OCLC Research Survey About Library Use offers Chance to Win $20 Amazon Card
Posted: April 12, 2018 Filed under: Archives & Special Collections, Art Library, Ekstrom Library, Kornhauser Health Sciences Library, Law Library, Libraries, Music Library, University Archives & Records Center Leave a commentHave you ever used library systems to search for and access sources? If so, OCLC Research would like to talk to you about this and will pay you for your time, if you are selected to participate in their study.
OCLC Research (http://www.oclc.org/research/) and the University of Illinois (https://www.library.illinois.edu/) are working together on a study investigating how individuals navigate their library searches for sources and how they determine if the experience was successful. They also are interested in how individuals get access to any sources that were identified in the searches and how and why these sources were selected and used. The findings may be published or used in presentations.
If you are interested in participating in this study, you will need to complete a brief online screening survey and provide your email address, which should take about 10 minutes. We will use this to determine if you fit the study profile. If you are chosen to participate in the study, you will need to give your consent by signing a consent form. Please understand that you will not be compensated for completing the screening survey. You only will receive compensation if you are chosen and participate in an interview.
Interviews will be conducted and audio recorded via Skype and will last approximately 45 minutes. Your identity will be kept confidential. Your email address and any other identifying information will not be connected to your interview responses. Furthermore, you may withdraw your consent at any time to terminate your participation. For your participation and completion of the interview, you will receive a $20.00 gift card from Amazon.
If you know anyone who would be interested in participating in this study, we encourage you to pass on this information.
How Do I Participate?
1. The next time you use your library website’s search engine, DO NOT CLOSE THE SEARCH RESULTS BROWSER TAB/WINDOW AFTER SEARCHING. Leave the search results window open, because you will need it in Step 3.
2. Open this link https://oc.lc/discovery-survey in a new browser tab or window and take the survey about your experience.
3. When prompted, copy the “Request ID” from the bottom of the search results page and paste it into the survey. The Request ID (example shown inside the red rectangle below) is a unique identifier that helps us connect your feedback with your search activity. Look for a code that has some small bits of alphanumeric characters separated by four hyphens. For example, “bc981f6f-262e-435c-97cd-668b41af33e0”.
Happy Anniversary to UofL’s Institutional Repository, ThinkIR!
Posted: February 14, 2018 Filed under: Archives & Special Collections, Art Library, Collections, Databases, Ekstrom Library, Kornhauser Health Sciences Library, Law Library, Libraries, Music Library, Primary Sources, University Archives & Records Center, University of Louisville | Tags: faculty scholarship, institutional repository, research, scholarship, thinkIR Leave a commentBy Sarah Frankel, Open Access & Repository Coordinator
On February 12, 2015, Digital Initiatives Librarian Rachel Howard imported over 1,000 Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) from the University Libraries’ Digital Collections into the newly created ThinkIR: The University of Louisville’s Institutional Repository. Three years later, this particular collection now has nearly 3,000 titles which have been downloaded over 500,000 times! This same year, graduate students began submitting their theses and dissertations to ThinkIR directly, after approval from their committees. This has saved much time and effort, now that we no longer have to scan each paper or track down students to sign permission forms!
In 2016, we began recruiting faculty scholarship for inclusion in ThinkIR and also developed a mediated deposit model where we create research profiles for faculty members, investigate the copyright status of their works and ultimately upload what can be included in ThinkIR. Today, we have 341 faculty papers in ThinkIR and over 50 faculty profiles have been created, which we anticipate will grow even more in the coming year.
In early 2017, the first open access journal hosted by ThinkIR – Journal of Respiratory Infections – was launched. We also host the Journal of Refugee & Global Health. Both journals are managed by UofL faculty and staff on the Health Sciences Campus.
In addition to these successes, ThinkIR is also home to the College of Education & Human Development Capstone Projects and the College of Arts & Sciences Senior Honors Theses. In 2017, the administrators of the Honors Program and several faculty advisors began using ThinkIR in what we refer to as the “caterpillar” model. Each student submits a proposal, the faculty member reads it and submits their review, the proposal is then replaced with the thesis document by the student, then the faculty member submits a final review, the thesis is approved by the administrators and posted to ThinkIR. The entire process from beginning to end is completed using the repository!
To date, our most downloaded item is a 2012 Master’s Thesis from the Department of Pan African Studies: “The hidden help : black domestic workers in the civil rights movement” by Trena Easley Armstrong – this has been downloaded 7,725 times since February 12, 2015!
University Libraries offers new digital historic Courier-Journal
Posted: January 8, 2018 Filed under: Archives & Special Collections, Art Library, Books, Collections, Databases, Ekstrom Library, Kornhauser Health Sciences Library, Law Library, Libraries, Music Library, New Items, University Archives & Records Center | Tags: Books, Budget, courier journal, databases, elsevier, inter-library loan, online access, research, website Leave a commentDespite recent budget challenges, the University Libraries have been able to maintain, or in some cases expand, the digital and print resources we offer our patrons. We have retained existing databases such as Elsevier’s Science Direct platform, and through cost efficiencies we are excited to offer new products, including the digital version of the historic Courier-Journal (1830-2000). Access to this new resource, which provides complete electronic access to the full Courier-Journal back file, is available from our web site at: https://library.louisville.edu/ekstrom/cj
The Libraries have realigned resources to assess efficiencies and create a more sustainable operating environment that ensures students, faculty and researchers can continue their important scholarship. Over the past year, the University Libraries system has:
- Reassigned staff to focus on building sustainable collections.
- Implemented a comprehensive e-resource management system.
- Assessed costs and analyzed usage data for all databases and subscriptions.
- Evaluated program needs and incorporated input from faculty.
- Studied peer institutions for comparison.
As budget reductions brought about a significant funding shortfall for FY 18, we made the difficult decision to not renew the Elsevier platform whose costs had dramatically increased. In fall 2017, at the urging of Health Sciences Center faculty, the University restored funding for this critical resource.
We understand the Libraries’s centrality to scholarly work and are therefore excited to continue providing these rich resources for the University community. However, where we cannot provide access to resources, we offer our Inter-Library Loan system (ILL), as well as a broad spectrum of resources for faculty: http://library.louisville.edu/faculty. You are invited to share your concerns with us via this online comment form.
Website Redesign Brings Better Mobile Experience
Posted: April 18, 2017 Filed under: Archives & Special Collections, Art Library, Ekstrom Library, Kornhauser Health Sciences Library, Libraries, Music Library, Web Site Leave a commentYou may have noticed some changes happening on the University of Louisville Libraries website. Last summer we introduced new sites for the Bridwell Art Library and the Dwight Anderson Memorial Music Library along with improved scheduling apps for room reservations and research appointments.
In March we released the new site for Archives & Special Collections.
In the upcoming months we’ll be bringing you new sites for the Kornhauser Health Sciences Library, Ekstrom Library, and the University of Louisville Libraries. Tentative dates for these releases are July 1 for the Kornhauser site and August 1 for the Ekstrom and UofL Libraries sites.
Desktop view
Better Mobile Experience
Mobile view
A driving reason for these changes is the increasing use of mobile devices for accessing all parts of the site. In the previous version of our site the homepages for each library provided limited options in the mobile view. The new version will have the complete content of the site in the mobile version as well as in desktop views.
URL Changes
Currently, our website is split between two systems; when the project is complete the entire site will be located on one system. URLs for the pages on the old system will change. For example, when the Music Library site moved its URL changed from louisville.edu/library/music to library.louisville.edu/music/home.
The content management system (CMS) we are moving to is designed specifically for libraries and provides tools to help us keep links and other content fresh.
Wikipedians Unite at UofL Libraries
Posted: March 27, 2017 Filed under: Art Library, Events, Technology, Uncategorized, University of Louisville, Writing Leave a comment2017 is the second year that UofL’s Margaret M. Bridwell Art Library hosted community members to learn about how to edit Wikipedia. Over a dozen people attended this event to combat gender disparity in the art world.
Artist Elizabeth Catlett wrote “No other field is closed to those who are not white and male as is the visual arts. After I decided to be an artist, the first thing I had to believe was that I, a black woman, could penetrate the art scene, and that, further, I could do so without sacrificing one iota of my blackness or my femaleness or my humanity.”1
Not only is the field of contemporary art difficult for women and non-binary people to break into, but the highly-masculine culture of Wikipedia is also a barrier to gender equality. For example, articles about topics typically associated with females (Polly Pocket) are typically shorter and link to fewer references, while those associated with males (Nerf) are longer, and include more references.
In a 2011 survey, Wikimedia found that less than 13% of its contributors were female.
Art+Feminism is a global, grassroots campaign to end gender disparity within Wikipedia, not only in terms of the number or articles about women in the visual arts, but more importantly the number of female editors. Attendees gathered to attend a training about how to edit Wikipedia articles before beginning to make edits of their own. In Louisville, attendees included UofL students, professors, and local St. Francis School high school students. New editors corrected facts, added citations to existing article, and ultimately created two new articles.
Articles improved include those about African-American artists Senga Nengudi and Elizabeth Catlett. Both are sculptors, and known for their work on themes of race, gender, and class.
- Farris, Phoebe. Women Artists of Color: A Bio-critical Sourcebook to 20th Century Artists in the Americas. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1999.
Editing to Defeat Gender Disparity in Wikipedia
Posted: March 2, 2017 Filed under: Art Library, Events, Libraries Leave a commentBy Trish Blair
In a 2010 survey Wikipedia found that less than 13% of its contributors identify as female. While the reasons for the gender issues are debatable, the results represent marginalization in the form of a combined history. To combat this issue Art + Feminism Wikipedia edit-a-thon events were created. Every year, since 2014, there have been over 280 events across six continents to combat this problem by creating and updating thousands of Wikipedia articles about women in art.
Last March the Bridwell Art Library participated for the first time, in collaboration with the Hite Institute of Art to create a page for the International Honor Quilt which UofL is the permanent repository. This massive community based art project was on display in the spring of 2016 at the Hite Gallery and fit nicely into our first editing project. We had 13 people working diligently to collaboratively research and create a new Wikipedia page. It was hard work but we all felt a sense of accomplishment when our page was uploaded.
This year the Bridwell Art Library is proud to announce that our Art + Feminism Edit-a-Thon will be held Thursday March 23 from 4pm-7pm inside the library at Schneider Hall. We would like to invite anyone to join us who in interested in learning how to edit Wikipedia regardless of age, gender or human experience. If you are drawn to art or feminism come help us to research, create and celebrate great women artists.
To sign up please go to:
http://tinyurl.com/uoflartfem17
All you will need to bring is yourself, a laptop or tablet, and the desire to be a part of this incredible worldwide event.
Telling the University Libraries’ Story
Posted: December 1, 2016 Filed under: Archives & Special Collections, Art Library, Ekstrom Library, Kornhauser Health Sciences Library, Libraries, Music Library, University Archives & Records Center Leave a commentWhat are we, the University Libraries, all about? What do we do, and what is our story?
Discover. Create. Succeed.
These three words describe our patrons’ process of interaction with the Libraries. They evoke the wonder and excitement of learning, the reciprocal interaction between finding material and turning it into scholarship, and the projected outcome of having interacted with our invaluable resources, whether printed, digital or human.
The University Libraries are vital to the academic success of the University of Louisville community. Both on campus and online, we are a key resource, teaching students best practices in scholarly research and collaborating with faculty to support their pedagogy. Our rich resources promote academic success. Above all, we help make UofL great.
With an important place in the UofL framework, the Libraries invite students, faculty, staff, alumni and visitors to revisit our facilities and interact with our resources, and our people.
The University Libraries support over 170 fields of study within 12 schools and colleges. Over three million people visit our libraries annually, and millions more access our website at http://www.louisville.edu/library. As members of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), the University of Louisville Libraries rank among the top 100 academic research libraries in North America.
Visit your University Library to learn more!
