Are you a staff member planning to attend or present at the 2021 ALAO Conference? Consider applying for the Academic Library Association of Ohio (ALAO) Support Staff Conference Grant.
The Academic Library Association of Ohio (ALAO) seeks to encourage support staff development and participation in ALAO activities through the Support Staff Grant. To that end, the ALAO Executive Board may award up to $150 annually to assist and encourage support staff to attend the ALAO Annual Conference. All support staff currently employed in an Ohio academic library are eligible to apply. Priority is given to applicants with an accepted 2021 ALAO conference program proposal.
Eligibility:
Support staff currently employed in an Ohio academic library
ALAO membership is not required
Application Deadline: Thursday, September 23, 2021 11:59 p.m.
If you have any questions about the Support Staff Grant, please contact Professional Development Committee chair, Elizabeth Sullivan.”
As far as the other grants go, we’re not soliciting applicants for the Continuing Education grant until November, and we don’t have the webpage or forms set up yet, but if you want to do a short blurb reminding people that it exists, we can say the following,
ALAO Continuing Education Grant Coming Soon
The Academic Library Association of Ohio (ALAO) Continuing Education Grant is awarded each year to support the cost of participating in professional development opportunities such as conferences, workshops, seminars, which are related to the member’s current position or in pursuit of a professional library degree. Current ALAO members are eligible to apply for funds to defray the costs of attending any library-related educational opportunity occurring during the calendar year. Applications for 2022 will open in November 2021.
–Elizabeth Sullivan, Professional Development Committee Chair, Oberlin College
As of September 1, 2021, Carrie Phillips will officially assume the role Library Director for Bluffton University’s Musselman Library. She has been serving in that role in an interim capacity since August 1, 2020.
–Carrie Phillips, Bluffton University
Bryant & Stratton College Cleveland/Solon News
Joseph Dudley (Bryant & Stratton College – Cleveland/Solon) will present “Introduction to the BSC Libraries Intranet” at the BSC librarians’ annual meeting on August 27.
The Kelvin Smith Library is hiring an Archivist or the Scholarly Resources and Special Collections team.Click here for more details.
Amanda Koziura co-authored an article published in In the Library with the Lead Pipe titled, “Service Ceiling: The High Cost of Professional Development for Academic Librarians.” The article discusses a national survey that reveals the inequitable landscape of professional development funding for academic librarians in the United States prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ben Gorham coauthored an article in the Journal of Map and Geography Libraries (JMGL) on the 2020 3C GIS Day Ben co-organized with librarians from OSU and the University of Cincinnati. In the article, they build on earlier research to reassess the landscape of Association of Research Libraries (ARL) member involvement in GIS Day programs and, in particular, how these events demonstrate the educational and collaborative aspects of geospatial information services in libraries.
Implemented by Daniela Solomon, Mark Clemente, and R. Benjamin Gorham, the Kelvin Smith Library’s online Research Impact Challenge from 2020 is recognized as noteworthy for the 2021 inaugural annual Notable Works list of ACRL’s Academic Library Services for Graduate Students Interest Group. More information, including the list of works being recognized, is available here.
Liz Bober co-presented with Dr. Molly Watkins, Assistant Provost for International Affairs, at the 2021 QS Quacquarelli Symonds EduData Summit 2021 on June 9th as part of the Untapped Expertise track. They discussed Forging Connections Across Campus to Drive Research and Build Reputation where they focused on the university’s strategic initiative to improve international rankings and how collaborating with the library, and others across campus, has strengthened the institutional reputation.
Marie Vibbert‘s novella The Unlikely Heroines of Callisto Station was given the cover treatment by Analog: Science Fiction and Fact magazine in the July/August issue.
Stephanie Church gave a virtual presentation on June 3rd at the 2021 Ohio Valley Group of Technical Services Librarians (OVGTSL) conference titled “Tableau Your Stacks: Using Data Visualization to Analyze Collections.” Stephanie talked about how she set up Tableau to access data from Sierra’s SQL database and shared some of the strategies she has used to find useful data, analyze it, and create and share visualizations using Tableau. See Stephanie’s Public Tableau at: https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/stephanie.church.
KSL Special Collections is proud to announce a new acquisition, a “luxury facsimile of the Mechelen Choirbook.” The original was produced by the workshop of Petrus Alamire in the early 16th century and is still held in Mechelen, the city where it was made. Kelvin Smith Library Special Collections recently acquired one of five such facsimiles, created through the Alamire Foundation, and holds the only such copy in North America. The tooled leather binding, beautiful color illustrations within, and the size (over two feet tall) are all exact reproductions of the original. The facsimile will be used by the CWRU Music Department’s Musicology and Historical Performance Practice students.
–-Brian Gray, Case Western Reserve University
Photo by William Claspy
Cedarville University News
The Centennial Library at Cedarville University welcomed several new staff members this summer to fill open positions at the library.
Jess Elder was appointed as the library’s Health Sciences Librarian beginning on July 1. Jess completed her MLIS in December 2020 at Kent State University while working in a staff capacity at the Centennial Library. As Health Sciences Librarian, she contributes to the development and delivery of library instructional services, research and information services, and individual research assistance, with special focus on undergraduate and graduate health sciences students and faculty.
Holly Caldwell began work as the library’s Collection Management Assistant on June 28, 2021. She is responsible for collection management and acquisitions tasks, with an emphasis on books and audiovisual materials. She also assists with OhioLINK, course reserves, and staffing the library’s MediaPLEX.
Anna Jennings started as the library’s Public Services Assistant on July 26, 2021. In this role, she assists with staffing the library’s Service Desk and providing Circulation services as well as staffing the MediaPLEX desk.
Jess (2017), Holly (2019), and Anna (2020) each participated in the library’s internship program while they were students at Cedarville, earning academic credit while learning more about library operations and careers.
–-Joshua B. Michael, Cedarville University
Mulford Health Science Library, the University of Toledo News
Gerald Natal and Jodi Jameson were promoted to Associate Professor with tenure. Congratulations!
The Mulford Health Science Library has started major renovations of its primary study space. In response to student requests, study rooms are being reconfigured to hold groups of 8-10, with whiteboards, new lighting, and improved soundproofing; adding study carrels with height-adjustable work surfaces; replacing chairs at study tables, and rebuilding restrooms for increased capacity and ADA accessibility.
In May, Jolene Miller presented the results of her research project, “Health Science Librarians’ Engagement in Work-Related Reflection: A Qualitative Exploration of Why They Invest in Reflective Practice,” at the 2021 Medical Library Association vConference. This project was supported by a research grant from the ALAO Research and Publications Committee.
–Jolene Miller, Mulford Health Science Library, University of Toledo
Oberlin College News
Valerie Hotchkiss joined Oberlin College in September as the Azariah Smith Root Director of Libraries, following a national search during which Tracy Sutherland, Associate Director and Head of Public Services, served as the Interim Director.
For the past five years, Hotchkiss served as University Librarian at Vanderbilt University. Prior to that, she led Bridwell Library at Southern Methodist University and the Rare Book & Manuscript Library at the University of Illinois. In addition to leading the Vanderbilt Libraries, Hotchkiss served as professor of English at Vanderbilt. She earned a bachelor’s in classics at the University of Cincinnati (which awarded her a distinguished alumna award), a master’s in library science, and a Ph.D in medieval studies at Yale University. She is the author or coauthor of numerous books and articles on medieval cultural history, women’s studies, and topics on the history of books and printing.
—Alison Ricker, Oberlin College
University of Dayton News
University of Dayton Libraries is proud to announce several new hires in the Collections Strategies & Services department:
Simon Robins will join as the Coordinator of Electronic Resources & Discovery and Assistant Professor on September 1.
Grace Huffman will join as the Special Collections Cataloging & Circulation Assistant on September 1.
Jill Crane will join as the Coordinator of Cataloging & Metadata and Associate Professor on October 1.
–-Katy Kelly, University of Dayton
University of Rio Grande and Rio Grande Community College News
Jeanette Albiez Davis Library at the University of Rio Grande and Rio Grande Community College is pleased to announce that Ms. Carrie Girton has joined its staff as Systems and Cataloging Specialist. Carrie’s primary responsibilities include administering and maintaining the integrated library system (ILS); performing original and copy cataloging of library materials in all formats; and overseeing the library’s technical services functions. She also serves as Davis Library’s Collection Development Liaison Librarian to the Holzer School of Nursing and Allied Health. Carrie comes to us from Miami University Hamilton, where she worked for nine years as a Public Services Librarian at the Rentschler Library. Originally from the Ohio Appalachian Region, she wanted to move back to the area to be closer to her hometown and family. Carrie also wanted to take her librarian skills to a new level by transitioning to technical services, where she can explore and implement various library access tools to improve information use and delivery. Carrie holds an M.L.S. degree from the University of Kentucky and the focus of her latest research is on how libraries can employ Empathy-Based Marketing strategies to enhance their outreach efforts.
–-Amy R. Wilson, University of Rio Grande and Rio Grande Community College
With the academic year winding to a close, the ALAO Board should be proud of what we have been able to accomplish this year, even during a pandemic. Here are some highlights and updates since the last newsletter.
DEI Survey. ALAO’s DEI survey closed at the end of April. A small team of volunteers analyzed the survey and created a short report to share with ALAO members and guide our next steps. We will be giving a presentation about the survey at the OhioLINK Summit in July, and we’ll have more details about our plans after the ALAO Board Retreat on July 16th. For access to the full survey results, please reach out to me.
ALAO Code of Conduct. ALAO has officially completed the process of updating our Code of Conduct and ancillary documents! The Code of Conduct and reporting forms can be found on the ALAO website, and the internal reporting workflow document is in the process of being added to ALAO’s Procedures Manual. Edith Scarletto and I will be presenting about the process of adopting these important documents at the next ACRL Chapters Council meeting in July.
We Here Scholarships. ALAO will continue to offer We Here scholarships to members, and management for these scholarships will be overseen by the Professional Development Committee. We didn’t have any applicants this year, so please be thinking about what We Here events you might like to attend for our next round of scholarships!
Transition to 2021 ALAO Board. Thank you to all of our ALAO Board members whose terms are ending this July, and congratulations and welcome to all of our newly appointed or elected Board members! Your service is very much appreciated!
ALAO 2021 Board Retreat. The ALAO Board Retreat will occur on July 16th and take place fully online. Besides taking care of succession activities, the retreat will be a chance to set organizational goals for the coming year. I’m excited to pass the gavel to Jess Crossfield McIntosh at the retreat!
Thank you to all of the ALAO Board members for a productive year, and for being such a pleasure to work with! It has been a privilege to lead such an innovative and dedicated group of colleagues.
I am happy to announce the candidates who will be joining the Executive Board for the 2021-2022 year. Please join me in congratulating:
Vice President/President Elect: Gerald Natal Treasurer: Don Appleby Public Relations (PR) Coordinator: Melissa Cox Norris Board Members-at-Large: Melissa Bauer, Kristen Peters, Chris Robinson-Nkongola
Many thanks to all candidates who stepped up to run during such a challenging time.
Also, kudos to the following members for their support during this election cycle: Maureen Barry, Nominating Committee Heidi Gauder, Nominating Committee Edith Scarletto, Nominating Committee Seth Sisler, Web Manager
We are halfway through 2021 and getting closer every day to ALAO’s 47th Annual Conference: Building Bridges: Dialogue, Deliberation, and Connection in Academic Libraries. I am happy to share updates on behalf of the amazing Conference Planning Committee.
Registration for the conference will open mid-June with registration fees remaining static from last year.
We are currently reviewing conference proposals and will have the program schedule in July. For those who submitted proposals, you should be contacted about the results by the end of June. Thank you for your submissions!
We will be adding lighting talk sessions to the conference this year, and a new pre-conference social event. Stay tuned for updates.
In addition to engaging sessions and posters presented by your colleagues, registrants will have access to the presentations of our workshop and keynote speakers, Fobazi Ettarh, Sofia Leung, and Nicole Cooke.
We look forward to seeing you at our online event this fall!
The Research and Publications Committee is pleased to announce that Dr. Feng-Ru Sheu, Instructional Design Librarian at Kent State University, has been awarded 2021 ALAO Research Grant funds for her project “Flipped Classrooms for One-Shot Library Instruction in Remote Teaching (in the time of COVID)”. She will be exploring the use of the flipped classroom model for “one-shot” library instruction sessions in an online learning environment, focusing on student experiences and learning outcomes for this approach. We congratulate Dr. Sheu and look forward to hearing about the results of her research.
–Ken Irwin, Research and Publications Committee Co-Chair, Miami University –Katy Tucker, Research and Publications Committee Co-Chair, Xavier University
The current membership of ALAO includes a total of 321 members consisting of 288 regular members, 5 retiree members, and 28 student members. We are excited to welcome new members who joined between February 25, 2021 and May 28, 2021.
Zaineb Bayahy, Capital University
Jennifer Blasi, Xavier University
Nicole Conforto, Wayne State University
Donna Fuller, Columbus State Community College
Laura Maidens, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Katie Maxfield, Wittenberg University
Sam Mays, Kent State University
Karen McKillip, University of North Carolina Greensboro
Dawn Winans, Kettering University
–Maureen Barry, Membership Chair, Bowling Green State University
Let’s shine the Member Spotlight on Shannon Simpson from Kenyon College Libraries!
What is/are your role(s) in academic libraries?
My job title is Scholarly Instruction Librarian, but I think of my role, as a BIPOC Librarian in the Academic Librarian field, as one of constant education and learning and creating. Whether that be with fellow librarians working to learn and incorporate critical pedagogy and librarianship into our everyday work, or working with students and faculty to develop and engage a deeper understanding of the world of information and how that insight is essential to using and working and creating new information responsibly.
What do you like most about academic library work?
I adore working with college students. I am a creative person that relishes the challenge of taking difficult information literacy concepts, figuring out where and how they should be approached from a more critical and social justice standpoint, and then creating interactive classroom experiences that engage learners in ways that are new and a bit different than what they are expecting or have experienced. While great classroom experiences require quite a lot of planning, when it goes well, it feels like magic. I’m here for that.
What are some interesting projects you’ve been involved with lately?
I am so over the moon to be working with an amazing team of enthusiastic librarians in the coming year on a CODEX funded project: Reframing the ACRL Framework: A Roadmap for Equitable Information Literacy Instruction. We’re working from a shared desire to create learning objects based on the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy in order to provide students with a deeper understanding of inequity and racism through the lens of media and information literacy. This project has given a group of librarians from Denison, Wooster, Oberlin, Ohio Wesleyan (and Kenyon) the opportunity to start with a reflective process on teaching, social justice, and anti-racism, in order to move toward the development and implementation of unique learning tools that are long overdue in our field. I am so excited to see where we go with this!
Tell us a fun fact about yourself.
I have a running list of fictional band names and album titles that I randomly come up with. For instance, I am just waiting for a rap/metal act named Kombucha to come on the scene after dropping their single, “Trace Amounts” from their debut album, “The Mother.” There’s no doubt it will be a banger.
What do you love about being an ALAO member? (Or if you’re a newer member, you might prefer to answer Why did you join ALAO?)
I am a newer member, but I spent years in a couple of Maryland-wide groups. I’ve found that being able to learn and grow and collaborate with librarians across different campuses is always inspiring. I feel so lucky to work with a truly dynamic group of librarians at Kenyon, but it’s just as wonderful to hear from and learn and grow with the myriad talented librarians across Ohio.
On a more serious note, however, I think librarians are at a precipice. We need to decide whether or not we want to do the hard work of rooting out and tearing down library systems of oppression in order to build new structures that support all information seekers. It’s in no way easy work, but if ALAO is up to that challenge it will have lasting impacts for generations. I have hope that we can transform ourselves and our libraries from information gatekeepers into information gateways.
—Maureen Barry, Membership Chair, Bowling Green State University
ALAO’s interest groups don’t stop over summer! ALAO has 12 active special interest groups that have formed to discuss concerns and issues related to academic librarianship in Ohio. Keep an eye on the ALAO events page for summer and fall events brought to you by our interest groups! Joining an interest group is a great way to participate in leadership events and network with fellow librarians and library staff. For more information visit the ALAO website https://www.alaoweb.org/igs/index.html.
–Sara Klink, Interest Group Coordinator, Stark State College
Collection Management Interest Group (CMIG)
Partners in Success: Libraries and Vendors
The Academic Library Association of Ohio (ALAO) Collection Management Interest Group (CMIG) is offering a virtual meeting that will focus on library and vendor partnerships. There will be 3 presentations of about 15-minutes each followed by Q&A, open discussion, and group brainstorming on these topics. The presentations would look at various concepts embedded in close collaborations as demonstrated through real-world examples, best practices, and/or successful results. Zoom will be used for the meeting on July 14, 2021, at 2pm-3:30pm. Registration will be required, but the meeting will be free.
The benefit to vendors on collaboration and why they want to see partnerships.
How librarians and staff can directly influence and direct the resources, tools, and platforms offered by vendors.
How librarians and staff can push for change in how vendors interact with libraries and users, including communication, assessment, fiscal terms, behind-the-scenes processes, automation, etc.
Stephanie Church (Acquisitions Librarian, Kelvin Smith Library, CWRU)
Stephanie will discuss why librarian/vendor relationships should be viewed as symbiotic and how taking time to nurture these relationships is one of the most effective ways to advocate for yourself, your library, and the profession.
Stephanie Church is an Acquisitions Librarian at Case Western Reserve University’s Kelvin Smith Library. Her primary responsibilities include monograph purchases in any format, managing and implementing user-driven initiatives, collection assessment, and vendor relations.
Sharice Collins (VP of Marketing and Market Engagement, IOP Publishing, Inc.)
Title: Partners in Scholarly Communication
There are many opportunities for vendors and librarians to work together to achieve mutual benefit. Sharice will discuss how to identify, develop, and evolve those partnerships and will share some examples of success.
Sharice Collins is Vice President of Marketing and Market Engagement for IOP Publishing. Based in the Philadelphia Headquarters, Sharice is a member of the company’s Senior Management Team, overseeing all marketing, promotion, and exhibit activities for the Americas.
Michelle Kraft, MLS, AHIP, FMLA (Director, Cleveland Clinic Health System Libraries)
Negotiating with library vendors is not a full-contact sport and viewing it as such will leave you and the rep mentally bruised, battered, and most likely no closer to an equitable solution. Listening, strategic sharing, and understanding, qualities found more in diplomacy, tend to be more productive, less stressful, and often lead to future positive experiences.
Michelle Kraft is the Library Director of the Cleveland Clinic Health System. As the Director, Michelle oversees library resources and services for multiple hospitals in Ohio and across the United States. As a result, she works with vendors on the best methods for providing access to online resources to a diverse group of medical professionals with very unique needs.
STEMIG continues to hold open discussions for members (or anyone interested!) to drop in, connect with colleagues, and discuss whatever is on their minds. These virtual discussions take place at 11:00am on the second Friday of each month at this Zoom link. We will next be meeting on June 11th.
In association with the Scholarly Communication IG and the Michigan Academic Library Association (MiALA), STEMIG is sponsoring the workshop “An Antiracist Framework for Scholarly Communications.” We will be welcoming presenters Niccole Coggins (Editorial, Design, and Production Coordinator & Assistant Project Editor at UVA Press) and Jocelyn Dawson (Journals Marketing Manager at Duke University Press). Librarians and interested faculty can register here:
A recording will be available following the workshop.
We are also electing our next co-chair! Information about the candidates and a ballot are available at https://forms.gle/y8gZaXqjYDMiZrVp9. Voting will close on June 11th and the results will be announced on June 18th.
–Zach Sharrow, STEMIG Co-Chair, College of Wooster –Daniela Solomon, STEMIG Co-Chair, Case Western Reserve University
Anne Kumer, Stephanie Becker, and Naomi Langer had their proposal accepted for the Stanford Libraries Working Meeting on Archival Discovery and Delivery, where small groups are now working to develop a topic related to improving archival discovery and delivery into a written contribution of 5-10 pages for inclusion in a larger handbook compiled and published by the project. Their proposal is titled “Access is People: How Investing in Digital Collections Labor Improves Archival Discovery & Delivery”.
Stephanie Church gave a presentation in a JSTOR webinar on Wednesday, Sept. 16 titled “Creative ebook acquisition strategies during COVID-19”. She discussed KSL’s e-resource usage trends during the pandemic and the library’s strategies to control costs. The webinar can be viewed from JSTOR’s Webinars page.
Mark Clemente has been selected to receive the 2020 Staff Diversity Excellence Award! The Freedman Center for Digital Scholarship Team nominated him and a committee made up of CWRU Diversity Leadership Council members selected him to receive the award. Mark and other award winners were recognized at the Office for Inclusion, Diversity and Equal Opportunity Annual Diversity Achievement Awards on Wednesday, May 5th.
Daniela Solomon presented a poster at ACRL’s 2021 Virtual conference, April 13-16 titled “Benchmarking Open Access Publications from School of Engineering Faculty”. This study is benchmarking open access publications against the paywalled publications published by the faculties of CWRU’s School of Engineering over a ten-year period. Using Elsevier’s Scopus abstract and citation database and SciVal data, the study compares publication trends, citation impact, and collaborations impact. The study also helped identify open access engineering faculties champion, the local research topics most commonly published open access, as well as the preferred journals for open access publishing. The results are informative for the liaison librarian in engaging individual faculty or the school administration, provide a greater understanding of the engineering faculties’ knowledge of open access topics, and inform the library campus-wide advocacy efforts for open access policy.
Erin Smith contributed the vignette on assessment titled “Vignette: I Like and I Wish” to The One-Shot Library Instruction Survival Guide, 3rd edition edited by Heidi Buchanan and Beth McDonough published by ALA. The book was published on March 25 and the press release is available here.
Jena Styka‘s poster submission “A Space Odyssey: The Ongoing Journey to a Better Space Assessment” was accepted for presentation at the ARL Library Assessment Conference to be held October 26-28 in Rosemont, Illinois. It is her first professional submission so congratulations to you, Jena and well done!
Jacey Kepich had a guest editorship and editorial piece for a special issue of Music Reference Services Quarterly dedicated to project management. Earlier this year Jacey’s peer reviewed article on planning and implementing ANSCR was published online in this special issue. You can read her guest editorial piece, her peer-reviewed article, and links to the three essays, three articles, and an e-resource review which she edited for the special issue at this online link“
Anne Kumer, Stephanie Becker and Nora Blackman. They were all awarded an LSTA Metadata Mini-Grant from the State Library of Ohio, in conjunction with the Ohio Digital Network. Spanning nearly 100 years, the CPH Production Photographs, accessible online and numbering over 6,000 still images, offers an expansive look at the development of regional theater productions from the view of the audience, backstage, and during rehearsals. This grant will enable us to perform a legacy metadata cleanup making search and discovery more consistent across platforms, as well as discoverable on the larger web, where many researchers begin their searches. Depositing the production photographs, and later, other materials from the CPH collection, into DPLA, will give researchers unfettered access to a comprehensive catalog of theatre history, showcasing it alongside similar collections from the New York Public Library, University of Utah, and Tarrant County College.
Liz Bober was recently interviewed for an article in Elsevier titled “An evolving library role optimizes data to add value” which highlights her work in helping to improve CWRU’s international rankings. The article also includes her how-to guide on optimizing citation data in the ranking process.
Nora Blackman has some updates about two of our special collections: the MOCA Archive (Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland) and the Charles F. Brush, Sr. papers.
1) Over the course of several months in 2018-2019, Nora worked with the documentary team and MOCA staff to identify and describe resources for use in the recently released documentary film, Aggie. The film focuses on Agnes Gund’s 2017 sale of Roy Lichtenstein’s Masterpieceand subsequent donation of the proceeds ($165 million) to start a fund for criminal justice reform called the Art for Justice Fund. Notoriously camera and publicity shy, Gund was a founder of MOCA and member of the philanthropic Cleveland Gund family.
2) Over the past year, Nora worked with representatives of JSTOR to participate in their pilot program to develop a platform for Open Access primary source materials – Open Community Collections The partnership goals included learning how to integrate Special Collections archival collections alongside relevant books, journals and primary source materials on JSTOR. Special Collections’ participation included sharing one of our oldest online collections, The Charles F. Brush, Sr. papers, digitized in their entirety in 2010.
–Brian C. Gray, Collection Management Interest Group Co-Chair, Case Western Reserve University
Cedarville University News
Academic school year 2018-2019
Julie Deardorff, Director of Library Collection Services at the Centennial Library, was recognized with Cedarville University’s 2020-21 Teaching Collaboration Award. This annual faculty award recognizes inter-departmental collaboration and a commitment to integration and fostering a learning community in which different strengths are collaboratively joined to maximize the educational experience for students. Her nomination noted her regular collaboration with the English Literature and Modern Languages Department to offer a Library Internship course and her work with other university departments and local libraries coordinating student independent studies in library science. She was commended for being “always ready to assist a colleague or associate” and for the “excellent quality of her collaboration.”
–Joshua B. Michael, Cedarville University
Kent State University News
Kent State University Libraries digitizes 50 years of Black United Students’ publications
Historic publications from Kent State University’s Black United Students are now accessible in University Libraries’ digital archive. The Special Collections & Archives Department facilitated the professional digitization of 81 publications, which are now located at www.library.kent.edu/special-collections-and-archives/ksu-black-united-students-records.
The publications, written and created by members of the Kent State organization over a span of 50 years, have undergone three name changes throughout their history: Black Watch (1969-1978), The Spectrum (1979-1989) and Uhuru (1989-2019).
Black United Students was founded at Kent State University in 1968 and has remained consistently active to the present. From its inception, members of the organization have advocated for the equality of Kent State students of color, including addressing fair facilities, budget allotments, student enrollment, faculty representation, academic programming, departmental organization and social justice concerns, among many other issues in its decades-long history. The KSU Black United Students archives have been heavily used by researchers around the world.
Kent State University librarian awarded grant to add books about Ohio
Kent State University Mary Hricko, Ph.D., library director at Kent State’s Geauga Campus and the Twinsburg Academic Center, recently received a Celebrating Ohio Book Awards & Authors (COBAA) Grant for $1002. The grant, which is sponsored by the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services and awarded by the State Library of Ohio, provides federal funding to expand collection development of books about Ohio and written by Ohio authors.
“The books we will receive from the grant not only showcase Ohio authors, but the selected titles will help readers uncover Ohio’s literary and cultural history,” says Dr. Hricko.
Most of the funds awarded through the COBAA grant will be used to add books to the library’s juvenile collection for the Middle Childhood Education Program at Kent State’s Geauga and Twinsburg campuses. The funds will also provide support materials for other instructional courses – many of which address diversity and inclusion issues – such as Ohio History, African-American Literature, Media, Power and Culture, and Introduction to Justice Studies.
Kent State University Libraries earns grant to benefit audio recordings from May 4, 1970 shootings
In spring 2019, Kent State University Libraries was selected by the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) to benefit from a $30,561 award through the Recordings at Risk grant program, generously funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The grant provides funds to digitize more than 400 audio and audiovisual recordings from the May 4 Collection, which documents the Kent State Shootings and is housed and administered by Special Collections and Archives. Haley Antell, digital initiatives and outreach librarian, and VirginiaDressler, digital projects librarian, are the grant’s co-primary investigators.
Many of the materials included in the grant are recorded on legacy formats, such as magnabelts, that cannot be played or digitized onsite at Kent State. Through the grant, the recordings were sent to a vendor that specializes in historical AV formats. Prior to sending the more than 400 recordings to the vendor, each item was organized, labeled and extensive metadata was created. Finally, the materials were carefully packaged and sent to be digitized. Batches of the AV files were returned in digital format over the following months. The final batch was received in spring 2020.
An intensive workflow must be completed to prepare the digitized content for public use. This includes quality assurance, copyright analysis and creation of descriptive metadata to allow materials to be searched and browsed in the online environment. This extensive work to complete the grant objectives is expected to be finalized by May. As a result of this grant, approximately 300 of the newly digitized May 4 recordings are already available online and are currently accessible on Special Collections and Archives’ website at www.library.kent.edu/special-collections-and-archives.
–Cynthia Williams, Kent State University
Service Learning Librarian Blog Relaunched
The Service-Learning Librarian blog editorial team is pleased to announce the blog’s relaunch with its new host, University of Northern Iowa at https://sllibrarian.uni.edu. We envision Service-Learning Librarian, founded by Maureen Barry, as a hub connecting those in academic libraries supporting service-learning efforts on their campuses.
The editorial team: Anne Marie Gruber (University of Northern Iowa), Maureen Barry (Bowling Green State University), Jennifer Nutefall (University of Northern Colorado), Jenise Overmeir (Marymount University), and Olivia Ivey (American University).
Interested in contributing to the blog? Contact any team member or connect with us on Twitter: @sllibrarian
–Anne Marie H. Gruber, University of Northern Iowa
University of Dayton News
University of Dayton Libraries is proud to announce several promotions and new hires:
Christina (Tina) Beis was promoted to Director of Collections Strategies & Services and Associate Professor.
Ben Daigle will join as the new Director of Information Systems and Digital Access and Associate Professor beginning June 16.
Ione Damasco was promoted to Associate Dean for Inclusive Excellence, Engagement, and Operations, a new position at the Libraries.
Tanya Ellenburg-Kimmet will join as the new Collections Processing Assistant on June 1.
Kayla Harris, Librarian/Archivist in the Marian Library, was promoted to Associate Professor.
Fred Jenkins, Associate Dean of Collections and Operations, will celebrate his retirement on June 30 as Professor Emeritus.
Sarah Miller will join as the new Research Services Librarian and Assistant Professor on July 16.
Zoe Plotnick joined the Access Services team as the Student Services Specialist in February.
Fran Rice, former Director of Information Systems and Digital Access, retired on April 30 and is now Professor Emerita.
–Katy Kelly, University of Dayton
University of Toledo Raymon H. Mulford Health Sciences Library News
Visit the Health Science Campus Artist Showcase, which is sponsored by the Raymon H. Mulford Health Sciences Library at The University of Toledo. The art show is comprised of works in different media submitted by students, faculty, and staff in the health sciences to highlight their talents outside of their normal jobs. Typically, the artwork is physically displayed, and there is a reception with a special topics speaker, but the COVID-19 pandemic required rethinking how this year’s show would be presented. I am pleased with the result (mostly through the efforts of UToledo’s Event Coordinator, Alyssa Slottke), and thought I would share with my library colleagues in ALAO. This year we also included poetry along with the artwork. Take a break from your busy day and relax with some beautiful photographs, paintings, drawings, sculpture, and Haiku. Enjoy! https://sites.google.com/view/hscart21
–Gerald Natal, University of Toledo
Wittenberg University News
Thomas Library at Wittenberg University is pleased to announce that Katie Maxfield has joined our staff as the Digital Initiatives Librarian. In addition to reference and instruction responsibilities, Katie will be maintaining and upgrading our current digital projects as well as working with faculty to spearhead new initiatives. Katie comes to us from Edmonton, Canada, where she recently completed her MLIS at the University of Alberta. Her research interests include information behavior, scholarly communication, open access and open educational resources, audiovisual collections, and digital libraries. In her free time, she enjoys choral singing, trying out new recipes, and dominating at board games.
