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home Resources and Services, Staff news Improving Digital Accessibility on Digitized Historical Commencement Programs

Improving Digital Accessibility on Digitized Historical Commencement Programs

By Ying Hu   Posted in Resources and Services Staff news
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The Digital Initiatives team has been working to digitize historical commencement programs in the past year. In one year, 176 programs were scanned. We uploaded 135 programs and will upload the last 41 program in the next few months. You can find the digitized collection on MOspace: https://mospace.umsystem.edu/xmlui/handle/10355/86901 

We are very proud of this project because we not only created high-quality scans as we always do, but also made efforts to improve the digital accessibility on the PDF files we created for this project. Each PDF file of the commencement programs has corrected OCR and is screen reader friendly.

What is the digitization process like for this project?

A digitization project usually starts with a planning process that defines the scope of the project, evaluates the condition of the physical items, and decides on the equipment, technical and metadata standards to be used for the project. Then, the project will be assigned to staff and students for the scanning, editing, quality controlling, and uploading processes. This project started in September 2023 with the planning process and handed over to a team of one student and 2 staff to execute the digitization workflow. Our student employee Evie worked about 12 hours per week on scanning and editing images.

Flowchart showing digitization workflow
Digitization workflow for commencement programs

Why invest time on improving digital accessibility of the pdfs?

Though we always take care, when possible, to provide OCR that is generally readable and searchable, certain items such as these commencement programs provide important details about Mizzou history and Mizzou alumni. Alumni, family members, and researchers often find commencement programs to be meaningful. Accuracy of the content is crucial for digitized commencement programs because users would want to search and find specific information such as student names, degree programs, awards and honors in the commencement.

How did you improve digital accessibility of PDFs?

We first use a software that automatically does OCR (optical character recognition) and then follow up with a few more manual steps to ensure digital accessibility, including:

  • reviewing and correcting text (particularly names)
  • correcting the reading order of elements on each page
  • adding alt-text to images when needed
A screenshot of an OCR editor software, showing the process of checking for name errors in automatically generated OCR text
Pic1-Checking for name errors in automatically generated OCR text
A screenshot showing before and after correcting the OCR errors caused by unique fonts.
Pic2-Before and after correcting the OCR errors caused by unique fonts.
A screenshot of a pdf page in OCR editor, showing the machine suggested reading order of different elements.
Pic3-before correcting the reading order of text blocks (pay attention to #5, #10-17)
A screenshot of a pdf page in OCR editor, showing the manually corrected eading order of different elements.
Pic4-after correcting the reading order of text blocks

According to World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), digital accessibility is the inclusive practice of ensuring that websites, tools and technologies are designed and developed so that people with disabilities can use them. Furthermore, when digital tools are correctly designed, developed, and updated, generally all users have equal access to information and functionality.

Digital Initiatives team has been interested in learning about digital accessibility since a couple of years ago. We attended multiple webinars and training sessions and discussed how to apply what we learned into practice. The commencement programs project is a great learning experience for both staff and students, and we hope this digital collection serves all users equally.

Resources:

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG): https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/

Library Accessibility Toolkit: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Z0Pc6cLz1JjTUAysWkm16TKk-dQXDZ03NAOMGSMpoZQ/edit#heading=h.3oa7rh5pxjpe

 

home Resources and Services, Uncategorized Vote Mizzou: Make Sure You Have a Voting Plan

Vote Mizzou: Make Sure You Have a Voting Plan

By Taira Meadowcroft   Posted in Resources and Services Uncategorized
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Election Day is: Tuesday, November 5th! But before Election Day, there are things you can do to get ready for the polls.

  1. Register to Vote and/check your voter registration
    • As a Mizzou student you have choices on where you can vote. You can choose to vote in your hometown by using your permanent home address or in Columbia, Missouri by using your student address. Either way, you need to make sure you are registered to vote in either place by the voter registration deadline.
    • You can easily check your registration status here.
  2.  What’s the best registration option?
  3. Do I need to Absentee Vote?

All of this information is from VoteMizzou, an Associated Students of the University of Missouri’s (ASUM) initiative to make sure every Tiger is registered.

 

Taira Meadowcroft

Taira Meadowcroft is the Public Health and Community Engagement Librarian at the Health Sciences Library at the University of Missouri.

home Resources and Services How to Find Ebooks at Mizzou Libraries

How to Find Ebooks at Mizzou Libraries

By Shannon Cary   Posted in Resources and Services
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Mizzou Libraries has access to many ebooks and we have an easy way for you to search for them.

Go to library.missouri.edu and type out your topic or the name of the book (put the title in quotation marks for best results) you are looking for in the search box. Click the search button (see the image below for an example).

For books in health sciences, take a look at the Health Sciences Library ebook page.

For books in veterinary medicine, take a look at the Zalk Library ebook page.

For books in journalism and communication, take a look at the Journalism Library ebook page.

If you get stuck or have a question, our 24/6 chat is on the right hand side of the screen. We are here for you.

Scroll down through the search results until you see Filter by Format on the left hand side. Choose Ebook. If Ebook doesn’t show up as an option, choose Show More, then click Ebook. 

home Ellis Library, Resources and Services Peer Navigator Corner: Libraries Infographic

Peer Navigator Corner: Libraries Infographic

By Kimberly Moeller   Posted in Ellis Library Resources and Services
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Written by: Alyssa Westhoff

 

The University of Missouri is a large campus with an overwhelming number of resources for students, but in my opinion a few of the most essential are the Libraries. In addition to Ellis, a couple examples include the Health Sciences Library, the Journalism Library, and the Engineering Library. Last semester, myself and two other Peer Navigators created an Infographic and video guide for incoming freshmen who may not realize that these buildings even exist, and to show more of what the Libraries have to offer!

The fourteen-minute video has different sections you can jump to explaining where each library is located on campus, Ellis specific information, how to use the libraries website, how to borrow equipment like phone chargers, and highlighting other services. It also answers the most common questions we receive as Peer Navigators such as “How do I print?” The infographic gives a quick summary of all of these different topics with video timestamps so you can easily access the certain topic you need without having to watch the entire guide.

An important update occurred over the summer that I wanted to clarify relating to printing software. One of the most common questions new students tend to ask is how to go about printing in the library. Ellis offers a “Quick Print Station” where students can log into a computer and print directly from there. The “Quick Print Station” is located on the first floor, right next to the left of the staircase leading down to the cafe and the west entrance. Another printing option that’s often more popular is to download the Print Anywhere software onto your personal laptop. In our video guide, we provide a step by step explanation of how to download this software. Over the summer, a change was made and now the website students need to search is “printsmart.missouri.edu” instead of “doit.missouri.edu,” which we reference in the video. Once you get to the Print Smart page all of the following steps remain the same as before.

Here is the link to our video guide for anyone who hasn’t had the chance to view it. Physical copies of our infographic can be found on the Peer Navigator desk, please feel free to stop by and grab one for yourself or to share, and ask us any other questions you may have in person!

 

home J. Otto Lottes Health Sciences Library, Resources and Services Looking to Publish a Case Report? Start Here

Looking to Publish a Case Report? Start Here

By Taira Meadowcroft   Posted in J. Otto Lottes Health Sciences Library Resources and Services
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Deciding where to publish a case report is difficult because it’s hard to track down which journals actually publish case reports. To make that a little easier, a list of journals that publish case reports was recently released.

This new journal list includes 1,028 journals covering 129 specialties.

Below are just a few that are medicine and health science related.  You can check out the whole list here to search by specialty. 

American Family Physician

American Journal of Emergency Medicine

BMJ Case Reports

The Health Sciences Library subscription to BMJ Case Reports includes a waiver of the individual membership fee of £273 normally required to publish cases. Submission instructions.

British Journal of Hospital Medicine

Canadian Journal of Rural Medicine

Critical Care Nurse

Frontiers in Public Health

Journal of Clinical Psychiatry

Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association

Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare

Leukemia Research

Occupational Medicine

Physical Therapy: Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation

Women’s Health

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Taira Meadowcroft

Taira Meadowcroft is the Public Health and Community Engagement Librarian at the Health Sciences Library at the University of Missouri.

home Resources and Services Special Spaces in Mizzou Libraries: Prayer Hall

Special Spaces in Mizzou Libraries: Prayer Hall

By Shannon Cary   Posted in Resources and Services
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An interfaith meditation and prayer space is designated for use at the southeast corner of the first floor that offers a secluded space in Ellis library.

We’ve placed signage in the area that requests respect for those engaged in meditation or prayer. In less busy times, you might be able to reserve an open study room for a more private space.

The Division of Inclusion, Diversity & Equity maintains a list of spaces on campus that can be used for meditation and prayer.

home J. Otto Lottes Health Sciences Library, Resources and Services Overview of Recent University of Missouri Publications in Medicine and Related Fields:August 2024

Overview of Recent University of Missouri Publications in Medicine and Related Fields:August 2024

By Taira Meadowcroft   Posted in J. Otto Lottes Health Sciences Library Resources and Services
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Monthly Publications SOM Newshub Image

Each month we provide an overview of University of Missouri School of Medicine faculty-authored articles in medicine and related fields as well as a featured article with the highest journal impact factor.

This month’s featured article, “Harnessing cellular therapeutics for type 1 diabetes mellitus: progress, challenges, and the road ahead “was co-authored by Dr. Haval Shirwan of the Department of Pediatrics. The article was published in Nature Reviews Endocrinology (impact factor of 31.0 in 2023).

Note that Dr. James Stevermer also had a publication in JAMA as a member of the USPSTF: “Screening and Supplementation for Iron Deficiency and Iron Deficiency Anemia During Pregnancy: US Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement”

See the list of publications in medicine and related fields we retrieved for this month: https://library.muhealth.org/facpubmonthlyresult/?Month=August&Year=2024

home J. Otto Lottes Health Sciences Library, Resources and Services New Book Highlight- Environmental Alteration Leads to Human Disease: a Planetary Health Approach

New Book Highlight- Environmental Alteration Leads to Human Disease: a Planetary Health Approach

By Taira Meadowcroft   Posted in J. Otto Lottes Health Sciences Library Resources and Services
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New Ebook Highlight

We’ve recently added Environmental Alteration Leads to Human Disease: a Planetary Health Approach to our online collection.

This book aims to explore the impact of human alterations of Earth’s ecological systems on human health. Human activities are producing fundamental biophysical changes faster than ever before in the history of our species, which are accompanied by dangerous health effects.

Drawing on advanced ecological principles, the book demonstrates the importance of using systemic medicine to study the effects of ecological alterations on human health.

This book is a great resource for anyone beginning to work on their dissertation or grant proposal as well as those who are interested in brushing up on their writing skills.

You can access the book online.

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Taira Meadowcroft

Taira Meadowcroft is the Public Health and Community Engagement Librarian at the Health Sciences Library at the University of Missouri.

home J. Otto Lottes Health Sciences Library, Resources and Services Peer Navigator Corner: Health Sciences Library

Peer Navigator Corner: Health Sciences Library

By Kimberly Moeller   Posted in J. Otto Lottes Health Sciences Library Resources and Services
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Peer Navigator Corner Health Sciences Library

Written by: Sophie Lanzone

You may be aware, but there are several other libraries at Mizzou besides Ellis Library, including the Health Science Library. As a Health Science major, I think it’s a wonderful thing that there is a specific library with a focus on my area, but I didn’t know it existed until after my first year of college.

The Health Sciences Library (HSL) opened in 1985 and was named after Dr. J. Otto Lottes, who was an orthopedic surgeon from St. Louis and an alumnus of Mizzou. This library is a resource available to all Mizzou students, faculty, and staff. However, the materials focus on supporting the School of Medicine, Sinclair School of Nursing, School of Health Professions, Health Management and Informatics, and MU Health Care.

The library offers many research tools such as books, articles, and databases, and offers research support through workshops. It is designed to help students find certain resources that pertain to medicine or healthcare. Similarly to Ellis, there are plenty of rooms to study, printers and scanners, computers, and electronic devices, in addition to document loan and delivery services. HSL also offers research tools such as self-paced EBM tutorials, mobile medical apps to help with studying, and specific resources for med and nursing students that Ellis does not.

Unfortunately, the Health Science Library is temporarily closed for renovation, but you can still get help and resources from it! Librarians and staff are working remotely, and there is a chat box you can use to talk with them. Libraries chat services are available 24/7, but Health Sciences Librarians can specifically be reached Monday-Friday from 9am to 4pm. You can also book a consultation with a librarian for resource help both online through Zoom and in-person. If you need any books from HSL, they will be sent to 24/7 pickup lockers either across the courtyard in the Medical Sciences Building or in Ellis Library.

More information about the Health Sciences Library can be found on their webpage, including links to different services as well as directions and maps to navigate around the library. You can also find pictures of progress of the renovations, and hopefully it will open again shortly!

home Resources and Services Digital Media and Innovation Lab in Ellis Library

Digital Media and Innovation Lab in Ellis Library

By Shannon Cary   Posted in Resources and Services
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The Digital Media and Innovation Lab (DMiL) in Ellis Library provides innovative technology and resources for your creative projects.  The DMiL has an Audio Recording Booth, Digital Art Tools, and 3D Scanners in Room 156; interview recording room in Room 157, and a film studio in Room 3E21.

The DMiL is complemented by the Information Commons computers and equipment checkout at the checkout & information desk.  The DMiL is available to students for class or personal projects.

You can make a reservation and check-in or stop by for a consultation in Room 153.

Monday – Thursday: 11:00am – 8:00pm
Friday: 11:00am – 3:00pm
Saturday: Closed
Sunday: 1:00pm – 5:00pm

Questions & Consultation email: ellisdml@missouri.edu