Stories

October Update

October 3, 2024

graphic with vote button and text for Election Guide — Learn about accurate sources, how and where to vote, UW events and more.

October brings countless opportunities for you to explore and learn with the Libraries! Are you interested in learning about podcast creation? Applications for the popular Storytelling Fellows course are now open! International Open Access Week is the backdrop for a variety of events, guest speakers and free learning workshops. Don’t miss our incredible new exhibits showcasing some incredible items from the archives — from local plants to ancient Chinese manuscripts, and a look back at Seattle in the 1920’s. With the election right around the corner, be sure to take advantage of all the resources and events offered through UW Libraries and partners across campus and COME READ WITH US at the UW annual US Constitution Community Reading on October 9th.

News and Stories

Recognize an outstanding librarian: Do you know a UW librarian who has been integral to your teaching, learning and research experience at UW? Nominate them for the Distinguished Librarian Award by Nov 30!

One of the first issues of The Daily in the digital archive

Launch of the UW Newspaper Archive: Through the contributions of many UW librarians and staff, the University of Washington Newspaper Archive is now live! The Archive is a project to provide digital access to historic newspapers published at the University of Washington, including The Daily and other UW student newspapers such as The College Idea, Pacific Wave, UW Bothell Commons, and UW Tacoma Ledger. For now, it includes the UW Daily student newspaper from September 1964 through August 1967. Work to digitize issues through 1975 is ongoing, with the goal of digitizing earlier issues of the Daily and the other publications as funding becomes available. Learn more.

The Secret Life of Catalogers and Metadata Specialists – Student Spotlight: Did you know that there is an entire department of librarians, staff, and students quietly working away behind the scenes to get new resources into the catalog and to find innovative ways to enhance the Libraries’ metadata? Learn about this important, often “invisible” work, and the widespread impact one UW Libraries student employee has made to correct industry bias in this practice. Read the story

Faster Requests with Special Collections: A new software system means faster turnaround time for retrievals and other researcher benefits. Learn what’s new and what to expect with the new system.

Seattle Gay News Archival Exhibit – Special Digital Edition: Last spring, UW Libraries curated an exhibit commemorating the 50th anniversary of Seattle Gay News and the multi-year effort to complete its digitization with community partners. The SGN paper recently published a special 25-page supplement and digital spotlight of the exhibit materials and the corresponding event and city proclamation, preserving this amazing exhibit (and the work of our incredible student employees and staff) for all to see, just in time for Gay History Month. View the special issue.

Applications Due for Autumn Programs

Storytelling Fellows

Scholars Studio

A free online program for UW students/faculty/staff that will guide you in the creation of your own podcast. Your podcast could feature recorded interviews, investigative reporting, panel discussions, fiction, comedy…. You can make whatever you want! Register by October 11!

Scholars’ Studio gives students the opportunity to share their research across disciplines, make connections and build presentation skills. The Scholars’ Studio event is open to any research, practice, or teaching topic in any discipline. Proposals due October 25!

Community Events /Exhibits

First Wednesday Concert

Students of the UW School of Music perform in this lunchtime concert series co-hosted by UW Music and UW Libraries.

Readers Wanted – Annual Constitutional Reading October 9! UW Libraries annual Constitution Read Aloud event encourages students, faculty, staff and community members to join us in reading the full text of the Constitution, along with our special guest speakers! A great activity for your class, office or community service group to participate in – all ages welcome. Sign-up to read and learn more.

Sick Series Lecture & Reception: Oregon’s Others

Thursday, October 10

Drawing from her new book “Oregon’s Others: Gender, Civil Liberties, and the Surveillance State in the Early Twentieth Century,” Dr. Kimberly Jensen will discuss the processes that shaped the growing surveillance state in the era of the First World War, share some of the compelling personal stories that tell its history, and consider how an analysis of this history can inform present day questions of civil liberties and community. Learn more.

東海道五拾三次ノ圖 (Tōkaidō gojūsantsugi no zu)[安藤]廣重 [Andō] Hiroshige. Published in 1833-1868. Hiroshige was well known for his monumental project, the Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō Road as well as One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, composed of woodblock landscapes, some of which are known for being imitated by Van Gogh.

Illustrated Special Collections at Tateuchi East Asia Library

The Tateuchi East Asia Library’s Special Collection Exhibit, “Exploring East Asia’s Cultural Heritage Through Illustrated Works,” brings together a rich array of illustrated materials from China, Japan and Korea, highlighting the cultural, technological, and artistic achievements of each region. Highlights include Chinese local gazetteers, geographic landscapes, and ancient manuscripts on craftsmanship and technology; Japanese Ukiyo-e and Cartography showcases Edo-era daily life and travel through ukiyo-e prints and historical maps, including the iconic Tōkaidō travel route; and illustrations on Korean ceremonial rites and medicine explore the Confucian traditions of the Chosŏn Dynasty through ceremonial texts and medicinal practices that shaped Korean society. Learn more.

“Strolling Gold” 3D Calligraphy Exhibit Through October 17: See and appreciate the wonderful art of “Strolling Gold” calligraphy, first created by Layman, a Chinese immigrant, poet laureate, translator, inventor, entrepreneur, and calligrapher.

The Language of Flowers Exhibit: Enjoy the changing seasons with Special Collections through our annual lobby exhibit, The Language of Flowers. Each quarter will feature new material related to our botanical collections, local plants, and more.

Zeitgeist-Seattle in the ’20s: In this exhibit, Special Collections explores popular culture and current events of Seattle in the 1920s and the 2020s!.

Learning Workshops and Office Hours

Online Text Mining Support – – 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of each month-ONLINE
Text Mining Student Specialist Trisha Prasant will now offer text mining drop-in office hours. Learn about text mining techniques, data preprocessing, and analytical methods for extracting insights from textual data.

Introduction to Data Visualization – ONLINE
Tuesday, Oct 8, 2024
A basic introduction to data visualization, including an overview of tools available at UW, and where to get help.

International Open Access Week!

The Challenge with Digital Publishing
Tuesday, October 22
Explore the real and philosophical challenges of digital publishing around sustainability, longevity and practices like “minimal computing” and more.

Accessible Data Visualization
Tuesday, Oct 22
Review ways to make your visualizations more accessible. We will work through a visualization together and add features to make it more accessible.

OpEd Writing Group Workshop: How to Write and Submit OpEds for Publication-ONLINE
Wednesday, October 23
An online op-ed writing and peer feedback workshop to learn how to write impactful op-eds.

Queering Games, Gaming Imaginaries
Thursday, October 24
Examine biases embedded in the many facets of gaming and how to address them. This discussion is led by Edmond Y. Chang, Associate Professor of English at Ohio University whose areas of research include technoculture; race, gender, and sexuality; video games, analog games, LARP, queer game studies; feminist media studies; cultural studies; popular culture; and 20/21C American literature.

Situating Data: Strategies for Curation and Contextualization
Friday, October 25
In this workshop, we will discuss important considerations for responsible data curation, metadata creation, and broader contextualization, and considering the importance of qualitative and humanistic perspectives and methods in data work.

Finding Datasets
Tuesday, Oct 15
Learn how to find datasets for your research and assignments, as well as considerations for using them.

Missed it?

Showcasing BIPOC Student Research: Learn about the Research Communication and Equity Fellowship showcase at the UW Libraries’ Research Commons celebrating the academic and creative work of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) graduate students. See their work.

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Stories

The Secret Life of UW Libraries Catalogers and Metadata Specialists

October 1, 2024

Student Spotlight #4: Ally Okun

By Crystal Yragui, Metadata Librarian & Interim Co-Head, Metadata & Cataloging Initiatives Unit · University of Washington Libraries

You may be surprised to hear that before you can access a library resource when you need it, a lot of work must be done to get that resource into the UW Libraries catalog.

A whole department of librarians, staff, and students are quietly working away behind the scenes to get new resources into the catalog and to find innovative ways to enhance the Libraries’ metadata. This series of blog posts highlights our brilliant student employees and the work they do to make your tasks of searching, identifying, selecting, and obtaining library resources easier and more effective.

Ally Okun entered the University of Washington Information School’s Master of Library and Information Science Program after earning a BA in sociology and anthropology with minors in gender studies and classics from Lewis and Clark College. Towards the end of her MLIS program, Ally sought a Capstone project that would allow her to gain practical experience in knowledge organization through a social justice lens. The Homosaurus Implementation Project provided her with an opportunity to explore these interests in the professional context of the Orbis Cascade Alliance Cataloging Standing Group (CSG).

What is Knowledge Organization, and How Does it Work in the Library Catalog?

Knowledge organization is the discipline that has to do with the way information professionals organize, manage, and retrieve information. The library catalog facilitates information retrieval in several ways. When users search for resources in the library catalog, they often type terms into a search box. Sometimes they use advanced search options to target more specific catalog fields (or characteristics of a resource), such as subject, genre, author, or title. Most of the time, they rely on keyword searching. Catalogers have rules for recording this information so that users can find what they are looking for with as little effort as possible. Much of this work is uncontroversial.

Metadata professionals often use controlled vocabularies rather than the language resources use to describe themselves in order to populate certain catalog fields. Controlled vocabularies are used in library catalogs to mandate the use of predefined, preferred terms for single concepts that have been selected by the designers of the vocabularies. Controlled vocabularies make searching for things in library catalogs much more efficient. [Wikipedia, 2024] For example, users from the United States can search for “Garbage”, users from the United Kingdom can search for “Rubbish”, and the Library of Congress Subject Headings controlled vocabulary will lead both groups of searchers to all the resources in a library catalog that have been assigned the heading “Refuse and refuse disposal”. When they are created, maintained, and applied thoughtfully, controlled vocabularies are powerful tools that benefit users.

What Harmful Social Impacts do Controlled Vocabularies Have?

Catalogers around the world rely on shared controlled vocabularies in order to share data (and workloads). Historically, the most-used controlled vocabularies have been created and maintained by institutions such as the Library of Congress and for-profit companies. Standard vocabularies created by these institutions tend to reinforce oppressive perspectives and further marginalize already-marginalized groups and ideas. Standard controlled vocabularies like the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) provide language for LGBTQIA+ topics that can be inadequate, inaccurate, or even offensive, reinforcing dominant heterosexual, cisgender, white, male, Christian and western perspectives.

Ally teamed up with the CSG and a group of over fifty volunteers across the Orbis Cascade Alliance to try to address some of these issues by implementing the Homosaurus in the shared consortial library catalog, Alma/Primo, in 2023.

The Homosaurus Implementation Project

About the Homosaurus

The Homosaurus is a controlled vocabulary which describes itself as “An international linked data vocabulary of LGBTQ+ terms. Designed to enhance broad subject term vocabularies, the Homosaurus is a robust and cutting-edge thesaurus that advances the discoverability of LGBTQ+ resources and information.” The vocabulary has been around since 1997, and is currently on its fourth version (version 3). The Homosaurus Editorial Board oversees the editorial process, considering community suggestions and approving new terms, and releases changes quarterly.

Why Implement the Homosaurus?

In an effort to mitigate harm and expand discovery, the Orbis Cascade Alliance Cataloging Standing Group (CSG) felt that focusing on an intentional, retrospective implementation of Homosaurus was necessary.

Project People

The project built on the work of Adrian Williams, a metadata librarian at the University of Kentucky Libraries, who came to the Alliance to provide tools and training on how to implement the Homosaurus in the Spring of 2023. The Alliance Norms Rules Standing Group (NRSG) also paved the way for this work by enabling the display of the Homosaurus and other non-LCSH and non-MeSH controlled vocabulary headings in the library catalog.

At the beginning of the project, the CSG knew that it would need as much help as it could get with the work of designing the implementation project, authoring training modules, and performing subject analysis and metadata remediation. They submitted a proposal for a Capstone project with the University of Washington iSchool, met Ally, and found that Ally’s academic and professional interests were a great match for the project’s goals. Ally’s Capstone project ran as a sub-project of the larger Homosaurus Implementation Project (which is ongoing) during the 2023-2024 academic school year.

Project Design

The Homosaurus Implementation Project (HIP) invited volunteers from across the Orbis Cascade Alliance, with or without cataloging expertise, to participate in the retrospective enhancement of targeted bibliographic records in our shared consortial catalog with Homosaurus terms. Batches of target records have been extracted representing Alliance-held materials likely to benefit from Homosaurus vocabulary terms, and added to a central tracking spreadsheet. After attending several training sessions designed by the CSG with Ally’s help, project participants perform subject analysis on the selected records, either recommending terms from the Homosaurus for catalogers to add (in the case of non-catalogers), or adding the terms to the records. As appropriate, participants may request updates or new terms for inclusion in Homosaurus or Library of Congress controlled vocabularies. Work is recorded in the central tracking spreadsheet.

“Ally’s contributions to the HIP training materials helped all project participants get off to a good start and significantly reduced barriers to participation for non-catalogers”

– Lesley Lowery, Orbis Cascade Alliance.

During the project, Ally not only assisted the CSG with designing training, but learned to catalog and received one-on-one training from her capstone supervisor, Crystal Yragui. Ally thoughtfully added Homosaurus terms to over 45 records during her project, enhancing discoverability for those LGBT+ resources for institutions worldwide. Reflecting on the project, Ally had this to say:

“Being able to combine my own personal interest in LGBTQ+ representation with my professional interest in cataloging and knowledge organization meant that this project was always exciting for me to work on. I also got to see some of the inner workings of the CSG and how a project on this scale is organized, which I know will serve me well going forward in my career.”

– Ally Okun

Project Impacts

Through this project, the Orbis Cascade Alliance is forging a path to implementation of the Homosaurus for other libraries and vendors. This work is providing catalogers, staff, and students at Alliance institutions with hands-on training in Homosaurus implementation. This training can be carried forward through ongoing use of the Homosaurus in cataloging by member libraries. Participants contribute to and become part of the Homosaurus community of practice throughout the project. With more records populated with Homosaurus terms, search and discovery are enhanced for LGBT+ materials. After the project has concluded, CSG members will advocate for the inclusion of Homosaurus terms in vendor-supplied metadata with content providers and Ex Libris, and advocate for further Homosaurus training and implementation work within the ELUNA consortial community of practice.

Ally graduated from the University of Washington with her Master of Library and Information Science shortly after the completion of her Capstone project. She has taken an internship with Health Affairs as the Taxonomy and Information Architecture Intern. We are so proud of Ally’s accomplishments here, and know she is off to do great things!

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Stories

New System Transforms Special Collections Requests

September 24, 2024

graphic explaining the system update — Create your account here

Special Collections’ new scheduling system optimizes retrieval times and research processes

Over the past three years, the Special Collections team has been working to prepare, test and implement Aeon, an automated request and workflow management software specifically designed for special collections libraries and archives. The system officially launched in September, and it has not only transformed the retrieval process, but also includes many new features that improve the research experience for all users including:

Reduction of appointment lead time from 3 business days to 24 hours!
Same-day retrievals for unrestricted onsite materials, dramatically reducing wait time
More collaborative planning for classes using Special Collections materials. For example, instructors can create lists for their classes in the system that librarians can view to work together on the materials selection!
Access to your requests placed and reproduction order history
Easier drop-in research visits
The ability to build wish lists of items to view in the future
Interface with citation management software!

In addition to automating many routine processes and increasing efficiency, the system will also help the libraries better understand collection use to inform decisions around space planning, preservation priorities and how to improve services.

“The hope is that this will make all processes more streamlined for users and encourage them to come in and see us,” says Allee Monheim, UW Libraries Public Service Librarian for Special Collections.

While appointments aren’t required, we do still encourage making an appointment to ensure the material is ready when you arrive. If there is no appointment attached to your request, it will not be pulled until the next retrieval time, after you arrive.

We hope that you enjoy this better, faster, more intuitive experience when you are requesting materials from Special Collections. Happy researching!

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Stories

2024 Election Guide, News Sources

September 20, 2024

Updated 10/28/24

During this election cycle, the amount of news and information coming our way can be overwhelming. From knowing where to go to vote, to evaluating claims and misinformation, our Libraries guides and resources can help you navigate and find reliable sources.

Explore these UW Library Resources:

2024 Election Guide:

An extensive guide covering election information on how to register, campaign issues, and voting rights.

Savvy Info Consumers: Evaluating Information:

specific strategies for evaluating different types of sources and their credibility/reliability, quick tip videos and much more.

VIDEO: Research 101: Credibility is Contextual

A short, 3-minute video demonstrates what makes a source credible and what questions to ask as you consider different sources.

What is “Fake News”?

How to identify a fake news story and how to distinguish from mistakes in reporting.

UW Resources for Navigating the Election

Don’t miss out on the Democracy in Focus campus lecture series, Democracy Dawgs and lists of campus-wide resources.
Check out, Pep talks for voting, with videos on topics like how to vote, what other students think about voting and why it’s worth it.

Did you know?

University of Washington has one of the highest voter participation rates of any college or university in the nation? This legacy of civic participation — that #HuskiesVote — is something we can all be proud of. And it’s something we can continue. Remember to vote by Nov. 5.
While Oct. 28 is the last day for online voter registration in Washington state, those eligible to vote can register in person all the way up to Election Day. On the Seattle campus, the Voter Education Center will be open in the HUB Nov. 1, 2, 4 and 5 (closed on Sunday) and is a place where folks can register.

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Stories

New Exhibit: The Language of Flowers

September 16, 2024

By Kat Lewis, Special Projects Curator

Enjoy the changing seasons with Special Collections through our annual lobby exhibit, The Language of Flowers. Each quarter will feature new material related to our botanical collections, local plants, and more. Launching September 2024 for the year.

*Flowers, their language, poetry, and sentiment, with choicest extracts from poets, a dictionary of the sentiment of every flower, botanical descriptions, &c.*
*1871; Philadelphia, Porter & Coates*

Plants make us happier and improve our environment, so this year we are bringing the cheer of the outdoors into the basement of Suzzallo-Allen with our botanical and plant related collection items. From time immemorial, plants, flowers and trees have been a subject of interest across diverse areas of study. From scientists, to poets, sociologists and philosophers, the meaning we place upon our photosynthesizing friends is ubiquitous and comforting. We as humans possess an innate need to seek connection with other forms of life, so even as urban environments grow and technology changes, our fascination with the natural world never ceases.

The exhibit title comes from floriography, a means of communication through the use or arrangement of flowers. This practice was extremely popular in Victorian England and the US as a way of outwardly flirting or communicating impolite topics through code. In Japan, Hanakotoba was also a popular form of storytelling and emoting through the expressive arrangement of flowers.

*Icones of the essential forest trees of Hokkaido Miyabe, Kingo, 1860-1950, 1920-1932; Sapporo Hokkaido government*

*The century book of gardening : a comprehensive work for every lover of the garden, edited by E.T. Cook; 1900*

Every quarter the material in the exhibit will rotate according to the seasons, showcasing the autumnal leaves, winter terrane, spring blossoms and summer produce. Through these rotations we hope to convey the breadth of information in Special Collections about botanical life, gardening, and connection to the natural world from the Pacific Northwest and documented in our collections.

If you are a fan of book bindings and historical cover design, come check out the section on Margaret Armstrong, a prolific 19th and early 20th century book cover designer, illustrator and author. Her work is strongly associated with botanical imagery, her illustrations influencing Art Nouveau, and her having written and researched a comprehensive guide to the wildflowers of the American West, Field Book of Western Wild Flowers. Her book and many of her covers will be featured throughout the run of the exhibit.

We are excited to host several events this year related to the exhibit including a talk by Taha Ebrahimi, author of Street Trees of Seattle (date to be announced soon!). Keep an eye on the Special Collections and Libraries’ events calendars and social media accounts for information on upcoming events. Additionally, you can see a selection of digitized materials from the exhibit and find the entire object list through our digital exhibit.

University of Washington Libraries’ Special Collections collects, preserves and makes accessible the Libraries most rare and unique holdings, including rare books, manuscripts, papers, records, photographs, moving images, ephemera, architectural drawings and more. Students, faculty and the community come to Special Collections from all over the world for primary sources that are integral to their research.

If you have questions or want to make an appointment to see a particular exhibit item up close, we encourage you to make a reading room appointment in Special Collections or email us at [email protected].

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Stories

Zeitgeist: Seattle in the 20s

September 16, 2024

*Dancer Zora in dance pose, approximately 1925;*
*Theater, Motion Picture and Entertainment Photograph Collection, UW Libraries Special Collections*

By Kat Lewis and Karalee Harris

UW Libraries’ newest exhibit in Special Collections, Zeitgeist: Seattle in the 20s, is all about the air and social consciousness of Seattle in the ‘20s-–both the 1920s and today! We are excited to spotlight the depths of our historical collections that speak to “the spirit of the age” 100 years ago and to shine a light on how UW Libraries is stewarding the artifacts of our current history including newly acquired contemporary publications.

Despite numerous notable differences, such as political ideologies that resulted in segregation and discrimination, the Seattle of the 1920s and the Seattle of today navigate their shared societal unrest similarly through a tenacious focus on activism and the arts.

The twenties roared into Seattle through a burgeoning jazz scene, flapper culture, and the rise of consumerism. Theaters, art galleries and the literature scene flourished along with the success of the Boeing Aircraft Company, contributing to Seattle’s reputation as a hub of innovation. At the same time, the 18th Amendment’s enactment in 1920 ushered in the Prohibition Era, making production and distribution of alcohol illegal and facilitating a wild black market in Seattle. Speakeasies proliferated throughout the city despite efforts to enforce Prohibition laws.

“Zeitgeist” is a German term that translates to “spirit of the age” or “spirit of the time.” It refers to the prevailing cultural, intellectual, and moral climate or mood of a particular period, especially as it is reflected in the ideas, beliefs, and attitudes. Essentially, it encapsulates the collective consciousness and mood of a society at a specific point in history.

LEFT: *Seattle Chamber of Commerce promotional booklet from 1926*; RIGHT: *Wanderlust Seattle: a creative guide to the city, 2020, by Betsy Beier*

The concept of zeitgeist suggests that certain ideas, values, and trends are characteristic of a particular era and shape the way people think and behave.

The “Roaring Twenties” in the United States is often described as a period characterized by a zeitgeist of optimism, social change, and economic prosperity, as reflected in the rise of jazz music, the popularity of flapper culture, and the booming stock market. But how much of this is just hindsight?

These questions and events are explored in the exhibit through primary historical documents and pieces of modern history. For example, the Nippon Kan Theater, a former local Japanese Theater located in the International District, photograph, moving image and ephemera collection showcases a unique and often overlooked perspective on the cultural identity of Seattle in the 1920s.

The images above show performers and the building of the Nippon Kan Theatre, located at 622-628 Washington Street in Seattle, Washington, constructed in 1909. Sometimes referred to as Nippon Kan Hall, it would endure as a community focal point of Seattle’s Nihonmachi (“Japantown”) for over thirty years. Performances held at the Nippon Kan were both Western and traditional Japanese music, dance, and theater.

Visitors to the exhibit are encouraged to contribute to community vision boards online or in-person which, by the end of the exhibit, will visually reflect the zeitgeist of Seattle today.

Additionally, you can see a selection of digitized materials from the exhibit and find the entire object list through the digital exhibit, exploring the zeitgeist of Entertainment, Fashion, Culture and Place.

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Stories

Library Preservation Internship Spotlight

September 9, 2024

Toni Heilman

James Leland Dirks, Jr. Library Preservation Intern 2025

I applied to the University of Washington’s MLIS program with a strong desire to work in the field of archives and preservation. Upon starting my courses, I found myself wanting to find an outside experience that would let me gain relevant skills and knowledge. The Dirks Internship was just what I needed, as it built upon hands-on experience I had from a previous role with both experiential learning and exposure to the theory behind how and why things are done.

My fall and winter quarters were initially spent doing deep-dives into preservation theory, archival principles, and learning the ways the environment can impact different kinds of materials. Eventually, I transitioned into hands-on experiences with binding, disaster response, digitization, conservation, media preservation, and digital preservation experts within the University of Washington Libraries. One project of note was ensuring that the digitized copies of The Daily had accurate Optical Character Recognition (OCR). This process provided me with an in-depth understanding of the capabilities of OCR and the challenges it poses to those trying to implement it. Overall, these first two quarters provided me with a foundational understanding of what it means to work in preservation as well as the different duties that fall under that umbrella.

I will forever be grateful for the education and experience I received as the Dirks Intern, and I look forward to applying my new skills upon my graduation in 2026.

Toni Heilman is from Las Vegas, Nevada and completed her B.A. in History at Miami University of Ohio in 2024. Wanting to explore her potential career paths, she found a job at Miami University’s Walter Havighurst Special Collections where she worked in digitization and conservation for almost the entirety of her undergraduate career. It was there that she gained a passion for archives, special collections, and the vocation of protecting important artifacts. She quickly decided this would be her career path, and she hasn’t turned back.

Stories

September Update

August 30, 2024

Welcome, Huskies! Whether it’s your first or final year at UW, the Libraries will be an important part of your UW experience. This month is all about Dawg Daze! From library tours to karaoke, board games and prizes, the Libraries Dawg Daze are packed with fun and informative events for all interests. Don’t forget to bookmark our updated Student Guide and sign-up now for our annual Constitution Reading in early October. And remember…the UW Libraries are here for you, Huskies!

News and Stories

Welcome Message From Dean Simon Neame: Read Dean Neame’s message to all students, faculty, staff and the community for the 2024/2025 academic year. Read the message.

Community /Events /Exhibits

New exhibit: Zeitgeist: Seattle in the ‘20s –UW Libraries Special Collections will be exploring the zeitgeist of Seattle in the ’20s–100 years ago and today! Join us in exploring popular culture and current events of Seattle in the 1920s and 2020s!

“Strolling Gold” 3D Calligraphy Exhibit + Event-See and appreciate the wonderful art of “Strolling Gold” calligraphy, first created by Layman, a Chinese immigrant, poet laureate, translator, inventor, entrepreneur, and calligrapher.

The Language of Flowers Exhibit: Enjoy the changing seasons with Special Collections through our annual lobby exhibit, “The Language of Flowers”. Each quarter will feature new material related to our botanical collections, local plants, and more!

Dawg Daze Events

UW Libraries staff have been working hard to create an amazing line-up of fun and informative events to introduce you to the Libraries, meet other students and have fun! LEARN MORE!

Tabletop Game Night at Odegaard Library- 9/20
Arts Libraries Welcome Table -9/24/, 9/25/ and 9/26
Learn about the Health Sciences Library and Meet Dubs- 9/23
Mathematics Research Library Games Day- 9/24
UW Libraries Silent Reading Party-September 9/25
Zeitgeist: Seattle in the ’20s Exhibit Opening Reception- 9/ 25
Make Your Own Floral Bookmark! – 9/26
Distinctive Collections 101, 9/2

Looking Ahead

Workshops at the Open Scholarship Commons are back! Upcoming events include Finding Datasets, Introduction to Data Visualization, Accessible Data Visualization, and ATLAS.ti Training.

Explore here

Missed it?

UW Libraries in the Classroom: Co-Creating and Publishing Books in Class: Explore three unique online books created and published by students this year! Covering diverse topics including architecture theory, the history of UW sports and Filipino/a/x heritage, these online collaborations are made possible with UW Libraries resources and instruction. Read the story.

Reflections on UW Libraries Global Engagement: Insights from the Libraries’ first year of Global Engagement programming that brought international scholars together with UW and local communities to explore a wide variety of topics related to international events, geo-political trends and research on those themes. Read the story.

To get this news delivered straight to your inbox, sign-up for blog alerts at the top of this page!

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Stories

Showcasing BIPOC Graduate Student Work

August 29, 2024

The Research Communication and Equity Fellowship showcase at the UW Libraries’ Research Commons celebrates the academic and creative work of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) graduate students.

The display at the Research Commons featuring the students’ research artifacts.

The UW Libraries Research Commons is a space for interdisciplinary, innovative and collaborative student work. In its second year, the Research Communication and Equity Fellowship seeks to create a more equitable research environment by dedicating public space to highlight the research of BIPOC graduate students. The fellowship emphasizes graduate students engaged in interdisciplinary work, open access projects and digital scholarship methodologies. Each Fellow creates a physical artifact that visually communicates their research which can take many forms– posters, artwork, visualizations, etc., and those artifacts are displayed in the Research Commons.

“We’re excited to be able to celebrate the work of BIPOC graduate students at the UW and are grateful for their energy and time in contributing to research for the public good,” says Negeen Aghassibake, program co-lead and UW Libraries Data Visualization Librarian.

Fellows come from across the UW Seattle campus representing a wide range of studies. The five fellowships awarded in 2024 include students from Public Health, Information Science, Education, Environmental Affairs and Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies.

2024 Student Fellow Perspectives

An image from Marielle’s virtual booklet that popularizes and visualizes her research on the grassroots activism of mothers of drug war victims in the Philippines. **Learn more about Marielle’s work**

Marielle Marcaida, a PhD candidate in Feminist Studies:

“When I received news that I got accepted to the library fellowship, I was so happy that I would be able to continue working on my booklet, further refining and expanding it with the help of our amazing librarians, namely Negeen, Madeline, and Cass. To see what once was a final requirement in a course two years ago turn into a library artifact displayed in the Allen Library has been fulfilling; to share the story of the mothers on another platform and with more people has been even more heartening!

I started working on my artifact as a final course requirement last Autumn 2022 in my Abolition Geographies class under Megan Ybarra where I first learned and read about abolitionist scholarship. In that class, I attempted to translate my past and ongoing research into something that is more digestible and visual, and also to decenter the Western scholarship on abolitionism with experiences from the Global South by narrating the story of the Ronda ng Kababaihan (Patrol of Women) mothers’ grassroots initiative under the Philippine drug war.”

Farrah Hasan, a Master’s student in the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs:

Farrah’s poster, “Salt Country, Water Scarcity,” is based on her Master’s thesis, “Resilient Destination Cities: Migrant Resettlement in Mongla, Bangladesh.” **Learn more about Farrah’s research.**

“My research centers migrant experiences in the port city of Mongla, Bangladesh. There are so many themes that came out during analysis of my interviews, but a particularly resonating issue was water scarcity. An important finding was that even though water was a dominating response to the question, “What are you struggling from?” However, it was labor availability that dominated responses to the question “What interventions could improve your quality of life?” It was evident that though water was a livability challenge in the city, migrants were not as open advocating for reform. To amplify their underlying concerns, I decided that water would have to be the center of my artifact.

It was an honor to be amongst such interesting research and seeing what other students produced…I would definitely encourage continuing this format, as I enjoyed working on this autonomously and having you as a support system along the way.”

Learn more about all the 2024 Fellows and their work:

Angela Chen, School of Public Health, Department of Health Systems and Population Health, PhD in Health Services
Amelia Dogan, Information School, PhD
Farrah Hasan, School of Marine and Environmental Affairs, Master’s program
Marielle Marcaida, Department of Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies, PhD in Feminist Studies
Chenae White, School of Education, PhD in Special Education

The application date for 2024/2025 Research Communication and Equity Fellowship fellowship are TBD. Follow us on social media and sign-up for Libraries’ monthly updates for the latest news.

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Stories

August News

August 8, 2024

While fall quarter may seem far away, it will be here before you know it! Enjoy these final days of summer while also taking advantage of the great summer events this month for both faculty and students, including the popular Graduate Student Research Institute, and the UW Libraries Most Wanted, covering the UW community’s most requested research topics. We’re also very excited to announce our partnership with the Big Ten Academic Alliance! Keep reading to learn more about all of this month’s news and events, including the fantastic new exhibit in Allen Library, on display only until August 16th! Happy Summer, Huskies!

News and Stories

UW Joining the Big Ten Academic Alliance

As the University’s inaugural year of Big Ten affiliation kicks off, you’ll be hearing a lot more about all of the ways this new partnership will positively impact our UW community, including partnership with the Big Ten Academic Alliance.

“For over 65 years, the Big Ten Academic Alliance has led in academic collaboration, creating opportunities and driving innovation across its member universities.”

For the Libraries, this new partnership will be transformative for member institutions, including the creation of the Big Collection, a multi-faceted, multi-year effort to unite the collections of member institutions that, once completed, would represent the third largest library collection in the world! There is so much to celebrate and learn from all of the different ways this alliance will benefit our community – on and off the field.

Read the BTAA Announcement Read the BTAA Impact Report

Book covers from student class publications (LEFT TO RIGHT): Knowledge Kapamilya 2024; 2024 Innovation in the Construction Industry: Case studies by students in CM515: Virtual Construction Management, Spring 2024; Stories From The Place of Sports in The University, 3rd Edition.

UW Libraries in the Classroom: Co-Creating and Publishing Books in Class

Explore three unique new online books created and published by students! Covering diverse topics including architecture theory, the history of UW sports and Filipino/a/x heritage, these online collaborations are made possible with UW Libraries resources and instruction. Read the story.

Reflections on UW Libraries Global Engagement

Insights from the Libraries’ first year of Global Engagement programming that brought international scholars together with UW and local communities to explore a wide variety of topics related to international events, geo-political trends and research on those themes. Read the story.

Community /Events /Exhibits

Celebrating the Jeju Haenyeo: A deep dive into the unique cultural heritage of a remote Korean island

A new exhibit in Allen Library lobby explores this amazing community of women free divers from Jeju Island, Korea. The display offers a captivating glimpse into their lives through photographs and objects, showcasing their bravery a, resilience and remarkable skills that represent a profound cultural heritage at risk. Learn more.

Special Collections Book Club: Incognegro by Mat Johnson

Wednesday, Aug 14, 2024
5–6 p.m. / Special Collections Classroom
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 Incognegro by Mat Johnson.

DISPLAY: Echos Of Olympus

Through September 2
Step into the world of gods, goddesses, and epic heroes through an assortment of texts, including rare books, illustrated children’s narratives, and unique book arts held in the UW Special Collections. Each piece offers a glimpse into the evolution of these myths, revealing how they have been retold across different periods.

WORKSHOPS

Graduate Student Research Institute (GSRI)

August 19–23 / September 9–13
Online
The GSRI is a free workshop series exploring tools and strategies to help graduate students research smarter, not harder. Students receive five days of online guidance and support from a team of Libraries volunteers as they work through key content and activities from the openly available Graduate Student Research Institute site. There are no required meeting times and learning can take place anytime within the span of the workshop session. Sign up/Learn more

UW Libraries Most Wanted

Don’t miss this online summer workshop series focusing 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. Explore this week of exciting events below.

Unlocking Insights: Web Scraping Workshop

Monday, Aug 19, 2024
11 a.m.–12 p.m. / Online
Whether you’re a beginner or have some experience, this session is designed to equip you with the skills needed to gather valuable data from the web. Learn essential techniques for scraping web content effectively. We’ll cover the basics, including best practices and common pitfalls to avoid.

Introduction to Data Visualization

Tuesday, Aug 20, 2024
11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. / Online
This online workshop will provide a basic introduction to data visualization, including a high level overview of tools available at the UW, as well as where to find support when creating visualizations.

Research Impact Checklist: 10 suggestions for establishing your online identity, expanding your reach, and monitoring and describing your research impact.

Wednesday, Aug 21, 2024
12–1 p.m. / Online
We’ll share 10 suggestions for expanding the visibility of your work, tracking the information that’s important to you, and describing the impact of your research when applying for funding, jobs, or promotions. Join us to learn about research impact frameworks, tools for gathering evidence of how your work is being used, and recommended practices for keeping your scholarly profiles up-to-date.

Introduction to the Scholarly Publishing Ecosystem

Monday, Aug 19, 2024
1:30–2:30 p.m. / Online
In this workshop, we’ll learn about the roles of publishers, the inner workings of peer review, and the mechanisms for financing scholarly communication. Discover how you can make your research available openly without breaking the bank, and ensure your work reaches its widest audience possible in this online workshop.

Mini Podcasting Workshop

Friday, Aug 23, 2024
10:30 a.m.–12 p.m. / Online
In this online workshop, you will produce an introduction for a podcast, listen to the introductions of others, learn some level-up tricks for getting good voice/sound recordings, practice using the sound-editing software Audacity, and learn about the importance of accessibility, preservation, open access, and digital safety.

Looking Ahead

UW Libraries has a wide range of events planned for Dawg Daze – including Zeitgeist: Seattle in the ’20s Exhibit Opening Reception on September 25. View our September calendar and SAVE THE DATES!

Missed it?

Don’t miss great stories from last month’s Library update like Tracing Authoritarianism: Linking Southeast Asia and Southeast Asian America Through Archives, Language, and Pedagogy