Diversity Annual Report

I have submitted our Diversity Annual Report for FY08 and it is posted on SharePoint under the Office of the Dean in the Diversity folder. At the end of every spring semester, the University publishes a report detailing our campus wide initiatives to enhance diversity. The publication, which is distributed to campus as an insert in UK News, is the basis for UK’s annual report to the Council on Postsecondary Education. Each college was limited to 500 words but our report provides a good summary of our efforts in this area. My thanks to those who provided information and details for this report.

Mr. Wildcat in His Own Words

With the death of Bill Keightley, we have had the opportunity to highlight our oral history program. In a special edition of "Focus On UK" Alan Lytle chats with Doug Boyd (Director of the Louie B. Nunn Center For Oral History) about a new project featuring Mr. Wildcat who passed away this week. Check it out at http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wuky/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1254119 The press release can also be found at http://news.uky.edu/news/display_article.php?artid=3344

Student Project to Make the Libraries Greener

Several weeks ago we were approached by a business writing student group who wanted to use the Young Library as the focus on their class project. The focus of the project is to pick a business near the UK campus and find a way to minimize costs and also make the business more green friendly. The students have met with our informal working group and we look forward to his report.

UK at the Half Spot

While the WildCats didn’t advance far in the recent NCAA basketball tournament, we did benefit from some media attention with a radio interview by Carl Nathe during the 3/27 game. Becky Ryder and I were interviewed by Carl Nathe about our recent awards and the May 13th anniversary event. Check it out at http://www.uky.edu/PR/radio-tv.html

Updated Strategic Plan Chart

With each quarterly report, Judy Wiza and Sherree Osborne review those reports and update our strategic plan with status reports that they can glean. That updated report can be found on SharePoint on the Office of the Dean site, under Strategic Plan 2007-2009.

EndNote Software Renewed

Three years ago, Frank Davis led a process to sign a contract for a campus wide license to EndNote. The funding for that software came from a number of the colleges (the Libraries did not contribute to that purchase since it was software). Frank took the lead again this year to determine the pricing for a new three-year license. I’m delighted to report that rather than asking various colleges to share in the funding for the license, the Provost’s Office has agreed to pay for the license for the next three year period.

Google Unveils Tools to Integrate e-Books into Library Catalogs

From the Chronicle for Higher Education, March 14, 2008

Google Unveils Tools to Integrate Its Digitized Books into Campus Library Catalogs
Google has now scanned over a million books as part of its controversial partnership with major libraries, but many students and professors don’t know when Google has a copy of the book they’re looking for. Google wants to change that by getting college libraries to integrate Google’s book search into online library catalogs.

This week Google unveiled a set of software protocols that allow libraries to essentially merge Goolge’s collection with their own.

Among the first to take advantage of the new protocols are the University of Texas at Austin’s libraries. If a user searches the UT library catalog for a book that happens to be in Google’s collection, the catalog entry includes a link that says “Limited Preview at Google Book Search.” The link takes users to that book in Google’s collection, which allows searching of the full text. For books that are still covered under copyright, Google allows only short passages to be viewed, though it offers full text viewing of other books. —Jeffrey R. Young

Flexible Future of E-Books

From American Libraries Direct

The flexible future of e-books

Karl McGoldrick is the CEO of Netherlands-based Polymer Vision, the only company that right now is working on making e-books in a form that’s actually close to traditional books—ones that are mobile, bendable, and, above all, readable. But the device, called Readius, is not just an e-book reader—it receives email, text messages, and RSS feeds, makes phone calls, and keeps calendar and contact information—in addition to downloading books and newspapers wirelessly....CNet news, Mar. 12

Who are those people who doodle in library books?

From American Libraries Direct

Doodlebug

Nick Baker (Short Pencil Saga, March of the Librarians) returns with another humorous take (0:33) on library life. This time out, he discovers the real culprit behind those annoying doodles you sometimes find in your library books....

Print Encyclopedias in Crisis

From American Libraries Direct

Print encyclopedias in crisis

A series of announcements from publishers across the globe in the last few weeks suggests that ahead of other books, magazines, and even newspapers, the classic multivolume encyclopedia is well on its way to becoming an internet casualty. Sales of the printed edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica are just 10% of what they were in 1990, Brockhaus is putting all 300,000 of its articles online for free, and Gyldendal has decided that the subscription plan for its online encyclopedia is misguided....New York Times, Mar. 16

Google Books Availability API

From American Libraries Direct

Google Books Availability API

Google has released a new API that lets you link easily to any of its books. Web developers can use the Books Viewability API to quickly find out a book’s viewability on Google Book Search and, in an automated fashion, embed a link to the book in Google Book Search on their own sites. Here is how the Deschutes (Oreg.) Public Library is using it....Google Blog, Mar. 13