News/Spotlight

The Orbis Cascade Alliance, the consortium of libraries that participate in and are responsible for the Summit shared catalog, is changing software vendors. As a result there will be a number of modifications to Summit beginning in November 2008.

What does the change mean for UW borrowers?

• Requesting of Summit material will continue during the change to the new system. Beginning November 21 material checked out in the current system will have a progressively shorter loan period or renewal as all material must be returned by December 12.
• Requesting in the new system will start on December 1, 2008. Material checked out in the new system will have a 4 week loan period with no renewals. Items that have been requested will not show in your library account for 2-4 days.
• The ability for UW borrowers to visit other libraries and check out materials will continue, though they will need to verify their status at the remote library by logging into their UW library account. Once the UW borrower is "adopted" in this manner by the remote library they can request that books from other libraries be delivered to that library.

Why are the changes being made now?

Our contract with our current software vendor expires in January. We know this is not an ideal time to implement new software but it was not feasible to continue with the current vendor through the spring.

Questions?

Additional information will be made available as we near the change to the new system and are able to provide details. General information is available at the main Summit site. You can also check the UW Libraries main page for updates.

Questions can be sent to the Libraries AskUs service.

Have you worked with a great librarian? Nominate your librarian for the Distinguished Librarian Award. Deadline December 15, 2008.

The recently developed Civil Rights Digital Library features two collections from the University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections. The Civil Rights Digital Library Initiative represents one of the most ambitious and comprehensive efforts to date to deliver educational content on the Civil Rights Movement via the Web.

Some off-campus users of WorldCat Local have found that web pages might not fully load, resulting in a blank screen. Because this is an intermittent problem, we suggest users refresh their browser window; frequently the page will display correctly. If that approach fails, try searching and requesting materials through Summit or the relevant e-journal

On Friday, September 19th the OUGL Copy Center will cease operations.

The Libraries and Creative+Communications have agreed that:

• All services provided by OUGL Copy Center will be provided by the Dawg Prints Center in the Communications Building, Communications B042.
• Hours of the Communications Copy Center will be extended. They will be: Monday-Thursday, 8AM-8PM; Friday, 8AM-6PM; and Saturday & Sunday, 1-5PM
• More self-service printing stations have been added to Odegaard.
• OUGL now has a Dawg-Prints/Husky Card add-value station/dispenser.

While the Libraries regrets the closure of the OUGL Copy Center, we are grateful for the years of service provided to students,faculty and staff.

Wednesday, August 27: All libraries will be closed for Libraries Clean-Up Day. Online resources and services will remain available at http://www.lib.washington.edu

Theresa Mudrock, the history librarian in the Reference & Research Services Division of UW Libraries, is the recipient of the first-ever Distinguished Librarian Award. She was the creator of the exhibit, Interrupted Lives, which dealt with Japanese American students at the University during World War II.

Theresa will be honored along with other University award winners at the annual Recognition Ceremony, set for 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Thursday, June 12.

This summer, the UW Libraries will be switching to new databases for general periodical, business and newspaper research. EBSCO Academic Search Complete, EBSCO Business Source Complete and NewsBank Access World News will replace our suite of ProQuest databases and provide expanded coverage of journals, business resources and U.S. and international news.