http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification 720 https://escholarship.org/uc/uc_libraries_forum_2025/rss Recent eScholarship items from UC Libraries Forum 2025: Standing Up and Standing Out in Turbulent Times Fri, 19 Jun 2026 14:27:39 +0000 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8hv8c7r5 At the UC Libraries Forum 2025, “Standing Up &amp; Standing Out: Libraries in Turbulent Times,” the UC Council of University Librarians (CoUL) will host and participate in a discussion panel moderated by UC San Diego AUL Roger Smith on Tuesday, October 21 from 10:45 am to 12:15 pm. CoUL members and Roger look forward to discussing approaches to and shared priorities for advancing collaborative library work, including during turbulent times. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8hv8c7r5 Thu, 26 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Smith, Roger Waibel, Günter Wones, Suzanne Shaffer, Chris Tanji, Lorelei Jackson, Athena Li, Haipeng Moxham, Tiffany Mitchell, Erik Grappone, Todd Cowell, M. Elizabeth Garrity, William https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8br9p2rx <p>In times where turbulence is amplified, how do the archives we sustain, sustain us as keepers of history, culture, and memory? From family photos to library collections to seedbanks, how do these archives prepare us? Along with offering material resources and guidance for everyday thriving, how do the archives we grow <em>require</em> other(ed) ways of knowing such as storytelling, communal reflection, and ecological wisdom? Ways of knowing that can further support collective sustenance in these times? For this keynote talk, Dr. Naya turns to diverse ways of knowing to reflect on these questions - and to create space for pause. Grounded in Black ecologies, BIPOC feminisms, and the Mojave Desert where she lives, she interweaves <em>testimonio</em> or personal testimony about co-creating community archives with insights from desert plants who know much about surviving uncertainty. Throughout, participants will have opportunities to personally reflect on archive-inspired prompts... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8br9p2rx Thu, 26 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Armendarez Jones, Naya, PhD https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5460491n As restrictive licensing, and privatization reshape our digital world, the library mission, to provide preservation and access to knowledge, has never been more urgent. In this keynote, Kyle K. Courtney will explore how the intertwined forces of copyright, licensing, and information control shape what we can know, and who gets to decide. Librarians must reclaim their role as defenders of access, privacy, and intellectual freedom, standing up for knowledge with courage, creativity, and conviction. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5460491n Thu, 26 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Courtney, Kyle K., Esq. Garrity, William Davidson Squibb, Sara Chau, Selena https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4kg293nq <p>Challenges have always surrounded OERs, today we are faced with even more challenges as we navigate a landscape of budget cuts, lack of grant opportunities, and attacks on DEIA. Amid this negative climate we are more than ever in a space to bring about something positive for our students in the UC system.</p><p>At UC Irvine, we recently completed a faculty incentive initiative to move course materials to open or library-licensed materials. We awarded three grants in as many years. However, in exploring this topic further we were able to see the vast work that the faculty are doing behind the scenes. More than half of the bookstore’s grid each quarter for the last fiscal year are courses with no required textbooks, and those noting their course uses open educational resources (OER) is slowly increasing.</p><p><strong>We are interested in hearing how other UC campuses approach affordability efforts and library-licensed course materials, including</strong>:</p><ul> <li>How does... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4kg293nq Thu, 26 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Carpenter, Nicole Cullen, Carrie Avila, Antoinette https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4281k3vf <p>Academic library workers are facing a test of our commitment to the core professional values with the alarming, widespread acts of U.S. government censorship and budgetary and legal attacks on higher education institutions and the national research infrastructure. This situation impacts the equitable exercise of intellectual freedom and freedom of expression in academic libraries, including the University of California Libraries, and in our campus and broader communities.<br><br>This critical conversation session will be an opportunity for UC library workers to discuss how to uphold our professional ethics and values as articulated by the American Library Association in the face of day to day challenges to research, publishing, teaching, and learning; the larger threats to scholarly inquiry, knowledge, and education; and questioning of efforts aimed at creating more inclusive, diverse, and equitable libraries and library related services.<br><br>As UC libraries weather shifting... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4281k3vf Thu, 26 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Schiff, Lisa Garzón Vargas, Carly https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9qs8g0nx <p>At UC San Diego, facing significant state, university, and library budget constraints this year, collection strategists were asked to reduce local collections spending by approximately half of their $3 million spend within about two months.<br><br>At UC Berkeley, the collections budget had to be reduced by $1.7 million over the course of two years starting in 2022, driving the arts and humanities division to cut 14% across their funds.<br><br>This presentation will cover two main aspects of these projects: First, a summary overview of each project will include a discussion of the parameters and restrictions, how targets were developed for spending reductions across acquisition models and formats, the data used for decision-making, and the communication process with colleagues and campus. Second, the panel members will explore the differences in approach across a full range of subject areas when allocating funds and determining which subscriptions to keep or cancel. This will... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9qs8g0nx Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Scheel, Abby Schmitt, Dave Chen, Xi Ngow, Zemirah Sklar, Annelise Vogel, Teri Ostermiller, Hillary https://escholarship.org/uc/item/82d8d70b <p>Launched in 2011, Viet Stories: Vietnamese American Oral History Project, is home to over 400 oral histories, 221 oral histories are currently available online via Calisphere. The Viet Stories collection is by far our most frequently accessed digital collection with an estimated 2,606,575 total visits (~20,000 visits per month). It is used worldwide by K-12 educators, higher education, researchers, artists, students, and community members. There are over 200+ remaining oral histories with audio, video, documents and photographs we are working on processing (retrieving files off hard drives, transcribing, translating, writing abstracts, etc.). These new additions required taking into consideration how new technologies can be utilized to efficiently and effectively process and sustain the collection.<br><br>As part of the mission of the Southeast Asian Archive founded in 1987, the project contributes to expanding archives on Vietnamese Americans with the primary goal of capturing... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/82d8d70b Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Dickerson, Madelynn Eagle Yun, Audra Huynh, Julia Arroyo-Ramírez, Elvia https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7z02r37w The Northern and Southern Regional Library Facilities (the RLFs) were established in the 1980s to cost-effectively preserve and provide continuing access to UC’s library collections. By design, these facilities and their expert teams directly advance UC’s academic mission, while lessening campus space crises and securing significant operational efficiencies at scale. Now, an important strategic and operational transition is underway to transform the RLFs into fully Systemwide Library Facilities (SLFs). This transformation is a direct reflection of the value of these facilities to the long-term goals and resiliency of the UC Libraries. A panel of UC leaders will come together to present on the path that led to this key strategic shift, how it reinforces critical infrastructure, and the opportunities for UC Libraries moving into the future – both internally and in partnership with libraries across the country. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7z02r37w Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Tanji, Lorelei Wones, Suzanne Jackson, Athena Wohlers, Alison https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6w17d5pn Includes three presentations of 15 minutes each. A study investigating undergraduate students’ feelings of welcomeness in UC Santa Cruz Library study space and the themes that emerged. A library-wide effort to cultivate welcoming students-centered library spaces with the UC Irvine Libraries’ Student Displays Programs. An empathic design model applied to the UC San Diego Library’s Spaces Lending &amp; Access (SLA) program to create a more efficient, supportive, and inclusive work environment. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6w17d5pn Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Waggoner, Jess Bruner, Victoria Fowler, Nicholas Baltes, Cheryl Santos, Leialani Motil, Glen https://escholarship.org/uc/item/67n589v3 Includes three presentations of 15 minutes each. A presentation describing partnership between the Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS) Library and the Internet Archive on a large-scale digitization project known as the Local Government Documents Digitization Project (LoCAL Dig Project). A presentation outlining the importance of making research data trustworthy and FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) alongside a description of a collaboration between UC Santa Barbara and the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) to establish a library-centered rescue effort (not recorded). An overview of a collaborative initiative to address threats posed to Ukrainian state records through web archiving using platforms such as the Internet Archive. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/67n589v3 Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Kasianovitz, Kris Stine, Kathryn Janée, Greg Brun, Julien Pendse, Liladhar R. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5251t4qf <p>Soaring economic constraints on library budgets, coupled with efforts by publishers to curtail use of content for computational research or with AI tools, mean that UC libraries must be savvier than ever in employing licensing strategies to protect scholars’ rights to use the materials on which we spend more than $60 million each year. Entry barriers to licensing work—including concerns about the legal expertise required, and the fear of “messing up”—can mean that library staff shy away from digging in. We invite you to join a half-day, practical, and hands-on workshop to hone your licensing skills and build confidence. By the end of the session, you will be able to understand key provisions of electronic resource agreements, and learn to revise agreements in ways that protect scholars’ interests while complying with UC policy.</p><p>The workshop will be taught and facilitated by licensing experts from UC Berkeley, UC Davis, and UC Irvine, UC Riverside, and California Digital... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5251t4qf Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Samberg, Rachael Teremi, Samantha Henry, Elizabeth Spagnolo, Lisa Goessling, Evelyn Ryan, Carly Arbagey, Carla https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4sz0x5jk Includes three presentations of 15 minutes each. The California Digital Library (CDL) describes its multi-faceted strategy to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title II web requirements. The UC Berkeley Library shares the approaches taken, tools used, and challenges faced to create fully inclusive online spaces through its digital accessibility program. Presenters share the collaborative origins and growing connections between the UC Berkeley Library and Research IT to establish the Research Data Management (RDM) Program to support data-driven research. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4sz0x5jk Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Lu, Rachael Loesberg, Jesse Foster, Erin Sackmann, Anna https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4dd5q44r Following a UC systemwide commitment in 2018 to leverage the size of our coalition and our investment in library collections to negotiate for agreements which make UC research outputs openly available, a cross-institutional working group including faculty, university librarians, associate university librarians, and library staff was formed to oversee the shift from subscription content licenses to open access publishing agreements. In this panel session, several members of this working group will offer reports on the progress, impacts, and outlook of this negotiation effort, including its successes, failures, and lessons learned. Panelists will offer their unique perspectives on what this effort has meant for UC researchers, for the UC libraries, and for the global research community. Attendees will have the opportunity to gain insight into this important UC library initiative and ask questions of those who are deeply engaged in this work. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4dd5q44r Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Bennett, Miranda Willmott, Mathew De Prano, Maria Ladisch, Michael McClung, Sarah Mitchell, Erik Schneider, Rich https://escholarship.org/uc/item/49m7n539 Includes two presentations of 15 minutes and two lightning talks of five minutes. UCLA Library Special Collections (LSA) shares its implementation of a high-density storage project pilot to consolidate bibliographic materials to maximize storage space. The departments of Special Collections &amp; University Archives and Digitization &amp; Conversation Strategies at UC Riverside partner to classify space allocations based on size and materials needs for art / object storage and choose CatalogIt to document its art and object collection. The UC Berkeley Library Preservation Department shares a project to identify microfilm reels of acetate and convert those to polyester microfilm. The UC Berkeley Library describes the steps it took to confirm the presence of heavy metals in 19th century books and then to develop and implement protocols and procedures to allow for continued use but to prevent chronic exposure and mitigate health concerns. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/49m7n539 Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Jacobs, Courtney Connick, Abigail Hodge, Neil Ives, Zoe Bean, Christina Geiser, Jessica Sallee, Rosemary Tashjian, Hannah https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2gb5h75s Includes four presentations of 15 minutes each. Presenters highlight the effective UC Libraries collaboration for purchase of electronic collections and propose that there are additional opportunities for collaborative print collections based on a collection overlap analysis using Choreo, GreenGlass, and Alma Analytics (UC Berkeley). An overview of methods to conduct a diversity audit of an academic collection including typical outputs, advantages and disadvantages including the implementation of a checklist method to improve collection diversity (UC Davis). Use of Alma Analytics to harvest usage of electronic data across platforms that is fed into a customizable dashboard in order to provide up-to-date insights and inform collection development decisions (UC Berkeley). https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2gb5h75s Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Çelik, Osman Silva, Jesse Craig, Cory Dezember, Jason Ho, Ronald Gallucci, Joseph Dessem, Yasmin https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2fm2p20b Three presentations explore the following topics: UCLA Film &amp; Television Archive highlights the digital restoration of the 1970s film WE’RE ALIVE, initiated by UCLA Women’s Film Workshop which saw student filmmakers documenting the lives of incarcerated women in the California Institute for Women (CIW). The development of a flexible and innovative granting program from the Hugo and Christine Davies Fund that has supported a myriad of music-related projects under the auspices of the Rubsamen Music Library at UCLA. Creating culturally relevant teaching to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion through framing library instruction and programming at UC Davis Library from a non-western epistemological lens. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2fm2p20b Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Borders, Jillian Vest, Matthew Hamori, Kate Hernandez, Rebecca https://escholarship.org/uc/item/28z5h6t1 <p>In line with the University of California values, eScholarship’s open access journals program works to embed diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) in its training materials. In the last year, the eScholarship team has implemented a required webinar for all journal editors that provides an overview of major DEIA topics in scholarly publishing. These topics include diversifying editorial boards, staff, author pools, and peer reviewers; implementing inclusive language and style guides; and meeting accessibility standards – all important for inclusive and accessible design; representing the diversity of campus communities; reaching out to underserved communities; developing codes of conduct that protect against discrimination and harassment, and giving editorial staff the tools to confront the challenges of our current context.<br><br>In this proposed session, we will describe our goals for creating and conducting this DEIA webinar for eScholarship journal editors,... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/28z5h6t1 Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Karby, Amanda Mitchell, Catherine Roh, Charlotte https://escholarship.org/uc/item/22w6g0x9 The UC Libraries has charged the Digital Preservation Working Group to develop a framework for digital preservation for the UC Libraries, focused on services, tools and products in this area. The framework will be informed by the known best practices in the field and will include the results of the high-level gap analysis survey DPWG conducted in the winter of 2024. The gap analysis was modeled after the Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC) Rapid Assessment Model and identifies the services, structures, or staffing needed in the UC Libraries to support digital preservation. The DPWG proposes to share with the UC Libraries community the way that we approached our work and share an update on our work. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/22w6g0x9 Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000 McAulay, Elizabeth Lin, Emily Chesley Perry, Sue https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1jr6b12f <p>UC Santa Cruz Special Collections and Archives has a rich tradition of engaging students across disciplines in archival practice through programs designed for both graduates and undergraduates. Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, the Center for Archival Research and Training (CART) supports graduate student development through immersion in archival processing, research, and exhibition curation, while new models like our Undergraduate Internship Program aims to provide a similar experience to an undergraduate interested in pursuing graduate education in libraries and archives. Through these programs, archivists collaborate and share expertise in order to provide meaningful, practical experiences to students, while students share their content expertise in helping to make our archival collections accessible through collection guides and exhibitions.<br><br>The panel will include both archivists and students, who will present on three case studies: 1) processing the papers... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1jr6b12f Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Norton, Alix Knox, Kelsey Gudmundson, Emily Berry, Annika Havstad, Lou https://escholarship.org/uc/item/12q7g7km <p>In 2023, the UC Libraries Direction and Oversight Committee (DOC) signaled a green light to implement a prototype of Lyrasis’ Palace ebook reader at a UC campus to allow for further evaluation. Benefiting from work at New York University and Columbia University, UC Davis launched a pilot in Spring 2025 delivering a mobile ebook reading service with over 140,000 scholarly ebook titles available to students and faculty. Additionally, a new partnership with the California State Library Palace Project, added another 300,000 ebooks and audiobooks to the collection.<br><br>This session reveals how launching a disruptive technology is only one step towards creating resilient library infrastructure.While the easy-to-use app utilizes library-developed open-source software, the project ran into substantial challenges with collection development, acquisition and metadata. The pilot’s reliance on one for-profit publisher nearly resulted in disruption as the business announced their upcoming... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/12q7g7km Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Polchow, Michelle Brantley, Peter English, James Lin, Nancy Heyer-Gray, Robert https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0hv8h2sg <p>As our library systems adapt to ever-growing volumes of data and new security vulnerabilities, several UC Library Development Teams are adopting DevOps (Development Operations) practices to meet these challenges. DevOps practices promise to enable teams to tackle problems at a “cloud” scale. The adoption of DevOps practices comes with a significant learning curve. The traditional roles of software developers and systems administrators are blurred in the process. How ready are our library development teams to adapt to these changes?</p><p>This panel will feature presenters from development teams at CDL, UCB, SCSB, UCSC and UCSD. Each of the represented teams are at different stages of adoption of DevOps practices. Each panelist will provide a brief introduction to the DevOps practices that their teams have in place as well as their teams plans and hopes for future adoption. Each panelist will describe the challenges they are encountering in implementing these practices. Lastly,... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0hv8h2sg Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Brady, Terry Critchlow, Matt Schwab, Ryan Dunn, Alex Schmidt, Dan https://escholarship.org/uc/item/03c4w425 <p>Hospital mergers and acquisitions (M&amp;As) have become increasingly common in academic medical centers, UC included. They are often driven by financial pressures, strategic realignment, and/or efforts to expand services. While much attention is paid to the operational and clinical ramifications of these changes, their impact on institutions’ libraries is often overlooked. Libraries are rarely included in early stage campus discussions about M&amp;As, despite the long range effects these additions have on everything from licensing to service points to resource access.</p><p>This panel discussion will be facilitated by three librarians from UC campuses currently navigating the complexities of hospital M&amp;As: San Francisco, San Diego, and Irvine. With backgrounds primarily in collection development, we will share how mergers have affected resource pricing, licensing negotiations, and collections scope at our respective campuses. We will then invite participants to share their... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/03c4w425 Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000 McClung, Sarah Ngow, Zemirah Perez-Gilbe, Hector https://escholarship.org/uc/item/01c7c69w Standing Up for Colleagues by Creating Inclusive Spaces and Growth Opportunities https://escholarship.org/uc/item/01c7c69w Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Miraglia, Elizabeth Saber-Bilder, Luna Garcia Mazari, Sheila Hare, Sarah Crumrine, Seth Tranfield, Wynn Norton, Alix Wilmot, Moni