OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
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New open textbooks, call for volunteers, and professional development opportunities.
The first volume in the Open Textbook Initiative from OSULP in partnership with Open Oregon State is now available. A Primer for Computational Biology by Shawn T. O’Neil of the OSU Center for Genome Research and Biocomputing is available as an open textbook and in an affordable print edition. The book aims to provide life scientists and students with the skills necessary for research in a data-rich world.
Check out the new exhibit “Community, Collaboration, Craft: A Glimpse of Art at OSU” at the OSU Special Collections and Archives Special Center Gallery on the 5th floor of the Valley Library. Discover what puppet noses, danceramics, and wood marquetry have in common in this celebration of artistic inspiration on campus. On display until May 31st.
The grant funding for student tech workshops was awarded. This is a collaborative project involving LEAD, TED, and SMS to offer peer-to-peer training on technologies we already support. Ask Uta Hussong-Christian for more details if you’re curious.
The Corvallis Maker Fair (aka The Co*) is scheduled for Saturday, April 28th from 10 am – 3 pm in the MU and on the SEC Plaza. We expect over 50 exhibitors to share their passion for arts, crafts, technologies and music with over 1,000 people who will come to this free, family-friendly event. If you would like to be involved as an exhibitor or a volunteer, please visit their website. You can also direct questions to Margaret Mellinger, who is on the planning committee.
You’re invited to join the International Women’s Conversation Hour, and explore topics relating to studying and living in the US as an international woman student. Tuesdays 5-6 p.m. They’ll be in the MU Talisman Room.
Come learn some new tricks in Qualtrics on Wednesday, February 28th in the Willamette East classroom from 12:15-12:45 p.m. This week’s topic is on sending reminders and thank you messages in Qualtrics. Bring your lunch and your own laptop if you would like to follow along, or join online via Webex. RSVP for both the face-to-face and online event.
The ALA Sustainability Roundtable is offering a free webinar this Thursday at 9:15 a.m.. Their speaker, Sharon Rowe, CEO and Founder of Eco-Bags Products, Inc., is recognized as a leader in social innovation and sustainable, responsible clean supply chain production. She will share her experiences in building a profitable, mission & value aligned business while maintaining a healthy work/life balance – topics covered in her new book “The Magic of Tiny Business: You Don’t Have to Go Big to Make a Great Living”. Interested? RSVP here.
Instructional faculty, post-docs, and graduate students are invited to two sessions led by Dr. Ann Taylor from Penn State University, a nationally-recognized expert on teaching evaluation. These sessions will be held on Monday, March 5 and will focus on models for formative and summative assessments of teaching effectiveness that can be used to inform one’s own teaching practices as well as to provide input to employment, promotion, and compensation decisions. The workshops start at 2 p.m. and 3:30 p.m., and are located in the MU Horizon Room.
Monograph Acquisitions LT3 – The committee identified 4 candidates to interview by phone.
Science Librarian – The posting for this position is live. Feel free to share the link with those who might be interested in applying.
Metadata Librarian – No new updates.
“...education is a sacred thing, and the pledge to build a school is a commitment that cannot be surrendered or broken, regardless of how long it may take, how many obstacles must be surmounted, or how much money it will cost. It is by such promises that the balance sheet of one's life is measured.”
― Greg Mortenson
Can you guess the plant’s person?
This is Nefertiti.
Nefertiti is a 10 year old who parents were originally transplants from the Florida Everglades. Nefertiti has hundreds of siblings now, and seems to enjoy the climate over here.
Answers can be shared with colleagues and guessed among the office. Next week’s newsletter will have the owner’s name.
This week I thought I’d use the column to talk about some of the great work that is being done by ALA and ACRL. Most of my time has been spent in ACRL Board meetings, board liaison to ACRL committees and budget meetings. What I am most proud of, and the thing that aligns with the direction we are going as a library, is the work that the ACRL board did to further our associations commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI). Since the summer board meeting the ACRL Plan for excellence was updated to include a greater emphasis on EDI. We are modifying the ACRL committee work plans to be more transparent about how the work they engage in is reflected through the lens of EDI. At mid-winter, the ACRL Leadership meeting - a group of all committee chairs and co-chairs in ACRL - engaged in a very effective EDI activity. Lead by Adriene Lim, ACRL Professional Values Committee Chair and University Librarian of the University of Oregon, the leadership explored a series of questions and shared input with each other and the ACRL Board. That input has been collected and will be summarized and released to the ACRL membership in the future. Folding in information gathered from the ACRL Leadership meeting, the ACRL Board charged a taskforce with the development of an ACRL signature goal focused on EDI to enable the Association to further examine and develop support in these critical areas. This is especially important as it comes at a time when many in our profession regularly express concern about our core values.
The other hot topics at ALA-midwinter is the work going on to restructure and reorganize ALA and decide the fate of future ALA mid-winter meetings. You can read more about the need to restructure ALA in ALA President Jim Neal’s article “Your Thoughts Needed” in the November 2017 issue of American Libraries. You can add to this discussion on the ALA connect site.
121 The Valley Library
Corvallis OR 97331–4501
