Reading Time: 6 minutesThis post was guest authored by Alexandra Vargas-Minor, Florida Studies Curator and Campus Archivist at the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library on the St. Petersburg campus Growing up in a family of bakers, I have always had an affinity for baking and …Continue Reading
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AI and Fair Use: Celebrating Fair Use Week 2025
Reading Time: 2 minutesFair Use Week 2025 takes place from February 24-28, 2025. This year, we are continuing to watch several court cases that could decide how generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools function or establish new understanding of how U.S. copyright law enables innovation and creative uses of copyrighted content through an exception known as fair use.
USF Curiosities: Bottle Cap U? Sandspur U?
Reading Time: 3 minutesWith the name “University of South Florida,” most people except USF to be located in Miami or Fort Lauderdale. Instead, USF is located in the middle of the state in Tampa, a city that is not near southern Florida at all! So, how did the University of South Florida get its name? When Florida Governor LeRoy Collins signed a law in 1955… (Continue Reading)
USF Curiosities: Chickens in the elevator?
Reading Time: 2 minutesWell, you can’t say that we don’t have fun at the University of South Florida…
As one of the first resident instructors at USF, Phyllis Marshall came to the Tampa campus in the fall of 1960. At the time, Marshall was in charge of 47 women, who lived on the 4th floor of the University Center. She remembers the way the residents developed a set of rules for themselves and created new social organizations. She also remembers how the residents participated in some early antics… (Continue Reading)
Library Exhibits on Environmental Studies
Reading Time: 3 minutesUSF Libraries’ program partners, donors, staff, and faculty have created several exhibits that highlight the Tampa campus library’s digital collections that focus on environmental studies. These exhibits work to provide additional context and connect digital resources to tell the full story of events that have shaped the Florida environment.
USF Curiosities: An elephant on the roof?
Reading Time: 2 minutesFrom the beginning, USF faculty members have proved themselves to be resourceful and imaginative instructors. So, when an elephant passed away at nearby Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, USF’s biology professors saw this as a unique opportunity… (Continue Reading)
The Roseate Spoonbill: A Fight for Survival
Reading Time: 5 minutesAs a result of the “feather craze” that decimated Florida’s bird populations, the Florida Audubon Society found that the roseate spoonbill had been the mostly heavily hit. Plume hunters and poachers sought out the roseate spoonbill for its beautiful, bright pink and orange plumage. The Audubon Society “understood that in order to save endangered birds from extinction, [it] would have to bring more resources to bear than wardens and sanctuaries.” Because the population of spoonbills had been so devastated, their “critical situation called for careful study of the living birds in the wild” and Robert Porter Allen was the perfect person for the job… (Continue Reading)
USF Curiosities: Sand as far as the eye could see?
Reading Time: 4 minutesThe year was 1956… At the time, an old WWII Hillsborough Army Airfield occupied a large expanse of Fowler Avenue. On December 18th, the Florida Cabinet voted to transform that airfield into the location of a new public university. The University of South Florida Tampa campus would eventually be built on what once was the practice bombing range. Two years later, ground breaking ceremonies took place on the Tampa campus, with contracts for the first three university buildings complete… (Continue Reading)
Meet the Authors and their Purr-sistent Assistants
Reading Time: 5 minutesJust like many of our readers, the contributing authors of Digital Dialogs have been working remotely for the last few months from our homes. Like many, this transition presented a few challenges. Some challenges were to be expected—like internet connectivity issues, computer problems, and software glitches—while others were less so. When we return to our desks each morning, we find mysterious coded messages on our computer screens, pens missing, our papers pushed to the floor, flash drives gone, and our mice hanging from the edge of our desks. Is this the work of a ghost? A trickster? A burglar? A fluffy head pops out of a drawer to give us a clue. So, who is the pen thief, the flash drive bandit, the commandeerer of vacated seats… (Continue Reading)