Meet Your Library Archives - Page 2 of 3

Where Are They Now: Alumni Student Employees

Libraries are one of the top campus employers of students with a yearly average of over 70 student employees in the last five years. As one of the top employers: do we play a role in the success of students while they are employed with us, and does working in the libraries influence their career experiences after graduation? In the Fall of 2021, the Assessment Team at FSU Libraries found ourselves asking these exact questions. So, we embarked on a study to explore this with some of our former libraries’ employees from the past five years.

After receiving IRB exempt status, we connected with six former employees of the FSU Libraries Assessment Department for this first study cohort. We wanted to know how former-student employees described their work experience at the library. What aspects of library employment did they perceive influenced their current career outcomes? What are ways we could incorporate what we learned to support current part-time employees with more meaningful campus experiences while at FSU?

Most students in this first cohort were in STEM majors and were hired in data analyst roles. They collected, prepared, analyzed, and reported on library data, created data visualizations, benchmarked survey results, presented papers and posters at conferences, and helped to coordinate statistical survey data for national and regional organizations.

Benefits and drawbacks of working on campus & in the Libraries

Alumni employees found working on campus to be convenient—especially since the library was located near their classes. Participants said that they valued working on a beautiful campus, with real-life data, and enjoyed working in the pleasant atmosphere of the library. Drawbacks or challenges included time management and shifting gears between classes and work duties, and sometimes they found themselves on campus from sun-up to sundown. Some reported cramped office space, while others wished they had gotten comparable pay with that of a corporate internship and found that working a campus job did not prepare them for the fast-paced work environment of deadlines and deliverables they now face in their current jobs.

Highlights of their FSU experience

Participants of the study shared that they enjoyed learning how to collect, find, share and synthesize data. They found it particularly useful working and visualizing real-world data to solve problems. Often students have trouble relating the information they learn from a textbook to practical applications in the real world. This experience allowed our employees to practically apply the information they learned in a job setting. Another aspect participants cited as enjoyable was the opportunity to meet and connect with other campus partners on different projects. Being able to see how data and libraries could be integral to campus success gave a new perspective to our employees. A final highlight from this study was learning how many of our women participants have excelled in STEM fields post-graduation.

Key experiences our participants had on campus

Building friendships, relationships, and mentorships with colleagues and other members of the FSU Community
Engagement on campus in the LeaderShape Institute and Garnet & Gold Scholars Program
Opportunities for professional development, including submitting and presenting conference proposals and papers
Tutoring peers including student-athletes and at the Reading Writing Center on campus
Participating in internships and experiences abroad at our international campuses
Going to career fairs and speaking with recruiters about potential job opportunities

Looking into the future & how we can improve the experiences of our part-time employees

Former student employees said that they would have liked to have collaborated more with other library departments and to have learned about other parts of the library. This is especially true for those who switched their career plans and decided to work in libraries after working here. For example, one alum shared that they wished they knew more about Digital Humanities. They also wanted more opportunities to practice their leadership skills, such as leading meetings and giving presentations.

Overall, this study was invaluable in helping us better understand the student employee experience and ways we could improve future students’ employment at the libraries. One pillar of the Libraries’ Strategic Plan is “Investing in People” and it’s become a top priority of the organization to continue improving the professional development opportunities for both our full-time and part-time employees. This study has opened the door for others, and we hope to do further studies with the various departments within the libraries that employ student employees. To view the PowerPoint presentation for the New England College Assessment Conference, follow this link.

If you are a former alum employee and would like to participate in this study, please reach out to Kirsten Kinsley (kkinsley@fsu.edu).

This blog post was written by Kirsten Kinsley, Assessment Librarian at FSU Libraries.

My Experience as an Engagement Assistant

My time as an Engagement Assistant began in February of this year. I had been looking for an on-campus job for quite some time and I actually happened to see an ad for it posted on the libraries’ Instagram page. As a book lover, creative writing major, and student who has just spent entirely too much time in Strozier, I thought this just might be the perfect role for me. I emailed right away inquiring about the position and the response confirmed everything I already believed: it was a perfect match.

As an Engagement Assistant, I would be tasked with engaging with students while promoting library resources and services. I would also help to brainstorm and plan events for the library with a team of 3 other Engagement Assistants. I would also be able to work on projects that made great use of my writing and entry-level graphic design skills.

https://www.tiktok.com/@fsulibraries/video/7131050490007276842?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7111691011602843182

As someone who would like to pursue a career in marketing after college this job has given me many opportunities to gain experience in the field. From grassroots marketing like tabling and simply talking to students, to conducting market research by having students fill out brief surveys, to designing materials for library events. This role has allowed me to get an idea of what the rest of my career could look like. Prior to this job I had never designed anything in an official capacity, only for myself as I tried to teach myself the entirety of Adobe Creative Cloud in the throws of Quarantine. I have been able to hone my skills through the completion of projects and insightful feedback from my boss.

My background in retail has made this experience quite different from what I’m used to as an employee. I’m used to a fast-paced, quantifiable results-oriented environment. While the role is results-oriented, I have found that I am able to take my time with projects and produce more quality work over sheer quantity. Not only that but the projects are exciting! It’s so fun to go behind the curtain of a part of campus that has been so heavily involved in my college career. It’s also nice to have some input on student programming to make the experience that much better. Not only that but the input that my peers and I contribute is actually valued. The schedule has been very flexible as well since this is an on-campus job everyone is very understanding of the difficulties of balancing work and school as a full-time student. This has been a very nurturing experience and I feel a growing passion for creating useful experiences for students to not only learn something but also have fun.

My favorite project by far has been the Summer Photo Wall and Bucket Lists. Since the summer semester is a shorter time period with significantly fewer students there wouldn’t necessarily be enough time to have actual events as we have in the fall and spring semesters. With that being said we wanted to create something that would carry throughout the summer and be more of an independent activity that would still encourage library engagement. Through brainstorming and research, we came up with the idea to design an interactive photo wall where students could come and sign the wall as well as take a photo to ‘check-in’ and mark the beginning of the summer semester. We also added a QR code to remind students to back at the end of the semester to ‘check-out”.

The second part of this project is the Summer Bucket list which was designed to resemble a library check-out card. We designed two lists: one for the main Strozier library and one for Dirac Science Library. Each list Included items and activities about how students can become engaged with the libraries and the larger campus community. Each list had different themes: Dog Days at Dirac and 500 days of Strozier. By the end of the summer, we had over 200 signatures from students on the photo wall. It is so rewarding to see people engage with something you’ve been working on and imagine the ways in which it might bring people joy.

While I was “away” for most of this summer serving as an orientation leader here at FSU, I’ve learned a lot in the 4 consecutive months I got to be here, especially from my coworkers. I’m so grateful for this job because it’s the first time I actually was doing something I wanted to do. I found myself getting excited to come and continue working on projects. I didn’t just have a boss but more of a mentor who was always willing to teach and guide me through things and check in with me throughout the semester. I always knew if I had a question I could ask, whether it was about school or work or somewhere in between. I’ve gained so many transferable skills, and a few friends along the way, and if you can walk away from a job with at least that, I think you’re doing pretty okay.

Blog post written by Ashanti Grace, Student Engagement Assistant at FSU Libraries, 2022.

My Time as the Immersive Scholarship Graduate Research Assistant

During the Fall ’21 and Spring ’22 semesters, I served as a Graduate Research Assistant with the Office of Digital Research and Scholarship (DRS) at FSU Libraries. Collaborating with Matthew Hunter, the Digital Scholarship Librarian, I worked to increase FSU Libraries’ support of research services that utilize 3D scanning and modeling, 3D printing, and extended reality technologies. Working on various immersive scholarship- and digital humanities-based projects, including a self-curated exhibition, has made this one of the most memorable experiences of my graduate student career!

STEM Data Fellow Spotlight: Diego Bustamante

For Love Data Week 2022, we are highlighting our FSU STEM Libraries Data Fellows! These posts, written by the fellows themselves, tell their stories of how they became interested in data-related work and their experience as a data fellow to this point. Today’s post is contributed by Diego Bustamante.

Prior to my role as a Data Fellow, my idea of what data is was defined by my previous work with quantitative data collected from laboratory experiments. For example, when I worked as a Research Assistant I recorded quantitative data for chemistry experiments, like mass, temperature, volume, etc. I then conducted statistical analysis on the data in order to draw conclusions from each experiment. I personally enjoy collecting and analyzing data, especially because it can lead to many scientific and technological advancements!

While searching for jobs in FSU’s NoleNetwork in summer 2021, one job title that immediately caught my attention was “FSU STEM Libraries Data Fellow.” The job description was unique amongst other jobs offered on campus. As a data fellow, I was offered the opportunity to develop several professional skills in data reference, co-hosting programming language workshops, writing and publishing blog posts, and many more. I felt like it was a great opportunity and a good fit with my previous experience and skills, and so I decided to apply. Thankfully, I was selected as one of the inaugural data fellows, leading to a journey of professional and personal development that has thus far surpassed my initial expectations.

One of my first tasks in the program was meeting with different librarians at FSU Libraries. In these meetings I was able to learn about different methods and applications for data analysis in a variety of disciplines. For example, I learned that the Digital Humanities Librarian uses a text-mining software to find specific words from books published in the 1800s. She used the data drawn from the software to analyze certain traits of the story by counting the amount of times a character participates in an interaction of this type. This experience helped me realize that qualitative data sets can be used to draw similar conclusions about a study as quantitative data.

Another concept that I have become familiar with while working as a Data Fellow is open data. We discussed this concept during a workshop where we talked about the potential benefits of making research data openly accessible to the wider research community. Initially, I was hesitant regarding the concept of open data, because I saw academic research as a “race” to find a solution to a given problem. However, further discussion of how researchers are compensated for sharing their data made me realize that it is possible to benefit from open data on a personal and global level.

Currently, I am still learning about the many different types of data, its definitions, applications, and its importance. I am also working on developing an open source Canvas module on MATLAB where I explain the basics of the math based programming language in a student friendly manner. I look forward to sharing more about this work in the future!

STEM Data Fellow Spotlight: William-Elijah Clark

It’s hard to say exactly when I first got interested in data. After all, my mother was a statistician, so I’ve always been surrounded by data since I was in elementary school — from Arkansas Department of Health public health and mortality statistics to Disney World focus groups and market research. Personally, I started liking statistics when I took UCF’s equivalent to QMB 3200 and Econometrics. This experience extended into being a research assistant at UCF, and even into conducting and monitoring surveys at Universal Orlando Resort! Through my Econometrics course and from additional professional development opportunities at Universal, I was also able gain experience with R (although I didn’t learn it to the extent that I would call myself a professional data analyst or a data scientist.)

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns in Orlando back in 2020, I decided to go back to school here at Florida State University for Statistics, especially considering that FSU has a SAS coding certificate! Overall, I came to Florida State University with over two years of professional survey experience between academia and hospitality industry work.

I spent time in 2020 taking calculus courses and statistics electives here at FSU to hone my data analysis skills further. I then saw an opportunity to apply for a FSU Libraries data fellowship beginning in Fall 2021. I decided to apply, as this position would give me the opportunity to utilize some of the skills I obtained from my previous positions and coursework at UCF and FSU, and hopefully develop some new skills to further myself in my goals of becoming a data analyst (and hopefully even an econometrician).

So far in my fellowship here at FSU Libraries, I have had the opportunity to gain some experience with MATLAB and SQL through the Data @ Your Desk workshops at Dirac, as well as some experience writing surveys in Qualtrics (as opposed to just conducting and monitoring surveys). I’ve also had the opportunity to learn more about citation management, library research, and data management. I’ve even been able to explain concepts for MS Excel to a patron via the online “Ask a Data Librarian” feature on the FSU Libraries website. This all said, I’m looking forward to applying some of my previous R coding and statistical analysis skills to some survey data for FSU Libraries this semester.

Congratulations Graduates!

Every spring semester the Libraries hosts a reception celebrating our part-time student employees and honoring those who are graduating. This year we decided to post a blog about our students and celebrate our graduating seniors.

On behalf of Gale Etschmaier, Dean of University Libraries, “I want to thank you personally for your service to the Libraries. Without our part-time employees, we would be unable to provide the level of support that students and faculty at FSU want and need. You’ve been an integral part of this important effort and I hope you’ll remember your time at FSU’s Libraries as a happy and productive part of your FSU experience.”

Congratulations Graduates! All your friends and colleagues in the Libraries are proud of your accomplishment, and excited for you as you take the next big step in your life. At the same time, we will miss you!

We celebrate you! Read on for words of celebration on behalf of their supervisors.

Amy Bissonnette

Supervisor: Nikki Morse

“Amy has worked in the Outreach and Engagement unit for 3 years, leading the book display project for the majority of that time. She’s done amazing displays including Blind Date with Book and has also helped run dynamic events for undergraduate students. She kept our team laughing and was always available to lend a hand when someone needed it! Amy is graduating and moving on to the University of Connecticut Law School where she will be pursuing her Juris Doctorate.”

Bianca Devaney

Supervisor: Shaundra Lee

“Bianca has worked at Dirac since Fall 2018. She’s been one of our most reliable, stalwart employees. Besides working the circulation desk, she collaborated with other library staff to compose a literature review on Public and Academic Library partnerships related to STEM education. In addition to crushing work, the double-major in Criminology and Psychology has interned at the Leon County Public Defender’s Office, volunteered with various community organizations and will graduate Summa Cum Laude. Her future includes law school and the occasional turkey leg.”

Claire Haraminac

Supervisor: Shaundra Lee

“Claire has worked at Dirac since 2019. She’s a great worker at the library while managing her psychology course work and several research projects in campus labs. Her future plans include becoming a licensed clinical psychologist with a focus on children while mixing in travel with family and friends.”

Hannah Menendez

Supervisor: Liz Dunne

Hannah has been an amazing Reference Associate from the second she joined the team! She is an outstanding information professional whose compassion and commitment to teaching and learning have benefited all those around her. Aside from her incredible research skills and wealth of library-related knowledge, she is an absolute joy to work with and simply put, just a really very kind and cool human. With her talent, I have no doubt she will become a Rockstar librarian in no time! Congratulations on your graduation!

Isabella (Bella) Jaramillo

Supervisor: Nikki Morse

“Bella has been a part of the Outreach and Engagement team for almost two years and started her journey with us helping out with Orientation in 2019. Since then she’s been a driving force on our team, running events and helping usher in partnerships around campus. Her passion for the environment and social justice has also helped build our team into all-around activists! Bella is moving on to Georgetown to pursue their MS in Environmental Metrology and Policy- she will be missed!”

Makenna Sebastian

Supervisor: Shaundra Lee

“Kenna has only worked at Dirac Science since August of 2020, but it seems like she’s been here much longer. She has been not only excellent on the desk but has been the lead on several on-desk projects. And this is all while earning Dean’s list-worthy marks in Biomedical Engineering and being involved in Habitat for Humanity. Kenna plans to work in the medical field and travel.”

Eilish Power

Supervisor: Mimi Bilodeau

“Eilish is an incredible employee and has flawlessly stepped into the role of peer leader this year. We congratulate this rock star on her degree and amazing work at her internship.”

Ayoola Gayle

Supervisor: Rachel Smart

“Ayoola has worked with me for three years on an Open Access outreach initiative directed towards faculty and researchers on campus. She’s done amazing work and is very excited about her plans beyond undergrad and the traveling it may entail. I wish her all the best!

Paxton Welton

Supervisor: Nick Ruhs

“Paxton has been an awesome member of the FSU STEM Libraries team this year as the Research Data Services Assistant. She has played a key role in our engagement efforts with undergraduate students in the STEM disciplines around research data services. After graduation, Paxton plans to continue her education by enrolling in graduate school to get her Masters in Accounting! Congratulations Paxton!”

Shania Maharaj

Supervisor: Eddie Powell

“Shania is an incredibly intelligent individual who has a bright future ahead of her. With her strong work ethic and professionalism she has been a wonderful member of the FSU libraries team

Getting to know your science librarians

My name is Courtney Evans, and I am a graduate assistant in the STEM Libraries department at FSU Libraries. I typically work with our subject librarians to provide research and learning support to STEM scholars. However, today, I wanted to take some time to introduce you to our science librarians while giving you some information about what types of services and resources are available to the STEM students, staff, faculty, and researchers in the FSU community.

While our library buildings are currently closed due to concerns related to COVID-19, the FSU Libraries team is still available to help meet the teaching, learning and research needs of our scholars. We have extensive resources and services available to you from home. From research guides to consultations with subject librarians, we are still here for you. STEM librarians are available to support research and learning for students and faculty in STEM disciplines. Their names are Denise A. Wetzel, Dr. Nicholas Ruhs, and Kelly Grove, and they’re typically located in the Dirac Science Library when libraries are physically open.

As a graduate assistant for the STEM Research and Learning Services Department, I took time to interview our subject librarians in order to learn more about some of the projects that they work on and the services that they continue to offer students.

FSU Libraries Announce Alternative Textbook Grant Recipients

FSU Libraries is proud to announce the winners of our 2018-2019 round of Alternative Textbook Grants. The grant program, launched by the Libraries in November 2016, awards successful applicants with $1,000 to support the adoption or creation of open or library-licensed course materials that are available at no cost to students. These high-quality materials are written by experts and peer-reviewed, ensuring a level of intellectual and instructional rigor on par with expensive commercial equivalents.

Applications were evaluated based on criteria balancing the estimated savings to students, the openness of the proposed materials, and the likelihood of the materials being adopted by other courses at FSU.

Based on projected enrollment figures for the courses in question, the instructors participating in this round of the program are expected to save FSU students up to $167,800 by Fall 2019, and the total projected savings across all grant recipients since the program’s inception are expected to exceed $437,000.

Congratulations to this year’s winners! For more information about the open education movement and related initiatives at FSU, see our research guide on OER, or contact Devin Soper, Director of FSU Libraries’ Office of Digital Research & Scholarship.

2018-2019 Grant Recipients

John Bandzuh is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Geography. His research interests include health geography, political ecology, and vector-borne diseases. This is Bandzuh’s second alternative textbook grant. With his first grant, he used library-licensed journal articles in GEO4930 “Geography of Wine”. This year he plans to adopt an open textbook in his Summer 2019 World Geography course.

Kathleen Burnett is the F. William Summers Professor in the School of Information. Her research interests include Social Informatics, Gender, Race, and Ethnicity and IT, and Information Ethics. Dr. Burnett plans to author chapters for her own open textbook and incorporate online resources and videos in her Fall and Spring offerings of IDS2144 “Information Ethics in the 21st Century”.

Austin Bush is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Geography. His research interests include GIS, remote sensing, and spatial analysis. In lieu of a traditional textbook, he plans to use online mapping applications, scholarly articles, and videos in the Summer 2019 offering of GIS3015 “Map Analysis”.

Rob Duarte is a Professor in the Department of Art, co-director of the Facility for Arts Research, and Director of REBOOT Laboratory. Professor Duarte will adopt an open textbook for the new course “Interactive Art II: Electronic Objects” in Fall 2019. In the future, he plans to write his own companion to the text focusing on physical computing and electronic art.

Raphael Kampmann is an Assistant Professor in the department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the FSU-FAMU College of Engineering. His research interests include multi-axial failure behavior of concrete, construction materials, and destructive test methods. In place of a textbook, Dr. Kampmann will create his own course materials in the 2019-2020 offerings of EGM3512 “Engineering Mechanics”.

Jessica Malo is an adjunct professor of Arabic and Film Studies in the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics. Malo recently returned from a year of teaching English as a second language in Lebanon and published her first work of Arabic poetry “لو مشى معي قرص الشمس” (If the Disk of Sun Would Walk With Me). She will adopt an open textbook on Middle Eastern history and Culture in upcoming offerings of IDS3450 “Through an Arabic Lens: The Intersection of Film and Culture”.

Lisa Munson is Teaching Faculty in the Department of Sociology. She studies social inequality and social justice, particularly public sociology – applying sociological knowledge to promote social justice in the community. Dr. Munson was also one of the 2018 Alternative Textbook Grant recipients for a Sociology course taught in Florence in which she used an open textbook. With this grant, she will use an open textbook and journal articles in the Summer 2019 offering of SYP4570 “Deviance and Social Control”.

Alysia Roehrig is an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology & Learning Systems. Dr. Roehrig’s research interests focus on issues related to effective teaching, particularly exploring the successes of students labeled at risk for school failure. She will use chapters from two open textbooks on research methods in the Summer 2019 online offering of EDF5481 “Methods of Educational Research”.

Zoe Schroder is Ph.D. student in the Department of Geography. Some of her research interests include meteorology, climatology, and severe weather patterns. In place of a textbook, Schroder will incorporate government climate reports and journal articles in the Summer 2019 offering of GEO4251 “Geography of Climate Change and Storms”.

Michael Shatruk is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. His lab researches photo-switchable molecular materials, intermetallic magnets for magnetic refrigeration and electric vehicles, and low-dimensional magnetic materials such as spin-frustrated 2D magnets and nanomagnets. Dr. Shatruk received two grants this academic year to support the adoption and creation of open course materials. With a grant from International Programs, he will adopt an open textbook for CHM1020 at the Valencia study center this summer. With funding from the Libraries, he and his colleagues will develop an open-access online laboratory manual for a new undergraduate Materials Chemistry laboratory course offered in Spring 2020.

International Programs Grant Recipients

Lydia Hanks is an Associate Professor in the Dedman School of Hospitality. Dr. Hanks’ teaching areas include hospitality accounting, lodging operations, and service management. She will use an open textbook in the Summer 2019 offering of HFT2716 “International Travel and Culture” in Florence, Italy.

Cynthia Johnson is Specialized Teaching Faculty in the Dedman School of Hospitality. Her teaching areas include introductory hospitality, internationals tourism, and club and golf course management. She will adopt an open access textbook and other alternative resources in the Summer 2019 offerings of HFT3240 “Managing Service Organizations” and HFT 2716 “International Travel and Culture” in Nice, France.

Patrick Merle is an Associate Professor in the School of Communication and Director of the Integrated Marketing Program. His teaching interests include International Public Relations, Political Communication, and Public Relations Techniques. Dr. Merle will adopt open textbooks in PUR4400 “Crisis Communication” offered in Summer 2019 in Florence, Italy.

Anthony Rhine is a Professor in the School of Theatre and Director of the Theatre Management program. Dr. Rhine teaches courses on Audience Development and Arts Marketing, Project Management, and Resource Management. He will use an open textbook and a library licensed e-book in the Summer 2019 offering of MAN3240 “Organizational Behavior” at the Valencia study center.

Jimmy Yu is an Associate Professor of Chinese Buddhism in the Department of Religion. He teaches courses in Chinese religious traditions, with an emphasis in Buddhism and Daoism. Dr. Yu will use library-licensed e-books and articles in the Summer 2019 offering of REL3340 “Buddhist Tradition” at the London study center.

ALTERNATIVE TEXTBOOK GRANTS FOR INSTRUCTORS AIM TO REDUCE FINANCIAL BURDEN ON STUDENTS

FSU Libraries are currently taking applications for new Alternative Textbook Grants. These grants support FSU instructors in replacing commercial textbooks with open alternatives that are available to students at no cost. Open textbooks are written by experts and peer-reviewed, just like commercial textbooks, but are published under open copyright licenses so that they can be downloaded, distributed, and adapted for free.

“These grants encourage faculty to relieve some of the financial burden on their students, advancing the University’s strategic goal of ensuring an affordable education for all students regardless of socioeconomic status,” said Gale Etschmaier, Dean of University Libraries. “Grant programs of this kind are having a big impact at elite institutions across the country, collectively saving students millions in textbook costs each year.”

The cost of college textbooks has risen 300% since 1978, with a 90% cost increase over the last decade alone. Due to high costs, many students decide not to purchase textbooks, a decision which is proven to negatively impact student success. In a recent survey conducted by the Libraries, 72% of FSU students (n = 350) reported having not purchased a required textbook due to high cost. Instructors who participated in previous rounds of the Alternative Textbook Grants program are expected to save FSU students up to $270,000 by Summer 2019.

During the 2018-19 academic year, ten grants of $1,000 each will be available to FSU instructors who are interested in replacing commercial course materials with open textbooks, library-licensed electronic books or journal articles, or other zero-cost educational resources. Thanks to a partnership with International Programs, an additional ten grants of $1000 will be available for faculty who teach at FSU’s international study centers.

Interested instructors are encouraged to review the grant requirements and submit an online application form by the following dates:

October 1st, 2018 (for spring and summer on-campus courses)
November 1st, 2018 (for courses taught at our international study centers)
February 1st, 2019 (for summer and fall courses)

Successful applicants will receive training and consultations to assist them in implementing their alternative textbook. For more information, and to apply for a grant, please visit lib.fsu.edu/alttextbooks or contact Devin Soper, Scholarly Communications Librarian at dsoper@fsu.edu.

Florida State University Libraries’ mission is to drive academic excellence and success by fostering engagement through extensive collections, dynamic information resources, transformative collaborations, innovative services and supportive environments for FSU and the broader scholarly community.

Open Textbook Network Workshop for FSU Faculty

The Office of the Provost is sponsoring an open textbook workshop for FSU faculty from 10:00am-12:00pm on Thursday, October 25th. The workshop will be facilitated by two Open Textbook Network trainers, Dr. Abbey Dvorak and Josh Bolick from the University of Kansas. The purpose of the workshop is to introduce faculty to open textbooks and the benefits they can bring to student learning, faculty pedagogical practice, and social justice on campus.

Participating faculty will be invited to engage with an open textbook in their discipline by writing a brief review, for which they will be eligible to receive a $200 stipend.

What: Open Textbook Network Workshop

Where: Bradley Reading Room, Strozier Library

When: Thursday, October 25th, 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Interested faculty members are invited to apply by Friday, October 12th. Capacity is limited and open textbooks are not available for all subjects. Preference will be based on the availability of open textbooks in applicable subject areas.

If you have questions about this workshop or open textbooks, please contact Devin Soper, Scholarly Communications Librarian, at 850-645-2600 or dsoper@fsu.edu. You can also visit the Open & Affordable Textbook Initiative website for more information about our open education initiatives.