Music Library at Sustainability Fest

The Music Library will participate in the University of Houston Sustainability Fest 2016 on November 7 from 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. Visitors to the Music Library table can view a display of crafts and decorations made with re-purposed music-related items, such as old sheet music and damaged CDs and LPs. A handout tutorial and materials to create sheet music flowers will also be available for students.

Additionally, the Music Library will have a preview of book bags made from re-purposed plastic bags at Sustainability Fest, ahead of an upcoming February 2017 event that will demonstrate the construction of the book bags.

Sustainability Fest is a zero-waste event that provides information about the latest developments in sustainability. Campus and community organizations engage attendees through interactive activities and prizes.

Santiago Selected for ALA Emerging Leaders

Ariana Santiago, instruction librarian at the University of Houston Libraries, was recently chosen to be a part of the American Library Association (ALA) 2017 Class of Emerging Leaders (EL).

The EL program provides opportunities for newer library professionals “to participate in problem-solving work groups, network with peers, gain an inside look into ALA structure, and have an opportunity to serve the profession in a leadership capacity.”

“I’m very excited about participating in Emerging Leaders,” Santiago said. “It’s a great opportunity to gain leadership training and learn from librarians throughout the country. I’m looking forward to this experience and honored to be selected for the program.”

Santiago’s professional interests include instructional design, application of learning theories, and assessment of library outreach. Prior to UH Libraries, she was a residency librarian at the University of Iowa, focusing on library instruction and outreach for undergraduate students.

Open Access Week 2016

As part of Open Access Week 2016, University of Houston Libraries has gathered resources offering information on supporting and publishing open access research.

Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resource Coalition (SPARC): a global coalition committed to making open the default for research and education. SPARC empowers people to solve big problems and make new discoveries through the adoption of policies and practices that advance open access, open data, and open education.

Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA): represents the interests of open access (OA) journal and book publishers globally in all scientific, technical and scholarly disciplines

The Public Library of Science (PLOS): a non-profit organization of scientists committed to making the world’s scientific and medical literature freely accessible to scientists and to the public

The Open Access Spectrum (OAS): an evaluation tool that quantitatively scores journals’ degrees of openness. It offers a concrete, quantifiable mechanism to analyze publications’ policies. The OAS Evaluation Tool aims to provide unprecedented insight and transparency into scholarly journals’ degree of openness.

UH Librarians Participate in Mentorship Program

At the University of Houston Libraries, we leverage the power of partnerships and collaboration to enrich services locally and expand our impact globally. Four UH librarians are enacting this significant value by mentoring students at The Lawson Academy, a Third Ward charter school founded by Rev. William “Bill” and Audrey Lawson.

Emily Vinson, Mea Warren, Anne Washington, and Orolando Duffus volunteer with the Juvenile and Capital Advocacy Project (JCAP) and First Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston (First UU) Mentorship Program, a partnership that pairs mentors with The Lawson Academy eighth graders.

Mentors in the program range from graduate students to retirees, and represent various professions and industries across the Houston area. They visit with their mentee over lunch once a week for the duration of the school year, giving The Lawson Academy students the benefit of an additional positive influence in their lives – a friend who will listen, support, and advise them.

The UH librarians serving as mentors in the program enjoy a valuable experience as well. “It’s made me feel like I have a closer connection with the community at large,” Warren, natural sciences and math librarian, said. “I’m reaching out to students who may want to go to UH someday, or maybe want to be in my profession. It’s really cool to be able to help out the younger generation.”

“One of the interesting things about mentoring someone is that it forces you to research and articulate your thoughts much more frequently,” said Duffus, business librarian. “Mentorship is a win-win for everyone involved. I get a sense of fulfillment and personal growth following every interaction with my mentee.”

Finding common ground with the students is an important first step in gaining trust and rapport. Light-hearted conversations about families, classes, music, and celebrities help establish a bond, but the talks are also substantive. Mentors share information on topics such as navigating magnet school selection, higher education pathways, and professional opportunities. Encouraging the students to think about and prepare for their future is paramount.

“Working with students in the historic Third Ward has been a rewarding experience,” said Vinson. “It’s important to engage with the wider community around UH, and the program has allowed me to learn more about my mentee and about the opportunities that The Lawson Academy is creating for the students to help them make important decisions about their education.”

Outreach is integral to the library profession, and that’s what inspires metadata librarian Washington as a mentor. “I believe that libraries are a service to the community,” Washington said. “Introducing and reinforcing the library and librarians as a resource for young people now and throughout their lives is important. It is also personally enriching; I’m learning and sharing in someone else’s experience which has given me the opportunity to reflect on my own experiences.”

AV archivist Emily Vinson shares a film featuring Rev. Bill Lawson discussing civil rights issues circa 1967. Original film is from the KUHT Collection.

Unique Holdings: A History of Responsiveness

University of Houston Libraries invites faculty and staff, students, researchers, and anyone interested in discovering unique materials to attend a brown bag presentation on Wednesday, November 2 in the Elizabeth D. Rockwell Pavilion at the MD Anderson Library.

Founded in 1982 as the Kaposi’s Sarcoma Committee, AIDS Foundation Houston (AFH) is Texas’ first organization dedicated to HIV prevention, education, and services. In August, UH Special Collections began collaborating with AFH to preserve their archives and make them available to the public for viewing and research. Join chief executive officer Kelly Young, chief program officer Nike Blue, librarian Vince Lee, and professor Whitney Cox for a discussion of what these archives contain, how they came to be a part of UH’s collection, and the importance of this history to the ongoing fight against AIDS.

The November 2 talk is part of Unique Holdings, a presentation series that highlights the rare archival items held by Special Collections and available for use by faculty, students and researchers.

Future Unique Holdings talks will feature librarians discussing other books and manuscripts of Special Collections that can inform and shape scholarly endeavors in any discipline.

Bring your lunch and enjoy an enlightening discussion.

What: “A History of Responsiveness” brown bag presentation
When: Wednesday, November 2 at noon
Where: Elizabeth D. Rockwell Pavilion, MD Anderson Library

Cruces Appointed to iSchool Advisory Council

Lisa Cruces, Hispanic Collections archivist at the University of Houston Libraries Special Collections, was appointed to the University of Texas at Austin School of Information Advisory Council. Members of the Council assist the dean by contributing to the School’s advancement efforts.

Cruces graduated from the UT Austin School of Information in 2012. She accepted the newly established role of Hispanic Collections archivist at UH in 2014, and was previously the Librarian-in-Residence at the University of Notre Dame.

October 2016 New Databases

The following databases are now available from the University of Houston Libraries:

HeinOnline
Provides full-text electronic access to numerous legal journals, rare and out-of-print collections, including extensive backfiles.

Nursing Education in Video
This site provides access to the complete collection of Medcom’s training videos; over 400 titles.

‘Storied’ Exhibit Videos

Perspectives from individuals affiliated with the University of Houston Creative Writing Program were captured on video as a digital component of the new exhibit, Storied: The First Ten Years of the Creative Writing Program.

UH Libraries Special Collections welcomes visitors to view the exhibit located on the first floor of the MD Anderson Library, and to learn more with the following videos:

Welcome! – Alexander Parsons, Creative Writing Program Director

From a Student and Administrative Director’s Perspective – Gail Storey

Planning for Greatness: The Inception of the UH Creative Writing Program – John McNamara, former chair of the UH English Department

“Those Who Live Alone” by Cynthia Macdonald, read by Professor Martha Serpas

“The Glass Mountain” by Donald Barthelme, read by Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished Professor Roberto Tejada

The Banner Project Pops Up at UH Libraries

Visitors to the MD Anderson Library this week will notice a suite of banners displayed in the atrium. The Banner Project, created by Houston activist Sara Fernandez, is a type of pop-up exhibit that features pivotal points in Houston’s LGBT history from the 1930s to present day.

The thirty-seven banners bring a vibrant visual aspect to the individuals, events, and milestones of the LGBT community. Vince Lee, UH Special Collections archivist, hopes “the visuals from the banners will generate discussion, reflection, and awareness across campus and in the community.”

In tandem with LGBT History Month, The Banner Project will be on display at the MD Anderson Library through October 11, which is National Coming Out Day. Fernandez will visit the Libraries to answer questions about the project, and Lorraine Schroeder of the UH LGBTQ Resource Center will also be on hand with information that day.

Related: OutSmart article “The Banner Project: Teaching Local LGBT History in a Fast-Paced Society”

Campus Engagement Events

Volunteers from the University of Houston Libraries will be engaging with students and visitors at two upcoming events.

The Cougar Resource Fair will offer an informational and interactive experience for students to explore services and programs available at the University. UH Libraries will host a coin toss/library trivia game at the Resource Fair on Thursday, October 13 from 11:30 a.m – 1:30 p.m. at Lynn Eusan Park. In case of rain, the event will be moved to the Student Center.

During UH Family Weekend on Friday, October 14, UH Libraries will offer tours of the MD Anderson Library for parents and family members of UH students between 10 a.m. and 12 noon, and will begin in the 24-Hour Lounge.