News
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. ...
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...
Libraries Makerspace contributing to campus creativity
Among the many books, journals, and scientific papers supported by KU Libraries are robot parts, a tiny theater set, fruit fly containment panels, and podcasts on environmental geopolitics — the latest additions to the university’s scholarly outputs thanks to the Libraries’ new Makerspace, a collaborative workspace for making, learning, exploring,...
BiblioBios: Meet Carol E. Smith, new Dean of KU Libraries
As a child, Carol E. Smith discovered dual-language books in her community library on Long Island, N.Y., poring over pages with English on one side and Spanish on the other, opening new worlds of curiosity and launching Smith on a path that has led her to become the next Dean...
BiblioBios: New Anschutz Operations Manager Morgan Smith enjoying the variety of opportunities
Each day is different at Anschutz Library and new Operations Manager, Morgan Smith, is ready to explore whatever the next moment brings. ...
BiblioBios: Andrew Morgan using experience as creator to help navigate licensing and rights management
If experience is the best teacher, then Andrew Morgan’s 17 published albums on Spotify hint that he might know a thing or two about creating and performing original content. Armed with a law degree and years of private practice protecting artists like himself, he’s well qualified for his role as...
Paleontology journal adapts to open format with help from KU Libraries
Bruce Lieberman knows something about evolution. As a professor in the University of Kansas Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, and a senior curator at KU’s Biodiversity Institute & Natural History Museum, he’s an expert on how certain forms of life change and adapt over time. Lieberman’s extensive resume now...
Whayne Scholar selected, to present findings at Spencer Research Library on May 24
Brandon Byrd, author and associate professor of history at Vanderbilt University, has been selected as the recipient of the 2023 Alyce Hunley Whayne Visiting Researchers Travel Award for his interest in studying the history of the African American experience in Kansas, particularly for use in a biography of Benjamin “Pap”...
KU Libraries honor student workers with annual DASEE Awards
On Thursday, May 5, leaders at the University of Kansas Libraries hosted the annual DASEE Awards luncheon, where two outstanding student employees were recognized for their positive contributions to KU Libraries. The honor was a surprise for both winners. ...
BiblioBios: Phil Cunningham settling in as KU Libraries new Kansas Collections Curator
As new Kansas Collections Curator Phil Cunningham has familiarized himself with the holdings in Spencer Research Library, his discoveries have ranged from the lighthearted: Brown County awarding a high school diploma to a pony named Pansy in 1931; to the slightly more serious: the Agnes T. Frog Collection which highlights...
KU Libraries’ extensive streaming video options set to expand with new agreements
An extensive collection of streaming video resources provided by University of Kansas Libraries is expanding further with three new agreements. KU Libraries has added nearly 10,000 titles through Kanopy’s Bundled Academic Subscription for Education (BASE), the top 1,000 titles from Swank Digital Campus, and will add more than 1,200 from...
KU Libraries announce winners of 65th annual Snyder Book Collecting Contest
The University of Kansas Libraries announced the winners of the 65th annual Snyder Book Collecting Contest at the awards presentation on April 18. The contest, established by libraries donor Elizabeth Snyder in 1957, is designed to recognize students' passion for collecting books. ...
BiblioBios: Gwen Geiger Wolfe supporting transformative work as Science and Engineering Librarian
Gwen Geiger Wolfe is celebrating one year as KU Libraries’ Science and Engineering Librarian, having joined the faculty in April 2022 as part of the Collections Strategy and Development unit. Her role is largely to develop the science collections, but also provide instruction and consultation for faculty and students. Gwen...
Law professor, KU grad Sarah Lamdan to speak about data collection and privacy
Sarah Lamdan, a KU alumna, author, and law professor at the City University of New York, will return to campus to discuss her research and book on data collection practices and their implication on privacy. Lamdan will present a public lecture at 10 a.m., May 4 in Watson Library’s Three...
Carol Smith selected as next dean of KU Libraries
The University of Kansas has selected Carol E. Smith to be the dean of the KU Libraries. Smith currently serves as university librarian at Colorado School of Mines, an institution with a Carnegie classification of very high research activity. Her appointment as dean of KU Libraries is effective July 3. ...
BiblioBios: April Friedl using professional GIS experience to help users add spatial context to data
What do KU basketball forward Jalen Wilson’s shot chart, a COVID-19 outbreak dashboard, Snapchat’s Snap Map and Douglas County’s interactive property viewer have in common? They all utilize some sort of geographic information system (GIS) – a spatial system that creates, manages, analyzes, and maps all types of data –...
KU Libraries to host panel on public scholarship in conjunction with Haricombe Gallery
As an extension of the recently opened “Taking it to the Streets” exhibit in the Haricombe Gallery, KU Libraries will host a panel discussion about public scholarship on Thursday, March 30 in Watson Library, Third Floor West, 3:30-4:30 p.m. ...
BiblioBios: Mac Bean serving KU community as Open Education Librarian
From the city planner’s office to the Shulenburger Office of Scholarly Communication & Copyright, Heather Mac Bean’s positions may have changed drastically over the years, but the common goal of serving the public has remained the same. Heather became KU Libraries’ Open Education Librarian in August and just successfully led...
KU Common Book Teach-In to provide kick-start for 2023-24 selection
KU Libraries, the Hall Center for the Humanities, and the Division of Academic Success are set to host the KU Common Book Teach-In, March 27-31, a week of informal discussion and programming that explore how to integrate next year’s book selection, “Parable of the Sower” into curriculum and programming during...
KU Libraries select Ljudmila Bilkić as the 2023 Textbook Hero
Ljudmila Bilkić’s Intermediate German II class redefines traditional norms. In her classroom, upbeat Spotify tunes provide a prelude to the “Foto des Tages.” The photo of the day – a manatee napping on its back -- is a nod to subtropical regions instead of arboreal forests. The class banter shifts...
KU Libraries accepting student entries to 2023 Snyder Book Collecting Contest
KU Libraries announces an open call for entries to its annual Snyder Book Collecting contest, which awards KU undergraduate and graduate students for their collections of books, digital items, graphic novels, music, and film that share a particular subject, topic, or theme. ...
KU Libraries to host Pressbooks workshop, announce Textbook Hero during Open Education Week
KU Libraries’ Shulenburger Office of Scholarly Communication & Copyright will host a workshop on Pressbooks, the Libraries’ open textbook publishing platform, and announce the 2023 Textbook Heroes selection during an online event on Wednesday, March 8, at 10 a.m., in conjunction with Open Education Week (March 6-10). As defined by...
KU Libraries sign transformative open access agreements with Elsevier, Cambridge University Press
The University of Kansas Libraries have signed a pair of renegotiated deals aimed at supporting open access and broadening the reach of KU-generated research. Through a pair of transformative read-and-publish agreements with Elsevier — the world’s largest scientific publishing company — and Cambridge University Press — the world’s oldest university...
Early gift becomes family tradition, provides strong start to libraries campaign
Laura Lewis has witnessed hundreds of first serves, tipoffs, and kickoffs — often followed by a KU victory — as a former member of the Kansas Jayhawks athletics department staff. She and her husband, Danny, a former Kansas football player, understand the importance of a strong start and its impact...