More News July 10, 2019

TO:        UC Riverside Academic Community

FROM:  Steven Mandeville-Gamble, University Librarian

RE:        Elsevier access suspended

DATE:   Wednesday, July 10, 2019

The University of California has been out of contract with Elsevier since January, but until now the publisher continued to allow access to 2019 articles via ScienceDirect. As of today, Wednesday, July 10, 2019, UC’s direct access to new Elsevier articles has been discontinued.

What is affected: Members of the UC community no longer have direct access to:

• 2019 articles in all Elsevier journals
• Older articles in certain journals (download the list)

What is not affected: Articles published before 2019 in most Elsevier journals (covering about 95% of historical usage) should continue to be available via ScienceDirect.

Please note that the process for discontinuing access is complex, so access to specific journals or articles may fluctuate until Elsevier's rollout of these changes is complete. 

The systemwide faculty Senate has encouraged stakeholders across UC to use alternative access methods or contact their campus library for assistance in obtaining articles, and to refrain from any new independent subscriptions to Elsevier journals at this time. “By ‘holding the line,’” the Senate leadership writes, “the UC can help change the system of scholarly communication for the betterment of all.”

How to get the articles you need

Information about other ways to access Elsevier articles is available on the library’s website and summarized below. There are several options — plus, the library is always here to help.

• Use tools like Google Scholar, Unpaywall and Open Access Button to quickly find open access copies, when available.
• Email the corresponding author listed in the abstract to request a copy.
• Use the interlibrary loan request form (any request for content no longer licensed through Elsevier will automatically be placed into a special queue).
• We are here to help. We are here to help. Contact our Interlibrary Loan staff at (951) 827-3234 or email ILL so we can best facilitate your needs.

What happens next?

We will be carefully evaluating the impact of losing access to new articles on ScienceDirect over the coming months, and will do our best to ensure that you have access to the articles you need. Meanwhile, UC is hoping to reenter formal negotiations with Elsevier if the publisher indicates that they are willing to discuss a contract that integrates our goals of containing costs and facilitating open access to UC research.

If you have any questions or need help accessing an article, please don’t hesitate to contact the library at any time.

Steven Mandeville-Gamble, University Librarian

 

More News July 01, 2019

TO:        UCR Academic Community

FROM:  Steven Mandeville-Gamble University Librarian

RE:       Imminent change to Elsevier access

DATE:    July 1, 2019

The University of California has been out of contract with Elsevier since January but, so far, the publisher has continued to provide access to new articles via ScienceDirect. Although Elsevier has not yet provided us with official notification, we now have reason to believe that the publisher will shut off that direct access in the first half of July, after the July 4 holiday.

When that happens, we will no longer have direct access to 2019 articles (in all Elsevier journals) and the backfiles of certain journals (download the list). Everything else will still be accessible on ScienceDirect. Once the shut off is confirmed, we will publish a notice on the Office of Scholarly Communication website as well as the UCR Library website.

Background

Last year, the University of California entered negotiations for a new agreement with Elsevier that would not only continue UC’s access to its online journals, but also achieve the faculty-supported goals of containing journal subscription costs and providing for open access publication of UC research. Unfortunately, in late February the negotiations stalled. In the months since, Elsevier has continued to provide access to new articles via ScienceDirect without a contract in place.

Other ways to access Elsevier articles

The library is prepared to help you access articles that are no longer available via ScienceDirect once our access is discontinued. Information about other ways to access Elsevier articles, which provides guidance on how to:

• Use tools like Google Scholar, Unpaywall and Open Access Button to quickly find open access copies, when available.
• Email the corresponding author listed in the abstract to request a copy.
• Use the interlibrary loan request form (any request for content no longer licensed through Elsevier will automatically be placed into a special queue).
• Contact our Interlibrary Loan staff so we can best meet your needs. We are always here to help.

We will be carefully evaluating the impact of losing access to new articles on ScienceDirect over the coming months, and will do our best to ensure that you have access to the articles you need. Meanwhile, UC is hoping to reenter formal negotiations with Elsevier if the publisher indicates that they are willing to discuss a contract that addresses our goals of cost containment and open access.

If you have any questions or need help accessing an article, please don’t hesitate to contact a UCR Collection Strategist at any time.

Steven Mandeville-Gamble, University Librarian

More News September 18, 2015

UCR Library considered center of technical expertise.

In August, UCR hosted the University of California Computing Services Conference (UCCSC) bringing together colleagues from all 10 UC campuses and UCOP to engage and collaborate on technical issues and innovations. The UCR Library’s Cyberinfrastructure/IT Department was invited to present on the transformative work they have done in the past year creating one of the most secure, robust, and reliable infrastructure environments on campus.

Dan Szilagyi, Head of Cyberinfrastructure, presented on the new IT team’s efforts in re-architecting the library’s infrastructure, network, software, web services, security, backup system, and customer support services. The IT team, all of whom were hired in the past year based on years of expertise, training, and innovative thinking, spoke with colleagues after the presentation and attended sessions from other UCs. Dan remarked, "It is so valuable sharing information with colleagues in the UC system. We are often working on solutions to technical issues others are experiences as well. By meeting to share our collective experiences, we increase our expertise within our respective organizations."

The Data Center

A major focus of the new IT team was the overhaul of UCR Library’s data center. Independent and redundant electrical circuits were installed. This separation from building power ensures that servers will run for hours instead of minutes in the case of an electrical outage. The hardware for servers and backups was migrated into new racks (pictured), allowing for better air flow for cooling, cable management, and more capacity. The backup system was re-engineered to restore data in minutes instead of days, and all data is copied four times in different locations.

 

Hardware racks before and after

This new environment better supports the library’s strategic goals and unique needs by protecting our websites, digital initiatives, digital born content, data repositories, and digital preservation program. It is just one of the many efforts being undertaken by the IT team to better serve the library and community, and we are proud of their work!

More News September 07, 2021

On Tuesday, Sept. 7, Megan Murphy joined the UCR Library as the new UCR NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act) Specialist.

Megan has a BA in Archaeology from Dickinson College and an MA in Anthropology with a focus on Archaeology at University of Colorado, Boulder, where she also served as a Teaching Assistant.

Megan has extensive experience in working on repatriating human remains, cultural objects, and funerary objects, having interned at both the University of Knoxville in Tennessee and the University of Pennsylvania on NAGPRA projects at those institutions. She has also done an archaeology internship at Fort Vasquez Museum and an oral history internship at Louisville Historical Society.

Megan will be working closely with Professor Gerald Clarke, the UCR NAGPRA Repatriation Coordinator, to contact proactively and consult with all possible tribes affiliated with the small number of Native American human remains and artifacts covered by either the federal NAGPRA or state CalNAGPRA laws and facilitate tribal claims for their repatriation. This work will include preparing and submitting notices to be published in the Federal Register.

In addition, she will be working closely with Dr. Matt Hall, the Director of the Archaeological Curation Unit on campus to re-inventory the 600 cubic foot collection of artifacts held by the unit in compliance with CalNAGPRA as per the requirements of Assembly Bill 275, which significantly amended the law in September 2020. The same law will require at a minimum confirming that the UCR Library’s inventories of its holdings of Native American artifacts, archives, artwork, etc., primarily in Special Collections and University Archives, meet the requirement of AB275 (which requires inventorying all object, artwork, artifacts, archives, etc. in consultation with tribal leaders in order to identify which materials do or do not fall under the purview of AB275).

Megan will also be assisting the University Librarian Steven Mandeville-Gamble in his role as UCR NAGPRA Administrator to help organize meetings and support the work of the new UCR Repatriation Oversight Committee, once it is convened in late September 2021. Megan will divide her time between her office on the fourth floor of Rivera Library and in Watkins Hall, working on the inventory of the Archaeological Curation Unit.

Please join us in welcoming Megan to the UCR Library team!

• Read more about Past Workshops & Events

More News November 04, 2016

Hayden Jackson is a third-year Political Science major with a minor in Statistics. He’s also a first-generation university student from Ripon, California and the eldest of three children.

“UCR kind of found me, rather than the other way around,” Hayden explained. “When I stepped on campus at UCR, it just felt right. My counselors said that would happen with one college, and UCR was definitely that one for me. I absolutely love this campus, and you couldn’t pay me enough to leave now.”

Hayden first came to the library looking for a second job so that he could stay on campus more to become more involved. He began working as a Library Security Monitor and now works in in Special Collections & University Archives.

“Robin Katz and Zayda Delgado have both been very helpful mentors,” Hayden said. “Robin is always trying to get more people into Special Collections, and Zayda is making a meaningful experience for the patrons, to make it easier to do research. It’s incredibly important work.”

Hayden is also involved in student government with ASUCR and SSFAC (Student Services Fee Advisory Committee), which meets once per quarter with leadership from other UC schools. Hayden said, “I get to see how each UC campus differs.”

Last year, Hayden also joined the UC system-wide Academic Senate Library and Scholarly Communications Committee after a long wait. “They hadn’t had an undergrad rep in four years,” he explained. As the only student voice on this committee, Hayden represents 250,000 other students.

Hayden also did an internship in Sacramento with Senator Richard Roth in summer 2016. “They were missing a legislative aide, so they let me jump into that role. It was eye-opening to see how it all works,” he explained. “A lot more similarities to what I do on campus than I might have thought.”

After UCR, Hayden wants to get his PhD and to go either into higher education or work in the professional field in Sacramento or Washington DC. “I’m interested in doing something that’s bigger than me, something that’s going to outlast me, something that’s going to affect more than just my life,” he says of his long-term vision.

Hayden’s desire to go into academia started when he began working in Special Collections, he said. “A lot of international researchers came here to do original research. Seeing them do that here was really inspiring.”

Being able to work on campus is a big benefit when it comes to class scheduling, Hayden explained. “Life would be very different if I were still working off-campus. My best friends are my co-workers, so that’s been a great support network, as well.”

 “I was thinking about how much more I learn outside the classroom through all these experiences,” Hayden concluded. “Not to say anything against the professors, because they’re all great, too. Classes are harder to put on a resume, but no less valuable.”

More News June 30, 2021

UCR Library’s Innovative Media Librarian Alvaro Alvarez and Maker Services Coordinator Raymond Gonzalez will present a workshop at the fourth annual MIRA Conference this July.

Interested Highlanders can join them for Creating a Virtual Environment for Makerspaces and Education on Thursday, July 15 from 10:30 - 11:30 a.m. The deadline to register is Monday, July 12.

The Makerspaces for Innovation and Research in Academics (MIRA) Conference brings makers, librarians, educators and practitioners together to share stories, expertise, and their passion for makerspaces and the future of learning. Both Alvarez and Gonzalez have been involved with the MIRA Conference since its 2018 debut, before they joined the UCR Library; in fact, Alvarez thought up the conference name, MIRA. “It brings in the makerspace community to share and to learn new services and technologies,” Gonzales said. “By presenting at MIRA, we get to both share our knowledge and experiences while also learning from others.”

For their presentation, they chose to showcase the virtual reality replica of the Creat’R Lab they built in fall quarter 2020. (For best results, use Mozilla Firefox.) “Virtual Reality is one of the new technologies that is becoming very popular in makerspaces, so we wanted to share our Creat'R Lab virtual environment with our peers to help them get started, if VR is a topic of interest to them,” said Alvarez.

“Due to the pandemic, students and faculty were not able to visit our makerspace in person. This virtual environment allowed the UCR Community, especially those new to the University, to visit and learn about the Creat’R Lab from wherever they are,” Gonzalez added.

This pandemic-driven shift to online-only learning may influence the future of the Creat’R Lab in a positive way. “We will be able to do more online workshops and hybrids so that we can reach a larger audience of students that normally would not be able to attend in person,” Alvarez said. Hosting hybrid workshops allows for more flexibility in scheduling and for UCR makers to review workshop recordings at their leisure, he added.

In addition, needing to think creatively about how to present these topics kept Creat’R Lab staff thinking outside the box. “Creating virtual programming helped us think of more accessible ways of making,” Gonzales explained. “Not everyone has access to equipment like 3D printers and licensed software like Photoshop. During the pandemic, we had workshops on free creative software such as Blender and GIMP, bookbinding techniques using simple tools and materials, painting using three colors of paint, and basic coding and circuit simulation using a free web-based software.”

Originally launched on April 18, 2017, the Creat’R Lab in Orbach Library has served as a gathering place where UCR students and faculty can experiment, design, and create collaboratively, blending their expertise together to forge new paths in learning. It was the first makerspace of its kind at UC Riverside that allowed students and faculty from any department to use it. “We hope that the virtual Creat’R Lab will allow everyone in the UCR Community to familiarize themselves with the makerspace and understand that they are all welcome to use the space and equipment,” Gonzales said.

The Creat’R Lab space in Orbach Library will be closed over the summer, but several online Maker Meetup events will be offered free of charge to UCR students. Ray Gonzalez and Alvaro Alvarez are currently planning for the re-opening of Creat’R Lab this fall quarter. Please check the library website for the latest information on library re-opening plans.

• Read more about Ancestral Futures: Speculative Imaginings from the Archive

More News June 04, 2021

Before you leave for summer break, here is a summary of how the upcoming transition to UC Library Search on July 27, 2021 will affect you.

UC Library Search will replace the local UCR catalog and Melvyl as the unified UC-wide search tool, allowing you to discover the collections of all 10 campuses’ libraries in one place. Each campus will no longer use its own catalog; this new platform will bring all of the UC campus libraries into the same system.

With enhanced features like single sign-on, UC Library Search allows you to borrow and renew materials without retyping your library card number, and without having to search in multiple places for different kinds of resources. It will maximize the value of the UC collections by making it easier for you to find and borrow items, thanks to improved inter-campus resource sharing tools and a simplified user interface.

Current UC students, faculty and researchers will also be able to pick up items from any UC campus, allowing you the option to choose the UC library closest to home as your pick-up location.

The best part is, UC Library Search will look and feel very similar to the catalog search tool that UCR has been using since 2018, but it will also have the expanded features mentioned above, and more. This should help to shorten the learning curve for UCR patrons.

Melvyl will be retired on July 27, after 40 years of use by the University of California Libraries. Before this happens, if you have saved lists, saved searches, or bookmarks to Mevyl records, then you should preserve these items as they will not be imported into UC Library Search. Follow the steps outlined here to save your data.

Additionally, during the data migration phase (“cutover”) from July 6 to 27, patrons will be unable to access their accounts and library staff will be unable to add new acquisitions to the catalog. Therefore, any UCR faculty who wish to request new resource acquisitions must do so either before July 5 or wait until after cutover is complete and UC Library Search has launched on July 27. For Course Reserves, please review the information on this page.

Library staff plans to release training materials for UC Library Search as we approach fall quarter.

Read more about the development of UC Library Search and other FAQs here.

More News April 04, 2019

Over the next few months, construction and several moves will be occurring in the Rivera and Orbach Libraries.

Here is the overview. This webpage will be updated as projects are completed, or as timeframes shift.

Rivera Library

Basement

• ​ Completed: Microfilms have been relocated to circulating shelves in the basement to the right of the metal microfiche cases.
• Currently: Construction has started in the former microfilm stacks to create a new secured stack area for Special Collections and University Archives.

First Floor

• ​ Completed: Interlibrary Loan operations has relocated to the Circulation/Reserves service desk in Rivera Library.

Second Floor

• ​ Completed - June 3 - August 9:
  • Staff will move items in the Education Services collection to the basement (includes juvenile books, puppets, manipulatives, textbooks), where the microfilm was previously housed. This will allow greater patron accessibility on a non-quiet floor with more open space — conducive for a collection that sometimes is used by parents/caregivers with children.
  • Items with K-L call numbers will be moved to the shelves where the Education Services materials were previously housed, on the second floor of Rivera Library.
• ​ Completed - August 12 - September 20:
  • Items with ML-MT call numbers will be temporarily moved to mobile carts on the second floor, while new, broader shelving is being installed. During this time, for your convenience, we suggest that patrons submit a hold/request for items in this collection, so that library staff can retrieve the items for you.

Orbach Library

First Floor

•  Completed: Poster Printing services has moved from the ground floor to room 121 on the first floor. 
• ​ Completed: The Map Collection has moved from the ground floor to first floor. Map cases, GIS workstations, aerial photos, light table, and work tables are adjacent to the Creat'R Lab, now labeled as "Geospatial Resources."

Ground Floor

• June: The UCR School of Medicine will begin construction of their Clinical Skills Simulation Lab in the space formerly occupied by the Map Collection and some adjacent library spaces.

Music Library

The Music Library will close at the end of the day on Friday, September 6, and reopen on Monday, September 16. It will be closed for a week on September 9.

• ​ Completed - September 9 - 13: The Music collection will move to the Rivera Library.
  • M call number materials will be moved and shelved after the new location of the L call numbers on the second floor of Rivera Library.
  • ML and MT call numbers will then be shelved after the M call numbers.
  • Music Study Score will be shelved separately following the MT call numbers.
• ​ Completed - Music Media (CD, VHS, LP, etc.)
  • Music media will be interfiled into the current Media Collection on the first floor of Rivera Library. New security cases are being ordered for the collection.
  • Rivera Reference will be shifted to the last two ranges behind the reference desk.
  • The Media Collection will expand to the first range on the left side—shelves will be added accordingly.