Tag Archive | "UM libraries"

Three Separate Library Catalogs Become One

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Three Separate Library Catalogs Become One


By Sarah Block
Special to UM News

Librarians and staff from across UM’s three campuses are collaborating on the implementation of a new and improved library cataloging system, expected to debut in May.

Librarians and staff from across UM’s three campuses are collaborating on the implementation of a new and improved library cataloging system, expected to debut in May.

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (February 18, 2016) —Library users at the U are about to witness a big transformation in how they locate and access information from the University’s libraries.

UM’s seven libraries across the Coral Gables, Miller School of Medicine, and Rosenstiel campuses are collaborating on a full overhaul of the online system that will streamline how materials are acquired, tracked, browsed, searched, and discovered. Most significantly, the new system, expected to debut this May, will integrate three independent systems into a single search and discovery platform for accessing the University’s millions of library holdings.

“Faculty and students on all campuses will be very pleased to discover that, with one search, resources from across the seven libraries will be displayed on their screen,” said Professor of Law Sally Wise, chair of the Faculty Senate Library & Information Resources Committee and director of the Law Library. “This will be especially beneficial for those researching across multiple disciplines. All libraries now collaborate on providing resources, and it will be very exciting to see them displayed to the researcher at one time.”

UM selected the new system following a search process that involved representatives across the three campuses. A team of 34 librarians and library and UM Information Technology staff chose the platform as the unified solution that would replace the disparate library systems, enable the library to streamline its workflows, and provide better patron services. The libraries are working with Ex Libris Group to lead the migration to the new system. When the months-long process is complete, UM’s resources will run through two Ex Libris programs, Ex Libris Alma for resource management, and Ex Libris Primo for discovery and delivery.

The transition will align the functions and features of UM’s catalog with a large number of research libraries worldwide that have adopted Ex Libris technologies, including the London School of Economics, Austrian Library Network, and the University of Edinburgh, as well as fellow Association of Research Libraries members Emory and Brandeis universities.

“The powerful combination of Ex Libris Alma and Primo forms the leading solution enabling libraries to move ahead with a unified platform that benefits both staff and patrons,” said Eric Hines, president of Ex Libris North America.

Many of the team members who developed the request for proposals and assisted in vetting and evaluating a range of vendors are now part of the implementation team, a total of 25 librarians and staff, working with Ex Libris throughout the transition to the new system.

“We are eager to unify and streamline our systems efficiently and effectively,” said UM Provost Thomas J. LeBlanc.

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Three Separate Library Catalogs Become One

Tags:

Three Separate Library Catalogs Become One


By Sarah Block
Special to UM News

Librarians and staff from across UM’s three campuses are collaborating on the implementation of a new and improved library cataloging system, expected to debut in May.

Librarians and staff from across UM’s three campuses are collaborating on the implementation of a new and improved library cataloging system, expected to debut in May.

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (February 18, 2016) —Library users at the U are about to witness a big transformation in how they locate and access information from the University’s libraries.

UM’s seven libraries across the Coral Gables, Miller School of Medicine, and Rosenstiel campuses are collaborating on a full overhaul of the online system that will streamline how materials are acquired, tracked, browsed, searched, and discovered. Most significantly, the new system, expected to debut this May, will integrate three independent systems into a single search and discovery platform for accessing the University’s millions of library holdings.

“Faculty and students on all campuses will be very pleased to discover that, with one search, resources from across the seven libraries will be displayed on their screen,” said Professor of Law Sally Wise, chair of the Faculty Senate Library & Information Resources Committee and director of the Law Library. “This will be especially beneficial for those researching across multiple disciplines. All libraries now collaborate on providing resources, and it will be very exciting to see them displayed to the researcher at one time.”

UM selected the new system following a search process that involved representatives across the three campuses. A team of 34 librarians and library and UM Information Technology staff chose the platform as the unified solution that would replace the disparate library systems, enable the library to streamline its workflows, and provide better patron services. The libraries are working with Ex Libris Group to lead the migration to the new system. When the months-long process is complete, UM’s resources will run through two Ex Libris programs, Ex Libris Alma for resource management, and Ex Libris Primo for discovery and delivery.

The transition will align the functions and features of UM’s catalog with a large number of research libraries worldwide that have adopted Ex Libris technologies, including the London School of Economics, Austrian Library Network, and the University of Edinburgh, as well as fellow Association of Research Libraries members Emory and Brandeis universities.

“The powerful combination of Ex Libris Alma and Primo forms the leading solution enabling libraries to move ahead with a unified platform that benefits both staff and patrons,” said Eric Hines, president of Ex Libris North America.

Many of the team members who developed the request for proposals and assisted in vetting and evaluating a range of vendors are now part of the implementation team, a total of 25 librarians and staff, working with Ex Libris throughout the transition to the new system.

“We are eager to unify and streamline our systems efficiently and effectively,” said UM Provost Thomas J. LeBlanc.

 

 

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UM to Host First Academic Art Museum and Library Summit


Special to UM News

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (November 30, 2015)—The University of Miami will host the inaugural Academic Art Museum and Library Summit this January, bringing together fourteen pairs of library and museum directors from North American academic institutions to address opportunities for deep intra-institutional collaboration. The summit will focus on the ways that new pedagogical models and technologies are transforming the work of the academy, and the potential for art museums and libraries to engage more fully with faculty, students, and each other.

The two-day summit, which will take place January 27-29 at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, will bring together leaders from Arizona State University, Duke University, Oberlin College, Princeton University, Skidmore College, University of Georgia, University of Miami, University of Michigan, University of Notre Dame, University of Oregon, University of Texas (Austin), University of Wisconsin, Vassar College, and Yale University, all of which are recognized for the leadership they provide in the fields of academic museums and libraries.

The summit, whose participants represent both private and public institutions of varying sizes from across the nation, will open with a keynote address by Daniel Weiss, president of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and include sessions led by other distinguished speakers with a profound knowledge of and commitment to excellence in the museum and libraries fields. The agenda will allow the invited teams of directors to engage in interactive, participatory programming designed to facilitate the mining of rich collaborative opportunities. The invitees will propose topics for discussion and develop ideas for a collaborative project on their home campuses in advance of the summit.

“Working together, libraries and museums have the capacity to harness the enormous potential to create strong collaborative networks, share resources, and foster dynamic interdisciplinary scholarship,” said Jill Deupi, Beaux Arts Director and chief curator for the Lowe Art Museum. “We are so proud to host this first summit, which has the critical mission of addressing new and innovative ways that students and faculty seek to integrate library and museum collections into their learning and research agendas,” she added.

“Changes in pedagogy and research occasioned in large part by the digital revolution suggest fertile ground for developing shared practices and strategies across the GLAM sector (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums),” said Charles Eckman, UM’s dean of libraries and University librarian. He added that “we are deeply grateful to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Samuel H. Kress Foundation for their vision and generosity enabling the University of Miami to host this path-breaking summit.”

The Academic Art Museum and Library Summit is being co-organized by the University of Miami Libraries and Lowe Art Museum, with the Association of Art Museums and Galleries, the Association of Research Libraries, and the Coalition for Networked Information. It is being underwritten with generous support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Samuel H. Kress Foundation.

“We are pleased to support the Academic Art Museum and Library Summit,” said Donald Waters, senior program officer for Scholarly Communications at the Mellon Foundation. “Mellon actively supports collaborative and cooperative efforts such as this one and believes that institutions with diverse but complementary talents that work together are more likely to come up with creative solutions to shared problems than if they worked separately.”

“Academic libraries and museums,” said Max Marmor, president of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, “share a common mission to collect, preserve, and steward cultural collections in the service of education, research, and scholarship. Thanks in part to new and emerging technologies, they have rich opporutnities and compelling reasons to collaborate ever more closely in pursuing this shared mission. We at the Kress Foundation are grateful to the University of Miami for hosting this inaugural summit, which is intended to foster new partnerships in this promising arena.”

The University of Miami’s mission is to educate and nurture students, to create knowledge, and to provide service to the community and beyond. Committed to excellence and proud of the diversity of its University family, UM strives to develop future leaders of the nation and the world.

The Lowe Art Museum (www.miami.edu/lowe), a unit of the College of Arts & Sciences, is located on the campus of the University of Miami at 1301 Stanford Drive, Coral Gables.

The University of Miami Libraries (http://library.miami.edu/) provide faculty, students, researchers, and staff with the highest quality access to collections and information resources in support of the University’s mission to transform lives through research, teaching, and service.

 

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Author Examines Cuban TV’s Remarkable History


By Peter E. Howard
UM News

BroadcastingModernity-6

Historian Yeidy M. Rivero credits the Cuban Heritage Collection for igniting her passion for examining commercial television in Cuba.

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (September 10, 2015) – When he came to power in Cuba in 1959, Fidel Castro wasted little time taking to the airwaves.

An imposing figure who liked the sound of his own voice, the uniform-clad revolutionary frequently promoted his political objectives on television. Sometimes his speeches went on for as long as eight hours, without a commercial break.

At the time, the television stations were privately owned, and it wasn’t until a year to 18 months later that the government took over. It knew the power of the medium back then, and used it to its advantage.

“Castro was marketing the revolution,” said Yeidy M. Rivero, author of the book Broadcasting Modernity, which examines the history of commercial television in Cuba from 1950 to 1960. “He was very charismatic, and he used it perfectly well.”

Rivero, a professor at the University of Michigan, was at the University of Miami’s Otto G. Richter Library Wednesday night to talk about her book, and engage the audience gathered in the Cuban Heritage Collection’s Roberto C. Goizueta Pavilion in a discussion about the birth of commercial television in Cuba during a period of political and economic upheaval.

It was a homecoming of sorts for the historian. Rivero credits the research she did at the Cuban Heritage Collection at UM Libraries for igniting her passion for the project. From day one, she recalled, she was provided a daily cafecito to enjoy – “with plenty of sugar.”

“I feel like this is part of my family,” Rivero shared.

Cuba’s history with television is remarkable, with the island nation at the cutting edge of production and programming from the beginning. Talented employees helped advance the products. Some fled Cuba because of the instability, enriching television production in other Latin American countries, including Venezuela and Puerto Rico.

Cuba, Rivero said, was the first country in Latin America to have color television, and second in the world to feature it after the United States.

Rivero added that she has always been “fascinated by the popularity of the medium,” and began researching commercial television in Cuba about a decade ago. She read every newspaper and magazine article she could find on television in Cuba, and was pleasantly surprised to find detailed analyses in documents at the Biblioteca Nacional José Martí Centro de Investigaciones del Instituto Cubano de Radio y Televisión in Havana.

Early television in Cuba, she said, was used to convey the country as modern, emerging, economically successful, educated, and morally sound. Some rumba dances were censored on television because they were deemed too risqué.

“When I began my research,” Rivero said, “I had no idea what I would find.”

 

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Tropical Gastronomies Launches Culinary History Initiative

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Tropical Gastronomies Launches Culinary History Initiative


By Sarah Block
Special to UM News

From left are Cristina Favretto, Norman Van Aken, Mandy Baca, and Gretchen Schmidt.

From left are Cristina Favretto, Norman Van Aken, Mandy Baca, and Gretchen Schmidt.

Local food experts reflected on South Florida’s abundant natural offerings, strong multicultural seasonings, and rich supply of untapped resources—all shaping the area’s evolving culinary landscape—during a panel discussion last week at UM Special Collections’ “Tropical Gastronomies,” featuring chef and cookbook author Norman Van Aken, food blogger and Edible South Florida editor Gretchen Schmidt, and author and historian Mandy Baca. 

Moderated by Special Collections Head Cristina Favretto, the discussion touched on well-established fares and flavors such as stone crabs, citrus, and mangos, the formation of Van Aken’s New World Cuisine, and how recent developments like the farm-to-table movement are shedding light on lesser-known edible flora and fauna.

The event was held as part of a UM Libraries-wide exhibition exploring the rich culinary traditions of South Florida, Cuba, and the Caribbean. Vintage restaurant postcards and menus, local organizational cookbooks, dining brochures from Pan American World Airlines, Inc., and other materials are on display from Special Collections. During the event, Favretto announced that Special Collections aims to further its collection of food- and cooking-related materials through the establishment of the Culinary History Collection of Florida, and is seeking donations of historical materials such as restaurant menus, local and regional recipe books, oral histories with chefs, and images of restaurants, grocery stores, and farmers markets

Individuals interested in contributing to the archive are encouraged to contact Special Collections at 305-284-3247 or [email protected].

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