Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center News

The good press keeps coming. Steve Zink, Dean of the University Libraries at UNR, reports that the September 2010 edition of Choice–a publication of the American Library Association that provides reviews for academic librarians–will feature an interior photograph of the Knowledge Center on its cover.

Websites change. Sometimes, it seems too often.

Though part of my job as the Web Development Librarian for the Knowledge Center is to keep our site “fresh”, I’m also a website user, and I fully appreciate how frustrating it can be when you’ve finally become used to the way a website works, and then suddenly, it doesn’t work that way anymore. This is especially true when the the changes are more than stylistic and actually affect functionality. So believe me, I know what you’re thinking right now.

That said, I hope that as you interact with the new home page you will keep an open mind. The goal in redesigning our entry page was to move away from the notion of providing a simple link container or table of contents, if you will, to the site–I truly believe that the burden for that can rest on the Site Map. Instead, my goal was to compartmentalize functionality into discrete tools that will, I hope, help users to accomplish their tasks at the top level, rather than necessarily having to drill down into the site.

So if, for example, you are an advanced researcher with a citation, and you want to know if we have the article available online in full-text, then rather than searching through the “Research” links on the home page and then trying to decide whether you wanted to click on “Articles” or “Journals”, and then once made a choice, attempting to determine if you’ve made the correct decision, the home page now simply contains a tool called “Find by Citation”.

The secondary goal was to present a different view on library services depending upon your level of experience or your information need. So using that same example of the “Find by Citation” box, my experience as a librarian informs me that tool is less meaningful to a novice researcher (we’ve used “Undergraduate Student” for short hand, though I realize there are undergraduates who are quite advanced). So rather than distract such a user with a meaningless page block, it behooves everybody to prevent it from displaying entirely. Similarly, most advanced researchers probably aren’t visiting the website to find out about our upcoming events, so the events list remains solely within the domain of the Visitor view.

You get the point.

Consider this home page a work in progress. I’ll be working to improve functionality and decrease clutter as much as I can, and to that end, I would appreciate your feedback. Feel free to contact me. I’m really not trying to shake up your worlds, but this new home page does represent a sort of paradigm shift for our entry portal, and I’d like to make the transition as gentle as possible.

In the meantime, if you get lost, the KC Classic home page should be around for a while. Just see the link in the page footer on the main site (the blog template needs some updating).

© Estate of Leonard Baskin

The Knowledge Center is once again participating in Reno’s summer Artown festivities with exhibits around the theme “The Art of the Print.”

Eunkang Koh, a printmaker and Associate Professor in the Art Department, presents some of her recent works in “Human Mannerisms: Prints and Book Arts” in the Whittemore Gallery on the lower level, outside the Wells Fargo Auditorium. Nearby is a series of works by Enid Marks, whose prints were published in limited-edition artists’ books.

The Special Collections exhibits on the third floor feature prints and illustrations from the Book Arts collection. In the hallway cases are examples of several styles and printing methods used to illustrate artists’ books, and in the exhibit room are woodcut prints and illustrations, with a focus on the printmaking of the American artist Leonard Baskin.

Framed prints are on display throughout the building, including Salvador Dali’s “Lincoln in Dalivision,” John Balkwill’s “Views from Lake Tahoe,” and political posters from the Russian Revolution and the Basque nationalist movement, among others.

Meet the artist, Eunkang Koh, at a reception Wednesday, July 7th, 5:30 – 7:00 in the Whittemore Gallery. Tour the exhibits with the artist and Donnie Curtis, Head of Special Collections. RSVP by Wednesday, June 30th to Julie Boersma at jboersma@unr.edu or 775 682-6014. Free parking after 5pm in the Brian Whalen Garage or in metered lots.

Line Up – Eunkang Koh