June 14th, 2010

News from Around the Libraries

Construction on Pleasant Street Near Walter Library

Pleasant Street Construction will begin on Monday, June 14, 2010.  This phase includes work near the Pleasant Street and Arlington intersection.  Pleasant Street will be one way from Arlington towards Washington Avenue until sometime in August.  People driving to Walter Library will be unable to turn right out of the Walter Loading Dock area and instead must turn left onto the Washington Avenue Bridge, heading for West Bank.

- Kristia Davern, FOM Walter Library Building Manager

Governance Committee Election Results

The University Libraries' Nominations, Elections, and Appointments Committee reports the following election results for this year's governance:

- Committee on Nominations, Elections and Appointments: Kim Clarke, Rafael Tarrago
- Committee on Research and Publication: Jon Jeffryes, Leslie Delserone
- Executive Committee Members-at-Large: Heather Hessel, Linda Eells, Jody Gray
- Librarian Personnel Committee: Tony Fang (At Large), Marilyn McClaskey (Continuous Appointment)
- Libraries Assembly Secretary: Doris Seely
- University Senate: Caroline Lilyard

Congratulations to the newly elected members of Libraries governance committees.  For a list of Libraries committees and councils membership, go to: https://wiki.lib.umn.edu/Staff/CommitteeAndCouncilMembershipHomePage .

- Jennifer Reckner

Libraries IT News - June 2010 Monthly Update

Wilson SED Training Room Upgrade
Computer Support-West Zone finished the upgrade of computers and software in the Wilson Staff Education and Development (SED) training rooms.  We installed new Lenovo All-In-One units running Windows 7 along with a comprehensive software package that will be installed on all computers in all SED Training rooms (Wilson, Walter, and Magrath).  The two Wilson meeting rooms will have the same software package installed.

Library Course Page System Released
The Web Development department, in collaboration with the myLibrary Portal group and the WSSC Course Integration subgroup, announced the release of the Library Course Page system ( http://www.lib.umn.edu/course/about.php ), now found on the lower left corner of the Libraries' main web site.  The Library Course Page system (LCP) brings together a number of library services and resources tailored to specific courses.  In fact, through this effort we are now able to create a course site with library resources for every course at the University (TC campus).  This was accomplished by bringing together and integrating a number of existing library tools using APIs and data feeds including Research QuickStart (LibData API), CourseLib (LibData API), print course reserves (AlephX API), electronic reserves (ERes RSS feed), contact information for course related librarians (LibData API), and reference chat functionality (QuestionPoint widget).  Currently, the LCP can be accessed from the Libraries' main web site, but later in the summer the system will also be integrated into MyU on the myCourses tab, and within Moodle as a customizable block.  We are thrilled about these integrations and we hope that the LCP has a positive impact in the academic lives of students and faculty.

UL Staff @ ELUNA
Several University of Minnesota Libraries (UL) staff members engaged in discussions with colleagues at the annual Ex Libris Users of North America (ELUNA) conference last month in Fort Worth, Texas.  Betsy Friesen presented on the "MARCit" service and convened the MARCit Special Interest Group, and Heather Hessel convened the Aleph Reporting Center Special Interest Group.  Jerrie Bayer and Chris Rose from Information Access and Delivery Services (IADS) presented material on customer service in libraries.  A hot topic of conversation at the conference was Ex Libris' new Unified Resource Management system (URM).  As members of the URM focus group, Betsy Friesen and Chris Rose are representing the University of Minnesota Libraries in the development of this new product.  Background on UMN involvement, including the latest focus group slides and notes, can be found on the Library Enterprise Operations (LEO) wiki Projects page at: https://wiki.lib.umn.edu/LEO/Aleph500PrioritiesAndProjects or at: https://netfiles.umn.edu/xythoswfs/webui/_xy-15256572_1 .

- Submitted by John Butler, on behalf of the Libraries IT Directors

Libraries Leadership Council (LLC) Meeting Notes Available

Notes from the June 10, 2010 LLC meeting are available on Netfiles via the staff wiki at: https://wiki.lib.umn.edu/LibrariesLeadershipCouncil/HomePage .  Agenda items included an update about the web redesign project, a presentation on the MNCat Survey by Naun Chiat Chew, and information about the upcoming Google Apps Migration.  Check out the notes for more information and additional agenda items.

- Jennifer Reckner

MNCAT Plus to Include HathiTrust Links

Starting this week, MNCAT Plus will include links to HathiTrust for titles that we hold in our print collection.  The links will be visible on the MNCAT Plus full record display alongside any available links to Google Books.  The links are created through the use of the HathiTrust bib API and will be offered both for full-text content and for material that is available only for searching.  Unfortunately technical problems prevent us from providing HathiTrust links through MNCAT Classic at present but we hope to offer this option in future.  Thanks to Cecilia Genereux, Connie Hendrick, Lisa Johnston, Charles Spetland, and Jeff Peterson for their work on this project.  For more information on HathiTrust, go to: www.hathitrust.org .

-  Chew Chiat Naun

Redesign of Libraries' Web Presence

The group redesigning the Libraries' web presence will be unveiling the first prototype later this week.  Please watch for an All Staff email with a link to the prototype and the feedback mechanism.  NOTE: because of the tight production schedule, there will only be a one-week window to provide feedback.  We encourage you not to miss this first opportunity to let us know what you think of our work so far.

- Marlo Welshons, on behalf of the Redesign Group

Tech Services Ten Cents: May 2010
Who would have thought that the weather in May could bake us like cakes in the oven?  Ummm, cake - but it was often too hot to turn on the oven and mix one up.  Instead, Technical Services (TS) staff managed to keep their cool and stir up bowls of work to accomplish.   They were: Preparing to bake up a storm... Stirring out the lumps... Baking up some macroroons... Following the recipe...

See what TS has whipped up at: https://wiki.lib.umn.edu/TS/Newsletter

- Technical Services

Wilson Library Welcomes STEP-UP Students

For the sixth summer in a row, Wilson Library is participating in the STEP-UP Summer Jobs program.  The program, sponsored by the City of Minneapolis, offers the opportunity for participants to earn money and learn work-readiness skills.  Jermel Smith will begin the week of June 14, 2010 and will work in the Wilson stacks.  Jermel graduated from Southwest High School in June 2010, likes to write songs, and like to be involved in dancing and acting.  Smith has also been chosen to participate in the University's Junior Entrepreneurs of Minnesota, which is geared towards STEP-UP participants who have expressed an interest in owning his or her own business in the future.

A special thanks to Patrick Murphy who coordinated the hiring and is Jermel's direct supervisor.  Please join me in welcoming Jermel to the Libraries.  He will be working through the end of August 2010

- Lois Stuedemann


Staff Tidings and Kudos

Lisa Johnston Presenting Two Papers

Lisa Johnston is presenting two papers at the International Association of Scientific and Technological University Libraries on Monday, June 21, 2010 at Purdue University.  The first is entitled, "User-Needs Assessment of the Research Cyberinfrastructure Alliance at the University of Minnesota," and discusses her experience as a member of a 2009 President's Emerging Leaders project group that was charged with identifying campus e-science needs, including data curation and research computing support.  Her second presentation was developed in collaboration with Cody Hanson and is entitled, "E-Science at the University of Minnesota: A Collaborative Approach," and discusses the work of the E-Science and Data Services Collaborative.  For more information on the conference, see: http://blogs.lib.purdue.edu/iatul2010/program/ .

- Janice Jaguszewski


Upcoming Events

Save the Date: Libraries Staff Recognition Event

Please save the date for the 2010 Libraries Staff Recognition Event
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
11:00 am to 2:00 pm
St. Paul Mall, the green space between Eckles Avenue and Cleveland Avenue North
Invitation and details to follow.

The Libraries Staff Picnic is open to full- and part-time staff who work in the University Libraries and Minitex, not including student employees.

- 2010 Staff Recognition Event Planning Group


Workshops, Training Sessions, Brown Bags, Etc.

Archives and Special Collections to Host Hands-on Training and FAQ Session

Wednesday, June 16, 2010
2:00 pm to 4:00 pm
Room 120, Andersen Library

Have you ever wondered what goes on in the Department of Archives and Special Collections (ASC)?  What kinds of materials there are and how to find them?  Who to call with questions?  Please join ASC staff as they host a hands-on training and FAQ session on Wednesday, June 16, 2010, from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm in room 120, Andersen Library.  This session is geared towards reference staff and liaisons, but everyone is welcome to attend.  The goal of the session is to demystify some of the policies, procedures, and collections in ASC, allowing us all to provide better service to researchers.  This session is supported by the Information Literacy Collaborative, Instruction Coordinators Group, and the Reinventing Reference Collaborative.

- Kris Kiesling

Library Course Page (LCP) Working Meetings

The LCP Implementation team will be holding Library Course Page working meetings over the summer.  We will do a brief (5 minutes) overview and have time for questions.  Feel free to stop by if you have a question, but the idea is to give you dedicated time to revise and update your RQS/Subject and new Library Course Page pages.  The Instruction Coordinators and a member of the LCP implementation team will be available to answer questions.  We will also be sharing additional guidelines and documentation on the new LCP system.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010
2:00 pm to 3:30 pm
Room S30C, Wilson Library

Wednesday, July 7, 2010
9:30 am to 11:00 am
Computer Lab 81, Magrath Library

Tuesday, August 3, 2010
3:00 pm to 4:30 pm
Computer Training Area, Bio-Medical Library, Diehl Hall

We are also in the process of creating email and blog messages that you can use/tweak as you begin to share the LCP system with faculty and departments - these will be ready in early July.  For more information, please go to the Library Course Page Wiki page at: https://wiki.lib.umn.edu/AP/LibraryCoursePage

- Kate Peterson on behalf of the LCP Implementation Team

The Supervisor's Guide to the NEO Checklist

Wednesday, July 21, 2010
11:00 am to 12:00 pm
Room S30C, Wilson Library and online via UMConnect

This interactive session will cover the new Libraries New Employee Orientation (NEO) Checklist.  This useful tool makes a supervisor's job easier by helping to organize orientation from before the employee starts, and gives all new employees a more consistent and thorough orientation experience.  You don't need to wait to start using the checklist.  Download an editable version at: .https://wiki.lib.umn.edu/NEO/SupervisorChecklist

Supervisors!  Take advantage of this opportunity to learn how best to use the checklist with your new employees.  Register for the workshop at: https://onestop2.umn.edu/training/courseDetail.jsp?course=LB0267

- Denise Gamble

Staff Education and Development

Check out upcoming classes offered by Libraries Staff Education and Development (SED) at: https://wiki.lib.umn.edu/SEDP/HomePage .

Minitex

Minitex offers a dynamic schedule of webinars and training sessions.  The full schedule may be found at: http://www.Minitex.umn.edu/events .


Tips

Greening the Libraries Fun Fact

Rethink Recycling!  The average Twin Cities resident throws away seven pounds of garbage a day.  That's enough to fill the Metrodome eleven times each year!  Visit Rethink Recycling at: http://www.rethinkrecycling.com/ for a one-stop source of consumer tips for the Twin Cities area.  Information is divided into categories for residents, businesses, and kids.  Find out everything from what's safe to recycle to waste management strategies at work.

For more resources and information on how to go green at work and at home, visit the Greening the Libraries Project website at: http://blog.lib.umn.edu/greenlibraries/

- Greening the Libraries Project


Exhibits at the Libraries

Below the Surface: Ten Years of Archives and Special Collections in Elmer L. Andersen Library
Through Friday, June 25, 2010
Gallery, Elmer L. Andersen Library
http://blog.lib.umn.edu/lib-web/events/2010/03/below_the_surface.html

Images of Madness: Selections from the Wangensteen Historical Library
Through August 2010
Wangensteen Historical Library, Diehl Hall

Images with Impact: Propaganda Through Popular Media
Through July 31, 2010
Atrium Gallery, Elmer L. Andersen Library
http://blog.lib.umn.edu/lib-web/events/2010/03/images_with_impact_propaganda.html

With Distinction: A Look at University of Minnesota Department of Plant Pathology Outstanding Alumni
Through August 2010
Plant Pathology LibraryFOR REVIEW
Room 395, Borlaug Hall
http://blog.lib.umn.edu/plantlib/newbooks/2010/03/new_exhibit_with_distinction.html



For previous issues, visit the University Libraries Monday Memo blog at: http://blog.lib.umn.edu/mondaymemo/ .

The University Libraries Monday Memo editorial policy can be found at: https://wiki.lib.umn.edu/Communications/InternalCommunications .

For items to be included in the University Libraries Monday Memo, please send all announcements to monmemo@umn.edu , before 12:00 pm the preceding Friday.