Collins Unbound

Access to Federally Funded Research

On August 25, 2022, a memorandum was released by the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy updating federal policy requiring data and publications resulting from federally funded research to be shared.  The OSTP memo directs all federal agencies to develop policies to ensure that taxpayer-funded research outputs, including publications and datasets, will be made immediately available for the public to freely access.  New policies regarding public access for publications and data must be in effect by the end of 2025, although agencies may implement policies sooner.  Some of the most significant changes include:

• The memo expands the scope of federal policy on public access to grant-funded research.  Previous guidance from 2013 applied only to agencies dispensing more than $100 million in grants annually, such as the NIH and the NSF.  Colleagues in the humanities may be interested to note that the new guidance will apply to all federal agencies, including the NEH.
• This memo eliminates the option for authors to choose to delay public access to articles or datasets after publication.
• Current policies based on the 2013 directive allow for publications and datasets to be subject to an embargo period of up to 12 months post-publication before becoming freely available.  The new memo specifically directs that research outputs must be made immediately available, with no option for embargo. 
• Agencies are directed to draft policies which apply to publications and datasets for which any contributing author has received funding, not just the primary author.  

Open access advocates such as SPARC, the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition, have described this memo as “a historic win for open access.”  Other scholarly communication analysts have raised some questions about the implementation of this ambitious directive.  It remains to be seen what policies will be developed by federal agencies in response to this directive, but any researchers who apply for or receive federal funding will want to keep an eye on this development.  Please feel free to reach out to Eli Gandour-Rood, Collins Library science liaison, with any questions.

Need Information? Don’t forget the Collins Memorial Library – Library Guides
Questions? Contact your liaison librarian
Comments: Contact Jane Carlin, library director
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Banned Books Week – Books Unite Us – Censorship Divides Us

This week libraries all over our country celebrate the freedom to read.  In a release from the American Library Association earlier this month 681 attempts to ban or restrict library resources were documented through the first eight months of 2022.  On September 16, the New York Times published an article on this topic citing conservative politicians who are targeting school and public libraries.

All of us at Collins Library support the freedom to read and invite you to read a banned book!

Some of our favorite staff picks include:

• To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
• The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
• Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling
• And Tango Makes Three written by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson, illustrated by Henry Cole

What can you do?  Join the effort to unite against Book Bans.  Learn more about this movement by visiting this link:  https://uniteagainstbookbans.org/  The toolkit provides a number of talking points to address book bans and these can be very effective, especially if you are facing a book ban in a public school.  In addition, there are sample letters, yard signs and a list of partner organizations.

Need Information? Don’t forget the Collins Memorial Library – Library Guides
Questions? Contact your liaison librarian
Comments: Contact Jane Carlin, library director
Remember – Your best search engine is a librarian!

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Welcome Back!  We look forward to working with you this semester.

Collins Library Staff:  Goodbyes and Hellos: 
This summer we wished our two archivists, Adriana Flores and Laura Edgar, well as they left Puget Sound to pursue new career opportunities.  We welcome Jane Connelly and Olivia Inglin to our Archives in the next few weeks.  Jane joins us from Seattle University where she has worked as the Law Library Archivist.  She brings with her extensive experience from DePaul University in Chicago where she served as the Assistant Archivist.  Jane received her Master of Library and Information Science with Archival Emphasis from Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois.  Olivia currently works as the Digital Asset Manager at Zulily and recently received her Master of Archival Studies from the University of British Columbia.  We also welcomed Erin Lafferre who joined our Public Services Team and is overseeing our OCR for Canvas Program.  Wendy Lee Spaček is our new Arts & Humanities Librarian.  Nick Triggs has been appointed as our User Experience and Discovery Librarian.  We are delighted to welcome all of our new staff to Puget Sound.

Changes with our Elsevier Journal Bundle:
After a long and thoughtful review process, which included consultation with colleagues and LMIS, we will not be renewing our Elsevier journal bundle this year.  This will allow us to directly subscribe to the Elsevier journals most frequently utilized by our Puget Sound community as well as result in considerable cost savings.  Please keep in mind we can always provide content through interlibrary loan and document delivery. 

New Web Page and Enhanced Searching in Primo:
You will see some changes to our web site and to PRIMO.  These changes were designed to enhance accessibility and streamline searching.

New Exhibit:  Changing the Conversation:
We are delighted to showcase over a decade of collecting unique artists’ books, zines and broadsides that reflect social justice themes.  The exhibit is on display in the library link area and outside A&SC through the end of the semester.  On August 25 we will be hosting a zoom event with noted African American artist Alisa Banks who will discuss her book Wrongful Termination which is on display in the exhibit.  This book addresses the impact of the CROWN Act and efforts to end race-based hair discrimination.  On September 12, we are hosting a workshop in our Book Arts Studio with local printers Jessica Spring and Yoshi Nakagawa.  They will discuss the collaborative process of designing the broadside for the exhibit and participants will have the chance to print their own conversation bubble.  Both of these events require registration through the Puget Sound Book Arts organization.  Click here and go to the calendar to register.

Scholarship in the Library:

• Peggy Burge participated in a one-week intensive course offered by the Rare Book School in Charlottesville, VA.  The seminar, “Six Degrees of Phillis Wheatley,” was taught by Dr. Tara Bynum who guided the class through multiple types of manuscript, print and material culture sources–letters, account books, meeting minutes of the Free African Union Society, sermons, pamphlets, broadsides, gravestones, funeral announcements, books published by subscription, and more–in order to create a richly textured understanding of eighteenth-century African American communities and their networks of writers and readers.
• Nick Triggs has a unique artists’ book on display at the Bower Ashton Library in Bristol, England as part of an exhibition honoring noted artist Edward Ruscha.  Visit this link to learn more:  http://www.bookarts.uwe.ac.uk/news/#nordic
• Ben Tucker completed chairing the year-long OER Institute sponsored by the AACU.  Along with colleagues, Melvin Rouse, Heidi Morton, Margot Casson and Kevin Kirner, this Institute focused on how OER resources can enhance student success.  A final report with recommendations is forthcoming.
• Jane Carlin was a speaker as the Art Libraries Society Conference in the UK which focused on the issue of neutrality of libraries.  Her presentation focused on the importance of diversifying collections.  Carlin also has an article on Science Stories published in the journal Fine Books and Collecting.​

Need Information? Don’t forget the Collins Memorial Library – Library Guides
Questions? Contact your liaison librarian
Comments: Contact Jane Carlin, library director
Remember – Your best search engine is a librarian!

Connect with us!