Rice Master Theses – Retrospective Digitization Project

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In a back corner of the library basement, is a long stack of empty shelves. You may wonder why this is, where did the books go? Not to worry, these materials are now online in the RDSA!

empty-stacks-300x224

Currently the Rice Digital Scholarship Archive (RDSA) makes available approximately 10,000 theses and dissertations written by Rice graduate students from 1918 to the present. Through this collection, a partnership with Rice’s Office of Graduate and Postgraduate Studies, RDSA documents the rich intellectual output of the university and enables people around the world to access Rice research. While Fondren was able to procure a number of older theses and dissertations from ProQuest, not everything was included, particularly when it came to master level theses. Through her work on withdrawing duplicate copies of theses and dissertations, Kerry Keck, Assistant University Librarian for Research Services & Access Services, identified approximately 1400 works that are not in the RDSA. The absence of these works meant that there were significant holes in our digital collection.

Over the past year, the library has worked to pull these duplicate copies, have them digitized and placed online. Scanning was outsourced to a vendor and many library staff were involved in preparing these materials and processing the digital files. A special thank you to:

  • Amber Seely – batch catalog updates,
  • Andrew Damico and student workers – physical review & packaging,
  • James Springer and LSC staff – withdrawing and transporting volumes,
  • Scott Carlson – name authority work, extracting abstracts and PDF quality review.
  • Sid Bryd – DSpace system batch uploading

To view these newly added materials, visit the Rice University Electronic Theses and Dissertations collection (https://scholarship.rice.edu/handle/1911/13110) and then browse under the section “Recent Submissions”.

Please see attached Rice-Master-Thesis-graphs (PDF) for summary by Rice department and graduate year.

Executive Committee Summaries, February 25-March 31, 2016

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February 25, 2016

The Executive Committee participated in a meeting with Human Resources regarding the Careers@Rice program.

March 3, 2016

No meeting.

March 10, 2016

No meeting.

March 17, 2016

No meeting.

March 24, 2016

1)     The Executive Committee reviewed and approved the charge for the information literacy committee and identified members. This committee aims to improve the coherence of instructional offerings across library departments and to find and address unmet instructional needs.

2)     The Executive Committee reviewed a quarterly report from the linked data working group. The working group has begun identifying local collections and data to use for pilot projects exploring linked data.

3)     An acquisitions data working group was approved to study how important acquisitions data from our current SirsiDynix Symphony system could be accommodated if we were to migrate to a new library system.

4)    Concerns about the cost of building a new LSC module (with the existing module nearing capacity) lead the Executive Committee to discuss possible management solutions both for off-site and on-site collections. Research on the feasibility of proposed options will be needed.

5)     The Executive Committee discussed several proposed changes from Access Services, including moving staff fines and billing to the Cashier’s office after 28 days and changing the process/policies for study carrels. Instead of requiring a key deposit for study carrels, Access Services will charge a fine for lost keys. The reservation period for study carrels will be changed from one year to one semester.

March 31, 2016

1)    The Executive Committee discussed a draft charge for the web team. Exec will collaboratively revise this charge.

2)    Lisa Spiro discussed preliminary plans for a digital curation retreat. A description and list of potential participants will be provided soon.

3)    The group discussed writing the library’s budget narrative for the May Board of Trustees meetings.

Update on the Rice Digital Scholarship Archive

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The Rice Digital Scholarship Archive (RDSA) team (Lisa Spiro, Monica Rivero, Shannon Kipphut-Smith, Sid Byrd and Ying Jin) has been working on a range of exciting projects, often in collaboration with others in Fondren or across campus.

These include:

  • soon-to-debut collections such as the Rice Teaching Archive and undergraduate theses (focusing initially on history)
  • support for the Rice Historical Review, an undergraduate journal set to publish its first issue in April
  • assisting with the implementation of Converis, the new faculty information system. We are developing a workflow to make it easier for faculty to contribute their articles to the Rice Digital Scholarship Archive under the Rice open access policy.
  • collaborating with the Jones School’s Business Wisdom on an initiative to raise the visibility of faculty research and make available underlying publications
  • working with Public Affairs to develop a workflow for providing access to publications mentioned in press releases
  • experimenting with using social media to promote RDSA collections
  • helping to address link rot (essentially, the disappearance of web pages) by becoming a registrar for perma.cc
  • improving search in RDSA
  • supporting the representation of math equations using MathML
  • providing access to Rice-sponsored publications such as Sarmatian Review
  • making improvements to our Electronic Theses and Dissertations collection, including digitizing around 1400 masters theses previously missing from our collections (soon to be added to RDSA)
  • working on implementing Vireo 3, the newest version of the software used by Rice graduate students to submit their theses and dissertations
  • preserving content in RDSA using DuraSpace
  • customizing the user interface for RDSA
  • experimenting with OHMS (Oral History Metadata Synchronizer) to link up audio/video recordings and transcripts or keywords
  • developing a plugin to enable content to be harvested from RDSA and presented in Omeka, which offers a flexible user interface and rich plugins

Please see the attached slides from today’s Brown Bag for more information. Feel free to contact us at cds@rice.edu or lspiro@rice.edu with any questions or ideas for potential projects.

 

Rare books and anniversaries commemorated with Fondren Exhibits

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Several new exhibits are currently on display in Fondren Library and in the RMC. In the RMC Trophy Case, an exhibit commemorates the 50th anniversary of the first black undergraduates enrolled at Rice University.

1973 Campanile

1973 Campanile

On the first floor of Fondren Library,  “Rare Books: Curiosities in a Digital Age” highlights the importance of rare books as physical objects. The exhibit was created by Woodson Research Center’s graduate student intern Trevor McNally.

Also on display on the first floor Information Commons area are examples of medieval manuscript facsimiles.

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Medieval Manuscript Facsimiles ©Jeff Fitlow

On the third floor Lovett Lounge, Woodson Research Center student worker Camille Chenevert (Baker ’19) created an exhibit celebrating the 100th anniversary of the first graduating class from Rice.

Dance cards from 1916 commencement ball

Dance cards from 1916 commencement ball

First graduates 1916

First graduates 1916

ORCID Resources

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Interested in learning more about ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID)? Want to keep up with Fondren ORCID-related events and outreach programs? A new collection of ORCID resources is now available on the Fondren wiki [simply visit https://wiki.rice.edu/ and search for “ORCID”]. On this page, you can find a wide range of information, including ORCID articles, outreach material, information about using the ORCID API, and ORCID users group minutes.

http://orcid.org/sites/default/files/images/orcid_64x64.png

If you come across any ORCID publications or resources you think might be of interest to library staff, feel free to add it to the collection.

Executive Committee summaries (Feb. 4, 11 & 18, 2016)

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February 4

The group reviewed documentation in preparation for the scheduled February 11 meeting with Angela Lipari of HR.

February 11

Angela Lipari visited to review information collected for the Careers @ Rice program. The next step will be for Executive Committee members to attend a benchmarking workshop on February 25.

The committee discussed the possibility of signing up for the Knowledge Unlatched Round 2 pilot, a collaboration to support open access publishing.

Sara Lowman invited ideas for the March 22 Library Committee meeting.

Discussion continued on possible further library collaboration with the Center for Teaching Excellence and the Program in Writing and Communication.

February 18

Sara Lowman shared some background budget information from the Senior Leadership Retreat. She is participating in a campus-wide review of study spaces.

The group reviewed and endorsed the recommendations of the UX office study describing student input on the disposition of three rooms available on the first floor for repurposing.

The group reviewed budget documentation Sara Lowman must submit soon to the Budget Office.

International Travel

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International SOS information:

Rice University uses International SOS services for international travel on university business. A benefit of the service is the opportunity for Rice employees to purchase medical and travel security assistance on an individual basis for personal travel at a 20% discount. Staff interested in this should contact the ISOS Individual Membership Department, who will walk them through the process.

International SOS Individual Membership Department
Customer Support
1-800-523-8662 toll free

In order to get the 20% discount, we need to use the Rice membership number (11BYSG000011) and our Rice NetID and password.

Coverage for each trip will be written separately and each quote depends on the details of the trip, such as the travel destination, the age of the traveler, and the number of people traveling. Also, family coverage has some additional requirements that will be addressed during the registration process. We can get a quote for free without an obligation to purchase.

More information can be found at the Office of Risk Management, along with the Rice membership number. Another resource can be found here.

Executive Committee Summaries (January 21 & 28, 2016)

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January 21, 2016

  1.  Lisa Spiro and Melinda Reagor Flannery discussed the call for project ideas for the new Fondren Fellows program.
  2. Sara Lowman presented the university’s budget guidelines for FY 17. Members of the Executive Committee divided up responsibilities for writing different sections of the budget document.
  3. Sara Lowman updated the Executive Committee on the decision to make Access Services part of Research Services, reporting to Kerry Keck.
  4. The Executive Committee talked about a recent New York Times article on entrepreneurship education that featured Rice. To explore how Fondren might support/ partner with these efforts, the Horizon Committee will be encouraged to invite someone from Rice’s entrepreneurship program to present as part of its upcoming speaker series.
  5. The Executive Committee discussed bringing in a workflow consultant to advise on potential workflow changes.
  6. The Executive Committee explored strategies for encouraging mutual respect among staff and ensuring that all pitch in to accomplish the library’s mission. Melinda Flannery will consult with Marie Wehrung about potential approaches to training.

January 28, 2016

  1. Sara Lowman announced that collections have not yet moved to the South Reading Room because new shelving needs to be in place first.
  2. The Executive Committee discussed a potential collaboration with the Center for Teaching Excellence and the Program in Writing and Communication.

Happy Love Your Data Week!

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Love Your Data Week (February 8-13) is a social media event coordinated by research data specialists, mostly working in academic and research libraries. It’s designed to raise awareness about research data management, sharing, and preservation along with the support and resources available at colleges and universities.

"data (scrabble)" by justgrimes is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

“data (scrabble)” by justgrimes is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Although Fondren isn’t hosting any formal Love Your Data Week activities this year, it is the perfect opportunity to highlight the work of Rice’s Research Data Management Team:

What should you include in your data management plan for your next funding proposal? How can you best organize and describe your data so that it can easily be found and shared with collaborators? How should you store and archive your data? Where at Rice can you find help in managing research data?

Rice’s Research Data Management Team (RDMT) brings together specialists from the library and OIT to help researchers organize, store and preserve their research data. We provide:

  • feedback on data management plans
  • training on effective data management
  • consultations on data management tools and resources at and beyond Rice

Learn more at http://researchdata.rice.edu/

Fondren Research Data Management Team members include: Jean Aroom, Scott Carlson, Shannon Kipphut-Smith, Jun Qian, Monica Rivero, Lisa Spiro, and  Kathy Weimer.

In addition to learning more about the resources available to Rice researchers, consider applying some of the tips offered by the Love Your Data Week organizers to better manage your own data:

 

 

New Fondren Brochures

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Fondren Brochure

New series of brochures for Fondren Library

The library has recently modified its brochure marketing strategy. Based on the success of the Fondren Owl Cards, which advertise specific departments and services, we have reduced the number of large brochures by updating the primary “Welcome to Fondren” brochure and creating smaller, single-sheet brochures for select departments. Service points should replace any existing brochures with the newly updated brochures; you can check the back of the “Welcome to Fondren” brochure to ensure that your copies show that they have been revised as of 1/16. Any departments interested in a future brochure or owl card should contact Debra Kolah or Norie Guthrie of the C-MACS committee.

Back cover of new brochure showing the recent date of revision

Back cover of new brochure showing the recent date of revision

Owl cards now provide concise information about departments and services that previously was conveyed through brochures.

Owl Cards now provide concise information about departments and services that previously was conveyed through brochures