Digital Library Center Blog | UF

News Release:

The Center for Research Libraries, an international consortium of university, college and independent research libraries, has released the findings of its preservation audit, in consultation with its Certification Advisory Panel (CAP), certifying Portico as a trustworthy digital repository. The concise report, available at CRL’s website, specifies criteria from TRAC (Trustworthy Repositories Audit & Certification: Criteria and Checklist) that warrant further vigilance and identifies some additional concerns of CRL member institutions. Portico has agreed to address the issues identified by the panel and to make certain disclosures to CRL periodically, to ensure continued certification. CRL’s report marks the first public disclosure of a digital certification review conducted by an independent entity.

Press Release: Eric Williams Centenary Stamp Design Competition

Port of Spain, TRINIDAD and TOBAGO (January 24, 2010) The Eric Williams Memorial Collection (EWMC) at The University of the West Indies and the Trinidad & Tobago Postal Corporation (TT Post) announce the Eric Williams Centenary Stamp Design Competition, co-sponsored by UNESCO (Trinidad and Tobago) and Kelly Services Customs Brokerage, Ltd. The contest runs from January 30 to April 30, 2010.

Since September 25, 2011 marks the 100th birthday of this “Father of the Nation,” Trinidad and Tobago’s Fifth and Sixth Form students are being asked to design a series of commemorative stamps in his honour, an added 50 cents of which will be donated to a Trinidad and Tobago charity. The Centenary stamp, with winner’s and school’s names included, will be sold, subject to availability, from January 1 to December 31, 2011.

Eric Williams was the first Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago and head of government for 25 years until his death in 1981. He was also an internationally-renowned historian whose groundbreaking work, the 65-year-old Capitalism and Slavery, not only re-framed the historiography of the British trans-Atlantic slave trade, but also established the contribution of Caribbean slavery to the development of both Britain and America. Popularly referred to as The Williams Thesis, the book continues to inform today’s ongoing debate and remains “years ahead of its time…this profound critique is still the foundation for studies of imperialism and economic development,” according to the New York Times.

Competition judges are: Adrian Camps Campins, historical artist; Kenwyn Crichlow, artist; Kari Elliot, TT Post; Albert Sydney, philatelist. Each school is expected to host its own in-house competition and enter only two students in the national contest. Rules and regulations are being distributed via colour poster to all eligible schools.

The Eric Williams Memorial Collection constitutes the Research Library, Archives & Museum of Eric Williams. It was inaugurated by former US Secretary of State Colin Powell in 1998, and named to UNESCO’s prestigious Memory of the World Register in 1999.

For more information, please contact Erica Williams Connell, The Eric Williams Memorial Collection P.O. Box 561631, Miami, FL 33256-1631, USA. Fax: (305) 271-4160; Websites: www.ericwilliamsmemorialcollection.org; http://www.dloc.com/?m=hiteew

News Release: Samuel Proctor Oral History Program
January 25, 2009

“UF in the Mississippi Delta: Student Reflections on Recording the Civil Rights Movement”

WEDNESDAY, February 17, 6 to 8 p.m.

LOCATION: Civic Media Center, 433 South Main Street, Gainesville, Florida

Co-sponsors and volunteers needed for this event. Please help us spread the word.

UF in the Mississippi Delta: Student Reflections on Recording the Civil Rights Movement will take place on Wednesday, February 17 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Civic Media Center. Sponsored by the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program and the Civic Media Center. The program will feature a lively multi-media presentation by UF students who have traveled to the Mississippi Delta the past two summers to interview pioneers of the Civil Rights Movement. This program will bring the remarkable visual, musical, and political culture of the Delta to Florida.

The program will also discuss the Oral History Program’s new African American History in Alachua Research project. Find out how to get involved!

Moderated by Dr. Paul Ortiz, director of the Oral History Program.

This event is co-sponsored by the Civic Media Center, and the UF Oral History Club. For more information, please call the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program at 352-392-7168 or email portiz@ufl.edu

Hear History Come Alive!

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968)

JISC’s Understanding the Costs of Digitisation (full report and briefing paper) offers an excellent summary of some of the core difficulties facing budgeting for digitization projects.

For those not already mired in digitization project operations, the graphed cost estimates for different projects on pages 44-47 are perhaps the best place to begin. In 3 of the 5 examples, overhead amounted to twice of the actual digitization costs.

To ensure we don’t suffer similar overages, we develop prototypes to estimate costs and associated requirements for projects. In doing so, we still encounter overhead - pushing technology is equal parts exciting and frustrating - but the overhead is manageable.

While the projects themselves have lower overhead through planning, there’s still a good deal of overhead needed to report on and explain project costs because digital projects aren’t comparable, unless designed specifically to be.

Digitisation projects are distinct, and it is not possible to provide a formula (or even approximate figures) to cost a project. [...] Attempting to compare these two projects quantitatively is unhelpful – the numbers could be generated, but without full consideration of the context, they would be meaningless. (page 7)

This document does not contain a formula into which you can input details of your collection and output the cost of the project – there is no standard digitisation project. (page 8 )

It’s nice to see the JISC Report explain what digital folks do on a regular basis - that digital projects are difficult to cost, and that the costs aren’t fungible. It’s also delightfully wonderful that it includes, “Plan the service, not just the project” (briefing paper, page 2). Service should be seen as a core component for any technical work. However in a strictly project-production model, it’s overhead and loss - something to be reduced and prevented. I don’t think anyone disagrees with the importance of service, but it does further complicate the cost model by mixing more discrete (at least on a single project basis) production costs with less quantifiable service costs.

Press release from the USDA National Agricultural Library (PDF here)

United States Department of Agriculture
Research, Education, and Economics
Agricultural Research Service

January 20, 2010

Dear Friends and Colleagues of the USDA National Agricultural Library:

It gives me great pleasure to announce the appointment of Dr. Simon Y. Liu as the new Director of the National Agricultural Library (NAL), effective February 14, 2010.

Dr. Liu currently is an Associate Director of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) and the Director of NLM Computer and Communications Systems in Bethesda, Maryland, a position he has held since May 2000. In addition to a wealth of leadership, program development, management, and other executive experience at NLM, Dr. Liu brings a rich portfolio of professional credentials and skills to the NAL.

As a native of Taiwan, he received his undergraduate training there. In post graduate training in the U.S., he earned master’s degrees in Computer Science, Business Administration, and Government from Indiana University, University of Maryland, and Johns Hopkins University, respectively. He has received two doctoral degrees (Ed.D. in Higher Education and Ph.D. in Computer Science) from George Washington University. He now holds adjunct faculty and graduate school appointments at several of these institutions.

Dr. Liu is active in professional societies and associations and as an Editor of a web technology journal and an information technology professional magazine. Prior to his NLM service, he held information technology and management leadership positions with the U.S. Departments of Justice and Treasury during the mid to late 1990’s following private sector contractor work supporting software development for NASA information systems and space mission studies.

As Director of the National Agricultural Library, Dr. Liu will provide leadership to the world’s largest and most accessible research library focused on agriculture and related subjects. On the basis of this diverse training and experience, Dr. Liu has demonstrated those visionary qualities sought in the new Director to provide innovative technological and strategic approaches to the development and operation of NAL’s next generation library and information systems for effective customer service, partnerships, and stakeholder support.

I wish to express my sincere appreciation to the Search Committee, Evaluation Panel, and the many NAL customers, partners and stakeholders whose proactive interest throughout the search and competitive recruitment process has culminated in the appointment of Dr. Liu.

I look forward to working with Dr. Liu, the NAL staff, and the Library’s diverse and devoted constituencies in the days ahead to assure the ongoing development and success of NAL programs, products, and services.

Sincerely,

EDWARD B. KNIPLING Administrator

Videos of presentation:

• “Politics and Resistance in Twentieth Century Haiti” by Dr. Matthew J. Smith, presentation sponsored by the Digital Library of the Caribbean as part of the 12th Annual Haitian Studies Institute of Florida International University.
• Red and Black in Haiti,  presented at book launch by Dr. Matthew J. Smith

From: UF Center for Latin American Studies

The University of Florida Center for Latin American Studies will sponsor Library Travel Research Grants for summer 2010. Their purpose is to enable faculty researchers from other U.S. colleges and universities to use the extensive resources of the Latin American Collection in the University of Florida Libraries, thereby enhancing its value as a national resource.  The grants are funded by a Title VI National Resource Center grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

Six or more travel grants of up to $1250 each will be made to cover travel and lodging expenses. Grantees are expected to remain in Gainesville for at least one week and, following their stay, submit a brief (2-3 pp.) report on how their work at UF Libraries enriched their research project and offer suggestions for possible improvements of the Latin American Collection. Researchers’ work at the Latin American Collection may be undertaken at any time during the summer, starting May 15, 2010.  All travel must be completed by August 14, 2010. At least one grant will be made to a scholar from a Florida college or university.  Applicants must be US citizens or permanent residents.

The UF Libraries Latin American Collection

The UF Libraries’ Latin American Collection contains one of the finest collections of Latin American materials in the U.S. It consists of over 500,000 volumes, some 50,000 reels of microfilm (many unique and very scarce), renowned newspaper and government-document holdings, and a growing access to computer-based electronic information resources.

Areas of collection focus include all disciplines, although literature, the humanities and the social sciences are best represented. All regions of Latin America are also well represented, with the Caribbean, Circum-Caribbean and Brazil having the deepest holdings, while the Andean and Southern Cone regions are developing strengths. Particularly noteworthy are the Collection’s holdings on religion in the Americas, including Santeria, Rastafarianism and the Ralph Della Cava Collection on Padre Cícero and Brazilian popular religion. Other units of the UF Libraries also contain important resources and researchers are encouraged to utilize them as well. The UF Map Library houses approximately 500,000 maps and atlases, some 50,000 of which deal with Latin American topics. The Science Library has important book and journal holdings on agriculture, tropical conservation, and development. The Special Collections Department has manuscript holdings such as the Rochambeau, Jeremie and the Braga Brothers Sugar Company papers, and the newly acquired Ramón Figueroa Collection of Mexican and Cuban film posters.

Information on the UF Latin American Collection is available at: http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/lac. You can also e-mail Richard Phillips, Director of the Latin American Collection, for further information.

Application Procedure

All applications must be filed electronically.
To apply for a Library Travel Grant, send a letter of intent, brief library research proposal, travel budget, and CV to:

Hannah Covert, Executive Director
Center for Latin American Studies
319 Grinter Hall
telephone: 352-392-0375, Ext. 825
e-mail: hcovert@latam.ufl.edu

Application Deadline

March 2, 2010

From: UF Libraries’ News, Events, and Updates

Students (graduate or undergraduate) making books in book arts and/or fine arts programs across the United States are invited to participate in ARTBOUND by submitting work to a juried artists’ book exhibition and permanent collection at The University of Florida George A. Smathers Libraries!

Entrants are to submit handmade, artists’ books printed in edition. Books printed with letterpress, intaglio, inkjet, and/or screenprint techniques will be considered. We will also consider one-of-a-kind handmade books created in other mediums. We are looking for high quality, original work.

Click HERE to download PDF entry form for ARTBOUND.

From: UF Libraries’ News, Events, and Updates

A $2.38 million grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to Indiana University (IU) will be used to develop software created specifically for the management of print and electronic collections for academic and research libraries around the world. The University of Florida is the lead partner for the Florida Consortium (Florida International University, Florida State University, New College of Florida, Rollins College, University of Central Florida, University of Miami, University of South Florida and the Florida Center for Library Automation), which is a founding member of a national coalition of libraries which will shape and implement the software.

IU will lead the Kuali OLE (Open Library Environment) project, a partnership of research libraries dedicated to managing increasingly digital resources and collections. Together, these libraries will develop “community source” software that will be made available to libraries worldwide. Kuali OLE (pronounced Oh-LAY) partners include Indiana University; Florida Consortium; Lehigh University; Triangle Research Libraries Network, represented by Duke University and North Carolina State University; University of Chicago; University of Maryland; University of Michigan; and the University of Pennsylvania.

“Students and faculty served by academic libraries increasingly seek 24-7 access to digital content to support their studies and research,” said Judith Russell, Dean of Libraries at the University of Florida. “Developing new and improved management tools and access to these electronic resources is essential to delivery of high quality library services. We are delighted to join our colleagues here in Florida and around the country in developing open access software to support our shared mission.”

“Large academic research libraries such as these manage and provide access to millions of items, using software to track interrelated transactions that range from ordering and paying for items to loaning materials to library patrons. As the nature of library collections expands to include more digital materials — including leased electronic journals and digitized photograph collections — libraries are increasingly interested in developing management software for these resources,” said Interim Ruth Lilly Dean of IU University Libraries Carolyn Walters.

“Libraries now create, lease and share digital materials, but the systems in place for cataloging and tracking these items are based on print collections,” said Walters. “With this project, we benefit from working together with a community of academic libraries that want to change the way that information is managed in the scholarly environment.”

“Research libraries are in dire need of systems that can support the management of research collections for the next-generation scholar,” said Robert H. McDonald, executive director for the project and IU’s associate dean for library technologies. “This approach demonstrates the best of open-source software development, directed partnership resource needs and a market of commercial support providers to truly align with the needs of research libraries within the higher education environment.”

More than 200 libraries, educational institutions, professional organizations and businesses laid the groundwork for the Kuali OLE project by participating in the original OLE project, a design phase that was supported by an earlier grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and led by Duke University. Kuali OLE project researchers will now work to create a next-generation library system that breaks away from print-based workflows and reflects the changing nature of library materials and new approaches to scholarly work.

OLE became an official project of the Kuali Foundation in November. (Kuali is a community of universities, colleges, businesses and other organizations that have partnered to build and sustain community-source software for higher education.) This affiliation gives Kuali OLE tremendous expertise in developing and sustaining community-based software.

“The Mellon Foundation has a distinguished history of supporting transformative projects for education and cultural preservation,” said Brad Wheeler, Kuali Foundation board chair and vice president for Information Technology at IU. “We are grateful for their support of this open, extensible and deeply collaborative work among the OLE investing libraries. The libraries’ choice to anchor the project in the Kuali Foundation will ensure its quality, openness and sustainability for years to come.”

“The Kuali OLE collaboration comes at the perfect time,” said Deborah Jakubs, Rita DiGiallonardo Holloway University Librarian & Vice Provost for Library Affairs at Duke University. “If libraries are to provide excellent support for scholarship and teaching well into the future, we must develop a new model that reflects the true needs of our organizations and facilitates our work in a constantly changing environment. This partnership capitalizes on the experience, the commitment, and the energy of a key group of institutions to build that model for the future of research library operations. We are grateful to The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for recognizing the promise of the OLE project, and to Kuali for offering us this opportunity to align our goals with theirs.”

Jakubs and Wheeler were recently elected co-chairs of the Kuali OLE Board of Directors at its initial board meeting in Washington, D.C., on December 16, 2009.

An accomplished team of librarians select, manage and grow the University of Florida’s research collections, which include more than 4.5 million books, 1 million documents, 550,000 maps and images, and 20,000 computer data sets. The materials support every academic discipline on campus. The libraries have built a number of nationally significant research collections.

Judith C. Russell
Dean of University Libraries
University of Florida
jcrussell@ufl.edu
352-273-2505

The University of South Carolina College of Arts & Sciences seeks to appoint a specialist in Digital Humanities to support collaborative research and develop infrastructure for a proposed Center for Digital Humanities at South Carolina. Candidates should have a PhD in a humanities discipline, along with a strong background in computational research methodologies. Important skills for the position include an imaginative approach to collaborative research, efficient project management, strong grant-writing abilities, the ability to build coalitions and work cooperatively with a variety of partners, and the ability to communicate effectively with specialists in a variety of disciplines including Computer Science.

Nine-month salary $50,000 with benefits; summer salary to be supported by funded projects. Based on performance the position is annually renewable. Send letter and resume by February 15, 2010 to David Lee Miller, Director, Digital Humanities Initiative, Department of English, University of South Carolina, Columbia SC 29208.

The University of South Carolina is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer. Minorities and women are especially encouraged to apply. The University of South Carolina does not discriminate in educational or employment opportunities or decisions for qualified persons on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation or veteran status.