Thanks to the UMass Amherst Libraries’ partnership with a consortium of academic and research organizations, UMass Amherst students, staff, and faculty now have temporary access to digital versions of approximately 1.5 million volumes held by UMass Amherst.

The consortium, HathiTrust, is providing emergency access to member institutions, including UMass Amherst, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on its 2018 holdings, about half of the Libraries’ print collection overlaps with the HathiTrust digital collection, so the new temporary service now provides access to the digital versions of more than 1.5 million print volumes for the duration of the emergency.

For information on how to access HathiTrust and other materials temporarily available, visit this guide or contact the Libraries.

“Through the UMass Amherst Libraries’ partnership with the HathiTrust, we are able to provide digital access to a portion of our physical collections while our facilities are closed,” says Simon Neame, UMass Amherst Dean of Libraries. “It’s during times like these where we see the true power of libraries working together to provide access to knowledge.”

Many items in HathiTrust are protected by copyright law, and no further reproduction or distribution is permitted by any means without the permission of the copyright holder.

UMass Amherst Libraries users may also take advantage of many other Resources for Remote Learning and Instruction available to support research and teaching needs.

The UMass Amherst Libraries are pleased to announce the winners of the 2020 Undergraduate Sustainability Research Awards. 

A $1,500 scholarship was awarded to first-place recipient, Linda Black ’20, for the white paper, “FOOD/NOW: On Climate Mitigation, Sustainable Farming, and Food Security in Massachusetts.”

Two $750 scholarships went to the second place award recipients, the group of Margaret Dreishpoon ’20, Levente Haber ’20, and Waverly Lau ’20 for the paper, “Reusable To-Go Containers at UMass Amherst,” and James Mazarakis ’20 for the paper, “Bringing Life to a Hospital Site: 19 Years of Proposals for the Abandoned Malden Hospital Site in Malden, MA.”

A $300 scholarship went to the honorable mention recipient, Amanda Anderson ’21, for the paper, “New Shipment Just In! The Earthship.”

Winners accepted their awards and presented their projects virtually in short videos available for viewing on the Libraries’ YouTube channel.

The competition was open to all currently enrolled UMass Amherst undergraduates.

Winning projects will be made openly accessible by the end of April in the Sustainability Student Showcase in ScholarWorks, the digital repository for the research and scholarly output of the UMass Amherst community.

The awards promote an in-depth understanding of sustainability topics, research strategies, and the use of library resources, providing participating students with vital skills they will carry into future academic and vocational endeavors. The awards and event are made possible by the generosity of donors who support the UMass Amherst Libraries’ national award-winning Sustainability Fund.

The UMass Amherst Libraries are pleased to coordinate efforts for the Pioneer Valley’s participation in the fifth annual international City Nature Challenge (CNC). The Challenge consists of a submission period from April 24-27, 2020, during which participants observe and submit pictures of wild plants, animals, and fungi using the free mobile app iNaturalist, and a crowdsource-based identification period from April 28-May 3, 2020. Results of the Challenge will be announced on May 4.

According to the CNC website, the Challenge was started in 2016 by citizen science teams at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco “as a fun way to capitalize on their home cities’ friendly rivalry and hold a citizen science event around urban biodiversity.” Additionally, the wildlife information gathered during the Challenge “gives scientists, educators, urban planners, and policymakers insight into the biodiversity of urban locales throughout the world.” Last year, more than 963,000 observations were made.

Recently, Challenge organizers released a statement saying “In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have made some modifications to the City Nature Challenge to help keep our organizers and participants safe. Firstly, this year’s CNC is no longer a competition. Instead, we want to embrace the healing power of nature and encourage the collaborative aspect of the CNC. This will allow people to safely document biodiversity in whatever way they can, even from the safety of their own homes if necessary. We urge all participants to carefully follow public health guidelines provided by your local governments, as they are changing in real-time. Individual safety and public health are our utmost priority. Please refer to our COVID-19 FAQ page for more information.”

This year marks the first year that the Pioneer Valley is officially participating. Melanie Radik, librarian in the Science and Engineering Library, is spearheading organization efforts with an information guide and virtual workshops for interested participants.

UMass Amherst Libraries, members of the All-Campus Makerspace, Institute for Applied Life Sciences (IALS) and multiple faculty and students from Engineering and the Life Sciences began working together in mid-March to establish UMass Amherst COVID-19 Response Teams including those to coordinate resources to fabricate supplemental personal protective equipment (PPE) to support medical staff on the frontlines of the COVID-19 battle. 

From the Libraries, Sarah Hutton, Head of Student Success and Engagement; Steve Acquah, Digital Media Lab Coordinator and Adjunct Associate Professor of Chemistry; and Dennis Spencer, 3D Printing Services Supervisor are three of the more than 80 faculty and staff now working across disciplines and centers at UMass Amherst, using Microsoft Teams to share information and designs approved by the medical community to fabricate items such as frames for plastic face shields.

“We know of earlier efforts looking at producing materials by people who want to help,” explains Hutton. “University efforts first centered around making sure we were bringing the best science to bear on designs, and consulting with the NIH and health care professionals, before we started prototyping and producing.”

Even though the Libraries’ physical buildings are closed, staff from the Libraries’ Digital Media Lab have been printing component parts (visors, clips, and hinged clips) for face shields on Makerbot and Ultimaker printers, and are providing prototypes for a ventilator splitting-mechanism that could help alleviate the anticipated shortage of ventilators. 

The Science and Engineering Library team supported a nationwide medical librarian collaborative research initiative to contribute to a critical open-access collection of pertinent research, face shield designs and reviews, and patents. This face shield prototype diagnostic collection, created by Hutton, is actively utilized by the team at UMass Amherst, and has also attracted other institutions regionally and nationally to draw from the collected expertise to help support other localized fabrication efforts.

Peter Reinhart, Founding Director for UMass’s Institute of Applied Sciences, Frank Sup, Associate Professor, and Meghan Huber, Assistant Professor both of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, have been spearheading a number of the UMass Amherst COVID-19 Response Teams across campus and in local communities. Dave Follette, IALS Advanced Digital Design and Fabrication and Device Characterization Core Facilities Director, has been collaborating closely with Spencer to design printable face shield component parts that will best fit the need for the rapid production and distribution of safe equipment to those in need.  

Joined by Campus Makerspace Director Shira Epstein, Environmental Conservation and Public Policy Professor Charlie Schweik, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Assistant Professor Meghan Huber, and many dedicated researchers, engineers, and students across campus, the goal of collaborators is to leverage UMass’s resources to expand the production and distribution of essential PPE into local hospitals and other essential service areas in our communities to help continue flattening the curve.

Irma McClaurin, PhD G’93, MFA G’73 was recently awarded a $15,000 Historical Archives Grant from the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, Inc. The funds are for the development of the Irma McClaurin Black Feminist Archive in Special Collections and University Archives (SCUA), University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries.

The Irma McClaurin Black Feminist Archive (BFA) was established in 2016, when Dr. McClaurin was recognized as a University of Massachusetts Amherst “Distinguished Alumni.” A former UMass Amherst employee, McClaurin worked in Transfer Admissions and as Assistant Dean in the College of Arts and Sciences from 1977-1991.  

The BFA is interdisciplinary and already includes the collections of several important activists and scholars, such as Black feminist anthropologist Carolyn Martin Shaw and the late Lawrence Paros ’55, an Alternative Education advocate and educator. The grant will cover expenses associated with transporting materials and preparing them to be deposited in the Archive.

The Black Feminist Archive will be part of SCUA's efforts to document social change and will join its actively used collections that include the papers of W. E. B. Du Bois, for whom UMass Amherst’s main library building is named, Horace Mann Bond, Daniel Ellsberg, Judi Chamberlin, and Brother David Steindl-Rast.

The Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, Inc. Historical Archives Program “promotes the preservation of the history of anthropology by assisting senior scholars (or their heirs) with the expense of preparing their personal research collections for archival deposit.”

The UMass Amherst Libraries announce the publication of Radicalize the Hive, an openly licensed textbook authored and assembled by Angela Roell, Stockbridge School of Agriculture, and Aisha Russell, Editor and Project Manager. This textbook has a Creative Commons license, making it a free and openly available resource for anyone to use, share, and remix.

Radicalize the Hive, a collection of stories from the field and resources for new and intermediate beekeepers interwoven with the author’s experience as a beekeeper over the last decade, centers stories of community-engaged beekeeping, marginalized voices, people of color, queer, trans, and gender variant beekeepers and bee seekers. “When I began this book, I was curious about who is working with bees in less ‘conventional’ ways and what practices we’re using to engage new beekeepers in ‘right’ relationship with honey bees,” says Roell.

This first iteration of the book is being released as a “reader version.” The authors welcome comments, ideas, and input from the public. A final version will be published on April 4, 2020.  

The announcement of the textbook’s publication coincides with Open Education Week from March 2-6, 2020, an Open Education Global initiative highlighting that “by providing free and open access to education and knowledge, open education helps create a world to support learning.”

Radicalize the Hive, as well as other openly licensed books, is available online or for download via Open Books Library, a catalog of open access books published by the UMass Amherst Libraries. The catalog is hosted on Pressbooks, an open source Wordpress plugin that allows for easy reading on the web as well as PDF and eBook downloads for offline reading.

The textbook was developed with funds from the Open Education Initiative, an annual effort of the Libraries’ Office of Scholarly Communication and the Office of the Provost to increase the number of low- or no-cost openly licensed teaching materials on campus.

Jan. 21-May 7
Science and Engineering Library, Lederle GRC Lowrise

Closing Reception
Wed., Apr. 22, 2-4 p.m.

The UMass Amherst Libraries are collaborating with the Institute for Applied Life Sciences (IALS) to present “IALS Showcase: Where Art Meets Science” through May 7, in the Science and Engineering Library, Lederle GRC Lowrise, UMass Amherst. A closing reception for the campus community will take place on Wednesday, April 22, 2-4 p.m.

The showcase features information about the work of the Institute, including its research, services, summer internship program, and ongoing collaborations. Artwork and materials on display illustrate the work of the Institute’s Centers: Bioactive Delivery, Personalized Health Monitoring, and Models to Medicine, as well as the 30+ shared resource facilities-UMass Core Facilities. New items will be added throughout the semester.

The showcase will incorporate a research image competition for images affiliated with the Institute. The competition is open to all UMass Amherst students, staff, and faculty; awards will be distributed at the closing reception.

Additionally, the exhibit will highlight a collaboration with Building Bridges Worker Artists to create science-themed artwork.

Several pop-up sessions in conjunction with the exhibit will also take place throughout the semester; check the IALS website for updates.

Due to growing concerns over the spread of the Covid-19, the Breakfasts with Du Bois scheduled for March will be postponed. We apologize for any inconvenience and will share updates as they become available.

Mondays
9:30-11 a.m.

W. E. B. Du Bois Library, Floor 22, W. E. B. Du Bois Center

Join the W. E. B. Du Bois Center for a weekly light breakfast and discussion of a text by or about Du Bois. All are welcome.

This series takes place every Monday except for the following dates:
Dec. 23
Dec. 30
Jan. 20
May 25

Second Friday of Every Month
9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Online via Zoom at https://umass-amherst.zoom.us/j/154718507

Some workshop dates/times subject to change.

The following workshops have been cancelled:

Creative Commons 101: How To Find Images, Media and More For Your Projects (3/18)
An Introduction to W. E. B. Du Bois (3/24)
Coding for Non-Coders (3/25)
Intro to Photoshop (3/25)
Mass Aggie Seed Library (3/25)
Designing Poster Presentations (3/25)
Using Excel for Basic Statistics, Charts, and Graphs (3/26)
How to Choose Your Microphone (3/26)
Nature Walk and Wildlife Identification with iNaturalist (3/27)
Plant a Seed, Be Revolutionary (3/27)
Fair Use and Copyright 101 (3/31)
Archives 101 (3/31)
Become an Employment Explorer at the Library: Strategies for Effective Career Exploration & Investigation of Your Future Employer (4/3)
The W. E. B. Du Bois Papers (4/8)
Ask a Lawyer (4/8)
Introduction to Virtual Reality (4/8)
Infographics Fundamentals with Canva (4/17)
Mapping Data with QGIS 5: Perform Spatial Queries (4/17)
Get Ready for Spring with Plant Patents (4/21)
Nature Walk and Wildlife Identification with iNaturalist (4/24)
Cardboard Robotics (4/30)

The following workshops will be held online:

Open Educational Resources 101 (3/19)
Mapping Data with QGIS 3: Design a Custom Map (3/27)
Get to Know the New PubMed (4/1)
Creative Commons 101: How To Find Images, Media and More For Your Projects (4/8)
Mapping Data with QGIS 4: Work with Historical Maps and Photos (4/10)
Tools for Managing Your Scholarly Identity: ORCID (4/16)
How to Spot - and Avoid - a Predatory Publisher (4/17)
iNaturalist for Community and Citizen Science (4/22)
An Introduction to W. E. B. Du Bois (4/23)
Wildlife ID-a-thon with iNaturalist (4/28)

Get to Know the New PubMed

Friday, Jan. 31, 10-11 a.m.
W. E. B. Du Bois Library, Lower Level, Calipari Room
Instructor: Ellen Lutz
Audience: Younger undergraduates, Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty, Staff

Thursday, Feb. 20, 2-3 p.m. Register here.
W. E. B. Du Bois Library, Lower Level, Calipari Room
Instructor: Ellen Lutz
Audience: Younger undergraduates, Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty, Staff

Wednesday, Apr. 1, 2-3 p.m. Register here.
ONLINE
Instructor: Ellen Lutz
Audience: Younger undergraduates, Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty, Staff

Learn about new features and enhancements available in the new version of PubMed, as well as some tips for more efficient & effective searching.

Getting Started with Zotero

Tuesday, Feb. 11, 11 a.m.-Noon. Register here.
Science and Engineering Library, Classroom
Instructor: Melanie Radik
Audience: Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty

Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2-3 p.m. Register here.
Science and Engineering Library, Classroom
Instructor: Melanie Radik
Audience: Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty

Designed for first-time Zotero users and those who have some experience but would like more grounding in the basics, this workshop will guide you through organizing your library, downloading new sources, adding sources you already have, editing sources, and using Zotero with Word for writing papers. Please bring your laptop with Zotero already installed, including the desktop, Word plugin, and browser add on, and signing up for an online account. If you have trouble installing Zotero, please contact the IT Help Desk before the workshop.

Getting Started with Mendeley

Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2-3 p.m. Register here.
W. E. B. Du Bois Library, Lower Level, Calipari Room
Instructor: Anne Graham and Rebecca Reznik-Zellen
Audience: Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty

Friday, Feb. 21, 2-3 p.m. Register here.
Science and Engineering Library, Classroom
Instructor: Anne Graham and Rebecca Reznik-Zellen
Audience: Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty

This workshop will guide you through organizing your library, downloading new sources, adding sources you already have, editing sources, and using Mendeley with Word for writing papers. Please bring your laptop with Mendeley already installed, including the desktop, Word plugin, and browser add on, and signing up for an online account. If you have trouble installing Mendeley, please contact the IT Help Desk before the workshop.

PTRC (Patent & Trademark Resource Center) Services

Wednesday, Feb. 12, 1-2 p.m. Register here.
Science and Engineering Library, Circulation Desk
Instructor: Paulina Borrego
Audience: Younger undergraduates, Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty, Staff, Amherst Community

Wednesday, Feb. 26, 11 a.m.-Noon Register here.
Science and Engineering Library, Circulation Desk
Instructor: Paulina Borrego
Audience: Younger undergraduates, Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty, Staff, Amherst Community

Come learn about the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) PTRC program and the resources and services it has to offer to patrons, free of charge.

Your Publishing Contract

Thursday, Feb. 13, 1-2 p.m. Register here.
W. E. B. Du Bois Library, Floor 19, Room 1920
Instructor: Laura Quilter
Audience: Graduate students, Faculty

If you have ever published or hope to publish, you will likely be presented with a contract drafted by a lawyer. Do you know what rights you’re giving away? Do you know what rights you should keep? Come learn about about the anatomy of a contract, what’s worth bargaining for, and how to bargain, with copyright attorney Laura Quilter. Bring your contract or just your questions.

Getting Started with RefWorks

Friday, Feb. 14, 2-3 p.m. Register here.
W. E. B. Du Bois Library, Lower Level, Calipari Room
Instructor: Ellen Lutz
Audience: Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty

Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2-3 p.m. Register here.
Science and Engineering Library, Classroom
Instructor: Ellen Lutz
Audience: Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty

This workshop will guide you through organizing your library, downloading new sources, adding sources you already have, editing sources, and using RefWorks with Word and Google Docs for writing papers. Please bring your laptop with RefWorks already installed, including the desktop, Word plugin, and browser add on, and signing up for an online account. If you have trouble installing RefWorks, please contact the IT Help Desk before the workshop.

YouTube's Copyright System

Tuesday, Feb. 18, Noon-1 p.m. Register here.
W. E. B. Du Bois Library, Floor 19, Room 1920
Instructor: Laura Quilter
Audience: Younger undergraduates, Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty

Do you use YouTube video platforms to share videos, or to teach with? What do you need to know about YouTube’s ContentID system and copyright claims? Come learn about responding to copyright claims, synch licensing for videos, and finding music for your videos. 

Tools for Managing Your Scholarly Identity: ORCID

Wednesday, Feb. 19, 3-4 p.m. Register here.
W. E. B. Du Bois Library, Lower Level, Calipari Room
Instructor: Christine Turner
Audience: Graduate students, Faculty, Staff

Thursday, Apr. 16, 1-2 p.m. Register here.
ONLINE
Instructor: Christine Turner
Audience: Graduate students, Faculty, Staff

Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID) is a free, unique, persistent, and universal digital identifier. Come learn how an ORCID can help you manage and promote your scholarly identity and research outputs. We’ll look at some robust ORCID profiles, go through the quick registration process and populate your profile with relevant data. Note: ORCID registration is required for doctoral dissertation and masters theses submissions to ScholarWorks.

Anime, Manga, and Graphic Novels as Scholarship

Thursday, Feb. 20, 2-3 p.m. Register here.
W. E. B. Du Bois Library, Floor 19, Room 1920
Instructor: Maria Rios
Audience: Younger undergraduates, Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty, Staff

What does it "mean" to be a piece of scholarship? The goal of this workshop is to expand the definition of what “scholarship” is to encompass anime, manga, and graphic novels.

3D Modeling for 3D Printing

Thursday, Feb. 20, 4-5 p.m. Register here.
W. E. B. Du Bois Library, Floor 16, Room 1620
Instructor: Dennis Spencer
Audience: Younger undergraduates, Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty, Staff

Learn to 3D model for 3D printing. Various types of modeling will be introduced with a hands-on experience with Fusion 360 to follow.

Mapping Data with QGIS 1: Learn the Basics of GIS

Friday, Feb. 21, 10 a.m.-Noon Register here.
W. E. B. Du Bois Library, Lower Level, Calipari Room
Instructor: Becky Seifried
Audience: Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty, Staff

New to GIS (Geographic Information Systems) and not sure where to start? You’re in luck! This workshop will cover the basics of GIS, including coordinate systems and the types of geospatial data (vectors vs. rasters). SKILLS GAINED: Attendees will practice opening a sample spatial dataset in QGIS, identifying the dataset’s coordinate system, reprojecting the data to a new system, and changing the display properties to visually explore the attribute data.

Open Educational Resources 101

Tuesday, Feb. 25, 10-11 a.m. Register here.
W. E. B. Du Bois Library, Floor 19, Room 1920
Instructor: Jeremy Smith
Audience: Graduate students, Faculty, Staff

Thursday, Mar. 19, 1:30-2:30 p.m. Register here.
ONLINE
Instructor: Jeremy Smith
Audience: Graduate students, Faculty, Staff

Over the past 5-10 years open educational resources, or OER, have gained traction in the educational marketplace as "disruptors" of traditional teaching materials; so much so that all of the major commercial textbook publishers now offer an OER product of some kind. This workshop will answer your questions about this rapidly growing field that is revolutionizing the field of teaching materials. We will discuss the definition of OER, if it is right for your classes, how to find OER, what commercial publishers offer, support for OER development on campus, student engagement, Massachusetts state support, and more!

Japanese 4-Hole Binding Workshop

Wednesday, Feb. 26, 4-5:30 p.m. Register here.
W. E. B. Du Bois Library, Floor 22, Room 2249
Instructor: Sharon Domier
Audience: Younger undergraduates, Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty, Staff

CANCELED
Wednesday, Mar. 25, 4-5:30 p.m. Register here.
W. E. B. Du Bois Library, Floor 22, Room 2249
Instructor: Sharon Domier
Audience: Younger undergraduates, Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty, Staff

Learn how to make and then take home your own book using the Japanese 4-hole binding technique. We will be using paper, glue, thread, needles, hammers and awls. Perfect opportunity to clear your head and get away from the computer.

Teaching with Visible Body: Human Anatomy Atlas

Thursday, Feb. 27, 10-11 a.m. Register here.
W. E. B. Du Bois Library, Lower Level, Calipari Room
Instructor: Ellen Lutz and vendor rep
Audience: Graduate students, Faculty

Looking for ways to help your students learn or re-learn anatomy? Representatives from Visible Body will share different ways that the 3D Human Anatomy Atlas can be used inside and outside the classroom.

Visible Body Human Anatomy Atlas

Thursday, Feb. 27, 2:30-3:30 p.m. Register here.
W. E. B. Du Bois Library, Lower Level, Calipari Room
Instructor: Ellen Lutz and vendor rep
Audience: Younger undergraduates, Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty, Staff

Did you ever wonder where your spleen is? Curious about the duodenum? The Human Anatomy Atlas lets you examine human anatomy in great detail. Come and learn about this tool and how to use it.

Mapping Data with QGIS 2: Find (and Create) Geospatial Data

Friday, Feb. 28, 10 a.m.-Noon Register here.
W. E. B. Du Bois Library, Lower Level, Calipari Room
Instructor: Becky Seifried
Audience: Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty, Staff

This workshop is aimed at GIS beginners who are excited to start playing around with real geospatial data. We will browse through some of the best websites to find GIS data and cover important concepts in data management, including how to create new datasets, convert between formats, and organize files. SKILLS GAINED: Attendees will find and download a GIS dataset from a government source, generate a new shapefile in different ways, convert between vectors and rasters, and practice renaming files.

iNaturalist for Community and Citizen Science

Friday, Feb. 28, 2-2:30 p.m. Register here.
UPDATE: W. E. B. Du Bois Library, Lower Level, Calipari Room
Instructor: Melanie Radik
Audience: Younger undergraduates, Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty, Staff, Community

Wednesday, Apr. 22, 2-2:30 p.m. Register here.
ONLINE
Instructor: Melanie Radik
Audience: Younger undergraduates, Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty, Staff, Community

The iNaturalist app is a free tool for engaging with the world around us. It lets anyone participate in an international Community and Citizen Science effort to track and map the wildlife that exists everywhere, even in the most urban environments. The app records the date, time, and location you snapped a pic of the plant, animal, fungi, etc. that caught your attention. It also asks you to ID your organism, as close to the species level as you can. If you don't know what you're looking at, the community of users works together to identify species. This workshop is meant to familiarize you with the app itself, not to go outside and use the app. By the end of this workshop you will have explored the app's functionality and helped to ID at least one organism. First in a series of three workshops to prepare attendees to participate in the City Nature Challenge 2020: Pioneer Valley.

How to Film a Video Interview

Thursday, Mar. 5, 10-11:30 a.m. Register here.
W. E. B. Du Bois Library, Floor 3, Digital Media Lab
Instructor: Adam Quirós
Audience: Younger undergraduates, Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty, Staff

Thursday, Mar. 12, 10-11:30 a.m. Register here.
W. E. B. Du Bois Library, Floor 3, Digital Media Lab
Instructor: Adam Quirós
Audience: Younger undergraduates, Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty, Staff

Recording a one-camera documentary style interview looks simple and straight-forward, but it is more complicated than it seems! This workshop will teach the best practices of planning and producing interview videos. We will cover video, audio, questioning techniques, editing tips and more.

Ancestry.com Basics

Thursday, Mar. 5, 2-3 p.m. Register here.
W. E. B. Du Bois Library, Lower Level, Calipari Room
Instructor: Kate Freedman
Audience: Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty, Staff

Ancestry.com is among the world's largest databases of digitized primary source material. It contains a wealth of information for genealogists and historians alike. In this workshop, you will learn how to find individual names in Ancestry's database and how to make sure you found the individual that you were looking for (after all, there are a lot of John Browns and Jane Smiths in there).

How to Spot - and Avoid - a Predatory Publisher

Thursday, Mar. 5, 3-4 p.m. Register here.
W. E. B. Du Bois Library, Floor 19, Room 1920
Instructor: Christine Turner
Audience: Graduate students, Faculty, Staff

Friday, Apr. 17, 3-4 p.m. Register here.
ONLINE
Instructor: Christine Turner
Audience: Graduate students, Faculty, Staff

Need to find a reputable publisher for your research? Receiving solicitation emails to publish your work in impressively titled journals? We’ll look at examples of shady solicitations and review and apply methodologies to detect deceptive and unethical publishing practices. You’ll learn to recognize the traits of the bad actors and develop tools to avoid their traps.

Mass Aggie Seed Library

Thursday, Mar. 5, 1-2 p.m. Register here.
Science and Engineering Library, Mass Aggie Seed Library
Instructor: Paulina Borrego
Audience: Younger undergraduates, Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty, Staff, Amherst Community

CANCELED
Wednesday, Mar. 25, 11 a.m.-Noon Register here.
Science and Engineering Library, Mass Aggie Seed Library
Instructor: Paulina Borrego
Audience: Younger undergraduates, Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty, Staff, Amherst Community

Come learn about the Mass Aggie Seed Library, how it works, seed offerings, as well as books and seed saving equipment for loan.

Web APIs: An Introduction to Finding and Using Application Programming Interfaces to Directly Access Web Data

Tuesday, Mar. 10, 10 a.m.-Noon Register here.
W. E. B. Du Bois Library, Lower Level, Calipari Room
Instructor: Eric Bloomquist
Audience: Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty, Staff

If you’ve ever wished you could easily access large amounts of the data from websites, the good news is that many government agencies, news outlets, and companies have set up public Web APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) to allow people to do exactly that. Web APIs essentially allow you to reach “behind” the organization’s website and access data much more directly. This workshop will be a basic introduction to Web APIs, including examples and pointers to additional resources. We will also cover a basic approach to dealing with JSTOR formatted data, as that’s one of the common ways that data is returned from API requests.

Intro to Tableau Data Visualization

Wednesday, Mar. 11, 10 a.m.-Noon Register here.
W. E. B. Du Bois Library, Lower Level, Calipari Room
Instructor: Sarah Fitzgerald and Suni Berube
Audience: Graduate students, Faculty

Graduate students and faculty are invited to an introductory workshop in creating data visualizations in Tableau. Tableau can create interactive charts and dashboards for the communication of data. This workshop will cover the steps to create a variety of types of charts in Tableau and provide you with an introduction to the uses of the software.

Stop Signing Away Your (Intellectual) Rights!: How the Open Access Policy Can Help You

Wednesday, Mar. 11, 2-3 p.m. Register here.
W. E. B. Du Bois Library, Floor 19, Room 1920
Instructor: Erin Jerome
Audience: Graduate students, Faculty

You got a grant from the University, researched and wrote an article, and have a publisher interested. But they want you to give away your copyright when they publish it. You'll need their permission to reprint your own work! And then they'll sell it back to the University that paid for some of the work in the first place! Seem unfair? We think so. Come and hear how a policy that's already in place at UMass can help break this cycle. Learn ways to retain the rights to your work while still contributing your scholarship via valid academic publishing vehicles.

Wildlife ID-a-Thon with iNaturalist

CANCELED
Science and Engineering Library, Classroom
Instructor: Melanie Radik
Audience: Younger undergraduates, Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty, Staff, Community

Tuesday, Apr. 28, 2-3 p.m. Register here.
ONLINE
Instructor: Melanie Radik
Audience: Younger undergraduates, Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty, Staff, Community

The iNaturalist app is a free tool for engaging with the world around us. It lets anyone participate in an international Community and Citizen Science effort to track and map the wildlife that exists everywhere, even in the most urban environments. The app records the date, time, and location users snapped a pic of the wild plant, animal, fungi, etc. But not everyone can ID the organism they found! The iNaturalist community works together to identify observed wildlife down to the species level. Data like these are useful to ecology researchers, urban planners, park rangers, and more! This workshop will familiarize you with the iNaturalist species identification process, and the resources available to you for species identification. Third and final in a series of three workshops to prepare attendees to participate in the City Nature Challenge 2020: Pioneer Valley.

Bookmaking Using the Stitch and Board Method

CANCELED
Thursday, Mar. 12, 10 a.m.-Noon Register here.
W. E. B. Du Bois Library, Floor 19, Room 1920
Instructor: Sarah Hutton
Audience: Younger undergraduates, Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty, Staff

Interested in learning how to make your own books? In this workshop, we'll use traditional hand-binding techniques to create a sweet little multi-signature book to capture your prose, doodles, and beguiling memos. All tools and materials will be provided, including book board, handmade paper, and linen thread. Come fold, stitch, glue and decorate with us!

Data Visualization in R/ggplot

Friday, Mar. 13, 10 a.m.-Noon Register here.
Science and Engineering Library, Classroom
Instructor: Abby Vander Linden
Audience: Younger undergraduates, Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students

In this workshop, we will cover the basics of visualizing data in R with ggplot2, a powerful graphing package for creating everything from exploratory plots to publication-quality visuals with data of all types. If you’re tired of clunky plots in base R or Excel, ggplot2 will make you feel like a data viz wizard!

Creative Commons 101: How To Find Images, Media and More For Your Projects

CANCELED
Wednesday, Mar. 18, 1-2 p.m. Register here.
Science and Engineering Library, Classroom
Instructor: Lisa Di Valentino and Jennifer Friedman
Audience: Younger undergraduates, Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty, Staff

Wednesday, Apr. 8, 1-2 p.m. Register here.
ONLINE
Instructor: Lisa Di Valentino and Jennifer Friedman
Audience: Younger undergraduates, Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty, Staff

Are you looking for images, audio, video, or text to include in your projects? Do you wonder about the copyright and whether or not you can use that perfect image that you found? Come join us to learn about Creative Commons (CC)! CC licenses allow people to share their work for you to use with minimal restrictions. Learn about the different licenses, how to find things with CC licenses and how you can use those items in your work!

An Introduction to W. E. B. Du Bois

CANCELED
Tuesday, Mar. 24, Noon-1 p.m. Register here.
W. E. B. Du Bois Library, Floor 22, W. E. B. Du Bois Center (Room 2220)
Instructor: Adam Holmes
Audience: Younger undergraduates, Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty, Staff

Thursday, Apr. 23, Noon-1 p.m. Register here.
ONLINE
Instructor: Adam Holmes
Audience: Younger undergraduates, Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty, Staff

This 1-hour workshop will provide an introduction to the life, work and legacy of W. E. B. Du Bois. It will also describe the work of the Du Bois Center at UMass Amherst.

Coding for Non-Coders

CANCELED
Wednesday, Mar. 25, 2:30-3:45 Register here.
W. E. B. Du Bois Library, Floor 16, Room 1620
Instructor: Mark Friedman
Audience: Younger undergraduates, Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty, Staff

Have you been told that coding is too hard for "ordinary people"? That's really not true - anyone can code! Most coding classes dump too much information on you in too short of a time. This introductory workshop will give you a taste of coding (an appetizer, perhaps), so that you can determine for yourself whether you'd like to learn more. Only basic computer and typing skills are required, and no math will be involved! Attendees will solve simple graphical maze puzzles of gently increasing complexity by writing guided code based on a simplified subset of the Python language. We'll have you go to a website and download some files, to start. Windows PCs will be provided in the workshop room, though you're encouraged to bring your own laptop (for example, if you prefer Mac OS) so long as you have the capability to install a Python language environment on it (which we can help with). We know the power of teamwork, so invite a partner if you want to share the learning experience! Further details will be provided by email and found at https://uxlab.umasscreate.net/coding/.

Intro to Photoshop

CANCELED
Wednesday, Mar. 25, 10 a.m.-Noon Register here.
W. E. B. Du Bois Library, Lower Level, Calipari Room
Instructor: Mike Foldy
Audience: Younger undergraduates, Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty

Have some personal photos you'd like doctored? Need to create a good clean image for a presentation? Want to revive old family images or perhaps delete your ex from the last family photos? Photoshop is a powerful image manipulation tool that can do these tasks and many others. This workshop is for those with no previous experience and would like to learn some basic image processing tasks in Photoshop. Attendees will learn some of the basic tasks such as image cropping, color correcting, and image cleaning.

Designing Poster Presentations

CANCELED
Wednesday, Mar. 25, Noon-1 p.m. Register here.
Science and Engineering Library, Classroom
Instructor: Jennifer Friedman and Rebecca Reznik-Zellen
Audience: Younger undergraduates, Advanced undergraduates, Graduate Students, Faculty, Staff

Do you have a presentation that requires a poster? Not sure where to start or the best way to design a poster? Come join us! Learn about different poster templates and where to find them, as well as what types of content can go on a poster and best practices for designing a poster that stands out!"

Using Excel for Basic Statistics, Charts, and Graphs

CANCELED
Thursday, Mar. 26, 2-4 p.m. Register here.
W. E. B. Du Bois Library, Lower Level, Calipari Room
Instructor: Eric Bloomquist
Audience: Younger undergraduates, Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty, Staff

This will be a quick introduction on the use of Microsoft Excel to do basic statistics and create charts and graphs. Some basic familiarity with Excel is assumed.

How to Choose Your Microphone

CANCELED
Thursday, Mar. 26, 7-8 p.m. Register here.
W. E. B. Du Bois Library, Floor 3, Digital Media Lab
Instructor: Yuntian Hu
Audience: Graduate students

The proper choice of a microphone is critical when creating audio-based projects. There can be many variables that come into play, including location and the direction of sound. This workshop will show you how to select the most appropriate microphone for specific tasks and teach the differences between microphone types.

Mapping Data with QGIS 3: Design a Custom Map

Friday, Mar. 27, 10 a.m.-Noon Register here.
ONLINE
Instructor: Becky Seifried
Audience: Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty, Staff

Looking to design a killer custom map, but super confused by all the buttons in QGIS? Whether you’re a total geospatial novice or an ArcGIS pro, this workshop is for you! We will begin by discussing basic cartographic principles and analyzing a selection of curated maps - some well designed and informative, and others not so much. This will set you up for map-design success as you work on your own printable map. SKILLS GAINED: Attendees will practice designing a map in QGIS following best practices in cartography. You can bring your own dataset or use the example provided during the workshop.

Nature Walk and Wildlife Identification with iNaturalist

CANCELED
Friday, Mar. 27, 2-3:30 p.m. Register here.
TBD
Instructor: Melaine Radik
Audience: Younger undergraduates, Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty, Staff, Community

CANCELED
Friday, Apr. 24, 2-3:30 p.m. Register here.
TBD
Instructor: Melaine Radik
Audience: Younger undergraduates, Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty, Staff, Community

This workshop will take us into natural areas near campus to photograph and identify wildlife using the iNaturalist app. The iNaturalist app is a free tool for engaging with the world around us. It lets anyone participate in an international Community and Citizen Science effort to track and map the wildlife that exists everywhere, even in the most urban environments. The app records the date, time, and location you snapped a pic of the wild plant, animal, fungi, etc. that caught your attention. This workshop is meant to familiarize you with using the app outside. By the end of this workshop you will have walked for a minimum of a half hour and submitted at least one new observation through iNaturalist. Please wear appropriate footwear and clothing. Second in a series of three workshops to prepare attendees to participate in the City Nature Challenge 2020: Pioneer Valley.

Plant a Seed, Be Revolutionary

CANCELED
Friday, Mar. 27, 12:30-1:45 p.m. Register here.
Morrill Greenhouse
Instructor: Paulina Borrego
Audience: Younger undergraduates, Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty, Staff

Get a jump on spring by coming to plant a seed. This workshop is a collaboration between the Permaculture Initiative, the Morrill Greenhouses, and the Mass Aggie Seed Library. Participants will be given the opportunity to plant a seed from the nightshade family (tomatoes, peppers, eggplant), learn about why this type of plant is suited for indoor seed starting, as well as proper planting conditions. Seedlings will be housed and cared for in the greenhouse for a period of time before they are ready to be picked up by participants.

Fair Use and Copyright 101

CANCELED
Tuesday, Mar. 31, 1-2 p.m. Register here.
W. E. B. Du Bois Library, Floor 19, Room 1920
Instructor: Laura Quilter
Audience: Younger undergraduates, Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty

If you take pictures with your phone, send emails, write papers, or doodle — congratulations, you’re a copyright owner! And, if you take pictures, forward emails, quote works, download music, or hum a song, guess what? You’re using a copyrighted work, relying on fair use or another copyright exception. What do you need to know to teach, create art, write papers, or simply live in a world in which practically everything we create and use is copyrighted? How do you avoid getting in trouble, or do you even have to worry? Come to a workshop with copyright attorney Laura Quilter to get the 101 on copyright and fair use. We promise not to turn you in to the copyright police. (And tell you if that’s even a thing.)

Archives 101

CANCELED
Tuesday, Mar. 31, 2-3 p.m. Register here.
TBD
Instructor: Kate Freedman
Audience: Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students

Are you an undergrad or grad student who is interested in conducting research in an archive or special collection, but aren't sure how to find resources or plan your visit? Are you curious about archives and how they work? Come to this workshop to learn more!

Become an Employment Explorer at the Library: Strategies for Effective Career Exploration & Investigation of Your Future Employer

CANCELED
Friday, Apr. 3, 10-11:15 a.m. Register here.
W. E. B. Du Bois Library, Lower Level, Calipari Room
Instructor: Alison Messier
Audience: Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students

In the job market? Need to figure out which companies are best for you? Do you have some leads, but want to impress interviewers with your knowledge of the company? You can learn a lot about companies using Library resources! Come learn how to conduct company research to help you with your job search, interviews and investigation of your future career and employer.

Professor Strangedays, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying About Copyright and Learned to Love Teaching with Zoom

Friday, Apr. 3, 3 p.m.
ONLINE
Instructor: Laura Quilter
Audience: Faculty

Monday, Apr. 6, 2 p.m.
ONLINE
Instructor: Laura Quilter
Audience: Faculty

Wednesday, Apr. 8, 9 a.m.
ONLINE
Instructor: Laura Quilter
Audience: Faculty

Worried about copyright, privacy, or other issues about transitioning to online teaching? Laura Quilter (copyright and information policy attorney and librarian) will review the relevant law and policy around copyright and fair use, and be available to discuss any questions or concerns you might have. 

The W. E. B. Du Bois Papers

CANCELED
Wednesday, Apr. 8, 4-5:15 p.m. Register here.
W. E. B. Du Bois Library, Floor 25, Special Collections and University Archives Seminar Room
Instructor: Blake Spitz
Audience: Younger undergraduates, Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty, Staff, Community

Come hold history in your hands, and encounter W. E. B. Du Bois through his voluminous archive housed in the UMass Amherst Libraries’ Special Collections. Novices and Du Bois scholars alike enjoy seeing the primary sources created and saved by Du Bois himself, and this interactive workshop will highlight items revealing Du Bois across his life as an internationally important scholar, writer, and activist.

Ask a Lawyer

CANCELED
Wednesday, Apr. 8, 1-2 p.m. Register here.
W. E. B. Du Bois Library, Floor 19, Room 1920
Instructor: Laura Quilter
Audience: Younger undergraduates, Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty

If you have legal questions about your research or study, from publishing contracts, to threats of defamation or "ag gag" laws, to privacy concerns, come on down. We won't give you legal advice, but we can try to help you sort out the issues and figure out whether you need a lawyer or whether you can relax. Join Raquel Manzanares (Senior Staff Attorney, UMass Student Legal Services Office) and Laura Quilter (Copyright & Information Policy, University Libraries) for fun legal discussion.

Introduction to Virtual Reality

CANCELED
Wednesday, Apr. 8, 7-8 p.m. Register here.
W. E. B. Du Bois Library, Floor 3, Digital Media Lab
Instructor: Yuntian Hu
Audience: Younger undergraduates

Virtual Reality applications are increasingly common in education and entertainment applications. This workshop will introduce you to VR programming using the Unity engine, a popular tool for creating VR products.

Mapping Data with QGIS 4: Work with Historical Maps and Photos

Friday, Apr. 10, 10 a.m.-Noon Register here.
ONLINE
Instructor: Becky Seifried
Audience: Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty, Staff

Historical data sources like maps and aerial photos can be treasure troves for GIS users, especially if they want to map how the world used to look before modern infrastructure was built, or before natural events altered the course of rivers or changed where people could live. This workshop focuses on two sources of historical GIS data: maps and photos. SKILLS ACQUIRED: Attendees will learn how to find these historical sources online. They will practice georeferencing maps using an online tool, georeferencing photos using QGIS, and digitizing features on the historical source to create a custom dataset.

Mapping Data with QGIS 5: Perform Spatial Queries

Friday, Apr. 17, 10 a.m.-Noon Register here.
ONLINE
Instructor: Becky Seifried
Audience: Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students

The real power of GIS is that it allows us to interrogate spatial data in new and interesting ways. We can explore the spatial relationship between two different datasets, select subsets of data based on spatial location, and generate new findings in the process. This workshop is geared toward intermediate users who already have a basic understanding of GIS but are looking to practice running spatial queries. SKILLS ACQUIRED: Attendees will learn about different types of overlay and connectivity queries, install plugins in QGIS to perform spatial analyses, and practice querying spatial data in different ways.

Infographics Fundamentals with Canva

CANCELED
Friday, Apr. 17, 9:30-11 a.m. Register here.
Science and Engineering Library, Classroom
Instructor: Sarah Hutton
Audience: Younger undergraduates, Advanced undergraduates, Graduate Students, Faculty, Staff

Looking for a visually compelling way to share that information? Jazz up those survey results? Get your point across? Well, look no further! In this workshop, you will learn to hone your point-making and data storytelling skills through creating your very own infographic using Canva. Come with an idea you're looking to share, and we'll teach you how to turn it into a visually compelling graphic using the fundamentals of storytelling, basic graphic design principles and pre-made templates (woo hoo)!

Cardboard Robotics

CANCELED
Thursday, Apr. 30, 2-4 p.m. Register here.
W. E. B. Du Bois Library, Floor 19, Room 1920
Instructor: Sarah Hutton
Audience: Younger undergraduates, Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty, Staff

Is there a robot-sized hole in your heart? Seeking cardboard companionship? Well, look no further! Join us to build your very own walking (ok, ok, technically 'rolling') robot to accompany you on those long strolls down the beach, contemplative jaunts through the park, or chin-scratching rambles through your local library. All tools and materials will be provided, including cardboard, wheels, batteries, and wire. Simple circuitry on the cheap never looked so appealing!

Get Ready for Spring with Plant Patents

CANCELED
Tuesday, Apr. 21, 11 a.m.-Noon Register here.
Science and Engineering Library, Classroom
Instructor: Paulina Borrego
Audience: Younger undergraduates, Advanced undergraduates, Graduate students, Faculty, Staff

Explore the world of plant patents. Each week the UMass Libraries Patent & Trademark Resource Center receives a packet of plant patents issued. Come open a packet, look through the plant patents issued, and see what plants might be on the market for spring.