Reflections and observations

Last week’s UKNow story about the history of UK Libraries reminds us of the debt we owe to those who came before us.  UK Presidents James K. Patterson, Frank L. McVey, and Charles T. Wethington found ways to build new library buildings when others thought the challenge too great.

Librarians Margaret I. King and Paul A. Willis gave decades of service to UK Libraries creating the nationally recognized research library we have today. Benefactors like Andrew Carnegie, W. Hugh Peal, Lucille Caudill Little, and William T. Young and the Young family made it possible for UK Libraries to build beyond the constraints of state funding.

Thousands of other donors over the years have helped UK Libraries build our endowments, improve our facilities, and support students.  The UK Libraries National Advisory Board, led this year by President Gail Hart and Vice President LuAnnette Butler, works with a group to assure that private support that is essential to UK Libraries' success continues and expands. 

Likewise, the University Press of Kentucky has built upon the initial dream of Dr. Thomas D. Clark to create a first-rate academic publishing operation that serves the entire commonwealth.  Since 1949 the University Press of Kentucky has been realizing Dr. Clark's dream and is today a model for university presses in the 21^st century.

Standing upon this foundation UK Libraries and the University Press of Kentucky faculty, staff, and student assistants work hard every day to assure student success, support research, and enhance the academic life of the university and the commonwealth. During this week of Thanksgiving,  I offer my thanks to everyone, both past and present, who have been part of the success of UK Libraries and the University Press of Kentucky.

Eric Weig and Mary Molinaro attend conference on preserving born-digital newspapers

Eric Weig, digital library services librarian in the Special Collections Research Center, and Mary Molinaro, Data Research Center director, attended “Dodging the Memory Hole: Saving Born-digital News Content.” The meeting of newspaper publishers, journalists, media representatives, and library specialists took place November 11-12 at the University of Missouri.

Eric presented his research in preserving born-digital newspaper content. Mary serves as an advisor to the National Endowment for the Humanities sponsored Chronicles in Preservation project that led up to the University of Missouri meeting. 

The Reynolds Journalism Institute sponsored the conference which brought together experts to develop tangible strategies for preventing loss of born-digital newspaper content. As today’s newsrooms move to a completely digital environment, the news stories and photographs that document our world are increasingly at risk of being lost to future generations.  

Both Eric and Mary have extensive experience in the preservation of born-digital newspaper content and UK Libraries is a leader in preserving the current newspaper content in Kentucky. Other states, including Texas, Kansas, Missouri, Florida, and Wisconsin, are extending efforts to preserve current newspaper content and have adopted preservation strategies used by UK Libraries. Eric and Michael Slone, a programmer in the Special Collections Research Center, developed UK's processes as part of their expanding Paper Vault system.  

Valerie Perry receives Besant Professional Award

Valerie Perry

Valerie Perry, director of Branch Libraries head of the Agricultural Information Center and interim head of the Science Library, received the 2014 Special Libraries Association Kentucky Chapter Larry Besant Professional Award at the SLA Fall meeting in Louisville. She was recognized as the first Kentuckian to serve on the SLA Board of Directors and for meritorious past service to the association and the profession. The Besant award is given for “continuing excellence and commitment to the field of librarianship or a subject specialty within.”

UK Libraries presentations at the Special Libraries Association business meeting

Left to right: Shawn Livingston,
Brittany Netherton, Daniel Naas

Three representatives from UK Libraries presented at the annual Special Libraries Association Kentucky Chapter business meeting at the Filson Historic Society in Louisville on November 7.

Shawn Livingston, Director of William T. Young Library, gave a presentation entitled "Relationship Building: the Importance of Mentors and Networking." The presentation focused on how current professionals can effectively mentor young professionals and students, as well as appropriate networking strategies.

Daniel Naas, current president of the student SLA group, detailed the results of the 2013-2014 Student Speed Geek Conference held in the Niles Gallery at the Little Fine Arts Library on UK’s campus in April 2014.  Daniel also posed suggestions on how to expand this conference next spring.

Brittany Netherton, a graduate assistant at William T. Young Library, delivered a presentation entitled "Why Mentor? A student perspective."  She explored the ways in which professionals can reach out to students to pass on knowledge, share ideas, and encourage collaboration.

UK Libraries profiled for sesquicentennial

To celebrate the 2015 sesquicentennial of the University of Kentucky, UK Public Relations will run a feature on each of the 16 colleges that make up UK, along with UK Libraries and the Graduate School. The feature on UK Libraries ran last week. Read it and view historical images here.

UK Libraries and University Press of Kentucky lead the way in making titles available to students and researchers

Bloody Breathitt is one of
the critically-acclaimed
books available through
UKnowledge.

In a collaborative project placing the University of Kentucky at the forefront of national trends in academic publishing, University of Kentucky Libraries and the University Press of Kentucky (UPK) are providing digital access to more than 1,000 books published by UPK over the course of its 45-year history freely available to students and researchers in the UK community.

More than 600 of the texts are already available in UKnowledge, a digital collection of scholarship created by UK Libraries. With the debut of the UPK project, UKnowledge becomes the primary access point for the research and scholarship published by UPK. More UPK titles will debut in the collection in coming months.

For more information, read the complete news release.

Kazuko Hioko speaks at The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Kazuko demonstrates bookmaking for Met conservators

The Metropolitan Museum of Art recently invited Conservation Librarian Kazuko Hioki to speak and lead a workshop for their symposium, “The Art of Japanese Books: Uses, Materials, and Block-printing Techniques.” Kazuko presented “Japanese Printed Books of the Edo Period” to more than 100 professionals in the fields of Japanese art, history, and conservation from both the Museum and cultural institutions in the northeast region.  

Kazuko also co-taught an all-day hands-on workshop on making and experimenting with historical models of Japanese bookbinding to the conservators at the Museum’s Book and Paper Conservation Departments.  Particpants learned through lectures, by viewing the books directly, through the stimulating conversation during breaks, and by getting their hands dirty.  More information on the event can be found on the Met’s blog In Circulation.