Fall 2021 Updates

In July, we updated the Libraries homepage and website. Take a look at lib.umn.edu!

Our smaller libraries have been closed during the pandemic but we are pleased to re-open them up on Tuesday, September 7 for fall semester.

Read more about it.

We have pulled together resources for new incoming students who want to know more about the Libraries and our research tools. We have also created a new set of short videos. Please share and send to students.

• Fall 2021 Welcome video: Mediaspace: z.umn.edu/LibNewGopherWelcome (4 mins) OR YouTube: https://youtu.be/feuY_heY_3o (4 mins)
   
• Gopher Library Adventure is a “choose your own adventure” ebook about  UMN Libraries
   
• We are hosting a Libraries Open House in eight of our library locations on Tuesday, September 14 during open hours. Students will be able to go on mini self-guided tours for a chance to win an (Ultimate Study Care Package), find their new favorite study spot, ask a question or even check out a book!
   
• The U Libraries and Office of Undergraduate Research will again be offering "Think Like a Researcher" to help undergraduates get started with faculty-sponsored research. It is a mini-course with videos and short activities (2-3 hours to complete on own timeline) OR an in-person workshop on Friday, October 8.
   
• The UMN Libraries offer a wide variety of online and in-person workshops. From tips and tricks on time management, getting started with online research or a new skill like bullet journaling, 3D printing or calligraphy. Students can explore and register for our free online workshops.
   
• Chat with a librarian 24/7 is available now and throughout fall. You and your students can ask us anything 24/7! Students can also request a virtual consultation with the libraries OR make a 30 virtual appointment with a Peer Research Consultant (a.k.a. peer tutor for Library research). 

In July, we, like many other libraries, decided to stop charging overdue or late fines on most items. This move will remove additional barriers to students checking out and using materials! Read more about this change. In the past few years, our system "auto-renews" most items thus students can usually keep an item for up to six months. This went a long way to ensuring students have materials for longer periods of time as needed for research. We also continue to invest in a variety of format such as ebooks, online articles, and streaming videos. 

Streaming video and media

Databases and primary source databases:

Full text digital archives of:

• Pittsburgh Courier 1911-2010
• Atlanta Daily World 1931-2010
• Chicago Defender 1976-2010
• Le Monde 1944-2000
• ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineering) Legacy Journals Archive
• SPIE (Optics and Photonics) Digital Library backfiles.

• Explore our guide on conducting research through an anti-racism lens. This guide was developed in response to librarians getting multiple requests from UMN researchers looking to incorporate anti-racism into their research practices.
   
• In 2021, take time to update your Experts profile, create an ORCID, and learn about additional ways to enhance your online scholarly identity. Get started with managing your data and research materials (by “data” we mean numbers, text, statistics, survey results, code, images, interviews, audio, video, geospatial, and more).
   
• Considering a comprehensive and reproducible literature searching? Talk with our systematic review service.  Find definitions, guidelines, and examples related to reproducibility for your disciplines.
   
• Talk with a DASH expert to explore new ways to analyze your data and research materials, organize, and share your research.
   
• We continue to expand our platforms for publishing academic and scholarly content. For example, check out #reparationssyllabus or #immigrationsyllabus. Browse our journals or open textbooks. Learn more about the publishing options available for your content. 

Want to make your research open access? There are numerous approaches to make your work open, many of which have no cost at all! The Libraries has made arrangements with several publishers for discounted or zero dollar ($0) article processing charges (APCs). Two of our newest $0 APC agreements are with Cambridge University Press and PLOS (PLOS Medicine and PLOS Biology, only). Read more about eligibility and publishing requirements..

Questions? Contact us at openaccess@umn.edu.

Browse scholarly journals available from the UMN Libraries on your tablet device, iPhone, or via the web using BrowZine.

• Read journal articles on your preferred device. 
• Create personal libraries of your favorite journals. 
• Set up alerts for new issues of journals.

For a quick overview, see this one-minute video about BrowZine. For more information, see the full BrowZine guide.

• We can work with your class at the undergraduate or graduate level! Request an instruction consultation. We work with instructors to create custom learning experiences for in-person, synchronous, or asynchronous instruction, participate in Canvas discussions or assignments, and develop a course-specific research guide. We also have online videos and tutorials ready to share with students. 
   
• Do you know that you can seamlessly include links to articles from the Libraries into your courses? We have a number of ways to help faculty and instructors identify and provide course materials (and lower costs) to your students including course reserves, online textbooks, articles, streaming media, open education resources and more. Learn more. You can also integrate UMN Libraries into your Canvas courses. 
   
• Walter Library and the Health Sciences Library each have a makerspace with free access to 3D printers, embroidery/sewing machines, vinyl cutters, robotics and electronics tools, and virtual reality equipment. See what spaces and technology we offer and learn more. We are open to students and faculty from all departments. We want to meet you. If you think our spaces could support your students' learning or your research, contact us at lib-makerspaces@umn.edu.
   
• UMN Libraries Media Services provides instructor support for developing students media assignments, direct student media support through classroom and site based media labs for creating media projects, coordinating access to commercial media resources for course use, consulting on low barrier multimodal scholarship (e.g., video abstracts) and more. 

Support students and our own continued learning about systemic racism, history, equity issues with our online collection. Search Libraries search for specific titles or explore some of our guides with lists of online books. These materials can be read, linked in Canvas or as course readings, used for research, for book discussions, in courses, student groups, etc. 

• Anti-Racism Reading Lists 

• Anti-Racism Readings in the Health Sciences

• Libraries Racial Equity Collections Fund - Spotlight items

• Mapping Prejudice - Visualizing the hidden histories of race and privilege in Minneapolis.

Register for an upcoming workshop or event. View full list. 

ONLINE: Software Carpentry Workshop: Programming with Python
Wednesday, September 22 | 9:30 am - 12:00 pm
Learn about Python data types, variables, visualizing tabular data, for loops, Python lists, and functions, while using Python packages numpy and matplotlib.

ONLINE: Amplifying Black Narratives: Past, Present, and Future
Tuesday, September 28 | 7:00pm - 8:15pm
Join us for a conversation about the preservation of Black art and culture in community-based archives and the University collections.

ONLINE: Finding Grant Funding for New Researchers
Wednesday, September 29, 2021 Time: 12:00pm - 1:00pm
Find more about how to find funding opportunities available to researchers and graduate students. Learn how to use Pivot (from Community of Science) and the Foundation Directory.

ONLINE: Data visualizations: design principles and targeted messaging workshop
Friday, October 1, 2021 | 1:00pm - 2:30pm
Learn about universal design strategies such as color, font, proximity, and shape that can be applied to traditional research visualizations such as tables and charts.

James Ford Bell Lecture - “Hidden in Plain Sight: Stories of Indigenous Power in Early American Cartography.” Thursday, October 7 | 7:00pm - 9:00pm | Elmer L. Andersen Library, Room 120
This talk will examine the most famous British maps of the eighteenth century and explore a more complex story of how Native Americans shaped the geography of an imagined British Empire and the future of North America.

ONLINE: Introduction to Tableau
Friday, October 8, 2021 | 1:00pm - 2:00pm
Learn about using Tableau, a tool for visualizing data including preparing and importing datasets, creating queries, and exporting visualizations.

ONLINE: Amplifying Black Narratives: Black Publishers and Bookstores
Thursday, October 28 | 7:00pm - 8:15pm An online panel discussion featuring Mélina Mangal (Author and Librarian), Rekhet Si-Asar (In Black Ink), and Dionne Sim (Black Garnet Books).