Author: UC Berkeley Library
Call for comment: Pamela P. Fong Optometry and Health Sciences Library
A call for comment issued this week by University Librarian Jeffrey MacKie-Mason and John Flanagan, dean of the School of Optometry, encourages all interested parties to carefully read the proposed plan for the Pamela P. Fong Optometry and Health Sciences Library at UC Berkeley and to submit comments and recommendations for consideration. All suggestions will be given consideration; most helpful are ideas that take into account the academic and scholarly needs of students and faculty at UC Berkeley and enhance the mission of the Library and the university.
The comment period is open through November 18, 2021. We invite you to submit comments via email to libraryforum@lists.berkeley.edu.
Under the proposal, the Optometry Library space will be transferred to the School of Optometry to enhance its teaching and learning space, and the Optometry Library’s services and collections will be combined with those of the Bioscience, Natural Resources & Public Health Library.
By turning the Optometry Library space permanently over to the School of Optometry, the call for comment states, the school will be able to expand its student study and meeting room spaces and provide patrons with longer hours of access. By bringing Library staff together in one location, the Library can offer optometry students, faculty, and staff better-supported operations and services.
Call for comment: South/Southeast Asia Library
Note: The UC Berkeley Library has announced its decision to withdraw the proposal for the South/Southeast Asia Library. Read more.
This week, a call for comment issued by UC Berkeley’s University Librarian Jeffrey MacKie-Mason, College of Letters & Science’s Division of Arts & Humanities Dean Anthony Cascardi, and Division of Social Sciences Dean Raka Ray encourages anyone interested to carefully read the Library’s proposed plan for the South/Southeast Asia Library at UC Berkeley and to share comments and recommendations.
The comment period is open through Friday, April 9. We invite you to submit comments via email to libraryforum@lists.berkeley.edu.
The Library has developed a proposed vision for the South/Southeast Asia Library collections and services to be integrated with the Doe Library and Main (Gardner) Stacks in 2021.
The Commission on the Future of the UC Berkeley Library report (2013) asserted that the consolidation of campus libraries “could reduce costs, increase efficiency, and improve the quality of collection development and service delivery to both students and faculty,” and encouraged the university librarian to work with academic leaders to “identify where and how space usage can be improved for user communities and service delivery better attuned to the needs of users.” In recent years the Library has closed, merged, and re-envisioned several campus libraries in response to changing user needs, emerging programs, and campus space-planning decisions.
Data Publishing with Dryad Digital Repository
The California Digital Library (CDL) recently partnered with Dryad to provide enhanced data publishing and curation support for researchers. Dryad is a free service that enables researchers to archive and make publicly available their research data for the long term. Dryad replaces Dash, which was the data repository previously available to the university.
Datasets published in Dryad receive a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) and a citation, both of which provide the data a persistent location, identification, and makes the data citable in future use. Additionally, Dryad fulfills many of the data sharing requirements stipulated by funders and publishers, many of whom may require that data be made freely and openly available at the end of a project or upon publication.
Publishing data to Dryad is relatively quick and easy. As a UC Berkeley researcher, begin the upload process by signing in to Dryad using your ORCID ID. The data is then reviewed by a curator, meaning the data is reviewed and enriched to be Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable or FAIR. By making your data FAIR, others in your area of expertise will be able to locate, understand, and potentially reuse the data you generated. Data that is made easily findable and publicly available contributes to raising the quality of scholarly output by making the process of data production transparent. Funders require data publishing to better leverage research dollars and publishers require data publishing to enhance the quality of scholarly literature.
Please visit datadryad.org to explore published datasets. If you have any questions about preparing your data for publication or using Dryad, please contact researchdata@berkeley.edu.
Getting Your Bearings Library Tours
Join other students and get your bearings with a 3-in-one tour of the Doe Memorial Library, Moffitt Undergraduate Library, and the Main Stacks. See these central libraries and learn about the student services they provide.
When: Aug. 28-Sept. 3, 2019 every day (with exceptions) from 11 a.m.-12 p.m. and 2-3 p.m.
Where: Doe Library; tour starts at the north entrance
Tell us what YOU think! Help Interlibrary Services by taking a 3-minute survey.
Have you borrowed materials through Interlibrary Services? We want to hear about your experience.
Please take our three-minute survey. Our mission is to support your research, and your feedback will help us better meet your needs.
WHEN: The survey opens April 15
WHERE: Take the survey here
Deadline for Library Prize for Undergraduate Research coming up soon!
We are accepting submissions for the Charlene Conrad Liebau Library Prize for Undergraduate Research now until April 18 at 5 p.m. Undergraduate students of all levels and disciplines may apply. We especially welcome submissions from lower division students, whose projects are judged separately from those of the upper division. More details are available on the website.
Works in progress are eligible. Submissions are open to research projects from a UC Berkeley course in one of the following terms:
- Lower division: Spring 2018, Summer 2018, Fall 2018, Spring 2019
- Upper division: Summer 2018, Fall 2018, Spring 2019
Update: Moffitt Library’s first floor reopened after flooding
Moffitt Library’s first floor has reopened after flooding forced it to close last week.
The library will be open for studying for RRR week and finals, although working electrical outlets will be in short supply.
The flooding, brought on by heavy rains, had forced an evacuation of Moffitt’s first floor last week and caused classes held on that floor to be relocated.
Stay tuned for updates.
Update: UC Berkeley Library adjusts hours for Thanksgiving week
The UC Berkeley Library is announcing adjusted hours for the week of Thanksgiving after continued air quality issues have led the university to cancel classes.
(Check the hours page for updates.)
The modified hours for Thanksgiving week are as follows:
Monday
Doe Library: 8 a.m.-5 p.m. (shortened hours)
Most other libraries, including the ones below, are open with normal hours:
Moffitt Library: Open 24 hours
Main Stacks: Closing at 2 a.m.
The Bancroft Library
The Bancroft Library
Bioscience, Natural Resources & Public Health Library
Optometry Library
Chemistry Library
Earth Sciences and Map Library
Music Library
Business Library
Environmental Design Library
Anthropology Library
Social Research Library
East Asian Library
Northern Regional Library Facility (NRLF)
Northern Regional Library Facility (NRLF)
Others will be updated as final decisions are made.
Wednesday
Most libraries are open, but all are closing at 5 p.m. due to the holiday.
Thursday
Libraries closed for the holiday.
Friday
Libraries closed for the holiday.
Saturday
Libraries closed for the holiday.
Sunday
Most libraries open normal hours.
New Resource: ACS Reagent Chemicals
The ACS Committee on Analytical Reagents sets purity specifications for almost 500 reagent chemicals and over 500 standard-grade reference materials. ACS Reagent Chemicals provides general physical properties and analytical uses for all reagent chemicals as well as guidelines for standard analytical methods.
The new online version has integrated supplements and updates to provide the most up-to-date content and includes new benefits such as:
- Mobile-friendly operation
- Live links between reagents and methods
- HTML or printable PDF formats
- Fresh, user-friendly interface
You can search ACS Reagent Chemicals in OskiCat or access it through the Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Library Guide under Properties and Data. Contact the Chemical Information Librarian, Kortney Rupp with any issues or questions.
Cambridge Structural Database 2018 Available
The 2018 Cambridge Structural Database System (including ConQuest and Mercury) is available for downloading from the UC distribution site. The Cambridge Structural Database is crystal structure database, with over 900,000 entries for organic and organometallic compounds.
Downloading CSD:
- You must be on the campus network or wifi or using VPN to access the files on that page.
- Don’t forget the site and confirmation codes, which you can get by clicking Berkeley (UCB) link. You’ll need those codes during the CSDS installation.
- CSDS is available for Windows, OSX, and Linux/Unix. It is recommended that you uninstall CSDS 2017 before you start this installation.
- There’s an additional Windows application that can be downloaded separately. CrossMiner is a “novel tool that allows crystal structure databases such as the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD) and the Protein Data Bank (PDB) to be searched in terms of pharmacophore queries.”
- You can also search the CSD structures through WebCSD, without installing any software.
CSDS Documentation:
- What’s new in the 2018 release.
- Information about CSDS, including links to the specific databases.
- Documentation for CSDS.
Please contact Kortney Rupp if you have questions about CSD.