UConn Dean’s Retreat

I recently had the opportunity to join the UConn Dean’s Retreat at the invitation of the Provost. It was a valuable experience to learn more about my colleagues both professionally and personally. We spent time talking about our approaches to leadership and how we meet the challenges and need to become a more diverse institution.

ARL Annual Meeting

In early May, I attended the ARL meeting held in Philadelphia. There was a great program of meetings and presentations but what grew to be a consistent thread in our meetings and informal discussions was the unsustainable practices of publishers and the “Big Deals”.  An old topic, but with renewed interest in tackling it.  I’m sure that you have all seen the law suit filed against Elsevier by LSU and the University of Montreal cancelling their Taylor and Francis deal.  These and recent studies about the low use of many titles in the packages, as well as alternative access to them was on the minds of all ARL Directors. Much of the conversation was how we, as a library community, could counteract some of this through putting more resources into supporting Open Access. I forwarded this information to our Provost, who shares this concern and expressed an interest in working with us and the University Senate to craft strategies appropriate for UConn.

ACRL & ELUNA Conferences

There were several members of the staff who attended these two conferences and I would encourage you to participate in a brown bag to share what you learned. I understand Roger is working on setting something up for ELUNA and we will work on setting something up for ACRL if there is nothing in the works already.

Staff News

I know that you have all received a note, but I wanted to take a moment to personally congratulate Graham Stinnett and Kate Fuller on their recent promotions. Their commitment to professional growth and excellence was recognized by their colleagues, the Provost and the Board of Trustees.

Marissa Gauthier from the Health Sciences Library was recently recognized by NAHSL (North Atlantic Health Sciences Libraries) for co-authoring two systematic reviews in the supplemental January 2016 issue of the Journal of Prosthodontics. She has also been named the chair-elect for CAHSL (Connecticut Association of Health Sciences Librarians). Congratulations Marissa!

And finally, congratulations to Erika McNeil for her recent publication in the Journal of Access Services titled “ILLiad, Rapid, and an unmediated solution to the interlibrary loan textbook dilemma.”