Special Collections News

New University of Georgia Libraries’ agreements have expanded free open access publishing opportunities for UGA researchers, now covering more than 3,000 titles from prominent academic journal publishers.

Increasingly, researchers prefer open access options in order to expand the visibility, use, and impact of their work, and federal funding agencies require that grant-funded research be made openly available. UGA Libraries’ agreements with eight publishers cover the open access charges normally passed to researchers. These new arrangements are called “publish and read” agreements, as they address terms both for subscriptions to a publisher’s e-journals and support for open access. 

Three UGA professors have been named the inaugural recipients of UGA Libraries’ Fairchild-Holcomb Awards for Innovation in the Humanities. The seed grants, totaling $8,600, will kick-start projects aimed at creating educational materials and a podcast or documentary drawing upon archival materials from UGA’s Special Collections Libraries.

UGA Special Collections Libraries were highlighted as part of the Georgia Association of Museums Conference, held in Athens this January.

In addition to several workshops and tours hosted by our archivists, the conference featured Ryan Lewis, the Georgia Music Exhibit Coordinator for the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, as the keynote speaker for the event. 

The University of Georgia Libraries are pleased to announce the naming of three new leaders who join University Librarian and Associate Provost Toby Graham in providing direction-setting and oversight for the libraries.

Newest to UGA is Sara Wright who started her role as Associate University Librarian for Learning Services and Academic Engagement in January. Wright formerly served as director of Cornell University’s Mann & Science Cluster Libraries, and her career at Cornell included stints as Academic Technology Librarian; Head of User Services and Engagement; and Head of Learning, Spaces, and Technology.

Part history lesson, part ecological treasure trove, a new exhibit on display at the University of Georgia Special Collections Libraries explores the marine lives of coral and the expeditions and efforts to document the curious creatures over centuries, from Darwin to modern day.

As UGA students and faculty set their 2024 New Year’s resolutions, we wanted to remind you that UGA Libraries have the resources and services to help you reach your academic goals. Through the Libraries, you can access tools to enhance your research, take your projects to the next level, and reach your next steps.

Here are a few examples of how we can help you achieve your 2024 resolutions:

1. Get started early on research for my thesis or publication. 

Selected by statewide cultural heritage stakeholders and funded by the Digital Library of Georgia’s competitive digitization grant program, a compelling collection of scrapbooks and photos spanning the years 192

The University of Georgia Libraries has launched a website redesign, giving a fresh look and better mobile functionality for patrons and researchers accessing a vast array of electronic academic resources.

The website, located at libs.uga.edu, includes streamlined menu options and updated homepage design to highlight library hours and services, study space options, and special collections events and exhibits. Most of all, the new design furthers the website’s mission to provide access to the Libraries’ electronic resources, which results in UGA students and faculty conducting as many as 11 million annual database searches and downloading 5.5 million full-text articles annually.

The University of Georgia Libraries and the Center for Teaching and Learning invite full-time UGA faculty from all disciplines to apply to participate in the 2024 Special Collections Libraries Faculty Teaching Fellows program. The deadline to apply is 5 p.m., January 16, 2024.

Now in its tenth year, the program brings together a select group of UGA faculty to explore archives-based learning as a high-impact active learning practice through intensive workshops with specialists from the University’s three special collections units and representatives from the Center for Teaching and Learning. Seventy-five faculty from across campus have completed the program.

Imagine unearthing something strange from a cold basement. In October, that short description might conjure up a spooky image, although archival work at the University of Georgia Special Collections Libraries is more enlightening than eerie.

This Halloween season, an event combines the archives with the melodrama during a special screening of a B-horror classic film, along with archival images from the genre preserved within UGA’s Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, the nation’s third largest publicly accessible media library.