This blog was updated on 5/14/21 with additional news and events!

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Services Update

• Contactless pick-up hours at Allen North are expanding! Drop by on Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday from 10am – 4pm weekly to grab your requests.
• Research Commons Extended Hours:
  • Starting Monday, May 3rd, the Research Commons will extend reservation time limits from 2 to 3 hours.
  • Individual Study Space @ the Research Commons is now open 5 days a week!
  • Thank you for making the opening of Individual Study Space @ the Research Commons a great success by following the new procedures and safety measures! 
• Libraries planning outlook and news is always current on our COVID-19 Update page. 

New Digital Exhibits

Events

Going Public: Advocacy, Activism, and Building Trust – May 19^th and 20^th : With an amazing lineup of keynote speakers, you won’t want to miss the Libraries 2021 Going Public, two days of talks with community leaders and researchers, plus practical workshops that will help you build skills to create social change through advocacy, engage with a broader audience, and showcase the importance of community-engaged research. FREE and open to all: faculty, staff, graduate and undergraduate students, and community members from outside the university! Sign up and learn more

Stephanie M.H. Camp Lecture | Tiya Miles (Harvard), “A Tattered Dress”: Materiality and Memory in the Lives of Enslaved Women- May 19th: Professor Tiya Miles has written widely on history and memory, Black culture, women’s history, and Black and Indigenous interrelated experience. Join us for a talk that explores aspects of her her current project, All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley’s Sack, A Black Family Keepsake, forthcoming from Random House. Co-sponsored with the UW History Department. Sign up and learn more.

NEW! Author Talk With Mason Deavers- May 27th: Join The Center for Equity and Inclusion and the UW Tacoma Library for a talk with award-nominated and bestselling author and designer Mason Deaver, author of I Wish You All the Best. Deaver will talk about their novel and their writing process, and then answer questions. ALL ARE WELCOME: students, faculty, staff from all three campuses, and community members.

SAVE THE DATE:

GIS Symposium June 2^nd! Connect with others working on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) research and learn about GIS-related resources available to the UW community. The GIS Symposium highlights and celebrates the transformational role of (GIS), remote sensing, and data visualization technologies at the UW and beyond. Learn more.

NEW! The Jews in Kaifeng: Yesterday and Today | Live Webinar By Rabbi Anson Laytner- June 3: Explore the new digital exhibit and the history of the Jewish communities who have lived in China since the Song Dynasty (960-1279) with Rabbi Layter, the coeditor of the scholarly collection “The Chinese Jews of Kaifeng: A Millennium of Adaptation and Endurance”. Sponsored by the Friends of the Library.  Learn More

Workshops/ Help Hours

NEW! TEAL Digital Scholarship for East Asian Studies: Community Coffee Hour – May 24th This community gathering aims to bring together students, faculty, and library staff to share digital scholarship projects and research ideas and offer advice and support. Learn more.

Copyright and the Creative Commons May 26th: Not sure if you can use that piece of music, art, film or other copyright questions? Creative Commons can help you manage rights, share your work and use other people’s work freely and legally. Learn more.

For Current and Future Grad students:

• Thesis and Dissertations – May 18th: In this webinar, students will have an opportunity think through options for how and when to share their work through an introductory overview of various copyright and publishing issues that can impact submissions and discoverability. Learn more.

Enhance Your Data Visualization Skills:

• Math & Data Visualization Basics – May 27th: Join the UW Libraries to learn about basic mathematical concepts as they relate to data analysis and visualization. This workshop will teach these concepts using Tableau, although you are welcome to observe only and not use Tableau. Learn more.

Weekly Drop-In Help – No Appointment Necessary:

• NEW! Open Writing Circles Returns! a semi-formal (mostly informal) meeting time for groups of writers working on long term projects. Current participants are primarily Ph.D. students working on dissertations, though other writers are welcome! Tuesdays: 1:30-3:00pm PST, through June 1st. Learn More
• Media Arcade: Get help with audio, video, and related digital media projects. We can also assist with any technical troubleshooting and hardware issues!  See calendar
• Foster Business Help Desk: Get help from the Foster Business librarians: All business research questions welcome! No appointment necessary, daily sessions M-F 12:30-1:30. See calendar.
• Digital Scholarship Project Help Office Hours: Open to faculty and students, UW Libraries offers weekly office hours to advise on digital scholarship for research and course related projects. Examples include digital publishing, building digital exhibits, data research management, and more! Office hours are most Fridays 2:30-3:30. See calendar.

Stories

NEW- Libraries Peer Educator Program

From the ARL: A Conversation with  Dean Wilson on retirement, career highlights, what inspires and more.

Get Inspired at the Open Scholarship Commons – what it is, what’s new and how it can help you

Passion, Dedication, and Action: Yeen-Mei Wu and Tateuchi EAL’s Taiwan Studies Collection

Featured E-Resource

Statista: From an in-depth report on migration in Germany to a chart tracking increased Facebook use — Statista can help you find data quickly on industries, countries, and global social and political topics. This resource brought to you by UW Libraries gathers information from market researchers, trade organizations, scientific publications, and government sources, all in one place.

For Faculty

Did you miss the Subscription Review Update 4/26?  As we begin the the review process to identify potential subscription cancellations, please note the deadline for preliminary review of the Libraries initial list of proposed cancellations and comments is Friday August 13, 2021. The last day for all comments is October 12, 2021. Learn More. 

Missed it?

If you missed these May events – contact us to learn more about these groups and how our staff can guide you to helpful resources and support on these topics.

• Make Your Research More Accessible – May 3rd: Data visualization best practices and tools do not always discuss accessibility, which can exclude many groups of people. This workshop will review ways to make your visualizations more accessible. Learn More
• “Show Me the Money”: Don’t miss the Finding Funding for Graduate School on Tuesday, May 4th Learn more about how you can fund your graduate education. Join the Graduate Funding Information Service for an overview of funding types, search tools, and search strategies.
• Community Reads Food Justice Panel May 5th:  In addition to our asynchronous programming over Canvas, UW Bothell and Cascadia Libraries’ Community Reads program will also be hosting a panel of local farmers, community activists, and campus representatives to talk about different aspects of food justice and how it relates to their work. Open to all!  Learn more.
• QUAL Atlas.TI Qualitative Data Analysis: If you have some basic knowledge of Atlas.TI, this free, one-day, hands-on tutorial is for you! Workshops are open to all UW students interested in deepening their qualitative multi-method data analysis skills. Learn more.
• Your Article, Your Contracts, Your Future: Understanding Your Rights in Publishing Agreements. May 12th Learn what key provisions of journal publishing contracts really mean and how they affect your rights as an author. We’ll also discuss negotiation and how to use your article content beyond its publication, for example in your dissertation. Learn more.

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UW Libraries just announced the winners of the 2021 I HEART UW Libraries Student Video Contest!   First place winner, undergraduate student Jillian Templeton shows us that no matter what – the Libraries are always here to help!

Thanks to all the students for your creative ideas, highlighting the many ways UW Libraries supports students, especially during remote and hybrid learning.  You can view all the winners here on the Libraries YOU TUBE channel including these additional award winners:

• 2nd Place: “A Dog’s Perspective“ by Rachel Kisela
• 3rd Place: “A Multicultural Lens” by Anh Quynh Pham
• Honorable Mention: “Stanley and the UW Libraries” by Jonathan Kwan
• Honorable Mention: “Library Video” by Dimitri Fonti

AND because April includes National Libraries Week AND National Libraries Worker Day, we’d like to take the opportunity to continue to celebrate the contributions of Libraries staff through the words and stories of students and faculty.  Thanks to everyone who shares their experience and input with us through email, interviews, surveys and social media—we love hearing from you! We appreciate your time and effort to acknowledge the Libraries’ contributions to your work and to UW excellence!

“ILL remains a lifesaver. This morning, while I was running errands on campus with a toddler (after dropping off two kids at school and leaving the other home on Zoom), circulation staff brought out a book outside of pick-up hours. This is a wonderful example of their flexibility, diligence, and kindness. The pick-up service is outstanding. I love it. Both my Spring and Autumn Quarter classes were remote. I want to recognize the Libraries’ outstanding efforts – and outstanding success – at securing a huge range of electronic materials.

“I want to recognize the Libraries’ outstanding efforts – and outstanding success – at securing a huge range of electronic materials…The range of electronic resources is huge and opens up so many new possibilities – and has kept my own research going.

I’d particularly like to call out staff for quickly securing a book I wished to assign that was part of Oxford online when I composed my syllabus, and was then dropped from the Oxford online catalogue during the course. I don’t know if students recognize what an amazing service you provided to everyone teaching – and learning – at the UW. We are a long way from badly photocopied course readers! The range of electronic resources is huge and opens up so many new possibilities – and has kept my own research going. Finally, I just want to say thanks to you and all library staff. You do so much on an ever-shrinking budget. A university without a library would be a wretched place indeed.”  – Tyler Lange, Affiliate Assistant Professor UW History Department

“Shout out to @uwlibraries, especially Elliott Stevens! I emailed last night with a request for an e-book that isn’t technically within English. By 10:50am today, Elliott, our subject librarian, had already connected with other librarians, and the book was ordered! Thank you!!! – Belgian PhD candidate @UW Engl dept

“Librarians and library staff were central to the successes of Spring 2020 instruction. Fortunately for UW students, faculty, & staff, the UW Libraries has been a global and local leader in digital initiatives, including online teaching and learning, for many years before pandemic.  Librarians always partner with departments and faculty to support student learning, achievement, & engagement. Those existing partnerships were key to instruction in Spring 2020.  At the start of pandemic, UW Libraries web sites were already robust & interactive, with research guides specific to particular courses & topics, and a full range of ways that faculty members & students could contact librarians for help. Librarians at UW have always done more than visit classes for ten minutes to talk about databases or how to use the libraries. They often partner with faculty members and provide a team-based approach to instruction, which provides students with even better, more seamless instruction. Librarians offer sessions and workshops year-round for faculty. They are especially valuable when collaborating on assignment design. This expertise was core to teaching & learning in Spring 2020. – Beth Kalikoff – Director, UW Seattle Center for Teaching and Learning

“Libraries expertise was core to teaching & learning in Spring 2020.”

“I’ve taken two online workshops offered by the Libraries staff – Data Management, and the Graduate Student Research Institute. These have been incredible resources and the format is perfect – free, online, on our own pace. I’m grateful for all the work and insight provided by the Libraries in these events. They’ve helped me develop better research practices and opened my eyes to new ideas and resources that are invaluable to success in graduate school and beyond.”  –UW Seattle graduate student

“I am reaching out to let you know about the fabulous experience I am having collaborating with Librarian Teresa Jewell. I am a PhD student in the Department of Epidemiology and recently reached out to the Health Sciences Library seeking assistance with a literature review that my colleague and I are performing. Teresa responded to our request and has been doing a stellar job ever since. We have learned a lot from Teresa so far, and I suspect we will continue learning throughout our collaboration. Teresa’s proactivity, responsiveness, and skill are much appreciated. I hope her excellence in this project is recognized…We are very lucky to have access to such talented library scientists!”

“[My librarian’s] help in devising manageable undergrad research projects integrated into my courses, a few years ago, revolutionized how I teach. These small research projects have also broadened my own knowledge of my area of expertise and have fed into my own research and publications. – UW Seattle Faculty

[A librarian] gave an excellent presentation on research skills for my senior seminar History 498. The information she presented helped me find the books I needed to prepare my research papers. The most important information was about using advanced search options and reading research guides. – UW Seattle Undergraduate

“The libraries, or those who work in them, already do a terrific job helping devise and plan research sessions for my students. Unstinting with their time, responsive to student learning, and willing to tackle new subject areas or issues, UW librarians consistently demonstrate an unimpeachable standard of service and care.” – UW Seattle Faculty

“Experience with data librarians, those working around open data and open science have all been great in promoting our work and making resources available for larger community.” – UW Seattle Associate Professor

“I was searching for an article and could not find it ANYWHERE. I used the online chat function to ask a librarian for help. They sent me the article in 5 minutes!”   – UW Seattle Graduate Student

“Being able to get whatever paper I need from anywhere is really important for my grant submissions, thank you for all your hard work!” – UW Seattle Professor

“I appreciate all the help I continue to receive when I need it from librarians. I needed help to find a source for my research topic about maternal health in Yemen, and my online chat with a librarian was so helpful and I ended up getting full points on my work! So thank you!”  – UW Seattle Graduate Student

“Our librarian has been a wonderful asset to [our department’s] faculty and students. She contributes in multiple unexpected ways, including helping us to understand and choose impact metrics for RPT, gathering faculty publications and sharing titles quarterly with the school community, educating us about how to negotiate with journals to be able to deposit work in the UW repository.” – UW Seattle Assistant Professor

Has a UW Librarian supported your teaching, learning and research in a meaningful way?  Let us know—send us an email or a note on social media #IHeartUWLibs!

Thank you for your support!

Independent Study Space @ the Research Commons is open in a limited capacity! We are excited to welcome students back to a dedicated space for quiet, independent study on Tuesdays and Wednesdays to start. Reservations are required. Learn more.

Planning updates: Our COVID Update page has all the latest information on Libraries reopening plans and online resources, including updates to Faculty Guidance for 2021, Student FAQ and more.

Students: We want your input! Student input is important as we consider additional services that could be offered on the Seattle campus. Please complete this short survey to let us know what would be most helpful to you, and how the Libraries can best support your student experience during spring quarter. Learn more.

Elsevier 2022 Negotiation Update: On March 16, 2021 the UC announced a new landmark open access deal with Elsevier. Learn more about the deal and how UW Libraries is planning for future Elsevier negotiations here.

Representation matters: The Labor Archives of Washington, part of UW Special Collections, was recently honored with the John Sessions Memorial Award for work to address representation gaps in historically marginalized communities and for its collaborative oral history project documenting workers in the Covid-19 pandemic. Learn more. 

Don’t Miss This Week

• “Picture a Scientist” Screening, Panel Discussion & Q&A  Join UW Health Sciences Library and partners across the UW for a special screening and panel discussion of this documentary. “Picture a Scientist” chronicles the groundswell of researchers who are writing a new chapter for women scientists — featuring social scientists, neuroscientists, and psychologists who provide new perspectives on how to make science itself more diverse, equitable, and open to all.
  • Screen/stream the documentary anytime between Friday, April 2 and Sunday, April 4.
  • Panel discussion is Wednesday, April 7 (5:00–6:00 p.m.)

Community Events, Reading Groups  

International Students: Welcome to UW Libraries!   – April 5th and 6th  A virtual library orientation for international undergrad and grad students – meet friendly Libraries staff and learn more about how the Library can help you succeed. Undergrads- Monday April 5th, Grad students Tuesday, April 6th.

In the Beginning … the early Days of Women Studies at the University of Washington – Wednesday April 7th  Join us for an informal dialogue about the early formation of Women Studies courses at the University of Washington. Hear directly from individuals involved in the founding of this interdisciplinary department now celebrating its 50th anniversary.

Libraries Husky Giving Day – April 8^th : Every gift to UW Libraries is an investment in the quality of our academic community. Early donors are eligible for a special Libraries gift/swag pack, so SAVE THE DATE, and bookmark this page for April 8th!

RealLit Spring Quarter: Join the UWT Library and the UWT Center for Equity and Inclusion for Real Lit this spring quarter. We are reading Mason Deaver’s I Wish You All The Best. The goals of RealLit are to create a greater awareness of and discussion about shared and disparate experiences of students, staff, and community members. Learn more.

Instructional Workshops/ Help Hours

TEAL Digital Scholarship for East Asian Studies: Engaging with Creative Geovisualization – Tuesday April 6^th Presented by Dr. Jin-Kyu Jung, Associate Professor in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences (UW Bothell) and Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Geography (UW Seattle).

Getting started with Pressbooks – April 7th: Learn how Pressbooks can be used to create textbooks, monographs, and teaching materials that can be published and exported in multiple digital and print formats that can help save students money! Learn More.

Weekly Drop-In Help – No Appointment Necessary

• Media Arcade: Miss going to the Media Arcade? Drop in to our virtual office hours on Wednesdays to receive help on any media related project you may be working on. We can also assist with any technical troubleshooting and hardware issues.  See calendar
• Get help from the Foster Business librarians: All business research questions welcome! No appointment necessary, daily sessions M-F 12:30-1:30. See calendar.
• Digital Scholarship Project Help Office Hours: Open to faculty and students, UW Libraries offers weekly office hours to advise on digital scholarship for research and course related projects. Examples include digital publishing, building digital exhibits, data research management, and more! Office hours are most Fridays 2:30-3:30. See calendar.

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What to Know Before You Go:

UW Libraries is excited to announce that Individual Study Space @ the Research Commons (on the ground floor of Alllen Library South) will officially open for spring quarter on Tuesday March 30th!  –  in a limited capacity to start – Tuesdays 9-5 and Wednesdays 1-5. As this is the first Libraries space to open, reduced hours/days will provide essential time for learning and observing how the space is working, and inform any adjustments that may need to be made as we work to expand hours, services, and spaces as staffing permits.

A New Space, A New Experience

The original Research Commons (RC) has been completely reconfigured for individual study (not collaborative study) and COVID safety standards, so before you go, get familiar with the changes and know what to expect: 

• See new RC Policies. This new space is for quiet, individual study vs. collaboration/group study and the space cannot be used during active verbal discussions in online classes, meetings, or other online activities, or to engage in phone conversations.
• Reservations must be made in advance through the Libraries online reservation system. (1 reservation per user, per day, 2 hours max). 
• A Husky Card is required for entry (space is only available to current UW students, staff, and faculty).
• All public health safety protocols for cleaning, social distancing, and face coverings will be followed. Study stations will be cleaned between each use.
• WIFI will be available.
• No printing, scanning, or library computer stations at this time; however Libraries will consider adding more services and equipment based on assessment of student needs , after the space is opened.
• No food or drink.
• Books/physical materials are not available in the RC, but you can continue to request items through Libraries No-Contact Pick-UP service.
• Research help is not available in the RC, but you can continue to get help using our AskUs Service or by contacting your subject librarian.

A First Step

This is the next step in the Libraries reopening plan. As we observe and test how this space is working to meet student needs, additional hours and resources may be added.  Health and safety remain our number one priority, and the efforts of each of us are critical in protecting ourselves and each other. This first step will inform the Libraries approach for opening additional spaces with more complex requirements. 

Why Research Commons?

• The size, ground floor location, and floorplan is conducive for managing COVID protocols in a way that prioritizes the health and safety of all users.
• The Research Commons space does not have access to physical books that would conflict with resource terms of service that expand access to electronic materials critical for remote learning at this time.
• Starting with a smaller space as a “first step” provides a manageable and safe way to evaluate student needs and health and safety requirements.

We look forward to welcoming students back into the Libraries! As we evaluate next steps in the Libraries reopening plan, the Libraries continues to offer a wide range of tools, resources and online help to support remote and hybrid learning. Let us know how we can help! Just ASK US! 

The most current information and updates on Libraries re-opening plans can be found on the Libraries COVID update page. 

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Last update: 2/10

News and Announcements

• Libraries Operations Update:
  • We are pleased to announce that the UW Libraries plans to open Individual Study Space @ Research Commons located on the ground floor of Allen South on the UW Seattle campus.
  • The space will open when preparations for COVID compliance are complete, no later than the start of spring quarter (March 29).
  • This space is intended to provide a clean, safe and quiet space for individual study with access to WIFI and equitable access through the LibSeats reservation system. Once the online reservation system is active, a link will be provided.
  • For all the details about how and when the space will open, see the FAQ for Individual Study Space @ Research Commons.

• • An updated view on Libraries planning is outlined in the Libraries Phased Re-Opening Chart  – updated 2/4 

• •  The libraries at UW Bothell and Tacoma are developing localized plans in coordination with campus administration.

• • Opening and maintaining Library spaces will be highly dependent on adherence to COVID safety guidelines, as noted in the Husky Pack Pledge.   

• New Publishing Agreement for UW Authors: The University of Washington and Cambridge University Press have entered into a transformative “read and publish” agreement, the first of its kind for UW, making UW scholarship more accessible to readers and researchers all over the world.   Learn more. 

• UW Libraries Black History Month Challenge: read, listen and watch something new and then share it! Learn more.

• #IHeartUWLibraries Student Video Contest is back! After more than ten months of remote learning, UW huskies are becoming experts in accessing the Libraries remote resources. Students can apply their 2020/2021 experience and creative talents for a chance to win cash awards worth up to $1,500! Learn more. 

• Wall Street Journal Pilot- All huskies now have access to the WSJ.com and other WSJ resources through a new two-year pilot. Learn more.

• Community Reads 2021: Explore environmental justice topics and resources with something new to watch, read and listen to each quarter. Hosted by UW Bothell Libraries, open to all students and faculty; easily integrated into courses through Canvas! Learn more.

• Budget updates: Updates on Libraries budget planning and impact on subscriptions and collections are posted regularly on our website. Current update. 

Events, Workshops 

Did you know that the UW Libraries provides hundreds of hours of FREE instruction and community events each year for UW students and faculty?  Don’t miss out! 

• Manifold and Pressbooks Workshops: Learn how to create and publish a wide variety of materials (digital books, textbooks, monographs, and teaching materials) using Pressbooks and Manifold platforms. 
  • Wednesday, Feb. 10th:Introductory Pressbooks Session 
  • Wednesday Feb. 12th: Create the World’s Fastest Book with Manifold  
  • Wednesday Feb. 16th: Advanced Pressbooks Session

• Feb 12: Join us for a virtual Lunar New Year celebration with the Tateuchi East Asia Library– check out this and other TEAL events including Digital Scholarship for East Asia Studies (multiple events), Korean and Japanese Research Methods Workshops and more! See all TEAL events.

• Feb 20: Digital Humanities Day Panel Discussion– Explore liberal arts studies and what can you do with a humanities or social sciences degree in a panel discussions with UW Libraries Open Scholarship team, UW students and alumni. Learn more.

• Feb 22: Research Data Management Workshop – Do you create or use data in your research? Looking for tips and tools to better help you manage your research data, and preserve it for long-term use? This asynchronous workshop may be for you! Learn More 

• No Reservations: Weekly Drop-In Help Sessions From UW Libraries:  Digital Scholarship Project Help Office Hours: Get help finding and using tools and resources for digital publishing, data research management, data visualization and more! dates and hours. 
  • • Virtual Media Arcade Technical Help Hours: Get help with media-related projects and tools like Photoshop, Adobe, audio/video production software, and more. dates/hours. 
    • Research Help from Foster Business Library:  All business research questions welcome! dates/hours.  

As always, available services and updates are posted to the Libraries COVID Update page.  

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