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!
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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
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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
Visit Special Collections, UW Libraries home for rare and unique materials, open on Saturday, 4/20 to celebrate admitted students. Between 10:00 am and 4:00 pm, visitors will get a chance to see the Special Collections reading room exhibit and a few gems from the collection on display.
What is “Special Collections”?
Special Collections brings together the University of Washington Libraries’ most rare and unique resources, with an emphasis on Pacific Northwest history and culture. Materials in special collections come in all forms– manuscripts, printed works, artists’ books,
photographs, music, audio recordings, moving images, architectural drawings, maps, clothing, tools, and more. Our collections span history and the globe, and offer boundless opportunities for exploration and discovery.
Image: 1936 Olympic Games and Poughkeepsie Regatta Crew Champions (Joe Rantz is the second rower from the front), University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, UW37275. See also many of the iconic historical photos in a new UW Libraries digital collection: UW 1936 Olympic Rowing Team
Congratulations and welcome to all of UW’s incoming class! We are excited to welcome Husky family members to the libraries throughout the year, and especially on Admitted Students Day 2024! If you plan a visit to UW Libraries, be sure to “know before you go” and check hours first (note: Odegaard and Suzzallo and Allen Libraries will be open special hours SATURDAY April 20, 2024. Whether your family is local or half a world away, staying connected to UW Libraries is a great way to learn about all of the library resources, events and benefits available to you AND your family members.
Check out UW Libraries materials!
Anyone can get a UW Libraries Borrower’s card AND you may be eligible for a free card depending on your affiliation with UW Alumni Association or other public education or service affiliations. Check your status, and learn how to get borrowing privileges.
Learn about UW Libraries public events — author talks, book clubs, cultural events and more!
The library is host and partner to many events that are open to the public – both in-person and online. Check out the UW Alumni Book Club, author events and more!
Student job opportunities and the benefits of joining the UW Libraries team!
We are always hiring new students! Join a great team of student employees from across all areas of study. Flexible hours in great locations! All students who apply are also eligible for the Libraries student scholarship fund. Students who work at the libraries have built skills and experiences that they appreciate long after their employment.
There are so many ways UW Libraries supports students beyond books and study spaces, especially for first year students. We offer a wide variety of free workshops, consultations and drop-in help such as
Odegaard Writing and Research Center : librarians and peer consultants provide guidance with all stages of the research process, including defining a research question, exploring background information, and finding sources. Writing tutors can help you with writing assignments at any phase of your process.
Peer Research Consultants (students just like you!) and Subject Librarians (experts on finding materials related to specific research) are available for in-person, phone, email, or Zoom consultations.
Libraries Undergraduate Researcher Tutorial — BEFORE your first research project explore this helpful online tutorial for all levels of student experience, you’ll thank us later!
Help with digital and online content creation projects (audio/video software, data visualization, and mapping) through the Libraries’ Open Scholarship Commons
We hope you have an amazing time visiting with your family!
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Stories
April Update
March 29, 2024
Thank you for supporting UW Libraries on Husky Giving Day: April 4th! Help us meet our goal of 175 donors this year! Your gift helps to provide essential library services, resources and support that fuel teaching, learning and research for every Husky and our community of global users. Learn more.
STUDENTS: UW Libraries Student 2024 Video Contest deadline has been extended to April 30th! Your 1- minute video could be worth up to $1,500!Learn more.
Spring is definitely in the air, Huskies! While you may be feeling more like studying outside under the cherry blossoms these days, don’t forget to take advantage of the Libraries’ services and support, on campus and online. If you’re a researcher looking to improve your research profile with digital storytelling, this quarter’s Storytelling Fellows workshop is for you! Student parents/caregivers— check out our new kid-friendly study room. Don’t miss the launch reception for our newest exhibit The Medium is the Message! STUDENTS— earn some extra cash for that summer vacation by entering our annual student research award and video contests! This month’s update has some GREAT stories and points you to the many FREE workshops for all UW students, staff and faculty. Finally — a huge thanks to everyone who has and will support the UW Libraries on UW’s annual one-day giving campaign – Husky Giving Day!
News and Stories
Julie Tanaka
Welcome Julie Tanaka new Associate Dean for Distinctive Collections – UW Libraries newest leader starts April 1! Learn more about Tanaka’s days as a Husky her new role in UW Libraries Special Collections. Read the announcement.
The new Family Study Room in located in Allen South 386F
New Family Study Room! UW Libraries and the University of Washington RSO Student Parent and Caregiver Advocacy Group are excited to announce the opening of a Family Study Room in located in Allen South 386F! This study room is overseen by the RSO group which is an organization of students who are also parents or caregivers. The room is furnished by the RSO with toys, books, and other child-appropriate items, along with a study table for the adults and a print release station. The study room is accessible via a parent/caregiver code provided via a request form. Learn more.
Safeguarding Your Digital Footprint: A Workshop on Privacy in Online Platforms. We click “accept” on Terms of Service agreements without a second thought, trusting that our data is in safe hands. But is it really? Blindly accepting terms and conditions is no longer a viable option. It’s time to empower ourselves with knowledge and critically evaluate tools we work with every day. Learn about digital privacy tips and tools in this new blog and get ready for an essential UW Libraries workshop coming up in May. Learn more.
Data Visualization Office Hours Wednesday, April 10 1 – 2 p.m. / Suzzallo Library: Open Scholarship Commons: Group Work Space B
Missed it?
The Secret Life of UW Libraries Catalogers and Metadata Specialists Spotlight This series of blog posts highlights our brilliant student employees and the work they do to make finding library resources easier and more effective. 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. Learn more.
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Stories
Safeguarding Your Digital Footprint: A Workshop on Privacy in Online Platforms
March 29, 2024
There is no doubt that for both research and teaching, online tools and platforms offer incredible utility and convenience, from collaborative research tools to engaging classroom platforms to innovative modes of sharing your work. While these platforms are important tools enabling us to work and learn, they also present a myriad of challenges. Because, beneath the surface, lies a complex web of data privacy concerns that demand our attention.
We click “accept” on Terms of Service agreements without a second thought, trusting that our data is in safe hands. But is it really? Blindly accepting terms and conditions is no longer a viable option. It’s time to empower ourselves with knowledge and critically evaluate tools we work with every day.
Did You Know?
1. FERPA Loopholes: Did you know that FERPA, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, may not protect your classwork if it’s not within a university-approved platform? So understanding the nuances of platform terms is crucial for safeguarding your academic integrity and privacy.
2. Youtube’s Subsidiary Rights: Ever read the fine print on Youtube’s Terms of Service? You might be surprised to learn that by uploading content, you grant Youtube the right to sublicense your work. What does this mean for your intellectual property rights?
3. Discord’s Data Sharing: Love using Discord for collaborating? Think again. Despite its popularity, Discord shares user content with law enforcement agencies. Your private conversations might not be as private as you think.
These eye-opening examples underscore the importance of understanding the context in which we operate online. We click “accept” on Terms of Service agreements without a second thought, trusting that our data is in safe hands. But is it really? Blindly accepting terms and conditions is no longer a viable option. It’s time to empower ourselves with knowledge and critically evaluate tools we work with every day.
Let’s Learn Together
Join us on May 7, 2024, from 10:30 am to noon for a workshop designed for students, instructors, and researchers alike. Whether you’re navigating the digital realm for academic purposes or personal use, this workshop is your guide to understanding and navigating the murky waters of how the tools we rely on really use our data.
“Say goodbye to legal jargon-induced headaches…”
Our workshop will provide invaluable insights into deciphering the common language used in Terms of Service and Privacy Policies. Say goodbye to legal jargon-induced headaches as we introduce the “Terms of Service; Didn’t Read” framework— a fantastic tool for reviewing and parsing agreements.
But we won’t stop there. Prepare to put your newfound knowledge to use in our Terms of Service Hack-a-thon. Armed with your device or one from our laptop cart, you’ll examine and rate commonly used tools in research and coursework. Together, we’ll uncover which platforms prioritize privacy and which ones are more problematic.
Workshop Details:
Date: May 7, 2024
Time: 10:30 am – 12:00 pm
Location: Hybrid workshop, available both on Zoom and in the Open Scholarship Commons.
Don’t miss this opportunity to take control of your online presence and advocate for your digital rights. Register now and embark on a journey towards informed decision-making in your online research and scholarship.
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Stories
Archival Silences and Sounds @ the UW Ethnomusicology Archives
March 29, 2024
Founded in 1962, the UW Ethnomusicology Archives is home to more than 80,000 rare and unique films, videos, and sound recordings. One of the largest archives of its kind in North America, its collections represent a kaleidoscopic of array of sounds and styles from around the world, and around the block. A part of Libraries Special Collections since 2022, its curator, John Vallier, has been working on a variety of projects, a selection of which are described here.
“Silences enter the process of historical production at four crucial moments: the moment of fact creation (the making of sources); the moment of fact assembly (the making of archives); the moment of fact retrieval (the making of narratives); and the moment of introspective significance (the making of history)… (Michel-Rolph Trouillot in Silencing the Past: Power and Production of History (1995).
Ethnomusicology archives have since their inception documented the sounds and stories of marginalized and minoritized peoples. Despite such efforts, these archives–like all archives–are full of gaps, or “silences” as noted by Trouillot. In an effort to address such archival silences, the Archives occasionally acquires new collections that refocus attention on the sonic legacies of musicians and researchers working on the cutting edge margins of their fields. These recent additions to the Archives are examples of such efforts.
Recent Acquisitions
Image: Joe Brazil, January 3, 1967
Joe Brazil Collection: over 2,000 items includes unique recordings of Miles Davis, Art Blakey, McCoy Tyner, Elvin Jones, and many others.
Joe Brazil (1927-2008) was a saxophonist, founder of Seattle’s Black Academy of Music, and the first Black faculty member in the UW School of Music whose tenure was controversially denied in 1975. He played saxophone with a pantheon of jazz greats, including John Coltrane. His recently acquired collection of over 2,000 items includes unique recordings of Miles Davis, Art Blakey, McCoy Tyner, Elvin Jones, and numerous other jazz masters. While it will be some time before his collection is processed, preserved, and made available to researchers, progress is already being made. The Archives and Special Collections are honored that his family entrusts the Ethnomusicology Archives and Special Collections with preserving and providing access to his legacy.
Image: from a performance by Mexican-American musician Lydia Mendoza on 12-string guitar. Filmed by Robert Garfias in 1978 (entire film available here)
During his academic career, Professor Robert Garfias founded the UW Ethnomusicology Program, was appointed to the National Council on the Arts and served as a member of the Council of the Smithsonian Institution. During his extensive career, Garfias conducted significant periods of fieldwork and language study around the world, including in Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Mexico, Zimbabwe, Guatemala, and Spain. This past February, he donated to the Archives over 10,000 photographs taken during many of these fieldtrips. While these images await processing, a selection of his related field recordings and films are available online via Adam Matthew’s Ethnomusicology Field Recordings Online and the Libraries Internet Archive portal.
Digital Projects
Digitization allows us to preserve and make accessible cultural heritage materials for generations to come; however, the resources to do so at scale are often limited. Community partnerships help bridge that gap, while also expanding access to a broader audience.
Native Northwest Online: 20,000 unique objects digitized so far
https://plateauportal.libraries.wsu.edu/
With considerable help from many across the Libraries, the Archives continues to steward UW’s contribution to Native Northwest Online, the $334,000 CLIR funded partnership led by Associate Vice Chancellor and Professor Kimberly Christen of Washington State University. Nearly 20,000 unique objects from UW Libraries have been digitized as part of the project so far. Many of these have been uploaded to the Plateau Peoples’ Portal where they are being reviewed and assessed by representatives from nine participating Tribes: Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation; Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes; Spokane Tribe of Indians; Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs; Nimíipuu (Nez Perce) Tribe; Quinault Indian Nation; Schitsu’umsh (Coeur d’Alene); Snoqualmie Indian Tribe; Yakama Nation. Using the Mukurtu CMSand the Mukurtu Metadata Transformation Toolkit, each Native partner will review, update metadata, assign protocols for access and Traditional Knowledge Labels to digitized content. This information will be shared with the non-Native repositories, including UW Libraries, thereby providing a direct and sustainable pathway for ongoing digital returns, and culturally enhanced public records.
Gulu playing the chang in Dai Kundi, Hazarajat, Central Afghanistan (1972). From the Hiromi Lorraine Sakata Collection.
Hiromi Lorraine Sakata is a retired UW ethnomusicologist whose work focused on Central Asian music and culture. Beginning in the 1960s, Professor Sakata conducted extensive fieldwork across Afghanistan and Pakistan as part of her dissertation research. Over the course of many years and several trips to the region, she amassed large collections of field recordings, photographs, and other materials, all of which she donated to the Archives. A selection of some 900 items from these collections, which also include footage of famed Pakistani qawwali singerNusrat Fateh Ali Khan, are now published on Ethnographic Sound Archives Online and Soundcloud.
Fun Fact: Sakata’s Field recordings of traditional Afghan music recorded in the late 1960s and early 1970s have been added to the National Recording Registry of the United States Library of Congress. Learn more.
Inside and Outside the Classroom
A video still from Nirvana’s 1991 performance at the former Beehive Music & Video (809 NE 45th Street), now a PetCo.
the UW Ethnomusicology Archives Instagram account always has interesting pics and finds!
Seattle’s alternative music history while contributing to the development of the Archives’ Seattle Sounds Archiving and Preservation Project (SSAPP). Guest speakers, interviews, archival sound recordings, and the newly digitized Rocket newspaper are informing student projects and contributions to the Archives.
Lastly, the Archives is excited to announce that a group of UW students have formed a new Archives-focused student group called Vault Sounds that they describe as an “ethnomusicology listening club.” This Monday, April 1, the group will be holding its first listening session in Allen Auditorium, located on the ground floor of Suzzallo-Allen Library. The event starts at 4pm. More information about the club is available here.
Your Voice, Your Books: The Return of Recommended Reads for Equity
March 14, 2024
UW Libraries is excited to re-launch Recommended Reads for Equity – a crowd-sourced book recommendation forum that directly influences a dedicated book collection in Odegaard Library for books about equity, diversity, and inclusion. This collection brings together over 170 unique voices and perspectives — students, staff, faculty and alumni have joined together to share what they think is important about equity. Anyone can submit a recommendation, and every recommendation creates an opportunity for connection through shared conversation and reflection. We had a chance to talk with UW Libraries Undergraduate Experience Librarian, Emilie Vrbancic, about the history of the program and how it has evolved over time.
HOW DID IT START?
Recommended Reads for Equity display table at Odegaard Library
My former colleague, Steve Weber and I wanted to create a space where people could come together to define a community-driven expression of what equity means to us, as a unique campus community. The program was first funded by a Diversity Seed Grant in 2018, and the initial collection resulted in 138 book recommendations and 120 books in the collection ranging in topics from the environment to identity to social (in)equality to law. In addition to the Odegaard team, many graduate students were also essential to maintaining the project, organizing and publishing the online guide, especially Riko Fluchel, Caitlin Stewart, and Sydney Krueger.
My favorite aspect of this project is reading the nuanced and often personal recommendations folks submit. There is genuine curiosity and care in sharing what they’ve read with others. People are sharing a part of themselves through this project- it’s priceless.
EVOLVING OVER TIME
The collection now totals over 175 titles and provides insight into books that have captured our collective attention on campus – like Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi or The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman.
Click to share a reccomendation!
What’s great about this collection is that it’s unique to the UW community. It’s also up to us to continue to grow the collection as our understanding of equity changes and we react to national conversations like Black Lives Matter and the ongoing conflict in Palestine and Israel.
While the project was on a pandemic-related hiatus over the past two years, with this relaunch, we hope to continue to grow the collection with more recommendations from the UW community, especially books that are socially and culturally relevant in this current moment.
HOW DO PEOPLE LEARN ABOUT IT?
This project involves several components: outreach to the campus community, book displays and new book acquisition, an online collection guide, and programming. Prior to the pandemic, we held in-person events and created additional ways to engage through video book talks during spring quarter 2020. The online guide continues to be used by the UW community and we hope to have more in-person events in the next academic year.
Archival Silences and Sounds @ the UW Ethnomusicology Archives 
UW Libraries Storytelling Fellows: Video Storytelling Registration Due
Creative Commons Workshop
1. FERPA Loopholes: Did you know that FERPA, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, may not protect your classwork if it’s not within a university-approved platform? So understanding the nuances of platform terms is crucial for safeguarding your academic integrity and privacy.
does this mean for your intellectual property rights?
