December 2014 Archives

Yale University Library has received a $3 million award from The Goizueta Foundation to inaugurate a comprehensive initiative in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) education at Yale by launching a Digital Humanities Laboratory to be located in Sterling Memorial Library (SML). Indicative of the interdisciplinary vision inspired by STEAM, the laboratory will provide expertise, equipment, and facilities for faculty and students across a wide range of subjects. A portion of the award will also establish an endowment fund to support STEAM education at Yale.

STEAM embodies the idea of amplifying the strengths of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) by combining them with the creativity, visual acuity, and aesthetics drawn from the arts. The Goizueta Foundation’s significant contribution to the STEAM educational enterprise will build on a strong tradition of innovation in teaching and learning across disciplines at Yale and will greatly advance the integration of science, technology, and the humanities in education and research.

Yale University Librarian Susan Gibbons remarked, “The establishment of the Digital Humanities Laboratory provides a locus for the burgeoning interdisciplinary initiatives across Yale which explore teaching, learning, and research at the intersections of STEAM. We are very grateful to The Goizueta Foundation for providing Yale with the opportunity to develop robust support and services for faculty and students.”

The Digital Humanities Laboratory will catalyze existing STEAM-based projects at Yale and support the exploration of new ideas that connect established disciplines and audiences with Yale’s world-class cultural heritage collections. The term “digital humanities” encompasses a variety of emerging practices that transcend the boundary between STEM and the arts and humanities, including the computational analysis of cultural data and the democratization of teaching and research through global networks. Technologists, scientists, and humanities scholars on the Yale faculty who are already pioneers in STEAM education, as well as those who are newcomers to the field, will be able to use the laboratory to create new and compelling ways for scholars to engage with the sciences, arts, and digital technology in the twenty-first century.

“We believe that STEAM is a critical component of twenty-first-century learning, and The Goizueta Foundation is pleased to join with Yale University in this strategic initiative. It will provide a unique opportunity to join the university’s historic strengths in teaching and learning in the humanities with my father’s vision for innovation and creativity in education and public life,” commented Olga Goizueta Rawls, Chair and Chief Executive Officer of The Goizueta Foundation.  

About The Goizueta Foundation

The Goizueta Foundation was established in 1992 by the late Roberto Goizueta, former Chief Executive Officer of the Coca-Cola Company. The mission of the Atlanta-based foundation is to empower individuals by partnering with innovative non-profit organizations to produce lasting change in the areas of education and family services.

Mr. Goizueta graduated from Yale College in 1953 with a degree in engineering, and The Goizueta Foundation has been a generous donor to Yale, especially in the areas of biomedical and chemical engineering. Most recently, the foundation has supported the Advanced Leadership Program in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, and the Science, Technology, and Research Scholars (STARS) Program in Yale College, designed to support historically underrepresented students in the sciences, engineering, and mathematics. For more information, please contact amanda.patrick@yale.edu, Director of Communications, Yale University Library.

The Provost of Yale University, Ben Polak, announced this morning to the Yale community that Susan Gibbons will assume the position of Deputy Provost for Libraries and Scholarly Communication, effective January 1, 2015. Susan’s primary role remains that of the University Librarian; her new responsibilities will also include some of Yale’s scholarly communication ventures, among them the Yale University Press.

Susan joined Yale as the 16th University Librarian in 2011. She received her B.A. in History from the University of Delaware, afterwards earning an M.A. in History and a Masters in Library Science from Indiana University. She also holds a professional MBA from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a doctorate in higher education administration from the University of Rochester. Prior to coming to Yale, she was Vice Provost & Dean of the River Campus Libraries at the University of Rochester. While at Rochester, Susan was part of a research team that adapted ethnographic and anthropological methods to the study of libraries and library users. This growing suite of qualitative library assessment methods has been adopted by cultural heritage institutions globally and earned her an international standing in librarianship.

The broad focus of the Library, which provides support and services for teaching, learning and research across all disciplines of Yale, provides Susan with a strategically diverse perspective. She will bring important expertise and vision to her work in the Provost’s Office. She has been an exemplary administrator, with a visionary approach to the role of the Library in the academic and social fabric of Yale. Provost Polak stated that he is “delighted that Susan will be joining us in this new role.”

The Yale University Library is one of the world’s leading research libraries and a highly valued partner in the teaching and research mission of Yale University and scholarly communities worldwide. It is committed to fostering intellectual growth by collecting, organizing, preserving, and providing access to a rich and unique record of human thought and creativity. One of the Library’s distinctive strengths is its rich spectrum of resources, which include more than 15 million volumes and information in all media, ranging from ancient papyri to early printed books to electronic databases. Housed in 15 libraries, including Sterling Memorial Library, Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library and the new Center for Science and Social Science Information, it employs a dynamic, diverse, and innovative staff of over 550 individuals. For additional information about the Yale University Library, please visit the Library’s website at www.library.yale.edu.

Yale University Library received a $3 million award from The Goizueta Foundation to fund the creation of the Digital Humanities Laboratory (DHLab) in Sterling Memorial Library. Yale’s world-class collections offer unparalleled source material for humanistic inquiries. With the launch of the DHLab in fall 2015, we can now push these inquiries further by incorporating digital methods that allow us to see our (literary, historical, cultural, artistic) data at new scales. The Goizueta Foundation, which was founded in 1992 by Roberto Goizueta (Yale '53), provides financial support to innovative non-profit organizations in order to promote lasting change in education and family services.

Read more about the The Goizueta Foundation and the DHLab's mission here.

The Bass Glass Project is now accepting applications for spring 2015 term projects using Google Glass. Two sets of "Bass Glass" devices are being offered by means of a call for proposal. The application and more information about the project can be accessed on the Bass Glass web page. The application is open to Yale faculty, staff, and students with a valid Yale Net ID. Applicants will be asked to choose a specific time duration (short-term or long-term) to use the device, and will be asked to include a description on how the device will be used. The Bass Glass Project committee will convene shortly after the proposal deadline to make its decisions and notify the selected recipients. The deadline for spring project proposals is January 5, 2015. To help generate ideas, here is a list of several creative use cases for how Google Glasses have been implemented by Explorers including an education innovation infographic. If you have any questions, please contact the Bass Glass Project at: bassmedia@yale.edu Good luck and glass on!

Wednesday December 17, 10:30am-12 noon
Sterling Memorial Library Lecture Hall

Patricia Hswe, Digital Content Strategist and Head, ScholarSphere User Services at Penn State University and Daniel Coughlin, Ph.D. Candidate at Penn State UniversityDescription: Yale University Library and Yale ITS are pleased to sponsor a conference and public lecture on ScholarSphere, a software project developed at Penn State University, based on the same open-source Hydra/Fedora framework in use at YUL.

Yale University Library and ITS are investigating the possible adoption of this solution to enable Yale faculty and researchers to self-archive their own digital content in a managed, secure repository for controlled or open dissemination as well as for their own use. Our speakers will talk about the ScholarSphere project both from a technical perspective and as a service model. More information on the ScholarSphere website here.

Sterling Memorial Library Lecture Hall
Wednesday December 10, 2:00pm

New Haven rare book dealer William Reese will discuss how the business of dealing in rare books and manuscripts functions. He will discuss how material is acquired and marketed, issues of cataloging and description, how auctions and appraisals work, and other marketplace issues.

William Reese '77 is an antiquarian bookseller living in New Haven, CT. His firm, William Reese Company, founded in 1975 when he was a sophomore, is one of the leading rare book dealers in the world, specializing in Americana, travels and voyages, and literature.

The talk is sponsored by SCOPA and is free and open to the public.