News

TRLN is again welcoming proposals for IDEA funding. A total of $25,000 is available for the Fall 2023 round of funding. Although proposals are invited on a semi-annual basis, funded projects may extend past or be scheduled outside of this timeframe, depending on scope and needs.

Learn more about TRLN’s IDEA funding including how to submit a proposal. Contact info@trln.org with any questions.

Important Dates

• October 2 : submission deadline
• October 9 : funded projects announced

On June 21, TRLN went live with ReShare Returnables – an open source resource sharing platform. ReShare is now the engine for our consortial borrowing and lending program – TRLN Direct.

This change to patrons was largely invisible and intended to be so, but the change to ReShare Returnables brings great improvements for staff working in these services and ultimately, improves patrons’ experiences.

What is ReShare?

ReShare is both a platform and a community. TRLN has long been a member of the ReShare community to guide the development of the platform and we are very excited to be using it now.

ReShare Returnables is the first module we implemented to manage the borrowing and lending of physical materials, but an exciting part of the ReShare community is the opportunity to adopt other community developed modules for non-returnables and controlled digital lending.

TRLN member libraries have been sharing resources for decades. Given our close geographic proximity, sharing materials is one of our core activities. We’re pleased to make our longstanding and successful service even better. It’s especially exciting to improve our own service through participation in a creative and collaborative community that has prioritized open source approaches to supporting libraries.”

Lisa Croucher, Executive Director of TRLN

About Our Implementation

Although our work with ReShare goes back to being a founding member of the community, our local effort to adopt Reshare Returnables started with a thorough evaluation and comparison of other platforms throughout the Spring of 2022 – resulting in a recommendation to adopt ReShare Returnables.

The ReShare Implementation Working Group formed in June 2022 with a goal of going live in the Summer of 2023. We partnered with Index Data, a longstanding development partner of the platform and community, to host and implement ReShare Returnables.

ReShare Returnables relies on a shared source of records to know both what items we have in our collections and what can be loaned. We decided to contribute our MARC data to POD, where the records could easily be harvested by Index Data and searched by ReShare.

Now that we are live with ReShare, we join a peer group of several library consortiums already using the platform – Ivy Plus Libraries Confederation, PALCI, and ConnectNY. TRLN is excited to be part of this community of users.

With great gratitude, we want to thank the ReShare Implementation Working Group members for their work as part of this implementation. Members include:

• Duke University
  • Michael Edwards, Resource Sharing Librarian
  • Andrea Loigman, Head, Access and Delivery Services
  • Erin Nettifee, IT Business Analyst
• NC Central
  • Vickie Spencer, Head Circulation Librarian
  • Yan Wang, Systems Librarian
• NC State University
  • Mia Partlow, Resource Sharing Librarian
  • Thomas Jones, Access Services University Library Specialist
  • Kristen Wilson, Discovery Systems Manager
• UNC at Chapel Hill
  • Renée Bosman, Government Information Librarian
  • Ashleigh Donaldson, Borrowing Assistant
  • Jamie McGarty, Library Software Applications Developer
  • Joe Moran, Systems Administrator
  • David Pierpont, Saturday and Carrels Supervisor
• TRLN
  • Kelly Farrell, Program Officer (Project lead)
  • Genia Kazymova, Applications Developer

Reach out to info@trln.org with any questions.

TRLN is now inviting proposals for workshops, presentations, and lightning talks for the 2023 Annual Meeting being held on July 17 and 18.

Submit a proposal at bit.ly/trln2023cfp (link to form will open in a new tab). The deadline to submit a proposal is June 2, 2023.

Proposals of up to 150 words should be submitted along with an abbreviated abstract of 50 words that will be included on the annual meeting website.

About Presenting

Who can present?

Anyone who works in a TRLN member institution. We welcome proposals of any domain, area of expertise, and library. We also encourage partnering with colleagues to co-present.

How long can presentations be?

Presentations ranging from 5 minute lightning talks, 30 minute presentations, or longer workshops will be considered. Sessions will be grouped into blocks.

Will I present virtually or in-person?

This year, we are exploring how we might be able to offer more in-person opportunities so we included a question in the submission form about if you would be willing to present in-person to assist in our planning.

Once we close the call for proposals, TRLN staff will follow up with you about your preference for how you present. If you have questions about presenting either in-person or virtually, please reach out to events@trln.org.

When will I hear if my proposal has been accepted?

All submissions will be reviewed by the Annual Meeting Steering Committee and selections will be announced by June 7.

Reach out to events@trln.org if you have any questions!

The 2023 Annual Meeting will be held on July 17 and 18! We will announce the keynotes, open a call for proposals, and share more details in the coming weeks, but save the date for July 17 and 18.

Reach out to events@trln.org with any questions.

TRLN is again welcoming proposals for IDEA funding. A total of $25,000 is available for the Spring 2023 round of funding. Although proposals are invited on a semi-annual basis, funded projects may extend past or be scheduled outside of this timeframe, depending on scope and needs.

Learn more about TRLN’s IDEA funding including how to submit a proposal. Contact info@trln.org with any questions.

Important Dates

• March 31 : submission deadline
• April 14 : awardees announced

With support from TRLN’s IDEA funding, North Carolina Central University’s James E. Shepard Memorial Library is presenting “Celebrating 50 Years of Hip Hop” with several events throughout March and April 2023.

Schedule

Book Talk with Justin Tinsley

March 30, 2023 at 1:00pm

NCCU School of Nursing Auditorium

Poetry Jam

April 4, 2023 at 2:30pm

Shepard Library 2nd Floor

Shepard Library will host a poetry jam that features spoken word artists, poets, and rappers. This event will feature a DJ, NCCU’s Hip Hop Dance Crew, and will be hosted by student leaders. This event is designed to give students an outlet through which they can express their creativity, engage in a creative process with peers, and celebrate 50 years of Hip Hop with the larger campus community and the community at large.

Art Exhibit & Contest

April 6, 2023 at 10:30am

Shepard Library Bowl

Students from TRLN schools will be invited to submit original works of art that pay tribute to Hip Hop.

The E-Resources Management Working Group (ERMWG) of the Triangle Research Libraries Network (TRLN) is pleased to announce the publication of the TRLN Guide to Negotiating Accessibility in E-Resource Licenses. This guide was created to help TRLN member libraries engage in conversations with vendors around e-resource accessibility. Recognizing that licensing is key to codifying the shared understandings and priorities of vendors and libraries, the TRLN E-Resources Management Working Group sought to create “a reference tool for library staff involved in licensing and e-resources management as they advocate for strong accessibility assurances in their formal contracts with service and content providers.”

While the intended audience for the document is TRLN libraries, ERMWG believes it makes sense to share beyond the TRLN community as all librarians are advocates for the needs of their users and regularly participate in conversations both internally and with vendors on how best to ensure those needs are met. This is meant to be a dynamic document. Along with the working group’s more general licensing principles, they envision updating the guide regularly to reflect the gains we have made in accessibility as well as the accessibility concerns brought about by new platforms, resources, and, most of all, user communities. It is their hope that this guide gives the necessary tools to have consistent and impactful communication with vendors as libraries strive to make their e-resources accessible to all users.

There is excitement in the TRLN community for the publication of the guide:

“I am delighted to see the publication of the TRLN Guide to Negotiating Accessibility in E-Resource Licenses, a valuable reference tool on best practices and advocacy, made available to library staff doing this critical work.” said Dracine Hodges, Associate University Librarian for Collections Services at Duke University Libraries. “This guide supports libraries having a clear alignment of strategies to encourage better design and outcomes. E-resource accessibility is imperative for a more inclusive user experience. I commend my TRLN colleagues for creating this needed contribution to the field.” 

Dracine Hodges, Associate University Librarian for Collections Services at Duke University Libraries

Tessa Minchew, Electronic Resources Librarian at North Carolina State University and chair of ERMWG shared

“While we view thoughtful and practical accessibility standards as a fundamental user right, our content and service providers may be trying to balance accessibility with specific business concerns. They may also just be unfamiliar with the work entailed in making a resource accessible and why it is so important to do so. Negotiating for accessibility is an advocacy and outreach opportunity. Thorough preparation for such moments is never wasted. This is why I am so excited about the release of the TRLN Guide to Negotiating Accessibility in E-Resource Licenses. The guide is a license negotiator’s dream, not only offering sample license language, but also the background information and rationale that a negotiator will need to call upon in their quest for the holy grail of all library licensing … ‘mutually agreeable’.”

Tessa Minchew, Electronic Resources Librarian at North Carolina State University and chair of ERMWG

Maria Collins, Department Head, Acquisitions & Discovery, North Carolina State University and longtime ERMWG member appreciates the collaboration inspired by the guide and used in its creation:

“This TRLN Guide provides practical advice for understanding and negotiating license terms related to accessibility, an increasing area of emphasis for libraries given the predominance of electronic resources. What makes this set of guidelines unique is the support provided for the decision making process. Benefiting from collaborative effort, this guide goes beyond providing template language to providing strategies to assist with judgment calls made during license negotiations as well as ways to assess the context and priorities for your institution.” 

Maria Collins, Department Head, Acquisitions & Discovery, North Carolina State University

Access the TRLN Guide to Negotiating Accessibility in E-Resource Licenses at http://bit.ly/trln-a11y-eresource-license. Reach out to info@trln.org with any questions.

A team of communication experts, exhibit specialists, and librarians from across TRLN institutions have published guidelines for producing exhibitions that are inclusive, diverse, equitable, and accessible. “Exhibition Language Guidelines: A Working Document for Academic Library Exhibit Professionals” was developed in response to increased awareness of the role of  academic libraries in dismantling racism. 

 “Building on the momentum of the conscious editing work being conducted by our colleagues in Technical Services and against a backdrop of IDEA (Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity, Access) initiatives in our libraries, we saw a common need for a document to guide us, and the curators we work with, when making decisions about ethical descriptions,”  explained Rachel Reynolds, Special Collections Exhibitions Coordinator, at the Wilson Special Collections Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The document includes guidelines on language related to gender orientation and sexual identity; disability; social class and socioeconomic status; age; race, ethnicity, and nationality; and religion and spirituality. The guide is intended for anyone working on library (or other types of) exhibits who aims to write copy that is inclusive and non-offensive, including library staff and campus and community collaborators.

The staff who lead exhibit programs at TRLN member institutions have had collegial relationships for at least a decade, but their collaboration and communication were intensified during the pandemic, as staff wanted to discuss exhibit work and how programs were adapting to pandemic-related challenges and other societal events. 

“As the staff responsible for exhibit-related outreach, we helped to increase the number of exhibitions focused on communities or individuals who had been underrepresented or overlooked,” noted Linda Jacobson, Keeper, North Carolina Collection Gallery, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “We wanted to make sure that the language we use in our exhibits is current, respectful, and without implicit prejudices and stereotypes.”

From the outset, the group knew that a simple “cheat sheet” with suggested edits would not be sufficient, which led them to produce the more comprehensive and contextualized document. They recognized that even members of particular groups do not always agree on how they want to be described, so a simple glossary was not sufficient; and, they were aware that preferred nomenclature changes overtime.

Each member of the exhibits group took on research and writing responsibilities for different sections of the document, meeting twice per month throughout 2021 to discuss their progress. They consulted and expanded on language guides from other professional disciplines, many of which have been appended to the Guidelines. The group hopes that their guide will benefit not only TRLN institutions but smaller organizations that may not have the resources to develop such a resource. The authors welcome feedback and input on the Guidelines, which will be revised as needed.

The authors of the Guidelines presented their work at the 2022 TRLN Annual Meeting. The recording of that presentation is available at https://duke.app.box.com/v/2022TRLNannual/folder/167459261557. 

Contact info@trln.org for more information or to contribute suggestions. 

The 2022 CLIR events included the DLF Forum, NDSA’s DigiPres, the Digitizing Hidden Collections Symposium and was held in Baltimore, MD from October 9 – 13.

Keynotes

The keynotes for each event touched on numerous issues relevant to academic libraries including technology’s impact on society, the digital divide, digital preservation and its relationship to provenance, and community archives.

The Forum started with a conversation with data journalist Meredith Broussard and anthropologist and media scholar David Nemer hosted by Sara Mannheimer. Panelists shared how their work explores how technology can perpetuate bias and inequality. The Forum closed with Andrew Coy’s keynote about building digital equity in Baltimore for K-12 students.

Dorothy Berry presented the DigiPres keynote titled “Keeping Whose History, For Whom: Writing the Stories Digital Preservation Tells” and explores enhancing public access to digitized cultural heritage materials and creating new virtual environments for exploring Black history. Berry has numerous publications exploring these concepts and her Archives Unbound column on JSTOR Daily is a fantastic read.

The Digitizing Hidden Collections Symposium keynote featured Michelle Caswell with a talk titled “So that Future Organizers Won’t Have to Reinvent the Wheel”: Activating Digital Archives for Liberatory Uses”. Her talk explored the “radical politics of independent, minoritized identity-based community archives to envision new liberatory possibilities for memory work.”

Highlighted Sessions

Slides from the events can be found at https://osf.io/meetings/DLF2022, but two sessions to highlight include:

1. “Changing the Subjects: Making the Catalog Better Than Before” (https://osf.io/kzrmx/).
2. “Groove is in the Heart: Trust and Vulnerability in Collaboration” (https://osf.io/6z75f/).

Helpful Links

• Schedule: https://forum2022.diglib.org/schedule/
• Slides: https://osf.io/meetings/DLF2022

TRLN is excited to announce two recipients of the second round of IDEA funding: “A Tribute to Hip Hop: Celebrating 50 Years of Creativity” and “Improving Accessibility for Exhibition Spaces in TRLN Libraries”.

About the Projects

A Tribute to Hip Hop: Celebrating 50 Years of Creativity

Submitted by a group of NCCU staff members, “A Tribute to Hip Hop: Celebrating 50 Years of Creativity” will be a series of events “celebrating Hip Hop culture. Hip Hop and the culture created by this genre of music and art will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2023.”

The event series will start with a book talk with author and journalist Justin Tinsley to discuss his new book It Was All A Dream: Biggie and The World that Made Him. Part two will be an art exhibit and competition consisting of original works that pay tribute to Hip Hop. Lastly, NCCU’s Shepard Library will host a poetry jam featuring spoken word artists, poets, and rappers and the event will feature a DJ and NCCU’s Hip Hop Dance Crew.

These events are designed to give students an outlet through which they can express their creativity, engage in a creative process with peers, and celebrate 50 years of Hip Hop with the larger campus community and the community at large.

Improving Accessibility for Exhibition Spaces in TRLN Libraries

Submitted by Margaret Brown, Head, Exhibition Services and E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation Exhibits Librarian, Duke University Libraries on behalf of a team of people working in exhibits across TRLN institutions, “Improving Accessibility for Exhibition Spaces in TRLN Libraries” will increase accessibility to exhibitions in TRLN libraries through assessment, discussion and commitment to follow-through on all feasible accessibility work.

Accessibility for exhibitions in libraries is complicated by the nature of the architecture, cases and collection materials. For example, balancing the preservation of unique materials with required low light levels can make it difficult for people with visual disabilities and tall built-in cases can make it difficult for people who utilize wheelchairs. The exhibition programs in TRLN Libraries serve many different audiences, contain a wide variety of formats of materials and their spaces and cases were often not designed to be ADA compliant. Because most exhibitions are short-term, and resources and personnel time are limited, the goal of making every instance fully accessible to people with all abilities has often been unachievable. This project includes a series of consultations to help our institutions design practical frameworks and prioritization models for the nature of library exhibition programs. Local specifications are one deliverable of this project, but the group will also work towards more general guidelines to share with other libraries.

One part of this process is to hire an accessibility consultant to visit each of the library exhibition spaces and create site specific reports. Although none of the TRLN institutions are currently in a position to consider redesign of exhibition spaces, being made aware of all potential problems can help with compensating for potentially inaccessible spaces in exhibition design and fabrication and advocate for change. Having a better awareness of the accessibility challenges spaces pose will help the group design accessible exhibits moving forward.

This project would be a step towards awareness and a commitment to making accessibility a part of the regular workflow as opposed to an occasional act when practical.

About TRLN’s IDEA funding

TRLN seeks to support our member institutions’ work in inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility with project funding. Staff members at any TRLN library can apply for funding for a variety of projects that further their library’s and TRLN’s goals to establish or advance inclusion, diversity, equity, or accessibility efforts.

The Executive Committee approved a total of $100,000 of funding, to be distributed across two years (two funding cycles per year). The next call for proposals will open in Spring 2023. Learn more about this funding.

Contact info@trln.org with any questions about this project or TRLN’s IDEA funding.