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Monthly Archives: December 2012

HathiTrust Update

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Our final update of the year is now available:  http://www.hathitrust.org/updates_november2012

In November we prepared technical systems to offer access to out of print and brittle works at partner institutions, worked with several institutions on deposit of locally-digitized materials, received the first deposit of content from the University of Florida, and welcomed a new member to the User Experience Advisory Group. Work continued on projects such as Zephir, mPach, and updates to HathiTrust Web applications, and there was also a story with a happy ending, apt for the holidays, about full-text search.   Also please note there is a special message this month regarding bibliographic corrections.

Best wishes to all of you for a wonderful holiday!

–Heather

on behalf of the HathiTrust Communications Working Group

2013 Global Scholars Call for Applications

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Colleagues:

The Provost’s Global Scholars Program is once again taking nominations for summer, 2013. Questions can be directed to me or to Jim Scott in the International Center, scottj@missouri.edu. The program this year will be May 17-June 1 in the People’s Republic of China and  will be led by Dr. Wen Ouyang (MU Office of International Programs).The goal this year is to develop ties with colleagues in both countries. Applicants should submit a plan of work and should identify possible collaborators in China. The trip is paid for by the provost in partnership with academic units sending representative, so yes, it is free for applicants.

Below is the application process for MU Libraries and the original announcement. Interested parties should send their application to me no later than Friday, January 18. I will be collecting them this year to pass on to Jim as he will be out of the country until January 25th. Please contact me if you have any questions, and good luck!

MU librarians and archivists have been involved with this program from its inception, including twelve who have traveled and served as Global Scholars in the past eight years.  Applications for this year’s seminars are due by Friday, 18 January 2013. Please send application items listed below Amanda Sprochi, 106 Health Sciences Library (I will pass them on to Jim when he returns from overseas).  If you have questions or would like more details, please contact Amanda Sprochi, the Libraries’ representative to the Council, or visit the Global Scholars Program web pages at the International Center.

–Amanda Sprochi

Global Scholars Program:  Archivists/Librarian application information

In order to apply, please submit the following items:

1. A copy of your current resume.

2. A statement from your supervisor assuring support of your application.

3. A written statement (no longer than one page) addressing the following:

a) Your present role with students, faculty, and staff;
b) Your commitment to assist students, faculty, and staff expand their knowledge of international
information resources and promote international affairs to the wider university community;
c) Your willingness to participate in Global Scholars activities, such as a follow-up workshop;
d) Your willingness to participate in the international faculty mentoring corps in the next academic year;
e) Your interest and ability to assist faculty Global Scholars as they revise their courses with
international content; and
f) Your interest in international library materials and services.

4.  Submit a brief (1-2 pages) one year plan of work to pursue program objectives by 30 June 30 2012.  Plans should identify potential collaborator(s) from China.  They should describe expected outcomes and proposed action steps to complete this work.

Call for Deans’ and Directors’ Nominations
Global Scholars Program
May 17 – June 1, 2013
Nomination Deadline: February 1, 2013

The MU Council on International Initiatives (CII) is pleased to announce the 2013 Global Scholars Program (GSP).  This nationally recognized program is designed to support MU faculty members who seek to internationalize their teaching and research.  Since its inception, over 150 faculty members across Colleges and Schools have participated.  As a result, numerous research collaborations have begun, and dozens of courses have been modified – enhancing the learning experience of thousands of MU students each year.  In 2002, the Global Scholars Program received the Andrew Heiskell Award for Best Practices and Innovation in International Education from the Institute of International Education.

GSP is designed to: 1) expand faculty involvement in MU’s strategic international relationships; and 2) foster tangible new international collaborations for participants, including research grants or papers and/or teaching innovations.

China

May 17 – June 1, 2013

To these ends, CII has organized an excellent itinerary for 2013 to the People’s Republic of China.  The program will be led by Dr. Wen Ouyang (MU Office of International Programs).  Wen is Co-Director of the MU Confucius Institute.  She’s been instrumental in building productive institutional relationships with Chinese universities.   This10-days study tour will include four locations in China: Shanghai, Shandong Province, Xi’an, and Beijing.  It will encourage our faculty to seek potential opportunities and develop relationships for research and education with their counterparts in China and to develop a better understanding of Chinese culture, Chinese people, and Chinese society.  We are confident that this year’s program will stimulate new and productive lines of collaboration across a wide range of disciplines.  This can be a transformative experience for participants.

Performance Criteria for Global Scholars Faculty:

  1. Global scholars agree to participate in all scheduled program activities, including two brief pre-departure orientation sessions.
  2. Scholars submit a brief (1-2 pages) one year plan of work to pursue program objectives by June 30, 2013.  Plans should identify potential collaborator(s) from China.  They should describe expected outcomes and proposed action steps to complete this work.  Scholars should submit their plans to their Dean/Director and to the Director of the International Center.
  3. Scholars provide a brief report on action steps taken and revisions in expected outcomes from original plans of work.  Progress reports are due by November 1, 2013.

For more information, please review the Global Scholars Program web page.

It’s a New Year, Time for a New Password!

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All MU and UM employees are required to change their University password between now and February 5th, 2013.  Why wait?  Get ahead of the deadline by resetting your password before the holidays!  To change your password, login to the  Division of IT Password Manager .  Visit Make IT Safe for password requirements and suggestions on creating a strong password or passphrase.  NOTE:  All password changes completed now will be exempt from the official 2013 password change campaign that begins in January.  All employee passwords must be changed by February 5th, 2013 to avoid an interruption of access to your account and associated services.  It’s a new year, time for a new password!

Renovation of Men’s & Women’s Ground Floor Restrooms

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Campus Facilities will be renovating the men’s & women’s restrooms on the ground floor maybe starting Wednesday, December 26.  The estimated end date for this project is February 11.

The items in the restrooms they will be renovating are:

  1. New counter tops in both restrooms
  2. New sinks and fixtures
  3. Painting the stall/dividers in both restrooms
  4. Painting the ceramic wall tile in the women’s restroom
  5. Painting the ceiling in both rooms
  6. Doing a thorough cleaning in both restrooms

Please let Pat Jones know if you have any questions.

Library Assembly Minutes, Nov. 27

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Attending:  Kate Anderson, Jack Batterson, Rachel Brekhus, Laura Buck(chair), Jim Cogswell, Deb Ward, June DeWeese, Anselm Huelsbergen, Libby Myre, Ashley Nelson and Ann Riley

Kate Anderson gave an update on what is happening with Mizzou Advantage.

  • There are now 4 areas instead of 5 with a focus on collaborative networks
  • Instead of the more formal proposals there are currently lightning round pitches for $25,000 in funds.
  • Recently funded proposals are the Science Communication Network for speakers and faculty training.  Digital Humanities received funding for graduate students,
  • Mizzou Advantage has also provided funds for the hiring of Chris Elsik in Animal Sciences.
  • Provided partial funding for a position of Historian of Modern Life Science.  Rest of funding provided from various departments.
  • Undergrad research teams
  • Digital storytelling major almost approved (teaching classes)
  • New courses and certificates have been developed
  • In March, there will be a Symposium on “Zoobiquity” (a layperson’s book on the impact of animal health on humans)
  • June asked if there was someone responsible for getting library-related events to Shannon and asked for more heads-up for staff on events of possible interest.
    • Concerns that branch library events aren’t publicized  as well under the current system
    • Rachel mentioned it would be helpful to have separate ways to promote mainly externally-focused events and events that might have more internal-interest
    • Agreement on trying to better publicize events.
  • Anne Barker has done a lot with digital humanities. The last symposium this year will be Dec 11th, and then they will continue in the spring.
    • From a shared handout: “The digital Humanities Initiative is an interdisciplinary community of MU faculty, staff, and students interested in exploring and developing the ‘digital humanities,’ broadly construed as the intersection of humanities disciplines and computing. To join the exploration and hear of upcoming events, please join our discussion list: dighumanities-l. Send an email to listserv@po.missouri.edu with the text: subscribe dighumanities-l <your name>.”
  • Mizzou Advantage has boosted the library’s profile by hosting seminars & exhibits in the library i.e. the exhibit Alla currently has in the Colonnade.
  • Has provided funding for librarians to go to conferences
  • The funding opportunities for development will be more widely publicized, including examples of past awards.

Director’s Announcements:

  • Thank you to everyone for their “patience and fortitude” over Monday’s closure. Jim expressed his “sincere appreciation” to all staff that helped make this possible and hoped there was minimum disruption for staff. The lights are still out in parts of Ellis, including  Gov. Docs.
  • The library will house a Martin Luther King, Jr. maquette (a model used to make the sculpture) of the Martin Luther King, Jr. statue on the main mall in D.C. It will be housed in the West-end of the atrium. That space will also be used by the Chancellor’s office to advertise diversity initiative events. The maquette was donated by Ty Christian, a Mizzou alum who fundraised for the sculpture in Washington D.C. There will be a more permanent base made for the maquette.
  • The St. John’s Bible was here (1 of the 7 volumes). They donated a coffee table edition of the volume that visited, and Jim wants to eventually add it to the collection. The purchase of the 100th full set for the library’s centennial is contingent on private funding.
  • Development Officer search (Jim and Ron Kelley are on the search committee). One candidate Melanie Mercer has visited for an interview. There are two other candidates being considered, at least one of which will be invited to campus. Jim will solicit feedback on candidates.
  • Digital Curator for Journalism – search committee met this morning, and the position is posted. As far as Jim knew, none of the $31 million gifted to the journalism school was going to the Journalism Library.
  • Ann reported that the (RAIS) Associate Director for Research and Information Services search committee has met and are reviewing applications. The position will be open until filled and they are working on preliminary Skype interviews for December and hope to have campus interviews in January.
  • Deb reported that the HR position has 4 candidates visiting (Nov.29th and 30th, and December 6th and 7th). Mark will email out the information about all candidates out in one email. Everyone will also later get a “dos and don’ts” email about the interviews. The candidates will give a 10-15 min talk on a topic of their choice and how it relates to higher education and libraries at their open forums. The evaluation forms will be due to Deb by Dec 10th.

Departmental Announcements:

  • June:  promoted the January 30th Martin Luther King, Jr. event with Judge Glenda Hatchett. The 3 to midnight circulation shift will also open up, as the current person leaves on December 11th. Ellis is having more and more videos on reserve, and the videos are heavily used.
  • Libby: voiced a concern brought up to her about the lack of staff involvement in the process, meetings, etc. of ROWE (results-oriented work environment)
    • Rachel explained that the most recent meeting was for supervisors only, including for supervisors of staff, and that meeting was purposely tailored for and advertised to them. She discussed how MOREnet is in a pilot program at MU that still has aprx.1 more year to run. The MULAC ROWE committee (Rachel, Goodie, Jackie) are still in the information-gathering phase, but Rachel has been trying to share the information that is being gathered staff-wide through email. Jim agreed that information should be shared. He also said the “at the moment, there isn’t any concerted effort to move in that direction [ROWE.]” Rachel reported that questions remain as to how this would affect exempt/non-exempt staff if ever implemented. The MULAC ROWE group will not meet again until January, and Rachel was open to the idea of a staff member on this committee.
  • Kate: MULAC is going to meet and look at library policy 21: recruitment and hiring of librarians and archivists
  • Rachel: Government Documents are still without lights, but they have found computers to use in the meantime and are using flashlights for item retrieval.
  • Ann: there will be a RDA workshop on the Amigos Network on December 11th. Elaine Huntsucker has married and is now Elaine Nelson. Terry Austin is retiring in February, and there will be a reception for her in January.
  • Laura: Vet Med has been busy moving materials to open up space and have their own recycling dumpsters now. They will look into the possibility of an open house, possibly a MULSA March one.
  • Deb: gave her proposal to ITC (MU Information Technology Committee) about the e-learning librarian.  It was enthusiastically received, but there were questions about continuing funding. They will not make a decision until around spring. HSL hosted the Health Science school’s research day. At the research day, HSL shared their 1st floor renovation plans, which currently has some funding questions.

There will be no December meeting of Library Assembly due to the holiday.