News
New graduate student workshops available for spring as part of Fridays on Fourth
A new slate of graduate student workshops launches today as part of Fridays on Fourth, a collaborative project aimed at boosting graduate studies with research, write-ins and workshops in a transformed Graduate Study Center on Watson Library’s Fourth Floor. The collaborative project from KU’s Libraries, Writing Center, Office of Graduate...
Bristow harnessing own curiosity to encourage Makerspace experimentation, collaboration
If life experiences and personal traits combine to make a person who they are, the building blocks of Matt Bristow might include a natural curiosity, a bit of 1980s television, some mechanically minded craftsmen in the family tree, and the “freedom to get into a little bit of mischief.” Bristow...
Data Carpentry Workshop provides fundamental computational skills necessary for genomics research
Amar Kumar, a University of Kansas Ph.D. candidate in computational biology, is no stranger to R, a computer language used for statistical analysis. As a member of KU’s Funk Lab in pharmacology, Kumar regularly uses custom commands and scripts while analyzing data related to juvenile arthritis. When he got an...
International Collections Librarian forging a path as a scholar, connector, mentor
Milton Machuca-Galvez understands the merit of self-sufficiency, a quality that has proven worthwhile throughout a career that has included transporting essential supplies into remote mountain ranges, as well as decades of research, teaching, and academic leadership in sometimes new and unfamiliar places. ...
KU Libraries staff find unique learning opportunities and ‘real conversations’ in revived Wheat State Tour
A group of KU Libraries faculty and staff rose early on a November morning and, instead of consulting with researchers, teaching a class, or winding through the stacks, piled into a van and headed west. More than 20 colleagues from a wide variety of different departments and schools, set off...
Matching gift jump starts music diversification effort
Outside the Gorton Music and Dance Library in Murphy Hall, a mix of sounds wash down the corridors, woodwind trills swirling with soaring voices and the rumble of drums. Inside, the library is a cove of quiet concentration dotted with glowing laptops, headphone-clad students, and brimming shelves of books and...
KU alumni honor the legacy of longtime KU Libraries administrator
More than 35 years after working at Watson Library at the University of Kansas, Cliff Haka returned to the stacks with his wife, Sue, to honor someone who made a big impact on his life: the late Dr. James Ranz, who served as Dean of KU Libraries from 1975 to...
New and updated databases for November
KU Libraries is continuously working to improve reading and publishing opportunities for its users. The following databases and e-resources have been recently changed or added to KU Libraries' collections. Access resources with your KU online ID and password. A list of database trials is also available. ...
KU Libraries Associate Dean Hanrath named a 2023-34 ARL Leadership Fellow
The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) has named Scott Hanrath, KU Libraries Associate Dean of Research and Engagement, a 2023-24 Leadership Fellow. The ARL program for senior and executive leaders includes a 13-month hybrid experience. ...
BiblioBios: Undergraduate Engagement Librarian brings non-traditional student experience to new role at KU Libraries
Sarah McCall’s journey to college success began early one morning as she finished her night shift at the garage door factory where she worked full-time, supporting her family. In the employee restroom, she changed out of her dusty work clothes into a clean outfit and headed to an 8 a.m. ...
Frontiers and the University of Kansas announce 'flat-fee' publishing partnership
The University of Kansas Libraries have negotiated a flat-fee partnership agreement with gold open access publisher Frontiers, giving KU-affiliated researchers even more options for sharing their work openly, starting in January 2024. The partnership marks Frontiers' second flat-fee agreement in North America and is the first to include the publisher's...
Applications open for Spencer Library 2024 travel grants for visiting researchers
Researchers from across the United States and around the globe are encouraged to apply for a 2024 Spencer Research Library travel grant, which supports hands-on analysis of the library’s collections and in-person consultation with the institution’s curators and librarians. The online application is open through January 2, 2024. ...
Libraries help campus partners answer complex questions during Sprints Week
Areli Marina, associate professor of art history, had almost given up trying to wrangle the sprawling, multi-format data set that was stalling the momentum of her research. ...
KU Libraries announce 2023 Shulenburger Award for Innovation & Advocacy in Scholarly Communication
During International Open Access Week, October 23-29, KU Libraries granted the 2023 David Shulenburger Award for Innovation & Advocacy in Scholarly Communication to two recipients: Bruce Lieberman, professor in KU’s Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and senior curator at the Biodiversity Institute & Natural History Museum; and Cameron W. ...
New book provides guide to librarians, scholars on Open Access, scholarly communication
There has been a significant push in recent decades among academic libraries to make information as freely available as possible and as appropriate. So when a group of scholarly communications experts wrote a book on the topic, they couldn’t hide it behind a paywall. That book, “Scholarly Communication Librarianship and...
BiblioBios: Spencer Administrative Associate inspired to share library collections
What do a moon rock, vintage match books, a list of children’s superstitions, and a 200-year-old pudding recipe have in common? They’re all items from the Spencer Research Library that caught Tiffany McIntosh’s eye, inspiring her to learn more. As Administrative Associate at Spencer Library, McIntosh is often at the...
KU Libraries exhibit opening, First Folio anniversary celebrated at full capacity
Conversation buzzed around the display cases and Spencer Research Library’s North Gallery was packed on opening night of KU Libraries’ exhibit, “To the Great Variety of Readers: Celebrating the 400th Anniversary of Shakespeare’s First Folio.” Nearly 100 people attended the event that celebrated the folio’s importance in literary and cultural...
Haricombe Gallery to open new exhibit with events featuring KU scholars in association with Common Book Program
A new digital exhibit in Watson Library’s Haricombe Gallery will showcase KU scholars, centering the importance of imagination and visionary thought in cutting edge research. The exhibition, entitled “Pushing Boundaries with Science and Fiction,” is inspired by the KU Common Book Program’s 2023-2024 selection, “The Parable of the Sower,” a...
BiblioBios: Undergraduate Engagement Librarian returns to KU to support next generation of Jayhawks
Amber Ovsak has a deep appreciation for the challenges of college life and academics, shaped by her own experiences attending KU as a first-generation college student. Ovsak has returned to campus two decades after leaving KU amidst her own struggles, to support student success through her new role as Undergraduate...
New Fridays on Fourth program at Watson Library supports KU graduate students
In the Graduate Student Study Lounge at Watson Library, coffee is brewing as mid-morning light glows through the tall windows. Beats of cozy jazz meld with the tap of laptop keys as students settle into the rhythm of writing, and friendly faces greet newcomers with a menu of resources or...
KU scholars mark 400 years of Shakespeare's first folio with new exhibition
The idea of forgetting classic Shakespeare plays like “Macbeth” or “Julius Caesar” is nearly unthinkable. But if not for the foresight of two actors and friends of William Shakespeare to publish a book 400 years ago, those plays might have been lost forever. A University of Kansas professor is teaming...
East Asian Graduate Discovery Workshops aim to familiarize students with library resources
KU Libraries is offering a workshop series for graduate students in East Asian Studies, hosted by Japanese studies librarian Michiko Ito and Chinese studies librarian Cecilia Zhang, who both work in the East Asian Collection. ...
Call for nominations for the 2024-25 KU Common Book
All members of the University of Kansas community are invited to submit nominations for the 2024-25 KU Common Book. Recommendations can be submitted via the online nomination form through September 17. ...
BiblioBios: Special Collections Curator welcomes exploration at Spencer Library
As a Special Collections Curator at Spencer Research Library, Eve Wolynes spends her days jumping across centuries as she works with materials as varied as medieval manuscripts, the natural history of plants and animals, and the personal papers of acclaimed science fiction writers. Wolynes began her professional journey with KU...
Common Book Program announces 2023-24 events
The University of Kansas Common Book Program is pleased to announce a slate of activities and events surrounding the 2023-24 Common Book selection, “Parable of the Sower,” by American science fiction writer Octavia E. Butler. ...
Nominations open for KU Libraries’ open access award
The David Shulenburger Office of Scholarly Communication & Copyright is now accepting nominations for the annual Shulenburger Award for Innovation & Advocacy in Scholarly Communication through Sept. 18. ...
Open houses, info session and movie screening part of KU Libraries’ Hawk Week lineup
KU Libraries are hosting four events in conjunction with Hawk Week, August 18-27, with the aim of connecting new students with the libraries’ resources, spaces and staff. Libraries events include a pair of open house events, an information session for its student advisory board and a free screening of “The...
BiblioBios: MC Mack builds relationships as Watson Library's night and weekend supervisor
When work duties serve as a platform for inspiration and connection a kind of harmony occurs, something like a vocal performance that goes beyond the technically correct to a singer truly making a song their own. For MC Mack, a classically trained vocalist who brings a creative perspective to the...
HBCU Library Alliance Internship offers area student opportunity to experience KU Libraries
After Aryana Derritt left her home in Wyandotte County to start a biology degree at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, the lower levels of KU’s Spencer Research Library were nearly 600 miles – and several magnitudes of relevancy – off her intended path. Yet, a digitization project completed as a...
Major gift launches new exhibit series at Spencer Library
David Bergeron and Geraldo Sousa’s connections to KU Libraries loop and crisscross through time, including deep dives into historical research, rigorous rounds of coursework, and a long-held admiration for librarians. With their 2022 major gift to KU Libraries, the couple is establishing an annual exhibit series at the Kenneth Spencer...