I know this is a busy time for everyone but I wanted to take a few minutes of your day to update you on a few things.

Open Educational Resources

We have received approval to release the winners of the Provost’s OER Awards and will be doing that next week in celebration of Open Education Week. There are 14 faculty members who have been awarded a total of $98,000 for their projects to save students money on textbooks. Information about the winners can be found on our news blog next week.  I also joined others from around Connecticut to provide comments at a legislative hearing on what is now Proposed Substitute Bill No. 7235 – An Act Concerning the Recommendations of the Open Educational Task Force. The purpose of the bill is ‘To establish an open educational resource program to help lower the cost of acquiring a college degree in Connecticut.’ The bill has been filed with the Legislative Commissioners’ Office  and will now continue on through the process to the Senate for a vote.  You can keep track of the bill status page on the CGA website.

Public Services Area Meeting

Earlier this week Holly and I met with the new Public Services Area which includes Research Services, Reference & Curriculum Services, Access Services, and the Regional Campus Libraries. We had an opportunity to review some of the goals achieved last year as well as ideas for Area Goals for the coming year, and took a look at the draft job description for the new AUL position. I know this Area includes a lot of staff so Holly and I appreciate all who were able to attend – physically and virtually.

One UConn Library Initiatives

As an outcome of last year’s One UConn Library report, several efforts are currently underway to increase and build on collaborations within the UConn Library system. Three of these efforts are being led out of our Collections & Discovery Area and below is a report from Patrick to share.

Alma/Primo Integration Assessment
Under the leadership of Roger Brisson, this team has been charged with analyzing the UConn Library System’s three independent instances of Alma/Primo and assessing the feasibility and potential benefits/challenges associated with a migration to a single shared instance of Alma/Primo that would be used by all system libraries. The team is meeting on a weekly basis and currently analyzing similarities and differences across the instances as they relate to pertinent policies, practices, and system configurations. The team’s deliverable will be a report that includes a recommendation regarding if and how the UConn Library System might pursue migration to a single shared instance of Alma/Primo.

Resource Sharing
Under the leadership of Erika McNeil, this team was charged with:

• Developing shared understandings of resource sharing practices, systems, and responsibilities across the libraries;
• Building relationships among the libraries to facilitate enhanced collaboration and the sharing of expertise;
• Identifying and recommending short and long-term changes that will lead to efficiencies and enhanced services to the UConn community.

The team met from September 2016 through January 2017, and completed their work with the submission of a report summarizing what was learned and including recommendations for next steps. One of these recommendations was that we explore ways to integrate the UConn Library system’s three separate instances of ILLiad. A working group of personnel from Health, Law, and Storrs is currently assessing different options regarding ILLiad integration and will be formulating a recommendation to best achieve this effort.

Licensing
Under the leadership of Michael Rodriguez, this team was formed to establish and implement plans for the consistent use of license management capabilities in Alma across the UConn Library system. Also, this team will be focused on developing shared understandings, working toward consistencies in practice, and building relationships among licensing personnel across the UConn Library system. The team has met twice so far with a focus on learning about similarities and differences in licensing practices.

Water Woes in Health Sciences

Earlier this week a pipe burst in the Health Sciences Library which affected the ground floor hallway where staff offices are located and the sub-basement where the journal collections are. There was some minor water damage to sheet rock, carpeting and wallpaper as well as a row of Science journals. Fortunately the journals are all available online. Big thanks to Arta Dobbs, Mike Gargula, and Jenny Miglus for jumping in and doing immediate damage control so there was no significant loss, and Janice reports they are back to business as usual.

Homies Ignite Fundraising Campaign

The Homies, Student Friends of the Library have been actively participating in the UConn Foundation’s Ignite fundraising campaign since early February. They have had several activities including tabling, handing out buttons, speed dating on Valentine’s Day and will be hosting a fun run this Saturday from 11am-12pm around Homer Babbidge. They have also produced a special video with a balance books challenge which received the highest points in the campaign’s video competition. All of this has brought them 65% of the way towards their $1,000 goal. If you were interested in donating to the cause, for which all funds go directly to the Library, don’t delay because the competition ends on Sunday.

Good Things

I have two good things to share. One is a compilation of some comments I have received from two staff members in Health and Storrs about Wendy Urciuoli. One note mentioned that working with Wendy is always a very positive experience and that she always has new ideas and inspiration. She is also very dedicated to connecting clinical staff and patients to the Library. In fact, many of you may not know that Wendy is responsible for HealthNet News, a regular e-newsletter that provides health information to the public. You can find copies of these newsletters from the Health website. It is nice to know that we have the right person heading our Patient & Family Health Information Services.

I would also like to congratulate Terry Baughman for receiving the Student Employee Supervisor of the Year Award and thank Erika for taking the time to nominate her. Terry has been invited to the Student Life Award Reception in April to receive her award. Way to go!