Scholarly Communications Coordinating Group

I am pleased to announce the new Scholarly Communications Coordinating Group and its new chair, Jenny Miglus. This restructure of the long standing Scholarly Communications Committee will gather together staff in the UCL (including Health and Law) who have position responsibilities which fit within our broad definition of Scholarly Communications. The new purpose of the Coordinating Group will be to provide a forum for discussion of the issues facing us, information about what is happening throughout the UCL, identify any critical gaps, and to make recommendations for taking coordinated action. Jenny has served as a member of the prior committee and is committed to engaging staff in this conversation which is of strategic importance. The Scholarly Communications Coordination Group will report to me and we will be talking with unit heads to identify members to serve. I would like to thank Scott Kennedy for all of his efforts in revitalizing the committee and producing great work in a short time. One of those items was recommendations to decrease the number and length of embargoed thesis and dissertations. We will continue to work with the Graduate School to make progress on this.

Monthly Deans Meeting

I am pleased to report that I have been asked by Provost Teitelbaum to join the monthly meeting of the deans. This regular meeting is held outside of the formal Dean’s Council and will be a wonderful opportunity for me to have more meaningful and effective contact with our schools and colleges. My goal is to gain a greater understanding of their needs to continue to strengthen our collections and services, and of course to remind them of the important role we play in their work.

BLC Board Meeting

Next month’s BLC Board Meeting will take advantage of an opportunity to engage with the newly appointed Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden while she visits Boston. In the planning stages now, we are looking forward to speaking with her about the unique perspective BLC members have in academic research and the role the Library of Congress can play in supporting that.

I would also like to congratulate Marisol Ramos for her upcoming participation in the BLC Leads program. Marisol expressed an interest in being a part of this first year and I am pleased to support her aspirations and designate her as our choice from UConn.

Provost’s Library Advisory Committee

PLAC members met last week and were given updates on our collection reviews, work within the Research & Curriculum Services, and our recent budget hearing. We also had the opportunity to show them their updated website. The updates include a new section where members can access agendas, minutes, and other meeting documentation. Located behind a login, it is accessible to all members of the University community with a NetID. The Committee will be working over the next month to prepare for their yearly summary meeting with the Provost in April, which will also be their first official meeting with Provost Teitelbaum. Their intention is to reinforce the importance of the Library as a core part of UConn’s mission with particular focus on requesting he find ways to restore our collections budget on a recurring basis.

Health Sciences Library Visit

Last Friday was my monthly day-long visit to the Health Sciences Library and as always I enjoyed getting up to date on what they are working on. I am also pleased that I will see many of them at Yale tomorrow for a lecture with the new director of the US National Library of Medicine, Dr. Patricia Flatley Brennan. The lecture, which both Holly and I will be attending alongside many of our Farmington colleagues, is a wonderful opportunity to meet the new Director of an organization both Holly and I have worked closely with for many years. Also, with the recent changes to the distribution lists we now have a separate list for our colleagues in Health at ‘LIB – Health Sciences Library Staff’ and they are also now included in the ‘LIB – All Libraries Staff’ distribution list.

Upcoming Calendar Dates 

There are two important dates coming up next week so please make sure they are on your calendar. The first is the opportunity to join our colleagues to wish Scott and Carole well on their retirement next Tuesday, the 28th from 9:30-10:30 in the Staff Lounge. The second is my Mashup on Wednesday, March 1 from 10-11. We will be discussing the highlights from our budget hearing as well as some interim and long-term organizational changes.

One Good Thing

Today’s comment came in recently about Hilda. “Hilda is incredibly efficient and effective at her job and does it all with a bit of fun. Her recent glow is her relishing in being a new grandmother which I’m sure if you ask she will gladly share some adorable photos.”

Have your own good thing to share? Please do!