Groves & Van Diest Retirement Reception December 6

Jaci Groves, Architecture Library operations supervisor and Maggie Van Diest, senior accounting associate, University Libraries, are retiring in December.  A joint retirement reception for both will be held, Friday, December 6, from 2:00-3:30 pm in 218 Love Library South. Remarks will be given at 2:30 pm.

In 1988 Jaci Groves started her career at UNL in the Circulation department of the University Libraries. She held several different positions over the years including stack maintenance, night supervisor, and Geology Library manager. In 2005 Groves started her present position in the Architecture Library. Since 1981, Groves has also been a volunteer with the Athletic Department Event Staff and is a member of the rope crew at football games. According to Groves the highlight of her employment at UNL has been working with students. She will miss them, but plans to continue to volunteer and travel in retirement.

Maggie Van Diest began her 47 year career in 1973 at UNL in the Libraries’ Processing Department. She started before the advent of computer technology and remembers using a manual typewriter to create cards for the card catalog. In 1980 Van Diest moved into a position in the Dean’s Office. In her role, she worked with many students seeking employment in the Libraries. She would interview student supervisors about their departmental needs and help find the best students that fit the job.  Van Diest also worked with many people in other departments such as Scholarships & Financial Aid, Procurement Services, Financial Services, and more across the campus. Van Diest will miss all the connections and friends she had made at UNL over the years. Here plans for retirement include family gatherings and travel.

The reception is free and open to the campus community.

Survey on Incorporating Library Resources into Research & Teaching

The University Libraries invites you to participate in a short survey. In combination with usability studies, we are gathering basic information about how lecturers and teaching faculty incorporate library resources into courses and student research.

Information shared will be used to assist in design and information architecture decisions of the Libraries website and services. We do not ask for personal information and all answers will remain confidential. If you choose, you will also have the option to sign up to participate in Libraries user studies once you submit the survey.

Please share your responses to the questions in the survey located at https://go.unl.edu/lib-research  by November 29, 2019. If you have additional questions or concerns, please contact me at nancy.weyers@unl.edu or 402-472-0026.

Project CERES funds Nebraska preservation project

Project CERES, a collaboration between the Center for Research Libraries, the United States Agricultural Information Network (USAIN), and the Agriculture Network Information Collaborative (AgNIC) has awarded the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries and seven other organizations a total of $50,000 for digitization projects in 2019-2020.  

Leslie M. Delserone, associate professor, University Libraries, wrote the award application to digitize the extant run of historical Circulars of the Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station (1917-1971). Many of these circulars serve to interpret the science published in the Stations’ Research Bulletins for a lay audience. The historical Research Bulletins, digitized with funding from a previous Project Ceres award, are available via the Digital Commons (https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/ardhistrb/) and number more than 25,000 downloads.

Project CERES supports ongoing print and digital preservation and access to important source materials which shed light on agricultural history and practice, rural life, industry and trade, and environmental change, all vital areas to understanding the country’s economic, social, and technological development over time.

A subcommittee of the USAIN Preservation and Digital Library Committee, chaired by Joel Cummings of Washington State University, selected the Project CERES 2019-20 participants. The other projects include:

• Colorado State University, Preservation of Colorado Agriculture Literature, Colorado County Agent Annual Reports, Third Phase
• Cornell University, The Rural New Yorker Phase II
• Michigan State University, Michigan Tradesman
• Montana State University, Montana Agricultural Related Microfilm Digitization Project
• South Dakota State University, Digitization of South Dakota State University's Agricultural Publications: Cooperative Extension
• University of Maryland, Preserving the History of Maryland Agriculture and Rural Life: Microfilm to Digital
• University of Arkansas, Digitization of Annual Report / Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station