Updates for graduate students and postdocs

 

University Library news

Updates from Research Data Services

The Libraries’ Research Data Services team is excited to offer Data Carpentries workshops early in the Fall semester, aimed at introducing R software to students, faculty, and staff. The team also continues to offer StatsChats to help those who are stuck in their research statistical analysis.

We are also welcoming Teyah Gianneta, a doctoral student in Social Psychology, to our team. With her extensive expertise in Excel, R, and SPSS, and statistics, Teyah will enhance our services in the social sciences. She will be available for both one-on-one and group consultations at the DeLaMare Library’s Data and GIS Depot.

Support for New NIH grant rules

Confused about recent updates the NIH made to its public access policy for sharing the results of grants? The Libraries can help out! Under the new rules, grant recipients must make their journal articles and other peer-reviewed work freely and openly available as soon as the work is published; previously, the work could be embargoed for 12 months.

Some scholarly publishers have announced responses to these new rules, which could create conflict with the NIH requirements. Check out our open access guide to see what you need to consider when publishing as part of an NIH grant, including language you can include on your submitted article. Publishing with the American Chemical Society? They have announced they will not apply a fee for University authors to deposit their works in PubMed Central through 2027. If you have more questions about open access publishing and grant funder mandates, email Scholarly Communications & Social Sciences Librarian Teresa Schultz.

New bike lab rolls out thanks to generous gift

We’re thrilled to announce the opening of the University Libraries’ brand new Bicycle Lab, housed in the DeLaMare Science & Engineering Library Makerspace, made possible by a $15,000 donation from Greg Nelson-Warren Nelson Family Trust, administered by former University of Nevada, Reno ASUN President Frankie Sue Del Papa. This generous gift funded a full suite of professional-grade tools and workstations, making the lab a top-tier space for bike maintenance, learning, and community support.

Outfitted with specialized tools, including Park Tool mechanic kits, heavy duty workbenches, inflators, torque wrenches, and hydraulic barb tools, the Bike Lab is ready for everything from minor tune-ups to advanced repairs.

In addition to hands-on access, the Bike Lab will soon host a series of free workshops, covering topics such as:

  • How Not to Get Hit by Cars, Safety for Bicycles and Micromobility: Practical Strategies for Wheeled Safety in Urban Environments
  • Repair & Maintenance Workshops: Guided Instruction Using Real Tools to Tackle Common Bike Issues
  • Securing Your Ride: Tips for Theft Prevention and Choosing the Right Lock

Workshop dates and registration information are coming soon. Contact Director of the DeLaMare Library Jessie Simpson for more information. Stay tuned and ride safe!

Portrait of Elisabeth Linn.

Welcome to our new Life Sciences Librarian

University Libraries welcomes our new Life Sciences Librarian, Elisabeth Linn. Elisabeth serves as the subject librarian for Agriculture, Veterinary and Rangeland Sciences, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Biology, Cooperative Extension and Research Station, Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, and Neuroscience. She has a degree in library and information science from the University of Washington and most recently worked as a researcher in the blockchain technology industry. Prior to that, she held academic coordinator and English instructor roles here at the University of Nevada, Reno. Contact Elisabeth if you would like to learn more about how she can support your teaching and research needs. 

Try our self-paced courses

We know graduate students and postdocs have busy schedules, so we’re working to make learning important research and teaching skills available when you need them through self-paced courses.

Available in WebCampus, you can sign up for any of our modules as you like and work through them at your own pace. Current topics include copyright, open educational resources, systematic reviews, literature reviews, ORCID, and more. Contact Scholarly Communications and Social Sciences Librarian Teresa Schultz for more information.

 

Featured resources

Check out some of these new resources from the University Libraries:

ProQuest changes coming this fall: database updates and new ebook central reader app

ProQuest is upgrading and reorganizing a number of our ProQuest databases this fall, giving campus researchers expanded access. Starting in August, you’ll see some name changes and new resources on the Databases A-Z list. Some are small changes, such as the “Education Database” becoming the “Education Collection,” and others are larger, like the “Computer Science Database” being merged into the renamed “Advanced Technologies & Computer Science Collection.” Researchers will also have access to new subject portals, including ProQuest One Business, ProQuest One Sustainability, the Linguistics Collection, and the Nursing and Allied Health Collection. Please reach out to your subject librarian if you have questions.

There is also a new Ebook Central Reader app that will become available this fall if you wish to download full ProQuest ebooks from the Ebook Central platform. It will be available for iOS, MacOS, Windows, and Android systems, and the app will replace Adobe Digital Editions for Ebook Central ebooks. This change will make it so that you no longer need to use an Adobe ID to download Ebook Central ebooks.

AI Topic Explorer

This summer the Library Search bar gained a new search tool: AI Topic Explorer. From a natural language search, Topic Explorer searches millions of article abstracts available within Library Search and provides a general topic overview to begin your research. It may be useful for those exploring topics that are new to them, but it is not a replacement for the Libraries’ subject specific databases, which may be more appropriate tools for advanced researchers.

Keep in mind… At present, Topic Explorer does not include print books, news sources, or archival collections. It is not comprehensive and will not necessarily cover all library content, but it can provide a good entry point to research on a given topic. For those wishing to explore a topic further, it will pass your search through to the complete collection available within Library Search to discover additional resources.

Read the Chronicle with the Libraries!

Follow the latest news, information, and trends in higher education with the University Libraries’ access to the Chronicle of Higher Education. The website includes the latest issue as well as past content and other resources for academics.

 

Tips and tricks

Reusing images in publications for free

Is there an image or graphic from another work that you want to reuse in your own manuscript? Don’t automatically pay for it first! Instead, check out the Libraries’ guide on reusing images in scholarly publishing. While the vast majority of scholarly publishers require authors to get permission to reuse images, you might already have permission to reuse them for free, such as through a Creative Commons license or even through agreements that the Libraries has with some scholarly publishers including Wiley. Our guide will help you figure out if you already have permission to reuse images for free.

 

Events and exhibits

Three people smile at each other on a stage. The text "Now on display, Stage Craft, Reno Little Theater at 90" is overlayed on the image.

Stage Craft: Reno Little Theater at 90

The third floor of the Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center now hosts an exhibit entitled “Stage Craft: Reno Little Theater at 90,” celebrating the anniversary of the oldest local theater company. It encompasses the exhibit gallery outside the SCUA reading room as well as several walls and cases in the eastern half of the third floor, telling stories of productions, entertaining snafus, and the deep roots Reno Little Theater has within the local community and the University. See if you can spot which of the props on display is 3D-printed! This exhibit will be on display until Thanksgiving.

New Acquisitions, 2020-2025, and Sagebrush Scribblers

Coming later this year: “New Acquisitions, 2020-2025,” highlighting a variety of materials that have been donated to the archives since the pandemic began, including the Reno Gazette-Journal Photograph Collection, the Sierra Nevada University records, and Jeff and Sheila Cotton’s collection of concert posters. This will be on display December through March. From April to July, “Sagebrush Scribblers” will explore the history of editorial cartoons in the University of Nevada student newspaper.