Judge Denny Chin of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued this week a long-awaited ruling, rejecting a proposed settlement between Google and the plaintiffs (publishers and authors) in the Google Books lawsuit.

The University of Minnesota is not a party to the Google Books lawsuit, and the ruling in that suit does not affect the University of Minnesota participation in the Google scanning project, which is part of a 2007 joint agreement with the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC). It is the CIC's understanding that Google will continue scanning CIC library materials, including from the University of Minnesota Libraries, under the terms of the CIC/Google agreement.

Earlier this year, the CIC celebrated a major milestone: Google has digitized and returned a million volumes from member libraries. The CIC intends to fulfill the original agreement to scan up to 10 million volumes--public domain material will be returned to HathiTrust Digital Library and made publicly accessible, while in-copyright content will be indexed so users can more easily find relevant print content in our libraries.

Judge Chin ordered a status hearing in the Google Books case in late April, by which time the CIC expects to know more about how Google and the plaintiffs plan to move forward, and what the implications might be for member libraries.

Posted by Marlo Welshons at 10:52 AM | Permalink

Who: Poet Louis Jenkins
What: Second Annual Pankake Poetry Series
Where: Elmer L. Andersen Library
When: Tuesday, April 12, 2011, 4 p.m.

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL ( 03/21/2011 ) -- Louis Jenkins will read old and new poems at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, April 12 at the Elmer L. Andersen Library, 222 21st Ave. S., Minneapolis. A reception will follow the reading, with copies of available for sale and signing by Jenkins.

Louis Jenkins' poems have been published in a number of literary magazines and anthologies, including The Best American Poetry and Great American Prose Poems. Jenkins, who has been featured on A Prairie Home Companion and The Writer's Almanac, received the 1995 Minnesota Book Award for Nice Fish and the 1997 Northeastern Minnesota Book Award for Just Above Water. His most recent books are North of the Cities (2007), European Shoes (2008), and Before You Know It: Prose Poems 1970-2005 (2009), all published by Will o' the Wisp Books.

The Pankake Poetry Series was founded in honor of librarian Marcia Pankake, whose love of poetry was demonstrated in the countless readings and poetry events she hosted at the University Libraries until her retirement in 2007.

This event is free and open to the public; reservations are requested by April 5 at 612-624-9339 or stangret@umn.edu.

Posted by Marlo Welshons at 10:46 AM | Permalink

The University of Minnesota's AgEcon Search has been selected as the 2011 recipient of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Science and Technology Section (STS) Innovation in Science and Technology Librarianship Award.

The $3,000 cash award, donated by IEEE, will be presented at 8:00 a.m. on Sunday, June 26 at the STS All Members Breakfast during the 2011 ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans.

"AgEcon Search is the trusted national and international repository for open access to agricultural economic research valued by disciplinary researchers the world over," said award co-chairs, Marianne Stowell Bracke of Purdue University and Lutishoor Salisbury at the University of Arkansas. "Since its inception in 1995, it has changed continuously as technology has evolved, finding innovative solutions to indexing, archiving and delivering these materials."

AgEcon Search is a free, open access repository of full-text scholarly literature in agricultural and applied economics, including working papers, conference papers and journal articles.

AgEcon Search is coordinated by Louise Letnes, librarian in the University of Minnesota Department of Applied Economics, and Julie Kelly, science librarian at Magrath Library. Letnes along with Patricia Rodkewich, who retired in 2002, started the project in 1994, and Kelly joined the effort in 2003.

Posted by Marlo Welshons at 2:21 PM | Permalink

Contacts: Marlo Welshons, University of Minnesota Libraries, welsh066@umn.edu, 612-625-9148
Preston Smith, University News Service, smith@umn.edu, 612-625-0552

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL ( 3/15/2011 ) -- The University of Minnesota Libraries will present children's literature author Jane Kurtz with the 2011 Kerlan Award at Elmer L. Andersen Library on Sat. April 2.

The award presentation and speech by Kurtz will begin at 1:15 p.m. and is free and open to the public. The ceremony is preceded by a noon luncheon (cost: $20; $15 for Kerlan Friends), which requires advance registration by March 25.

Kurtz is the author of many books, including Lanie's Real Adventures, American Girl's 2010 Book of the year; River Friendly, River Wild, about the 1997 flooding of the Red River in Grand Forks, North Dakota; and Do Kangaroos Wear Seat Belts? Several of her books are set in East Africa, where she and her siblings were raised by their missionary parents. Kurtz--who still travels and teaches in Ethiopia and actively supports the literacy project "Ethiopia Reads" and the Ethiopian Children's Book and Educational Foundation--now lives in Lawrence, Kansas.

Attendees will be eligible to enter a drawing for an American Girl Lanie doll, sets of the Lanie books, and other American Girl merchandise donated by the company's store at the Mall of America.

Kerlan friends membership information and the luncheon registration form is available at: http://special.lib.umn.edu/clrc/whatsnew.php

The Kerlan Award is presented annually "in recognition of singular attainments in the creation of children's literature and in appreciation for generous donation of unique resources to the Kerlan Collection for the study of children's literature."

For more information, please contact the staff of the Children's Literature Research Collections at 612-624-4576 or e-mail clrc@umn.edu.

Posted by Marlo Welshons at 1:42 PM | Permalink