March Update

Shall we call it “Sprinter”? It’s the time of year when spring is almost here, and the end of winter quarter is upon us. Think of it as a great time to get ready for finals – bookmark the best online tips in this month’s “Featured Resources” and learn about extended hours and Study Sprints hosted at Odegaard March 11-13. In between study sessions, save some time for UW Libraries concerts, exhibit talks,  learning events and more that may inspire your next research project! Happy Sprinter to all!

News and Stories

• Operations Update –Smith Room hiatus: As the Suzzallo Façade and Seismic project is moving along, noise impacts are becoming more regular. Due to unpredictable noise disruption and an inability to guarantee a quiet environment for events, the room will be closed from August 1, 2025, through September 30, 2026. Reservations will resume sooner if the work is completed earlier than expected. 

• Three Years of Open Data with Dryad: Dryad is an open data publishing platform available to UW users in alignment with the increasing advocacy of public research universities to provide for the open sharing of research data and outputs. In 2025, UW data deposits in Dryad had over 1,000 downloads and 3,600 views! Read the UW Libraries 2025 Dryad summary to see which data sets had the most views.

• The Daily: ‘The Mountain is Out’:  a story on the current exhibit featuring Mount Rainier photography, books, and historical materials now on display in Special Collections. 

• On air: Podcasting for Archives – Archives in Context, is produced by a committee of producers, editors, and co-hosts from across the country, including UW Libraries’ Conor Casey, head of the Labor Archives of Washington! Dive into a recent episode that explores teaching primary source research skills in today’s classroom. Read the blog.

“My work with primary sources is fundamentally collaborative. I partner with faculty to bring archival materials directly into their curriculum, tailoring the approach to their specific instructional goals.” – Conor Casey, head of the Labor Archives of Washington in the recent blog post  Podcasting for Archives. 

Fun Fact Trivia

Which of these were one of the top 3 UW research datasets downloaded via the open data publishing platform, Dryad?

1. Interactions among nutrients govern the global grassland biomass, precipitation relationship
2. A dataset for predicting protein-protein interactions in humans
3. A curated quorum sensing reference linking diverse Luxl-type signal synthases with their acyl-homoserine lactone products

*Answer at bottom of post.

Featured Resources

Top Tips for Finals – a great list of popular research guidance and support from UW Libraries- including Odegaard study sprints. These resources are helpful when you are getting ready for finals, or anytime!

UW Libraries Student Guide – with finals coming up, refresh your understanding of this popular UW Libraries all-in-one resource for students of all levels of experience.

Community Events and Exhibits

Music in the Libraries:

• March 4: First Wednesday Concert Series Allen Library – this month features School of Music faculty in collaboration with Stephen Price, UW Head of Organ Studies. Pala Garcia (Violin), John Popham (Cello), Michael Partington (Guitar), and John-Carlos Perea (Ethnomusicologist – Cedar Flute) will perform in the concert. Prior to and following the program, the Seattle Chapter of the American Guild of Organists has offered an interactive demonstration of an Orgel Kit, showcasing the inner workings of a pipe organ.
• March 5: Silk Road Concert in Gowen Hall/Tateuchi East Asia Library: feature musicians representing Kazak, Kyrgyz, Persian, Turkmen, Uzbek, and other cultural traditions. Please enjoy live music accompanied by a selection of snacks.  

Wednesday, Mar 4 – Scholar’s Studio Virtual Edition. Tune in for this fun, informal, interdisciplinary event features rapid-fire lightning talks by students doing Master’s and Doctoral level projects and research.  

Thursday, Mar 19 –  EXHIBIT TALK: Out of Scope: UW Artifacts in Special Collections Join us for an exhibit talk with University Archivist John Bolcer, as he discusses some of the objects on display related to the University of Washington’s history and the student experience, and shares additional items not included in the exhibit. 

Learning Workshops and Office Hours

Tuesday, Mar 10-  Introduction to Text Mining:  Join us for a hands-on introduction to text mining. Using Python and Orange Data Mining, we will explore practical techniques for collecting, cleaning, and analyzing textual data.

Friday, Mar 13–  Computing With Classics 5: DICES Case Study Computing With Classics is a returning five-workshop series exploring how computing has affected classical scholarship. In the fifth and final workshop, we will engage in a hands-on activity involving programming and working with the Digital Initiative for Classics: Epic Speeches (DICES) database. No prior experience expected or required!

Save the Date

Submissions Open April 1, 2026 / Applications due April 30, 2026- Undergraduate Research Award (URA):  Specifically for undergraduates, the URA is open to both individuals and teams who collaborate on group research work. The award (with cash prizes ranging from $500-$1,000!!) honors outstanding ability to find, evaluate, and synthesize library and other information resources in the creation of an original course project. Award details.

UW Press 

Tuesday, Mar 24- Book launch: MOHAI Mercantile hosts the official launch event for Seattle’s Locks and Ship Canal with local historians David B. Williams and Jennifer Ott. Hear from the authors about the tumultuous history of one of Seattle’s defining projects, an  introduction to the engineering marvel of the Ballard locks, and a primer on the history of the ship canal. Book launch event details.

Fun Fact Answer: ALL OF THEM! See the full “Top 10” list of the most downloaded and most viewed UW datasets for 2025.

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