more titles and more pages than any other state.  The last two titles submitted were Louisa’s Big Sandy News and Kopana’s hometown paper, West Liberty's Licking Valley Courier.

The entire list of newspaper can be found here: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/newspapers/?state=Kentucky&ethnicity=&language= 

Chronicling America currently houses 6.6 million newspaper pages from 38 states and U.S. Territories. UK Libraries was one of six original awardees in the NEH initiative.  UK Libraries received an unprecedented four awards spanning 2005-2013.

The meta|morphosis seminars were developed by UK Libraries as a result of our pioneering in-house film-to-digital process that has guided most current awardee states into the program.  As new participants come aboard throughout the country they agree to use meta|morphosis online as their learning center. UK Libraries is proud to host this valuable teaching resource found here:   http://www.uky.edu/Libraries/NDNP/metamorphosis/index.html 

History of medicine exhibits at MCL

UK medical librarian Tag Heister has been working with UK Dean of Medicine Emeritus Emery Wilson to exhibit historical artifacts in the Medical Center Library.  Dean Wilson purchased his first antique medical bag in Selma, Alabama in 1973 while stationed at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery.  The obstetrical bag was a bargain at $25.  The bag likely belonged to a general practitioner and it was equipped with medical instruments and medications.  It was of particular interest to Dr. Wilson, an obstetrician, gynecologist, and reproductive endocrinologist. 

Tag Heister

The second bag Dr. Wilson added to his collection was found by his son.  Since acquiring those medical bags, Dr. Wilson made a point of looking for antique medical materials.  Over the years he has found other bags and medical instruments in antique stores.  It is an interest of his, not exactly a passion - but when he happens upon an antique store, he will make a quick walk through, his eyes alert to locate old medical instruments.  

Dr. Emery Wilson 

Recently, Dr. Wilson created an exhibit of his antique medical bags and their contents for the UK Medical Center Library.  That exhibit is now down but in December Dr. Wilson plans to mount a new exhibit of medical instruments. Both exhibits provide a rare opportunity to glimpse into the practice of medicine as it once was and the changing roles of physicians over time. 

Personnel Changes

Karalea Lane has joined UK Libraries as the Senior Library Technician in the Engineering Library, effective September 30, 2013.  Karalea has a BFA from Ohio University with a strong focus in literature.  She has experience in both academic and public libraries and certification in customer service.  She previously worked in the Engineering Library as an intern.  

  

James Howard resigned effective October 3.  He began working on the OHMS grant, funded by the Institute for Museum and Library Services, last October.  This project is a collaborative effort between the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History and Digital Library Services.  Over the past year, James made many significant contributions to the OHMS project through his technical computer programming skills, thoughtful handling of issues surrounding user interfaces, and collaborative refining of the OHMS delivery of oral history as a complex digital object.  We wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors.

Alice Wasielewski has resigned effective Friday October 11, 2013.  We thank her for her contributions to UK Libraries and wish her well in her future endeavors.

Observations and Reflections

I want to thank everyone who attended one of the facilities forums this week.  I look forward to hearing from you about ideas and suggestions you may have that might improve how our library locations serve our students, how we can improve our work areas for staff and faculty, and how we can plan to transform our library spaces and facilities over the next several years.