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Library Welcomes New Geospatial Information Librarian

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Janet Reyes is our new Geospatial Information Librarian for the UCR Library.

Janet spent her professional career creating or using a variety of geographic data. Prior to coming to UC Riverside, the bulk of her career was spent at Aerial Information Systems Inc. (AIS), an environmental consulting firm in Redlands, California that specializes in geospatial data development. Among her duties at AIS were photointerpretation of land use and vegetation; compiling various types of geographic data into geographic information systems (GIS); project management; quality control; data assessment; and report writing. Many of the projects completed by AIS covered portions of the Inland Empire or southern California, and some were performed as a subcontractor to the GIS software giant Esri.

Janet also has experience as a planner handling mapping projects and demographic data for the San Bernardino County Planning Department, and she worked for Rome Research Corporation as a photointerpreter.

She holds a BS in natural resources from Cornell University and an MS in physical geography from Oregon State University, where she worked in the Environmental Remote Sensing Applications Laboratory.

In her new role, Janet looks forward to connecting UCR community members to the geospatial information they need.

New 3D printers ready for a spin

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Alvaro Alvarez believes 3D printers have the ability to open up a world of possibilities.

The Innovative Media Librarian for the UCR Library has a passion for robotics and technology and enjoys transforming three-dimensional digital models into tangible objects. 

“I love the fact that I can think of something and bring it to life with electronics,” Alvaro said. “You can make anything—toys, even print 3D parts for 3D printers.” 

Alvaro works at The Creat’R Lab, located in the Orbach Library. The Creat’R Lab is an innovative learning environment where new technologies, scientific curiosity, and entrepreneurship come together across the disciplines. 3D printers are a perfect fit for this environment, and the UCR Library is adding more to its arsenal. 

Currently, the Creat’R Lab has six 3D printers. Next week, two more will join them in the Creat’R Lab 3D Printing Room (Orbach 145). 

“We’ve done our research. From reading reviews and from talking to people that have used the models we purchased, they're really good, very reliable,” Alvaro said. 

3D printing has grown in popularity over the years, and as a result, demand has increased. These two printers will assist in meeting demand so the UCR Library can better serve students and faculty. Additionally, it’s also good to have more printers in the event any need repair.

“There is usually a higher demand at the end of each quarter,” Alvaro explained. “Each print job can take anywhere from three to four hours so if a printer goes down, it could be hard to keep up.”

The Creat’R Lab has printed some unique items, including fault lines for students and faculty in Earth Sciences. 

“We have a class that's been coming in, they've been printing terrain and earthquake faults,” Alvaro said. “Not only is it a great visual, but they can also take out the fault lines and pop them back in.”

The Creat’R Lab has a special connection with Earth Sciences. Three months into the Creat’R Lab’s arrival to Orbach, a researcher in Earth Sciences, Christodoulos Kyriakopoulos, collaborated with The Lab in 2017 to create a 3D-printed earthquake fault model. 3D printed fault lines seemed like a wild idea at the time but proved incredibly useful. The model was showcased at a congressional meeting in 2018, during which the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology deliberated on the future of the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program.

The new 3D printers are currently undergoing testing and will be fully operational on April 4. If you want to learn more about the 3D printing process at the Creat’R Lab or submit a 3D printing request, review our Creat'R Lab 3D printing guide.

While the 3D Printing Room is currently only open to Creat’R Lab staff,  we have plans to provide a more interactive experience in the future. Meanwhile, we welcome you to peek into our large window and see the equipment in action! 

Online access to UCR's books & more during COVID-19 closure

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Need a book for your research, but can't physically get it from the UCR Library buildings due to the COVID-19 closure?

We have a solution!

Until Sept. 7, 2021, UCR faculty, researchers and students can get many of the books they need online through the HathiTrust Emergency Temporary Access Service (ETAS), which grants lawful access to digital copies to over 50% of the physical books held by the UCR Library.

Even better, HathiTrust recently added access to digitized volumes from all libraries in the ten-campus University of California network, raising the total number of e-books available to UCR Library patrons to more than 10 million.

Through the HathiTrust ETAS, UCR faculty, staff, and students can:

  • Read books owned by the UCR Library (or other UC campus libraries) online in a web browser. There is no option to download the work in full.
  • "Check out” a copy for one hour, with an auto-renew feature for books still in active use (turning pages, clicking, or scrolling).
  • Access items 1-1: One copy on the member library shelf, one individual access to the digital copy. Two copies, two concurrent users of the digital item.

How to access UCR print materials via HathiTrust

  1. Go to hathitrust.org and select the yellow “LOG IN” button.
  2. Select University of California, Riverside from the list of partner institutions. Select “Continue."
  3. You will arrive at UCR’s Central Authentication Service. Enter your UCR NetID and Password.
  4. When you have successfully logged in, you will be returned to the HathiTrust website.

Review the HathiTrust FAQ and Use Guide before you get started.

Remember: The UCR Library staff are still available to answer questions and provide support! Review this new LibGuide on Expanded free access during the COVID-19 closure for more details. Visit our Ask a Librarian page if you need further assistance, after review.

UCR Library Student Guide

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The UCR Library provides a full range of services, resources, and assistance for UCR students. We are dedicated to your success! 

Whether you are new to UCR or a returning student who just needs a refresher, use this page as a guide on how to use the library. 

Use our website: library.ucr.edu 

Your R’Card is your library card 

  • Use your R’Card (your Student ID Card) to check out books and other library resources and technology.  

Print, Copy, Scan 

Research resources 

  • When it comes time to research, don’t start at Google, start at UC Library Search. You can also see all the databases we offer the UCR community directly at our A-Z Databases webpage. We also offer curated Research Guides and Subject Guides that are prepared by library staff and list library resources by topic. Do not forget to use the campus VPN so you can access library resources like journals and databases from off-campus. 

How to find course reserve items 

  • Your course instructor can place materials like textbooks on course reserve. You can borrow course reserve materials for short periods of time as an alternative to purchasing books. To find course reserve material, visit search.library.ucr.edu (UC Library Search) then click “Course Reserve” at the top. Type in your instructor’s name, the item you are looking for, or your class name. Once you find your item, note the call number and head over to the circulation desk with your R’Card to retrieve the item.  

Study Spaces 

  • We offer several types of study spaces in both of our libraries. You can study in one of our open study spaces or book a group study or gaming room. Learn more at our Study Spaces webpage. 

Ask us! 

  • We have library staff available to answer your questions via text, email, or through the Chat with Us feature on our website. You can also request a one-on-one consultation with a librarian if you need assistance with a research project. Visit our Ask Us webpage for more details. 

Creat’R Lab 

  • As a UCR student, you have access to the Creat’R Lab. The Creat’R Lab is an inclusive, state-of-the-art makerspace open to the UCR community. The Creat’R Lab offers 3D printing, sewing machines, virtual reality, media equipment, and more! See all that the Creat’R Lab has to offer on our Creat’R Lab Makerspace webpage.  

Free workshops and meetups 

  • The UCR Library holds free workshops and meetups every quarter. Learn about digital scholarship, GIS, take one of our Creat’R Lab workshops, and more. Visit ucrlibrary.eventbrite.com to see what workshops are available and to RSVP. You can also view recordings of our past workshops on our YouTube page.  

Access our leisure reading collection online  

  • You can access books from our leisure reading collection and thousands of magazines for free via the Libby app or visit ucr.overdrive.com. 

Finals Week Stress Relief  

  • The UCR Library holds a series of fun stress relief activities during finals week called Finals Week Stress Relief. Past events include snack giveaways, therapy dogs, and craft events. You can also access a list of remote-friendly stress relief activities on the library’s Activities webpage all year long.  

Poster Printing Service

  • We offer poster printing services (by appointment only). Pay using Bear Bucks. Find out more, or make an appointment, by visiting our Poster Printing page. 

The resources and services listed above are just a sample of what we offer UCR students. If you have any questions on additional services or different ways we can support you, feel free to ask us! To learn even more about the UCR Library, check out the links listed on this page under Related Information.  

Support for Digital Scholarship

What is “Digital Scholarship”?

Digital scholarship is generally understood as the use of digital tools or methods for scholarly activities like research, teaching, and publishing.

The phrase “digital scholarship” can describe both the process of creating new, often fluid forms of scholarship using digital tools and computational methods, as well as the ever-evolving products of technology-dependent research. Digital scholarship is intensely collaborative, iterative, public-facing, interdisciplinary, community-engaged, and open.

Fall 2020: The Library is still here for students

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The UCR Library buildings remain closed during Fall Quarter 2020 to protect the health of the essential employees who are working on the premises to meet the teaching and research needs of our undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and researchers.

Although this means that students won’t be able to enter the Rivera or Orbach Libraries during fall quarter, rest assured: the UCR Library has not forgotten about R’Students!

As soon as campus closed in mid-March, the library quickly pivoted to online access to our services and library collections, as much as we possibly could.

Following the campus guidelines from the Chancellor and Provost, we are focusing our fall quarter plans on remote services that put students first, including:

Get stuff

Get help

  • Ask a Student (starting Sept. 28) is a new chat service that connects students with peers to provide the resources they need to be successful in a remote learning environment, in collaboration with Undergraduate Education
  • Ask a Librarian (online chat 24/7, text or email)
  • Librarians assigned to Highlander Connections communities for first-year and transfer students, in collaboration with Student Life
  • One-on-one Consultations with UCR Librarians

Learning communities

In 2019, the library partnered with representatives from ASUCR’s Student Voice Committee to identify more ways in which the library could support our students. Through that survey, we identified the top five challenges facing UCR students at that time. However, we recognize that new challenges have certainly arisen in this new remote learning environment.

We want you to know that we are still listening. If you have ideas on how the Library can help you during remote instruction, please fill out this form so that library leadership can consider your suggestions. You can also suggest a book you need for your research, if we don’t already have it in our collections.

We know that many students miss the community and opportunities for collaboration that came from seeing one another face-to-face at the library. Library staff miss your in-person presence every day. We are offering online meetups and workshops on an assortment of topics to facilitate human connections and a chance to learn together.

UC Riverside aims to help students succeed academically and strive toward their dreams beyond graduation. The UCR Library is here to serve you, so please, let us know how we can best support you during these challenging times.

Introducing OpenAthens: An Easier Way To Access Library Resources Off-Campus

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We’re excited to share that the UCR Library is introducing OpenAthens, a new and improved way to access library resources from off-campus!

OpenAthens will be available alongside the existing GlobalProtect VPN, giving you more flexibility in how you connect.

What is OpenAthens?

OpenAthens is an identity management platform that ensures fast, seamless, and secure access to the UCR Library’s licensed resources. Integrated with our Central Authentication Service (CAS), OpenAthens lets you log in using just your UCR NetID and password—no extra steps needed.

What Will Change?
  • Simplified Access: Use your UCR NetID and password to log in to your library account, which will also start an OpenAthens session. 
  • One-Time Authentication: With OpenAthens, you only need to sign in once per session for uninterrupted access—no more concerns about dropped VPN connections! 
  • Faster Browsing: Experience quicker page and content loading compared to VPN.
GlobalProtect VPN and On-Site Access

While OpenAthens is now the preferred method for off-campus access to library resources, we will continue to support IP address authentication and there will be no changes to the way you access resources on-site. The VPN will remain an option for off-campus access.

How Can I Start Using OpenAthens?

Start using OpenAthens now:

  1. "Athenized" links are now available via UC Library Search, our Databases A-Z list, and LibGuides. You can also Athenize your own links using the OpenAthens Link Generator.
  2. Sign in at a publisher or resource page
    Look for Sign in Through My Institution, Sign in via OpenAthens, or similar on your favorite resource page. Search for “Riverside” to find UCR, then choose “University of California Riverside - QA” from the OpenAthens screen, if prompted. Note: as we are still in the implementation phase, not all resources are available with this method. Try it out at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/. 

Note: The UCR Library is in the process of rolling out OpenAthens for all our resource providers. If you encounter a resource that is not accessible using OpenAthens, please try the GlobalProtect VPN.

Still have questions? Visit our FAQ page. 

UC Library Search

You will be able to use OpenAthens through UC Library Search, our catalog. The login URL has been updated to provide access to resources via OpenAthens. If you've bookmarked our old UC Library Search login page, please use this new link to login. 

What’s Next?

In the near future, we’ll roll out additional sign-in options, including access via UC Library Search and authentication on select resource homepages. Stay updated by visiting the Library’s Latest News or subscribing to the UCR Library Newsletter.

We’re confident that OpenAthens will enhance your research experience, offering easier, faster, and more reliable access to the resources you need.

If you have any questions or need assistance, please don’t hesitate to reach out to colldev@ucr.edu.