Latest Posts

Green OA and self-archiving: Using your Author’s Approved Manuscript (AAM) to increase the impact of your research

Reading Time: 2 minutesAuthors, who take extra steps after publication by sharing and advertising their work, can help to increase the impact of their publications.  One method of increasing a journal article’s audience is to make use of the publisher’s author rights or author posting policies by contributing an Author’s Approved Manuscript (AAM) to an institutional repository.

USF Curiosities: A 40-foot Band-Aid?

Reading Time: 5 minutesMom! Mom, look! A giant Band-Aid!
Walking into a hospital can be a scary experience for anyone. But, for a sick child, walking into a hospital seems particularly daunting. The Children’s Research Institute (CRI) at the University of South Florida’s St. Petersburg campus makes that experience a little less scary due to its inclusion of a public art project. Art has a way of connecting people, promoting a sense of togetherness, and providing a sense of belonging. And that’s why James Rosenquist’s public art project is so important… (Continue Reading)

Botanical Resources from USF

Reading Time: 2 minutesExtreme environmental and climate changes have caught the attention of politics and the news, pushing environmental sciences into the spotlight.  Like the USF Libraries Florida Environment and Natural History collections, the Atlas of Florida Plants from the Institute of Systematic Botany and USF Species Catalog have been documenting environmental studies for decades.  Both resources collect information on plant species and provide a background against which to observe changes in the botanical world.

Introducing Digital Commons @ USF

Reading Time: 2 minutesWe are happy to announce a new, consolidated, Institutional Repository at the USF Libraries!  The new repository, Digital Commons at the University of South Florida, highlights the research of USF faculty, students, and staff across our three campuses as well as features conferences, scholar profiles, digital collections, theses and dissertations, and open access textbooks and journals.

#Creekshed – USF Creek Shed Digital Collection

Reading Time: 2 minutesUSF Libraries is collaborating with Dr. Thomas Hallock (USF St. Petersburg campus) and Dr. Amanda Hagood (Eckerd College) to archive a series of columns called City Wilds for the newspaper Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. The articles are intended to highlight various creek sheds around the Tampa Bay area. Dr. Hallock finds it important to make sure the conversation on this topic is sustained. In an effort to get the word out on these pieces, Dr. Hallock and Dr. Hagood created and put into use an easily taggable hashtag name, #creekshed.

Enjoying Real and Imagined Florida Landscapes in the Hampton Dunn Collection of Florida Postcards

Reading Time: 5 minutesOver a hundred years ago, postcards became popular souvenirs when visiting far off destinations. The images depicted on their backs provided vivid glimpses into the landscapes seen by family members and friends. The postcards from the Hampton Dunn Collection of Florida Postcards, housed in USF Libraries’ Special Collections—Tampa campus, show Florida at its finest and most whimsical… (Continue Reading)

The Oracle in the Archives: The Grim Reaper of Pizza

Reading Time: 6 minutesGuest post from Richard Schmidt, Collection Specialist for Special Collections– Tampa campus. Richard specializes in digitization of rare materials.
The push for the USF Libraries to digitize the college’s student newspaper, The USF Oracle, began several years before I was hired as a staff member in the building. Alumni and researchers alike have always been interested in being able to view campus newspapers, and the more that they could view online, the better. By the time I started working on the Digitization team in Special Collections in 2007, the effort to capture the day-to-day goings-on, as recorded by the newspaper, was well under way… (Continue Reading)