Laurie N. Taylor, Librarian

Each summer, I do a strategic planning session with the two departments in my division, Digital Partnerships & Strategies and Library Technology Services. For this coming year, we plan to focus our discussions on two areas: Digital Partnerships & Strategies: work/life: establishing and communicating norms/boundaries/expectations Library Technology Services: remote/hybrid work (continual improvement for best practices) The format for the sessions includes brief pre-readings to set the stage.  I would love to hear from others on these topics! Some of the preparation has already led to findings/actions: Implementing skip-level meetings Table setting: testing explaining next stage work as “table setting” for both pre-planning for years toRead More →

I’m participating in the Next Level Library Leadership Institute (NLLLI) with a fantastic group of folks. We’re following almost a graduate seminar course, where we’re sharing readings (and working with coaches and other supports), so it’s a very cool format. One thing from today’s meeting is the idea of “controlling the controlables” as a way to frame problems/needs, to break down into what can be done, to be able to get to solutions. My normal language for this would be things like “solutions oriented” which we use so often in tech, and the serenity prayer, which is ever-present in my life with family members inRead More →

Huge thanks to Perry Collins for her work in leading the work on the teaching resources (and reflection) site and this launch event! About: In May 2019, over 40 educators, scholars, librarians, and students came together for a week-long institute, Migration, Mobility, Sustainability: Caribbean Studies + Digital Humanities, focused on exploring the role of digital tools and collections in university and K-12 courses. Since the institute, participants have contributed syllabi, assignments, reflections, and other materials to a soon-to-be-launched web publication. Join us on March 17 from 11:30am-12:30pm Eastern as we launch this collection of educational resources and look back on the institute experience, with lightning round presentationsRead More →

Cross-posted from the LibraryPress@UF highlights/news. The LibraryPress@UF has these books in process, and we look forward to announcing and promoting each before the end of 2021: Impact of Materials on Society (textbook, print-on-demand, POD, and digital) African American Studies: 50 Years at the University of Florida (edited collection, and course reader; POD and digital) Inspired by Cuba: Dellivering Cuba Through the Mail, Cuba’s Presence in Non-Cuban Postage Stamps and Envelopes (print) B is for Baldwin, an edited collection about the Baldwin Library of Historical Children’s Literature (POD and digital) In addition to these, we have many other confirmed and pending-confirmation publications and projects: SOURCE magazine, two issues (March andRead More →

Below copied from the Department of English events page. Fly Me To The Moon March 23 – March 27 FILM SCREENING AND LECTURE SERIES WITH DR. ESTHER FIGUEROA Virtual Screening March 23-27 The screening of Esther Figueroa’s film Fly Me to the Moon (2019) is available to registered participants through Vimeo March 23 -27. REGISTER FOR EVENT About the Film FLY ME TO THE MOON (2019), is a feature documentary by Jamaican independent filmmaker Esther Figueroa, that takes us on a journey into the unexpected ways we are all connected on Planet Earth, by following aluminum – the metal of modernity – around the world and into space. WeRead More →

UF’s awesome Copyright & OER Librarian, Perry Collins, shared fantastic information on OER at UF for #OEWeek: Improved the OER Learning Community page on the Affordable UF site Three new posts on OER: Adopting American Yawp A Tale of Two Textbooks Coming Soon: OER for Digital Caribbean Studies – sign up for the launch event on March 17! For UF friends, Perry and Micah Jenkins will be presenting Make It Your Own: Adapting Open Resources in PressBooks from 10-11:30am on Thursday (March 4)  Read More →

Huge thanks to DeEtta Jones: Next Level Leadership Blog for sharing this recent piece on communication styles, which explains: The research in conversation analysis tells us that individual people fall on a spectrum between high-involvement and high-considerateness with respect to how they take turns in conversation. People who use a high-involvement style tend toward a rapid-fire conversation style. They show they care about the discussion by driving conversation forward and limiting silence. That 200-millisecond gap? They try to keep silence even shorter than that. For these people, interrupting at the end of what someone else says is a way of engaging and displaying interest. On the other hand, those who preferRead More →

Sharing because I LOVE this work! It gives people a productive way to think with, feel, and understand Open Access and UFLib Domains, and it’s just so super fun and happy, too! From Perry Collins: I’m happy to announce the launch of a new website, Valentine Remix: Love & Friendship in the Public Domain. The site aggregates out-of-copyright images from a number of libraries, museums, and web portals (like the NYPL and Met Museum) that make it easy to discover public domain material. Some of you might remember that a year ago I worked with Lisa Campbell, Chelsea Johnston, and other folks in Library WestRead More →

I’m again working on my metaphors and storytelling, to better communicate on complex topics. One of these is that UF is working to update our digital collection system. Our current system is awesome for so many needs, but is no longer best for us with our ize, scale, and process changes. Now, within the Libraries, we’re at a place where we need to be talking about the pending changes more widely, so we need to be sure people understand so that we can all be productively engaged on the best process for all. The short technical explanation is that we’re updating in two phases: PhaseRead More →

We are working on the next issue of SOURCE, which will include several articles that start our first ongoing series, on “Destination Spaces/Places” in the Libraries. Brian Keith, Associate Dean for Administrative Services and Faculty Affairs envisioned this series, to highlight the many wondrous spaces and places in the Libraries. The series will cover major library spaces, including many recently renovated spaces, with some renovations dramatically changing the space (as with changing movable stacks to study spaces) and others that re-enliven past structures for the present, with all renovations supporting historical design aspects and the greater and grander sense of place and space in Libraries.Read More →