Cowles Library Blogs

The University of Iowa Libraries is pleased to announce a policy change that allows all faculty working at any higher ed institution in the state of Iowa to borrow books for one year.

By showing a current Faculty ID card from their university or college at the service desk at the Main Library, Hardin Library for the Health Sciences, or a branch library, faculty will be issued a borrower’s permit that will allow them to check out books for one year.  Previously, the loan period was for 4 weeks.

Applying for this borrower’s permit can be done online, a few days before your visit to Iowa City (http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/forms/permit/).  The U of Iowa Libraries hope this change in service will allow better use of their collection across the state.

Cowles Library’s Spring 2015 Newsletter for Students is now available. View or subscribe at https://newsletter.library.drake.edu/

Job Description: Data and Business Librarian

This is the descriptive page for the faculty position of Data and Business Librarian at Cowles Library, Drake University.

Position has been filled!

Cowles Library is seeking applicants for the newly-created tenure-track position of Data and Business Librarian. The purpose of this position is to enhance knowledge and awareness of data literacy on campus, which includes the discovery, management and curation of data, as well as instruction in the methodologies for such. This position would support the data management needs of both student and faculty research.

Duties would include the following: Collaborate with other librarians on matters relating to the access and usage of data within the library; partner with faculty to develop course content and online tools using data sets; provide instruction on the use of statistical programs that support data-driven research; deliver services that support interdisciplinary teaching and research initiatives of the University; serve as a liaison to the College of Business and appropriate departments of the College of Arts and Sciences; provide reference and instruction services that support the Drake Curriculum; teach one-shot sessions and other teaching duties as assigned; responsible for selection and evaluation of resources to support the Data Analytics and related programs. Carry at least a 1 / 1 teaching load; teach courses, such as FYS or other appropriate data or general education courses.

Other duties include: Working with faculty and students who require support for research involving data (including but not limited to demographic and economic research), assistance creating and following data management plans required by funding agencies; serving on appropriate research teams that relate to data management; advancing and promoting access and availability of material through subject portals and other awareness services; maintaining and expanding the appropriate research guides (LibGuides) on the library website.

Requirements: Master of Library Science (MLS) or equivalent from an ALA-accredited program; knowledge of principles and practices of data management and curation, including experience working with datasets, both structured and unstructured; familiarity with business and social science research methodologies; experience with statistical software programs, such as R, SPSS and SAS; ability to work collaboratively across departments; demonstrated ability to monitor and enhance awareness of trends, resources, and developments related to data management and applications; demonstration of creativity and innovation in working in a rapidly changing environment; must have excellent oral, written, and interpersonal communication skills; ability for analytical problem-solving.

Preferred Qualifications: Teaching experience in the area of information and/or data literacy; relevant experience in an academic library; undergraduate or graduate degree in business, statistics, computer science, math or the social sciences; knowledge of Hadoop and experience with software programs like MATLAB, Stata, SQL, and NoSQL; experience in providing research assistance to faculty using data sets. Experience with data visualization practices. Demonstrated involvement in a data research project.

The Drake University Archives’ recent collaboration with the DNA helped preserve documents, photographs, and other materials, now available to researchers.  A demo of the collection’s online finding aid will also be presented.

~Reception following~

An exhibit of selected items from the DNA Archive will be displayed in the library’s Drake Heritage/Collier Room from mid-April through May.

*The event, exhibit, and reception are free and open to the public*

Are you a visitor to Cowles Library or the Drake Campus? Need instructions on how to connect to the “Guest” wireless? Find them below!

1, Connect to the network “DUGuest” from your computer or tablet.  This screen displays:

2) Visitor should choose “Register as Guest”

The following screens display:

3) You’ll note you can get your registration code (PIN) by email or text message.

4) Once you get your code, enter it on the last screen:

It should log you in very rapidly.

Professor Teri Koch spoke to the Print Archive Network (PAN) forum at the American Library Association Midwinter meeting in Chicago on January 30, 2015. Her presentation reflected the ground-breaking work occurring in the Central Iowa Collaborative Collections Initiative.

In 2013 five libraries from Central Iowa formed a collaborative called the Central Iowa Collaborative Collections Initiative (CI-CCI). The goals of the collaborative are to reduce duplication among our respective collections, to create and maintain a shared collection, to coordinate acquisitions, and to establish additional areas of collaboration (such as technology, etc.).

We will soon be entering the second year of our collaboration, and we have made substantial progress towards these goals. In order to reduce duplication among our collections we needed to verify that the titles that are eligible for withdrawal have been assigned to at least one institution and have been verified as available and in good condition for loaning. We are just completing that work. The second phase of the collaboration relates to shared collection development. The group is exploring sharing a common vendor to facilitate that process.

Additionally, we are extremely excited to announce that the University of Northern Iowa has joined CI-CCI as the 6th member of the group (they joined in November 2014). The addition of UNI will significantly increase the size of the shared collection, thus providing faculty and students with a greater depth of materials to draw upon for their research.

View the presentation here.

Due to anticipated inclement weather, the Library will close at 5:00 p.m. today (Monday January 5) rather than 7:00 p.m. as originally scheduled.

Escholarshare may be unavailable for a brief period early on the morning of Wednesday, December 31, 2014, between 3:00 AM and 5:00 AM for scheduled maintenance.

A list of pointers to various items referenced:

1) MPA Capstones: First submission: http://escholarshare.drake.edu/handle/2092/2076

2) Cabell’s: https://library.drake.edu/find/article-databases/goto/cabells-directories-of-publishing-opportunities

3) Statistics Resources: https://library.drake.edu/find/article-databases/search/stat/

4) NYTimes: Possible campus-wide subscription

5) Textbooks: Alternatives http://researchguides.drake.edu/textbooks

6) “Watch-listed” journals: http://researchguides.drake.edu/content.php?pid=384077&sid=4429868 

7) Position Review process within Cowles

8) BONUS #1: One other VERY positive thing: Tutoring Services for Writing and Speaking are now all located on the ground floor of the Library! Students (and faculty and staff!) may reserve the Speaking practice area and capture their presentation for later review. And the Writing Workshop welcomes referrals from your students! Details (including links to online registration) about the Speaking Center are here: https://library.drake.edu/get-help/services-for-students/speaking/ and details about the Writing Workshop (including registration) are here: https://library.drake.edu/get-help/services-for-students/writing-workshop/

9) BONUS #2: As always, encourage your students to stop by for help, OR they can schedule a session with a librarian that would suit their schedule! https://library.drake.edu/consultation/