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University of Iowa

University Libraries

Jan 4 2012

Books are on the Move…

As we prepare to renovate the Main Library – to build the Learning Commons on the first floor and create staff space on the fifth floor, we will be moving books and shelving in the building.

We will be shifting the entire collection in the Main Library. A stream of books from the Z call numbers has begun moving from the 4th floor to the 2nd floor west shelves just vacated by the Art Library.

Once all equipment and shelving is in place, the pace of the book move will accelerate and books will be moving to and from different parts of the 4th and 5th floor collections simultaneously.

At this point we don’t expect anything to be off the shelf for more than a few hours and we will send out regular updates on the move status and other logistics as the project progresses.

If you have questions or need help locating materials, please contact the information or circulation desks on the first floor.

Dec 1 2011

Famine in Historical Context

Looking for primary resources for your speech or paper, but don’t have lots of time? This month’s focus is on locating primary documents that report on famine, food security, and humanitarian aid.

Learn transferable skills that can be applied to nearly all topics. These mini-workshops are like veggies for your brain!

http://guides.lib.uiowa.edu/skill_builder

Nov 15 2011

Keeping Current is Easy, Nov 17

Want to know as soon as an exciting new article is published? Tired of skimming the websites or paper copies of multiple journals to see what is in the new issue?

This hands-on session will show you how to create a single destination for information from your favorite journals, databases, websites and blogs using RSS feeds and auto-alerts.

Thursday, November 17
10:00-11:00am
 Hardin Library for the Health Sciences, East Information Commons

Register online: http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/hardin/regform.html or by calling 319-335-9151.

Nov 14 2011

On the Move in the Main Library

If you’ve been in the Main Library recently, you’ve noticed some activity. We’re getting ready for beginning of construction that will transform the first floor of the Main Library into a learning commons. There have been movers pushing carts of books around and now student employees are dismantling bookshelves on the east side of the second floor and the old graduate student carrels on the east side of fourth floor. As you can guess there is a certain amount of noise involved in these projects. If you are looking for some quiet study space, check out:

  • west side of the second floor (where the art, music and East Asian collections are located)
  • north study lounge on the second floor overlooking the north entrance and the exhibition hall
  • east side of the third floor in the journal stacks
  • west side of the fourth floor
  • fifth floor

If you have some other suggestions for good study space in the library post it on our Work Smarter, Not Harder tumblr page.

Oct 25 2011

Princeton University’s policy on Open Access

There are various types of “open access” policies that are expanding on college campuses. Now, Princeton University has taken a different view – they have “banned” their faculty from granting copyright to publishers. Read the full story through the link below.

http://theconversation.edu.au/princeton-goes-open-access-to-stop-staff-handing-all-copyright-to-journals-unless-waiver-granted-3596

Oct 24 2011

Looking for a few good people… for the Iowa City Book Festival

The Iowa City Book Festival would like three interns to help with every aspect of planning and promotion of the 2012 Festival. Interns must be in Iowa City for the summer of 2012.

  1. Programming intern will assist the Programming Director and committee in all aspects of developing the festival program – researching potential authors, researching publishers and publicists, attending committee meetings and taking minutes.
  2. Marketing intern will assist the Marketing and Communications Director and committee in all aspects of the marketing and publicity work for promotion – generating, organizing, and implementing various promotional plans, social media generation, media contact research, distributing promotional materials.
  3. Fundraising intern will assist the Executive Director and committee in all aspects of fundraising for the ICBF – writing grant applications, working with donors, corresponding with local businesses, planning and implementation of fundraising events.

Some duties will be based on experience and skills of the intern, others on the need of the committee. Scope of responsibilities is to assist in planning and organizing for the Iowa City Book Festival.

** Please keep in mind that from Friday, July 6 through the weekend of July 13-15, a schedule of longer hours will be required.

Applicants should be aware that not all duties will be equally challenging, but all will be duties that are regularly performed by committee members during the process of planning the ICBF. Upon completion of the 2012 ICBF, the confident and successful intern will receive letters of recommendation from the ICBF planning committee.

QUALIFICATIONS

  • Current enrollment or acceptance at the University of Iowa
  • Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal
  • Excellent computer skills and online research abilities

The ICBF committee expects the intern to work five to ten hours a week for the remainder of the Fall 2011 and Spring 2012 semesters, then ten to twelve hours per week in the summer which includes attending committee meetings. The intern will receive supervision and evaluation from Kristi Bontrager, Director, ICBF; Karen Fischer, Programming Director; and Allison Means, Marketing Director.

Please submit your resume to Kristi Bontrager, Director, Iowa City Book Festival (kristi-r-bontrager@uiowa.edu).

Oct 24 2011

A Very Brief Introduction to Open Access

by Peter Suber
http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/brief.htm

Open-access (OA) literature is digital, online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions. What makes it possible is the internet and the consent of the author or copyright-holder.

OA is entirely compatible with peer review, and all the major OA initiatives for scientific and scholarly literature insist on its importance. Just as authors of journal articles donate their labor, so do most journal editors and referees participating in peer review.

OA literature is not free to produce, even if it is less expensive to produce than conventionally published literature. The question is not whether scholarly literature can be made costless, but whether there are better ways to pay the bills than by charging readers and creating access barriers. Business models for paying the bills depend on how OA is delivered.

Oct 19 2011

DSPH Pecha-Kucha! October 26

The Digital Studio for the Public Humanities – DSPH – invites you to attend  “DSPH Pecha-Kucha!,” our first public event , on Wednesday, October 26 – from 5 to 6:30 pm at the DLS | DSPH space in the northwest corner of the The University of Iowa Main Library on the ground floor.

We’ll have a half dozen or so pecha-kucha presentations [six minute and forty second PowerPoint presentations of twenty slides displayed for twenty seconds each] showcasing a range of public digital humanities projects on campus.

We hope to have a spirited mix of faculty, staff, grads and undergrads, and community members in the house.

Following the more formal part of the event, we’ll have some hang-out time to allow for more informal public digital humanities conversation. We hope you can attend and we encourage you to invite others for whom this might be of interest.

Popcorn and pop will be served.