We had a fantastic time trying out all the new fairways at the teams created for the Engineering Open on Friday, Feb 23. Congratulations to the winners and thanks to all who joined us! Whether or not you took home one of our 3D-printed trophies, you’re all champions to us, and this tradition is definitely here to stay.

 

The 2024 winners were:

1^st place: Lichtenberger Engineering Library

2^nd place: Continental Crossings

3^rd place: Mechanical Engineering

People’s Choice: Continental Crossings & Civil Engineering

 

Special thanks to our sponsors, College of Engineering NEXUS, Engineering Technology Center (Machine Shop & Electronic Shop), and the Lichtenberger Engineering Library.

Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Read-and-Publish Agreement for Open Access Continuity

The University of Iowa Libraries is pleased to announce the extension of the Read-and-Publish agreement with the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) for three more years (now effective through Dec. 31, 2026). Through the agreement, all corresponding authors affiliated with the University of Iowa will have their research articles published open access in perpetuity in ACM journals, conference proceedings, and magazines, at no cost to the authors. In addition, the university community will continue to receive unlimited and unrestricted access to all content in the ACM Digital Library.

What should UI corresponding authors consider when assigning publication rights to ACM?

Since ACM already terminated transfer of copyright, authors will retain all rights to their work. UI corresponding authors should choose the “Institutional Paid Open Access/Permissions Release” option. This “Permissions Release” option means that a corresponding author agrees to grant ACM non-exclusive permission to publish their work in the ACM Digital Library and make it open access.

If you embrace the idea of sharing and distributing knowledge, we recommend using a Creative Commons license on the published version of your work. A Creative Commons license enables others to share and use your work provided that attribution is given to you, the author. For more information about a Creative Commons license, check out ACM’s Creative Commons Licensing Options.

How many research articles were made open access by UI corresponding authors from 2021–2023?

A total of 30 articles, including 24 conference proceedings and 6 journal articles, were open access during the period of 2021–2023. Two thirds of these corresponding authors were from computer science, but it’s exciting to see that faculty, students, staff and researchers in education, engineering, business, and geography are more frequently publishing with ACM. All these articles are now showcased within the featured collection of “UI Libraries Support Open Access” in the Iowa Research Online (UI’s institutional repository).

To learn about another open access agreement, this time from the Royal Society of Chemistry, check out this blog post.

Welcome back! We’re happy to see you again. Here are a few events you can get involved in this semester with the Engineering Library: 

Join a team today for the Engineering Open: Mini Golf Design Challenge!  

The Mini Golf Design Challenge is back! Get creative and join a design team to build a mini golf hole themed around your team’s interest. The event will take place on the afternoon of Friday, Feb.23.  Sign-ups to be on a team are now open.  Individuals who are looking to be on a team can fill out the form here to sign up and be organized by department to work on a fairway. We will have up to 12 fairways in total, six fairways for each of the six departments, plus six additional groups and teams. The additional fairways are for university-recognized clubs and groups that are affiliated with the College of Engineering. If you are affiliated with a club or team and would like to build a fairway, please email lib-engineering@uiowa.edu with your organization’s name and team members. Team space is limited and first come, first served.   

Begin a new venture in the new year! 

Unlock the power of collaboration by joining our two-hour speed-networking event tailored for aspiring innovators and budding entrepreneurs. Whether you’re studying business, computer science, or engineering, this is your chance to connect with like-minded undergraduate students. Bring your entrepreneurial spirit and ideas, or simply showcase your expertise – everyone is welcome! Just bring a passion for innovation and a desire to find potential business partners. Let’s create synergies that could shape the future of entrepreneurship together! This event is sponsored by the John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center (JPEC) and the Lichtenberger Engineering Library. Sign up to reserve your spot today. 

Pop-Up Workshops 

Give your brain a break and get creative for a few minutes with monthly themed crafts. These activities should only take you about 10-20 minutes to complete. Stop by at any time during the two hours, to take a break and let your creative juices flow.   

Due to inclement weather the Engineering Library will be closed today (1/9/2024). If you need to get in touch with us please email lib-engineering@uiowa.edu.

Stay safe!

Fall is a beautiful time but very few people enjoy raking all of the beautiful leaves that collect on their lawns. Experts now say that raking every single leaf may not be necessary. When left in place, leaves serve as habitat for several types of wildlife, retain moisture in your yard, and can even help suppress next year’s weeds!

If you have a very thick layer of leaves all over your yard, consider raking most of them and composting the ones that you pick up or moving them to a garden bed to work as a natural mulch. If you have a moderate layer (50% of yard cover), you can run your lawn mower over them to help them break down more easily but otherwise leave them in place. If you have a scattering of leaves on your lawn, you can just “leaf” them alone!

Want to learn more about the ecosystem in your own backyard? Check out these books from the Engineering Library collection:

Learn all about the impact of trees on the world in The Tree by Colin Tudge

Interested in skipping the grass altogether? Check out Lawn Gone! by Pam Penick.

Want to learn other ways you can engineer using the world around you? You may like Organic Management for the Professional by Garrett, Ferguson, and Amaranthus.

Sources:

Alfuth, Diana. “Leave the Leaves. to Rake or Not to Rake?” Wisconsin Horticulture, 13 Sept. 2023, hort.extension.wisc.edu/2023/09/08/leave-the-leaves-to-rake-or-not-to-rake/.

Bauer, Sam. “Good Question: Do You Really Need to Rake All Those Leaves?” Good Question: Do You Really Need to Rake All Those Leaves?, University of Minnesota Turfgrass Science, turf.umn.edu/news/good-question-do-you-really-need-rake-all-those-leaves.

Chiu, Allyson. “Why You Should Be Lazy and Leave Your Leaves in the Yard.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 14 Oct. 2023, www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2023/10/14/raking-leaves-yard-fall-environment/.

Doubek, James. “Why Experts Say You Shouldn’t Bag Your Leaves This Fall.” NPR, NPR, 25 Oct. 2022, www.npr.org/2022/10/25/1131114849/leaves-fall-autumn-compost-mulch-grass-lawn-nutrients.

Tumin, Remy. “Why You Don’t Need to Rake Leaves.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 19 Oct. 2023, www.nytimes.com/2023/10/19/us/raking-leaves.html.