Category Archives: Academic

Remember to Register for ARLD Day!

The Academic and Research Library Division (ARLD) is hosting their annual conference via Zoom on May 6th! Make sure to register by May 2nd.

The keynote speaker is Derrick Jefferson: “Connecting the Dots is a conversation led by Derrick Jefferson that explores and examines not just identity, but how multiple intersectional identities engage on both personal and professional fronts.”

There are several different sessions offered throughout the day, ending with a virtual social hour!

Find more information on their event page which includes a PDF schedule of the day.

Applause for South Carolina’s Principal Eppelsheimer!

As a profession, we stand firmly against censorship of books and ideas. We oppose people burning books in parking lots, people suggesting “well…couldn’t we find something nicer to read?,” books being taken out of a classroom because they might give readers “ideas” (gasp!), and every other type of overt or covert censorship.

It’s enshrined in our code of ethics; scroll down – it’s #2, just after our focus on service to all.

People who know nothing else about library staffers know this: We share books, we share ideas, and we do it for everyone.

But it’s easy to say that, and it’s a lot harder to make that idea a reality. A school library person needs support from the community, including the administration.

So, our admiration and applause goes out to the teachers who assigned a variety of books to students in South Carolina’s Wando High School – because reading books about people not exactly like you is a great way to learn new ideas and develop empathy for other people.

And we add a burst of applause and admiration to the school’s principal, Sherry Eppelsheimer, for supporting these teachers in the face of some pretty fierce opposition!

We aren’t alone here: the S.C. Association of School Librarians gave Eppelsheimer its Intellectual Freedom Award!

From the Post and Courier newspaper: “Wando High School found itself in the spotlight last summer after English teachers sent students home with a list of summer reading options that included “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas and “All American Boys” by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely.

Both books involve police brutality or shootings of civilians, echoing similar stories in the news.

The president of the Charleston-area Fraternal Order of Police chapter, Tri-County Lodge No. 3, went on television news to complain about the books, which he said instilled “almost an indoctrination of distrust of police.””

Yes: it seems so obvious. NOT reading about problems does not make problems go away, or make them better. Of course. But this is the perpetual call of the censor, the people who want to hide from ideas that are new and maybe uncomfortable. When that call comes from otherwise respected members of a community, or people with authority, it can almost sound like it’s a good idea.

So it’s wonderful to see that not only did this principal support her teachers and students, but that the library profession gathered to support her! It’s the best way to overcome bullies, and foolish ideas: We are stronger when we work together!

At the award ceremony, Eppelsheimer was shown a video of thanks from the authors of these books. ““From the bottom of my heart, thank you — not so much for fighting for my book, but for fighting for your students,” Thomas said. “At the end of the end of the day, this is what this is about. This is about making sure that all kids get books where they can see themselves or they can see others, whether or not it makes the adults in their lives uncomfortable.”” Check out the video on their Facebook page!

““Dr. Eppelsheimer is an advocate for teachers and students,” Wando teacher Lucye Magill said in a press release from the district. “One of her main priorities is to make sure that our teachers feel supported in their choice of curriculum. She trusts and respects the instructional decisions of her teachers.”

Both books were recipients of the Coretta Scott King Award, and “The Hate U Give” was a national bestseller before it was adapted for a film released last fall. The American Library Association, which tracks public challenges and bans of books, placed “The Hate U Give” on its top 10 most challenged books in 2017 list.


Another group cancels their Elsevier contract

Elsevier

We shared the news that the University of California schools are moving away from Elsevier, and making research available through open source materials, and now another big group is making this transition: the country of Norway!

This is a big deal for academic libraries, and for everyone who is paying a fortune in your library’s money to get access to these databases. This move toward open source materials is really gaining steam. Are people talking about this in your organization? If not – it’s important to bring it up, so people are thinking about their choices. CMLE staff are happy to come to you and chat about this issue with you, your staff, and others in your institution.

We have an excerpt of an article about this below; click on that link to get the whole thing and all their info!

​Norwegian research institutions have decided not to renew their agreement with Elsevier

“The Norwegian government aims at making all publicly funded research articles openly available by 2024 and to move from paying to read articles through subscription agreements, towards paying for publishing articles that are openly available. Unit – The Directorate for ICT and shared services in Higher Education and Research has been in discussions with Elsevier since the introduction of the government’s national guidelines for open access in 2017. Unit negotiates and manages agreements on behalf of Norwegian research institutions. The agreement with Elsevier includes 44 member institutions comprising of universities, university colleges, research institutes and hospitals, and is the largest of the agreements.

To ensure a successful transition to open access, the following guiding principles apply to all negotiations:

* Articles with corresponding authors from Norway shall be openly available at the time of publishing

* Publishing open access shall not increase total costs

* License agreements, costs and business models must be fully transparent

* Perpetual access to content published in subscription journals must be granted

* Agreements should demonstrate a move towards models where costs are related to the volume of Norwegian article output

In July 2018 Universities Norway (UHR) gave their full support to Unit’s negotiation principles and nominated representatives from the rectorates at the universities of Oslo and Bergen to participate in the negotiations with Elsevier.

– For many years we have cooperated closely with library directors during negotiations. The type of agreements we are now negotiating will have a direct impact on the publishing of research, and participation from the top level of the institutions has therefore been important. The active involvement of the rectors has sent an important message to publishers that the negotiation principles have the full support at the top level, says the Director of Research Services Strategy at Unit, Katrine Weisteen Bjerde.

Despite good discussions, the offer from Elsevier is still a long way from meeting the principles and has therefore been rejected. There will therefore be no agreement in 2019, but the discussions continue.

– It is very disappointing that we did not manage to reach an acceptable agreement with Elsevier, a publisher that accounts for a substantial proportion of Norwegian publishing output and is an important stakeholder for us on the road towards open research. We wish to cooperate with all publishers in order to create a good framework for open publishing, but sometimes we simply stand too far apart, states the vice rector for research at the University of Bergen, Margareth Hagen.

Norwegian researchers publish around 2000 articles annually in Elsevier journals. In 2018 participating institutions paid around € 9 million in subscription costs. In addition, an estimated € 1 million was spent paying to make articles in subscription journals openly available.

Looking to share your knowledge? Try some adjunct teaching!

Herb Brooks National Hockey Center 2013

St. Cloud State is looking for applicants to join their pool of people who would be able to share their professional experience with students. Check out these different areas, and think about contributing your ideas to others who want to improve their skills!

If you want to talk about putting together a syllabus, or putting together information about classes, I am happy to work on it with you so you are ready to go! (I’ve taught Master’s level library classes for more than a decade now, so know my way around a syllabus.)

University Archives Adjunct Instructor:

https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/stcloudstate/jobs/2241382/adjunct-instructors-university-library-archives-academic-year-2018-2021

Cataloging Adjunct Instructor:

https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/stcloudstate/jobs/2241315/adjunct-instructors-university-library-cataloging-academic-year-2018-2021

Reference Adjunct Instructor:

https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/stcloudstate/jobs/2241375/adjunct-instructors-university-library-reference-instruc-academic-year-2

Hill Museum & Manuscript Library in National Geographic magazine

(Find this and so many more wonderful images on their website!)

 

Wow – our members are out there doing such awesome things!!

“Materials curated by the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (HMML) at Saint John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota are featured in the December 2018 issue of National Geographic magazine: “The Bible Hunters: inside the cloak-and-dagger search for sacred texts.” HMML executive director, Father Columba Stewart is mentioned; his photograph is included in the online version of the article. The article highlights the history of Bible hunting and includes nineteenth century figures like Constantine von Tischendorf and contemporary figures like Hobby Lobby’s president Steve Green.

 

Items from the HMML collections help illustrate the circulation of the Bible across centuries and cultural regions: from glimpses of the Bible in a Carolingian fragment of the Gospel of John to a fragment of a Coptic Psalter—both from the 9th century; from a beautiful Bible in many languages printed in Antwerp (1569-1573) to an 18th-century Ethiopian Psalter; and even from a late 13th-century Latin New Testament to The Saint John’s Bible of the 21st century.

 

Items mentioned in this text that are in vHMML:

https://w3id.org/vhmml/readingRoom/view/510561  (Ethiopian Psalter)

https://w3id.org/vhmml/readingRoom/view/510560  (late 13th-century New Testament in Latin)”

 

If you have not visited this amazing collection – you are in store for a treat! It is located in the newly renovated library on St John’s campus – so you can visit both. Prepare to be impressed; I certainly was when I visited!!