Main Library on Roxboro Street in downtown Durham. All Duke students are eligible to use your local public library, even if you’re not a permanent NC resident.
It’s the start of the fall semester at Duke, and we’ve got a quick and easy way you can level up your library game!
Stop by Perkins Library on Thursday, Aug. 29, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m., and sign up for a Durham County Library Card.
It’s free and easy. All you need is your Duke ID (if you’re a Duke student) or other photo ID and proof of Durham residency (everybody else).
That’s right! ALL DUKE STUDENTS ARE ELIGIBLE to get a free Durham County Library Card*. Even if you’re not a permanent North Carolina resident, you can still use your local public library, and you don’t even have to leave your dorm room once you sign up.
Not to mention popular streaming services like Hoopla (Kids TV, popular movies, comics, e-books, and more) and IndieFlix (classic films, award-winning shorts, documentaries).
The Durham County Library consists of six branches spread throughout Durham County including the Main Library in downtown. It’s one of the Bull City’s most recent architectural points of pride. If you need a break from studying in our campus libraries, check out their quiet study spots with inspiring views of downtown Durham. You can thank us later when you ace those exams.
* If you only have a Duke ID when you sign up, you’ll get a Student Card, which lets you check out 10 items at a time, plus access all electronic resources. If you also can show some proof of NC address (can be electronic, photo of a utility bill, piece of mail, etc.), you’ll get a full Library Card, which lets you check out up to 50 items.
As the fall 2024 semester gets underway, we want to remind students that you can check out copies of textbooks for some Duke courses from the library.
The books include required texts for some of Duke’s most popular courses in Chemistry, Math, Computer Science, Biology, Psychology, and other subjects. They can be checked out for three hours at a time and are available at the Perkins Library Service Desk.
We also have a number of semester-loan textbooks available to check out for an entire semester at a time. Students can find these on the main floor of Perkins Library near the New & Noteworthy Collection.
Semester-loan textbooks available in Perkins Library, near the New & Noteworthy Collection on the main floor.
Top Textbooks is one of our most popular library services, and students regularly tell us how much they appreciate it. And no wonder, when the cost of a single textbook can often exceed $300. We also encourage students to donate their textbooks to us at the end of the year, so that future students can check them out. It’s just one small way we’re working to make a Duke education more affordable for all.
Please note: The Top Textbooks program is not intended to take the place of students purchasing textbooks for their courses. Due to budget limitations, the Libraries are unable to purchase textbooks for every course at Duke.
Find Out More
For more information about our textbook donation program, please contact Jeremy Martin, Reserves Coordinator in Perkins Library.
Members of these advisory boards will help improve the learning and research environment for Duke University students and advise the Libraries on topics such as study spaces, research resources, integrating library services into academic courses, and marketing library services to students.
The boards will typically meet three times a semester to discuss all aspects of Duke Libraries and provide feedback to library staff. This is an amazing opportunity for students to serve on the advisory board of a large, nationally recognized non-profit organization.
All three advisory boards are now taking applications. Application deadlines are:
Members of the Graduate and Professional Student Advisory Board and the Undergraduate Advisory Board will be selected and notified by mid-September, and groups will begin to meet in late September. More information is available on the advisory board website, where you will also find links to the online applications forms.
Not sure you want to commit to serving on a board? Consider joining our Student Experience Panel (STEP). You can join at any time, and you’ll receive occasional invitations to participate in library feedback opportunities. Joining STEP does not obligate you to participate in any of the opportunities.
For more information or questions about these opportunities, please contact:
Post by Haley Walton, Librarian for Education and Open Scholarship
Image courtesy of _FXR/Flickr.
In 2018, Duke joined the Toward an Open Monograph Ecosystem (TOME) pilot, a five-year collaborative effort between the Association of American Universities (AAU), Association of Research Libraries (ARL), and Association of University Presses (AUP) to make scholarly books open access. Over the past six years, the Duke University Libraries has seen fifteen Duke-authored monographs to publication as both traditional print runs and digital open downloads through the Open Monograph Award.
What is open access to scholarly books?
The open access movement has historically been focused on scholarly journal articles—flipping the publishing model to remove paywall barriers of subscriptions and allow anyone with an internet connection to access current research. Book-length works in the humanities and social sciences have tended to fall by the wayside in the OA movement due to their format and the manner in which they’re published through university presses…
Until now.
Celebrate 5 years of TOME authors!
At a lunch event on Tuesday, May 7, sponsored by Duke University Libraries and the Franklin Humanities Institute, three authors of TOME-funded books will share their experience and the outcomes of publishing their books openly.
For the last several years, the Duke University Libraries has purchased copies of the assigned texts for a wide range of Duke courses and made them available to check out for free. It’s one of our most popular services, and students regularly tell us how much they appreciate it. And no wonder, when the cost of a single textbook can often exceed $300.
Now there’s a way you can help us make the program even better and do something about the ridiculous cost of textbooks at the same time. At the end of this semester, donate your textbooks to the library. We’ll make them available for other students to check out for free.
Don’t you wish someone had done that for you? Be that someone.
Look for the textbook donation bins in Perkins, Bostock, Lilly, and Divinity libraries starting this week. When you’ve finished with your classes, simply drop your books in the bin and enjoy the satisfaction of knowing you’ve made some future Duke student’s day.
So if you passed your classes, pass it on. Donate your textbooks to us and make a Duke education more affordable for all.
(And if you didn’t pass, we’ll understand if you need to hang on to those books a little longer.)
Post by Ella Young, Research and Public Services Intern
In order to explore the true cost of a Duke undergraduate education, the Duke University Libraries are conducting a survey of teaching faculty to assess course materials costs for undergraduate students. By soliciting faculty responses, we seek to understand what types of materials are assigned in undergraduate courses across disciplines and their costs for students. The price of traditional textbooks and single-use online codes for homework has been rising for over 20 years, and students across the U.S. have reported struggling to afford their course materials alongside daily expenses. At Duke, if every undergraduate purchased every assigned textbook for their classes, they would cumulatively pay upwards of $1.4 million per academic year.
The Libraries plan to use data from the survey to assess how we can better support student access to course materials and to gauge interest in Open Educational Resources as a cost-effective alternative to traditional textbooks. Surveying faculty about their interest in OERs moves Duke one step closer to implementing affordability initiatives and expanding OER availability on campus.
Open Educational Resources (OERs) are “openly-licensed, freely available educational materials that can be modified and redistributed by users” (The OER Starter Kit). This includes textbooks, searchable repositories, images, artwork, and even online college courses.
OERs benefit students by reducing college costs, and instructors can tailor OER to fit their needs. People who otherwise would not have access to college-level materials also can gain an education with open access materials.
How do OERs work?
Creative Commons (CC) licenses are copyright licenses that give users permission to reuse, distribute, remix, adapt, or build upon someone’s original material. All OERs are made available under some type of open license. There are six levels of license types with varying permissions, which you can explore here.
Learn more about OERs
To get started using Open Educational Resources, Duke Libraries has a guide to OERs with introductory information and links to open resources for instructors. For questions about OERs or how to make your courses accessible and affordable, contact Haley Walton, Librarian for Education and Open Scholarship, at the Duke University Libraries.
Open Education Week, a worldwide event for celebrating and promoting OERs, will take place this year the week of March 4th—8th. During OER Week, organizers across the globe will be hosting in-person and virtual events to showcase and discuss open education initiatives. A calendar of events can be found here.
Post by Deric Hardy, Assistant Librarian for Science and Engineering, and Allison McIntyre, Communications Consultant for Graduate Communications and Intercultural Programs, Pratt School of Engineering
Engineering students by nature are inquisitive, analytical thinkers, and naturally fond of seeking scholarly pursuits!
This affinity for intellectual curiosity led teams of EGR 506 and 706 students to the Perkins, Bostock, and Rubenstein Libraries for the spring edition of the Engineering Library Scavenger Hunt on Jan. 22-23.
Engineering students explored the many different areas of Perkins, Bostock, and Rubenstein with the hopes of being the first team to complete 23 scavenger hunt missions with the most points at the end of one hour. One of those missions required teams to use the library website to locate two different engineering books as well as find a book in their native language. Another task included having students browse our exhibit galleries to discover the “hidden figure” who taught Charles Darwin to stuff birds.
Students also learned about the history of Duke University in the Gothic Reading Room and searched for one of our former Duke Presidents. Other missions included finding the Oasis, Nicholas Family International Reading Room, Prayer and Meditation Room, Project Room #9, the OIT Help Desk in the Link, and the Librarian for Science and Engineering at the Perkins Service Desk.
The purpose of this event was to provide engineering students with a great introduction to Duke University Libraries, promote greater awareness of library spaces, resources, and services, and provide a wonderful user experience to encourage many return visits!
This event was made possible through a collaborative partnership between Duke University Libraries and the Graduate Communications and Intercultural Programs.
If you have any questions, please contact Deric Hardy (deric.hardy@duke.edu) or Graduate Communications and Intercultural Programs in the Pratt School (gcip-pratt@duke.edu).
Guest post by Brandon Britt, Access Services Librarian, and Annette Tillery, Perkins Service Desk Supervisor
The Duke University Libraries are highly invested in ensuring that the services and experiences we offer to all who visit us at our Service Desk are as responsive to user feedback as possible.
The Perkins Library Customer Service Experience Survey is a short, 3-minute survey which allows you to give feedback on your time engaging with the people and resources in the building. We welcome constructive remarks about your time in the building!
Simply click the survey link above or scan the QR code when you see these signs around Perkins Library.
If you’re a graduate student at Duke, Fall Break may be a good time to work through several of your RCR credits in just two days! The Duke University Libraries offer a cluster of workshops on diverse subjects in several different disciplines on Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 16-17. Register now!
Post by Joyce Chapman, Assessment Analyst and Consultant; Sarah Park, Librarian for Engineering and Computer Science; and Matthew Hayes, Librarian for Japanese Studies and Asian American Studies
Duke students enjoy Holi, the Hindu holiday also known as the Festival of Colors. Photo by Jared Lazarus/University Communications.
How can the Duke Libraries better support the needs of international students at Duke? A team of library staff conducted qualitative research with international students over the past year in order to answer this question. This research was part of a multi-year effort at the Libraries to better understand the experiences and needs of various populations at Duke, including first-generation college students, and Black students.
Our final report discusses the full research process and our findings in more detail than that provided below, including a full list of recommendations resulting from the study.
We began by reading existing research on university and academic libraries’ support of international students and speaking with key stakeholders on campus. In fall of 2022 and spring of 2023, we conducted a series of discussion groups with both graduate and undergraduate international students. We also surveyed international students to better understand their library and campus experiences at Duke.
On the whole, participants express high satisfaction both with the Libraries and Duke University. In the 2023 Libraries Student Survey, international student respondents were more likely to report feeling welcomed at the Libraries and that the library is an important part of their Duke experience than domestic students. When asked in discussion groups what helps them feel welcome, international students discussed how the Libraries’ wide array of exhibits and events with international focus, as well as visible print materials in non-English languages, make the Libraries a welcoming space for them. Numerous students mentioned the positive impact of the Duke International Student Center (DISC) and a range of orientational programs, such as campus wide, program specific, and international student specific orientations, in fostering a sense of belonging and welcome at Duke. For undergraduates specifically, peers play an important role in making them feel welcome.
Studying for finals in Lilly Library on Duke’s East Campus. Photo by Bill Snead/University Communications.
Participants were also asked which people, services, and spaces feel supportive and safe at Duke University. For undergraduates, examples include Counseling and Psychological Services; Duke LIFE (Lower Income, First-Generation Engagement); the campus farm; Resident Advisor supervisors; advisors; fellow Duke students; professors and Teaching Assistants; the Career Resource Center; campus events; Duke health insurance; student clubs; and the campus gyms. For graduate students, supportive services primarily revolve around departments and programs, including departmental staff such as program administrators, Directors of Graduate Studies and Director of Graduate Studies Assistants, program advisors, career services teams within schools, and department coordinators. Graduate students also discussed fellow international students, upperclass students within their programs, instructors, and lab mates as sources of support.
Overall, international students at Duke feel welcome and supported by both fellow students and faculty. Participants also discussed aspects of Duke that have felt unwelcoming, including the additional stress of administrative requirements around acquiring healthcare, visas, driver’s licenses, social security numbers, and housing. Both graduate and undergraduate participants discussed how cultural differences can make students feel out of place. A few students shared their experiences of encountering microaggressions from some fellow students and faculty. These microaggressions often stem from assumptions made by the microaggressor based on the students’ nationality or from the microaggressor’s own U.S.-centric worldview, even in academic situations where a global perspective is expected. A theme among undergraduate students was the unwelcoming exclusivity of social groups and some clubs, which was described as a cause of social anxiety. For graduate students in particular, the cost of living, feeling unsafe off campus, and transportation are three of the least welcoming aspects of life at Duke. Some students additionally brought up the stress caused by the pervasive nature of academic elitism at Duke, an issue that would not be unique to international students.
Participants were asked who they turn to when they have questions. Undergraduates often turn to friends, upperclass students, advisors, student support offices, and even large chat groups used by their cohorts. Graduate students tend to rely more on formal entities such as advisors, graduate program offices, and faculty, though they also consult lab mates, upperclass students, friends, and their extended networks.
Duke students and alumni celebrate Homecoming Weekend on the Bryan Center Plaza. Photo by Jared Lazarus/University Communications.
Students reflected on what was most challenging for them when they first arrived in Durham or on campus. Literature reviews discussing the challenges international students face while studying abroad often emphasize language and communication barriers. However, challenges identified at Duke centered more on cultural and social interactions, with little mention of basic communication issues. Students expressed feelings of being overwhelmed with a bewildering variety of resources and facing challenges in navigating through available options. While such overwhelming feelings are not unique to international students, it is notable that their American counterparts are often guided by relatives who have experience with the U.S. education system. Additionally, many undergraduate students talked about differences in education systems and pedagogical approaches between their home countries and Duke.
We also asked participants how they use the Libraries at Duke and what works well for them. The overall attitude toward the Libraries is very positive. International students use and value the Libraries for its variety of study spaces, online resources, textbook loans program, interlibrary loan services, and research support. When asked what works well in the Libraries, the majority of comments focused on the ease-of-use of library facilities and spaces, as well as on the accessibility of library materials. Many students also appreciate the ability to use the Libraries as a place to relax and unwind throughout the day. Students praised the volume of Duke’s holdings, its networked relationship to other lending institutions, the ease of finding online resources, and the savvy work of librarians in assisting students during research consultations.
International students also identified several areas of the library that do not work well for them. Among these, students described their limited awareness of library services and librarian subject expertise. Many also commented on the crowded nature of study spaces, and the frustrating waitlist for carrels. While study rooms are highly valued by international and domestic students, we found that they are also one of the Libraries’ services for which students express frustrations and a greater need. We found that many undergraduate international students were unaware of the ability to receive personalized help from library staff, and that the Libraries’ support role is known only to small cross-sections of the international student population. When students learn of personalized assistance from librarians they often do not do so through the Libraries, but from professors and other students. Students praised information provided by librarians in their Writing 101 and English for International Students classes, but requested that the Libraries provide more outreach and information sessions extended over a longer portion of the student’s academic career at Duke. Some students expressed a strong interest in having tour opportunities, more library orientations, and greater awareness of the general services offered by U.S. academic libraries, with which many international students may be unfamiliar.
When asked what services and programs the Libraries could offer to further support international students, participants had several ideas. The overarching theme was a desire for enhanced communication and promotion of library services and resources. This could include promotion through the DISC newsletter and international student orientations. It could also include channels not specific to international students, such as professors, programs, program orientations, and increasing advertising about the Libraries on campus but outside the library buildings themselves. Students were also interested in the Libraries increasing its offerings of workshops and tours. Echoing findings from the Libraries’ 2023 Student Survey, a recurring request from international students in discussion groups was for increased foreign language materials, and in particular, leisure reading materials and current newspapers. Other ideas from students include increasing collaboration with DISC and other campus offices, and providing popular games from students’ home countries in a leisure area of the Libraries.
Getting ready for final exams in the Link at Perkins Library. Photo by Jared Lazarus/University Communications.
What’s Next?
These findings became the basis of 29 recommendations outlined in the Research Team’s full report. The Research Team will present this study at the Libraries’ all-staff meeting, and will share it widely with other units on Duke’s campus over the summer of 2023. We will also share the report within the library community to encourage other libraries to consider these questions and undertake similar work at their own institutions.
One of the report’s recommendations is that the Libraries’ charge an International Student Study Implementation Team in fall 2023 that will prioritize and coordinate the implementation of recommendations from the study.
For more information on this study, contact Joyce Chapman, Assessment Analyst and Consultant, at joyce.chapman@duke.edu.
The new Main Library in downtown Durham is one of the Bull City’s newest architectural gems. All Duke students are eligible to use your local public library, even if you’re not a permanent NC resident.
It’s National Library Week, and we’ve got a quick and easy way you can celebrate!
Stop by Perkins Library on Tuesday, April 25, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m., and sign up for a Durham County Library Card.
It’s free and easy. All you need is your Duke ID (if you’re a Duke student) or other photo ID and proof of Durham residency (everybody else).
That’s right! ALL DUKE STUDENTS ARE ELIGIBLE to get a free Durham County Library Card*. Even if you’re not a permanent North Carolina resident, you can still use your local public library, and you don’t even have to leave your dorm room once you sign up.
Not to mention popular streaming services like Hoopla (Kids TV, popular movies, comics, e-books, and more) and IndieFlix (classic films, award-winning shorts, documentaries).
The Durham County Library consists of six branches spread throughout Durham County including the brand-new Main Library in downtown. It’s one of the Bull City’s newest architectural points of pride. If you need a break from studying in our campus libraries, check out their quiet study spots with inspiring views of downtown Durham. You can thank us later when you ace those exams.
* If you only have a Duke ID when you sign up, you’ll get a Student Card, which lets you check out 10 items at a time, plus access all electronic resources. If you also can show some proof of NC address (can be electronic, photo of a utility bill, piece of mail, etc.), you’ll get a full Library Card, which lets you check out up to 50 items.
Post by Michael Edwards, Resource Sharing Librarian; Alex Konecky, Access and Library Services Assistant; and Sarah Park, Librarian for Engineering and Computer Science
Interlibrary Loan (ILL) is Duke University Libraries’ system for obtaining materials that are not available at Duke. This service is available to current Duke University faculty, staff, and students. Eligible users can submit an ILL request on the library homepage.
Go to the library homepage and click “Interlibrary Request” on the quick links menu. Then, click the “Request a Title” button to login, and fill out the form. If you haven’t used the service before, you may need to register for an account.
Alternatively, if you don’t want to fill out the form yourself, you can request an article through Google Scholar and avoid filling out the form. To do so, go to Scholar.Google.Com and search for the article you need.
Before you search, make sure that Google knows that you are affiliated with Duke. If you are on campus, Google already knows that you are affiliated with Duke. But if you are off campus, go to the settings under the three bars, clicking “Library Links,” and searching for Duke in the search box. Select Duke and press the “Save” button. A shortcut to the “Library Links” is https://scholar.google.com/scholar_settings?#2.
Once you have set up the library links, you will notice that search results show a “Get it at Duke” link next to the title whether you are on or off campus.
If you come across an article that doesn’t have the “Get it at Duke” link, like “Closed-loop insulin delivery: current status of diabetes technologies and future prospects,” don’t worry. You can still access it by clicking the double arrow at the bottom of the article. This will reveal the “Get it @ Duke” link. Click on it to proceed.
Next, click on “Request – University users” and make sure all the information is correctly filled out before submitting the request. You will receive a link via email, so you can access a PDF of the article.
If you have any questions about this or any other interlibrary loan services, please contact ILL department at Interlibraryrequests@duke.edu.
For the last several years, the Duke University Libraries has purchased copies of the assigned texts for a wide range of Duke courses and made them available to check out for free. It’s one of our most popular services, and students regularly tell us how much they appreciate it. And no wonder, when the cost of a single textbook can often exceed $300.
Now there’s a way you can help us make the program even better and do something about the ridiculous cost of textbooks at the same time. At the end of this semester, donate your textbooks to the library. We’ll make them available for other students to check out for free.
Don’t you wish someone had done that for you? Be that someone.
Look for the textbook donation bins in Perkins, Bostock, Lilly, and Divinity libraries starting this week. When you’ve finished with your classes, simply drop your books in the bin and enjoy the satisfaction of knowing you’ve made some future Duke student’s day.
So if you passed your classes, pass it on. Donate your textbooks to us and make a Duke education more affordable for all.
(And if you didn’t pass, we’ll understand if you need to hang on to those books a little longer.)
The Duke University Libraries are undertaking a strategic planning process in order to define a clear sense of direction and identify priorities for the next five years. Griffin Reames and Ashley Garcia from Guideline Consulting are helping to support us in this important work.
We would very much appreciate your participation in a 1-hour focus group with Guideline Consulting to share your feedback and reflections on the biggest strategic issues impacting the library’s future. Focus groups will be conducted virtually via Zoom.
Please indicate your availability here no later than Friday, April 14 and someone from Guideline will reach out to confirm a final date and time. Discussion prompts will be shared by Guideline prior to the focus group, though no advance preparation is required.
Attendees will receive a $20 gift card via email. We hope to hear from you!
Jameca Dupree, Associate University Librarian and Director of Financial and Facility Services
The Duke University Libraries are pleased to announce two appointments to our senior leadership team, after dual national searches. Both will serve as members of the Libraries’ Executive Group, reporting to the University Librarian and Vice Provost for Library Affairs.
Jameca Dupree has been named Associate University Librarian and Director of Financial and Facility Services, effective February 1.
In this role, she will have overall responsibility for the financial affairs and administrative operations of the Libraries, overseeing a $36 million operating budget and providing leadership over a division that includes Business Services, Facilities and Distribution Services, and the Library Service Center.
Dupree has led the division in an interim capacity since last July, following the retirement of Ann Wolfe, who had served in the role since 2002.
Dupree has worked at Duke for twenty-one years, including seventeen in the Libraries, in progressively responsible administrative, budget, and financial oversight roles. Starting out as a staff assistant in our Human Resources and Business Services Department (2005-2010), she was eventually promoted to Senior Financial Analyst (2010-2016) and Director of Business Services (2016-2022), before assuming her current responsibilities.
Dupree holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from North Carolina Wesleyan College, and a MBA from Fayetteville State University—both of which she earned while working full-time in the Libraries. She is also a graduate of the Managing at Duke program, the Triangle Research Libraries Network Management Academy, and the Duke Leadership Academy. In 2020, Dupree co-founded the Duke University Libraries Black Staff Alliance (DULBSA), a group that provides community, support, and ideas for advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion among library staff.
“Jameca has excelled throughout her career in the Duke Libraries and most recently as Interim AUL,” said Joseph A. Salem, Rita DiGiallonardo Holloway University Librarian and Vice Provost for Library Affairs. “She was the ideal selection as we look for Financial and Facility Services not only to provide good stewardship well into the future, but also effective communication so that our staff have a shared sense of the resources needed to support our work and those available to innovate and push it in new directions.”
“I am delighted and extremely enthusiastic about this opportunity, especially continuing my career with the Duke University Libraries,” said Dupree. “It was a natural next step for me, and I am thankful that Joe, the members of the Executive Group, and library staff supported this direction. The Duke Libraries are moving forward in exciting and innovative ways, and I am honored to be a part of the leadership team that will see it through.”
Emily Daly, Associate University Librarian for Research and Public Services
Dupree’s appointment coincides with another addition to the Libraries’ Executive Group. Emily Daly has been named Associate University Librarian for Research and Public Services, effective March 1.
In this position, Daly will provide leadership, vision, and strategic direction to advance the core teaching, learning, and research services of the Libraries. The division she oversees is broadly responsible for providing individualized library help and outreach to students, faculty, university staff, and the general public. Research and Public Services includes Access and Delivery Services, the East Campus Libraries, International and Area Studies, Humanities and Social Sciences, Natural Sciences and Engineering, and the Marine Lab Library.
Daly has served as Interim AUL for the division since last June, following the departure of Dave Hansen. During that time, she has overseen a structural reorganization of the division, working with staff to bring increased focus on public services and user spaces. The new structure is better positioned to meet the evolving demands of a modern research library.
Daly has worked at the Duke University Libraries since 2006, when she was hired as an intern in the Instruction and Outreach Department. Later she was appointed Coordinator of Upper-Level Instruction and Librarian for Education (2008-2012), before being promoted to Interim Head of Library Instruction and Outreach (2012), Head of Assessment and User Experience (2013-2022), and Interim Head of Research and Instructional Services (2021-2022), prior to assuming her current duties.
In addition to her work in the Libraries, Daly is active in the library profession. She serves on the advisory council of the Triangle Research Libraries Network, and she has chaired or served on numerous committees with the American Library Association and the Association of College and Research Libraries, where she recently concluded a term on the board of the directors. Daly also has an extensive record of service to Duke. She currently serves on the Master’s Advisory Council and has been an Academic Advisor to pre-major Duke undergraduates since 2010.
Daly holds a bachelor’s degree in English from North Carolina State University, and a master’s in Library Science from UNC-Chapel Hill.
“I have been impressed with Emily’s willingness to lead the division through organizational change during this interim period and look forward to working with her in this role on an ongoing basis,” said Joe Salem. “She has demonstrated the commitment to collaboration, to our students, and to our colleagues that I was seeking. She has also demonstrated a strong emphasis on innovation and continuous improvement, which make her an ideal leader for a division that will contribute to the mission of the university in new ways over the coming years.”
“I’ve been fortunate in sixteen-plus years at Duke Libraries to work in a number of departments and roles,” said Daly. “Whenever I’ve felt that I might make a greater impact doing something new, an opportunity has presented itself, or I’ve successfully advocated for a change. I’m extremely excited about this latest opportunity, and I’m eager to work and learn alongside talented, dedicated colleagues as we set direction for services and spaces in response to library users’ evolving needs.”
The other members of the Libraries’ Executive Group include Blue Dean, Associate University Librarian for Development; Dracine Hodges, Associate University Librarian for Technical Services; Timothy M. McGeary, Associate University Librarian for Digital Strategies and Technology; and Naomi Nelson, Associate University Librarian and Director of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.
Over the last several years, Duke, like many other institutions, has made a significant investment in computational research, recognizing that such research techniques can have wide-ranging benefits from translational research in the biomedical sciences to the digital humanities, this work can and has been transformative. Much of this work is reliant on researchers being able to engage in text and data-mining (TDM) to produce the data-sets necessary for large-scale computational analysis. For the sciences, this can range from compiling research data across a whole series of research projects, to collecting large numbers of research articles for computer-aided systematic reviews. For the humanities, it may mean assembling a corpus of digitized books, DVDs, music, or images for analysis into how language, literary themes, or depictions have changed over time.
The Law of Text and Data Mining
The techniques and tools for text and data-mining have advanced rapidly, but one constant for TDM researchers has been a fear of legal risk. For data-sets composed of copyrighted works, the risk of liability can seem staggering. With copyright’s statutory damages set as high as $150,000 per work infringed, a corpus of several hundred works can cause real concern.
However, the risks of just avoiding copyrighted works are also high. Given the extensive reach of copyright law, avoiding protected or unlicensed works can mean narrowing research to focus on extremely limited datasets, which can in turn lead to biased and incomplete results. For example, avoiding copyright for many researchers means using very old, public domain sources materials, which skews their scholarship to focus on works written by authors that do not represent the diverse voices found in modern publications.
Thankfully, there is a legal pathway forward for TDM researchers. Unlike the situation in most other nations, where text and data-mining has benefited from special enabling legislation, the United States has instead relied on fair use, the flexible copyright doctrine that has been key to US innovation policy. While fair use has the reputation of being nebulous and confusing (you might recall hearing it described as the “right to hire a lawyer”) there are good reasons to believe that with appropriate safeguards, non-commerical academic research is reliably protected by fair use. Only a handful of recent efforts have focused on helping researchers better understand the scope of these fair use rights for TDM research. For example, UC Berkeley spearheaded an NEH-funded project to build legal literacies for text and data mining in 2020. I’m happy to say that Authors Alliance, a nonprofit that supports authors who research and write for the public benefit, is working to further advance understanding of fair use as applied to TDM research through new resources and direct consultation with researchers under a new Mellon Foundation supported project titled “Text and Data Mining: Demonstrating Fair Use.”
Unfortunately, fair use isn’t the only legal barrier to text and data-mining research. For researchers who seek to use modern digital works–for example, ebooks available only in ePub format, or movies only available on DVDs–a whole series of other laws can stand in the way. In particular, under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (the “DMCA,” a creature of late-90s copyright and information policy), Congress created a special set of restrictions on users of digital materials, seeking to give copyright owners the right to place digital locks on their works, such as DRM, to prevent online piracy. The DMCA imposes significant liability for users of copyrighted works who circumvent technical protection measures (e.g., content scramble for DVDs) unless those users comply with a series of complex exemptions promulgated by the U.S. Copyright Office.
In 2021, Authors Alliance, the Association of Research Libraries, and the American Association of University Professors joined together to successfully petition the US Copyright Office for such a DMCA exemption for text and data mining in support of academic research. That exemption now allows researchers to circumvent technological protection measures that restrict access to literary works and motion pictures. Like other exemptions, it is complicated, containing requirements such as the implementation of strict security measures. But, it is not impenetrable, especially with clear guidance.
An Invitation to Learn with Us About Legal Issues in Text and Data Mining
To that end, I’m pleased that Duke University Libraries, the Franklin Humanities Institute, and others units at Duke are working with Authors Alliance to take the lead in supporting researchers to overcome legal obstacles to TDM. Together, this spring we will host a series of workshops for faculty, librarians, and others at Duke as well as other Triangle area universities. On March 23, we’ll host a workshop focused on legal issues in TDM using textual materials, and then on April 4, another workshop on TDM with visual and audio-visual materials. Each workshop will give an overview of the state of law as applied to TDM – practical tips and guidance, as well as substantial hands-on discussion about how to address particular challenges. We also plan to use these workshops to gather feedback: about where the law is confusing, or in its current state, inadequate for researchers. That work is done with an eye toward identifying ways to improve the law to make computational research using TDM techniques more accessible and efficient.
All are invited to join. You can register for these workshops below.
Legal Issues in Text and Data Mining: Literature and Text-Based Works
Thursday, March 23
12:00 – 1:00 p.m. (Lunch Provided) The Edge Workshop Room (Bostock Library 127) Register to attend
Legal Issues in Computational Research Using Images and Audiovisual Works
Tuesday, April 4
2:00 – 3:00 p.m. Ahmadieh Family Lecture Hall (Smith Warehouse, Bay 4, C105) Register to attend
Your feedback matters! We use data from this survey to make service enhancements, expenditures, and other library improvements. See the list of examples below for changes we’ve made in response to previous user surveys.
Here in the Libraries, we’re always trying to up our game. That’s why every two (or three) years we invite Duke students to take part in a brief user survey to help us better understand their experiences and thoughts on library spaces, collections, and services.
The survey takes about 5 minutes to complete and will remain open between now and February 15, 2023.
As a special thank you for participating, all student respondents will be entered into a raffle for a $150 Amazon gift card.
When libraries and students work together, everybody wins. Take a look at some of the improvements we’ve made in the past as a direct result of our user surveys.
Changes We Made in Response to Past User Surveys
Artwork that reflects diverse backgrounds: You asked for improvements to the artwork in our spaces to better reflect the diversity of the Duke community. We formed a visual diversity committee and completed several projects to feature new artwork in our spaces.
Inclusive spaces statement and signage: You asked for visible confirmation that Duke Libraries are open to everyone. We worked with students to develop an Inclusive Spaces Statement, used welcoming “Libraries are for everyone” artwork for buttons and wall art in Lower Level 2, and also posted wall-mounted “Welcome to the Library” signage near library building entrances.
Increased textbook lending: You asked for more textbooks to be available from the library. We purchased textbooks for the 100 highest enrollment classes at Duke and made them available for three-hour checkout at the library.
Easier access to online articles and research materials: You asked for help getting access to library resources while off campus. We collected helpful tools and instructions into a single, clear page.
All-gender restrooms: You asked for more publicity around the all-gender restrooms in the libraries. We created new signage in Perkins and Bostock libraries to direct people to the all-gender restrooms.
Hot/cold water dispensers: You asked for access to hot filtered water 24/7. We added two hot/cold water dispensers to Bostock (floor 3) and Perkins (floor 4).
Better incident reporting: You asked for easier ways to report problematic incidents in the library. We created a new library incident reporting form that can be submitted anonymously.
Library space design: You asked for our study spaces to work better for a range of needs. We formed a team to review how library spaces can be designed to support student needs, and we also worked directly with patrons with disabilities to learn more about their experiences with library spaces.
Help finding books: You asked for help navigating the book stacks on floors with dense shelving. We added signage near stairwells and entrances to point people in the right direction for different book ranges.
Lower Level 2 improvements: You asked for a better vibe in Perkins Lower Level 2. We replaced the carpet, changed the paint color, and added brighter lighting.
Feedback is what helps the Libraries grow, and the more input we get, the better we’ll be able to renovate, rethink, and improve.
So please, take a couple minutes of your time to complete the 2023 survey—and thank you for your help in making the Duke University Libraries a better place.
Post by Haley Walton, Librarian for Education and Open Scholarship
For over a decade, the Duke University Libraries have been invested in open access to scholarly literature: the sharing of research outputs freely on the internet with no paywalls. In 2010, the faculty adopted an Open Access Policy to enable Duke authors to share their research papers in an open repository, DukeSpace, maintained by the Libraries. At the same time, the university signed onto the Compact for Open Access Publishing Equity (COPE), a program that aimed to remove disincentives to publishing in open access journals by helping authors pay article processing charges (APCs).
Our COPE Fund’s founding mission was to support “pure” open access publishers operating entirely on APCs rather than subscriptions—this in order to promote equity among subscription-based publishers and APC-based open access, which was, at the time, an innovative publishing model. COPE was designed to encourage the overall creation and sustainability of fully open publishing, as well as lower the cost barrier of APCs for Duke authors. Our goal was to endorse the open exchange of scholarship produced at the university.
With funding from the Duke University Libraries, the School of Medicine, the School of Nursing, and the Office of the Provost, COPE helped defray publication costs for our authors continuously for the subsequent 12 years. This included funding the publication of nearly 500 articles by 470 individual Duke authors (faculty, graduate students, postdocs, and undergraduates). However, in June 2022, the COPE program will be coming to an end as the Libraries pivot to open access initiatives that are more relevant in today’s publishing landscape. (See our list of Duke-supported open access initiatives for more information.) This does not mean we are less dedicated to supporting OA at the university, but that the Libraries are choosing to invest in more contemporary models of openness, and ones that will have broader benefit in the Duke community and beyond.
As administrator of the fund for the last 6 years, I have enjoyed thoughtful correspondence with authors whose concerns about the publishing ecosystem are considerable. Openness is encouraged as demands for citations and numerous publications grow for students and faculty. But in the time since COPE’s creation, APC-based open access has matured into a mainstream part of the scholarly publishing ecosystem (rather than being the innovative model it was in 2010). Market-dominant, for-profit publishers and university presses have seen the benefits and popularity of open access, subsequently making modifications to their own models to include OA options (e.g. pay-for-OA in closed-access journals and/or entirely open journals started by “traditional” publishing houses).
As a consequence, there is less delineation between “pure” OA and a hybrid model of open options and subscriptions. This has made it difficult for our COPE Fund to operate effectively using the principles upon which it was founded, namely that we had to restrict the journals and publishers we could fund, excluding any journals that had been purchased or launched by publishers such as Wiley, Nature, or Elsevier. This led to frustration for both authors and for the Libraries as the open access publishing landscape became more convoluted. The technicalities of balancing COPE’s mission with the changing norms in OA publishing necessitated long-form communication with applicants and limitations on the fund that were more problematic than helpful for the Duke community. The Libraries assessed the dwindling ability of the fund to cover more than 20-40 article APCs per year (and often not the entire fee, as costs have been going up) and concluded that we could reinvest the COPE funds in other publishing activities that would benefit a greater number of authors on campus (such as the read and publish deal with Cambridge University Press that started in January 2022).
In my time working with Duke authors who were utilizing the COPE Fund, I had the privilege of seeing the groundbreaking research happening at the university and of having in-depth discussions about our community’s needs as academia grows and changes into the 21st century. I worked with authors across disciplines, from medicine and psychology to the social sciences and math. These are people dedicated to their work and determined to share knowledge with their colleagues and the general public. While COPE’s footprint on campus grew smaller with each passing year—limited funding and rising APC costs—I was still glad to keep a finger on the pulse of publishing on campus through the program. The Libraries (myself included) fully intend to continue to advocate for openness in scholarly publishing and for the interests of Duke authors in an ever-evolving world of openness in research, albeit without the COPE Fund.
It’s a bittersweet farewell I say to the program, but encourage all Duke faculty, students, and other researchers to keep an open dialog with the Libraries about what you need when it comes to resources to publish openly in your discipline. We are determined to invest library resources in an open infrastructure that supports our authors and their scholarly endeavors into the future.
Guest post by Paolo Mangiafico, Scholarly Communications Strategist and Co-Director, ScholarWorks Center for Scholarly Publishing; Haley Walton, Librarian for Education and Open Scholarship; and Elena Feinstein, Head of Collection Strategy and Development
In keeping with our long-held goal of putting knowledge in service to society, Duke University has been an early and strong proponent of open access publishing. So many scholarly journals and books remain behind subscription paywalls—while members of the Duke community can get access to many of them through Duke Libraries, researchers at less privileged institutions or in other countries, independent researchers, policymakers, and the general public often can’t. This is where open access comes in—through a variety of funding and publishing models, researchers can increasingly make their publications and data and other research outputs freely available to anyone to read and use, resulting in increased reach and impact for Duke research, and benefits to the world at large.
Duke’s Academic Council adopted an open access policy in 2010, making it possible for Duke faculty to share their own scholarly articles via an open access repository supported by Duke Libraries, and link them from their Scholars@Duke profiles and lab, department, school, and institute web sites. This is sometimes known as “green open access”—referring to authors making their own articles available via preprint servers or other other repositories, in addition to publishing them in a traditional journal. Some journals also make it possible for publications to be made open access directly from the journal—known as “gold open access”—either by publishing the journal through volunteer labor of scholars themselves, or by institutions and foundations sponsoring the journal’s publishing costs, or by publishers charging authors an article processing charge (APC) when their article is accepted for publication. Duke has provided support for all of these models over the years, encouraging more researchers and more journals to make their work openly available, and providing financial and in-kind support to help do so.
“Duke Libraries have recently entered into a new agreement with Cambridge University Press (CUP) that will both provide subscription access to Cambridge journals for the Duke community as well as cover open access article fees for Duke authors publishing in CUP journals.”
Starting in January, a new opportunity to publish open access became available to Duke authors. Duke Libraries have recently entered into a new agreement with Cambridge University Press (CUP) that will both provide subscription access to Cambridge journals for the Duke community as well as cover open access article fees for Duke authors publishing in CUP journals. This program applies to all 380 journals that Cambridge University Press publishes as either fully open access or hybrid (the journal itself is subscription access, but individual articles may be made open access)—you can find the full list of applicable journals here. If you submitted your article to one of these journals after January 1, 2022, and the corresponding author has a Duke email address, CUP will waive open access fees. CUP open access fees average $3,945 per article, so this agreement will result in a significant savings for Duke authors, help make more Duke research openly available to anyone to read, and increase the potential readership and impact for Duke researchers. The program includes authors affiliated with Duke University (including the professional schools), School of Medicine, and Duke Kunshan University, but not Duke University Health System.
These kinds of arrangements are called “transformative agreements” because they aim to begin the shift from institutions paying for limited access subscriptions toward paying for open access publishing, with the ultimate result of a transformed scholarly publishing landscape, with neither readers nor authors having to pay for publishing or access. These kinds of programs are a welcome transition away from a purely subscription landscape toward greater access, but they have the potential to further establish a different kind of inequity by privileging authors who are at institutions like Duke that can afford to enter in this kind of arrangement, and privileging large publishers who can afford to experiment with new funding models and make large-scale deals.
As a key player in the shifting scholarly publishing landscape, Duke Libraries will continue to experiment with a variety of models, and monitor the costs and benefits to the Duke community and effects on the broader research community, aiming to keep moving toward models that promote greater access and equity, and that align with our institution’s values.
“So at the end of this fiscal year… the COPE fund will wind down as we pivot to new models like the Cambridge program… and others that build partnerships between publishers and libraries to collectively fund journals and books so neither authors nor readers need to cover the costs.”
One experiment we began more than a decade ago is now winding down, as the landscape has changed significantly over those years. In 2010 Duke became a signatory to the Compact for Open Access Publishing Equity (COPE), a program that aimed to remove disincentives for researchers to publish in open access journals, by helping cover some of the article processing charges (APCs) open access journals were starting to charge to cover their costs. With financial support from the Provost, Duke Libraries, the School of Medicine, and School of Nursing, a fund was established to cover some open access fees for Duke authors. Over the years this program has funded open access publication of nearly 500 articles, supporting 470 Duke authors, including faculty, graduate students, postdocs and even undergraduates. The journal publishing landscape has changed over the time this program was active—APC-funded publishing is now well-established, sponsors of funded research now generally allow inclusion of these costs in grant budgets, and new models have emerged that can provide broader benefit a lower cost. So at the end of this fiscal year (in June) the COPE fund will wind down as we pivot to new models like the Cambridge program described above (which provide benefit to all Duke authors, not just those who applied for and were awarded reimbursement from COPE) and others that build partnerships between publishers and libraries to collectively fund journals and books so neither authors nor readers need to cover the costs. Duke University Press is establishing itself as a leader in this area with the innovative model it has established for the Demography journal. UNC Press, MIT Press, the University of Michigan Press, and many others are also building sustainable open access funding models, and Duke is partnering with them to help build more open access for Duke researchers and readers everywhere.
To learn more about other programs supported by Duke Libraries to help increase open access to Duke research and promote a more equitable scholarly publishing ecosystem more broadly, and how you can use them when you publish, see this page, talk with your librarian, or email open-access@duke.edu.
For the last several years, the Duke University Libraries has purchased copies of the assigned texts for a wide range of Duke courses and made them available to check out for free. It’s one of our most popular services, and students regularly tell us how much they appreciate it. And no wonder, when the cost of a single textbook can often exceed $300.
Now there’s a way you can help us make the program even better and do something about the ridiculous cost of textbooks at the same time. At the end of this semester, donate your textbooks to the library. We’ll make them available for other students to check out for free.
Don’t you wish someone had done that for you? Be that someone.
Look for the textbook donation bins in Perkins, Bostock, Lilly, and Divinity libraries starting this week. When you’ve finished with your classes, simply drop your books in the bin and enjoy the satisfaction of knowing you’ve made some future Duke student’s day.
So if you passed your classes, pass it on. Donate your textbooks to us and make a Duke education more affordable for all.
(And if you didn’t pass, we’ll understand if you need to hang on to those books a little longer.)
Relocating Duke’s priceless special collections 4,700 miles away from the researchers who need to consult them will help ensure their long-term preservation.
With Duke’s recent addition of Hawaii to the list of states where university employees are allowed to work remotely, the Duke University Libraries announced today that its entire 250-person staff will be working full-time from the Aloha State, starting this spring and summer.
In what’s being described as a radical experiment in putting the lessons of the pandemic to work, Duke will have the first library system in the nation to be operated entirely remotely, from nearly 5,000 miles and five time zones away.
Though it will take some getting used to, the change will come with major benefits for students, said retiring University Librarian Deborah Jakubs, who has already gone ahead to the popular vacation destination to oversee the staff move.
“For years, Duke students have been asking us for more study space in the libraries,” said Jakubs from a private lanai overlooking a breathtaking Pacific sunset. “Now we’re finally able to give them what they want. With staff offices empty and all of us out of the way, students can finally have the entire place to themselves,” she added between sips from a tall, cool Mai Tai.
How exactly will a remotely operated research library work? Largely on the honor system and with the help of student employees, said Dave Hansen, Associate University Librarian for Research, Collections & Scholarly Communication. “The past two years have prepared us well for maintaining high levels of service even when we’re not onsite,” said Hansen, sporting a three-day beard under a wide-brim sun hat. “The Libraries employ almost 200 highly trained student workers who are already accustomed to assisting patrons and performing various support functions that keep our operations going.”
Books and other materials in the circulating collection will be available on a self-checkout basis, Hansen explained. The Libraries are purchasing additional self-checkout stations, which will be installed near every library entrance.
“And here’s the best part—once you’re done with your books, DVDs, whatever, you just put them back on the shelves where you found them,” said Hansen, the faint sounds of a ukulele strumming somewhere behind him. “We totally trust you.”
“Our librarians will still be available for consultation via Zoom,” said Emily Daly, Interim Head of Research and Instructional Services, casually waxing a Duke blue surfboard. “Whenever students or faculty need help with a class or research project, we’ll be just the click of a button away,” Daly added, as dolphins could be seen cavorting in the gnarly whitecaps behind her “office.” When scheduling Zoom appointments with library staff, Duke students and faculty are advised to add a 30-minute buffer on either end to account for “island time.”
While books and other materials in the Libraries’ general collection will remain onsite in Durham, some 65,000 linear feet of archival material in the Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library will be relocated to a secure facility on Mauna Kea on Hawaii’s Big Island.
“We believe the best way to preserve Duke’s priceless special collections is to put about 4,700 miles of distance between them and the researchers who need to consult them,” said Naomi Nelson, Associate University Librarian and Director of the Rubenstein Library. “With its low temperatures, low humidity, and clean air, Mauna Kea has some of the best environmental conditions anywhere on earth for preserving rare books and historical papers,” Nelson explained, tossing a few more logs into a fire pit where she planned to slow-roast a pig over the course of the day. “Not to mention the billions of stars you can see out here at night. Really helps you keep all that important ‘research’ in perspective, you know?”
Nelson confirmed that the Rubenstein Library will continue to staff a reading room for researchers who wish to consult special collections material in person, “assuming they don’t mind a 15-hour flight.”
With Duke’s current University Librarian Deborah Jakubs set to retire in May, one unanswered question is whether her eventual successor will join the library staff or remain in Durham as the “face” of the Libraries on campus.
“We appreciate everyone’s patience and flexibility as we work to serve Duke better,” said Jakubs, reclining into a hammock slung between two palm trees that gently swayed in the sea breeze. “Mahalo.”
Can this flexible work arrangement be for real? Unfortunately it’s not a “remote” possibility. Happy April Fools’ Day, Dukies!
We’re interested in feedback about your experience using Perkins & Bostock, Rubenstein Library study spaces, von der Heyden study spaces, and Lilly Library this fall. Please complete this SHORT (2-min!) survey, and be entered in a drawing for a $50 Amazon gift card.
Your responses are confidential and will help us improve library services and spaces. Thanks in advance for your valuable input!
Members of these advisory boards will help improve the learning and research environment for Duke University students and advise the Libraries on topics such as study spaces, research resources, integrating library services into academic courses, and marketing library services to students.
The boards will typically meet three times a semester to discuss all aspects of Duke Libraries and provide feedback to library staff. This is an amazing opportunity for students to serve on the advisory board of a large, nationally recognized non-profit organization.
All three advisory boards are now taking applications or nominations. Application deadlines are:
Members of the Graduate and Professional Student Advisory Board and the Undergraduate Advisory Board will be selected and notified by mid-September, and groups will begin to meet in late September. More information is available on the advisory board website, where you will also find links to the online applications forms.
For more information or questions about these opportunities, please contact:
Okay, that headline was total clickbait. We admit it. We’ll stoop pretty low in order to seize a teachable moment. But now that we have your attention, we really do want to convey some important info about using the library this semester. Things are getting back to nearly normal, and the more you know ahead of time, the smarter you’ll look in front of all your friends. (Depending on your friends.) So here we go.
1. No more Library Takeout. Book stacks are open!
Despite the funkalicious earworm it inspired, Library Takeout is history. You no longer need to request books online and schedule a time to pick them up. That’s so 2020. Library stacks are open again, so help yourself and browse all you like. Duke faculty and grad students can still have books delivered to the library of their choice by clicking the green “Request” button in the catalog.
2. Our hours have changed.
In pre-COVID times, certain Duke libraries used to be open 24 hours during the week. This semester we’ve had to scale back, due to pandemic-related budget cuts. Our busiest libraries (Perkins, Bostock, and Lilly) will still be open until midnight most days. And if you really want to keep burning the midnight oil, we’ll have study spaces available in the von der Heyden Pavilion and Rubenstein Library. See our posted hours online for the most up-to-date info.
3. You can still reserve a seat (but you don’t have to).
Last year, if you wanted to study in the library, you had to book a seat in advance. Not any more. Study areas are available again on a first-come, first-served basis. However, one thing this past year taught us was that some students actually liked booking a seat, because they didn’t have to wander around to find a place to work. So we’ve kept a limited number of reservable study seats available. They’re in the Ahmadieh Family Commons on the second floor of Rubenstein Library, just outside of the Gothic Reading Room.
4. We have textbooks!
Every semester, we purchase the textbooks for the 100 largest classes at Duke, so that you can check them out for free. Left your textbook in your dorm room? Or want to try before you buy? Borrow our copy for up to three hours at a time, then return it for someone else to use. How great is that?
5. In a hurry? Dislike personal interactions? Check yourself out.
Several libraries across Duke’s campus have self-checkout stations, where you can quickly and easily check out your own books without having to wait in line or deal with an actual human being. (We get it―ew.)
6. There is no number 6.
Gotcha.
7. We’re actually very friendly people who just want you to be happy.
People who work in libraries are some of the most approachable and service-oriented individuals you’ll ever meet. We genuinely want to help you. We also have a bunch of different ways you can get the help you need, whether by chat, email, phone, in-person, or Zoom. So don’t be afraid to ask us any question. We’re smiling at you under these masks.
What are we saying, of course you do. That funkalicious earworm is probably still bopping around inside your head right now.
With its playful animation, catchy chorus, and infectious beat, the short music video takes a simple set of step-by-step instructions for using a library service during the pandemic and transforms them into something unexpectedly funky, danceable, and fun. It was composed, animated, and produced last summer by a staff member in our Music Library (and Duke alum!), Jamie Keesecker.
Soon after it was released, the video became a viral hit both on campus and off, racking up over 890,000 views on YouTube and more than a thousand appreciative comments. There have been articles written about it (such as this one,this one, and this one), drum jam fan tributes, and the music streaming service Spotify even tweeted about it, calling it “the greatest library-focused track ever made.” (Speaking of Spotify, you can also find the song there, where it has been played almost 300,000 times.)
Now the video has earned another distinction—the admiration of our library peers!
Every year, the Arlies festival highlights and shares multimedia projects developed by member institutions to increase knowledge and use of libraries, their spaces, services, collections, and expertise. The films are voted on by ARL member institutions, which include the 124 largest research libraries throughout the U.S. and Canada.
We are honored by the recognition, and absolutely delighted for our colleague Jamie, who deserves all the credit for bringing Duke’s unofficial pandemic anthem into the world.
Thanks to the video’s popularity, relatively few people at Duke can say they don’t know how to check out books from the library right now. As a matter of fact, many fans of the video who have no connection to Duke whatsoever could easily tell you the steps. As one YouTube commenter noted, “How am I going to explain that my favorite song is an instructional video for a library I’ve never been to, at a school I’ve never attended?!”
We may never be able to replicate the success of “Library Takeout.” In fact, we’re positive we won’t. (All those people who subscribed to our YouTube Channel are going to be pretty disappointed by our usual fare of instructional videos and event recordings.) But we feel lucky to have hit on something that clicked with our users and supporters, at a time when they (and we) really needed it.
So go ahead, give it another listen (or five). It’s precisely what you need.
In August the Duke University Libraries will be hosting several 30 minute orientations on Zoom for graduate students. These sessions will include a short overview of library services and resources, introductions to library staff who can support you, and plenty of time for questions! Register now to save your spot!
One of the things people always say they love about libraries is the smell of old books. There’s nothing quite so comforting as the slightly musty aroma of stacks upon stacks of so much accumulated knowledge. Of all the things our students and faculty tell us they miss most during this extended period of home isolation, that ineffable library smell is up there at the top.
Now, thanks to recent advances in digital publishing, we’re excited to pilot a new feature in selected library e-books that lets you recapture that odoriferous experience virtually.
Look for the green “Scratch-n-Sniff” button in selected library e-books.
The next time you check out an e-book through our library catalog, look for the green “Scratch-n-Sniff” button in the online interface. Clicking the button will activate a feature that artificially simulates the olfactory experience of reading text on vintage, yellowed paper. Just gently scratch your display as you read to be transported back to your favorite reading nook in the library.
The first time you use the “Scratch-n-Sniff” feature, you may need to lean in close to your monitor and breathe deeply to get the full effect. The application isn’t compatible with all browsers. But if your operating system is up-to-date, you should be able adjust the display settings in the control panel of your PC or mobile device to strengthen the smell.
Library users are also advised to scratch carefully, as sharp fingernails and aggressive scratching may damage your monitor and cause the “Scratch-n-Sniff” function not to work properly.
“Over the years, e-books have represented a larger and larger percentage of library collections, even as some researchers—particularly those in the humanities—continue to turn their nose up at them,” said Jeff Kosokoff, Assistant University Librarian for Collection Strategy. “We understand. Nothing quite compares to the age-old experience of immersing yourself in a physical book. But now that digital is the only option for a while, we’re doing everything we can to replicate the experience Duke’s world-class students and faculty are accustomed to.”
“We had to pay through the nose for this add-on feature,” Kosokoff added, “but it’s worth it to keep our Duke community feeling connected to their library.”
Fans of the classics will be particularly pleased to know that the earlier a book’s original publication date, the mustier it smells. For instance, clicking the “Scratch-n-Sniff” button while reading an electronic copy of David Copperfield (which happens to be our next selection for the Low Maintenance Book Club, by the way) is like holding a real first-edition Dickens up to your nose.
The “Scratch-n-Sniff” e-book feature is available for a limited time for selected e-books in our library catalog and works with most PCs, laptops, Apple and Android devices, and e-readers, including Amazon Kindle, Kobo Libra, and Barnes and Noble Nook. It does not work with Internet Explorer, however.
Is this fragrant feature for real? Unfortunately it snot. Happy April Fools’ Day, Dukies. Smell ya later!
Happy census day! Just like Duke Libraries, the census is for everyone. Our primer below will help make sure you are included in the 2020 census. For more information, you can go to the official census website.
Census Overview
What is the census?
A count of all people living in the United States as well as 2 commonwealths (Puerto Rico and the Northern Marianas Islands) and 3 territories (Guam, American Samoa, and the U.S. Virgin Islands).
When does it happen?
Every 10 years since 1790, as mandated by the U.S. Constitution in Article 1, Section 2.
Why is it important?
Determines the allocation of over $800 billion for essential programs in
Education
Healthcare
Infrastructure
Employment and Training
Decides the number of seats each state has in the House of Representatives
Used to draw congressional and state legislative districts
What questions are on the census?
The Census Bureau has posted a slideshow of all questions asked on the 2020 census and why they are asking them.
If you normally live on campus, no. There is a designated “residence administrator” who will submit the questionnaire directly to the Census Bureau.
If you live off campus, yes.
I live off campus but am currently living elsewhere because of COVID-19. Where do I count?
You count at the place you live and sleep most of the time. Even if you are currently at home because of COVID-19, you need to complete the census for your off-campus living quarters.
I can’t access my mail. How do I complete the census?
You can complete the census online or by phone. There is an online option to enter your address if you don’t have the Census ID that is included on mailed materials.
Your feedback matters! We use data from this survey to make service enhancements, expenditures, and other library improvements. See the list of examples below for changes we’ve made in response to previous user surveys.
Here in the Libraries, we’re always trying to up our game. That’s why every two years we invite Duke students to take part in a brief user survey to help us better understand their experiences and thoughts on library spaces, collections, and services.
The survey takes no more than 5 minutes to complete and will remain open between now and February 12, 2020.
As a special thank you for participating, all student respondents will be entered into a raffle for a $150 Amazon gift card.
When libraries and students work together, everybody wins. Take a look at some of the improvements we’ve made over the last four years as a direct result of our user surveys.
Changes We Made in Response to Our 2016 and 2018 User Surveys
Oasis Perkins: You asked for a space to relax and de-stress. We worked with DuWell to develop Oasis Perkins on the fourth floor of the library.
Prayer & Meditation Room: You asked for a private place to pray and meditate while in the library. We converted a study room into a space for quiet reflection.
Hot/cold water dispensers: You asked for access to hot filtered water 24/7. We added two hot/cold water dispensers to Bostock (floor 3) and Perkins (floor 4).
Increased textbook lending: You asked for more textbooks to be available from the library. We purchased textbooks for the 100 highest enrollment classes at Duke and made them available for three-hour checkout at the library.
Coffee vending machine: You asked for access to coffee 24/7. We added a coffee and hot beverage vending machine to the lounge in The Edge.
Office supplies vending machine: You asked for easy access to important supplies like whiteboard markers and charging cables. We stocked a vending machine in The Edge with school supplies.
Better signage for reservable study rooms: You asked for clearer policies so you know when to reserve a room and when you can drop in without advance planning. We revamped our room reservation policy and added eye-catching signage to study rooms.
Clearer policies for study spaces: You asked for noise norms so you know where to go when you need to get work done. We added colorful signage to indicate which floors are for gabbing and which are for stuff done.
E-newsletter: You asked for more info about library events and research tools. We developed a regular e-newsletter, chock full of handy tips and interesting tidbits about library exhibits, programs, collections.
Inclusive spaces statement and signage: You asked for visible confirmation that Duke Libraries are open to everyone. We worked with students to develop an Inclusive Spaces Statement and created “Libraries are for everyone” buttons for staff to wear and posted signs in Lower Level 2.
Lower Level 2 improvements: You asked for a better vibe in Perkins Lower Level 2. We replaced the carpet, changed the paint color, and added brighter lighting.
Better WiFi access on the patio: You asked for more study spaces with natural light. We enhanced WiFi access on the patio outside Perkins & Bostock so you can study in the sunshine.
Feedback is what helps the Libraries grow, and the more input we get, the better we’ll be able to renovate, rethink, and improve.
So please, take a couple minutes of your time to complete the 2020 survey—and thank you for your help in making the Duke University Libraries a better place.
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year is here! We are so excited for the holiday season but know how hard it is to brainstorm gift ideas. Luckily, the Duke University Libraries have two programs that provide the perfect opportunity for a thoughtful and unique present.
Adopt-A-Book
A few noteworthy first editions from the recently acquired Locus Science Fiction Foundation collection, all available for adoption.
That best friend who has seen every episode of Game of Thrones? Get them the perfect holiday gift by adopting the first book in the series, signed by George R. R. Martin himself! As part of our Adopt-a-Book Program, you can choose from a number of books and help fund their preservation in honor of someone else.
We have many titles across a variety of subjects, so you can find the perfect title that truly creates a gift like none other. An electronic bookplate with the name of the donor or honoree is added to the item’s catalog record, and they are also listed on the library website as a contributor. Gifts to the program help conserve a book and keep it available for current and future faculty, scholars, and students.
Some lovely first-editions currently available for adoption are Philip K. Dick’s Man in the High Castle (1962), Edith Wharton’s Old New York (1924), Gertrude Jekyll’s Children and Gardens (1933), Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy (1925) and John James Audubon’s Birds of America (1827). Find many more at our Adopt-a-Book website.
Adopt-A-Digital-Collection
Duke football player Ken Abbott (c. 1933), from the Duke Sports Information Office Photographic Negatives Collection.
Maybe you have an uncle who loves Duke athletics but already has ten basketball jerseys? You can still give him the perfect holiday gift by adopting Photographic Negatives from the Duke Sports Information Office, a digital collection relating to all things Duke sports. Every year, we digitize thousands of items in our collections. These digital assets must be carefully managed to preserve them for generations of students and researchers to come. This work requires storage space, the specialized expertise of our talented staff, and you! Our Adopt-a-Digital-Collection program allows you to support the long-term preservation of these important cultural and scholarly resources, keeping them safe and accessible indefinitely. Each digital collection available for adoption is unique, allowing you to specialize your holiday gift to someone’s interests.
Looking for an easy way to help people this holiday season?
From November 15 – December 15, you can exchange “Food for Fines” at the Duke library nearest you.
For every unopened, unexpired, non-perishable food item you donate, we will waive $1 of your library fines (up to $50 max).
All libraries on East and West Campus are participating except for the Duke Law Library, and it doesn’t matter which library you owe fines to. You can drop off your donation at the library of your choice, and we’ll apply it to any library fines at any Duke library.
Donations will be collected and distributed by the Food Bank of Central and Eastern NC. The Food Bank serves a network of more than 800 agencies across 34 counties in Central and Eastern North Carolina, including soup kitchens, food pantries, shelters, and programs for children and adults.
You can also donate non-food essentials for infants, kids, and seniors, such as diapers, wipes, cleaning products, and paper towels. The chart below lists the items currently needed most.
No library fines? No problem! You can still donate and help North Carolinians in need.
The fine print
Limit $50 in forgiven fines per person.
Any fines already paid or transferred to the bursar cannot be waived.
No expired food items or glass containers, please.
Waived fines only apply to late fees. Charges for damaged or lost books cannot be waived.
All Duke libraries will waive fines for other Duke libraries (except the Duke Law Library). For example, if you owe $5 to the Divinity Library, you are not required to drop off your donation at the Divinity Library. You can visit any library on East or West Campus and your Divinity Library fines will be waived.
Effective September 20, 2019, the Duke University Libraries have transitioned to a title-by-title access model for Kanopy, a popular library of streaming video titles. This change comes as a result of the unsustainable increase in cost of providing unlimited access through an automatic licensing model.
Kanopy’s pricing for libraries under our previous model was based on views per title. Once a title was viewed three times for longer than 30 seconds, we were charged a licensing fee of $135 for one year of access.
Under the new model, users will still be able to watch and stream all of our currently licensed films in Kanopy (of which there are more than 800). New titles may still be requested by members of the Duke community, but they will not be accessible automatically.
We understand and respect how popular streaming media has become. It is an invaluable instructional resource and a gateway for lifelong learning. We regret having to make this change. But we could neither justify nor sustain Kanopy’s skyrocketing price tag.
Duke is not alone in having made this difficult choice. The libraries at Stanford and Harvard have also had to limit their use of Kanopy, and the New York Public Library system recently canceled their subscription to the service due to the unsustainable cost.
Here’s a summary of what’s changing:
We will only subscribe to Media Education Foundation titles on Kanopy.
Already-licensed films can still be found on Kanopy and are listed individually in our online library catalog.
All other titles may be requested via the Kanopy platform or through a course reserve request.
We will continue to accept faculty requests for Kanopy films and videos assigned in courses. If you are a faculty member, use our “Place Items on Reserve” form for these titles. If you are using a film for a class and are concerned about the expiration date of our license for it, use the same form to ensure access.
Other options for streaming and viewing video
We have a number of other streaming video platforms available to members of the Duke community. For a complete list, please refer to our Streaming Video guide.
We also encourage you to explore our extensive DVD and Blu-ray holdings, which you can find in our online catalogand have delivered to the Duke library of your choice.
For more info
For additional questions about Kanopy or about our film streaming options, please contact:
Members of these advisory boards will help improve the learning and research environment for Duke University students and advise the Libraries on topics such as study spaces, research resources, integrating library services into academic courses, and marketing library services to students.
The boards will typically meet three times a semester to discuss all aspects of Duke Libraries and provide feedback to library staff. This is an amazing opportunity for students to serve on the advisory board of a large, nationally recognized non-profit organization.
All three advisory boards are now taking applications or nominations. Application deadlines are:
Members of the Graduate and Professional Student Advisory Board and the Undergraduate Advisory Board will be selected and notified by mid-September, and groups will begin to meet in late September. More information is available on the advisory board website, where you will also find links to the online applications forms.
For more information or questions about these opportunities, please contact:
How can you make the most of your first-year? We have the answer: Jump into the First-Year Library Experience. On August 20th, the newest Blue Devils, the Class of Duke 2023, will arrive on East Campus for Orientation.
What will Duke 2023 find in their new neighborhood? Two libraries are on East Campus, Lilly Library and Duke Music Library which can introduce the First-Year “Dukies” to the powerful resources of all the Duke Libraries. While Lilly Library is home to the film collection, as well as a range of other materials, the specialized Music Library plays a different tune. Both libraries offer research support as well as study space for our new East Campus neighbors.
Cast your eyes upon our exciting schedule of events for Orientation 2019:
Enjoy Spider-Man into the Spider-Verse on Wednesday August 21st
Movie on the Quad: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
co-sponsored by Duke University Student Affairs When: Wednesday, August 21st at 10 pm Where: East Campus Quad between Lilly & the Union
First Big Week on East Campus
Overwhelmed at the beginning of the semester? Lilly and Music will host a Harry Potter Open House the first week of class. We’ll get you “sorted” out! Duke 2023 will be captivated by our powerful library services: our research wizards, 3D labs, streaming media, study spaces – No Restricted Sections, please – as well as enjoying free food, prizes, and MORE!
When it comes to college, sleep schedules can be a real nightmare. It’s no surprise to see Duke students catching some extra z’s whenever and wherever they can, especially here in the library.
We get it. We respect “the grind” and understand that sometimes a mid-morning nap can help you restart your day with a fresh “Good morning, let’s get this bread!” attitude.
That’s why we’ve teamed up with Duke Wellness to make one of our “absolute quiet zones” even quieter. We’re happy to announce our newest makeover of library space: The ZZZone.
Sleep masks will be available for your catatonic convenience.
We’re transforming the 4th floor of Perkins Library into a cozy, peaceful sleep space guaranteed to make every Duke student’s dreams come true. Renovations are scheduled to begin in June 2019.
The ZZZone will build on the popularity of the Oasis, a dedicated meditation and mindfulness space in Perkins Library that is also a collaboration with Duke Wellness. Approximately 10,000 square feet of book shelving throughout the floor will be converted into bunk-beds. Additional enhancements will include ergonomic recliners, drool-proof pillows, and a vending machine for sleep essentials: eye masks, ear plugs, lavender essential oil spray, sleepy-time teas, and more! Blankets and a selection of stuffed animals will be available at the Perkins Library Service Desk and can be checked out for up to three hours at a time.
Snoozers won’t be losers in The ZZZone!
The ZZZone will be staffed by librarians available to quietly read excerpts from your textbooks until you drop off to slumberland, as well as to gently shush any snorers or sleep-talkers. Special arrangements are being made to convert group study rooms into solo sleeping quarters for somnambulists, who can rest assured they won’t wander far.
All you need to enter The ZZZone is your Duke ID and a spare hour or two.
Floorplan of the 4th floor of Perkins and Bostock Libraries, showing the location of The ZZZone.
“Our hope is that The ZZZone will be a place where students can hit the hay in between hitting the books,” said University Librarian Deborah Jakubs, stifling a yawn. “We will be assessing usage statistics carefully, and if this new service proves popular with our users, we may consider expanding it to other floors, perhaps even the entire building.”
The ZZZone is set to open for students at the start of the fall 2019 semester, said Jakubs. “Until then, we’re counting the sheep—I mean days!”
Prepare yourself–naps are coming.
Like these photos? They’re courtesy of @devilswhonap. Check them out on Instagram for all kinds of dormant Blue Devils across campus (more than a few in the library).
Like this post? Sadly, it’s all been just a dream. For now, you’ll just have to settle for our regular yawn-inducing tables and chairs. Happy April Fools’ Day!
Tyler Goldberger is a senior studying History, Spanish, and Jewish Studies. He’s writing his double honors thesis on Spain’s difficulty in commemorating all of the victims of the Spanish Civil War and Francoism dictatorship and the work of the Asociación para la Recuperación de la Memoria Histórica to actively confront this history. Tyler recently authored the Duke Chronicle editorial Confronting Being a Low SES Student At Duke.
How has the library impacted your Duke experience?
The Duke Libraries have provided me with incredible opportunities to perform well in my classes and conduct research. As a low SES (socioeconomic status) student, I thought I would struggle with purchasing the necessary books to excel in my coursework. However, through the help of the librarian staff and search queries, I have never had to pay for a textbook, reducing my financial burden and allowing me to concentrate fully on my classes. Through the library system, especially through the ILL opportunity, I have also been able to retrieve necessary primary and secondary sources for various research projects over my four years. Duke Library System has greatly enhanced my academic journey, and I am so thankful for all of the resources it has provided me.
What’s something you’ve discovered in the library?
The library has allowed me to really learn what research is all about. Before entering the library, my vision of research was limited to high school experiences that really just made me synthesize secondary sources. Once coming to Duke, I have realized that research is alive, especially with the incredible resources provided by Rubenstein. I have had the opportunity to engage with local election results in Durham, abolitionist pamphlets from the 19th century, human rights policy in Spain, and so much more!
What’s a favorite space or service? And why?
TheChat a Librarian function on library.duke.eduhas been extremely helpful. There have been many times when I am stuck somewhere but need to know the various resources that exist at the library. This service has saved me time and has helped me locate great sources for a project or personal research.
Tyler’s library pro tip
Utilize the specialist librarians. They will help you formulate questions and find resources for your next great research project!
My Duke Library is a project of the Research and Instructional Services department
It’s International Open Access Week! We’ll have librarians out at Perkins and Lilly Libraries a few times this week to talk about it, but if you don’t catch up with us that way, here’s a glimpse of what’s on our minds.
What is Open Access?
Open Access is the practice of providing unrestricted access via the Internet to peer-reviewed scholarly research. At Duke, we put knowledge in the service of society. This means making the fruits of Duke research available as broadly as possible — to anyone who might benefit from the scholarship being done here. You can read about Open Access at Duke here.
In July 2018, there was a joint announcement by Science Europe, various European national research funding organizations, and the European Commission. Dubbed Plan S, it stated that, “from 1 January 2020, all scholarly publications resulting from public research funding must be published in Open Access journals or on Open Access platforms.” In September 2018, a group of funders launched cOAlition S, an agreement to implement the 10 principles of Plan S in a coordinated way. Find out more about this important development: http://scieur.org/coalition-s
The Compact for Open-Access Publishing Equity (COPE) seeks to reduce barriers by underwriting publication fees for authors who want to make their scholarly articles available in an open access journal. Duke’s fund supports faculty, graduate students, and postdocs publishing with fully open access publishers.
Part of the larger collaborative project called Toward an Open Monograph Ecosystem, this award funds Duke faculty members to publish open access scholarly books through more than 60 of the world’s leading university presses.
Duke Libraries supports sharing scholarship openly through two repositories, which are open to any Duke researcher: DukeSpace for publications and the Research Data Repository. These repositories preserve your work for the long haul and provide a persistent link that you can put on your website or share with colleagues. See instructions for submitting publications to DukeSpace here and policies and procedures for research data here.
Consultation
In addition, the library has resources to help you understand and negotiate your publishing contracts, so that you can retain the rights to distribute your work and use it in your teaching. Book an appointment through copyright-questions@duke.edu.
Investing in the Open Publishing Ecosystem
Another way that Duke University Libraries supports open access publishing is by setting aside 1% of our collections budget for open initiatives. The following are just some of the projects and organizations the Libraries contribute to:
This comes in response to numerous requests over the last few years. We have a new deal for all currentJoVE titles (see title list and details below). While the official start date is January 2019, JoVE has already opened up full access to Duke IP addresses.
What is JoVE?
JoVE publishes peer-reviewed videos of people doing real-world scientific experiments. By letting you watch the intricate details of experiments rather than just read about them in articles, JoVE helps you understand how to recreate those experiments, thereby improving research productivity, reproducibility, and student learning outcomes.
How and why to use it
JoVE funded a study of the impact on student performance of watching their videos prior to lab classes. A description of the study and a link to download the resulting whitepaper can be foundhere.
The JoVE blog also has a number of posts giving examples of how faculty are using JoVE in their teaching and research. For example:
Dr. Dessy Raytcheva at Northeastern University uses JoVE videos as pre- and post-assignments in her undergraduate biology course, in order to save class time for higher impact teaching activities.
Marilene Pavan, manager of Boston University’s DAMP lab credits publishing video protocols in JoVE with significant increases in experimental success rate and reduction in errors.
Given the high subscription costs for this product, we will be looking at usage statistics and impact stories to determine whether to continue after an initial three years. So if you use JoVE in your research or teaching, please let us know!
Our new deal includes perpetual access to video articles published under most of the JoVE journal titles, even if we don’t continue subscribing to new content. For a few titles (those that are more clinical in focus or for which we have received the fewest requests), we will only have access through December 2019, unless we decide to expand even further. For the remaining titles, we will have access as long as we continue to subscribe.
Please contact DUL science librarians at askscience@duke.edu if you have any questions or comments. We are also happy to provide links to support documentation, such as instructions for embedding JoVE videos in Sakai.
Members of these advisory boards will help improve the learning and research environment for Duke University students and advise the Libraries on topics such as study spaces, research resources, integrating library services into academic courses, and marketing library services to students.
The boards will typically meet four times a semester to discuss all aspects of Duke Libraries and provide feedback to library staff. This is an amazing opportunity for students to serve on the advisory board of a large, nationally recognized non-profit organization.
All three advisory boards are now taking applications or nominations. Application deadlines are:
Members of the Graduate and Professional Student Advisory Board and the Undergraduate Advisory Board will be selected and notified by mid-September, and groups will begin to meet in late September. More information is available on our website, where you will also find links to the online applications forms.
For more information or questions about these opportunities, please contact:
The Duke University Libraries will be offering a suite of RCR workshops for graduate students over Fall Break, October 8-9, 2018, including:
Monday, October 8
Ethics and Visualization 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. This session introduces participants to core ideas in the ethics of visualization—designing to avoid distortion, designing ethically for broad user communities, developing empathy for people represented within the data, and using reproducibility to increase the transparency of design. Learn more and register
Digital Publishing: Multimodal Storytelling 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. This session will provide an overview of common options for publishing sound and video on the web, focusing on the benefits of various platforms, licensing and rights issues, accessibility issues to consider, and methods of integrating multiple media into research publications. Learn more and register
Research Impact Concepts and Tools 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. This workshop is designed to help you, as a graduate student, better understand how research impact is currently measured and outline Duke’s resources for assessing impact, from Web of Science to Altmetric Explorer. The workshop will include hands-on exploration of research impact tools, so please bring your laptop to participate. Learn more and register
Digital Publishing: Reaching and Engaging Audiences 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. Who are the intended users of your digital publication? How can you reach new audiences and keep your existing audiences actively engaged? We’ll learn about some of the ways successful projects connect with their users and promote their work to potential audiences. Participants will leave this session with a solid grounding in the ethical and logistical dimensions of engaging audiences and incorporating audience involvement into their own publication practices. Learn more and register
Image Copyright and Acquisition for Scholars 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. Visual literacy standards and the law are necessary for nearly every humanities and social-sciences project. This workshop addresses two aspects of image use in scholarship: 1) techniques in obtaining scholarly images (what a scholarly image is, determining original resolution, searching free- and free-to-use images for scholarly research, and when you should pay), and 2) a brief course on image copyright and intellectual property—both the scholar’s and the user’s rights and how each can be asserted. Relevant case history examples will be cited to back up a scholar’s use of images. Learn more and register
Tuesday, October 9
Retractions in Science and Social Science Literature 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. This workshop will discuss the burgeoning phenomena of retractions in the scientific and social scientific literature. No one plans to have an article retracted, so we will cover what to do to avoid or address a retraction or expression of concern and what the existing editorial literature can offer if you do find yourself dealing with a retraction as an author or one of a group of authors. Learn more and register
Text/Data: Acquiring and Preparing a Corpus of Texts 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. This session focuses on the technical dimensions of corpus development. Using an array of printed matter—from digital facsimiles of incunabula to modern letterpress/offset books—we will explore the risks and benefits of optical character recognition (OCR); file formatting and naming issues; organization strategies for large corpora; and problems of data cleaning and preparation. While this session will not examine legal issues in detail, we will discuss some common legal concerns around the use of textual corpora. Learn more and register
Text/Data: Topic Modeling and Document Classification With MALLET 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. Participants in this session will acquire a general understanding of topic modeling, the automated analysis technique often referred to as “text mining.” In addition to topic modeling, this session introduces the concepts of sequence labeling and automated document classification, both of which are also possible with MALLET. Learn more and register
Shaping Your Professional Identity Online 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. This workshop is designed to help you consider the best ways to navigate how you want to present yourself online. We will discuss topics such as what to share and how to share, the ethical issues involved, and how to maintain the right balance of privacy. We will also examine some steps you can take, such as creating a profile on Google Scholar, creating a Google alert for your name, creating an ORCID ID, interacting professionally on Twitter, and creating an online portfolio. Learn more and register
… What are the libraries’ hours? … How do I find a book? … Who can help me with research? … Where can I print?*
Duke’s newest students can find the answers to these questions – and more – on the Library’s Services for First-Year Students page.
Lilly Library on East Campus
Each August, a new class of undergraduates arrives in Durham ready to immerse themselves in the Duke Community. Duke University Libraries serve as the core of intellectual life on campus. Because East Campus is home to the First-Year students, Lilly and Music Libraries have the unique opportunity to introduce our newest “Dukies” to the array of Library resources and research services available.
To help navigate the vast library resources, there is a portal especially for First-Year Students. Through this portal page, new students (and even some not-so-new) can discover all that the Duke University Libraries offer:
Welcome to East Campus
for Your First-Year Library Experience
On August 21st, the newest Blue Devils, the Class of Duke 2022, will arrive on East Campus for Orientation, also known as Big-O Week. Numerous events, workshops and programs are presented to ease the transition to life as an undergraduate.
The two libraries on East Campus, Lilly Library and Duke Music Library welcome our newest neighbors and do our part to introduce the newest “Dukies” to the powerful research resources of the Duke Libraries. On Move-In Day exclusively, Lilly is the pick up site for Blue Devil Delivery for pre-ordered textbooks and computers. Lilly is home to the film collection as well as a range of other material, and Music … is self-explanatory.
Where: East Campus Quad between Lilly and the East Union
In addition to the Movie on the Quad, Lilly and Music will host a Superheroes Open House the first week of class. Duke 2022 can explore our powerful library services : experts in research, 3D labs, streaming media, Residence Hall Librarians, study spaces – and enjoy food and win prizes!
Get to know your Duke University Residence HallLibrarians – Yes, your East Campus dorms have librarians assigned to help you! Look for their emails during the academic year.
Work in the Libraries – Work/Study Students apply here
Here in the library, we’re taking the summer months to evaluate some of our communications efforts.
In particular, we’re asking for your feedback on our email newsletter, which goes out every other week during the academic year. (What’s that? You don’t subscribe to our email newsletter? We can fix that right now!)
Your responses will help us make sure we’re sending you the most interesting and relevant library news from Duke.
At the end of the survey, you’ll have the option to enter a drawing for this handsome Duke University Libraries tote bag and journal. Guaranteed to make you look even smarter!
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation grant will fund implementation of shared staffing model across 7 academic libraries and the Dryad Digital Repository.
The Duke University Libraries will greatly expand data curation services to the Duke community as part of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Data Curation Network (DCN).
Designed to support researchers seeking data curation assistance, the three-year DCN grant will establish a shared network of data curation staff across seven academic libraries and the Dryad Digital Repository that expands the curation capabilities of all the members.
Researchers at Duke will be able to draw on a wide range of data experience with the DCN, extending the data curation staff beyond those in the Duke Libraries as established from the recommendations of the Digital Research Data Services Faculty Working Group. As data curation becomes more discipline-specific, the DCN will allow a much more specialized level of curation than is possible at any one institution.
DCN members include the following partners: University of Minnesota Libraries, Sheridan Libraries at Johns Hopkins University, University of Michigan Library, University Library at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Cornell University Library, Penn State University Libraries, and the Dryad Digital Repository.
Currently, staff at each of these institutions provide their own data curation services. But because data curation requires a specialized skill set — spanning a wide variety of data types and discipline-specific data formats — institutions cannot reasonably expect to hire an expert in each area.
The intent of the DCN is to serve as a cross-institutional staffing model that seamlessly connects a network of expert data curators to local datasets and to supplement local curation expertise. Data curators bring the disciplinary knowledge and software expertise necessary for reviewing and curating data deposits to ensure that the data are reusable. The project aims to increase local capacity, strengthen collaboration between libraries and disciplinary projects, and ensure that researchers and institutions ethically and appropriately share data.
“The Data Curation Network allows Duke Libraries to expand its deep commitment to research data management through a partnership that will empower Duke researchers to share their data with the wider academic community,” said Joel Herndon, Head of Data and Visualization Services in the Duke Libraries.
Data curation is a relatively new service at universities as funders increasingly require that the raw data from sponsored research be preserved and shared. In addition, many publishers now either require or encourage that data sets accompanying articles be made available through a publicly accessible repository. Finally, many researchers wish to make their data available regardless of funder requirements both to enhance their impact and also to propel the concept of open science.
This project builds on previous work that includes the July 2017 report: “Data Curation Network: A Cross-Institutional Staffing Model for Curating Research Data,” which is available on the project website, datacurationnetwork.org.
For more information about the grant and/or data curation in Duke Libraries, please contact askdata@duke.edu.
Thank you to everyone who enjoyed going out on a Mystery Date With a Book last week! If you didn’t get a chance to check out our display, or if you’re just curious to know what books we selected, here’s a complete list of our mystery picks, along with the library staff member who recommended them. Add them to your Goodreads list. Happy reading!
Selected by Arianne Hartsell-Gundy, Head, Humanities Section and Librarian for Literature and Theater Studies:
Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre: “A coming of age story featuring psychic connections, walks on the moors, and a house with a mystery.”
Naomi Novik, Uprooted: “The fairy tale you always wanted as a child…and finally got as an adult.”
Selected by Kim Duckett, Head of Research and Instructional Services:
Anthony Mara, The Tsar of Love and Techno: Stories: “A collection of beautiful interlocking short stories dipping back and forth through 20th century Russia.”
Matthew Kneale, English Passengers: “Twenty narrators tell a fascinating story of Manx smugglers, seekers of the Garden of Eden, and the plight of Tasmanian Aborigines.”
Bruno Schulz, The Street of Crocodiles: “In this little town the real and the imagined blend together in a way you’ve never quite experienced.”
Selected by Brittany Wofford, Coordinator for The Edge and Librarian for the Nicholas School for the Environment:
P. G. Wodehouse, How Right You Are, Jeeves: “For everyone who thought that Carson was the real hero of Downton Abbey.”
Naomi Alderman, The Power: “An electrifying read about gender and power.“
Selected by Elena Feinstein, Head, Natural Sciences and Engineering Section and Librarian for Biological Sciences:
Monique Truong, The Book of Salt: “Flavors, seas, sweat, tears – weaves historical figures into a witty, original tale spanning 1930s Paris and French-colonized Vietnam.”
Audrey Niffenegger, The Time Traveler’s Wife: “According to the author, the themes of the novel are ‘mutants, love, death, amputation, sex, and time.’ Many readers would include loss, romance, and free will.”
Selected by Jodi Psoter, Librarian for Chemistry and Statistical Science:
Amy Butler Greenfield, A Perfect Red: “Empire, espionage, and the quest for the color of desire.”
Stefan Fatsis, Word Freak: “Wonderful word weirdos. Glimpse inside the world of competitive Scrabble.”
Selected by Sarah Park, Librarian for Engineering and Computer Science:
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince: “It is a love story for the ages.”
Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Sonnets from the Portuguese: “44 different ways to say ‘I love you’ for your valentines.”
Thomas F. Moser with Brad Lemley, Moser: Artistry in Wood: “A story of an extraordinary woodworker who built the furniture in Perkins and Bostock libraries.”
Jeffrey Brown, Darth Vader and son: “We need to take care of our family before conquering the universe. Short and comical.”
Selected by Aaron Welborn, Director of Communications:
Richard Hughes, The Innocent Voyage: “One of the best novels you’ve never heard of. A combination of Peter Pan, Heart of Darkness, and Lord of the Flies, all rolled into one.”
Ryszard Kapuściński, Travels with Herodotus: “ ‘Within every great book there are several others.’ One of those great books, by one of the great world travelers.”
Last week, the staff of the Duke University Libraries were treated to a fascinating presentation by Durham County Library Director Tammy Baggett-Best, who offered an update on the renovation of Durham’s Main Library on N. Roxboro Street.
With our own major library renovation here at Duke just a few years behind us, it was exciting to see what our colleagues down the street have planned. As downtown Durham continues to grow more vibrant, the renovated Main Library promises to be yet another point of pride for those who live and work in the area.
The Main Library renovation started in early 2017 and is scheduled to be complete in late 2019. With over $44.3 million in funding and a planned addition of 19,804 square feet to the existing 65,000 square feet of library space, Baggett-Best explained that Main Library is undergoing some serious transformations.
“Pretty much the only thing that will be left is the foundation and the frames,” she said—joking that the library outreach program “Downtown Library Without Walls” was being taken rather literally by the renovation crew.
Simplified cross-section of Main Library before (left) and after renovations (right), showing the greater vertical openness, connectivity, and natural light in the new building.
And it’s true: with the goals of creating greater openness and visibility throughout the building site, Main Library may be almost unrecognizable to many Durham residents by the time renovations are complete. New roof terraces, glass walls, and horizontally integrated staircases are all designed to create a heightened sense of freedom and connectivity, while new meeting spaces, public spaces, and a comprehensive literacy and technology center are intended to improve community outreach.
A rendering of how the library will look once complete when viewed from the side facing Liberty Street.
Some areas of particular interest include a career development workspace, a MakerLab / S.T.E.A.M. space, a cultural/arts exhibition gallery space, and an expanded and more accessible space for the popular North Carolina Collection. The newly renovated library will also provide more social space for children, teenagers, and adults, along with multiple event venues.
Outside the building, meanwhile, the library grounds will feature numerous open areas for library and community use, including an art garden, an amphitheater, a public plaza, covered seating, an urban agriculture section, and an interactive play and gathering space. Baggett-Best hopes these and other programs will contribute to a sense of community and connectivity across social groups.
Indeed, the renovations are just one part of the Durham County Library’s mission to help Durham grow and thrive. Improved access and technological services feature heavily in their plans. Baggett-Best said they are currently working on a program that will allow all Durham County public school students’ ID cards to do double-duty as their library cards. They’re also working on a way to clear all outstanding overdue fees by public school students at the end of each school year.
Rendering of a community event at Main Library, post-renovation.
It was heartening to learn that Durhamites are big library users, even before the renovation got started. Approximately 71% of all Durham County residents have a library card, compared with 44% statewide. In a recent city/county survey, the only local government agency or service that gets higher satisfaction marks from residents is EMS. In 2017, Durham libraries circulated nearly three million physical items—a number that has been decreasing slightly in recent years in tandem with increased use of online resources.
This seems like a good time for a public service announcement to our Duke students: All Duke students are eligible to get a free library card at any Durham County Library location. Even if you’re not a North Carolina resident, you can still use the public library, and you don’t even have to leave your dorm room. If you love the hundreds of popular e-books and audiobooks you can get online through the Duke Libraries’ OverDrive app, consider the thousands and thousands more you have access to through the Durham County Library!
Overall, it’s clear that the renovations at Main Library represent one more sign of the ongoing revitalization of downtown Durham. The “library without walls” will have some pretty spectacular walls once again before long, and we can’t wait to help them celebrate its re-opening in 2019!
Does your reading life feel like it’s lost that special spark? Do you find yourself staring at your bookshelves at night, brooding over old flames?
Don’t worry—our love experts here at the Libraries are here to help. This Valentine’s Day, they’ve hand-picked some choice selections guaranteed to improve your circulation, if you know what we mean.
From now through the end of February, sidle up to our Mystery Date with a Book display next to the Perkins Library Service Desk and get a peek at some of our secret suitors.
Now, watch yourself—these books are a bit of a tease. They come wrapped in pink and red paper with “come-hither” teasers to lure you in. Will you get fiction or nonfiction? Poetry or short stories? Travelogue or fantasy? No peeking until until you’re ready to “get between the covers,” nudge, nudge.
Give your date a chance, but if it doesn’t work out, no hard feelings. After the two of you have gotten acquainted, don’t forget to let our matchmakers know how it went. Each book comes with a card you can use to rate your date. Use it is a bookmark, then drop it in our Mystery Date with a Book box when you return your book to Perkins and pick up a little Valentine button from us.
This February, don’t leave our literary lovelies all lonely by themselves. Take one home with you—you might find a perfect match!
Rate your mystery date, and take one of our fashionable buttons! You know you want one of these.
Take our survey and you could win a $150 Amazon Gift Card (students), or a $75 gift card to your favorite restaurant (faculty)!
Here in the Libraries, we’re always looking for ways to make your life easier. That’s why every two years we invite library users to take part in a brief user survey to help us better understand their experiences and thoughts on library spaces, collections, and services.
The survey takes no more than 5 minutes to complete and will remain open between now and February 13.
Student Survey: As a special thank you for participating, all student respondents will be entered into a raffle for a $150 Amazon gift card.
Faculty Survey: All faculty members who respond will be entered to win a $75 gift card to their favorite restaurant.
When libraries, students, and faculty work together, everybody wins. Take a look at some of the improvements we’ve made in the last two years as a direct result of our last user survey.
Added color and icon-based signage to make navigating Perkins and Bostock easier
Increased frequency with which we clean computers and study tables
Developed a workflow for checking broken power outlets
Ensured keyboard and computer equipment is cleaned regularly and replaced as need
Made improvements to public computers
Improved our Room Reservation page and made it easier for students to reserve group study rooms and access specialized spaces in the library
Added an Interview Room and made enhancements to both spaces
Evaluated and made improvements to ePrint
Worked with DSG to develop OASIS:Perkins
Developed clear signage to help students select study spaces based on their needs and preferences
Worked with security guards to enforce Quiet Zone guidelines
Feedback is what helps the Libraries grow, and the more input we get, the better we’ll be able to renovate, rethink, and improve.
So please, take a couple minutes of your time to complete the 2018 survey—and thank you for your help in making the Duke University Libraries a better place.
Left your textbook in your dorm room? Borrow our copy!
As the spring 2018 semester gets underway, we want to remind students that you can check out copies of textbooks for the largest courses on campus from the library.
The books include required texts for some of Duke’s most popular courses in Economics, Chemistry, Math, Computer Science, Biology, Psychology, and other subjects. They can be checked out for three hours at a time and are available at the Perkins Library Service Desk. Some textbooks are also available at Lilly Library on East Campus.
Here’s a complete listing of courses that have textbooks on reserve in the library. (This list is also available on our website. More courses may be added as orders come in.) Courses listed in red also have copies available at Lilly Library.
COURSE NUMBER
COURSE TITLE
AAAS 335
HISTORY OF HIP-HOP
BIOCHEM 301
INTRO BIOCHEMISTRY I
BIOLOGY 223
CELL AND MOLEC NEUROBIO
BIOLOGY 201L
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
BIOLOGY 202L
GENETICS AND EVOLUTION
CHEM 201DL
ORGANIC CHEMISTRY I
CHEM 202L
ORGANIC CHEMISTRY II
CHEM 210DL
MOD APPS CHEM PRINCIPLES
CLST 262
ANCIENT ATHLETES
COMPSCI 330
DESIGN/ANALY ALGORITHMS
COMPSCI 250D
COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE
ECE 110L
FUND OF ELEC AND COMP ENGR
ECON 208D
INTRODUCTION TO ECONOMETRICS
EGR 244L
DYNAMICS
EVANTH 260
HUMAN COGNITIVE EVOLUTION
GLHLTH 101
FUNDAMENTALS OF GLOBAL HEALTH
MATH 230
PROBABILITY
MATH 202D
MULTIVAR CALCULUS FOR ECON
MATH 216
LINEAR ALGEBRA & DIFF EQUATION
MATH 353
ORD AND PRTL DIFF EQUATIONS
MATH 112L
LABORATORY CALCULUS II
MATH 212
MULTIVARIABLE CALCULUS
NEUROSCI 101
BIO BASES OF BEHAVIOR
PHYSICS 142L
GENERAL PHYSICS II
PSY 104
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
PSY 105
ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY
PSY 101
INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY
SPANISH 203
INTERMEDIATE SPANISH
STA 101
DATA ANALY/STAT INFER
Please note:Textbooks on reserve are not intended to take the place of students purchasing textbooks for their courses. Due to budget limitations, the Libraries are unable to purchase textbooks for every course at Duke.
For questions related to textbook reserves at Perkins Library, please contact: perkins-reserves@duke.edu.
For questions related to textbook reserves at Lilly Library, please contact: lilly-requests@duke.edu
Duke Self-Checkout is a fast, easy way to check out books from the Duke University Libraries.
Starting this week, you can now use your smartphone to check out library books in Perkins and Bostock Libraries, without having to bring them to the desk on the main floor.
Make sure to let Duke Self-Checkout access your camera, send you notifications, and use your location.
Open the app and log in with your Duke NetID and password. Click the ‘+’ sign in the top right corner to activate your camera.
When you find a book you want to check out, use the app on your phone to scan the library barcode. The app will blink green when it recognizes the barcode and check the item out to you right there. That’s it!
Remember to demagnetize your book before you leave the building!
If you want leave the building with your book, make sure you stop at one of the Duke Self-Checkout stations to demagnetize your book so it doesn’t set off an alarm.
Don’t have a phone or don’t want to download the app? Use the iPad at the Duke Self-Checkout stations, located in Perkins near the Perkins / Bostock Lobby, and in Bostock at the Edge Service Desk.
Duke Self-Checkout is also available at the Marine Lab Library.
The newly-renovated Perkins B09, ready for your big interview. Go get em, tiger.
Got a big phone or Skype interview coming up you just have to nail? Worried about noise, bad cell service, or nosy roommates jeopardizing that all-important first impression? The Libraries have felt your pain, and we’re here to help.
We now have not one but two beautifully renovated interview rooms in Perkins Library, designed especially for phone and remote video interviews and available to all Duke students, faculty, and staff.
To reserve one of the Interview Rooms, visit the online registration page, check the schedule for an available day and time, enter your name and Duke email address, and respond to the confirmation email within 1 hour (otherwise your reservation could be canceled). That’s it! The room is all yours.
The two rooms have similar but slightly different features. Perkins B09 (located on Lower Level 2) features a brand new all-in-one telephone/videoconferencing system, whereas Perkins 130 (located on the library’s main floor) features a landline system only. Each room has its own dedicated phone number, in case the person conducting the interview prefers to call you.
Also, in response to popular demand, we have increased the 60-minute time limit on the rooms to 90 minutes.
Questions? Comments? Fan mail for helping you land that dream internship? Let us know at asklib@duke.edu.
Members of these advisory boards will help improve the learning and research environment for Duke University students and advise the Libraries on topics such as study spaces, research resources, integrating library services into academic courses, and marketing library services to students.
The boards will typically meet four times a semester to discuss all aspects of Duke Libraries and provide feedback to library staff. This is an amazing opportunity for students to serve on the advisory board of a large, nationally recognized non-profit organization.
All three advisory boards are now taking applications or nominations. Application deadlines are:
Members of the Graduate and Professional Student Advisory Board and the Undergraduate Advisory Board will be selected and notified by mid-September, and groups will begin to meet in late September. More information is available on our website, where you will also find links to the online applications forms.
For more information or questions about these opportunities, please contact:
This spring Michael Peper and Melanie Sturgeon, two Duke science and engineering librarians, left Duke University Libraries to pursue other opportunities. We’re sad to lose these valued colleagues, but are thrilled to introduce two new staff members and some different roles for remaining staff. Please see below for our updated titles and responsibilities.
Elena Feinstein Head, Natural Sciences and Engineering Section Librarian for Biological Sciences
Elena has moved into a leadership role for the science and engineering librarians group, and she looks forward to continuing her work with the departments of Biology and Evolutionary Anthropology as well as other biologically focused programs.
Ciara Healy Librarian for Psychology & Neuroscience, Mathematics, and Physics
Ciara is thrilled about continuing her work with the Department of Psychology & Neuroscience and Duke Institute for Brain Sciences, and learning more about the needs of the Departments of Mathematics and Physics.
Janil Miller Librarian for Marine Science and Coordinator, Pearse Memorial Library at Duke Marine Laboratory
Janil will continue coordinating library services and collections at the Duke Marine Lab, serving the Nicholas School of the Environment’s Division of Marine Science & Conservation as well as other Marine Lab patrons.
Sarah Park Librarian for Engineering and Computer Science
Sarah joins Duke on July 18 as liaison to the Pratt School of Engineering and the Department of Computer Science. She has 15 years of experience as a science and engineering librarian, most recently at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. In addition to her library science degrees, Sarah holds an M.S. in applied computer science.
Jodi Psoter Librarian for Chemistry and Statistical Science
Jodi joins Duke on August 14 as liaison to the Departments of Chemistry and Statistical Science. She has 15 years of experience as a science and engineering librarian, most recently at Williams College.
Brittany Wofford Coordinator for the Edge and Librarian for the Nicholas School of the Environment
Brittany will continue to coordinate services and spaces for The Edge research commons and will take on a new role as liaison to the Nicholas School of the Environment. Brittany has experience as the librarian for Cultural Anthropology, which will return to the care of librarian Linda Daniel.
If you’re ever in doubt about which of us to contact, we can all be reached at askscience@duke.edu. We look forward to hearing from you!
Are you stuck in a reading rut? Is your desire for abstraction not getting any action?
This Valentine’s Day, spice up your reading life and take home a one-night stand for your nightstand.
Check out our Blind Date with a Book display February 9-17 in Perkins Library next to the New and Noteworthy section.
Our librarians have hand-picked some of their all-time favorite literary crushes. Trust us. Librarians are the professional matchmakers of the book world. If these titles were on Tinder, we’d swipe right on every one. (Not that you should ever judge a book by its cover.)
Each book comes wrapped in brown paper with a come-hither teaser to pique your interest. Will you get fiction or nonfiction? Short stories or travelogue? Memoir or thriller? You won’t know until you “get between the covers,” if you know what we mean.
Not looking for commitment? No problem. Let us hook you up with a 100-page quickie.
Or maybe you’re the type who likes it long and intense? Here’s a little somethin-somethin that will keep you up all night for weeks. Aw, yeah.
Either way, be sure to let us know what you think. Each book comes with a “Rate Your Date” card. Use it as a bookmark. Then drop it in our Blind Date with a Book box when you return your book to Perkins. You’ll be entered to win a $25 Amazon Gift Card.
So treat your pretty little self to a mystery date. Who knows? You might just fall in love with a new favorite writer!
Have you ever gone to the library motivated and ready to work, but you just can’t get settled in? Instead, you’ve found yourself having a complete “Goldilocks” moment. Either the person next to you is distracting with their chit chat and loud snacking or you just can’t “bear” the thought of sitting silently in a desk after a long day of cramped classrooms and long lectures.
Well, worry no more! The Libraries has solutions to all of your study space problems. With a diverse mix of study rooms for any occasion and fun desk-alternatives, Duke Libraries has just what you need to make your studying fit “just right.”
Who needs Wilson Gym?
Fit-Desks are located on the first floor of Perkins. They have space to position your laptop and reading material and are attached to an exercise bike. Peddling away, you can add some extra energize your studying and even burn some calories!
“Stand-Up” to mundane tables and chairs!
Standing Desks travel their way around Perkins and Bostock, but can usually be spotted in the Edge. They are perfect for days when you want to work, but you just can’t “stand” the thought of sitting.
Shhhhhh…I’m finally being productive!
Quiet and Food Free-Space can be found throughout the Libraries. From the Gothic Reading Room in Rubenstein to the Carpenter Reading Room on 3rd-floor Bostock, there is plenty of space available for you to get in the zone without distraction, and with a great view too!
Neutral background? Perfect for skype interview
Interview Rooms on first-floor Perkins are available for reservation online. They are equipped with a desk and a land-line interview so nothing (not a noisy roommate or bad connection) can come between you and your dream internship!
Want to get a study room? Answer: always yes!
Reservable Study Rooms make up a huge part of our available study space and are scattered around the halls of the Libraries. From simple desks to full whiteboard and projectors, make sure to reserve online ahead of time and secure you and your group the exact space you need.
A dedicated space just for our hard-working grad students.
The Graduate Student Reading Room is located on the 2nd floor of Perkins, next to the Staff Lounge. With seating for 14 people, it is set aside for the use of any graduate and professional school students at Duke. Stop by the Perkins Library Service Desk to the get the code for the keypad.
Members of all faiths are welcome to use the new Prayer and Meditation Room in Perkins Library.
With the fall semester now well under way, we thought this would be a good time to remind our hard-working students and faculty that the library is not just for studying. Earlier this year, in response to student requests, the Libraries opened a space on the second floor of Perkins specifically dedicated to prayer and meditation.
The Prayer and Meditation Room is available for students and faculty of all faiths. The room is a shared space open to all members of the Duke community to use either individually or in groups.
Room 220 in Perkins Library is located near the open study area with wooden carrels on the library’s second floor. (See map below.)
The Prayer and Meditation Room is located in Room 220 on the 2nd Floor of Perkins Library.
Anyone who wishes to use the space is asked to follow a few simple guidelines:
Prayer or meditation does not necessarily need to be silent, but it should be quiet enough not to disturb anyone studying in adjacent areas or rooms.
The Prayer and Meditation Room cannot be reserved and is not to be used for studying or for meetings.
If you use the room, please show respect toward others who use it. Keep the room clean, take your personal belongings with you when you leave, and do not sleep or bring food into the space.
We welcome members of all faiths who study and work in the library to use and enjoy this space!
Never let this sight ruin your study session again! Phone and laptop chargers available in Perkins and Lilly Libraries
With the semester halfway over, the library has become practically your second home. You’ve loaded up your textbooks, grabbed a coffee, and settled into “the perfect study spot.”
You’re halfway through writing an essay, when you realize your laptop only has 5% battery left. You scramble through your backpack, but no luck. You forgot your charger… again.
No worries! Perkins and Lilly Library now have a variety of chargers that students can check out to get you right back into your study zone.
Chargers are available at the Link Help Desk in Perkins or at the service desk in Lilly. Each charger can be checked out for three hours, plenty of time to recharge your battery and finish that paper. Below is the list of chargers that are now available:
Dell 90W AC Adapter
OB46994 Lenovo 90W AC Adapter (Slim Tip) for T440 series and current Lenovo laptops
Apple 80W MagSafe for earlier model laptops
Apple 80W MagSafe2 for current model laptops
Multiuse phone charger compatible with new and older model iPhones, along with a micro USB, compatible with most Android phones
So if you are need of a quick recharge, be sure to swing by the Link Help Desk in Perkins or the service desk at Lilly, and never let a forgotten charger ruin your perfect study session again!
Starting this semester (Fall 2016), the Duke University Libraries will be piloting a program to provide selected textbooks on 3-hour reserve in Perkins Library on West Campus. Some textbooks will also be available at Lilly Library on East Campus.
Included among the 300 items are textbooks for courses in Economics, Chemistry, Math, Latin, French, Italian, and Spanish. The books have been selected based on orders placed with the Duke Textbook Store by departments and faculty.
Please note:Textbooks on reserve are not intended to take the place of students purchasing textbooks for their courses. Due to budget limitations, the Libraries are unable to purchase textbooks for every course at Duke.
Circulation numbers will be reviewed to determine if this pilot program is valued and should be extended.
For questions related to textbook reserves at Perkins Library, please contact: perkins-reserves@duke.edu.
For questions related to textbook reserves at Lilly Library, please contact: lilly-requests@duke.edu
Members of these advisory boards will help improve the learning and research environment for Duke University students and advise the Libraries on topics such as study spaces, research resources, integrating library services into academic courses, and marketing library services to students.
The boards will typically meet four times a semester to discuss all aspects of Duke Libraries and provide feedback to library staff. This is an amazing opportunity for students to serve on the advisory board of a large, nationally recognized non-profit organization.
All three advisory boards are now taking applications or nominations. Application deadlines are:
Members of the Graduate and Professional Student Advisory Board and the Undergraduate Advisory Board will be selected and notified by mid-September, and groups will begin to meet in late September. More information is available on our website, where you will also find links to the online applications forms.
For more information or questions about these opportunities, please contact:
The Richard and Nancy Riess Graduate Student Reading Room is located on the 2nd floor of Perkins Library in Room 211, next to the Staff Lounge.
With the start of a new academic year upon us, we thought this would be a good time to remind our hard-working graduate students that we have a dedicated library reading room just for them.
The Richard and Nancy Riess Graduate Student Reading Room is reserved for Duke University graduate students only. With seating for 14 people, it is located on the 2nd floor of Perkins Library in Room 211, next door to the library Staff Lounge. (See map below.)
The reading room is accessible by using a keypad on the door. To get the code, simply stop by the Library Service Desk on the main floor of Perkins Library, show us your Duke ID to verify your graduate student status, and fill out a short form.
Access to the Riess Graduate Student Reading Room is available to all graduate and professional school students throughout the university. We encourage you to stop by the Library Service Desk for the reading room code.
Learn to “swim” – and to keep swimming – in the Libraries!
The Libraries welcome the newest Blue Devils
On East Campus, after students settle in and begin classes, the Lilly Library and Duke Music Library offer several ways for the newest Blue Devils to learn and benefit from the incredible resources of the Duke Libraries. Lilly and Music sponsor Library Orientation events – including a film on the East Campus Quad and an Open House to introduce students to library services and collections. In recent years, students ventured into a library-themed Jurassic Park, played The Library Games, and were wowed by theIncredibles and our libraries’ super powers. This year, the Class of 2020 will explore the power of discovery and the rewards of research, and learn to “keep swimming” in our resources when they …
Dive Into the Libraries
Schedule of Library Orientation Events for Fall Semester 2016
After the excitement of the beginning of the new semester subsides, the Duke University Libraries continue to reach out to our students, always ready to offer research support and access to resources in support of their scholarly needs.
Here’s to a great fall semester!
Keep swimming! And, remember – we’re available to help you “keep searching”!
Thanks to Devils After Dark for partnering
with the East Campus Libraries for our orientation events.
… What are the libraries’ hours? … How do I find a book? … Who can help me with research? … Where can I print?*
Duke University’s newest students will find the answers to these questions (and more!) on the Library’s First-Year Library Servicesportal page.
Lilly Library on East Campus
Each August, a new class of undergraduates arrives in Durham ready to immerse themselves in the Duke Community. Duke University Libraries serve as the core of intellectual life on campus. Because East Campus is home to the First-Year students, Lillyand Music Libraries have the unique opportunity to introduce our newest “Dukies” to the array of Library resources and research services available.
To help navigate the vast library resources, there is a portal especially for First-Year Students. Through this portal page, new students (and even some not-so-new) can discover all that the Duke University Libraries offer:
As finals loom ahead, Lilly Library is here to help the sailing go as smoothly as possible.
For those of you looking to study all hours of the night and day, Lilly is now open 24/7 beginning Thursday, April 28 at 8 a.m. and closing 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 7.
Join us for our Study Break at 8 p.m. on Monday, May 2 for beverages and lots of snacks, both healthy (fruit and veggies) and the kind you really want to eat (cookies, brownies and the like).
Puzzles, games and more await for a “Brain Break” in the Relaxation Station in Lilly’s Training Room
And a Lilly tradition for the past several years–the Relaxation Station–is back, opening on Tuesday, May 3 and running through the end of exams on Saturday. The Relaxation Station offers games, puzzles, coloring and crafts so that students may take a moment (or two) to relax and recharge their gray matter!
Finally, Lilly Library is partnering with Devils After Dark to offer snacks on the evenings of Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, usually starting around 8 p.m. and in the Lilly foyer.
What: Help with writing, research, finals prep, and de-stressing Where: The Edge When: Tuesday, April 19, 7:00-11:00 pm
So you think you have lots of time before finals. That’s weeks away right? But finals are speeding towards us, and with them sleepless nights and too much caffeine. Don’t let all the final papers, presentations, and exams sneak up on you! Duke University’s Long Night Against Procrastination is a night set apart for maximum productivity–an evening you can devote to staying on stop of everything on your to-do list, and making your finals week that much easier.
Staff from the Libraries, the TWP Writing Studio, and the Academic Resource Center will be on hand to provide research and writing assistance. You can track your study progress and pick up free study materials throughout the evening. There will also be stress-relieving activities including coloring, button making, and relaxation stations for when you need a short brain break. And, of course, there will be plenty of snacks and drinks to feed your productivity.
To keep you motivated throughout the night there will be a t-shirt raffle every hour. Anyone who enters a goal on our goal wall, attends a writing session with the TWP Writing Studio staff, attends a reference help session with the librarians at the event, makes a button, or posts about the Libraries on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram will be able to enter the raffle.
Come out for a Long Night Against Procrastination and conquer your finals week!
Sponsored by Duke University Libraries, the TWP Writing Studio, Duke Student Wellness Center, and the Academic Resource Center
Refreshments provided by Duke University Campus Club and Friends of the Duke University Libraries
Earlier this year, Duke University Libraries conducted a survey to obtain feedback about the services and facilities we provide to our users. Lilly Library, on East Campus, was one area of focus within the broader survey.
Here is your opportunity to share your thoughts about ways to improve and enhance Lilly Library services, spaces, and resources in a one-hour moderated focus group. In particular, because Lilly Library is being considered for renovation in the near future, feedback from interested library users like you is a vital part of our planning process.
In return, we’ll feed you… Monuts, anyone?
Register for ONE of the sessions:
What: Focus Group I for Lilly Library
When: Tuesday, April 19th 5 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Where: East Union Lower Level Classroom 1 — Room 041
Welcome to our blog series on innovative projects coming out of The Edge! The Edge is a collaborative space in Bostock Library where students, faculty, and staff can work on research projects over the course of a semester or academic year. If think you have a project that would be ideal for the Edge, head over to our project spaces page to apply.
The Project: Fairy Tales, from Grimms to Disney
Fairy Tales, from Grimms to Disney is a digital library of 210 Grimms Fairy Tales in English translation, ordered by number and themes. The team built this digital library in WordPress to support the lecture course “Fairy Tales: Grimms to Disney” (Professor Jakob Norberg, Department of German), and students use the WordPress site to blog about weekly readings. Heidi Madden, Librarian for Western European Studies and Medieval Literature, answered some questions for us about this project.
What inspired this project?
Rumpelstiltskin. All images and illustrations by Arthur Rackham from public domain sources.
The Fairy Tales course is a popular lecture course taught every year in the German Department by Professor Jakob Norberg. The project arose in conversation with Professor Norberg, who wanted to draw on the visual elements of fairy tales to inspire students to read widely. He also wanted to make the large course more interactive. Students discover and write about modern versions of fairy tales; they find a wide variety—with many international examples—of tales based on Grimm fairy tale characters, themes, and plots. Professor Norberg wanted to capture some of that information from one year to the next by having students contribute their ideas to a blog.
Who are the members of your team? What departments and schools are they part of?
Professor Jakob Norberg, Department of German
Heidi Madden, Duke University Libraries
Nele Fritz is a Library Science student (B.A.) at TH Köln – University of Technology, Arts and Sciences, Cologne, Germany. From September 2015 to March 2016 she worked as an intern in International and Area Studies and in Research Services at Duke University Libraries.
Liz Milewics and Will Shaw as Digital Scholarship consultants
How has working in The Edge influenced your team?
The Edge space was an ideal central meeting place for the team. The most important affordances of the project room were the display screen and the writable walls. The site has many pages and images, and we needed room to sketch and evaluate the site. It was also useful to have a large table, so that we could work together on tasks where we needed immediate feedback. Having the project room available to us two afternoons a week really helped with keeping us on schedule.
Little Red Riding Hood
What tools do you use to work collaboratively?
We used WordPress, SAKAI, Basecamp, and Photoshop. Many students in the course are in engineering and computer science, and they have explored research involving text-mining and other digital tools for students to work with text data and images. Professor Norberg wanted his class site to list examples of that type of research as inspiration for students who take the class in the future. Having those clean text files readily available on the site allows for mobile reading, but also for downloading text data for projects.
What are you learning as part of this project that is surprising to you?
WordPress can be surprisingly difficult when building multimedia content and when building it with many pages. That’s why planning and sketching out the whole site is very important. Getting an overview of what the plug-ins offer is time-consuming. However, once the project was running, Professor Norberg was delighted to get to know his 43 students through their blogs very quickly.
Tom Thumb
What are the difficult problems you are trying to solve?
When the spring course is over, we want to turn the course site into a public site, so students interested in the course can explore the website. We also want to use the public website to showcase some of the original and tech-savvy research students are doing. In addition to that, we want to retain the bibliography of Grimm version fairy tales that students bring to the course from all of their diverse backgrounds.
What would you do with your project if you had unlimited resources?
We want the site to be used in teaching beyond Duke.
Final Thoughts
Nele Fritz, a graduate student from Germany, worked on this project as part of her field experience. Besides planning, sketching and building the site, this experience also included getting to know WordPress very well and monitoring the project with project management tools and strategies.
This post was written and compiled by Hannah Pope, a Master’s of Library Science student at UNC-Chapel Hill. She is interested in instruction, helping with research, and encouraging student innovation in libraries. She is currently working as a field experience intern in the Assessment and User Experience department and with The Edge at the Duke University Libraries.
Members of all faiths are welcome to use the new Prayer and Meditation Room in the library.
In response to student requests, the Duke University Libraries are pleased to set aside a dedicated room on the second floor of Perkins Library for prayer and meditation.
Room 220 in Perkins Library is located near the open study area with wooden carrels on the library’s second floor. (See map below.) The room is a shared space open to all members of the Duke community to use either individually or in groups.
Anyone who wishes to use the space is asked to follow a few simple guidelines:
Prayer or meditation does not necessarily need to be silent, but it should be quiet enough not to disturb anyone studying in adjacent areas or rooms.
The Prayer and Meditation Room cannot be reserved and is not to be used for studying or for meetings.
If you use the room, please show respect toward others who use it. Keep the room clean, take your personal belongings with you when you leave, and do not sleep or bring food into the space.
We hope the room will be of use to members of all faiths who study and work in the library.
The Prayer and Meditation Room is located in Room 220 on the 2nd Floor of Perkins Library.
Duke University has received a $1.165 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support the continued development of an open-source integrated library system.
Known as Kuali OLE (pronounced oh-LAY), for Open Library Environment, it is the first system designed by and for academic and research libraries to manage and deliver scholarly information. Three OLE Partners—Lehigh University, the University of Chicago, and SOAS at the University of London—have already implemented Kuali OLE in their library operations. The grant will support the further development, refinement, and adoption of the system by a broader group of public and private institutions.
Large research library systems manage and provide access to millions of books, journals, online resources, special collections, and other media. To do so, they rely on various commercial software products to handle the everyday work of ordering and paying for materials, cataloging them, loaning them to library patrons, and making disparate computer systems work together. These routine business functions are mission-critical for libraries, but the proprietary software that manages them can cost colleges and universities thousands or millions of dollars to license and maintain.
The goal of Kuali OLE is to replace some of the costly, inflexible systems many libraries currently rely on with an open-source, enterprise-level system that is freely available to libraries worldwide and supported by members of the library profession itself.
“The information environment has changed rapidly over the last few decades, but the technology of library management systems has not kept pace,” said Deborah Jakubs, Rita DiGiallonardo Holloway University Librarian and Vice Provost for Library Affairs at Duke. “The development of OLE offers a welcome opportunity to design a system that is flexible, customizable, and nimble enough to meet the complex needs of today’s libraries and library users.”
The Open Library Environment has been in development, with the support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, since 2008. In that year, representatives from more than a dozen libraries convened at Duke to discuss a next-generation framework for managing library collections and resources—essentially a library system designed by and for librarians.
This grant from Mellon will support the next phase of OLE’s code development through December 2017 by strengthening the technical capacity of the Kuali OLE Core Team. This will enable OLE to respond and adapt to technical infrastructure changes. It will also allow for increased functionality and features for successful implementation at the other partner libraries, including Duke, Cornell, Indiana University, Texas A&M University, North Carolina State University, the University of Maryland, the University of Pennsylvania, and Villanova University.
The hope is that Kuali OLE’s implementation at a range of private and public institutions will generate interest and participation among more academic institutions and partners worldwide.
“We envision this project as both a pivot for OLE that leads to a stronger, more effective and sustainable technology infrastructure, and an opportunity to renovate our organizational model to address code, community ownership, and the speed of development,” said Tim McGeary, Associate University Librarian for Information Technology Services at Duke. “We are grateful to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for recognizing the promise of the Kuali OLE project.”
During the winter break, we’re reconfiguring the Circulation and Reference Desks into a single combined library service point.
With the fall semester now over, we are going back into construction mode to complete five small projects in Perkins and Bostock Libraries. The majority of the projects are expected to be wrapped up by the start of the semester in January 2016.
Here’s a summary of the projects and what you can expect if you visit the library over the winter break.
New Perkins Library Service Desk: On the main level of Perkins Library, the Circulation and Reference Desks are being completely reconfigured into a new single library service point. Demolition of the existing desk area started this week and is expected to take a week or so. A new desk, consultation spaces, shelving area and processing area will be created in the existing space. While the work is going on, library services will be available by the Perkins archway entrance.
Bostock Floor 2: The spaces formerly occupied by Library Development, Communications, the Duke Collaboratory for Classics Computing, and Business Services will be renovated. Temporary walls have already been removed and pre-construction work has been completed. Once finished, the Data and Visualization and Digital Scholarship department heads and staff will relocate to offices in the renovated space. There will also be a meeting room within their combined suite. The DC3 (temporarily located in the 1928 Rubenstein Library tower offices) will return to a new space just down the hall from their former location.
The former home of Data and Visualization Services on the 2nd floor of Perkins Library is being transformed into a dedicated Dissertation Reading and Writing Lab for Duke graduate students.
Bostock Floors 2/3: The spaces formerly occupied by the Library Administration Office, Business Services, and Library Human Resources will be touched up, painted, and furniture will be returned to those areas. The former office for Library Human Resources will revert to a reservable meeting room for library staff.
Perkins Floor 3: The temporary stack and reading room spaces created for Rubenstein Library staff and services during the renovation will be returned to student/public spaces. The temporary walls have already been removed and some furniture has been returned. The shelves are clear and some shelving is being removed or relocated. Books and other materials will return to the third floor later in Spring 2016.
New Dissertation Reading and Writing Lab, Perkins Floor 2: The former Data/Visualization Lab on the 2nd floor of Perkins will become a new Dissertation Reading and Writing Lab. The space will be emptied, new carpet will be installed, and a number of open carrels and portable storage units will be installed in late January for use by graduate students. This space is expected to open in February or March.
Pardon our progress while we continue to improve your library!
Ever wonder who those teams of people are and what they’re working on? Come find out December 4!
What: Research-in-progress, coffee and dessert Where: The Edge Workshop Room (Bostock Library 127) When: Friday, December 4, 1:00 – 2:30 p.m.
You’ve seen the project teams in The Edge—come find out what they’re working on! In between LDOC festivities, join us in The Edge for a series of lightning talks given by Bass Connections project team participants about their team’s research work in progress and future plans. The participating teams are:
Following the lightning talks and a panel Q&A, join the team members for a coffee and dessert reception to celebrate a successful semester.
Interested in project space in The Edge next semester? We’re accepting applications for the Spring 2016 semester. Submit an application online or email us at edge@duke.edu for more information.
Getting ready for Halloween? So is Lilly Library! Come check out our collection of spooky DVDs and graphic novels, on exhibit through the end of October.
The H Word: Horror in the LibrariesFuture Imperfect: Dystopian and Post-Holocaust Cinema
The term “Hackathon” traditionally refers to an event in which computer programmers collaborate intensively on software projects. But Duke University Libraries and the History Department are putting a historical twist on their approach to the Hackathon phenomenon. In this case, the History Hackathon is a contest for undergraduate student teams to research, collaborate, and create projects inspired by the resources available in the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library collections. Projects may include performances, essays, websites, infographics, lectures, podcasts, and more. A panel of experts will serve as judges and rank the top three teams. Cash Prizes will be awarded to the winning teams.
Duke faculty can help us improve library services by participating in the Ithaka Faculty Survey!
This fall, the Duke University Libraries will be participating in the national Ithaka Faculty Survey.
On Wednesday, September 9, nearly 1,000 Duke faculty will receive an email invitation to participate. The survey will be open through Fall Break, and faculty will be encouraged to complete the online questionnaire throughout the month it is open.
We will use findings from the Ithaka survey to gain a better understanding of Duke faculty members’ research and teaching experiences, habits, and patterns. These findings will help us to direct resources and develop services to help meet their expressed needs.
Institutions that have participated in the past report that their findings were extremely useful for strategic planning and long-term goal setting, so we feel the timing of this survey is especially appropriate as the Provost’s Office embarks on a university-wide strategic planning process. Also, by participating in this national survey, we will have an opportunity to compare local findings with data from peer institutions.
If you are a Duke faculty member and receive a link to the survey, we hope you will participate. As a small incentive, all faculty who complete the survey will be entered into a drawing for a $75 Amazon gift card.
If you have any questions about the Ithaka Faculty Survey, please contact Emily Daly, Head of the Assessment and User Experience Department in the Duke University Libraries.
When is the library open? How do I find a book? Where do I print?*
Duke University’s newest students can find the answers to these questions (and more!) on the Library’s First-Year Library Servicesportal page.
Each August, a new class of undergraduates arrives in Durham ready to immerse themselves in the Duke Community. Duke University Libraries serve as the core of intellectual life on campus. On East Campus particularly, the Lilly and Music Libraries have the unique opportunity to introduce our newest “Dukies” to the array of Library resources and research services available.
To help navigate the vast Library resources, we’ve created a portal especially for First-Year students. Through this portal page, new students (and even some not-so-new) can discover all that the Duke University Libraries offer:
Quick Facts: about collections and loan policies Where: to study, print, and … eat! How: to find and check out books & material, and get… Help!: Meet the “who” – Librarians, Specialists, & Residence Hall Librarians Research 101: how to navigate the Research Process Citation 101: how to cite using recommended styles *And when is the Library open?
Find the answer in our list of the Top 12 Questions, developed with input from First-Year Library Advisory Board students.
If you regularly use WorldCat through the Duke University Libraries website, you might notice a small change soon.
Starting Tuesday, June 30, the Libraries will link to WorldCat through a new platform called WorldCat Discovery, instead of FirstSearch, the platform we’ve been using for some time. WorldCat Discovery is available online now at http://duke.on.worldcat.org/advancedsearch, and we invite you to take it for a test-drive!
Please join us for a talk on changing models of scholarly publishing in the humanities, and how a transition to open access models might be funded and sustained.
Through the economic and structural reconfiguration made possible by the Internet, the potential for new modes of publishing scholarship have emerged. However, there has also been much alarm in the humanities disciplines, particularly at the proposed changes to economic models that could underwrite transitions to new models of publishing, such as open access.
In this talk, Dr. Martin Paul Eve, author of Open Access and the Humanities (Cambridge University Press, 2014) will explore the contexts, controversies and pragmatic paths for the future of open access and other potential transitions in scholarly publishing in the humanities.
Your opinion counts! Share your thoughts about ways to improve and enhance library services, collections, and spaces in a one-hour moderated focus group. All participants will enjoy snacks during the focus group and receive a $10.00 Amazon Gift card!
Here in the Libraries, we’re always trying to up our game. To help us serve our Duke students and faculty better, we conduct periodic focus groups with undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty members.
Share your input and make a difference. Focus groups help us improve our existing services and develop new ones to meet emerging needs. Click on the links below to be part of a focus group session.
This focus group will center on participants’ experiences accessing full text articles online.
Faculty and Graduate Student Focus Group: Thursday, March 19th
10:00 – 11:00 a.m.
Meet in the lobby of Perkins Library (by the elevators and stone stairs) Register here.
You’re invited to a Duke University Libraries Open House!
Help us celebrate the completion of
Wednesday, January 14, 2015 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. Bostock Library, First Floor
Remarks at 1:30 p.m. by Deborah Jakubs, Rita DiGiallonardo Holloway University Librarian and Vice Provost for Library Affairs
Tour the new spaces, labs, and project rooms
Meet and mingle with library staff and The Edge support teams
Learn how The Edge can support your research and project work
Free giveaways
Enjoy refreshments by Parker and Otis
Floorplan of The Edge on the renovated first floor of Bostock Library
About The Edge To meet the needs of interdisciplinary, team-based, data-driven, and digitally reliant research at Duke, the Duke University Libraries have transformed the first floor of Bostock Library into a new academic service hub. With digital tools and collaborative workspaces, reservable rooms for project teams, and expanded technology and training facilities, The Edge: The Ruppert Commons for Research, Technology, and Collaboration is an attractive new research community destination in the heart of campus.
The Link Service Desk will undergo minor repair work December 15-January 2.
During the holiday break, the Link will be conducting repairs to its service desk on the Lower Level of Perkins Library. Workers will be re-laminating the surface of the desk as well as making changes to increase staff workspace.
The service desk will remain open during the repairs, but there may be brief delays depending on customer needs. The walk-up computers near the Link entrance will be removed while the work is being done.
These repairs will begin Monday, December 15, and are scheduled to be completed by Friday, January 2. There will be some noise and possible odors related to this work. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience. Thank you for your patience as we work to improve the space!
Workers are putting the finishing touches on The Edge: The Ruppert Commons for Research, Technology, and Collaboration, located on the first floor of Bostock Library. The space contains nine project rooms that are reservable for short- or long-term use by project teams.
Students and faculty who are working on interdisciplinary, data-driven, digitally reliant, or team-based research are invited to apply for a project room in The Edge by Wednesday, November 26. We’ll do our best to accommodate as many requests as possible and will notify all requestors no later than Friday, December 12, so you can make plans for the spring semester.
A portion of the project rooms in The Edge will still be “grab-able” (i.e., available for ad hoc reservations without submitting the project space request form). We also hope to re-open our form in the spring to accommodate additional groups in need of shared or dedicated project space.
Starting Oct. 1, Duke students, faculty, and staff will be able to check out books in-person from nearly a dozen other major research libraries.
Duke University students, faculty, and staff will soon enjoy on-site library borrowing privileges at several other major research universities, courtesy of a new program known as BorrowDirect Plus.
Under a new pilot agreement beginning October 1, 2014, students, faculty, and staff from the following institutions will have reciprocal on-site borrowing privileges: Brown University, University of Chicago, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Duke University, Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, and Yale University.
Guest users who have been verified and have home library accounts in good standing will have in-person access to materials at any of the participating libraries. When visiting one of these libraries, members of the BorrowDirect Plus community will need to show their campus ID card and log into their home library account to show their current status. Once verified, they will be issued a library card from the institution they are visiting.
Items, collections, and participating libraries available will vary by institution. The lending library’s policies and loan periods apply to guest borrowers, and it is recommended that users considering a visit to another library view their policies ahead of time. Borrowed items may be returned at either the lending library or the user’s home library. (For example, a book checked out at Yale could be returned here at Duke, and vice versa.)
For the most part, these same materials are already available through BorrowDirect, a rapid book request and delivery system used by all of the participating institutions (with the exception of Duke). The new agreement expands the system to include this in-person component.
The new “Bento Box” approach to displaying library search results on our website takes its name from the popular and often elaborately prepared Japanese lunches.
Starting today, if you search for a book, article, film, or other library resource on our website, you may notice something different.
We’ve changed the way search results appear in the library catalog, subdividing them into different groups according to the type of media (books, articles, images, etc.) and related tools and services (library research guides, library website links, and other resources). If you search for “Civil War women soldiers,” for example, you don’t just get results for books we have on that subject, but also links to related scholarly articles, images of women in the Civil War from databases and digitized archival collections, links to historical documents in the Rubenstein Library, helpful research guides, and more.
This unified approach to displaying and segmenting search results is commonly referred to as the “Bento Box” method, because of its resemblance to the popular and often elaborately prepared Japanese lunch boxes. It is designed to provide a quick, easy, and more intuitive way to find the information you need.
Bento searching was pioneered by our library colleagues down the road at NC State, and it has started catching on at other libraries around the country. It has the benefit of helping users gain quick access to a limited set of results across a variety of resources, services, and tools, while providing links to the full results.
We made an announcement about rolling out Bento over the summer. But in fact we’ve been developing, testing, and documenting our progress for over a year, and we greatly appreciate all the feedback our users have given us along the way. Your input has helped us design a better, simpler, more intuitively organized search interface for Duke students, faculty, and researchers.
Don’t like it? You also have the option of setting your default search options on our homepage if you find that Bento searching doesn’t meet your needs. Just click on the little gear icon on the bottom left corner of the search box on the library homepage. If you spend more time searching for journal articles rather than books, you can set “Articles” as your preferred search tab, and it will appear as the default every time you visit our site. You can change and customize your default search settings at any time.
Use the gear icon to change your default search to Articles, Books & Media, or All.
So give it a spin and let us know what you think! Use our feedback form to tell us how we’re doing or report a problem or issue.
Members of these boards will help improve the learning and research environment for Duke University students and advise the Libraries on topics such as study spaces, research resources, integrating library services into academic courses, and marketing library services to students.
All three advisory boards are now taking applications or nominations. Deadlines for applying are:
Members will be selected and notified by mid-September, and groups will begin to meet in late September. More information is available on our website, where you will also find links to the online applications forms.
For more information or questions about these opportunities, please contact:
Architectural rendering of the renovated first floor of Bostock Library. Renovations will take place May-November 2014.
If you have visited Duke’s West Campus lately, you might have noticed that the first floor of Bostock Library is currently closed for renovations. The entire floor is being reconfigured into a new space that will allow the Libraries to meet the growing needs of interdisciplinary, team-based, and data-driven research at Duke. There’s an article about it in the latest issue of our library magazine, and you can read more about the project on our library website.
Throughout the planning phase of the project, we’ve tentatively been calling this space the “Research Commons,” for lack of a better name. Today, we’re pleased to announce that a better name has emerged. Allow us to introduce…
Why “The Edge”?
The overall goal of this renovation project is to create a new space that will allow Duke researchers and project teams to experiment with new ideas and approaches with experts, technology, and training available in close proximity. It should be the kind of space that invites discovery, experimentation, and collaboration. We needed a name that captured all of that in a succinct and memorable way.
The word “edge” suggests standing on the brink of something, or of being on the fringes or boundaries. It’s a place where different points of view or disciplinary approaches meet.
From a physical building layout perspective, it also makes a certain amount of sense. Just as the Link is in the middle of the library complex, The Edge is on the side that is furthest from the main academic quad.
Finally, there’s the subtle hint of gaining an advantage: The Edge is a place that will help you with your research or collaborative project.
To bring The Edge to life, the Libraries have been working with the architectural firm Shepley Bulfinch, the same firm that designed and built Bostock Library and the von der Heyden Pavilion in 2005, renovated Perkins Library between 2006 and 2008 (including the creation of the Link), and is directing the current renovation of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Few parts of Duke have been transformed so completely in recent years as the Libraries, and The Edge is just the latest proof of that.
We are looking forward to unveiling this attractive and innovative new destination in the heart of campus, which should be completed later this year by November or December. In January 2015, we will formally celebrate with a grand opening event. We hope you will join us at The Edge!
Just a sampling of the hundreds of popular titles you can now download as eBooks or audiobooks and enjoy on your own device. Click on the image to get started.
Duke University Libraries and Ford Library at the Fuqua School of Business are excited to offer a new service that allows library users to download and enjoy popular eBooks and audiobooks on their own devices, including iPhones, iPads, NOOKs, Android phones and tablets, and Kindles.
The new service, called OverDrive, has hundreds of popular fiction and non-fiction titles to choose from, including best-selling novels, well-known classics, self-improvement guides, and much more. We are adding new titles to Duke’s collection all the time.
Here’s how it works:
To get started, visit the Duke OverDrive website. (You can easily get there through the eBooks portal on our library website.)
Browse through the available titles, and check them out using your Duke NetID.
You can check out up to five (5) eBooks or audiobooks at one time.
Titles will automatically expire at the end of the lending period (21 days). There are no late fees!
eBooks can be read immediately on any device with an internet browser. Audiobooks can be streamed using the OverDrive Media Console app, which you can download for free on all major desktop and mobile platforms.
If a title is already checked out, you can place it on hold and request to be notified when it becomes available. You can place up to ten (10) titles on hold at a time.
If you don’t see a title you’re looking for, submit a request from any search page using the option. We’ll add requested titles to our wishlist and purchase them as funds become available.
Once you download a title, you can transfer it to your iPhone, iPad, NOOK, Android phone or tablet, or Kindle.
That’s it! Pretty simple.
In addition to hundreds of new and recently published books, you can also download tens of thousands of public domain classics as eBooks through OverDrive. Look for the “Project Gutenberg” link under Featured Collections.
We are in the process of adding to our initial selections in OverDrive, so we encourage you to submit recommendations through the site if there are eBooks or audiobooks you’d like to see available.
Screenshot of the OverDrive interface. Just a click “Borrow” to check out a title with your Duke NetID, or place it on hold and get notified when it becomes available.
We’re looking for undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty to participate in one-hour focus groups.
Your opinion counts! Share your thoughts about ways to improve and enhance library services, collections, and spaces in a one-hour moderated focus group. In return, we’ll feed you!
Here in the Libraries, we’re always trying to up our game. To help us serve our Duke students and faculty better, we conduct periodic focus groups with undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty members.
Your opinion counts! Share your input and make a difference. Focus groups help us improve our existing services and develop new ones to meet emerging needs. Click on the links below to be part of a focus group session.
Focus Groups for Undergraduates
Session 1: Tuesday, April 8, 6-7 p.m., Perkins 118 Catered dinner from Armadillo Grill Sign up for this focus group
The new Interview Room, Perkins 130, is equipped with a dedicated phone line.
Have a big job interview coming up this spring? Need a quiet space with a good phone connection? We’ve got you covered.
Starting March 26, Perkins Library will be offering a space for phone and virtual interviews in Perkins 130 for the remainder of the Spring 2014 semester as a pilot study. This room has a dedicated phone line that can be used to make business calls, both long-distance and local. Please visit the Perkins Research or Service Desk for the telephone number if you need to receive a call.
Duke students, staff, and faculty may reserve this room for up to one hour per day. To make a reservation, visit the Library Room Reservation page and click on “Reserve the Interview Room.” Then you can submit your reservation using your name and Duke e-mail address. The system will send a confirmation email to your Duke email. Make sure to respond within an hour to confirm your reservation.
The Interview Room is available whenever Perkins & Bostock Libraries are open. You can also reserve interview spaces in the Career Center at the Smith Warehouse Building.
Architectural rendering of a planned social lounge space in the Research Commons on the first floor of Bostock Library. Renovations will take place May-November 2014.
To meet the growing needs of interdisciplinary, team-based, and data-driven research at Duke, the Duke University Libraries will transform the first floor of Bostock Library into a new academic service hub equipped with tools and workspaces for digital scholarship, reservable rooms for project teams, and expanded technology and training facilities.
The new space will be known as the “Research Commons” and will officially open in January 2015. The improvements will allow for more technology-focused library services, more spaces for collaborative work, and an attractive new destination for students and faculty in the heart of campus.
The main period of renovation activity will be May – November 2014, in order to minimize disruptions to students and faculty. The $3.5 million project was approved by the Board of Trustees at their October 2013 meeting.
Floor plan of the Research Commons, which will occupy the entire first floor of Bostock Library. Click on the image to see a larger version.
The Research Commons will increase the Libraries’ ability to support interdisciplinary and team-based teaching and learning at Duke, such as the innovative projects emerging from the Bass Connections initiative. The space will bring together the Libraries’ Brandaleone Data and GIS Services Lab (relocated from the second floor of Perkins Library); workshop and presentation space for groups large (45-50) and small (6-8); reservable and drop-in project rooms; and expert library staff assistance, available on-site or by appointment.
“The goal of the Research Commons is to allow individual researchers and project teams to experiment with new ideas and approaches with experts, technology and training available in close proximity,” said Deborah Jakubs, Rita DiGiallonardo Holloway University Librarian and the Vice Provost for Library Affairs. “It will be the kind of space that invites discovery, experimentation, and collaboration.”
Plans for the Research Commons came about through a multi-year planning process in which faculty, students, and library staff explored how Duke researchers are increasingly conducting their work in the context of interdisciplinary collaborations and digital production. Generous funding for the project was made possible through the Duke Forward Campaign.
In order to make room for the renovation, collection materials and furniture on the first floor of Bostock Library will be relocated to other library locations beginning in May. The Libraries will free up additional study space elsewhere in Perkins and Bostock to accommodate students temporarily displaced by the work. A complete list of which collections are moving is available on the Research Commons FAQ page.
Rendering of the Open Lab seating area of the Research Commons.
Also in May, the front entrance of Perkins Library will close due to the Rubenstein Library renovation on May 12 and remain closed until summer 2015. Library users and visitors will enter the library through the side entrance beneath the Perkins/Bostock connector, or through the von der Heyden Pavilion, which will remain open throughout the renovations. To better accommodate patrons, a Library Service Desk will be placed near the side entrance of Perkins while the front entrance is closed.
More information on the Research Commons, including a renovation timeline and FAQ, can be found on the Libraries’ website at library.duke.edu/research/commons. More information about the Rubenstein Library renovation can be found at library.duke.edu/renovation.
DURHAM, N.C. – The Duke University Libraries are partnering with Duke’s office of Durham and Regional Affairs to encourage the use of educational technology in Durham Public Schools, thanks to an endowment from PepsiCo.
The PepsiCo K-12 Technology Mentor Program has been an outreach effort of the Libraries since 2007. It was originally created to provide better access to, support for, and integration of technology in Durham Public School classrooms.
Starting in March, the program will be coordinated by Duke’s office of Durham and Regional Affairs, in order to better integrate with Duke’s existing successful partnerships with Durham Public Schools.
David Stein, Senior Education Partnership Coordinator for the Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership, will lead the program. Stein serves as the university’s liaison to the eight public schools near Duke’s campus. Since he came to Duke in 2000, he has worked closely with Durham schoolteachers and officials to mobilize university resources in support of K-12 educational achievement.
Stein has developed and run programs like BOOST, in collaboration with Duke School of Medicine students, to encourage underrepresented minority students towards careers in medicine and science. He has also created numerous targeted enrichment programs like School Days, which encourages local eighth-graders to set their sights on college, and the John Hope Franklin Scholars, which fosters a love of history among high-potential middle-school students.
The goals of the PespiCo K-12 Technology Mentor Program are to keep classroom teachers abreast of instructional technology innovations, offer curriculum-related materials to support their work, and increase the information literacy of Durham Public School students.
Stein will work in close collaboration with Durham educators and Duke’s Libraries to develop technology training programs for educators, students, and parents. He will also continue to lead the John Hope Franklin Young Scholars Program and School Days.
“This new Duke Durham and Regional Affairs collaboration with the Duke Libraries is exciting and I am delighted that David Stein will be entrusted with this responsibility,” said Sam Miglarese, director of the Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership. “His educational expertise coupled with his love of innovative technology will support effectively DPS teachers in our partner schools. I am grateful to Dr. Phail Wynn and Dr. Deborah Jakubs for making this shared vision a reality.”
Prior to coming to Duke, Stein scouted and marketed inventions for Harvard University and served as the community liaison for the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics. He is a licensed secondary social studies teacher with a degree from Antioch College and attended graduate school in City Planning at the University of California at Berkeley.
For more information, contact: David Stein, Senior Education Partnership Coordinator, Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership, dstein@duke.edu, (919) 668-6271
The Triangle Scholarly Communication Institute invites proposals from groups interested in participating in a series of seminars, discussions, presentations, and workshops, to be held over four days in Chapel Hill, NC, in November 2014.
DURHAM, N.C. – The Duke University Libraries have received a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support an annual Scholarly Communication Institute with the goal of advancing scholarship, teaching, and publishing in the humanities through the application of digital technologies.
Over the last two decades, rapid technological changes have fundamentally altered the way in which research and other scholarly writings are created, evaluated for quality, disseminated to the scholarly community, and preserved for future use. There has been lively debate among scholars, librarians, publishers, and technologists about the ways in which scholars share their research within the academic community and beyond. Duke has long been a vocal participant in these discussions and a strong advocate for the knowledge-sharing mission of research universities.
The Scholarly Communication Institute (SCI) began as a Mellon-funded initiative at the University of Virginia in 2003 and was based there for nine years. Duke will host the new SCI, working in close collaboration with partners at the University North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University, North Carolina Central University, and the Triangle Research Libraries Network.
Like its predecessor program at UVA, the Triangle SCI will bring together a broad range of experts from inside and outside academia to discuss needs and opportunities in the domain of scholarly communications. The emphasis will be on productive dialogue across boundaries that often separate academic communities with an ultimate goal of fostering new types of collaboration and new models of scholarly dissemination.
“The goal of the SCI is not to schedule breakthroughs, but to create conditions that favor them,” said Deborah Jakubs, Rita DiGiallonardo Holloway University Librarian and Vice Provost for Library Affairs at Duke.
“It will bring diverse groups together and provide a combination of structured and unstructured time to brainstorm, organize, and jump-start ideas, to experiment and solve problems, and even begin to build,” she said. “This will be an opportunity both to talk and to do.”
Each annual institute will be organized under a broad theme. This year’s is “Scholarship and the Crowd.” It will be held November 9-13 at the Rizzo Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Participants will be selected through a competitive proposal process. For the 2014 institute, applicants from the Triangle area are especially encouraged to submit. Proposals are being accepted through March 24. More information and application instructions are available at the institute’s website: trianglesci.org.
Doing DH is a Digital Scholarship series focusing on the basic skills needed for working in the digital humanities. Lightning-talk panels, presentations, and workshops showcase people, projects, and expertise in the Triangle and offer insights into the practical side of being a digital humanist. Presentations and panel discussions are in the FHI Garage (Bay 4, Smith Warehouse). Light refreshments will be served. Workshops are in the Wired! Lab (Bay 11 Smith Warehouse).
The next events in this series are November 21 : a workshop and panel discussion on project management in the digital humanities (more information below).
Digital Humanities Project Management Workshop Date: Thursday, November 21
Time: 4:00 – 5:00 p.m. Location: Wired! Lab, Smith Warehouse, Bay 11 (click for map) Registration: Required (seating is limited). Please register to attend. Contact: Liz Milewicz, liz.milewicz@duke.edu
Introduction to digital humanities project planning and management, with special emphasis on choosing the tools and applications (from free apps like Google Docs to professional software like BaseCamp and Jira) that best suit your project and your team. Participants are encouraged to bring their own laptops.
Digital Humanities Project Management Panel Date: Thursday, November 21 Time: 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. Location: FHI Garage, Smith Warehouse Bay 4 (click for map) Registration: Register online Contact: Liz Milewicz, liz.milewicz@duke.edu
Light refreshments will be served.
Following the workshop, join us for a panel discussion on common issues in digital humanities project development. What planning and management challenges are specific to digital humanities? How do DH project managers coordinate team effort, communicate with stakeholders, and control unexpected changes in project scope? Participating panelists hail from both Duke and UNC, including:
Mary Caton Lingold (Soundbox Project co-director and English Department doctoral student, Duke University)
Erin Parish (Cultural Anthropology Department doctoral student, Duke University)
Ashley Reed (Manager, William Blake Archive, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
Here in the Libraries, we are always trying to improve our game. To help us serve our students and faculty better, we conduct periodic surveys to understand how you view our services, spaces, and materials, and how satisfied you are with your overall library experience.
From now until December 2, we will be conducting a brief user survey, which you can find linked prominently on our library homepage. Please take a moment and tell us how we’re doing.
The survey takes only 4-5 minutes to complete. All responses are completely anonymous.
The more feedback we get, the better equipped we will be to improve our existing services and develop new ones to meet emerging needs.
So please take a moment to complete the survey. We value your feedback. And we look forward to reporting what we learn from the survey results in the coming weeks. Thank you!
October disappeared while we were illicitly munching on Halloween candy, and November has appeared out of nowhere, with its shorter days and longer shadows. In case you missed something, here’s a summary of some of the top stories from around the Libraries for the month of October.
Our Digital Scholarship Services department has organized a series of panels, presentations, and workshops this fall to focus on basic skills in digital humanities research.
Kevin Smith, Director of Copyright and Scholarly Communications, reacts to a recent report in the journal Science and why its conclusions on open-access publishing and peer review were so wrong.
The faculty at Duke have been busy writing on spectrum of topics, from minority aging to differential equations and everything in between. Check out this extensive list of books penned by our very own Duke faculty members, all available in the library.
The source code for Fantasy Collecting, an art education and market simulation program developed here at Duke, was recently made publicly available. Fantasy Collecting is a bit like fantasy football for the art world. Students aim to increase the value and scope of their virtual art collections through promoting, acquiring, and trading art.
Ashley Young, a Ph.D. student at Duke and 2nd-prize winner in the National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest, wrote about her trip to the awards ceremony in Washington, D.C., hosted by the Library of Congress.
A new exhibit at the Center for Documentary Arts celebrates the 115th anniversary of NC Mutual, the country’s largest and oldest African-American owned insurance company. The exhibit is co-sponsored by NC Mutual and the John Hope Franklin Research Center, part of the Rubenstein Library.
The winners of the Aptman and Middlesworth research prize were recognized at a special awards ceremony during Duke Family Weekend. These students were recognized for their outstanding work in research and the utilization of library sources.
Free and open to everyone. Because lunch will be served, please register to help us estimate attendance.
In celebration of International Education Week, please join us for a special international buffet lunch and panel discussion on Duke’s global initiatives at home and around the world. Hear from university leaders across campus and learn more about Duke’s exciting endeavors in global research, study abroad, Duke Kunshan, DukeEngage, support for international students on campus, and more.
Lunch begins at 11 a.m., and the panel discussion starts at 11:30. The event will conclude with a Q&A and open conversation.
Speakers
Welcome:Eve Duffy, Director of Programs and Initiatives, Office of Global Strategy and Programs Moderator:Li-Chen Chin, Director of Intercultural Programs, Center for Multicultural Affairs
Our newly redesigned website will be right back after this short break!
Good things come to those who wait. For those who appreciate a little delayed gratification, we’re pushing back the launch of our redesigned library website by a couple of weeks.
Here’s why. After soft-launching on October 14 during Duke’s Fall Break, we quickly discovered some unexpected problems with people accessing their library accounts through the new site. Rather than cause any undue delays or frustration for our patrons, we decided to leave the old site in place until we could do more extensive testing and resolve the technical issue. We will re-launch the new site by the end of this month, once the problem is fixed.
During this brief intermission, you can still explore the prototype of the redesigned library website on our development server and let us know what you think. We want to thank our library users again for your patience and apologize for any inconvenience to those who reported trouble accessing their library accounts yesterday. Everything should be working normally now.
For more about the library website redesign, check out some of our previous blog posts. And keep an eye out for the unveiling of our new and improved (and fully functioning) website later this month.
Free lunch will be provided for participants before the event in the Schiciano Lobby from 12:00-1:00pm.
Come join us on October 22 and learn how to best use IEEE Xplore, one of the premier resources for scientific and technical content.
The IEEE Xplore digital library is a powerful resource for discovery and access to information published by the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) and its partners. IEEE Xplore provides Web access to more than 3-million full-text documents from some of the world’s most highly cited publications in electrical engineering, computer science and electronics. The content in IEEE Xplore comprises over 160 journals, over 1,200 conference proceedings, more than 3,800 technical standards, over 1,000 eBooks and over 300 educational courses.
The training session will teach attendees to use this invaluable resource more efficiently, and will focus on several key points of interest.
But before we launch the new site, we thought it would be fun to take a little trip in the Wayback Machine and reminisce about just how far we’ve come. This isn’t our first redesign rodeo, after all.
So join us as we surf back in Internet Time and explore…
Our Library Website Through the Years
(with real archived links!)
1997
J. K. Rowling publishes first Harry Potter book, Titanic hits theaters, Hong Kong becomes part of China again, Princess Diana dies—and our website wins a “Best of the Web” award!
Click on the image to go straight back to 1997!
2001 Gladiator wins Best Picture, Ravens win Super Bowl, Duke Men’s Basketball wins NCAA Championship, 9/11 attacks, Enron files for bankruptcy—and we get Wifi in the library!
Click on the image to go straight back to 2001!
2004 Facebook launches, Ronald Reagan dies, Lance Armstrong wins sixth Tour de France, Red Sox win World Series, Richard Brodhead becomes president of Duke—and we launch a redesigned library website!
Click on the image to go straight back to 2004!
2008 Large Hadron Collider begins operations, U.S. Stock Market plunges, Coach K leads U.S. men’s basketball to gold in Beijing Olympics, Barack Obama elected President—and we released the first mobile version of our website!
Click on the image to go straight back to 2008!
Stay tuned for the next chapter in our online history, going live October 14!
Click on the screenshot to see the new Duke University Libraries website.
As we’ve mentioned here before, we’re getting ready to launch our redesigned Duke University Libraries website on October 14, during Duke’s Fall Break.
We’ve been documenting and testing our process for the better part of a year, and we greatly appreciate all the helpful feedback and comments our users have given us along the way. Your participation has made the process smoother and helped us make better-informed decisions about the design and functionality of our new site. Thank you!
With October 14 less than a week away, we’re ready to let the Duke community take our new website for a spin. We’re still tweaking some things and ironing out a few glitches, but we think it’s ready to share. Here’s a preview link on our development server: http://libcms.oit.duke.edu/
(Note: This is a temporary link. Our new site will publicly go live at library.duke.edu on October 14. All old URLs will be redirected to new ones.)
In our last post about the website redesign, we covered some of the major search and navigational differences between the old site and the new one. Here are a few additional improvements you may notice.
1. More emphasis on the search box. Library websites are different from other university websites. This isn’t just our virtual face to the world. It’s a multifunctional tool, as well as the primary way most of our users “go to the library” and get to our resources. You’ll notice that the search box is larger and designed in a way to help you get the information you need more quickly, with fewer distractions on the page.
2. Easier access to important functions. We’ve added a “Quick Links” section on the homepage to emphasize important information and answers to frequently asked questions. You’ll also notice that “My Accounts” is linked consistently in the header throughout the site. This takes you to a page where you can login to all of your library accounts in one place, from renewing books and viewing hold requests, to interlibrary loan and document delivery, to requesting materials from the Rubenstein Library.
3. Better integration with our physical space. This is one new addition we think our students will really appreciate. Duke’s campus libraries are popular places. Study space is in high demand. With that in mind, we’ve created a new “Places to Study” page featuring a comprehensive list of library study spots on both East and West Campus. There are photos of study rooms and descriptions of their features. You can even filter study spaces by location, electrical outlets, nearness to coffee, etc. We’ve also made it easier to reserve a study space or meeting room with the click of a button.
Screenshot of the new Rubenstein Library homepage.
5. Easier access to international research and services. Want to find materials on specific countries, like France, China, or Canada? Or perhaps schedule a one-on-one consultation with a subject or language expert? Click on our interactive International Resources map and see what resources and services we have available for different regions of the globe.
New interactive International Research page.
6. More personalized help. We’ve revamped our list of librarians and subject experts to make it easier for you to find someone who knows your field and can answer questions about particular topics.
7. Enhanced searchability. We’ve already talked about the redesigned search box on the homepage. But we also added some functionality to the website search in the header on every page. By using the drop-down button, you can search for books, articles, or all library materials without having to go back to the homepage.
8. Less jargon. We’re librarians. We love acronyms, proper names, and technical terminology. But we recognize that not everyone else speaks librarianese. To that end, we’ve made a conscious effort to edit all of our site content for greater clarity, simplicity, accuracy, and web-friendliness. We hope it helps.
Again, take it for a spin and let us know what you think! And mark your calendar for October 14, when our new site officially goes live!
Members of these boards will help improve the learning and research environment for Duke University students and advise the Libraries on topics such as study spaces, research resources, integrating library services into academic courses, and marketing library services to students.
All three advisory boards are now taking applications or nominations. Deadlines for applying are:
Graduate and Professional Student Advisory Board: September 8, 2013
Undergraduate Advisory Board: September 8, 2013
First-Year Advisory Board: September 10, 2013
Members will be selected and notified by mid-September, and the groups will begin to meet in late September. More information is available on our website, where you will also find links to the online applications forms.
For more information or questions about these opportunities, please contact:
In order to make our library resources more mobile-friendly, we’ve picked up a new tool called BrowZine, an app for iPads and Android tablets that lets you browse, read, and monitor current academic journals in your subject areas. And best of all for our Duke users, it’s free!
Here’s a 2-minute video about how it works:
If you want to use BrowZine, you can download it to your iPad or Android device by following these easy steps:
Go to the App Store or Google Play, search for BrowZine, and install it. (It’s free.)
When you open BrowZine for the first time, you’ll see a list of schools – select Duke, then enter your Net ID and password.
Select subject areas, and start browsing journals. That’s it! You can save your favorites to your personal bookshelf.
How many journals are included? BrowZine has relationships with these academic journal publishers, so any journals included in that group and published since 2005 should be viewable through the BrowZine app.
Give it a try and let us know what you think.
BrowZine is compatible with Zotero, Dropbox, Evernote and other services (Mendeley and RefWorks are coming soon), allowing you to organize and manage your research seamlessly. You can also save articles to your BrowZine pin board to read later, even when you’re offline.
Students also learned about the history of Duke University in the Gothic Reading Room and searched for one of our former Duke Presidents. Other missions included finding the Oasis, Nicholas Family International Reading Room, Prayer and Meditation Room, Project Room #9, the OIT Help Desk in the Link, and the Librarian for Science and Engineering at the Perkins Service Desk.
Danette Pachtner
How has the library impacted your Duke experience?
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