This fall we continued to add collections and resources that increase the diversity of works available to researchers. These collections, focused on African American and Asian American communities, will open up new primary source materials and give access to voices that all-too-often go unheard. 

In August 2021, UConn alumna (‘86) and author, civic organizer, and civil rights advocate from Norwich, Connecticut, Lottie B. Scott donated her papers to Archives & Special Collections. Scott built her reputation as an advocate for civil rights through her roles in the founding and presidency of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Norwich chapter, from the 1960s-2010, and service in various positions (often as the first woman of color) with the Norwich Arts Council and the Rotary Club, as a board member of Backus Hospital, and in her work for the Commission for Human Rights and Opportunities over 22 years. This collection is available to the public for research use.

A new Asian & Asian American Studies Library Collection showcases thought-provoking books on Asian American history, politics, and culture at the forefront of interdisciplinary scholarship. Librarians Sam Boss and Michael Rodriguez partnered with faculty members Fred Lee and Na-Rae Kim to create the collection. The books are organized into sub-collections that address challenges Asian Americans face, their role in the United States’ nation-building, social justice movements, stereotyping, solidarity, immigration, and the vibrancy and creativity of Asian American literary and cultural products among other topics. These books can be borrowed only by current students, faculty, and other UConn community members.

Black Thought & Culture is a digital collection of 100,000 pages of nonfiction writings by African American leaders covering 250 years of history. Alongside the full Black Panther newspaper (1967–80), Black Thought and Culture features letters, speeches, essays, leaflets, interviews, and trial transcripts. These sources bring Black voices and perspectives to understanding African American experiences. This resource is available only to current students, faculty, and other UConn community members.

African American Communities is a digital collection exploring African American culture and identity in Atlanta, Chicago, and New York City (1863–1986). Pamphlets, periodicals, letters, records, reports, and oral histories offer first-hand perspectives on Black communities and cultures, including aspects such as segregation, poverty, urban renewal, protests, community organizing, voting rights, and more. This resource is available only to current students, faculty, and other UConn community members.

Race Relations in America documents the struggle for Black civil rights from 1943 to 1970. Sponsored by the American Missionary Association and based at Fisk University, the Race Relations Department and its annual Institute investigated issues in race relations and developed methods for educating communities and preventing conflict. The collection showcases the speeches, surveys, and reports produced by the Department’s staff and Institute participants, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other Black leaders. This resource is available only to current students, faculty, and other UConn community members.

Interested in learning more about these collections? 

The OG of doggie de-stress programs at UConn is back!!! Finals week in Babbidge, with the hustle of 24/7 hours (starting Friday, December 10 – Sunday, December 19) is never the same without visits from some of our four-legged friends. These doggies have gone to school themselves, and are all registered with national organizations dedicated to improving human health through therapy.

All dogs are on Level 1 in Babbidge Library – so come get a little drool on you for good luck!

MONDAY, DECEMBER 13
1:00 – 2:00 Judith Pepin & Gracie (Pug)
2:00 – 3:00 Jeanne Ladd & Benny (Shih-Tzu)
3:00 – 4:00 Betsy Tubridy & Finn (Labradoodle)
4:00 – 5:00 Peter Lok & Grant (Golden Retriever)

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 14
1:00 – 2:00 Sue Glenney & Mica (Golden Retriever mix)
2:00 – 3:00 Sandy Lok & Tori (Golden Retriever)
3:00 – 4:00 Laurel Rabschutz & Wrigley (Newfoundland)
4:00 – 5:00 Claudia Eberly & Tegan (Welch Springer Spaniel)

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 15
1:00 – 2:00 Karen Eberl & Jake (Irish Wolfhound)
2:00 – 3:00 Caroline Gaetano & Seneca (Yellow Lab)
3:00 – 4:00 Becky Caldwell & Hunter (Shetland Sheepdog)
4:00 – 5:00 Sandy Lok & Andy (Golden Retriever)

THURSDAY DECEMBER 16
1:00 – 2:00 Katherine Patterson & Kammy (Keeshond)
2:00 – 3:00 Caroline Gaetano & Finley (Yellow Lab)
3:00 – 4:00 Christine Anderson & Bo (Black Lab mix)
4:00 – 5:00 Laurel Rabschutz & Wrigley (Newfoundland)

FRIDAY DECEMBER 17
1:00 – 2:00 Ed Ruchin & Sawyer (Akita)
2:00 – 3:00 Steven Kornfeld & Summit (English Lab)
3:00 – 4:00 Terri Carpenter & Brody (Shetland Sheepdog)
4:00 – 5:00 Karen Tuccitto & Mazzie (Cocker Spaniel)

Times and dogs may be subject to change.

UConn Library has acquired permanent online access to 650 scholarly journal archives, 2,000 scholarly books, 1,200 documentary films, and hundreds of thousands of pages of primary sources across a wide range of subjects. Unlimited access is available to all UConn faculty, students, and staff at all campuses and remote locations.

If you have questions about any of these resources, please contact ermsupport@uconn.edu or your subject specialist.

Highlights

Black Thought & Culture. More than 100,000 letters, speeches, essays, interviews, and trial transcripts by Black and African American leaders in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Cambridge Companions. 720 ebooks comprising the complete Cambridge Companions. Coverage runs the gamut of humanities and social sciences: literature, music, philosophy, and more.

JSTOR Sustainability Collection (informational page). Complete runs of 115 scholarly journals around the theme of sustainability. Past years’ issues are added annually. Topics include policy, ecology, climate, and construction. To find a JSTOR Sustainability journal, please search for the title in our Journal Search.

PBS Video Collection. 1,200 streaming videos produced by PBS. Includes films from well-known PBS series such as Ken Burns’ Civil War and Jazz, NOVA, Frontline, and American Experience.

SAGE Business Cases. Collection of 4,200 business case studies from over 100 countries in areas such as leadership, entrepreneurship, accounting, and management.

Scholarly eBooks

Harvard University Press 2021. 155 scholarly eBooks published by Harvard University Press in 2021.

University of Chicago Press Ebooks 2021. 261 scholarly eBooks published by the University of Chicago Press in 2021. 

Yale University Press Ebooks 2021. 198 scholarly eBooks published by Yale University Press in 2021.

Elgar Sustainable Development Goals. 183 multidisciplinary scholarly ebooks on global sustainable development, published by Edward Elgar 2015-2020. Search the Library’s catalog to find titles of interest.

Encyclopedia of Virology 4th edition. 5-volume scholarly encyclopedia on the virosphere, published by Elsevier in 2021.

Springer Computer Science Ebooks 2018. Hundreds of computer science ebooks and conference proceedings published by Springer in 2018, including 2018’s complete Lecture Notes in Computer Science.

Primary Sources

African American Communities. Collection of essays, records, oral histories, articles, and images from the 18th-20th centuries covering topics including desegregation, urban renewal, and race relations in major American cities such as New York, Chicago, and Atlanta.

Children’s Literature and Culture (Adam Matthew). Collection of primary source material including pamphlets, rare books, scores, and images in the area of children’s literature from the 1820s-1920s.

Legislative and Executive Publications. Complete collections of 2021 federal government documents, including Hearings, Bills and Resolutions, Regulatory Insight, and Executive Branch Documents, along with Legislative Insight 2013-2021. Access courtesy of the UConn Law Library. 

Popular Culture in Britain and America. Collection of primary source material including manuscripts, images, and video content highlighting popular culture from 1950-1975.

Race Relations in America. Collection of records, images, case studies, audio recordings, and surveys from the Fisk University race relations department and its annual institute between 1943 and 1970.

Times Literary Supplement Historical Archive. Complete full text of five additional years (2015-2019) of the Times Literary Supplement.

Scholarly eJournals

Elsevier Journal Backfiles (search ScienceDirect). Complete runs of 380+ Elsevier journals from their first volume and issue through 1995. Coverage spans the agricultural and biological sciences, earth and planetary sciences, chemical engineering, nursing and health professions, psychology, and clinical medicine. More than 700,000 articles are now immediately accessible.

JSTOR Lives of Literature (informational page). Complete runs of 107 scholarly journals focused on literary authors and texts. Past years’ issues are added annually. Coverage spans medieval, Victorian, and modernist authors along with theorists. To find a journal, please use our Journal Search.

Royal Society of Chemistry Journals Archive (informational page). Complete runs of dozens of Royal Society of Chemistry journals from their first volume and issue through 2007. More than 260,000 articles are now immediately accessible. To find and access any of these journals’ archives, please use our Journal Search.

The last year has taught us many things, and for us here at the UConn Library, it has reminded us of the important role we have as a hub of scholarship, research, and learning for UConn students, faculty, and staff. Across our campuses, we find renewed commitment in balancing the need for our community to gather in our spaces and connect with each other, while continuing to provide and expand access to resources and services in an online environment.

As the fall semester approaches, the Library is working to complete projects that will both welcome you back in a safe and inviting manner, as well as increase your ability to get the library resources you need quickly, and successfully. 

Facilities

The Homer Babbidge Library soft-opening is from August 16-August 30 with amended hours and services. This will allow us to ease back into the building. Our stacks will be open and we will be phasing out the requirement for pre-checkout only from the general collection, although you are welcome to use the normal requested items pickups service. In order to comply with copyright laws, we will be ending the HathiTrust Emergency Temporary Access Service (ETAS) program on August 13, which provided electronic access to print books from our collections. Our regional campus libraries and the Pharmacy Library, Music and Dramatic Art Library, and Archives & Special Collections on the Storrs campus will open with the start of the semester on August 30. 

We will continue to take precautions within our facilities to keep you safe by enforcing masking mandates, providing materials for surface cleaning, and responding quickly to changes in hours and service levels when needed. If closures are necessary, we will announce them broadly on our social media (Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook) and on our website. 

Discoverability of Resources 

We have implemented several projects over the summer to help you find the resources you need. 

Databases – We continue to work with all academic disciplines to provide subject specific databases needed for coursework and research. To improve access to those resources, we have built a new interface which allows searching by title, subject, resource type, and more. It readily connects with our subject-based research guides for even greater access to resources in your field of study.  

General Search – We updated our catalog software to improve your experience on mobile devices and allow for simpler customization. If you are linking to resources directly through the library catalog, including through HuskyCT, you will need to recreate those links. If you need any help creating new links, contact us at ermsupport@uconn.edu and we can help.

Course Reserves – We are prioritizing electronic access to materials for greater equity and increased usage. Whenever feasible, the Library will purchase electronic versions of physical materials (such as books and DVDs) that instructors have assigned to courses or requested be put on Course Reserve for Fall 2021. Materials unavailable in electronic format will be placed on traditional reserves at your selected campus location.

Future of Journals – a Vision for Collections – We continue to work with the Provost’s Future of Journal Subscriptions Committee to provide relevant resources to meet the increasingly diverse research and teaching needs at UConn while staying within our budget. Over the year we will be exploring and testing alternative means of accessing scholarly information to move the focus away from acquiring resources for ‘just in case’ to providing access at the point of need. Changing the model of how we provide access to scholarship allows the Library to manage our scarce resources to better serve our community through building nimble collection access that more accurately reflects the needs of our faculty and students. 

Archives & Special Collections – The John P. McDonald Reading Room will reopen to the public for onsite research visits on Monday, August 30^th.

Workshops – We have an exciting series of workshops planned for this fall and an improved registration platform. Keep an eye out on our homepage for upcoming workshops and events.

Stay in touch! Reach out to your subject specialists with questions or use our Ask a Librarian chat service. And don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

During the pandemic, the UConn Library took advantage of the HathiTrust Emergency Temporary Access Service (ETAS) program, providing electronic access to half-a-million print books from our collections. As we work toward fully reopening our facilities for the fall semester, emergency online access to HathiTrust materials will cease on August 13.

To comply with US copyright law, HathiTrust deactivates emergency access for libraries that have resumed more normal operations. The deactivation affects only copyrighted materials that were made temporarily available through HathiTrust. Out-of-copyright, public domain materials will always be fully accessible through HathiTrust.

“We appreciate the additional access provided through our membership in HathiTrust as the UConn community navigated incredibly challenging times,” said Michael Rodriguez, Collections Strategist. “HathiTrust was an integral part of our efforts to provide as many online resources as possible to support socially distanced research and learning.”

We have reviewed the HathiTrust ETAS items accessed since April 2020, and whenever possible, have purchased permanent online access to the most-used titles.

Access to the stacks will begin on August 16th in Homer Babbidge Library on the Storrs campus during our two-week soft opening period. All other campus libraries will open at the start of the semester on August 30th.

Founded in 2008, HathiTrust is a not-for-profit collaborative of academic and research libraries preserving 17+ million digitized items. HathiTrust offers reading access to the fullest extent allowable by U.S. copyright law, computational access to the entire corpus for scholarly research, and other emerging services based on the combined collection. HathiTrust members steward the collection — the largest set of digitized books managed by academic and research libraries — under the aims of scholarly, not corporate, interests.

Library collections (books, databases, special collections, archives, and more) must be meaningful to and reflective of the diverse voices of our communities. To fulfill the UConn Library’s mission to steward the world of information, our collections must be inclusive, diverse, equitable, and accessible.

As a direct response to the socio-political climate in the United States, UConn Library staff have formed a working group to investigate how their work in collections could better reflect and realize the values of inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility (IDEA). Under the aegis of the UConn Library’s values and strategic framework, the working group is collaborating to ensure that the Library’s policies and practices foster IDEA in the collections we build and steward. With representation across campuses and library units, the IDEA in Collections Working Group will craft guiding principles to help shape future collecting activities, access to and discovery of library collections, collections-related policies and practices, and engagement with Library collections stakeholders, including faculty, students, researchers, and donors.

If you would like more information about the project, please reach out to Michael Rodriguez, Rhonda Kauffman, or Rebecca Parmer.

On Friday, March 13, 2020, Jason started his first day, attending the required Human Resources orientation. At the same time, the staff were preparing for what we thought would be a two-week timeframe to work from home. He never had a chance to log on to his computer or even sit at his new desk. Edward, recently hired as our Business & Entrepreneurial Librarian, was set to move in March from his home in Singapore, only to “commute” for ten months until he could move to the United States.  

Throughout the roughly 15 months of working from home, the Library has had the fortunate opportunity to hire ten new full-time staff members and we wondered, what was it like to start a new job in the middle of a pandemic? Even though their individual experiences are as unique as the two examples above, they collectively share an experience like no other. We sat down with several of them to talk about their challenges, successes, and hopes for joining the Library in person soon. 

Geographically Distant – Together on Screen! 
Staff came from far and wide, and close by too. Some have relocated, and some are still waiting to move. Where are they from? We have representation from almost all of New England – Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont, as well as New York, California, Georgia, and the prize for farthest – Singapore. And yes, that means that in some cases, time zones have to be considered when scheduling a meeting! 

What is it About the UConn Library?
Without the ability to experience the environment and have only online interactions, what was it about the UConn Library that helped them decide to make the move? Even in a challenging online environment, they felt connected with the organization on collective goals and aspirations, and with individuals in the meetings. We also have a secret weapon for our search committees – Ellen Silbermann. A Georgia native and full of Southern charm, Ellen is a one-woman welcoming committee, putting applicants at ease from start to finish. 

Space, the Final Frontier…
Roughly half of our newly hired staff have never stepped foot into the building they will be working in or seen their work space. Some have never been on campus. So what are they wondering about? Do I have a nice chair? Should I bring my space heater? Is there a dress code? How far exactly is the Dairy Bar? What does the campus environment at a land grant institution feel like? How remote and bucolic is remote and bucolic? 

Take Me Home, Country Road. 
What will they miss from home? Coffee within arms reach. Lunchtime walks with four-legged and furry co-workers. Impromptu playing of the mandolin during a quick meeting break. The warm snuggie and a wood stove. A new, special order, purple home office chair. 

We Can’t Wait For….
Did we mention the Dairy Bar already? New and exciting lunch options. New office mates (more than the four-legged furry ones and family members we have now). A welcome party!! 

Not All Bad.
Online orientation does have some advantages. For example, having an online meeting for the first time instead of in person removes a lot of the stress. Decreased anxiety means increased number of connections which means a win for us all. A new initiative this past semester, Coffee Connections, also helped break the ice. It was designed for in-person meet-and-greets over coffee, but translated well via video. Online orientation also erased the physical divide, breaking down the barriers that we often face with staff in multiple campus locations. Online, we are all in the same space. 

The UConn Library is looking forward to reopening this fall and with that the return of our staff. It seems like after working at home for so long, we are all going to feel first day jitters! 

Thanks to the staff who chatted with us – from top left to bottom right:

Jean Nelson (interviewer and photo taker); Edward Lim, Business & Entrepreneurship Librarian, Hilary Kraus, Research Services Librarian specializing in Kinesiology and Psychology; Jason Anderson, Web Services Coordinator; John Cropp, Access Services Associate, evening; Michelle Greene, Access Services Associate; Roslyn Grandy, Pharmacy Librarian; Sam Boss, Head of Research Services; and Sarah Goldstein, Head of Digital Infrastructure Services. 

Merlita Taitague is the Acquisitions & Electronic Resources Support Assistant for the Acquisitions & Discovery unit. She is at work behind the scenes coordinating the purchase of materials and managing our streaming video collection. Merlita is a UConn alumna (B.A., College of Liberal Arts and Sciences), recently celebrating 25 years of service during which she has been a member of our IT team, responsible for supporting donor development and stewardship, and as executive assistant for our former Vice Provost Brinley Franklin. If you ask any staff member they would tell you that no matter the work role, Merlita is most respected for her willingness to step into any project and do whatever it takes to make it successful. Take a minute to get to know Merlita.

What do you love most about working in a library?
I’ve had the privilege of assisting many interesting library users over the years. One of my favorites was an artist who named a shade of colored pencil after me. Another was a world-renowned geographer and former world chess champion. After a long discourse about the virtues of fountain pens (he had one for every year from 1892 to 1959, including his favorite, made from the underbelly of a crocodile that lived in an African lake the name of which I can’t remember), he proceeded to treat me to a lecture on the history of chess-playing computers. Then there was the grad student who was so grateful for my help that he brought me and a colleague beef patties from my favorite Jamaican bakery.

In the midst of the pandemic, what do you do to take your mind off the crazy things happening in the world right now?
I do yoga, or I walk my dog on the beach.

What is a positive that has come from this pandemic?
Michael Bevacqua, a Chamorro Studies scholar, has volunteered countless hours of his free time teaching Chamorro language classes to people on Guam. For years, he held these informal sessions in person, meeting on Saturdays in a coffee shop. Because of the pandemic, he was obliged to move his classes online. There are so many mainland Chamorros—including myself—who don’t know the language. (And very few on Guam know it well; I read somewhere that at the current rate of decline, the Chamorro language will be extinct in 50 years.) So of course, once word got out about his online classes, interest spread literally worldwide. His current beginner class has several hundred people in it!

What’s your go-to productivity trick?
Talking to myself. It helps me focus.

What’s one professional skill you’re currently working on?
Trying to figure out how to increase the digital accessibility of our collections.

Tell us a fun fact about you.
My first job was as a carnival barker.

What is on your reading list?
“Language Matters” by Sharon Clampitt-Dunlap (shoutout to my former colleague Marisol Ramos for purchasing this book for our collection), “Where Are All the Librarians of Color?” and whatever leisure reading books friends exchange with me. Right now, I have a James Patterson, a Vince Flynn, and two Steve Berrys sitting on my shelf.

Everyone loves UConn for their own reasons. What is yours?
The breadth of expertise available to me in the form of colleagues and students across the University. No matter my question, I have an expert whose brain I can pick.

If you could only have three apps on your smartphone, which would you pick?
Google Maps, a calendar app, and Weather Channel.

What’s your most hated household chore?
Dusting . . . or laundry . . . or mopping . . .  or maybe vacuuming.

What’s your most used emoji?
The heart emoji for my kids, the smiley face for everyone else.

Post written by Jean Nelson, Head of Communications & Engagement and Rebecca Parmer, Head of Archives & Special Collections

Groundbreaking in 1970, the “Black Experience in the Arts” course is part of UConn’s history of employing education as a tool in understanding and eliminating racism. The materials from the class, which represent a broad range of scholarship in fine arts, education, and the humanities, will be preserved by Archives & Special Collections through a grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR).

The “Turbulent Sixties” were felt at campuses across the country including here at home. On the night of October 9, 1969, tensions between Black and white¹ students resulted in damage to the resident halls of Delta Chi fraternity house and Lancaster House. Shortly after, the Board of Trustees endorsed President Homer Babbidge’s statement that UConn would not condone violence or racism of any kind, and called on him to prioritize the work of addressing pervasive racial inequalities and better meet the needs of an increasingly diverse student body through curricular and campus environment reform.²

Among the efforts to foster racial awareness, representation, and cultural exchange was the development of the course “Black Experience in the Arts” in 1970. Created by Floyd Bass, Director of the Center for Black Studies and faculty in the School of Fine Arts, including Edward O’Connor, Associate Dean of Fine Arts, and professors of music Hale Smith and James Eversole, the course brought Black artists, musicians, actors, writers, and others to UConn to discuss and demonstrate their work, and to participate in dialogue with students. The unique format of the course, with sessions delivered by a series of guest lecturers rather than a single instructor, was designed to draw greater awareness to the creativity and contributions of Black artists in all art forms and provide students with greater exposure to the racial and social dynamics in American culture. 

More than 120 lectures and performances by Black artists were recorded as a part of the course, providing a cross-section of artistic practices and personal histories. Important voices can be found in areas such as the Black Arts cultural movement (poet and activist Jayne Cortez, playwright Ed Bullins, and Harlem Writers Guild figures Rosa Guy and Louise Meriwether), insights from artists who sought to use their art and creative expression to drive political and social change (African drummer Babatunde Olatunji, playwright Loften Mitchell, and writer and editor Orde Coombs), and insight into the creative process from MacArthur fellows (culture critic Stanley Crouch and author Paule Marshall) and recipients of national grants and prizes for literature, poetry, theater, and art (storyteller Brother Blue, actor Rawn Spearman, and composer Hakim Talib Rasul). For some speakers, these recordings offer the only known recorded representation of their perspectives and insights.

The recordings have broad appeal for scholars and curious listeners alike, providing insight into speakers’ influences, creative processes, and artistic development. It is also an opportunity to understand the shifting racial, social, and political dynamics of the 1970s and 1980s on college campuses and in American culture, and how the classroom was used to foster cultural exchange through engagement and dialogue.

Part of a large archive transferred by Dean O’Connor to the Archives from the School of Fine Arts in 2015, the year-long project will digitize, preserve, and improve access to 243 sound recordings. This project is supported by a Recordings at Risk grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR). The grant program is made possible by funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

¹ Capitalization of Black and white follows Associated Press guidance. 

² Stave, B. M., & Burmeister, L. (2006). Red brick in the land of steady habits: creating the University of Connecticut, 1881-2006. University of Connecticut. 

Refinitiv’s Thomson ONE Banker database is being retired and replaced with Workspace for Students. Workspace for Students offers the same global market data, historical and current company financials and filings, earnings estimates, equity, loan deals and more as Thomson ONE Banker.

Access to Workspace requires advanced registration. For current UConn faculty, staff, and students, please register for an individual account with your UConn email address. After registration, you can access via the web at workspace.refinitiv.com/web or install the desktop application. This includes the Workspace add-in for Excel. UConn will lose access to Thomson ONE Banker on July 31, 2021.

Support and training information for Workspace is available, with live and on-demand training videos. If you and others in your team would like a custom demonstration or have any questions about this transition, please contact the Business & Entrepreneurship Librarian at edward.lim@uconn.edu.

For more information, contact our Library’s Acquisitions and Discovery team at ermsupport@uconn.edu.