Celebrating the Jeju Haenyeo: A deep dive into the unique cultural heritage of a remote Korean island
July 19, 2024
Recognized in several of UNESCO’s Cultural Heritage Lists, the Jeju Haenyeo are an extraordinary group of women free divers from Jeju Island, Korea, whose remarkable skills and dedication represent a profound cultural heritage– a heritage that is at risk due to the impacts of climate change, shifting populations and other impacts. The Haenyeo’s (Korean: 해녀; lit. sea women) livelihood consists of harvesting a variety of mollusks, seaweed, and other sea life from the ocean. Known for their independent spirit and determination, Haenyeo are representative of the semi-matriarchal family structure of Jeju.
“The Haenyeo embody the passion, resilience and wisdom of Korea and the Korean people, (they are) stewards of Korean waters who really epitomize a history-bound sense of environmental sustainability which the rest of the world should revere. The Haenyeo teach us that nurturing a healthy ocean requires deep connection with the water and which lives within– their labor, their wisdom, preserve a disappearing heritage among a disappearing environment.” – Ian Oates, Interim Associate Director of the Center for Korea Studies
A new exhibit in Allen Library lobby explores this amazing community of women divers. The display offers a captivating glimpse into their lives through photographs and objects, showcasing their bravery and resilience.
On July 15, 2024, the exhibit sponsors, Tateuchi East Asia Library, the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, and the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea welcomed distinguished guests and community members at a special celebration event to officially launch the exhibit.
Image (left to right): Wonjun Kim, President of Greater Seattle Korean American Association; Hyokyoung Yi, Interim Director, Tateuchi East Asia Library; Eunji Seo, Consul General of the Republic of Korea in Seattle; Lynne Robinson, Mayor of the City of Bellevue; Ian Oates, interim Associate Director of the Center for Korea Studies
Speakers included Eunji Seo, Consul General of the Republic of Korea in Seattle; Lynne Robinson, Mayor of the City of Bellevue; Sam Cho, Commissioner of the Port of Seattle; Ian Oates, Associate Director of the Center for Korea Studies; and Je Deok Ha, CEO of SeattleN.
“The Haneyo tradition spans hundreds of years, if you look back to ancient texts, the practices have been documented as far back as the 17th century, passed down from generation to generation. To me, this is a resounding example of the resilience of Korea, the Korean people and our traditions.” – Sam Cho, Commissioner of the Port of Seattle
The speakers’ remarks added valuable insights and sparked significant interest and dialogue among community members, highlighting the deep connections between history, culture, and the environment.
“There are a lot of women on Jeju Island because men often went to sea and never came back, so many mothers on Jeju Island had to raise their children alone, and that’s how my grandmother (who was a haenyeo) raised my father.” – Je Deok Ha, CEO of SeattleN
A selection of objects and photographs from the exhibit. The “tewak” (or “taewak”) – lower middle image – is a traditional tool used by Jeju Haenyeo. It is a buoyant, spherical flotation device made from hollowed-out gourds or modern materials like plastic or styrofoam. The tewak serves multiple purposes: it helps the Haenyeo rest and float on the surface of the water between dives, and it is also used to store their catch, such as sea urchins, abalone, and other marine products, in a net attached to the buoy. This essential tool allows the Haenyeo to dive more efficiently and safely. The Kakuri -upper right image- is used in multiple ways: divers use it to pull their own bodies through the water, to turn rocks, and to pick and pull up sea products between rocks and the ocean floor.
“Our sincere thanks go to the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province and the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Seattle for their generous support, which made this exhibition possible,” said Hyokyoung Yi, Interim Director, Tateuchi East Asia Library.
Image: the exhibit
The exhibition, open to the public, runs through Friday, Aug 16, 2024. Check hours for Suzzallo and Allen Library.
It’s July, Huskies! We hope you have been enjoying the sunny weather. Here’s a reminder that the UW Libraries is here for you throughout the summer, providing 24/7 help, research consultations, a rotation of interesting exhibits, book club and artist talks, and complete access to our collections.
Recommended Reads for Equity
A selection of recommendations. View them all here!
Need a new read for the summer? Explore our crowd-sourced recommendation forum online and in Odegaard Library for books about equity, diversity, and inclusion. You can even submit your own recommendation! Learn more here.
On Thursday, June 27th, Mayor Harrell attended a special reception in honor of Seattle Gay News’ 50th anniversary and the opening of the UW Libraries exhibit “Seattle Gay News Celebrates 50 Years!” at the Central Library. The exhibit celebrates the 50-year history of the SGN (Seattle Gay News), one of the longest-running LGBTQ+ newspapers in the world. The speakers and attendees represented the long-term partnership of many volunteers, SGN staff and local organizations, including UW Libraries, to find, store and preserve the original copies of the paper, now accessible via the Washington Digital Newspapers website.
Images (Left to Right): Photo of proclamation cover; (middle) Alisa MacDonald, UW Libraries student employee; Jessica Albano, UW Libraries News Librarian; Okunyi Bëhree, Seattle Public Library Humanities Librarian; Emily Grayson, Seattle Public Library Adult Services Librarian, Humanities Librarian; Renee Raketty, Editor of Seattle Gay News; Mayor Bruce Harrell; Tom Rasmussen, former Seattle city council member; Tom Fay, Chief Librarian, Seattle Public Library; Elise Murray, Digital communications strategist, Seattle Public Library; (right) Jessica Albano; Shawn Shawn Schollmeyer, Washington Digital Newspapers Coordinator Washington State Library; Anne Frantilla, City Archivist from Seattle Municiple Archives; Tom Rasmussen
The exhibit was originally created by the University of Washington Libraries and displayed at Allen Library in March 2024. Through headlines, page displays and cutouts, it documents the history of a newspaper that started in March 1974, reporting on arts, culture, health, politics and civil rights related to the LGBTQ+ community – covering stories that were often overlooked by other media. It is on view in the Central Library’s Level 8 Gallery through Sunday, August 25, and is free and open to the public.Learn More.
UW Libraries website update and redesign
In early July, UW Libraries will migrate its existing web site to a new WordPress platform. While the site and certain pages may look different visually, this migration should not impact the overall navigation or content you are used to seeing. This is an interim update while we work to redesign the site on this new platform. If you see any errors or have trouble finding content, please ASK US online. Thank you for your patience while we work to improve the online experience for all users!
Local Cambodian community elders attend the “Contaminating Archives” conference at UW Libraries in February 2024, engaging with Toul Sleng Genocide Museum Archives Director Phaektra Song, visiting Cambodian historian Theara Thun, and Khmer American performance artist and writer Sokunthary Svay.
Tracing Authoritarianism: Linking Southeast Asia and Southeast Asian America Through Archives, Language, and Pedagogy
Explores aLuce Foundation-funded program to examine new critiques of archival practices and recognition of the unequal and racial power relations reflected in archives, and whose stories are represented there. Read the story.
Tateuchi East Asia Library: A Year in Review
With highlights from China, Japan and Korean studies Librarians, student highlights and more, this comprehensive annual overview recaps the many exciting acquisitions, programs and partnerships from 2023-2024, including the grand-reopening celebration of the remodeled space. Read the Review.
For UW Researchers: Reserve Your Spot for UW Libraries “Most Wanted” Summer Series
This summer workshop series focuses on the tools and topics UW researchers are asking about. We welcome all members of the research community, including graduate students, postdocs, research staff, clinicians, and faculty members. These workshops will teach a variety of skills and formats to:
expand the visibility of your research
effectively communicate research findings and impact in new and non-traditional ways
enhance your research portfolio for tenure and future career opportunities
connect with others at UW to extend your research networks
Sessions are online, so you can take advantage of this learning from any location, just-in-time for the start of the 2024/2025 school year. Learn more.
The exhibit introduces the culture of Jeju Haenyeo displaying photos of Haenyeo and their objects used in diving. Haenyeo (Korean: 해녀; lit. sea women) are female divers in the South Korean province of Jeju, whose livelihood consists of harvesting a variety of mollusks, seaweed, and other sea life from the ocean. Known for their independent spirit and determination, Haenyeo are representative of the semi-matriarchal family structure of Jeju. Haenyeo were inscribed in UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List from 2016 and enlisted as South Korean Intangible Cultural Property from 2017.
Special Collections is hosting a series of book club meetings to discuss primary texts from The Medium is The Message, an exhibit exploring the graphic novel and the potency with which they tell stories of identity, memory, and culture. Join us in the Special Collections Classroom for refreshments and conversation about Epileptic by David B.
Tuesday, Jul 16, 2024, 3:30 – 5 p.m. / Zoom and Special Collections Classroom
Special Collections is excited to welcome artist Tamar Stone for a hybrid lecture to discuss her work on body image, women’s shapes, narrative storytelling, and artistic medium.
Special Collections is featuring items in our collections that connect to a multitude of different foodways and food cultures.
Missed it?
Don’t miss these great stories from last month’s Library update!
2024 #IHeartUWLibraries Student Video Contest Winners
In case you haven’t yet, be sure to check out the contest winners and submissions! This year’s entries to the UW Libraries Student Video Contest showcased so many creative stories highlighting why we “HEART” the Libraries. Watch the videos here.
Community Fellows: A Platform for Graduate Student Leadership
Learn about the Community Fellows Workshop Series and the amazing graduate students who developed and presented original workshops in their area of interest and expertise. Read the story.
Tracing Authoritarianism: Linking Southeast Asia and Southeast Asian America Through Archives, Language, and Pedagogy
June 27, 2024
Influenced by social justice movements, critical archival studies seek to question power differentials assumed in frameworks of archival collecting and access, and center curatorial responsibilities in communities who may re-interpret, re-define and use materials for community-based public memory projects. For example, when official colonial archival collections are made more accessible via online or other methods, populations have the opportunity to appropriate and reinterpret them. Using their own perspectives and vocabularies, they are adding layers of new meaning that speak to the personal experiences of communities whose voices are otherwise absent from official records.
Critical archival studies scholars often explore ethical methodologies addressing both the silences and multiplicity of voices in collections, sometimes adding context to records, sometimes refraining from assuming a context that might be contested within communities of memory, and often amending records to reflect changing language practices and sensitivities. Community archiving projects have emerged as a critical counterbalance to official records in understanding personal histories of displacement and loss.
A flyer promoting the conference the Seattle conference, “Contaminating Archives: Documenting Power and Resistance in Southeast Asia and Southeast Asian America”
Over the past 4 years, the UW Libraries Southeast Asian Studies Head, Judith Henchy, has been co-PI of a Luce Foundation-funded program aimed at developing new methods to bring Southeast Asian Studies and Southeast Asian American Studies into dialogue through consideration of histories of colonialism, war and trauma. The project recognizes the growing influence of critical refugee studies within the field of Asian American studies, bringing into closer focus the roles of empire, race and violence in Southeast Asia in the creation of Southeast Asian American identities. This evolution in Asian American Studies is paralleled by new critiques of archival practices, which also recognize the unequal and racial power relations reflected in archives, and whose stories are represented there.
One of the primary components of the project, “Tracing Authoritarianism: Linking Southeast Asia and Southeast Asian America Through Archives, Language, and Pedagogy,” focusses on challenging and re-interpreting the archival collections on which knowledge creation in both fields of study has depended. The project explored methods to rethink collections by centering Southeast Asian and Southeast Asian American identities, connecting with students whose families have connections to the region, and encouraging discussion of how archives can be used as a means of reclamation for communities whose histories have been overlooked.
The Libraries’ role has involved working closely with UW faculty in History, Anthropology and UW Bothell, as well as overseas partners, to consider the ethical issues around collection and representation of museum and archival artifacts and their impacts on divergent community memory-scapes.
During the life of the grant, these dynamics were explored in a workshop at UC Riverside, and two archives conferences: one held at the Bophana Audiovisual Resource Center in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and another at University of Washington, in Seattle. The Seattle conference, “Contaminating Archives: Documenting Power and Resistance in Southeast Asia and Southeast Asian America” in February 2024, brought together keynote speakers Michelle Caswell and Ricky Punzalan , founders of the field of Critical Archival Studies, Chuck Crisanto, the Executive Director of the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Committee in the Philippines, and Pheaktra Song, the Director of the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum Archive in Cambodia, and a number of scholars working in different disciplines from around the world. Their perspectives explored themes of decentering the official archive, empowering community voices and how archives of violence present ethical questions of privacy, retention and access as historical records.
Local Cambodian community elders attend the “Contaminating Archives” conference at UW Libraries in February 2024, engaging with Toul Sleng Genocide Museum Archives Director Phaektra Song, visiting Cambodian historian Theara Thun, and Khmer American performance artist and writer Sokunthary Svay.
“The Seattle conference was a highlight of the project for me, bringing together all the themes of the grant, says Henchy. “The archives of violence that were discussed, the self-reported and the forced confession, both of which currently serve as evidence in courts of law, present different but equally challenging ethical questions of privacy, retention and access as historical records.”
Feedback from the Seattle conference underscored the problematic dynamic that theoretical work on the power relations of the archive rarely suggests practical ways of addressing these imbalances. As one participant noted, “Many communities in the Southeast Asian diaspora are positively hungry for connections to the past, but I feel that historians have still not managed to bridge the gap between archival theory/praxis and popular representations and desires to know the past. We are good at criticizing ideological and politicized uses/abuses of the past, but how do we educate without condescending?”
In addition to the conferences, the program created a fellowship to increase graduate student understanding of archival practice, giving them practical experience working with the archives, introducing them to the critical themes of the project, and helping to facilitate more dialog between archives practitioners and theoretical scholars. The Fellowship’s collections of focus were selected for their collaborative potential with local communities, and research institutions in Southeast Asia. Four fellows were funded, resulting in a redescription project with the Burke Museum, an online exhibit of ethnographic materials, and a proposed cartoon book.
Image: A portion of an illustration from Archives Fellow Dimas Ramadhan’s presentation: “Tristuti Rachmadi’s Shadow Play Manuscripts as Cold War Archives.” Using an unpublished collection of wayang manuscripts, Dimas shows how dissident and imprisoned wayang puppet master Tristutu Rachmadi used traditional epic themes as allegory for the political violence of the Indonesian military regime that was in power from 1965–1998. He hopes to tell this story in Indonesian and English translation through cartoons.See full illustration.
Image: Archives Fellow Caroline Bacey worked with materials from the Alaska Yukon Exposition of 1909 in various museums and archives around Seattle. She was particularly interested in the artifacts created by the visiting performers from Ifugao who were brought over for the popular “Igorot Village” installation. She found that some of these artifacts, including the bulul figures depicted here and created for sale at the exposition, had been misrepresented as genuine sacred objects in museum inventories.
Projects like these establish UW and the studies of Southeast Asia and its diaspora communities as a model for reclaiming archival collections.
“We anticipate that at least one publication will result from our workshops, establishing the studies of Southeast Asia and its diaspora communities as a model for considering archival collections as transglobal resources that can be refigured in didactic and artistic projects that redress the violence of their creation,” says Henchy.
The origin of this project dates back to 2005 when the UW SE Asian Studies Center received a major grant from the Ford Foundation under the auspices of its Difficult Dialogs program. The UW grant focused on the difficulties of teaching the violent histories of SE Asia to refugee and diaspora SE Asian communities of students whose families are impacted by that violence. At the time, Henchy was already working on a collaborative UW faculty volume Knowing Southeast Asian Subjects, a work that looked at the colonial assumptions of scholarship on the region. Henchy authored the chapter “Disciplining Knowledge: Representing Resources for Southeast Asian Studies in the Libraries of the U.S. Academy.” Since then Henchy has continued to pursue similar projects related to Critical Archival Studies.
Looking back at the history of this and related projects, Henchy reflects on the impact of this collective study and work by all partners,
“Many of the principles of the project are embedded in SE Asian Studies faculty practice. The Southeast Asian Studies Center was renamed the Center for Southeast Asia and its Diasporas in 2022 to reflect our focus on foregrounding pedagogical parallels in the curriculum. Some of our work with archives has now become mainstream in contemporary critical thinking about provenance and description of collections, which is meaningful to me, personally.”
Acknowledgements from Judith Henchy
“My primary collaborator on the conferences and fellowships has been Jenna Grant, a scholar of Cambodia in the Anthropology Department. Other faculty involved in the project are: co-PI Celia Lowe, Anthropology, and Director, Center for Southeast Asia and its Diasporas, Vicente Rafael in History, Linh Nguyen in American Ethnic Studies and Raissa Desmet at UW Bothell. Center Managing Director, Michael Walstrom, has been critical in the logistics of all our programming.
In the Libraries we are greatly indebted to the work of our former film archivist, Hannah Palin, and to Andrew Weaver, for their work processing and beginning the digitization of the Cowell collection. The late Nicolette Bromberg and Mariam Fakouri were critical in negotiating rights issues around Elizabeth Becker’s material, and I am grateful for the recent work of Benjamin Riesenberg, the Metadata Implementation Group, and my Luce-funded SE Asian Studies librarian trainee, Cari Coe, for preparing that collection for ingest into CONTENT-DM.”
Explore Collections
“…the interview with Pol Pot included in the collection, is the inspiration for French-Khmer filmmaker Rithy Panh’s latest film “Rendez-vous avec Pol Pot” that just premiered at Cannes”
Age of the Kampuchea Picture: Rare Witness: A Discussion – The photographs and notes from journalist Elizabeth Becker’s trip to Pol Pot’s Democratic Kampuchea in 1978 were featured in a 2017 Libraries installation that won an award from the Center for Research Libraries. Becker’s trip, and the interview with Pol Pot that is included in the collection, is the inspiration for French-Khmer filmmaker Rithy Panh’s latest film “Rendez-vous avec Pol Pot” that just premiered at Cannes.
Fifty Years of Opium and Conflict in the Shan State of Burma: A Visual Retrospective: Event Details British filmmaker Adrian Cowell’s extensive film archive from his multiple television series on the drug and ethnic wars in Burma’s Shan State spanning from the 1960s to 1990s was the subject of a Libraries conference in 2015. Cowell’s collection includes extraordinarily rare political and ethnographic footage from Shan State filmed by award-winning cinematographer Chris Menges, from their trips there in 1966 and from the 18 months they spent trapped behind enemy lines in 1974-5. Before the Feb 2021 coup, young filmmakers there were interested in using the historical footage in documentary work to promote what had been successful moves towards peace and reconciliation with the ethnic border states
Some of the earliest documentation of Black community celebrations in Texas commemorating emancipation are reported in a January 2, 1866 Galveston, Texas newspaper. In addition to speeches and the reading of the Emancipation Proclamation, the account notes the singing of “John Brown’s Body”, a popular folk hymn about the abolitionist, John Brown. Newspaper reports of emancipation celebrations through the rest of the 19th century indicate that song, dance, and parades were integral parts of the celebrations of what has become known as Juneteenth.
Today, we’ll explore that musical history a bit further through some of the unique collections at UW Libraries!
The Johnson Brothers
In 1900, civil rights activist James Weldon Johnson, then a teacher at a segregated public school in Florida, was tasked with writing a poem in honor of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. Instead of simply reading the poem, however, Johnson’s brother, J. Rosamund, set it to music. The result, called “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” was sung by 500 students at the event. The song spread through the South and was eventually adopted by the NAACP as the “Negro National Anthem.” It inspired Augusta Savage’s 16-foot sculpture, displayed at the 1939 World’s Fair, was sung at events throughout the Civil Rights movement, and was performed for the opening of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in 2016.
The Johnson brothers both collected volumes of Black songs of various genres, which can be found in the stacks at the Music Library with the M1670 call number.
Explore:
The Johnson brothers both collected volumes of Black songs of various genres, which can be found in the stacks at the Music Library with the M1670 call number.
Archival recordings held by the Music Library include a 1940 recording of a radio program featuring a Southern California Black choir singing Johnson songs.
This autographed edition of Unsung Americans Sung is held in the rare books collection at the Music Library.
In 1944, composer W.C. Handy, who called himself the “Father of the Blues”, published a collection of songs titled “Unsung Americans Sung.” This collection is held in the Music Library’s rare books collection and it memorializes figures in Black history with short biographies before each song. It features pieces on historical names such as Frederick Douglas, Harriet Tubman, and George Washington Carver, but also songs in honor of contemporary figures such as singer Sissieretta Jones and historian/archivist Arthur Schomburg (could this be the only hymn written about an archivist?). It also includes Margaret Bonds’ setting of the famous Langston Hughes poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers.”
William Grant Still, was a classical composer associated with the Harlem Renaissance,. Still’s first symphony, called the Afro-American symphony, premiered in Rochester, NY, in 1931, and was the first complete work by a Black composer to be performed by a major US orchestra. The American Music Center at the Music Library is a collection of books, scores, and archival material on American music that originated from the personal collection of UW School of Music professor, Hazel Kinscella, and includes her correspondence with many well-known American composers. The collection includes a letter from Still sent to Kinscella in 1947. Recordings and scores of this work are available at the Music Library, and by advance request.
On this Juneteenth, continue learning by making space to read, listen and watch something new. If you have a recommended resource not listed here, please let us know, or consider adding to the Recommended Reads for Equity community-curated reading list.
Happy June, Huskies! Can you believe it’s the end of the year? Congrats to all UW graduates on all of your amazing accomplishments! If you are graduating, please be sure to read our blog post below on maintaining benefits post-graduation! Whether you are heading out for summer break, are taking summer classes or embarking on post-UW life, keep in mind UW Libraries is here for you year-round, online and in-person. In addition to Special Collections’ fantastic exhibits and summer book club events, you can access 24/7 help, personal research consultations and access our collection of e-books, news, movies, music and more, anytime, any place; just ASK US!
Featured Resources: Celebrating Pride Month
This post summarizes a variety of Libraries resources, stories and more. Learn more.
News and Stories
Awards Season
UW Awards of Excellence Distinguished Librarian Award: Anne-Marie Davis!
The Distinguished Librarian Award is presented annually by the University of Washington Libraries to a librarian whose contributions advance the mission of the Libraries and the University. This year’s honoree, Anne-Maria Davis, Collection Development Coordinator for Odegaard Library and Anthropology Librarian, is recognized for her outstanding work in advancing undergraduate student success, her groundbreaking efforts in diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives (DEI) in collections, and her deep subject expertise as a liaison for the Anthropology department and Museology Program. Congratulations to Anne-Marie and to all of this year’s amazing nominees! Learn more.
Announcing 2024 Student Video Contest Winners!
From a start-up’s race to create the perfect business pitch to a very relatable family phone chat, Harry Potter-worthy special effects, and so much more, this year’s submissions to the UW Libraries Student Video Contest showcased so many creative storytelling ideas highlighting why we “HEART” the Libraries. Check out all the winners!
2024 Undergraduate Research Award recipients:Top row, left to right: Richer Zhao, Eva Derksen, Gabrielle Masteller, Serena Tideman, Evelyn Erickson, Thomas William Boyd. Bottom row, left to right: Victoria Landrum, Lindsay Lucenko, Mia Oscarsson, Naeha Geogy
Congrats to our Undergraduate UW Libraries Research Award Winners
The annual Library Research Award for Undergraduates recognizes undergraduates who demonstrate outstanding utilization of library and other information resources in the creation of an original course project. 2024 recipients were honored at a special reception June 5, 2024. Learn more.
Coming Soon: Recording Studio in Suzzallo!
UW Libraries is excited to announce plans to install a recording studio space in the Open Scholarship Commons (Suzzallo Library, 1st floor) this fall! Made possible by UW Libraries donors, this new studio will provide students and faculty opportunities to record both video and audio, helping to meet increased demand for tools and spaces that support digital scholarship including podcasting, video production, and more. Construction will begin this June with plans to open in fall quarter (date TBD). Stay tuned!
Fun Facts – 2024 UW Libraries Fact Sheet
How many classes/instruction sessions do librarians teach per year? How many items are in the collection? How many people visit the library in a year? These and many more “fun facts” can be found in our updated fact sheet.
A Message for Graduates
Congratulations Husky graduates! As you get ready to celebrate this monumental achievement through UW Commencement, Libraries wants to let you know what benefits and opportunities are available to you after graduation. Read here
For UW Researchers: Announcing UW Libraries “Most Wanted” Summer Series
This summer workshop series focuses on the tools and topics UW researchers are asking about. We welcome all members of the research community, including graduate students, postdocs, research staff, clinicians, and faculty members. These workshops will teach a variety of skills and formats to:
expand the visibility of your research
effectively communicate research findings and impact in new and non-traditional ways
enhance your research portfolio for tenure and future career opportunities
connect with others at UW to extend your research networks
Sessions are online, so you can take advantage of this learning from any location, just-in-time for the start of the 2024/2025 school year. Learn more.
How UW Libraries and Washington State Libraries helped to digitize legendary local music magazine, The Rocket. Read the story.
Librarians’ Legacy Gifts Help Library Employees Pursue UW Degrees
“I am thrilled about the expansion of this endowment and incredibly grateful to its donors, and I hope that it inspires other Libraries staff to take advantage of the university’s resources and potential for learning.”
Through the generosity of two former UW librarians, the Libraries has been able to double the number of professional development scholarships for employees who are working at least 50% time while pursuing a UW degree. These scholarships have helped numerous employees for over the last decade, and now through a new endowment will provide much-needed support for many more years to come. Learn more.
OSC Community Fellow, Yubing Tian, is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Washington’s Information School. Her work investigates issues such as open data policies as well as challenges within data sharing and long-term preservation.
Community Fellows: A Platform for Graduate Student Leadership
TheOpen Scholarship Commons (OSC) Community Fellows Workshop Series, funded by the UW Diversity Council and the eScience Institute, is a paid fellowship opportunity for graduate students underrepresented in the field of open scholarship. Learn about the amazing graduate students and their experience teaching workshops as Community Fellows. Read the story.
Op-Ed: To thrive, libraries must jointly harness human and artificial intelligence
Lucy Li is the interim China Studies Librarian at the University of Washington’s Tateuchi East Asia Library. Her recent op-ed is featured in the Northwest Asian Weekly focused on insights she gleaned from the 2024 Council on East Asian Libraries (CEAL) annual conference held in Seattle in March. Read the article.
Special Collections is hosting a series of book club meetings to discuss primary texts from The Medium is The Message, an exhibit exploring the graphic novel and the potency with which they tell stories of identity, memory, and culture. Join us in the Special Collections Classroom for refreshments and conversation about Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi.
Explore Japanese-Americans’ stories through the graphic novels and memoirs Special Collections has collected on Japanese incarceration along with reproductions of historic documents from the time.
Missed it?
Don’t miss these great stories from last month’s Library update!
‘The Medium is The Message’: Exploring the value of graphic novels – a feature story on UW Libraries current exhibit in Special Collections by Priya Devanesan, The Daily. Read the story.
2024 #IHeartUWLibraries Student Video Contest Winners
June 5, 2024
The annual UW Libraries Student Video Contest asks students to create original videos showcasing the Libraries through the lens of student experience. The 2024 results are in, and with so many creative and compelling submissions it was hard to pick the finalists! Congratulations to the first place winners Anjali Einstein and Lipicka Prasath, whose video ”I Miss You” made us smile and cry (happy tears).
Additional congratulations to second and third place winners Shashank Shivashankar and Taylor Lai, as well as honorable mentions for Broni Andrus and Emily Wang! These videos, and all of the 2024 submissions showcase the UW Libraries in unique and exciting ways-–but don’t take our word for it, check them out below, and join us on social media to congratulate all of this year’s awardees and honorable mentions!
Anjali Einstein (Freshman, ‘2028) and Lipicka Prasath (Freshman)
Director’s take: “This video is about a phone call between a mother and daughter that highlights the resources available at the University of Washington libraries and how it can further connect a student with their education and family.”
Why we love it: The realism of dialogue between family members is such a unique concept, and while it definitely pulls at the “heart strings”, it also provides a great overview of library resources!
Director’s Take: “It’s about how a group of budding start-up geeks from UW come up with a final product to pitch the VP’s clients, relying on one guy who makes use of the various library resources on campus to research and develop the finished product.”
Why we love it: The witty humor, storytelling quality and informative content add to the entertainment value of this creative concept.
Director’s Take: “A freshman discovers a magic book that guides her through the wonders of UW Libraries, utilizing our resources to help her through the struggles of first-year classes.”
Why we love it: Great use of special effects help tell a story that is fun, authentic and informative!
Director’s Take: “Henry Porter explains the true magic of UW libraries as he walks through scenic Suzzalo, Allen, and Odegaard.”
Why we love it: The play on Harry Potter is used to explore the wonderful world of UW Libraries, using “magical” editing effects to create a very funny and very informative video.
Director’s Take: “A student invites you to explore the beauty, inclusivity, and importance of UW Libraries.”
Why we love it: Fun graphics and a realistic personal point of view made us smile!
Thanks to all who participated in the contest, and congratulations to all 2024 awardees! You can view all 2024 submissions on the UW Libraries YouTube channel here.
The #IHeartUWLibraries Student Video Contest takes place annually, typically during late winter/early spring quarter. If you missed this year’s contest, be sure to follow us and bookmark this page to learn about next year’s contest!
Stories
Community Fellows: A Platform for Graduate Student Leadership
June 5, 2024
Did You Know?
A few interesting facts we learned from each workshop:
Due to a lack of accessibility in online data visualizations, screen reader users extract information 62% less accurately, and spend 211% more time doing so.
The average shelf life of a digital project is five years.
WordPress is an easy, low-code/no-code way to make accessible, responsive websites that you can create to communicate your research work in a compelling way. (And the OSC can help you with tools and support!)
Qualitative interview data often includes both direct and indirect identifiers that researchers need to be aware of when sharing.
TheOpen Scholarship Commons (OSC) Community Fellows Workshop Series, funded by the UW Diversity Council and the eScience Institute, is a paid fellowship opportunity for graduate students underrepresented in the field of open scholarship. Recognizing a gap in student leadership opportunities, the goal of this Fellowship is to highlight students as experts in their field by developing and presenting original workshops in their area of interest and expertise in a peer-to-peer setting. As part of the program, participants work with mentors from the Libraries and the eScience Institute who provide feedback on workshop design, active learning, and assessment via one-on-one meetings and through dress rehearsals. Nearly 50 attendees participated from across disciplines and experience levels.
“Students have unique expertise to share with their peers,” says Verletta Kern, Head of the Open Scholarship Commons and the Digital Scholarship Librarian. “The idea for this series came from a desire to bring students together in a leadership capacity to explore and teach topics related to open scholarship that may not necessarily be covered in our regular workshop offerings. We were so impressed with the fellows, they really did an excellent job developing engaging workshops on highly sought after topics.”
This year’s workshops focused on a wide range of research and open scholarship skills related to accessibility, sustainability, and ethics.
“It is a rewarding feeling knowing that there are students, staff, and faculty who were interested in the topics we presented…” – OSC Community Fellow, Paul Jason Perez.
Ather Sharif teaching his workshop: Accessibility of Online Data Visualizations
The fellowship provides a platform for grad students to share their research while receiving mentorship, compensation, and recognition. Student participants are able to immerse themselves in topics of interest and relevance to their lives outside of the pressures of a traditional, hierarchical academic setting, creating a great learning opportunity for both instructor and attendee.
“This was a fantastic workshop. I really appreciated being able to think about each approach to creating more accessible visualizations and the pros/cons. I know I’ve attended a good workshop when I leave with more exciting questions to explore. Thank you.” – participant of Accessibility of Online Data Visualizations, led by Ather Sharif
Students in the OSC during Pratik Jadhav’s workshop: Building Dynamic Websites with WordPress
“The UW Library Open Scholarship Commons and the eScience Institute have provided incredible support throughout the fellowship,” says OSC Community Fellow, Paul Jason Perez. “The feedback I received on my workshop material and presentation was really helpful and productive for me. It is also a rewarding feeling knowing that there are students, staff, and faculty who were interested in the topics we presented, and in my case, a couple of participants reached out and connected even after the workshop. Thank you to everyone involved in the OSC Community Fellowship.”
OSC programming helps students build skills to create and make their research more visible to the world, offering a diverse line-up of free workshops throughout the year covering topics such as data management, digital scholarship, open education resources and open publishing, research impact communication and more. The OSC plans to host future fellowship series, joining forces with passionate students who want to share their knowledge and unique perspectives to help others build critical research skills.
2024 Open Scholarship Commons Community Fellows:
Pratik Jadhav
Workshop:Building Dynamic Websites with WordPress
Pratik Jadhav is currently pursuing a Master of Science degree in Computer Science and Software Engineering. He possesses a versatile skill set covering programming languages, databases, and developer tools. Pratik’s hands-on workshop guided participants through WordPress essentials including site setup, content creation, optimal performance and more, leaving them with a foundational understanding of how to build a successful website. View the Workshop Recording
Paul Jason Perez
Workshop:Building Sustainable Digital Projects
Paul Jason Perez is a Ph.D. student in Information Science at the University of Washington Information School. His research interests include community archiving, information infrastructures, digital libraries, and the web. During Paul’s workshop, participants used Collection Builder to set up, describe, and personalize their own digital collection site while learning about digital sustainability. View the Workshop Recording
Yubing Tian
Workshop:Best Practices for Sharing Qualitative Interview Data: Wrestling with Epistemological, Curatorial, and Ethical Considerations
Yubing Tian is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Washington’s Information School. Her work investigates issues such as open data policies as well as challenges within data sharing and long-term preservation. Through her workshop, Yubing shared how attendees who work with interview data, or plan to conduct interviews themselves, can share qualitative data with wider audiences while being conscious of ethical and epistemological concerns. View the Workshop Recording
Ather Sharif
Workshop:Accessibility of Online Data Visualizations
Ather is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Washington’s Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering. His research focuses on human-computer interaction, specifically the intersection of accessibility, visualization, and personalization. During his workshop, Ather shared how online data visualizations are inaccessible to screen-reader users. He then identified ways to make online data visualizations more accessible, presenting attendees with the pros and cons of each method. View the Workshop Recording
TheOpen Scholarship Commons (OSC) Community Fellows Workshop Serie web site
Stories
Librarians’ Legacy Gifts Help Library Employees Pursue UW Degrees
June 4, 2024
Janet Pliske
As a UW Libraries employee for 24 years, one of Janet Pliske’s interests was helping others to learn and grow in their jobs and career paths. After retiring in 2000, Janet kept in touch with many library colleagues and fellow retirees. Sadly, Janet passed away late last year. Upon her passing, we learned that Janet included UW Libraries in her estate plan, which provided seed funding to establish the Libraries Professional Development Endowed Fund. This new endowment, combined with continued annual donations, significantly expands the scholarship opportunities for Library staff who are currently pursuing degrees at UW, doubling the number of employee scholarships available and raising the minimum scholarship amount from $500 to $2,000 per recipient. The first round of UW Libraries RenewU scholarships funded through the new endowment were just awarded this month (May 2024).
Hannah Mendro, Materials Processing Technician Lead for UW Campus Library for UW Bothell and Cascadia College, received the award in 2023 while working on her Masters of Arts in Cultural Studies. “I received the RenewU scholarship during my master’s degree, taken while working full time at the UW Libraries and looking for every bit of help I could find,” said Mendro. “While the RenewU scholarship was not enough to pay for my degree, it contributed that much more to my financial aid, and provided some additional, much needed flexibility. More than that, it meant so much to know that there were people who supported my learning and development as a person, that I had the opportunity to continue to grow and pursue my goals, and that my desire to do so would be seen as a positive thing for the organization, rather than a challenge to overcome. I am thrilled about the expansion of this endowment and incredibly grateful to its donors, and I hope that it inspires other Libraries staff to take advantage of the university’s resources and potential for learning.”
Martha A. Tucker
The RenewU scholarship was originally created in 2012 through a generous annual donation from retiring UW Librarian, Martha A. Tucker. Since its inception, RenewU has provided 19 scholarships to UW Libraries employees. Any UW Libraries employee who is working at least 50% time and enrolled in a UW degree program at UW Seattle, Bothell or Tacoma is eligible.
Martha offers her enthusiasm for the RenewU scholarship,
“I was delighted to hear of Janet’s endowment in support of UW Libraries employees’ higher education. Together with the RenewU fund, UW Libraries employees who are also UW students can now apply for more substantial financial assistance in their pursuit of further education.”
Martha began UW Libraries work as a student in the Slavic Section around 1975, then as staff in the Slavic Section, ILL, and finally Gov Docs. She earned her MLS at UW while working in the Libraries, and became the librarian in the Mathematics Research Library from 1983 until 2012. Martha was drawn to support employees much like herself once the tuition structure changed and many degrees, like the MLIS required to be a librarian, were no longer free for state employees.
While employees who receive the scholarship are often pursuing masters degrees in library and information science, scholarship recipients represent a variety of disciplines, with past students working toward masters and Ph.D. programs in business, bioinformatics, and other arts and sciences fields.
The new endowment reflects UW Libraries commitment to enhancing professional growth and development opportunities for all employees. Working part or full-time while going to school is a challenging balance, made more difficult by financial constraints. Within the university, employee-based scholarship opportunities like this have become even more important with the decline of eligible programs for tuition exemption for employees. This is one of several university endowments that invest in professional development for staff.
As the endowment grows, the Libraries plans to continue expanding the number of annual scholarships, offering awards twice per year, in the spring and fall quarters. If you would like to learn more about how you can contribute to this new endowment, planned giving or other ways to support UW Libraries, please check out THIS LINK for more information or contact Sheryl Stiefel, Assistant Dean of University Libraries for Advancement [email protected] or 206-685-1973.
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Stories
UW Libraries Celebrates Pride Month
June 1, 2024
Seattle Pride Parade photos courtesy of the Seattle Municipal Archives accessible via UW Libraries.
Updated June 2024
Pride Month is celebrated each year in the month of June to honor the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan. The Stonewall Uprising was a tipping point for the Gay Liberation Movement in the United States. The purpose of the commemorative month is to recognize the impact that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals have had on history locally, nationally, and internationally. Learn more about the history of Pride Month, and thank you for joining UW Libraries in sharing these many interesting collections and UW resources in celebration of Pride Month!
Featured Resources!
UW queer community member recommendation: Be gay, do comics! : queer history, memoir, and satire from The Nib
Over the past fiscal year, UW Health Sciences Library received an Allen Signature Award to enhance the health sciences collection through the purchase of books and films by and for Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC), disabled folks, women, and/or trans folks. This year, the award is dedicated to online resources, with many new resources added this fiscal year, including:
A drag wedding ceremony c.1950 from the UW Libraries Don Paulson and Skippy Larue photograph collection, featured in The Seattle Civil Rights & Labor History Project.
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer people have been visible and politically active in Seattle for generations. Their activism has yielded pioneering civil rights victories. This special section of the The Seattle Civil Rights & Labor History Project includes many oral histories and other historical photos and artifacts covering the history of the LGBTQ activism in Seattle and western Washington.
Check out journals like Feminist Studies; GLQ: A Journal of Gay and Lesbian Studies; and Transgender Studies Quarterly available through UW Libraries with your UWNet ID! Learn more.
Rainbow Book Month LGBTQIA+ Book Awards and Bibliographies from the American Library Association
The American Library Association supports LGBTQIA+ literature through the Stonewall Book Awards (in Children’s and Young Adult, Non-Fiction, and Literature categories), as well as two bibliographies including the Rainbow Book List and Over the Rainbow Book List. These awards and lists serve to recognize the very best in contemporary literature and serve as invaluable tools for building quality LGBTQIA+ collections.
Stonewall Book Awards – The first and longest-enduring award for LGBTQIA+ literature
Learn how to write & pitch compelling, research-based op-eds!
Since 2017, the Libraries and the eScience Institute have partnered to offer the successful Going Public Symposium–an interdisciplinary, tri-campus event designed to build skills in translating and communicating research findings to wider audiences and co-creating knowledge with community partners. Led this year by the Scholars Strategy Network, this year’s symposium will focus on Op-Ed writing and translating research into public opinion pieces for news organizations. Learn More
This month is packed with incredible events, including several celebrations of student work such as the GIS Symposium, Three-Minute Thesis and the Research Communication and Equity Showcase and Fellowship Reception. Don’t miss amazing opportunities to meet and hear from authors Josh Tuininga andTibetan Buddhist Master,H.E. Tulku Yeshi Rinpoche (separate events) as well as “must go” annual events like the 2024 Going Public and “Choose Privacy Week” workshops. PLUS book clubs, film screenings and more make May our busiest month of the year, so be sure to read the entire update for the full list! As you begin to prepare for finals and graduation, don’t forget our Top Ten Tips.Enjoy the sun!
News and Stories
‘The Medium is The Message’: Exploring the value of graphic novels – a feature story on UW Libraries current exhibit in Special Collections by Priya Devanesan, The Daily. Read the story.
New Online Resource: Planet.com!
See a time lapse video of rock glaciers near Thompson Pass and hundreds of other similar “planet stories” with UW access to Planet.com!
The UW Libraries is providing a campus license to Planet.com, giving UW faculty, staff, and students access to Planet.com’s Earth-observation satellite data. Planet provides daily satellite imagery of Earth’s land surfaces and coastal areas, and captures over 300 million square kilometers of imagery each day. Get an expert view into this new resource when you attend the 2024 GIS Symposium on May 30th, featuring a guest speaker from Planet.com! To learn more about our license and request your account, please visit our UW Planet page.
Melody in the Stacks
A mini concert featuring smooth vocals from songs by East Asian artists performed by our students.
Wednesday May 8th, 2024
3:30-4:15 p.m.
Buddhist Culture & Philosophy: Healing from Covid-19 Guest Speaker: Tibetan Buddhist Master, H.E. Tulku Yeshi Rinpoche
Wednesday, May 8, 2024,
3:30 – 5 p.m. / Petersen Room, Allen Library North, 4th Floor, Room 485
Image: artwork by 2023 fellow, Sarah Nguyễn. Learn more about Sarah’s work and read the accompanying bilingual illustrated booklet.
2024 Research Communication and Equity Fellowship Reception
Thursday, May 9, 2024, 2 – 3 p.m. / Research Commons Green A
Join us to celebrate the academic and creative work of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) graduate students. Each Fellow has created a physical artifact that visually communicates their research. These artifacts take many forms: posters, artwork, visualizations, etc. Learn more.
Mine Okubo was one of over one hundred thousand people of Japanese descent – nearly two-thirds of whom were American citizens – who were forced into “protective custody” shortly after Pearl Harbor. Citizen 13660, from UW Press is Okubo’s graphic memoir of life in relocation centers in California and Utah, illuminates this experience with poignant illustrations and witty, candid text. Join the discussion Wednesday, May 15th!
Wednesday, May 15, 2024,
5 – 6:30 p.m. / Special Collections Classroom
GIS Symposium 2024
Student talks followed by Keynote: Austin Stone from Planet Labs PBC who will give an introduction and overview of UW’s new Education & Research license to Planet.com!
Thursday, May 30, 2024
10 a.m. – 1 p.m. / Allen Library South Research Commons, keynote on Zoom
Three-Minute Thesis (3MT® ) is a professional development competition that celebrates the exciting capstone and research experiences of master’s and doctoral students at the University of Washington. The competition is open to eligible graduate students from all three campuses and supports their capacity to effectively explain their research or capstone in three minutes, in a language appropriate to a public audience.
Thursday, May 23, 2024,
3 – 4:30 p.m. / Alder Auditorium
Learning Workshops
Fair Use Workshop
Wednesday, May 1, 2024,
10 – 11:15 a.m./ UW Libraries Open Scholarship Commons
Recognized in several of UNESCO’s Cultural Heritage Lists, the Jeju Haenyeo are an extraordinary group of women free divers from Jeju Island, Korea, whose remarkable skills and dedication represent a profound cultural heritage– a heritage that is at risk due to the impacts of climate change, shifting populations and other impacts. The Haenyeo’s (Korean: 해녀; lit. sea women) livelihood consists of harvesting a variety of mollusks, seaweed, and other sea life from the ocean. Known for their independent spirit and determination, Haenyeo are representative of the semi-matriarchal family structure of Jeju. 
Awards Season
