Stories

Beyond Books: Building Community through Bothell/Cascadia’s Community Reads

January 30, 2020

As public spaces devoted to teaching and learning, our Libraries have a duty and responsibility to steward diversity, equity and inclusion. At UW Libraries, this is embedded in our Libraries Strategic Plan. At the UW Bothell and Cascadia College Campus Library, this work has long been a part of our professional learning and community engagement efforts in the form of events, exhibits, trainings, our social justice group and more; however, one of the most engaging parts of this work has been the Community Reads program.

Established in 2016, UW Bothell’s Community Reads program brings together members of the Bothell and Cascadia campus communities through quarterly book discussions to encourage dialogue on themes of equity, social justice, and diversity. Students, faculty and staff from both campuses gather to discuss issues raised in the chosen book, as well as selected tie-in materials that go beyond a typical book club—artwork, poetry, music, etc. The events provide space to build connections and understanding through shared experiences, diverse points of view and ideas for action.

sketch of Angela Davis — *Angela’s Voice* | by Donna Sullivan (click on image to view)
“The Angela Davis image incorporates a powerful quote from the book, ‘It is essential to resist the depiction of history as the work of heroic individuals in order for people today to recognize their potential agency as a part of an ever-expanding community of struggle.’ The rest of the text in her hair are the 10 points from the 10 Point Program of the Black Panther Party, which she mentions in her book and to which her legacy was forever tied through her arrest and trial. The last two points are on her sleeve.”
– Donna Sullivan, Cascadia College Staff member

Inspired by Angela Davis’s visit to UW Bothell last year, the Community Reads team chose Davis’ Freedom is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement for the 2019/2020 program, with an emphasis on the theme of democracy.

In our fall quarter event, the discussions focused on chapter 1 “Progressive Struggles against Insidious Capitalist Individualism” and chapter 5 “Closures and Continuities”. Tie-in materials included the Black Panther Party’s Ten-Point Program, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail, and the poem by Langston Hughes, Let America be America Again. A Cascadia staff member, Donna Sullivan, was inspired to create a digital portrait of a young Angela Davis entitled Angela’s Voice, which was featured in Fall Quarter marketing materials. Following the small group discussions, participants were asked to reflect on how they would use their voice, or engage in democratic life. The Community Reads Team has been conscious of incorporating an element to the events that asks participants how they might apply or act on what they heard and learned.

Community Reads underscores the Libraries’ role in advancing equity, diversity and inclusion within the communities we serve. These types of events not only shine a light on underrepresented authors and topics, they provide outlets for expression and connection that are essential to community-building, especially where socio-economic lines can sometimes act as barriers for connection.

Community Reads is one example of how Libraries are evolving by providing a wider range of services and programs “beyond books” – opportunities that encourage connection, learning and collaboration for the public good, enriching the cultural fabric of our communities.

Join the next Community Reads at UW Bothell & Cascadia College Library !

Community Reads is open to all. The Winter events will focus on the theme of mass incarceration, drawing upon chapter 2 of Angela Davis’ book, Freedom is a Constant Struggle. We will also be showing clips from the film 13^th, by Ava DuVernay.

When:

Tuesday February 18, 1:30-3:00pm
Wednesday February 26, 12:00-1:30pm

Where: Bothell Campus Library room LB1-205

Please join us! https://guides.lib.uw.edu/bothell/communityreads/w20

Stories

What We Can Learn from Ancient Chinese Inscription Rubbings:

December 30, 2019

I have been working at the UW East Asia Library since I was a freshman. With a strong interest in ancient Chinese history and some good fortune, I got the opportunity to work on a collection of epigraph rubbings rich with historical information from the Northern Wei, Tang, and Song dynasties. The East Asia Library received these valuable rubbings from a previous donation. The set includes approximately thirty-six complete inscriptions from the Tang (618-907), Zhou (690-705, led by China’s only female emperor Wu Zetian), and Song (960-1279) dynasties.

Student employee Xianda “Nick” Hou examines Chinese stelae inscription rubbings

Many of them preserve historical information and literary texts not found in contemporary historical writings, enriching our understanding of events like the An Lushan Rebellion, linguistic phenomena such as the distinctive characters associated with Empress Wu,demographic trends such as Iranians resident in China, and religions such as Buddhism, Daoism, and Zoroastrianism. One interesting inscription records that a Samarkand chief/king led his people, comprising 5000 “tents,” to commit their allegiance to the Tang empire. It also provides evidence of Zoroastrian religious practices such as sun and moon worship. Another records the life of afemale Buddhist devotee from Samarkand who married a man from Bukhara (modern Buxoro) and lived in Shendu (Luoyang). One portrait tablet of a warrior from the Northern Wei dynasty (386-534) depicts the dress of a military officer from the dynasty. An inscription commemorating Emperor Wu Zhao’s cousin reveals details about the Wu family and Tang dynasty political structures.

There is much more interesting information to explore. Inscription rubbings hold a special place in Chinese culture and history. These examples enrich the East Asia Library’s collections, and provide fruitful material for historical and literary research. I learned traditional stone rubbing techniques in China, and have studied medieval Chinese arts since primary school. I am impressed by the quality of these rubbings and the clarity with which they render the inscriptions. I feel very fortunate to have had the chance to help catalog them over the summer.

Coveted link to China’s past found in a basement at UW – Seattle Times, 2005

Stories

Connecting business students with professional information tools

November 25, 2019

Alongside the Libraries’ ongoing efforts to expand student information awareness, the Foster Business Library hosted “PitchBook Night” on November 12, a dynamic session on how data informs the work of entrepreneurs and private-sector investors. In this first-of-a-kind event for the Foster Library, the session attracted 25 Foster School of Business undergraduates and MBA students to learn more about PitchBook, a library-subscribed search platform that tracks private-equity and venture-capital market data.

Following a welcome by Amy Sallin, director of the Buerk Center for Enterpreneurship, PitchBook account managers Katie Kelsh and Jessica Trowbridge (both UW alumni) described PitchBook’s data gathering process and its applications in startup fundraising, venture capital investing, and related business decision-making and due diligence.

“PitchBook Night” was the first of a planned series of similar events that will improve students’ abilities to locate and apply business information available through Foster Library subscription resources.

Located in Paccar Hall, The Foster Library has over 60,000 books, over 400 student study seats and 11 tech-enabled group study rooms. Foster Business Librarians provide a range of student and faculty support services, from student research consultations to classroom teaching and training, and partnering with faculty on research assignment development.

Learn more

Students seated in rows of seats — Foster business students learn about PitchBook in the Foster Business Library

Three presenters behind a podium, addressing an audience. — Buerk Center Director Amy Sallin introduces PitchBook account managers Katie Kelsh and Jessica Trowbridge.

Stories

Mythbuster: The Facts About Greta Thunberg’s Photo Twin

November 21, 2019

One of the images within UW Libraries Special collections has garnered a lot of media attention lately regarding the resemblance of a young girl in a photograph from 1898 to 16-year-old Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg. Several creative theories abound from time travel to how Greta’s image may have been inserted into a historical photo, which is most definitely not the case.

Greta ThunBerg Conspiracy The Truth — University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, Hegg 3209

As part of the UW Libraries Special Collections, the photo in question is an original. It is one of many photos taken by photographer Eric A. Hegg (1867-1947). It is one of the Libraries’ cornerstone collections, and one of the largest Klondike-era documentary photograph collections in the region, if not the country. The Hegg collection came into the Libraries Special Collections in the 1960s, pre-dating modern record keeping that would illuminate more detailed information such as who donated the collection, or prior ownership. There are no notes or documentation regarding the identity of the subjects.

Much of what we do know about Hegg is detailed within the UW Libraries digital collection record. As noted in the record, in 1902, Hegg’s negatives and photographs were sold to a Seattle, Washington firm of Webster and Stevens, who removed the Hegg studio imprint from the negatives and sold prints made from Hegg’s negatives as products of their studio. The remaining assets of the Skagway studio were absorbed by Dedman’s Photo Shop, which continues in business to this day in the town of Skagway. That said, there is no way to confirm if the images within the collection originated from this third party, or from other sources.

ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHER AND THE COLLECTION

Hegg was born in Sweden and arrived in the Puget Sound region in 1888, settling in Whatcom County.

In the fall of 1897, after hearing of the gold strikes in the Yukon Territories, he joined the thousands of gold seekers heading north, eventually opening up several photography studios in Alaska. He captured the people of Skagway, Bennett and Dawson City during the Klondike Gold Rush from 1897 to 1901. Hegg took one of the most iconic photographs of Chilkoot Pass of miners and prospectors climbing the ice stairs upwards to the top and the awaiting Canada–US border.

In 1997, the Libraries hosted a special exhibit to showcase the collection: Klondike Gold Rush: The Perilous Journey North. In addition to featuring the Hegg collection, people from the community also contributed additional photographs and lent their expertise to further help identify images, some of which feature family members who lived in the area.

“Conspiracy theories aside, we are delighted that the collection is receiving attention because it underscores the historical importance of the images as well the unique role that Libraries and other archives play, not only in safekeeping, but in telling these stories, and ensuring accessibility,” says Lisa Oberg, interim director for the UW Libraries Special Collections.

The University’s Special Collections brings together the University of Washington Libraries’ most rare and unique resources. From papyrus to born-digital, our holdings span history and the globe, and offer boundless opportunities for exploration and discovery. Learn more.

Instructions for Use of Images from UW Special Collections

Single use fees apply to any for-profit entity (news).
In order to use photos legally, permission is required. Please refer to the UW Libraries Permission for Use Instructions. And the corresponding application form.
Any use of the image requires the appropriate citation: University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, Hegg 3209.

For all media inquires, please contact the UW Libraries Communications Director, Sandy Hawley: [email protected]

Stories

UW Press and Libraries Collaborate on Open-Access Books

October 22, 2019

Reposted from UW Press Blog 10/21/2019

From October 21st to 27th, the University of Washington Press will be highlighting its open-access publications and partnerships as part of International Open Access Week.

UW Press and Libraries Collaborate on Open-Access Books

Thanks to a new partnership between UW Press and Libraries and a grant from the Kenneth S. and Faye G. Allen Library Endowment Transformation Fund, many books in the press’s long-standing and award-winning series Studies on Ethnic Groups in China (SEGC) are now openly available.

UW Libraries’ support for the initiative is part of its larger commitment to open and emerging forms of scholarship. Betsy Wilson, Vice Provost for Digital Initiatives and Dean of University Libraries, explained that “the UW Libraries’ strategic plan prioritizes the advancement of research for the public good. We are living this commitment by investing in infrastructure and developing publishing resources to support open-access scholarship in all forms. Our staff are constantly working to expand support for all UW authors who publish openly and to assist students and faculty in navigating open-access opportunities.”

Edited by UW professor of anthropology Stevan Harrell, SEGC presents research from a wide variety of disciplines on ethnic groups and ethnic relations in China. Anthropologists, historians, geographers, political scientists, and literary scholars have contributed works on minority ethnic groups from various regions of China, as well as on the majority Han and their relationships with other groups. Works are both historical and contemporary and cover topics ranging from identity, local relations, folk literature, and religion to medicine, governance, education, and economic development.

“I’m delighted that UW Press has selected Studies on Ethnic Groups in China as its first book series to go online in open-access format,” said Harrell. “This makes our books available to a wider public. In addition, using the Manifold platform gives authors, editors, and readers the opportunity to publish supplementary material, make comments, and see some of our authors’ gorgeous photographs in full color.”

Manifold is a new publishing platform developed by the University of Minnesota Press, CUNY GC Digital Scholarship Lab, and Cast Iron Coding and funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. In addition, SEGC books will be hosted on several other platforms including the UW Libraries ResearchWorks, JSTOR, MUSE Open, HathiTrust, and OAPEN.

UW Press Director Nicole Mitchell commented on the project’s early success: “We’ve been pleased to see that readers have accessed the open editions from at least 105 countries so far, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. We’re grateful for the support of the Allen Transformation Fund and fortunate that in launching our first open-access books, we’ve been able to draw on services like JSTOR and Project MUSE that have built strong global networks for scholarship, as well as the work of colleagues at Minnesota and other university presses involved in developing new infrastructure, processes, and standards for open-access monograph publishing.”

What Is International OA Week?

This year’s OA Week theme, “Open for Whom? Equity in Open Knowledge,” builds on the groundwork laid by last year’s focus, “Designing Equitable Foundations for Open Knowledge,” which highlighted the importance of making a central commitment to equity as we develop new systems for sharing knowledge.

The Allen Transformation Fund grant, awarded to “facilitate the transition towards open publishing models,” promotes equitable access not only by making the SEGC books available to readers across the globe, but also by enabling all authors in the series to make their books openly available regardless of their institutional affiliations or resources.

In addition, UW Libraries works with providers like Manifold to address the accessibility of open-access tools for all users. Working collaboratively with UW Libraries and UW Accessible IT, the Manifold team significantly improved accessibility features in the platform, helping to ensure open access for all.

OA Week on Campus

UW Libraries is hosting special events and information sessions during Open Access Week. This year’s theme, “Open for Whom?,” invites us to consider equity in open access.

Accessibility Pop-Up Tables – Explore your favorite websites using assistive technologies to better understand the everyday experiences of disabled members of our community.

Tuesday, Oct. 22, noon–2:00 p.m. outside the HUB if the weather is good, inside the HUB if the weather is bad
Wednesday, Oct. 23, noon–2:00 p.m. in the Allen Library Research Commons

Copyright and Creative Commons Licenses – If you need photos, music, or other media for a project and are unsure about copyright restrictions, join us for this one-hour primer. Learn how the Creative Commons helps creators share and use media.

Tuesday, Oct. 22, 3:00–4:00 p.m. in the Allen Library Research Commons
Wednesday, Oct. 23, 3:00–4:00 p.m. in the Allen Library Research Commons

Open Media – This Guide to Open Resources will connect you with media you can use without charge.

Open Educational Resources (OER) – See this Guide to OER to learn how to find and create open textbooks and courses.

Open Access at UW Press – Finally, be sure to check out the open editions of SEGC books as well as the Digital Projects page of the UW Press website for more information about the press’s open-access work.

Stories

“Open for Whom?” – Accessibility and Open Access

October 22, 2019

At UW we’ve been thinking about OA Week’s theme of “Open for Whom?” in the context of our efforts to increase the accessibility of our resources and services. We’re pleased that the latest version release of the Manifold digital book publishing platform included substantial accessibility improvements, largely due to a partnership between Cast Iron Coding, the web development firm building Manifold, and UW’s Accessible Technology Services (ATS) Office.

We spoke with Ava Cole, a Student Accessibility Assistant in ATS, about their experience working on this project.

What is your role in ATS?

I support Hadi Rangin [Information Technology Accessibility Specialist] in his endeavors to evaluate, advocate, and ensure the accessibility of software used on campus. Ideally we’d have five Hadis, but since we only have one he has a number of students as his henchmen. I’m a full-time student, and I work part time. Right now there are two students, but we’re hoping to add more.

How does an ATS evaluation typically play out?

Usually it starts when the manager / owner of a new, software-related service at the university comes to us and says “we want to adopt this new software, but we want to make sure it’s accessible.” Spoiler: it’s never accessible.

We collaborate with that person to do a full evaluation, testing the functional tasks the software is designed to perform, and the workflows that people will typically use it for. We use different techniques, including a static review of the code, testing the software with different evaluation tools, and also using assistive technologies to try to complete each of the tasks. We compile a big list of issues, put them in a spreadsheet, and write an accompanying report describing the overall status of accessibility. When we are done we hand off our findings to the service owner / manager who then uses it to advocate for accessibility in the purchasing process. Usually UW-IT is surprised but supportive, and the company is defensive.

Ideally this is then the start of a collaboration with the company. With good projects they will assign us a liaison, and we’ll work with them to fix the accessibility issues. Sometimes it’s great, and they’re strong advocates within the company for the changes to be made. But sometimes we spend a lot of time “talking to the hand.” In every collaboration it’s a process of educating them and doing our best to help them help themselves, but it can be hard.

What was it like working on the Manifold evaluation?

It was the same process of Elliott Stevens [English Studies & Research Commons Librarian], who is, by the way, a fantastic collaborator and leader, approaching us about Manifold. The Libraries had already begun using the software, which isn’t unusual. So we looked at the platform, and immediately saw that it had a lot of issues.

What was really different with this project was that after the initial evaluation, instead of handing it off to execs and having it trickle down to the developers, we met with Matt Gold and Terence Smyre [two of the principal investigators on the Manifold grant project]. They were immediately receptive, saying they hadn’t realized there were so many holes. And because Manifold is open source software, hosted on GitHub, instead of waiting for the spreadsheet to get in the right hands, we started filing issues directly into their GitHub.

Within five minutes of filing the first issue, Zach Davis [Cast Iron’s Principal and Chief Technologist] replied and said “thank you, I’m putting it in the workflow.” This is exponentially faster than how it usually happens. So as we continued to put the findings on GitHub, we were getting fixes back really fast. That cycle of us doing the testing and them doing the fixes has been totally different than other projects we’ve worked on.

Another change, and this is something I think about a lot, is the way this project is letting us share our own work. We put all this publicly funded time into researching how to fix software accessibility issues, and some of it is really bleeding edge. Like for one project, the software had these interactive data grids that were really functional and powerful, and looked great visually, but were horribly inaccessible. It took a month of ruminating and talking and brainstorming and research, including bringing it up in Hadi’s monthly Explore with Hadi meetup, to come up with a suggested design pattern for the company and provide them with the solution. However, that application is proprietary – so all the work is now hidden. The knowledge created from that discourse is effectively gone.

But with Manifold, it’s all open. We’ve been doing the same kind of discussion and research around Manifold’s highlighting and annotation functions. And the good news is that the findings are now available in GitHub – it’s public knowledge. It’s cool when it’s publicly funded work, and the work is actually public.

So, it’s been a good collaboration?

It’s definitely stood out, people-wise. In some collaborations it feels like we have to convince people of why accessibility is important – having to hold their hand. Sometimes the only reason the company incorporates our feedback is because it’s a selling point; we tell them “making it accessible will increase your market share.” With the Manifold team, as soon as we mentioned it they were really excited. They were really open to the feedback and motivated on their own to make accessibility a priority.

What’s the current status of the project?

Right now we meet with Terence and Matt on a regular basis, continuing to test new features as they put them out. We’re starting a new push on the authoring side; the way content is managed in Manifold doesn’t make sure that the content itself is accessible. Manifold isn’t an authoring tool – it ingests existing content. So if the ingested content isn’t accessible, it doesn’t matter if the application is accessible. We’re encouraging them to add an accessibility checker for uploading content. It would be great if it actually enforced accessibility of the content, but that would be very ambitious.

What lessons can the Open Access and Accessibility communities share?

We live in a world that isn’t set up to be open or accessible; our position as advocates are similar, in that we’re the underdogs. Accessibility, privacy, security, and equity are always neglected until someone tells people they have to pay attention. Usually it has to happen using policy or law; without the ADA our office wouldn’t exist.

They also all have to be part of the development process from start to finish, otherwise it won’t be a good outcome. Hadi always says accessibility can’t be an afterthought – something you tack on to the end of the software development process. If you do it that way it’s never going to be functionally accessible, letting people use it in a meaningful way without a lot of pain.

Higher education is a great launching pad for this work, but I want to emphasize that these have to be community efforts. With accessibility, it can’t just be our office who’s worried about it – we do a lot of work but we can’t cover everything. Any institution that has buying power needs to consider the agency they have to advocate for access, privacy, and accessibility. This means UW as a whole, or divisions like the Libraries and UW Medicine. Often people think they don’t have power, but they really do. People look up to the Libraries; how can that power be leveraged?

Stories

Top 5 Open Access Resources at UW

October 18, 2019

At UW Libraries, every week is #OpenAccessWeek

Each October, institutions and individuals around the world celebrate Open Access (OA) Week by highlighting the many benefits of sharing information openly, without legal restrictions or fees. OA is especially important to the academic community where sharing knowledge in an open, timely and accessible way is key to advancing research for the public good. OA policies are spreading on campuses globally, and in May 2018, the UW Faculty Senate adopted an OA Policy. This policy is also informing other efforts to implement more equitable and sustainable models for scholarly publishing in contrast to some publishers’ “big deal” bundles and restrictive contracts.

This year’s OA Week theme, “Open for Whom?,” invites us to consider OA and equity in all forms. This year, UW librarians in Seattle are highlighting OA on campus through accessibility “pop up” events and Creative Commons workshops. Tacoma librarians are hosting two faculty panels to talk about how they share their scholarship openly and lead efforts to adopt open resources in their courses. Meanwhile, Bothell librarians are creating a display to illustrate the financial impact of licensing materials that are not openly available.

Top 5 OA Resources

UW librarians work throughout the year to support students and faculty as they navigate the many resources that facilitate open access. They connect our campus community with a wide range of resources to support openness in teaching, learning and research, including:

ResearchWorks. The open repository of scholarship by University of Washington faculty and students.
Guide to Open Resources. This user-centric tool helps faculty and students find openly available resources for research, projects, teaching, or creative fun.
Guide to Open Educational Resources (OER). OER, particularly open textbooks, save students money while empowering faculty by giving them more control over their course content. This is your source to find and create open textbooks and course materials.
Guide to the Creative Commons. The OA movement puts its principles into practice by enabling a “digital commons.” Anyone can contribute to it or take what they need from it. If you need images, music, or sounds for a project, search the Creative Commons, a collective source for digital media that can be used immediately at no cost. Need help? Take one of our Creative Commons workshops or ask me!
Instructor Toolkit. Find out how our UW Librarians can help design and teach lessons on OA resources – or any research topic.

These are just a few of the ways librarians at all three campuses work each day to advance open access discovery and to connect people with knowledge. After all, it’s our mission.

Don’t miss out on these UW Seattle Libraries OA Events:

Accessibility Pop Ups: Learn more about the role accessibility plays in the open creation and dissemination of knowledge. Try the #NoMouseChallenge or see how a screen reader would interact with your favorite website. Stop by our pop up table for an informal chat or to pick up a flyer on campus accessibility resources.

- Tuesday, October 22, 12-2pm Husky Union Building
- Wednesday, October 23, 12-2pm Research Commons

Copyright & Creative Commons Licenses: Drop in for a workshop on how the Creative Commons helps creators share and use media without rights headaches. It’s simple and empowering.

- Tuesday, October 22, 3-4pm, Research Commons, Green A
- Wednesday, October 23, 3-4pm, Research Commons, Green A

Stories

UW Tacoma Library Welcomes Oral History Project Manager

October 17, 2019

Reposted from UW Tacoma Libraries Blog by Justin Wadland 10/14/2019

The Library is pleased to announce that Joan Hua joined its staff this autumn as the Oral History Project Manager. In the next 12 months, she will be working to develop a new collection of digital oral histories for the UW Tacoma Oral History: Founding Stories project. The collection aims to capture the memories and perspectives of individuals who played significant roles in the shaping of the campus community and identity. In her role, Joan will conduct interviews and research, process and describe digital objects, facilitate the discovery and long-term access to the collection, and develop a workflow to comprehensively manage a digital oral history collection.

Joan comes to us with a range of experiences in areas like music publishing, cultural heritage research and sustainability, digital content production, and instructional design. She has previously worked at the Smithsonian Institution (primarily at the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage) and American University Library in Washington, D.C., before returning to Tacoma. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Library and Information Science at the University of Washington Information School, which she expects to complete in June 2020. She is an Association of Research Libraries Diversity Scholar (2018–2020), ALA Spectrum Scholar (2019), and ARL+DLF Forum Fellow (2019).

For the Founding Stories project, she is particularly interested in diverse perspectives that show the rich and multifaceted history of UW Tacoma. She believes oral history is an excellent medium to tell nuanced stories and amplify underrepresented voices. Beyond scholarly research, Joan hopes the Library’s oral history practice and resources will have connections with learners and educators. She looks forward to exchanging ideas and connecting with members of this campus community. You can reach her at joanhua(at)uw.edu.

Stories

An iterative approach to space planning

April 7, 2019

In the Foster Business Library, we were excited to recently welcome the first students into our newly developed Business Research Commons. Modeled (very modestly) on the UW Research Commons, the new space allows us to offer topical events and programs, separate from classroom visits, for all business researchers — whether or not they are business majors. Our first session was an introduction to citation management tools, with about a dozen highly engaged business Ph.D. students in attendance.

Library graduate assistant delivering an information session to business Ph.D. students. — Library graduate assistant Mariah McGregor teaches business Ph.D. students about citation management tools.

While we business librarians had long aspired to carve out space to expand our business instruction offerings, making the case and articulating our vision became clear by aligning our efforts with the Libraries Strategic Plan. Developing this venue marks the beginning of our contribution toward key strategic goals in “evolving library spaces” and “investing in sustainable teaching endeavors.”

Right now, the Business Research Commons is small but utilitarian. The space includes a new instructor’s podium, TV monitors on wheels and 30 new chairs. But with pilot programming underway, we aim to launch a fall series bringing together business students and campus-wide business researchers to discuss information resources, software and tools, and hear from related speakers. Our objective is to sustainably expand Foster Business Library’s outreach and impact through this designated venue.

Launching the Business Research Commons has required a systems-thinking approach and a budget. Our Libraries Information Technology Services (ITS) colleagues helped us understand the challenges and opportunities of creating a new technology-enabled space, but our talks with ITS also built connections with UW Classroom Technologies and secured collaborative funding from the UW Student Technology Fee. (Other funding came from Libraries operations budget and the business library’s designated gift fund.)

While our next steps will focus on creating a series of engaging events and programming, we are only getting started. As we bring more people into the space to see what works and what is missing, we plan to develop a longer-term vision for expanding the footprint—offering more seating and set-up options, adding videoconferencing and installing a divider wall to preserve the quiet that our patrons appreciate.

For now, though, we are fortunate and excited to have begun. If our first students in attendance were an indication, we anticipate an active new learning space that contributes to our Libraries-wide effort in helping students reach their full potential as learners.

Stories

Strategic progress, and some waiting

March 15, 2019

Where developing the Strategic Plan was something of an exercise in visioning of an ideal state, implementation has proven to be more of a reality check. Where I had assumed the transition between development and implementation would be a simple baton pass, I have instead come to better understand the oft-repeated business trope: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.”

Six months into our new planning cycle, I observe that UW Libraries sustains a culture of waiting: top-level administrators waiting to hear from their directorates; staff waiting to hear from leadership; campus liaisons waiting to hear from external stakeholders; waiting for new hires, new programs, new resources… Unquestionably there are benefits to a “waiting” approach that connotes patience, caution and certainty. But I’m still waiting for someone to grab this baton!

Tempering my personal tendency toward impatience, I can report a significant amount of good work on advancing our strategic goals:

Some level of strategic goal-setting has happened in nearly every area of the Libraries, including Research & Learning Services, Distinctive Collections, Administrative Services, Collections & Content, the Health Sciences Library, UW Bothell, UW Tacoma and various tri-campus committees.
Libraries Cabinet has prioritized near-term goals related to IT infrastructure, communication and equity, diversity and inclusion.
All Libraries portfolios are in the process of articulating near-term strategic actions to achieve in 2019.
Across the organization, we are pursuing opportunities to insert strategic-goal language into accountability documentation like project proposals, performance evaluations and annual reports.
Cabinet will build out specific actions with definitive leads, milestones, timelines and success measures—and will establish new channels to sustain communication on our progress.

As much as has been happening, I still feel like we could do more. My amateur organizational-behaviorist perspective is that we haven’t yet completely embraced our aspirations toward becoming a learning organization, one that continuously transforms itself and values exploration, experimentation and even failure in the face of a waiting culture.