Ames Library News

The Ames Library participates each year in Day Without Art Day on December 1, the national day of action and mourning in response to the AIDS crisis. To make the public aware that AIDS can touch everyone, and inspire positive action, some 800 U.S. art and AIDS groups participated in the first Day Without Art, shutting down museums, sending staff to volunteer at AIDS services, or sponsoring special exhibitions of work about AIDS. Since then, Day With(out) Art has grown into a collaborative project in which an estimated 8,000 national and international museums, galleries, art centers, AIDS service organizations, libraries, high schools and colleges take part. We appreciate having our students assist us with making this important statement.

The Ames Library will open at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, December 8 and Sunday, December 9, to support student preparation for exams. The library continues to look at our building use through our “people counter” software. Good luck on finals!

The Ames Library appeals to students of all ages. Tremont Illinois 4th graders visited the library on Friday, November 2. Among their favorites: the Sumo chairs, wall-writing in The Thorpe Center, and the incunable in our Archives. Many of the 75 students said they are now inspired to work hard and come to IWU when they graduate form high school!

This week celebrates Open Access (OA), a global movement to ensure that research is available to anyone, anywhere, anytime.  Peter Suber, OA rock star, defines it as “digital, online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.” (OA Overview)  We support OA at IWU in a few different ways:  first, by educating faculty, staff and students about their rights to share their work; second, by developing and maintaining Digital Commons @ IWU, our online archive of scholarship and creative activity; third, by supporting and hosting IWU’s undergraduate journals; and fourth, with memberships in the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC) and the Alliance for Taxpayer Access (ATA).

To learn more about Open Access and its core components, please check out the newly published HowOpenIsIt? brochure, developed by the Public Library of Science (PLoS), SPARC, and the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA). (Kevin Smith’s blog post on “Three things OA is not” is also a great read!)

If you’d like to hear more about Open Access, Digital Commons @ IWU, or how you can share your work more openly, please let us know!

Welcome back, Titans!  The Library has a number of events to celebrate Homecoming and the 10th Anniversary of the Ames Library.  For more information, please see our events schedule, and you can also check out our digital exhibit about the history of our lovely building.

Sumo chairs – found on the 3rd floor of the Library’s Thorpe Center – are becoming the favorite seats in the house for many.  The choice of gamers, researchers and cat-nappers alike, Sumo chairs in Thorpe provide a good view of the Head of Aphrodite.  More Sumo chairs are expected this year.  Where would you like to see a Sumo?

Students asked, we delivered: students have asked for a Quiet Floor in the library, a place where they know they won’t be interrupted by groups talking. The library is trying out the 4th floor for its Quiet Floor this semester. Signs will be posted and the quiet will be self-policed. Any problems can be reported to the University Librarian’s office during week days (201 Library) or to the Building Aide (located at the Circulation Desk) at other times.