Library News

Welcome to the inaugural issue of Transitions.

The purpose of this irregular electronic newsletter is to bring to readers’ attention some of the many new projects and developments affecting the current system of scholarly communication, with emphasis on new products and programs, the open access movement and other alternative publishing models. Scholarly communication refers to the full range of formal and informal means by which scholars and researchers communicate, from email discussion lists to peer-reviewed publication. In general authors are seeking to document and share new discoveries with their colleagues, while readers–researchers, students, librarians and others–want access to all the literature relevant to their work.

While the system of scholarly communication exists for the benefit of the world’s research and educational community and the public at large, it faces a multitude of challenges and is undergoing rapid change brought on by technology. To help interested members of the UI community keep up on these challenges and changes we plan to put out 6-8 issues per year of this newsletter. The current issue, covering recent events stretching back to the spring of 2006, is longer for that reason than we expect for the typical issue.

This newsletter aims to reflect the interests of its readers so please forward comments, suggestions and entries to include to karen-fischer@uiowa.edu.

Table of Contents

University Support for Public Access Act Expands

U of Iowa Provost Supports Federal Research Public Access Act

Google’s Big Book Scanning Project: Read up!

Introducing the Networked Scholar: Institute for the Future of the Book Launches MediaCommons

ACLS History eBook Project and Rutgers U. Press Introduce “Breakthrough” Ebooks

Academics Start Their Own Wikipedia For Media Studies

Retooled “Create Change” Web Resource Helps Faculty Fulfill the Promise of Digital Scholarship

Editorial board of Elsevier journal resigns in protest

Progress toward OA in art history

American Physical Society Expands Open Access Offerings

Three big publishers offer Open Access Options

Announcing the Launch of Chemistry Central

Digital University/Library Presses: Internet-First University Press

Turning Public Data into National Security Secrets

Scholarly Communication: Academic Values and Sustainable Models

More than a book a day faces expulsion from free and open public access in U.S. schools and libraries every year. There have been more than 8,700 attempts since the American Library Association (ALA) began electronically compiling and publishing information on book challenges in 1990.

Challenges are defined as formal, written complaints filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness. About 70 percent of challenges take place in schools and school libraries. Over the last decade, only a handful of informal challenges have been made at the UI Libraries. As an academic research library, our mission is to provide materials that support the teaching and research of the University community. Although this issue rarely directly effects libraries like ours, questions of intellectual freedom are pertinent to everyone.

According to Judith F. Krug, director of the Office for Intellectual Freedom, the number of challenges reflects only incidents reported, and for each reported, four or five remain unreported. “We are as busy as we’ve ever been in fighting censorship attempts in schools and libraries,” Krug said. “Libraries are no longer simply about books - but also about DVDs, videogames and online information.”

The Libraries has invited Judith Krug to speak about intellectual freedom at the 2007 Obermann Humanities Symposium. Obscenity: An Interdisciplinary Discussion will bring together scholars from a wide range of fields to engage in an interdisciplinary and cross-cultural dialogue that will analyze this notoriously vague yet apparently perennial concept in an historical and global context.

Banned Books Week - Celebrating the Freedom to Read is observed during the last week of September each year (September 23-30). Observed since 1982, the annual event reminds Americans not to take this precious democratic freedom for granted. This year marks BBW 25th Anniversary.

For more information on Banned Books Week, please visit www.ala.org/bbooks.

“Testimony to Tolerance: Building Bridges across Human Diversity” is a year long campus and community collaboration to reduce prejudice, bigotry and intolerance. The Kickoff event occurs Thursday, September 28 from 3:30-5:30 at C20 Pomerantz Center. A reception at the Hillel House will follow the program. The event is open to the public.

Opening Remarks will be by Murray Ebner, a Holocaust Survivor, where he will discuss his experiences as a war prisoner. Kathie Swift, education coordinator of the Des Moines Library will discuss the Des Moines Testimony to Tolerance initiative featuring 17 testimonies of Iowa survivors. The program will conclude with a panel of children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors.

The University Libraries is a major sponsor of Testimony to Tolerance. Educational materials for structured and facilitated workshops as well as informal discussion groups are available in the Main Library Reserve. Materials will be available over the coming year and can be requested under Testimony to Tolerance. The website also includes full text copies of some of the material.

For more complete information see the website under http://www.uiowa.edu/~eod/events/index.html

Kathy Magarrell is the fourth recipient of the Arthur Benton Excellence in Reference Services Professional Development Award. This award is given biennially to a University Libraries’ professional staff member who has demonstrated outstanding commitment in providing reference service for the university community. The honor includes a $1,000 stipend to be used for professional development activities related to the advancement of reference services.

“Kathy led the way in producing outstanding resource materials and then teaching students how to use them,” says Teresa Mangum, Associate Professor of English and International Programs. “I have been in awe of her thorough knowledge of resources, her imaginative approaches to searching materials across disciplinary boundaries, and her helpfulness and enthusiasm, no matter how unique the needs of the class are.”

Kathleen Diffley, Associate Professor of English echoes those sentiments, “Kathy has been my library partner in teaching for years and continues to do yeoman service in regard to helping students utilize resources. I really and truly couldn’t teach without her.”

Jane Desmond, Associate Dean of International Programs and Associate Professor of American Studies and Kim Marra, Associate Professor of Theatre and American Studies also noted that in addition to her work as a teaching partner, Kathy has been invaluable in locating materials for their own research.

“Like many scholars at this University, most of us have eclectic interests that cross disciplinary boundaries,” says Desmond. “While we’re aware of resources – indexes, databases and online texts – in our own fields, we rely on Kathy’s far more extensive knowledge when we stray into other disciplinary areas.”

The University Libraries will have a special celebration this Friday, September 22 at 3:00 p.m. in the North Lobby of the Main Library to honor Kathy as the most recent award winner. Kathy joins Kären Mason, Curator of the Iowa Women’s Archives, Dave Martin, Head Business Librarian, and John Schacht, Reference Librarian, as recipients of this award.

This fall the University of Iowa Libraries is sponsoring a treasure hunt: Quest for the Golden Cup. Starting from the Libraries website, contestants will work through a series of five clues in their quest.

The Quest begins on Tuesday, September 19, International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Libraries will be giving away chocolate gold coins to launch the contest. Check out the Quest website for pirate vocabulary and english to pirate translators.

The clues will test contestants’ skills and give them a chance to win a bottomless Golden Cup of coffee at the Food for Thought in the Main Library, Pat’s Diner in the Pappajohn Business Building, the EMRB Cafe and the Art Building West Coffee Bar for the rest of the year.

Eight Golden Cups will be awarded from a drawing of the qualified entries. Two Golden Cups will be awarded to RAs with the highest number of residents participating (the entry form will ask for RA’s name). One Golden Cup each will be awarded to the fraternity and sorority with the highest number of members participating.

This contest is open to all undergraduate and graduate University of Iowa students. Participants must complete all of the required tasks and answer the related questions on the entry form. Only entries with correct answers will be entered into the drawing for the Golden Cup. Each student can enter only once, duplicates will be discarded. Entries will only be accepted between midnight on Tuesday, September 19 and midnight Saturday, September 30, 2006. The decisions of the judges are final. No other IMU satellites or coffee houses are participating besides the ones listed above. The Golden Cup is valid through May 31, 2007.

For questions about the contest, please contact Kristi Bontrager, Coordinator, Public Relations, University of Iowa Libraries.

To celebrate the School of Music’s 100th Anniversary, the Rita Benton Music Library is hosting a series of Friday Noontime Recitals.

Professors Volkan Orhon, double bass and Benjamin Coelho, bassoon lead-off the concert series on Friday, September 15 at 12 p.m. Every Friday through October faculty, staff and students from the School will be performing.

September 22 Nicole Biamonte and Friends
September 29 Steve Swanson
October 6 Maia Quartet and the University of Iowa Clarinet Quartet
October 13 Cerberus (Manning, Agrell and Sandy)
October 20 Steel Drum Band
October 27 Zoran Jakovcic and Elizabeth Oakes
November 3 Finale

Join us for a little lunchtime respite and music in the library. For more information, contact Ruthann McTyre, Music Librarian at 335-3088.

The 38th Annual Festival of Books for Young People - Angels, Rebels & Critters: Tall Tales and True - will be held on Saturday, October 21, 2006 at the Iowa Memorial Union in Iowa City.

The event includes a variety of activities for those interested in books for young people. Award-winning authors Candace Fleming, Deborah Hopkinson, and Alexandria LaFaye will speak. Two excellent booktalks, one for preschool through middle readers and another for upper middle through young adult readers are also scheduled. Hands-on displays of hundreds of the best of the best in new books for young people will be available. All attendees will also receive extensive bibliographies listing new books for preschool through young adult readers.

For further information and registration materials, please visit our web site: http://www.uiowa.edu/%7Elibsci/festival, or feel free to contact Kit Austin at caroline-austin@uiowa.edu or 319.335.5709

The Rita Benton Music Library has always provided students and faculty with access to sound recordings in a variety of genres in the listening room. More and more of these recordings are becoming available online. Two new music databases are just a click away for UI students and faculty.

African American Song is the first online resource to document the history of African American music in an online music listening service. The collection contains a diverse range of genres such as jazz, blues, gospel, ragtime, folk songs, and narratives, among others. Includes a few spoken word recordings.

Smithsonian Global Sound is a network of international cultural institutions working to preserve and distribute music from archives worldwide, and to foster appreciation for traditional roots music. Through its Web site, Global Sound will offer audio and video downloads, streaming media, educational resources, and detailed liner notes to music lovers, students, historians, teachers, and the academic community.

Starting Monday, September 11, crews will be moving the computers from the Information Technology Center (ITC) in the central corridor on the second floor of the Main Library to the east reading room. This move should take a couple of days to complete.

This new space is much larger than the existing area and should provide students with a much improved working area. This space is equipped with large tables so students can work in teams and spread out their materials. The space is also much larger, allowing students more room to work in a less-cramped environment.

We understand that this will cause some disruption for students wanting to work in the ITC, but there are several other ITC locations nearby: first floor of the Main Library, Weeg located in South Lindquist Center and the Education ITC located in the North Lindquist Center.

ITCs provide students with campus-wide access to the University’s academic computing resources. The Main Library ITC is the largest ITC on campus and is open regular library hours.

If you have questions or comments, please contact Nan Seamans, Associate University Librarian, 319-335-5867. We look forward to better serving the UI community with these new facilities.

Starting September 5th, UI faculty and staff with offices on the Oakdale campus will be able to login to the Libraries’ online Interlibrary Loan system to request books, journal articles and other materials. In addition to making their requests online, staff at Oakdale will also be able to track their requests online. This isn’t a new service; faculty and staff have been able to request delivery of materials from the UI Libraries for years, but now they can do it completely online.

Any article from a journal (excluding microforms and newspapers) held by the UI Libraries can be photocopied and delivered to an Oakdale campus address or delivered electronically through email. To ensure delivery to the Oakdale campus, staff should list their Oakdale Campus address and choose Oakdale Hall as their Pick-Up Library location when they register. Books will be delivered to the Mail Room (M108) in Oakdale Hall, located on the Oakdale Campus. Books may be deposited in the same area for return to the UI Libraries.

Books will be delivered and photocopies will be mailed or delivered electronically via e-mail within 24-48 hours.

Contact the Main Library Interlibrary Loan via e-mail (lib-ill@uiowa.edu) or phone: 319-335-5917 or the Hardin Library Interlibrary Loan via email (lib-hardin-ill@uiowa.edu) or phone: 319-335-9874 for more information.