Friends,

As we approach the final weeks of this academic term, I want to highlight two significant recent achievements that highlight the importance of perseverance, dedication, and patience in realizing our goals: the opening of the new Scholars Lab and the launch of the university’s new Open Source Program Office (OSPO).

Let’s first take a moment to recognize how far we have come. When I arrived at the University in 2015 with a vision for Open Access, it was clear that impactful work in this area would require time and unwavering effort. Enjoining our community to the benefits of OA has been challenging, and the momentum has built slowly. Despite obstacles, the establishment of the OSPO marks a historic moment for our institution, as it is the first office dedicated to work associated with open scholarship. It is a testament to the commitment and determination of our efforts to make access to knowledge a reality for all.

Likewise, the seeds of the idea for the Scholars Lab were planted almost a decade ago, and it is truly heartening to see this vision finally materialize. This achievement is a reminder that the most profound and transformative initiatives often need years of nurturing, dedication and collaborative effort to become a reality.

If we look back over the course of our university’s history, we find that the outstanding collections of the University of Texas Libraries, which are celebrated today, took nearly 140 years to build. Our journey towards a digital ecosystem within our libraries, which has revolutionized access to knowledge, has spanned almost 30 years. These long-term efforts have shaped the eminence of our institution, echoing the enduring importance of patient and persistent work.

In this legacy, every believer in the idea of these Libraries – be they staff, members of the campus community, or advocates across the landscape – plays a crucial role in the overall success of this noble enterprise. Your support, commitment to our mission, and resilience in the face of challenges have been instrumental in the positive transformations we witness today. As we embark on new projects and initiatives, it’s essential to remember that, like those before them, they may take time, but the results are worth the effort.

As we celebrate these milestones, let us reflect on the collective power of dedication and vision. Our mission to provide access to knowledge in support of research, teaching and learning has deep roots, and the impact of our work will continue to be felt for generations to come.

We extend our sincere gratitude for your steadfast commitment to our library’s mission and your enduring patience and persistence in making a difference.

Thank you for being an integral part of our shared journey.

Welcome back to campus, Longhorns!

I hope this message finds you well and recharged after a restful summer break. As the new academic calendar begins, I am thrilled to extend a warm and enthusiastic welcome to each and every member of our community. The University of Texas Libraries is buzzing with excitement as we embark on another year with the promise of learning, exploration and growth.

Over the summer, we witnessed accelerated technological developments in the world of Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI continues to revolutionize the way we approach research, teaching, and problem-solving. As we step into this new academic year, I encourage you to approach this powerful new tool critically, and remember that the Libraries’ experts can augment your work with guidance on information literacy and research. Use customized LibGuides on a range of subjects, go straight to the source with digital resources and reach out for a consultation to get one-on-one help.

We’re excited to introduce a groundbreaking resource that is now available: Pressbooks. This open publishing platform empowers anyone to create, publish, and share interactive content, fostering collaboration and knowledge exchange like never before. The world of open educational resources is growing as an exceptional alternative to traditional publishing, and this new tool makes entry into the practice even easier.

And our commitment to providing you with exceptional resources and opportunities extends even further. The Libraries has secured access to New York Times academic passes, granting users unlimited access to a wealth of insightful content. Stay informed about global affairs, trends, and breakthroughs in various fields by activating an academic pass today.

I’m thrilled to inform you about the upcoming Texas Open Science Summit, a remarkable event that will bring together innovators, researchers, and thought leaders to discuss the latest advancements in open science. This summit promises to ignite important conversations and collaborations that will shape the future of research and academia. Mark your calendars for this enriching experience: the Texas Open Science Summit.

If you’ve already visited the Perry-Castañeda Library this semester, you know that the Scholars Lab construction is in its final stretch. This state-of-the-art facility is designed to be a hub of digital scholarship, offering cutting-edge tools and resources to elevate your research and academic pursuits. The Scholars Lab is poised to open its doors any day now, and we can’t wait for you to explore its possibilities. Keep an eye out for details and plan to join us for an opening celebration slated to take place on October 5.

The new academic calendar provides new opportunities, and I encourage you to seize every one of them to learn, grow, and contribute to the vibrant UT community. The resources and initiatives at the University of Texas Libraries are here to support your aspirations and help you achieve your goals.

Here’s to a remarkable year ahead, filled with discovery, collaboration, and transformative experiences. Welcome back to the University of Texas Libraries!

Friends,

As we begin a new year and new semester, let me offer best wishes for the coming year.

We are looking forward with great hope to the coming calendar year, but I want to first reflect on the last year.

It was largely a true return to normal operations in 2022, and as such we began to build strategic plans that reflected some stability in our outlook. COVID as a pandemic began to fade into the background as the spring progressed, though surges early and late in the year reminded us to remain vigilant. The university launched its “What Starts Here” capital campaign in March with a modest $6 billion goal, while our spring 40 Hours for the Forty Acres work resulted in over $54,000 in donations. We built our own “Plausible Futures” framework as UT released its “Change Starts Here” strategic plan, and redoubled DEI effort with the launch of the “You Belong Here” Plan for an Equitable and Inclusive Campus just as we were approving recommendations for our own IDEA Action Plan. Provost Sharon Wood released the final report of the Working Group on Sustainable Open Scholarship. This past fall, the Texas Library Coalition for United Action was finally able to close out negotiations resulting in a historic agreement with Elsevier that means lower costs and greater access to Libraries’ resources. And we continued to refine the “Plausible Futures” 3-year planning work. As campus wrapped for the year, we began preparatory work for a significant renovation on the entry level of the Perry-Castañeda Library (PCL).

All in all, we had a remarkable year after a prolonged period of unexpected challenges.

Looking forward, we anticipate the opening of the new Digital Scholars Lab space in PCL. The adjacent Scholars Commons will further enhance our work on the library-as-platform concept, collocating robust digital collaborative tools and resources with our traditional collections, services and expertise. When this large area opens later in the fall, we hope for it to reenergize the Libraries as a community center on campus in ways that will facilitate interaction and innovation among faculty, scholars, researchers and students. Our goal is to leverage the hub for both in-person connections and the virtual environments that we have developed in recent years.

We will implement several projects to enhance our users’ experience in a digital networked environment.  To that end, we will upgrade and deploy technological tools to enhance access to Libraries’ resources while increasing digitization work to make more content available online to our users including discoverability of online resources. We’ll be moving forward on implementation of our IDEA Action Plan and related work to embed IDEA concepts and practices in UT Libraries’ values and operations. And the coming year provides the opportunity to strengthen our approach to open access, open education and open scholarship principles with additional tools, support from the campus community and an endorsement from the university.

On behalf of the entire University of Texas Libraries, have a great spring semester, and Hook ‘Em!

The beginning of the academic year in the Fall is my favorite time on the 40 acres when UT transforms into a small city of approximately 75,000 people within the vibrant city of Austin. Despite the August heat, the excitement of new students, staff and faculty is palpable as they navigate and explore the campus, the opportunities and the resources available to them. This is exactly where UT Libraries is a significant resource for you!  Please check out our website to learn more about our library materials, services, spaces and our librarians and staff who are ready to assist you at every step of the way.  

The Perry Castañeda Library has the largest circulating collection on campus with more spaces for collaborative work, group study rooms, tutoring and technology-rich learning laboratories. The University’s Writing Center is located here.  There are several other disciplinary libraries around the 40 acres to suit your needs; learn more about the various library locations across campus.

Our goal at UT Libraries is to facilitate knowledge creation whether you are a student, an instructor, faculty or researcher. While this mission has remained unchanged throughout the centuries, the way libraries deliver it has constantly evolved. This evolution is also visible at UT Libraries where we have constantly engaged our users to learn more about their needs. And it will continue as new and emerging technologies impact our services and spaces while policies in higher education will drive how researchers share their research. In all of these scenarios

UT librarians and staff are ready to assist you. Everybody is welcome here!

My words of wisdom to you: Make a librarian your best friend (forever); you will not regret it!

I hope you have a successful and a productive year.

During the first four years of my tenure at the university my focus was squarely on positioning the Libraries for new directions where we would do things differently and/or do very different things.  We chose four purposeful pathways as our focus and developed roadmaps to advance them: Collaboration, Digital Scholarship, Distinctive Collections and Spaces. I am deeply indebted to my colleagues who have contributed to these accomplishments and who moved the needle with a deep commitment to excellence in both new and core foundational responsibilities.

As I enter my fifth year as Vice Provost and Director of UT Libraries, we will continue this trend. With the help of the Provost’s Task Force on The Future of the UT Libraries, I am also keenly interested in learning more about the community’s awareness of what they need from the Libraries. More specifically, what library services, expertise, spaces, information resources and opportunities for broader partnership do they expect? How can we position UT Libraries more centrally as a core resource to stimulate student learning in order to advance President Fenves’ priority to unlock their potential? In what ways can librarians and professional experts add value to the research life-cycle that will net more grant funding, or inspire the creation of knowledge by connecting students, faculty, scholars and researchers to dynamic data and specialized or distinctive information resources? And how do we maintain our traditional strength in collection building while ensuring that those collections are appropriately preserved for use by future generations of scholars and students?

As one of the largest research universities in the country, UT must be equipped to support the highest level of research activity. Digital scholarship plays a key role in setting the stage for our continued momentum in investigation and innovation. It facilitates sharing of new knowledge across disciplines. What library facilities could be transformed to position the Libraries as the hub of collaboration, digital innovation and scholarly endeavor on the Forty Acres?

These are opportunities we should pursue and advance to align with and anchor ourselves to the university’s mission in a rapidly changing higher education environment. We are a core node in that environment with high potential to catalyze new forms of scholarship, reshape scholarly communication, energize teaching and seek new campus partners (and beyond) to leverage that potential.

Organizational agility and flexibility to respond to new opportunities will be a necessary component of our work in such an environment. I am very pleased with the progress we have made to date to create structures that will facilitate flexibility and to provide exciting professional growth opportunities through new skills training, projects, research and more.

Together we are poised to take the University of Texas Libraries to new heights and to honor the expectation and pride of our users to maintain a library of the first class that is dynamic, relevant and ready for future possibilities at The University of Texas at Austin.