University Librarian – Library News

Apr 13 2021

Hardin Library Awarded $5.7 Million Grant to Continue Outreach as a Regional Medical Library

Posted on April 13, 2021April 13, 2021 by The University of Iowa Libraries

The University of Iowa Libraries’ Hardin Library for the Health Sciences has been awarded a five-year grant to continue its role as a Regional Medical Library (RML) in the Network of the National Library of Medicine (NNLM). NNLM consists of seven competitively selected RMLs; Hardin Library will serve Region 6. The National Library of Medicine, the world’s largest biomedical library and a component of the National Institutes of Health, will award Hardin Library $5.7 million to develop programs and services aimed at addressing health literacy and health equity through information access. In 2016, Hardin Library was awarded a five-year grant to establish an RML for the Greater Midwest Region. This new grant will enable Hardin to build on its work over the past five years.

As a Regional Medical Library, the Hardin Library’s role is to carry out regional and national programs in support of NNLM’s mission to provide U.S. researchers, health professionals, public health workforce, educators, and the public with equal access to biomedical and health information resources and data. The emphasis of the RML program is to bring quality health, public health, and biomedical information resources within reach of the public and all health and public health professionals.

Among other objectives, each RML is expected to:

Develop approaches to promote awareness of, improve access to, and enable use of NLM’s resources and data,
Develop and support a diverse workforce to access information resources and data, and support data-driven research,
Provide community-driven innovative approaches and interventions for biomedical and health information access and use.

To accomplish these objectives, Hardin’s team of five librarians will form partnerships with libraries and other organizations and offer a variety of in-person and online training for health professionals; community organizations; health-information centers; and public, hospital, and academic medical libraries throughout the country, with a regional focus on Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin. In addition, Hardin Library will fund awards to assist regional libraries and other organizations to educate and support access to biomedical and health information resources and data within medically underserved areas.

Linda Walton, associate university librarian at the University of Iowa Libraries, will serve as director for the Regional Medical Library. Derek Johnson, the current associate director for the RML, will continue in this role. John Culshaw, university librarian for the UI Libraries, commends the Hardin Library staff for earning this competitive contract.

“This grant recognizes the efforts and leadership of staff at UIowa’s Hardin Library for the Health Sciences over the past five years. Their role, especially during the pandemic, has been invaluable to researchers, health professionals, and members of public throughout the region,” he says. “Not only does this renewed contract reflect well on the quality and breadth of our library’s outreach efforts within Iowa and our region but also on the high level of staff expertise and leadership at Hardin.”

Since its original authorization by Congress in the 1965 Medical Library Assistance Act, the NNLM has worked to equalize and enhance access to health information and data throughout the United States. This Network is vital in NLM’s outreach efforts to advance the progress of medicine and improve the public’s health by providing education and access to information for U.S. researchers, health professionals, public health workforce, educators, and the public. NNLM’s main goals are to work through libraries and other members to support a highly trained workforce for biomedical and health information resources and data, promote health literacy, and advance health equity through access to trusted, quality health information.

During the previous (2016-2021) grant period, the RMLs awarded more than 1,338 subawards to NNLM members. The RMLs, in collaboration with funded NNLM members, conducted more than 10,000 training events and other outreach and engagement activities reaching more than 108,000 health professionals, librarians, and members of the public.

Developed resources reported in this press release are supported by the National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health (NIH) under cooperative agreement number UG4LM013729. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Aug 05 2020

Changes in Libraries’ services and hours

Posted on August 5, 2020August 17, 2020 by The University of Iowa Libraries

When campus libraries reopen on Aug. 17, services will resume in phases. To begin the semester, the Hardin Library for the Health Sciences, the Main Library, and the Sciences Library will allow building access only to University of Iowa members with a valid Iowa One Card or UI Health Care Badge. Also, all campus libraries will have shorter hours, closed book stacks, and some study areas will be unavailable.

These measures allow for appropriate quarantine of returned materials, reduce concerns about cleaning, and support social distancing due to COVID-19. Access will vary by location. For example, the Music Library and Art Library will limit occupancy by restricting access to service desks only. At the Main Library, access to the fourth and fifth floors will be limited to staff only, thus reducing impact on custodians.

“The Libraries staff understand users will be disappointed that they will be unable to browse the book stacks and fully utilize library study areas,” says John Culshaw, university librarian. “We hope conditions will shift soon, enabling us to restore access and hours. In the meantime, our plan reflects those at other libraries, including our Big Ten peers.”

In addition to limiting the risk of exposure to COVID-19 in the facility, closed stacks keep the Libraries in compliance with copyright agreements with HathiTrust Emergency Access Service (ETAS), which supplies emergency online access to a large portion of our collection. The ETAS service gives the Libraries access to nearly 50% of its print volumes. Find step-by-step access instructions for HathiTrust here. The ETAS service can remain available only while our stacks are closed.

Users can still borrow books by requesting book retrieval from the stacks at any campus library. Users are encouraged to request books in advance through Infohawk+. After requesting a book, users can choose from several ways to get the book. Faculty and staff can opt for delivery to campus offices. All borrowers, including community members, can request delivery by mail. Books borrowed from the Main Library’s collections can be picked up through a contactless service at the south entrance of the Main Library. Procedures vary by location; please check with your campus library for instructions.

As the semester unfolds, the Libraries will continue to monitor the situation. When deemed safe, the Libraries will consider extending hours and opening stacks for browsing.

Thank you for your patience as we navigate changing circumstances. Please contact us at any of our campus locations with questions regarding book access. Visit our fall 2020 FAQ for complete information about changes in library services.

Jul 02 2020

UI Libraries awards 12 OpenHawks grants

Posted on July 2, 2020July 2, 2020 by The University of Iowa Libraries

The University of Iowa Libraries has awarded 12 grants for Open Educational Resource (OER) projects for the 2020-2021 academic year. OpenHawks is a campus-wide grant program that funds faculty efforts to replace current textbooks with OERs for enhanced student success.

OpenHawks is funded by the annual Provost Investment Fund (PIF) from the UI Office of the Provost. This year, two projects are jointly funded with the Office of Teaching, Learning, & Technology.

The funded OER projects, which were selected through a competitive application process, will benefit students in a wide range of disciplines, including fine arts, English as a second language, neurobiology, political science, foreign languages, communication sciences and disorders, education, communications, and biostatistics.

OER (such as textbooks, videos, assessment tools, lab books, research materials, or interactive course modules) are free for students to use. The 2020-2021 OER projects will save UI students $171,000 in the first year alone. Removing cost barriers to course materials opens student access and positively impacts learning.

The value of OER extends to the wider academic community, since they carry legal permission for open use. The open licenses under which these items are released allow any user at any institution to create, reuse, and redistribute copies of the resources.

OER provide further benefit when faculty fully integrate free resources into their curricula by “remixing” or tailoring materials to enhance specific learning objectives.

The next call for proposals will be in the spring of 2021. For more information, visit www.lib.uiowa.edu/openhawks

Stephanie Dowda DeMer
OER creation grant: $4,700.
Title: Material Encounters.

Material Encounters is a textbook that will fill significant gaps in the research and presentation of alternative photography processes and theory. It achieves this by bringing together traditionally siloed information regarding process, theory, and interdisciplinary practice into one text to serve student research and faculty pedagogy. The textbook will include interviews with female-identifying and queer artists who innovate alternative processes and use their practices to address social, environmental, or personal issues.

Craig Dresser
OER creation grant: $8,200.
Title: Elements of Academic Writing

This text will help ESL students understand the purposes of writing assignments and their common component. This approach relies heavily on decision-making, informed by consideration of the context around the assignment. It aims to increase the students’ understanding and efficacy in the ways in which they communicate with their teachers through academic writing. In the end, students should be empowered to take on any manner of writing assignment, confident in their ability to communicate effectively.

Mei-Ling Joiner and Jason Hardie
OER creation grant: $8,200.
Title: A Centralized Online OER for Introduction to Neurobiology

Joiner and Hardie are developing a neurobiology OER to better align with the course as it is currently taught and to save students significant money on textbook costs. Existing textbooks for this course almost exclusively follow a molecule to whole organism approach, but the course begins with whole organism, then later addresses molecular level mechanisms, which invites the interest of students newly encountering neurobiology.

Courtney Juelich
OER creation grant: $3,000.
Title: Online Videos for Introduction to American Politics

By developing an online lecture system, students will replace the current $200 textbook with online video lectures and come to class ready to show comprehension and critical thinking through a discussion-based class. Teaching students of all majors about the basis of the United States government’s innerworkings, and the history of its laws is essential for our students’ growth and for our democracy.

Irene Lottini, Lucia Gemmani, Claudia Sartini-Rideout
Course redesign grant: $2,000.
Title: E-textbook and Workbook for Elementary Italian

The authors are planning to redesign this sequence to better help our students achieve the CLAS GE Program Outcomes and be prepared for programs abroad. The goal is to create an e-textbook and a workbook that will fulfill the two main objectives of redesigned courses: supporting students’ acquisition of the grammar and vocabulary that ensure meaningful communication and enhancing students’ familiarity with Italian culture. This project is co-funded by OTLT.

Stewart McCauley and Jean Gordon
Course redesign grant: $2,000.
Title: OER Redesign of Basic Neuroscience for Speech and Hearing

The authors will design a textbook that integrates topics in communication disorders with foundational concepts in neuroscience. This can best be achieved by using OER materials from a variety of domains—especially taking advantage of the wealth of freely available online audiovisual case illustrations—to better interweave normal and disordered processes. This project is co-funded by OTLT.

Mark McDermott
OER creation grant: $8,200.
Title: Developing an OER Toolkit for Science Methods Courses

McDermott will work with former students to develop an Open Educational Resource Toolkit that provides background information about the argument-based pedagogical approach the class explores, tools for planning units based on this pedagogical approach, supplemental resources for supporting science conceptual understanding, and sample activity plans for the experiences engaged in during the courses.

Sylvia Mikucki-Enyart
OER creation grant: $8,200
Title: Sexual Communication in Personal Relationships

The primary objective of this project is to create a no-cost, accessible, interactive, and flexible textbook and companion materials (e.g., activities, study guides) that enhance UI students’ theoretical understanding of sexual communication and increase their sexual communication efficacy to engage in sexual communication tasks (e.g., conversations surrounding consent, safe sex practices).

Beatrice Mkenda
OER creation grant: $8,200.
Title: Elementary Swahili Online Course

Swahili teaching and learning materials have relied on traditional textbooks, some of which lack listening materials. Listening is one of the most important skills in foreign language teaching and learning. The Swahili Online Course will be a proficiency-based teaching and learning resource for elementary levels and will provide interactive activities based on listening to native speakers of Swahili. Students will have an opportunity to listen and react to the video and audio in different ways, such as speaking, writing, reading, and identifying culture.

Caitlin Ward and Collin Nolte
OER creation grant: $6,000.
Title: Simulation Based Inference in Introductory Biostatistics

The American Statistical Association (ASA) recommends that introductory statistics education focuses on conceptual understanding, with an emphasis on technology and real data. Statistics education often places priorities on an antiquated view of the former, with symbolic manipulation and contrived examples taking priority over data exploration and statistical thinking, and BIOS:4120 is no different. Both the ASA recommendations and the advances in pedagogical literature on active learning bring to the forefront the need to restructure this course. The authors’ proposal aims to meet this need by developing a new resource, which empowers students to achieve a higher level of understanding through the use of technology and real-world data.

Sang-Seok Yoon and Joung-A Park
OER creation grant: $8,200.
Title: Developing a Textbook for First Year Korean Course

The objective of developing this resource is to make students’ learning experience more active, fun and challenging, and to reduce students’ financial burden of purchasing the textbook used in First Year Korean: First Semester. This textbook is an essential part of the class for self-study in addition to attending lectures and doing exercises in the class.

Giovanni Zimotti and Alexis Jimenez Candia
OER creation grant: $8,200.
Title: Intermediate Spanish II: Spanish for Healthcare

The Department of Spanish and Portuguese is undertaking efforts to redesign the GE CLAS Core sequence of Spanish. The aim is to modernize the curriculum offered to meet the needs of 21st century students and to better prepare them in their future careers. As part of this redesign, it is paramount to develop materials that are meaningful for the specific type of students that will be taking this course. Unfortunately, the commercially available textbook we currently use is very expensive for students and outdated. This project aims to create an OER textbook that is personalized to the educational needs of the students of Spanish Intermediate II: Spanish for Healthcare.

Jun 17 2020

In support of eliminating racism – the ongoing work

Posted on June 17, 2020June 22, 2020 by The University of Iowa Libraries

Anti-racism subject guide

As a research library, we have a responsibility to share and promote public access to important information about anti-racism, which we’ve made available in this anti-racism subject guide. Libraries staff update this guide continually.

Anti-racism resources for action

The University Libraries at Iowa offers anti-racism resources that can be accessed by the entire campus community, including students, faculty, staff, and members of our community. Check this page for anti-racism resources and staff development opportunities designed to aid our organization in making substantial progress toward dismantling and unlearning racism. These resources can supplement the resources offered by the UI’s Office of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion. Libraries staff update this page continually.

Statement issued June 1, 2020

This is not news: a deep divide continues to tear at this country. Injustices widen the gap. COVID-19 has affected more black, Latinx, and Native Americans than any others. People of Asian descent are experiencing heightened racism. The tragic deaths of George Floyd in Minnesota, Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, and Breonna Taylor in Kentucky made the news. And yet, this is not news. This is the daily reality of racism for many in this country.

Most of us live with racism, many suffer because of racism, some die because of racism. A deep divide continues to tear at this country, leaving gaps in the availability of healthcare, housing, jobs, and education. This is unacceptable. Rather than complacently living with racism, those of us who also live with privilege can empower ourselves to stop racism and work to erase its effects.

As a public institution of higher education, one of our many responsibilities is to create effective tools to examine and change injustices in society. We are a research library planted in the heartland, and we are not immune to racism. We are not free of the responsibility to stop it. We have a mission to feed society with open access to information that exposes truth. Free flowing information allows our scholars and community members to shine light on these fractures within our country, these injustices, these deaths. With information, we have opportunities to cultivate justice, advocacy, and right action as allies on behalf of our colleagues who suffer just because they happen to be different in skin color, faith tradition, or sexual orientation.

We are uniquely positioned in the Libraries to be allies and to support anti-racism efforts with resources and expertise on critical thinking that can guide our learning and our grounding in the histories that have fed racism. Our job is to amplify the voices of marginalized people.

At the University Libraries, we must take action. Let’s continue to equip researchers. Let’s continue to create ways for diversity, equity, and inclusion to thrive and grow in our libraries and on this campus. Let’s start small with individual efforts and think big with institutional change. We harvest the information, craft the words, inspire the actions. Most of all, as individuals, we must roll up our sleeves and do the difficult work of anti-racism in every field of study. It’s the Iowa way.

John Culshaw, Jack B. King University Librarian
Paul Soderdahl, Associate University Librarian
Linda Walton, Associate University Librarian

This statement was written by Jennifer Masada and John Culshaw, with input from the Admin Group and other Libraries staff involved in DEI efforts. This statement is an open invitation for dialog, recognizing that the difficult conversations we have and actions we take must happen and must never stop.

Jun 01 2020

In support of eliminating racism

Posted on June 1, 2020June 17, 2020 by The University of Iowa Libraries

Updated as of June 17, 2020

Anti-racism subject guide

Anti-racism resources for action

The University Libraries at Iowa encourages its staff to engage in anti-racism efforts. Check this page for anti-racism resources and staff development opportunities designed to aid our staff in making substantial progress toward dismantling and unlearning racism. The resources on this page are open and available for all, including university students, faculty, staff, and members of our community. Libraries staff update this page continually.

Statement issued June 1, 2020

John Culshaw, Jack B. King University Librarian
Paul Soderdahl, Associate University Librarian
Linda Walton, Associate University Librarian

May 05 2020

How to return materials to the UI Libraries

Posted on May 5, 2020September 30, 2020 by The University of Iowa Libraries

Book return map — University of Iowa Libraries’ regional book return map. Find a location near you to return your UI Libraries books and DVDs. The UI Libraries plans to continue this service while it’s needed.

University of Iowa students can return items to the UI Libraries from afar by dropping off items at one of 47 participating libraries across the state and region. See a map of these locations or the list of locations at the end of this article.

The UI Libraries has spearheaded this special service to help students living far from campus due to the pandemic. With the aid of partnering public and academic libraries, the UI Libraries will continue to offer this service while it’s needed.

This network of libraries is participating in an unprecedented cooperative project to assist library users who are sheltering far from the library from which they borrowed items. Each library in this network will accept items from the other participating libraries and return those items at no cost to the borrower.

Students who have University of Iowa library books to return can check the UI Libraries’ book return map for drop-off locations in the state and region. Students without access to a drop-off library and those living further than 30 miles from Iowa City can request a UPS shipping label.

Students living near campus are encouraged to return books at the Main Library drop box (125 W. Washington Street, return slots available at both the south and north entrances) or the Hardin Library drop box (600 Newton Road, next to the entrance that faces University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics). Students with tools or electronic equipment should schedule a drop off to ensure the security and safety of the items.

- Art Library: Please use the library drop box.
- Business Library: Please use the drop box for books and DVDs. Please return non-book items to the service desk or schedule a time by emailing lib-bus@uiowa.edu
- Engineering Library: Please use the drop box for books and DVDs. Please return non-book items to the service desk.
- Hardin Library: Please use the drop box for books and DVDs. Please return non-book items to the service desk.
- Main Library: Please use the drop box for books and DVDs. Please return non-book items to the service desk.
- Music Library: Please use the hallway book drop on the first floor of the Voxman Music Building.
- Sciences Library: Please return items to the service desk.

Before returning library items, please observe the following safe-handling practices:

Do not clean, disinfect, or microwave library materials before returning them. For example, do not use water, Lysol, or any other cleaner on materials.
If you or your family members are sick or have been sick, seal materials in a zip-lock style bag if possible before returning.
Wash your hands or use hand sanitizer before handling library materials for return and again after you have completed the return.

List of locations for materials return

Iowa State University Parks Library, 701 Morrill Road, Ames, IA
DMACC Ankeny campus Library Bldg 6, 2006 S. Ankeny Blvd, Ankeny, IA
Scott Community College Library, 500 Belmont Rd, Bettendorf, IA
DMACC Boone campus Library, 1125 Hancock Drive, Boone, IA
Northeast Iowa Community College Library Student Center, 1625 Hwy 150 S., Calmar, IA
DMACC Carroll campus Library, 906 North Grant Rd., Carroll, IA
University of Northern Iowa Rod Library, 1227 W 27th Street, Cedar Falls, IA
Mount Mercy University Busse Library, 1330 Elmhurst Drive NE, Cedar Rapids, IA
Kirkwood Community College Library Benton Hall, 6301 Kirkwood Blvd. SW, Cedar Rapids, IA
Clinton Community College Library, 1000 Lincoln Blvd, Clinton, IA
Coralville Public Library, 1401 5th Street, Coralville, IA
Southwestern Community College Library, 1501 W. Townline Street, Creston, IA
Saint Ambrose University Library, 518 W. Locust Street, Davenport, IA
DMACC Urban/Des Moines campus Library Bldg 1, 1100 7th Street, Des Moines, IA
Drake University Cowles Library, 2725 University Avenue, Des Moines, IA
Grand View University Library, 1350 Morton Avenue, Des Moines, IA
Mercy College of Health Sciences Library Sullivan Center, 928 6th Avenue, Des Moines, IA
Loras College Library, 1450 Alta Vista, Dubuque, IA
University of Dubuque Charles C. Myers Library, 2195 Grace Street, Dubuque, IA
Grinnell College Library, 1111 6th Ave, Grinnell, IA
Simpson College Dunn Library, 508 N C Street, Indianola, IA
Kirkwood Community College Library, 1816 Lower Muscatine Rd, Iowa City, IA
Iowa City Public Library, Iowa City, IA
University of Iowa Hardin Library, 600 Newtown Road, Iowa City, IA
University of Iowa Main Library, 125 W. Washington Street, Iowa City, IA
Southeastern Community College Fred Karre Memorial Library, 335 Messenger Rd, Keokuk, IA
Cornell College Cole Library, 320 3rd Street SW, Mount Vernon, IA
Muscatine Community College Library, 152 Colorado Street, Muscatine, IA
North Liberty Public Library, 520 W. Cherry Street, North Liberty, IA
Northwestern College DeWitt Library, 101 7th Street SW, Orange City, IA
William Penn University Wilcox Library, 201 Trueblood Avenue, Oskaloosa, IA
Indian Hills Community College Library, 525 Grandview Avenue, Ottumwa, IA
Northeast Iowa Community College Library, 8342 NICC Drive, Peosta, IA
Dordt University Hulst Library, 700 7th Street NE, Sioux Center, IA
Briar Cliff University Bishop Mueller Library, 3303 Rebecca Street, Sioux City, IA
Morningside College Library, 1501 Morningside Avenue, Sioux City, IA
Hawkeye Community College Library Main Campus, 1501 East Orange Road, Waterloo, IA
Wartburg College Vogel Library, 100 Wartburg Blvd, Waverly, IA
University of Illinois Main Library, 1408 W Gregory Drive, Urbana, IL
Indiana University Wells Library, 1320 E. Tenth Street, Bloomington, IN
Purdue University Library, West State Street, West Lafayette, IN
University of Michigan Hatcher Graduate Library, 913 S. University Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI
Michigan State University Main Library, 366 W. Circle Drive, East Lansing, MI
University of Minnesota Wilson Library, 309 19th Avenue S, Minneapolis, MN
University of Nebraska Love Library, 13th & R Street, Lincoln, NE
University of Wisconsin Memorial Library, 728 State Street, Madison, WI

Apr 03 2020

Emergency access to copyrighted books

Posted on April 3, 2020April 3, 2020 by The University of Iowa Libraries

Effective immediately and until normal access to physical collections resumes, students, faculty, and staff at the University of Iowa have online access to a large portion of the University Libraries’ print collection—volumes that would have been difficult to access from library facilities that are closed due to COVID-19.

Reading access to digitized copies of print volumes has been granted to the UI by HathiTrust, a not-for-profit, collaborative digital library that holds over 17 million volumes digitized from academic and research libraries. The UI Libraries, in collaboration with the Big Ten Academic Alliance, is a founding member of HathiTrust.

This means that any books available through HathiTrust that are also in the UI Libraries’ collections will be available online without the additional step of requesting a digital scan. HathiTrust’s online collection contains nearly half of the UI Libraries’ book collection for an additional 1.6 million volumes now available online for our campus community.

To take advantage of this resource:

Visit HathiTrust and click the yellow “LOG IN” button.
Select “University of Iowa” and log with your HawkID.
Use the site to locate the item you wish to view.
Click on the Temporary Access link at the bottom of the record to check out the item through the Emergency Temporary Access Service.
You will have 60 minutes of access to the book during any session. If you remain active in the book during any session, access time will be extended.
Please note that it is not possible to download books from HathiTrust. This is to protect authors’ rights.

HathiTrust has provided detailed instructions, including how to use the service on a phone or tablet.

For help with access to these and other digital resources at the UI Libraries, please contact us.

Mar 23 2020

Virtual Hours for UI Libraries

Posted on March 23, 2020March 31, 2020 by The University of Iowa Libraries

Click here to see our VIRTUAL HOURS during the time of COVID-19.

Nov 26 2019

Mahanna wins Library Research Award

Posted on November 26, 2019December 13, 2019 by The University of Iowa Libraries

Allexis Mahanna, a UI senior majoring in global health studies, won the inaugural Undergraduate Library Research Award (ULRA) offered by the University of Iowa Libraries. Mahanna was selected from a competitive pool of undergraduate researchers who applied for the award and presented their work at the University of Iowa’s Fall Undergraduate Research Festival held November 13, 2019.

Mahanna’s research focuses on the differences in migration policies between the autonomous community of Catalonia and the local municipality of Barcelona, Spain. She evaluated the local migration policies of Barcelona through a case study framework analyzing country-wide policies and community perceptions of migrants.

Her research integrated library resources—including databases such as Web of Science, SAGE research methods, and services in SEAM—with specialized instruction on coding methods from SEAM Graduate Student Megan Dial-Lapcewich. Mahanna also met with librarians Brett Cloyd and Cathy Cranston and sought poster design assistance from Nikki White in the Libraries’ Digital Scholarship & Publishing Studio in preparation for presenting at the Fall Undergraduate Research Festival.

The Undergraduate Library Research Award was established this year by Jenay Solomon, librarian in the UI Libraries’ Undergraduate Engagement Department, who collaborated with Bob Kirby and Melinda Licht of the Iowa Center for Undergraduate Research (ICRU) to integrate the new award into the Fall Undergraduate Research Festival.

The award carries a $500 prize, which is funded by the Friends of the University of Iowa Libraries. The Libraries will offer the award again at the UI’s Spring Undergraduate Research Festival. The award is open to any undergraduate student in any year or discipline who demonstrates creative or innovative research skills in the selection, integration, and synthesis of resources, services, and materials from the UI Libraries.

Special thanks to UI librarians who served on the Fall 2019 ULRA review committee: Conrad Bendixen (from the Sciences Library and Main Library Liaison Services in Humanities and Social Sciences) and Kelly Hangauer (from Main Library Liaison Services in Humanities and Social Sciences), Heather Healy (from the Hardin Library for the Health Sciences), and Laurie Neuerburg (from the Sciences Library). Committee members helped create an assessment rubric for evaluating applicants and assisted in selecting this semester’s winner.

Nov 05 2019

Culshaw elected ARL vice president/president-elect

Posted on November 5, 2019November 12, 2019 by The University of Iowa Libraries

John Culshaw, the Jack B. King University Librarian at the University of Iowa, has been elected to serve as incoming vice president/president-elect for the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). Culshaw will become ARL president on October 7, 2020.
The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is a nonprofit organization of 124 research libraries in Canada and the US whose mission is to advance research, learning, and scholarly communication. The Association fosters the open exchange of ideas and expertise, promotes equity and diversity, and pursues advocacy and public policy efforts that reflect the values of the library, scholarly, and higher education communities. ARL forges partnerships and catalyzes the collective efforts of research libraries to enable knowledge creation and to achieve enduring and barrier-free access to information.

“John’s leadership, both on campus and with national organizations, emphasizes collaborative efforts, empowering our librarians and scholars to work together to find and share research in ways that build pathways to new knowledge,” says Montserrat Fuentes, UI executive vice president and provost.

Culshaw has served as the university librarian at Iowa since 2013, leading the UI Libraries in providing information services, collections, and spaces to the university community and beyond. In addition to his campus duties, he has served in leadership roles with the HathiTrust Digital Library and Association of College and Research Libraries. Culshaw has played an active role with the Big Ten Academic Alliance Library Initiatives, which recently announced the BIG Collection, an effort to create collaborative processes for building a networked collective collection to benefit Big Ten scholars.

During his tenure at Iowa, Culshaw has overseen several new building projects including the Rita Benton Music Library, a climate controlled, high-density materials storage facility, and a state-of-the-art exhibition gallery. He established a scholarship program for library student employees which to date has awarded more than $53,000 to undergraduate and graduate students.

With his direction and support, UI Libraries staff garnered a grant to become the National Network of Libraries of Medicine Greater Midwest Regional Office; strengthened partnerships with the UI’s Center for the Book and the Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature; merged the Studio, a collaborative incubator for digital scholarship and publishing, into Libraries operations; and brought important new research collections to Iowa including the Sackner Archive of Concrete and Visual Poetry. In 2018, Culshaw was invested as the first Jack B. King University Librarian Chair.

Culshaw received a BA in history from the University of Wisconsin-Parkside and holds an MS in information studies from Drexel University. He received UW-Parkside’s Traditions of Excellence Distinguished Alumni Award in 2015. Prior to Iowa, he held positions at the University of Colorado Boulder.