In alignment with the University of Nevada, Reno’s Carnegie R1 status, the University Libraries provides and creates innovative resources and services that meet the diverse and evolving needs of researchers. In support of scholarly and creative activity, we seek new partnerships, both locally and globally, to strengthen the scholarly infrastructure of the campus. We aim to integrate library services and expertise throughout the research lifecycle and to support scholarly work in all its inspired forms.
Empower Research
Dryad launch
The University of Nevada, Reno is now a member of Dryad. Dryad’s launch is the first in a series of steps that will enhance the infrastructure for research data management at the University. Dryad was launched to meet growing faculty interest in research data management services. The launch was a collaborative effort and involved ensuring a sustainable budget model, technical documentation, and campus outreach.
Islandora migration
A cross-departmental team led a major overhaul of the Islandora platform. Islandora is an extensible, modular,
open source digital repository ecosystem focused on collaborative authorship, management, display, and preservation of digital content at scale. Islandora adheres to widely adopted best practices and open standards and frameworks used in information practice. Focused on continuing the Libraries’ ability to host a wide variety of research materials in the repository, these changes also eliminate some of the previous obstacles that researchers faced.
Jon Bilbao Basque Library
Lertxun-marrak: The Arborglyph Collaborative
After being awarded a National Historical Records and Publications Commission grant, the @One Digital Media and Technology Center and the Jon Bilbao Basque Library are participating in Lertxun-marrak: The Arborglyph Collaborative, a tri-state academic partnership between the University of Nevada, Reno, Boise State University, and California State University Bakersfield, each well-known for their Basque Studies programs.
The Arborglyph Collaborative is dedicated to preserving culturally historical and significant tree carvings, working to establish a network of interested organizations and individuals; developing protocols for documenting the carvings, including the creation of digital 3D models; and envisioning a framework for the public to access information about these historical carvings more easily.
In Summer 2023, the team conducted field trips to aspen groves in Idaho, California, and Nevada. A symposium showcasing work captured in the field took place in the Fall where participants shared feedback on how to improve the documenting procedures and focused on opportunities for the future.
Finally, with the help of the @One, and using footage from the Summer 2023 field trips, a promotional video highlighting the project was completed and is available in English, Basque, Spanish, and French.
Jon Bilbao Fellowship
The Center for Basque Studies and the Jon Bilbao Basque Library welcomed Dr. Argitxu Camus as the Summer 2023 Jon Bilbao Fellow. The Fellowship, a collaboration with the Etxepare Institute in the Basque Country, aims to support a research project focused on the Basque diaspora every year. During her stay in Reno, Dr. Camus, who holds a Ph.D. in Basque Studies, traveled around various Basque communities in Idaho, Nevada, and California to identify and gather information about correspondence collections, intending to digitize and create a digital repository.
Robert Laxalt Centennial Conference
In Spring 2023, the Jon Bilbao Basque Library and the Center for Basque Studies, along with the Research in Western American Literature and Culture (REWEST) research group and the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), hosted "A Basque American Literary Pioneer: Robert Laxalt" centennial conference (1923-2023).
The conference took place in the Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center’s Rotunda. Attendees came to campus to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Laxalt’s birth.
The conference program offered new perspectives on the writings of the Dean of Basque-American literature and one of the most notable twentieth-century voices in Nevada and the American West.
Scholars and writers from the United States and Europe explored different topics related to Laxalt’s writing and career: the author’s Basque-American works, his literary representation of Nevada and the West, his journalistic pieces, his legacy at the University of Nevada, Reno, and his contribution to the cultural and social visibility of Basques in the U.S.
The Center for Basque Studies Press will soon publish the scholarly outcome of this
conference as part of their Conference Paper Series.
Jon Bilbao Basque Library International Internship Program
The Jon Bilbao Basque Library welcomed an intern from the Basque Country in 2023.
The Basque Library participates in the Global Training Program of the Basque Government. In 2023 the library welcomed two interns: Jon Txomin Mendia (Jon Bilbao Basque Library) and Iker Moreda (Center for Basque Studies). During the six month internship, these interns shared their cultural expertise with the Libraries’ team while gaining exposure to a North American-based academic library. The interns received professional training and had the opportunity to participate in scholarly and community activities that provided them with a close experience of the Basque diaspora in our area. The Basque Library has been a participant of the program since 2017.
Special Collections and University Archives (SCUA)
Bruce and Nora James Visiting Scholar Award
This year Special Collections and University Archives launched the Bruce and Nora James Visiting Scholar Award for the Study of Nevada Politics and Public Service. This award provides funding for a scholar unaffiliated with the University to travel to Reno and spend time researching in the political collections of the department. The award will broaden the geographic impact of SCUA’s collections and will lower financial barriers to using the collections. The award is open to applicants from anywhere in the world.
A portion of Confluence: Stream Science, Handwriting, and Urban Curbs. Confluence is a temporary artwork installed on the streets of Reno by artist Todd Gilens and uses handwriting from the Claude Dukes Collection (84-11) located in the University Libraries' Special Collections and University Archives. Photograph courtesy of Todd Gilens.Supporting Scholarship and Cultural Production
- This year, Special Collections and University Archives supported 44 requests to re-use or publish collection materials. Of these, SCUA’s collections were requested 13 times for use in films or broadcasts and nine times for use in books. In addition, SCUA received 22 requests to use materials in displays, internet sites, articles, newspapers, dissertations, and other outcomes.
- Requests came from six countries and six states.
- Confluence: Stream Science, Handwriting, and Urban Curbs
Artist Todd Gilens used the handwriting found in one of SCUA’s environmental collections to create an original font that was then used in a City of Reno public art installation. “Confluence” is a mile-long, 6,000-word poem currently installed on the streets of Reno. This art project demonstrates the potential of using SCUA’s collections for creative scholarship.
Budget, e-Resources and Discovery Services (BERDS)
Automated gathering of usage data for online resources
Automated harvesting of COUNTER usage data for online resources via Alma, the Libraries’ cloud-based library services platform, to enable data-driven decision-making in collection development. This data gives the Libraries accurate, almost real-time data on how patrons are using the collections, helping the organization invest in the resources that faculty and students use the most.
Read and Publish agreements
Negotiated license agreements with certain publishers that included article processing charges (APCs), which allow University faculty authors to publish articles as open access with no fees or reduced fees on those platforms. Open access publication increases the reach of faculty research, making it freely available around the world. Agreements are currently in place with Cambridge University Publishing and the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM).
Collections
Earl Collection
The Earl Collection has been transferred to the Jon Bilbao Basque Library, after initially being donated to the University in 2022.
Steps have been taken by the Basque Library to secure the preservation of the more than 130 wax-on-muslin rubbings created directly from the culturally significant Basque tree carvings.
The Earl Collection was a long-term project conducted by Philip and Jean Earl to document the tree carvings created by Basque sheepherders, preserving this unique junction of art, culture, and nature.
Additionally, a new permanent storage solution is being explored in collaboration with campus museums and SpaceSaver, which will be funded by an external donor.
An exhibit with four of the rubbings, including an explanation of the collection as a whole, has been put in place inside the Jon Bilbao Basque Library’s reading room.
University faculty authors collection
Created browseable collection of books by University faculty authors, to highlight the breadth of research done by University faculty authors. A cross-departmental team identified books by faculty authors, ordered and cataloged more than 500 of the books identified that were not previously housed in the Libraries’ collection, and created a local series in the Libraries’ catalog. The collection can be browsed online via the Libraries’ website (University Faculty Authors) and will be featured in an exhibit of print books in the Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center in Summer 2024 as part of the University’s Sesquicentennial celebration.
James Edward Church exhibit/talk/collection
The James Edward Church physical exhibit launched in Spring 2023 inside the Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center. It was taken down in October 2023 and was moved and re-installed at Prim Library for patrons of that space to enjoy.
In addition to the physical exhibit, Libraries team member Shelly Johnson created the first University Libraries digital exhibit for the James E. Church collection, curating resources from Special Collections and University Archives that were digitized by Digital Services.
Finally, Carlos Ramirez-Reyes, from the DeLaMare Science and Engineering Library, used the digital exhibit materials when he presented a talk on the work of Dr. Church at the Talks@Tahoe event which took place at Prim Library at the University’s Lake Tahoe campus in Fall 2023.
Streamlining ILL request process
Established a closer relationship between the interlibrary loan and acquisitions units of the Libraries to ensure that the organization delivers requested library resources to library patrons as efficiently as possible. This was accomplished through tools such as the Article Galaxy Scholar article-on-demand service or by purchasing books at the point of need (rather than borrowing through interlibrary loan).
Research and Instructional Services (RIS)
In addition to teaching hundreds of class sessions and workshops on research skills and providing hundreds of research consultations, Research and Instructional Services (RIS) presented workshops to graduate students on
tools for advanced research, to Honors students on intellectual property, and to undergraduate student researchers on professional presentations.
The department also continued to grow its evidence synthesis service by helping faculty and student researchers who are working on high-impact systematic and scoping review papers.
Librarians provided content for faculty newsletters promoting library services and resources. They worked with the University’s Office of Research and Innovation to promote scholarly communication services such as ORCID researcher IDs and the DRYAD data repository.
The department also took the lead in administering a campus-wide library and information services survey (MiSO) that revealed high levels of student, staff, and faculty satisfaction with the University Libraries, while providing data for making improvements to library services.
DeLaMare Science & Engineering Library
- The DeLaMare Science & Engineering Library team conducted StatsChats, a weekly thinktank session designed for graduate students and faculty seeking to enhance their data analysis skills, thereby advancing the outcomes of their research projects, including theses, dissertations, and research publications.
- The DeLaMare Data Services Team has grown by incorporating a Doctoral Student from Social Psychology as a Graduate Teaching Assistant. This GTA brings with them statistical expertise and has helped the team reach the social sciences community. Consultations are provided to help students with their research.