Archive for August 2005
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August 24, 2005
It's Coming ... It's Coming ... It's Here! The Libraries and OIT Open The Commons
A Synthesis of Research and Technology Resources is Now Available in One Location
It's every student's worst nightmare: you have a problem, but you'll spend hours wandering around campus trying to find a solution. Perhaps your NetID login isn't working. Or that new wireless card you bought makes your laptop do funky things. Or maybe you've been slammed with a research project that's due in a couple of days, and you don't know where to begin. The last thing you want to do is be shuffled all over campus, from office to office, feeling foolish and spending half a day trying to get your problems solved.
Now, thanks to a collaboration between the UT Libraries and the Office of Information Technology (OIT), some of the most frequently used library and technology resources are available in one location, called the Commons, located on the second floor of Hodges Library.
Perhaps you'll notice first the friendly Commons consultants sitting at the large service desk. Here students can check out books and get reference assistance and computer lab help, as well as computer help desk support, such as installing wireless cards and spyware protection. The Commons also offers help with statistical analysis, evening Digital Media Service drop-off, and book retrieval during late-night hours when the libraries' other floors are closed.
"The Commons is a place that is defined by student needs," Barbara Dewey, Dean of Libraries, said. "Students today have many group and collaborative project assignments and need access to technology, as well as inspiring places for individual, contemplative study. We hope the Commons can fulfill all these needs," Dewey said.
"By bringing so many resources into one common area, we hope to make students' lives a little easier," Brice Bible, Assistant Vice President for OIT, said.
Currently, the Commons offers more than forty computers with over sixty different software packages, as well as loaner laptops, scanners, and laser printing capabilities. In addition to the consultant and computer services, the Commons has both group and individual study areas and a large presentation practice room, where students can rehearse their power point and other spoken presentations.
The Commons also offers access to the libraries' Media Center and Studio, where students can view items in the video collection, begin a desktop publishing or multi media project, or borrow a still or video digital camera.
Because students' work hours often defy the norm, the Commons is open 24-hours from noon on Sunday to midnight on Friday, when classes are in session.
The Commons is intended to be a multi-phased project. Future additions to the area may include more group study and work areas, multi-media and video conferencing capabilities, additional computer workstations, an information kiosk and new media suites.
"We invite students to come discover the Commons resources for themselves, and to let us know what kinds of resources they’d like to see in the future," Bible said.
For more information, visit the Commons Web site.
Posted by Laura Purcell at 12:10 PM in Good News
August 19, 2005
Resistance: Fall 2005 Documentaries in the Library
PRESS RELEASE
August 16, 2005
For Immediate Release
Contact: Sandy Leach
865.974.7922
leach@email.lib.utk.edu
http://www.lib.utk.edu
University of Tennessee Libraries to host RESISTANCE Film and Discussion Series
The Fall 2005 Documentaries in the Library series, Resistance, will focus on documentary films that address the theme of resistance.
The University of Tennessee Libraries invites the University and Knoxville community to discuss and discover how filmmakers have contributed to the diversity of resistance discourses through the documentary form. The first film, Battle of Algiers, will be screened on Wednesday, September 21, 2005, at 7:00 p.m. in Hodges Library's Lindsay Young Auditorium. Although technically speaking not a documentary, but rather a “recreation,” this film vividly recreates a key year in the tumultuous struggle for independence from the occupying French in the 1950’s. Used as a training film for the Black Panthers and other proponents of guerilla warfare throughout the world, screened by the Pentagon prior to the U. S. occupation of Iraq, Gillo Pontecorvo's timeless film addresses not only the problem of resistance, torture and terrorism, but also the problems inherent in their representation. There will be a discussion of the film with Michael Kaplan, Professor of Architecture Emeritus.
Other showings will include
(Oct. 5) LA CUECA SOLA (2003) & NOW! (1965), discussion with Chris Holmlund, Lindsay Young Professor, Chair of Cinema Studies, Department of MFLL, author of Impossible Bodies: Femininity and Masculinity at the Movies;
(Oct. 19) PUBLIC ENEMY (1999), discussion with Cynthia Fleming, Professor of History and author of Soon We Will Not Cry: The Liberation of Ruby Doris Smith Robinson;
(Nov. 2) EDWARD SAID: THE LAST INTERVIEW (2004), discussion with Abdi Hussein, author of Edward Said: Criticism and Society;
(Nov. 16) THUNDER IN GUYANA (2003), discussion with Dawn Duke, Assistant Professor of Spanish and Portuguese.
All films will be screened at 7 p.m. in the Lindsay Young Auditorium of Hodges Library on the UT Knoxville campus. Free and open to the public. For more information please visit http://www.lib.utk.edu/mediacenter/docs or contact Sandy Leach leach@email.lib.utk.edu / 974-7922.
Documentaries in the Library continues to build awareness of how independently-produced documentaries can comment on and contribute to the most important historical, artistic, social and scientific conversations of our time," said Troy Davis, Media Services Librarian. "By tackling the theme of resistance, we are also addressing the larger issue of how we talk about political struggles, racial and sexual politics, and the legitimacy, or not, of the uses of violence in the course of a struggle for ‘rights.’ At what point does resistance resemble terrorism? Is all resistance terrorism? Who decides? Am I a terrorist? Are you? These films seek to frame these questions within the context of particular struggles and within differing styles of representation.
Posted by admin at 09:05 AM in Documentaries in the Library
August 17, 2005
What's at Hodges Library? Take a Tour and Find Out!
Get ahead this semester by taking a Hodges Library tour before classes start.
Tours are held:
Thursday August 18 at 4 p.m.
Friday, August 19 at 3 p.m.
Saturday, August 20 at 2 p.m.
Monday, August 22 at 3 p.m.
Tuesday, August 23 at 11 a.m.
Joining a tour is easy. Meet at the Hodges Library Melrose Avenue entrance (2nd floor, at the Welcome Center near the main circulation desk and before Starbuks) right at tour time. The tour is just 45 minutes long and will provide an overview of library services.
Posted by Laura Purcell at 02:43 PM in Good News
August 01, 2005
UT Receives Grant to Educate Librarians for the 21st Century
Scientific and technological research is crucial to the advancement and betterment of society; however there is a shortage of librarians trained to work specifically with scientists. Thanks to a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the University of Tennessee hopes to solve that problem with a new librarian training program called Science Links.
IMLS awarded the University of Tennessee a $632,249 grant as part of their Librarians for the 21st Century initiative, created to help recruit and educate the next generation of librarians. Bill Robinson, Associate Professor in UT’s School of Information Sciences, and Jill Keally, Assistant Dean of the University Libraries, are co-principal investigators for the project.
The grant funds UT's Science Links program, where qualified students will receive full scholarships to earn a master's degree through the UT School of Information Sciences. Special emphasis will be placed on recruiting candidates from traditionally black colleges and universities. Students will take courses specifically designed to train librarians to assist in scientific and technological research. Students will also gain practical job experience by working at the UT Libraries, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), the Department of Energy's Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI), and Information International Associates (IIa).
"The School of Information Sciences is extremely proud to be a partner in the Science Links project, which targets populations underrepresented in the profession and at the same time addresses the deepening shortage of science and technology librarians. Situated in an ideal environment rich in technological research and development, the students recruited to this two-year educational program will benefit from exposure to 'real-world' experience serving scholars, researchers and others associated with science and technology. A special aim of Science Links is to provide the library and information education community with a model for educating subject specialist librarians," Ed Cortez, Director and Professor of the UT School of Information Studies, said.
"This is a model program that addresses a well-documented shortage of librarians, especially those with science backgrounds," Barbara Dewey, Dean of UT Libraries, said. "UT is uniquely qualified to educate science librarians, thanks to the first-class scientific research facilities located in East Tennessee. There is a special way that librarians interact with scientists in order to meet their research needs, and by gaining experience at places like ORNL and OSTI, these recent library school graduates will have unparalleled job experience along with their professional degree training," Dewey continued.
UT is one of only 37 schools to be awarded grant monies in this IMLS program from a pool of nearly 90 applicants.
"Librarianship is absolutely critical to the nation's education infrastructure. There is a strong correlation between good school libraries and student academic achievement. Public librarians help their communities increase literacy rates, provide top-notch after school programs, and even assist local residents in finding jobs. And in this digital age, library science professionals are more important than ever. Anyone who has had the experience of searching for information on the World Wide Web and had over 10,000 references returned would agree," Robert S. Martin, Director of IMLS, said.
The current shortage of school library media specialists, library school faculty, and librarians working in underserved communities underscores a looming crisis in librarianship as fewer faculty are being prepared to educate new librarians and a greater number of professional positions are going unfilled. Additionally, a large percentage of library directors and other senior librarians are expected to retire in the next twenty years. Consequently, the shortage of professional librarians, especially of those in leadership positions, is likely to increase.
The Institute of Museum and Library Services is an independent Federal grant-making agency dedicated to creating and sustaining a nation of learners by helping libraries and museums serve their communities.
The University of Tennessee supports more than 20,000 undergraduate and 6,000 graduate students in 400 academic programs in 15 schools and colleges, including nearly 200 students in the School of Information Sciences.
For more information about the University of Tennessee's School of Information Sciences, please visit their Web site.
For more information about the UT Libraries, please visit their Web site.
Posted by Laura Purcell at 11:13 AM in Good News