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UC Riverside’s Associate Professor of History Juliette Levy likes to teach from the edge of the e-learning revolution.

Her latest experiment involved a virtual reality (VR) platform intended to stimulate intellectual learning on an emotional level for the students in her History 20 / World History course. Dr. Levy co-created a VR application called “Che’s Village” and invited students and faculty to test and review the platform in Orbach Science Library on February 15 and 16.

"Juliette felt that the library is precisely where this type of exploration should take place, as our mission is to expand critical thinking skills in studnets," explained JJ Jacobson, UCR Library's Jay Kay and Doris Klein Librarian for Science Fiction. Jacobson and Dr. Levy collaborated for several months on the concept and development in order to bring "Che's Village" to life.

 “We serve a population of students who are digitally savvy,” Dr. Levy explained. “We have an amazing student body and an amazing faculty, and we need to teach them to think critically using the tools in their environment.”

Gesturing toward the wall, where a large monitor displayed what the student in the virtual reality goggles was seeing at that moment, Dr. Levy added, “This is the future of public education in here. Technology is a means to activate and render moments of the learning experience more intense.”

The platform was built to amplify students' experience of studying Che Guevara's speech, "Social Ideals of the Rebel Army," which he delivered on January 27, 1959. Guevara along with Raul Castro and others had recently won the rebellion against the existing Batista regime in Cuba, Levy explained. In his speech, Guevara had to balance the nationalistic, pro-Cuba intent of Castro with Guevara's own intent to lead a communist revolution.

The application’s co-creator and head of a VR prototype studio named Shovels and Whiskey, Tawny Schlieski stated, “We built this VR environment for students who have read Che’s speech. It’s meant to provoke them into compelling questions, to connect pieces of text with other pieces of research.”

Once inside the virtual world, exactly as Schlieski had explained, the user could see the text of Che Guevara’s 1959 speech in the setting of a Cuban jungle, with links to other content directly connected to highlighted passages in the speech. Using a pointer, the user could open and view the additional resources – whether text, images, or video – to elaborate on the themes of that particular passage. “It’s like footnotes, but in a virtual reality environment,” one user commented.

Users who tested the VR application saw potential in it. Professor Robert W. Patch from the UCR Department of History commented, “Technology will make certain things easier, certain things better.”

In some ways, the reflection indicated that UCR professors who leverage technology are already doing something right. One of the student testers observed that his best friend, who commutes over 50 miles to attend a different college, does not go to office hours because of the additional time it would require. He added, “He could have a more intimate learning experience if there were online office hours.”

“Good teaching is good teaching, whether that’s 100 years ago or 100 years from now,” Dr. Levy commented. “We owe our students to help them learn better and faster, especially with the amount of debt students are taking on to get an education. We are making it deeper and better with technology.”

“We’re looking to build applications of new technology in humanities that provoke critical thinking for students,” Schlieski stated. Reflecting on her previous work with Intel, she added, “From an industry perspective, problem-solving skills are sorely lacking in recent college graduates. Technology becomes obsolete so fast, but critical thinking skills are always valuable.”

Jacobson added, "After more than 10 years of library and education experience in virtual environments,  I think that working with information, ideas, and learning in 3D is something educators and librarians would do well to keep on their radar. VR is in an incunabular age, and we don’t know yet what it will look like as it takes useful forms. However, the possibilities are so compelling that I’m confident VR (or other VE) will develop into important tools for teaching, learning, and information."

No stranger to using digital platforms, Dr. Levy currently employs a variety of digital resources including Podcasting, Zoom, online office hours, and a private virtual discussion forum to maintain a sense of connection with her students throughout the week. As a result, she has received overwhelmingly positive student feedback. For Dr. Levy, this latest endeavor with “Che’s Village” is intended to find new ways to engage her students. “Technology allows us to give students who live off campus and part-time students the same quality of attention and education that a small liberal arts college could,” Levy explained.

“I can teach 300 students and make it feel like a class of 30 students because the entire medium is devised for contact,” Levy added. “The students are all on a screen, and online, everyone is in the front row – so it feels more connected. Students who would usually not raise their hands and participate in a live classroom are more inclined to speak up in an online platform. It’s convenient and an environment in which they feel like they exist, their voice matters.”

“Che’s Village” was a first-step in the iterative design process, and both Dr. Levy and Schlieski are now incorporating the feedback they received from testers to improve the VR platform.

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Many people grumble over their inability to effect change. However, UCR Library’s Coordinator of Education Services Christopher Martone will serve on a team of influencers to determine which textbooks are used throughout California’s elementary and middle schools.

Recently selected as an Instructional Materials Reviewer by the California State Department of Education and appointed to the 2017 committee for History - Social Science Adoption of Instructional Materials, Christopher will collaborate with a small team of individuals and the Curriculum Frameworks Unit to make state-wide recommendations for textbooks. Christopher’s appointment as a Reviewer will last for approximately eight months.

Prior to joining the UCR Library, Christopher taught high school AP US History and social studies for six years. Christopher has been with the Library for more than 10 years working with the education resources and maintaining the Learning Resources Display Center (LRDC) on the second floor of Rivera Library. Graduate School of Education (GSOE) students and local teachers can find materials in the Rivera Library to supplement and enhance the lessons they deliver in the classrooms – from children's books for all ages, to textbook materials, to non-book resources like manipulatives, videos, flash cards, science lab equipment, and more.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for Chris and for the UCR Library!” said Christina Cicchetti, Education/Reference Librarian. “The first-hand look at California's textbook adoption process afforded by Chris's service on this committee will inform his work in the LRDC, and help Education Services to communicate more effectively about the adoption process with GSOE students.”

The Instructional Materials Reviewers will review textbooks to determine whether they present historical facts and stories in an even-handed way, with a voice given to all sides and a balanced perspective, while still meeting state benchmarks for educational criteria in history and social studies. “Sometimes history has a tendency to be somewhat biased,” Christopher stated. “We want to encourage open-mindedness in students, and the best way to do that is to present all sides of the story.”

“Chris’ role on this committee is an excellent extension of his role with the LRDC, which provides local educators with a voice in the process of statewide and local textbook selection,” said Dani Brecher Cook, Director of Teaching & Learning. “By participating in this committee, Chris will be able to advocate for the inclusion of textbooks in the curriculum that rely on historical evidence for their claims, as well as deepen his depth of knowledge about the resources available to California educators.”

Christopher credits his 16 years of experience in the field for why he was chosen to fulfill this role on the Adoption of Instructional Materials committee, which will have a significant public impact state-wide. “What we decide will influence what students and teachers can use in the future, from kindergarten through eighth grade,” he explained.

“Anybody who wants to submit textbooks that fit these frameworks can send them to the California Department of Education for review. I’ve always wanted to encourage people to get more involved in this,” Christopher added. “If me being on this committee promotes the fact that we can get more involved and do something rather than complaining about it, then that’s great.”

After the review process is finalized around the end of November 2017, a certain number of texts will be approved and school districts state-wide will receive the list of books adopted for use in classrooms. The committee’s recommendations will take effect in 2018.

The LRDC at UCR Library is one of 10 similar centers around the state of California which houses copies of textbooks that have been either adopted or are under review by the California Department of Education for all subject areas in Grades K-8.  Local educators and the public may visit an LRDC to review textbooks to determine which to use in their districts. The UCR Library agreed to house this regional LRDC in 2004, particularly to provide students in the Graduate School of Education Teacher Education program with access to current textbooks and ancillary materials.

The LRDC is open by appointment only. To schedule an appointment, please contact the Education Services unit.

• Read more about Fanzines Collection

At noon on Thursday, October 13, UC Riverside launched the kick-off for Living the Promise: The  Campaign for UC Riverside at UCR’s iconic bell tower.

This comprehensive campaign is the first of its kind for the University of California, Riverside, with a target completion date in the year 2020.

A week of celebratory events followed the launch including large and small festivities and research symposia on campus and around the region.

Campaign co-chair Dr. Thomas Haider declared, “We are very proud to announce that the goal for Living the Promise: The Campaign for UC Riverside is $300 million. It’s a very ambitious goal, but we are more than halfway there.” To date, UC Riverside has secured $155 million in gifts, more than 51% of the goal.

UCR Library has its own goal as part of the comprehensive campaign. Fundraising efforts by the Library’s development team to date have generated more than 71% of our target in contributions.

University Librarian Steven Mandeville-Gamble stated, “We’ve had such a strong start that I would love to see the library blow right past our goal.”

He added, “The library’s campaign priorities include facility enhancements, endowed support for collections, funding for paid undergraduate and graduate student internships, endowed librarianships, and a Science Fiction research center in collaboration with CHASS.”

What would reaching these goals mean in terms of impact the library could have on UCR’s students and faculty?

Right now, the library’s impact is somewhat restricted by the assets, talent, or funding that we currently have. Having more resources would allow the library to:

• enhance existing library spaces to serve the next generation of Highlanders
• design and build new library spaces to increase community engagement
• create more employment and internship opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students
• foster innovation and entrepreneurship
• enhance our information resources in quantity, quality, and diversity
• support leadership positions that will help guide us toward the library’s and the university’s strategic vision

Reaching our campaign goals will truly enable us to become a library of the future.

“It’s time for us to make the mark in the world that we and our students and our faculty and our staff all deserve,” commented Chancellor Kim A. Wilcox during the campaign kick-off.

The campaign has designated six key themes, “Solutions that change lives,” including: social innovation and empowerment, new voices and visions, health and wellness, from genomics to harvest, emerging technologies, and renewable nature.

As one of the few university departments connected to every field of study on campus, the UCR Library is uniquely poised to support all six of the comprehensive campaign’s themes.

Nearly 6,000 digitized images from the Jay Kay Klein photographs collection are now more accessible, thanks to new, more descriptive and contextual information.

In collaboration with the science fiction fandom community, the UCR Library staff updated the image details and descriptions for the 5,933 images, which were first digitized in 2017. (View the collection on Calisphere.)

In 2017, an initial batch of 5,933 images from the Jay Kay Klein photographs and papers on science fiction fandom were digitized as part of a pilot project with the California Digital Library (part of the UC system and the group that hosts Calisphere). The images were first published with minimal descriptive information.

After publication, both internal review and robust feedback from the fandom community identified many opportunities to improve accuracy, detail, and context provided in titles and descriptive information about the photographs.

In subsequent years, UCR Library continued to gather community feedback by adding a new commenting feature to the collection, and the Metadata and Technical Services department worked continuously to make updates and corrections.

Yet the bulk of the images still needed careful review and the size and scope of a complete metadata overhaul presented a substantial barrier to launching a follow-up project. Special Collections Processing Archivist Andrew Lippert took steps to begin a review shortly before the university campus closed in March 2020, but the transition to working from home during the pandemic and the need for remote work within the Special Collections and University Archives department created an opportunity to commit fully to this monumental task.

The review began in February 2020 and ramped up during the spring quarter. Between May 2020 and May 2021, Lippert reviewed each of the nearly six thousand photographs and enriched the metadata based on community comments, information within the photographs, convention program books, Klein’s own “Convention Annual” photo books, and Lippert’s ability to identify the photos.

“Special acknowledgement is also due to the FANAC Fan History Project and Fancyclopedia 3; they were both invaluable resources for this project,” Lippert said. “It is difficult to say that this work will ever truly be ‘finished,’ as there are always more identifications to make and more contextual information to add. However, this new version of the metadata will certainly make these photographs more accessible by orders of magnitude.”

“Working on this project was a labor of love that immersed me in science fiction fandom and convention culture spanning several decades from the 1950s through the 1970s,” Lippert added. “Engaging with a single large archival collection on a daily basis always creates a sense of familiarity with the individual(s) and the subject matter that make up that collection; it was no different with Klein’s photos.” Lippert came to feel that he was getting to know some of the mainstays of the SF scene of that era as he found them in photo after photo at convention after convention. “My work on this project led me down countless rabbit holes, paths of discovery, and gave me so much invaluable context for the varied materials of the Eaton Collection as a whole,” he added.

Lippert would like to thank the community members who have contributed information, context, and identifications to the digitized photo collection since they were originally published in 2017. Additionally, special recognition is due to Lippert’s colleagues at the UCR Library, Noah Geraci, Digital Assets Metadata Librarian, and Sandy Enriquez, ​​Special Collections Public Services, Outreach & Community Engagement Librarian, for their invaluable contributions, support and assistance on this project.

A chance meeting with a Special Collections librarian completely altered the career path of UCR alumna Andrea Valencia.

A Latin American history major, Valencia often visited Special Collections and University Archives (SCUA) for a history course with Professor Juliette Levy. While in SCUA, she met Robin Katz, Arts and Humanities Teaching Librarian, who led a teaching seminar for Levy. (At the time, Katz was the Outreach and Public Services Librarian for SCUA.)

Katz’s enthusiasm for teaching and learning with primary sources made a strong impression. Valencia explained, “Her expression of joy to share that information with us, and our joy of receiving it was an entirely new experience for me. Seeing someone so happy, so charismatic, and having so much fun teaching students how to handle these documents, I realized that I wanted to be in that kind of position one day.”

So, Valencia asked Katz, “How do I become you?”

Katz replied, “You’ll have to get your MLIS (Master of Library and Information Science).”

After graduating from UC Riverside in 2016, Valencia enrolled at San Jose State, where she completed her MLIS in 2019.

Until that day, Valencia had thought she wanted to become an elementary teacher. “For some reason, my perspective on education and teaching was that it was only something you could do with a large age gap,” Valencia explained. “I never realized until that moment that you could be an adult teaching other adults or young adults something that they are passionate about. Being that source of information for them, and having a slightly more equitable sharing of knowledge.”

A Corona native and only child, Valencia’s parents presented her with two choices for college: UCR or Cal State Fullerton. “I really wanted to go to UCR because I’m a life-long Riverside resident. I plan on staying in Riverside long term. It’s my home, and UC Riverside was the obvious choice.”

Valencia now works as the Reference and Instruction Librarian at the Riverside County Law Library. She has been working in libraries for nearly five years now.

Upon learning of her impact on Valencia’s life path, Katz said, “It’s an honor and a privilege to get to help UCR students forge their academic and post-college careers! I am always happy to speak to anyone interested in librarianship, archives, museums, and related cultural heritage professions.”

To Katz, Valencia would say, “Thank you for presenting this job opportunity for me, this path in life that I never would have considered. As many other students, I was like, ‘What’s next? What am I going to do after I graduate?’ Growing up and going into college, thinking you want to be a librarian is not so common.”

Valencia encouraged her fellow Highlanders to learn about libraries in different settings, the Library Bill of Rights, and libraries’ commitment to the freedom of information. “Libraries are an integral part of society. Your local library, they want to meet you, they want you to come, they want you to talk to them. We’re sitting there waiting for the next person to come in because we're so excited.”

Still early in her career, Valencia is excited to see where this path takes her. “I’m using this period of my life to learn as much as I can, to find as many mentors as possible, and to go to as many conferences as possible. I just presented at CLA for the first time last year, so this is a growth and learning period for me and I really hope that in five years, I’m ready to be in the next place where I’m ready to be at home more permanently. The dream is obviously to go back to UCR.”

For UCR’s current students, Valencia shared this advice: “Don’t be so set or worried that you have to decide your future at such a young age, because ultimately your future is unfolding before you in ways that you can’t expect. It’s not like reading your story and you don’t know the end. You’re not supposed to know where you end up when you’re starting the story! You’re supposed to be flipping page by page, experience by experience, person by person, and end up where you’re supposed to end up by fate, or whatever you want to call it. Ultimately, that’s how I feel the UCR Library impacted my life. The people I met, the experiences I had there, and the time that I spent there ultimately changed my story, unfolded it in the way it was supposed to, and led me to a very fulfilling career that not many people know of.”

When Class of 2019 alumnus Matthew Diep first enrolled at UC Riverside to double-major in accounting and public policy, becoming a children's book author was not on his to-do list.

However, a missed opportunity in another campus department led him to apply for a student employee position at the UCR Library, which became the catalyst for a huge shift in Diep’s career and life plans.

“My whole life would have been different if I had gotten that first job,” Diep reflected. “When I was a senior at UCR, my dad passed away. The library was always there for me. They were so supportive. Books were always there for me. You know, books get me through everything.”

In January 2021, Diep self-published his first children’s book (under the pseudonym Matthew Dee) titled, “There’s a Book on That,” which is currently sold through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Book Depository. In his book, Diep wanted to show his young readers all the wonders that books in libraries have to offer.

“When I was a kid, I despised reading,” he admitted. “But the one thing that I did like to read was books that rhymed.” Diep eventually learned to love reading and began writing poems during high school, so he knew that he could rhyme, but he had never written anything like this.

After writing the manuscript last year, Diep saved it in his Google docs and promptly forgot about it. “Then this winter break, I got bored,” he said, which is why he decided to self-publish.

Throughout all 4 years of his undergraduate studies, Diep found himself feeling “miserable but practical” about his decision to focus on accounting. “Toward the end of senior year, I reflected on what would make me happy and what would I enjoy, and I knew I enjoyed working at the library. So I decided to totally switch my career path.” He applied for a Masters program in Library and Information Sciences (MLIS) at San Jose State, and hopes to complete his degree within two years.

He is currently employed part-time with the City of Ontario Library and full-time with the University of Redlands Library, where he supervises student employees in the Access Services department. This reminds him of his former supervisor: “Leslie [Settle] is someone I always think about because she was a great supervisor and she was always there for her students, and that’s what I aspire to be for my students.”

Upon completion of his MLIS, Diep hopes to work in an academic library, perhaps at his alma mater. He has ideas for more children’s books, as well. In the meantime, he is focused on marketing his first book and getting it onto the shelves of as many libraries as possible. “I do want to see it with the little call number and everything,” he said.

Diep's endeavors have been met with overwhelming support from his family and friends on social media, though interested libraries should move quickly, he said. “The hard copy is already out-of-stock on Amazon.”

Fortunately, the UCR Library has already ordered a copy of “There’s a Book on That,” which will soon sit proudly alongside its counterparts in the library's juvenile collection.

Supportive Highlanders can follow their classmate at matthewdeebooks.com.

The University of California geospatial community announced that the inaugural systemwide UC GIS Week conference will be held online from Nov. 17-19, 2020.

The event will be hosted virtually through Zoom. All talks are free and open to the public.

GIS Day provides an international forum for users of geographic information systems (GIS) technology to demonstrate real-world applications that are making a difference in our society. Rather than hold individual GIS Day events at each UC campus, this year it was decided to take advantage of our virtual environment and share geospatial expertise throughout the UC system in a three-day event.

Attending UC GIS Week is an opportunity for you to learn and engage with experts and mapping projects across the UC system and beyond. Ask questions during the thematic mapping panels, engage with GIS industry professionals, interact with poster presenters, and connect during social events.

Five UCR affiliates are among the presenters. On Wednesday, Nov. 18, Elia Scudiero from the US Salinity Laboratory will present on a panel while Andre Mere, graduate student in Earth and Planetary Sciences, will present a poster. On Thursday, Nov. 19, faculty members Nic Barth of Earth and Planetary Sciences and Ahmed Eldawy of Computer Science and Engineering will give lightning talks, and Psychology graduate student Emily Esposito will present on a panel.

Registration entitles you attend any or all of the tentatively scheduled events below (schedule subject to change):

Tuesday, Nov. 17

• 11 a.m. – 12 p.m.: Opening plenary – Collaboration Across the UCs
• 1 p.m. – 2 p.m.: Historical Geography | Policy Poster Session
• 3 p.m. – 4 p.m.: Risk Assessment Workshop | Career Panel #1

Wednesday, Nov. 18

• 11 a.m. – 12 p.m.: Natural Resources and Environmental Data | Mapping for Social Justice
• 1 p.m. – 2 p.m.: Public Health | Career Panel #2
• 3 p.m. – 4 p.m.: Mapping Policy - Lightning Talks | Environmental Science and Public Health Poster Session

Thursday, Nov. 19

• 11 .a.m – 12 p.m.: Environmental Science - Lightning Talks
• 1 p.m. – 2 p.m.: Social Geography and the Built Environment
• 3 p.m. – 4 p.m.: Marine Archaeology Workshop | Promoting Public Health
• 4 p.m. - 5 p.m. Celebratory Map up and Debrief

Register now to stay informed and get early access to the first UC GIS Week digital swag bag!

For questions about UC GIS Week, please email ucgisweek@gmail.com.