All posts by tex libris

Affordable Education Champion: Erin Reilly

March 10, 2023 tex libris Leave a comment

In celebration of Open Education Week 2023, the Senate of College Councils, the Natural Sciences Council, and UT Libraries partnered to solicit nominations from students across campus to recognize instructors who increased access and equity by selecting free or low cost course materials for their classes. We’ll be recognizing a few of those nominees this week as Affordable Education Champions!

Affordable Education Champions are instructors who assign free or low cost resources — like textbooks, websites, films, and more — for their courses. Sometimes they author their own materials, and sometimes they’re able to reuse free or low cost work created by others. We celebrate their commitment to fostering access to high quality education at the lowest possible cost barrier for their students.

Today, we recognize and thank Prof. Erin Reilly, who was nominated as an Affordable Education Champion for ADV 365, Audience Development and Engagement.

“Erin Reilly is a creator, educator, and strategist with 20 years of experience inventing new approaches, products, services, and experiences about storytelling, engagement, and learning through immersive technology. As an educator, Erin currently is Professor of Practice in the Stan Richards School of Advertising and Public Relations, as well as founding Director of Texas Immersive Institute, the interactive and immersive media hub at the University of Texas at Austin focused on research, projects, and learning the future of media. Erin has been a guest lecturer worldwide at universities and industry conferences. She is an Executive Committee Board Member of the Infinity Festival, member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Interactive Media Peer Group, Past Board President of NAMLE (National Association for Media Literacy Education) and serves on advisory boards, such as SXSW Pitch and PBS children’s programming, Hero Elementary and Emmy-award winning Sci Girls.”

As the first course in the Texas Immersive sequence, Prof. Reilly’s class is designed around experiences, and especially around using technology like virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI). “These tools are often too expensive for a student to have on their own, so as a professor — I should ensure they are available for them to use and experiment with…” The student who nominated Prof. Reilly as an Affordable Education Champion appreciated this commitment to putting technology like VR within reach of the students in the class. After reorganizing her class to a flipped model that allowed students time to use these tools, Prof. Reilly noticed that her students understood better what virtual worlds were like and what they could do with them. She wrote “Through weekly sandbox demos, students gain better cognitive abilities of spatial literacy and learn to identify the possible interactions that can happen within a 3D environment whether it is a physical, digital or combination of both.” Because of this focus on using technology collaboratively, the class was also able to come together into a stronger learning community.

Providing free access to these tools was the right thing for her students’ learning in this class, but Prof. Reilly also believes in leveling the educational playing field in general. She wrote of her decision to lower the cost barrier for her students “There are too many things in this world that divide us but as instructors, we can combat this.” In her view “Making education affordable to everyone advances our society…. Making our materials affordable and accessible helps to address the unequal access to opportunities, experiences, skills and knowledge that will prepare our students for full participation in the world of today and tomorrow.”

If you are a faculty member who would like to discuss finding and using OER and other free or low cost course materials in your class(es), please contact Heather Walter, Tocker Open Education Librarian (heather.walter@austin.utexas.edu).

Awards, Open Educational Resources

Affordable Education Champion: Thomas Jesús Garza

March 9, 2023 tex libris Leave a comment

Today, we recognize and thank Thomas Jesús Garza, who was nominated as an Affordable Education Champion for E 316N, World Literature.

“Thomas Jesús Garza is University Distinguished Teaching Associate Professor in the Department of Slavic and Eurasian Studies and Founding Director of the Texas Language Center. He teaches Russian language and literature, language pedagogy, and contemporary Russian culture. He has been traveling to and researching in Russia since 1979 and has lived in Moscow for over six years. A native Texan, Dr. Garza received his doctorate from Harvard University in 1987. During his more than 30 years at the University, he has received numerous prizes for undergraduate and graduate teaching, including the Texas Excellence Award, the President’s Associates Award, the Harry Ransom Award, was inducted into the University Academy of Distinguished Teachers in 2003, selected for a Regents Outstanding Teaching Award in 2009, and chosen a “Texas Top Ten” instructor by the Texas Exes in 2018. He recently completed a book manuscript on filmic portraits of machismo in contemporary Russian and Mexican cultures and is currently working on a new project on Russian actor and bard, Vladimir Vysotsky in the Americas in the 1970s.”

“No student should ever have to make the choice between buying course books or eating lunch.”

Like many of the other Affordable Education Champions, Dr. Garza recognizes the role accessibility to textbooks plays in promoting equity among the student body. He writes, “The issues of equity and access to a quality higher education are extremely important to me. As [a first generation college student] myself, I understand how challenging undertaking college courses can be, especially when that difficulty is compounded by the excessive cost of books and course materials.” When students don’t have to worry about how they will manage to pay for expensive textbooks, they can focus more fully on the class content. The student nominator for Dr. Garza mentioned that they used the money they saved by not having to purchase textbooks for this particular class to pay for needed medication. This exemplifies the difficult financial decisions some UT students have to make. As Dr. Garza says, “No student should ever have to make the choice between buying course books or eating lunch.”

Furthermore, the student nominator appreciated that the format chosen by Dr. Garza (PDFs uploaded to the class Canvas page) allowed them to go back later to read or reread texts when they had more time to fully appreciate their nuances. They wrote that they planned to return to the texts in the future because of the quality of the discussions held in class and that “[it] made me feel cared for because he understands that we already spend so much money on courses and their materials and that there are ways of accessing wonderful literature without putting any burden on the students. Since a lot of them were in pdf form, I still have the ability to go back and read the ones I loved or save them for when I have time.” Using free materials in courses is a way of approaching teaching in a holistic manner. Students are balancing many responsibilities. Giving them flexibility for how they access texts allows them to engage with the material in the way that works best for them.

Dr. Garza’s class addresses trauma and healing, and the diversity of the readings reflects the many different ways to approach this complex topic. Nevertheless, he was “pleasantly surprised” to discover that many of the texts he wanted to use were already available in digital formats that he could link to in Canvas.

Awards, Open Educational Resources

Affordable Education Champion: Deborah Jacobvitz

March 8, 2023 tex libris Leave a comment

Today, we recognize and thank Deborah Jacobvitz, who was nominated as an Affordable Education Champion for HDF 342, Development of Psychopathology from Infancy through Adolescence.

Deborah Jacobvitz is the Phyllis L. Richards Endowed Professor in Child Development, Department of Human Development and Family Sciences. “[She] specializes in the field of parenting and social and emotional development in children. Her research focuses on the links between family relationships, emotions, health, and development, with a particular focus on the transmission of caregiving across generations, attachment security across the life course and the effects of marital conflict on children’s well being. Her studies address how early caregiving experiences shape how we remember, organize and perceive information and the relationships we form with others. In her work, Dr. Jacobvitz is interested in developing interventions to help families and children in need of support. Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, St. David’s Foundation, the Hudson Foundation, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, the Egg Nutrition Center and the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health.”*

There is a direct link between Dr. Jacobvitz’s emphasis on free and low-cost materials and her genuine care for those whom she teaches. In their nomination, a student quoted from the course syllabus, “My top priority in this course is YOU and YOUR learning experience” and went on to say that Dr. Jacobvitz was “one of the most caring and selfless professors I’ve met during my time at UT.” Furthermore, they said that since they didn’t worry as much about buying expensive materials for the course, they experienced less stress and were able to focus more fully on the class itself. In other words, having low-cost materials as an option led to the student feeling more engaged in the content and more connected to their professor.

When asked about what led her to choose affordable materials for her course, Dr. Jacobvitz wrote, “I noticed there were students in my class that skipped buying textbooks even though it would hurt their grade because they could not afford them. . . .These students asked if they could purchase older used editions which had out-of-date material.” After she adopted the new approach, she noticed an increase in students being prepared for class, participating in discussions, and performing better on class assignments.

While she acknowledges that finding and providing free and low cost materials may take a little more time than requiring a traditional (often expensive) textbook, Jacobvitz feels that it was worth it. She also suggests that faculty who teach similar courses at different universities work together to suggest readings and other resources in the public domain. This has the advantage of bringing together an academic community that goes beyond the bounds of UT. Besides the clear benefit to the student experience, Dr. Jacobvitz pointed out that providing these types of materials aligned with her belief in equal access, as students were not prohibited from accessing up to date materials by a lack of funding.

If you are a faculty member who also believes in open access and would like more information about finding OER and other free or low cost course materials, we encourage you to contact Heather Walter, Tocker Open Education Librarian (heather.walter@austin.utexas.edu).

Awards, Open Educational Resources

AFFORDABLE EDUCATION CHAMPION: MJ Johns

March 7, 2023 tex libris Leave a comment

Today, we recognize and thank MJ Johns, who was nominated for their CS 303E class, Elements of Computers/Programming. “MJ Johns (they/them) received their M.E.T in entertainment technology with a concentration in game design from Carnegie Mellon University and their B.A. in computer science from The Ohio State University. MJ is a mobile app developer, game and experience designer, and founder/director of the indie game studio Astire Games.”

In an email, Prof. Johns shared the reasons they create affordable courses: “When I was in college I was working part time and paying my own way, and there were several occasions where I had to choose not to take a class I wanted because the materials required were too expensive. I don’t want any student to choose not to take my class because they can’t afford the materials or textbook.” They elaborated on their process for identifying and creating materials, writing, “I do a lot of research to find free resources for students, and I also create a lot of them myself (I always try to include a mixture of video and reading sources to improve accessibility).” This hard work was reflected in the student nomination, which was especially appreciative of the materials Prof. Johns created themself and of the breadth of materials they assigned.

If you’re looking to make a course more affordable, Prof. Johns has some advice. They recommend to “look for partnership opportunities around campus where such resources and materials could be offered to students for free – the campus libraries and labs have been very supportive and helpful whenever I have tried to make this work.” With partners like the libraries and other campus units, faculty can find access to book chapters, scholarly articles, and even software and hardware needed for the course – all for free for the student. “As for textbooks, my advice is to find out if there are websites or articles that offer similar concepts without the price barrier.” Prof Johns concluded by reiterating their commitment to creating affordable courses, stating, “It takes a bit of extra effort to make sure there are options for students, but in my mind it is well worth the extra time because there will be students who couldn’t take your class otherwise!”

Need help finding OER and other free or low cost course materials? Contact Heather Walter, Tocker Open Education Librarian (heather.walter@austin.utexas.edu).

Awards, Open Educational Resources

Affordable Education Champion: Dr. Kiril Avramov

March 6, 2023 tex libris Leave a comment

In celebration of Open Education Week 2023, the Senate of College Councils, the Natural Sciences Council, and the Libraries partnered to solicit nominations from students across campus to recognize instructors who increased access and equity by selecting free or low cost course materials for their classes. We’ll be recognizing a few of those nominees this week as Affordable Education Champions!

Today, we recognize and thank Dr. Kiril Avramov, who was nominated as an Affordable Education Champion 14 times by students in his EUS 348 class, Intelligence and Espionage in the Eastern Bloc (cross-listed as GOV 324E and REE 335).

“Kiril Avramov is currently an Assistant Professor at the Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies and a non-resident Fellow to the Intelligence Studies Project (ISP) at the University of Texas at Austin.

Previously he was the Acting Vice-Rector for International Relations and Research at the New Bulgarian University (NBU) in Sofia, Bulgaria and an Assistant Professor of Political Science at NBU. He studied previously at Gustavus Adolphus College (USA/MN), the University of Aberdeen (Scotland), University of Sofia (Bulgaria), Central European University (Hungary), and NBU. He taught in the Department of Political Science at the University of Sofia until 2005 and, from 2006-2010, was also the Director of the international consultancy and research institute ‘Political Capital’ in Bulgaria. In 2010, he was appointed as the Director for International Relations of Political Capital at the firm’s headquarters in Budapest. Dr. Avramov was a Fulbright Senior Visiting Research Scholar at the Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies (CREEES) at the University of Texas at Austin in 2015-2016. He earned a full scholarship for his PhD research at the University of Sofia and received an ‘Open Society Institute-Sofia’ scholarship for his year-long PhD specialization at the Central European University in Budapest.”*

Dr. Avramov, who shared his thoughts on this course with us via email, called EUS 348 “a course that is an actual labor of love that deals with meaningful and diverse topics that require a wide array of core theoretical and specific issue-focused texts, multiple audiovisual materials, and an AI discussion platform simultaneously to provide relevant context to a very diverse student body.” This variety of sources could become prohibitively expensive, so as one student noted in their nomination, “He [Dr. Avramov] retrieved a mass amount of readings for us, free of cost.” For Dr. Avramov, this strategy was intentional. “To keep the balance between narrowing the scope and the number of sources and keeping the price at a minimum, the natural choice was to seek, combine and incorporate free or affordable source materials.” Students recognized and appreciated this work, noting that the low cost of this course allowed them to buy other textbooks, to fund general living expenses, and, as one student wrote, “I could save money as I’m about to graduate and need to start having money to live on my own.” Students were required to buy one affordable program and found it an integral part of the course. According to one student nomination, “The one program we did have to buy has been very impactful in facilitating conversations with our classmates.”

The experience of teaching this intentionally affordable course has made Dr. Avramov a believer in creating courses this way where possible. He wrote, “Even though crafting a course syllabus based on free or accessible source materials could be taxing in terms of time and effort investment, the results from this investment are more than worth it. I firmly believe that easily accessible quality information does transform lives for the better!”

Need help finding OER and other free or low cost course materials? Contact Heather Walter, Tocker Open Education Librarian (heather.walter@austin.utexas.edu).

*Biography of Dr. Avramov from https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/slavic/faculty/kaa2656

Open Educational Resources

Happy Open Education Week!

March 2, 2023 tex libris Leave a comment

Join us in the global celebration of the open education movement for Open Education Week, March 6-10, 2023.

In recognition, the Libraries is hosting events to raise awareness of Open Educational Resources (OER) and introducing faculty who are using the technology for the benefit of their work and their students.

Events

OER Faculty Panel, March 7, 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.: Join UT faculty members as they discuss the benefits, challenges, and rewards of incorporating OER into their teaching practices. This event is free and virtual. Register here.
OER Tabling Event, March 8, 11:00 a.m. – 1 p.m.: Stop by the PCL lobby to learn about OER initiatives happening at UT. Ask questions, complete our poll, or just come see what OER is all about.

But first, a primer…

What is open education? The Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC) defines it as “resources, tools and practices that are free of legal, financial and technical barriers and can be fully used, shared and adapted in the digital environment.” Open education expands access to the resources of higher education (like open textbooks!) and enables the sort of collaboration that can engage students in new ways (like contributing to those open textbooks!).

It won’t shock you that cost remains a significant barrier to the pursuit of higher education. While the biggest costs, like tuition and housing, are generally beyond the reach of most instructors to impact, the cost of course materials is tangible and significant. At UT, students enrolled full-time in the fall and spring semesters can expect to spend $714 per year — and depending on their major, it could be much more.

Open educational resources, or OER, are learning objects, like textbooks, websites, images, videos, and more, that are generally free of cost AND free of the legal barriers that restrict instructors from customizing them for their students’ needs. Replacing expensive course materials with OER can save a student tens to hundreds of dollars per course.

Get more information on how high course materials costs impacts students, and contact Tocker Open Education Librarian Heather Walter if you’d like to know more or get help locating OER for your discipline.

People, Staff Highlighter

Staff Highlighter: Alisha Quagliana

February 13, 2023 tex libris Leave a comment

Meet Discovery Services Librarian Alisha Quagliana, who operates behind the curtain to make sure users can get to stuff, wherever they are.

What’s your title, and what do you do for the Libraries?

Discovery Systems Librarian, I manage our discovery system (Primo) as well as other systems related things within Alma and dealing with electronic resource access and discovery. I also manage the ticket system for access issues.

What motivates you to wake up and go to work?

Coffee? Seriously, I like figuring things out so between resolving access related issues and figuring out ways to get our systems to work better for us I spend a lot of time on puzzles, which I love.

What are you most proud of in your job?

I’m really proud of the ticketing system and the various desks we have now. We were early in setting up a system like this, 2009, and now we’ve migrated it to JIRA so it’s a real ticketing system. It really helps me resolve issues and spot trends so much faster.

What has been your best experience at the Libraries?

I think our migration to Alma and Primo was a great working experience. I learned a lot about other areas of the library and got to work closely with folks I hadn’t before and we forged a great team.

What’s something most people don’t know about you?

Most people probably don’t know that I ride in a Mardi Gras krewe in New Orleans. It is a ton of fun!

Dogs or cats?

Both, but I only have a dog now.

Favorite book, movie or album?

I read so much I cannot possibly pick a favorite book. I’m actually listening to The Godfather right now, it’s been many years since I’ve read it, and the audio version is very compelling. I’m really enjoying it.

Cook at home, or go out for dinner? What and/or where?

Both. Spaghetti and meatballs is one of my go to dishes to make. And our go to restaurant is probably Odd Duck since we can walk to it.

What’s the future hold?

Immediate future for me is Mardi Gras! But long term I’m looking forward to getting some overdue clean-up projects completed and working on getting more of our cultural heritage materials into the discovery system.

Collections, Maps, Preservation

Digital Access to Deep Time

November 7, 2022 tex libris Leave a comment

A project to provide digital access to an important collection of geologic cartography from the Walter Geology Library has been completed.

The Deep Time Maps are a collection of paleogeographic maps showing the landscapes and oceans of ancient Earth through hundreds of millions of years of geologic time. These maps are an extraordinary resource for geoscientists, but have been inaccessible to users due to limits on the technology available for allowing access to this large of a collection.

The project to make this resource accessible online through the Libraries’ online presence was an idea that had been sitting around collecting “digital dust” for quite some time due to limits on the technology available for our use.

Senior Content Management Specialist Stacy Ogilvie took lead on the project to provide digital access to views of the Earth’s continents over the course of millions of years through the Libraries’ unified management resource system component Alma Digital. Adding this collection to Alma Digital is a significant step in increasing its accessibility to our users and fulfilling a goal that our late colleague Dennis Trombatore had in purchasing the materials.

“The process also served as our first big test of adding a large collection to Alma Digital and the experience Stacy gained from working on this from scratch will help inform how we work more closely with SRD and add additional large collections to the Alma Digital workflow,” says Head of Content Management Corey Halaychik. “Her work on this front is invaluable to our team.”

View the available maps at the links below:

North America key time slices
https://search.lib.utexas.edu/permalink/01UTAU_INST/be14ds/alma991047203019706011

Paleogeography of Europe
https://search.lib.utexas.edu/permalink/01UTAU_INST/be14ds/alma991058325874106011

Global paleogeography and tectonics in deep time
https://search.lib.utexas.edu/permalink/01UTAU_INST/be14ds/alma991058405079206011

Paleogeography of Southwestern North America
https://search.lib.utexas.edu/permalink/01UTAU_INST/be14ds/alma991058404871506011

Paleogeography of Greater Permian Basin
https://search.lib.utexas.edu/permalink/01UTAU_INST/be14ds/alma991058404969506011

Paleogeography of the Western Interior Seaway of North America
https://search.lib.utexas.edu/permalink/01UTAU_INST/be14ds/alma991058404969306011

Global Studies, Humanities & Liberal Arts, Outreach

Welcome Week at the Libraries

September 28, 2022 tex libris Leave a comment

The Libraries received a new and returning fall class of Longhorns earlier this month with a series of events designed to connect patrons with resources, services and experts in fun and engaging ways.

Organized by the Arts, Humanities, & Global Studies Engagement Team, Welcome Week 2022 featured opportunities for students, faculty and staff to learn more about the UT Libraries’ map, international and zine collections in traditional and cutting edge spaces, all the while participating in activities that taught them about how resources can be used for scholarly and research endeavors.

Color + Geometry in Islamic Art, 9/1

Part math, part art: for centuries, artists in Muslim contexts have used geometry and mathematical principles to create stimulating patterns for architecture, textiles, manuscripts, ceramics, and paintings. Attendees at the Fine Arts Library’s Foundry makerspace had an opportunity to build a 3D geometric models, print Islamic tile-inspired window decals, and stamp beautiful designs inspired by Islamic art on fabric or paper. Throughout the event, visitors were rapt by the process of an Islamic sphere coming to life on a 3D printer, all while learning how to use the Foundry to create their own masterpieces.

Kolam Drawing on the Plaza, 9/2

Students from the Longhorn Malayalee Student Association and in the Department of Asian Studies’ Malayalam language courses showed up before sunrise at PCL to create colorfully complex chalk drawings on the plaza amid waves of onlookers making their way to the library at the throughout the day.

You Are Here: Shifting Perspectives, 9/6

The PCL Map Room hosted a gathering to introduce attendees to this incredible resource tucked away in the bottom floor of the Perry-Castañeda Library which houses the physical collection of more than 350,000 items representing all areas of the world. Most of the collection’s maps date from 1900 to the present, and are utilized by faculty, researchers and students from every corner of the Forty Acres.

Welcome to the Libraries…in Arabic, 9/7

The Libraries provided an informational session delivered in Arabic as an introduction to the services offered by the University of Texas Libraries. Visitors to the discipline-agnostic session were provided general information on how to use the Libraries and how to seek help for research and teaching.

Zine Party, 9/8

PCL denizens seemed happily distracted by a zine creation station set up in the lobby where students took a much-deserved break from academic work for some DIY creative therapy. Examples from the Libraries’ Zine Collections, featuring a number of works by BIPOC and LGBTQ creators, were presented for attendees to thumb through and gather ideas.