The theme of TCDL 2012 is “Connections,” and it will focus on ways that libraries are connecting with users through digital services.

Conference committee chair Sarah Sutton, Serials/Electronic Resources Librarian at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, hopes the conference will be a valuable event for those who attend.

“I hope that TCDL 2012 attendees will make connections,” she said, “I hope they’ll make connections with each other that will enhance their libraries’ collections, connections with their constituents that will enhance their constituents’ access to scholarship and make their constituents’ scholarship more accessible,  and connections with the Texas Digital Library that will provide the attendees with the tools to accomplish the former as well as advance the TDL.”

Additional members of the Conference Committee are:  Amy Rushing (Vice Chair), UT Austin; Jim Brewer, Texas Tech; Jeanne Hazzard, Texas State; Billie Peterson-Lugo, Baylor; and Leslie Reynolds, Texas A&M.

The TCDL 2012 program will feature a general track and a second track focused on technical issues, as well as a poster session and opportunities for workshops and “birds of a feather” sessions. The committee also anticipates that TDL working groups and committees will hold meetings on May 23 before the main conference begins.

The committee will release a call for papers in the weeks ahead. Stay tuned to the TCDL 2012 website for more information.

You can read the newsletter in either HTML or PDF format.

In the January issue, TDL director Mark McFarland provides an update and overview of the TDL Strategic Planning process. Additionally, the newsletter includes:

• An announcement about the 2012 Texas Conference on Digital Libraries
• The TDLTraining schedule for Spring 2012
• An update on software development, DSpace and Vireo upgrades, and other technical matters
• Information about next month’s TDL Forum, which will feature an in-depth discussion of the TDL Strategic Plan

For suggestions about content for the TDL Update, please contact Kristi Park at kristi.park@austin.utexas.edu.

Following a new model introduced in Fall 2011, training will now be hosted at various member schools throughout the semester.  All classes are free for members, but registration is required. You can register for the classes below at the following link:  http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DJSZNDB

For more information about the TDL Training Program please visit the TDL website.

REGISTER for classes here.

Anyone interested in participating as a host institution or an instructor for future training sessions, please contact TDL Program Coordinator Ryan Steans at info@tdl.org

TDL system administrators Effie Jarrett (left) and Gene Titus (right)

The Texas Digital Library is excited to welcome Effie Jarrett and Gene Titus to the TDL staff in Austin. Gene and Effie joined the team in late November as Senior System Administrators; they will be responsible for maintaining, upgrading, and securing TDL systems and working to ensure reliable and responsive user environments for TDL members.

“We are thrilled to have Effie and Gene join our team,” said Ladd Hanson, Director of IT for Texas Digital Library. “They each bring a set of skills and experiences that will strengthen TDL’s ability to offer valuable and reliable scholarly communication services for our members.”

Effie Jarrett comes to TDL from UT Austin’s Jackson School of Geosciences where she worked as Senior Systems Analyst and Senior Systems Administrator. Effie has more than a decade of systems administration experience, including extensive expertise in working directly with faculty to set up classroom and research systems.

Prior to joining TDL, Gene Titus served since 1990 Senior Systems Administrator with the Office of Telecommunication Services at UT Austin, where he was responsible for 20 Unix servers and a statewide network monitoring system. He brings a wealth of experience in IT administration, including in collaborating with institutions across the state and managing distributed applications such as Shibboleth, a key component of TDL systems.

For more information about these key staff appointments, please contact the TDL Program Coordinator at info@tdl.org.

The International Journal of Structural Changes in Solids, hosted by the TDL Electronic Press, has just published its latest issue. The issue is available at http://journals.tdl.org/IJSCS.

IJSCS is an open access journal dealing with the mechanics and applications of micro and macro structural changes that occur (or can be induced) in a wide range of solids. It is intended as a service to the research community including faculty, post doctoral fellows and students in developing countries.

The journal is sponsored bythe Department of Applied Mechanics at Indian Institute of Technology Madras and the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University.

For more information about the TDL online journal services, visit http://www.tdl.org/journals/. To view other journals hosted by the Texas Digital Library, visit the TDL Electronic Press.

Make plans now to attend the Texas ETD Association annual conference to be held at the University of North Texas on February 23-24, 2012. The committee is working now to organize a program packed with helpful and practical information to advance the knowledge of ETD professionals, as well as to provide opportunities for networking with graduate school and library colleagues.

Additional details are forthcoming, so stay tuned to the TxETDA site.

A member of the Texas A&M system, TAMIU is home to the Sue and Radcliffe Killam Library, headed by Library Director Douglas Ferrier.  The Library provides a wealth of both print and electronic resources to the university’s nearly 7,000 students.

The TDL is excited to integrate TAMIU into the TDL consortium, and knows the university will be a valuable partner in the TDL community.

About Membership in TDL

Membership in the Texas Digital Library is available to any institution of higher education in the state of Texas. The TDL consists of 15 member organizations representing small and large colleges, universities, and academic medical centers from every region of Texas.

For a full list of TDL members, as well as nformation about joining the TDL consortium, visit our Membership page.

A new TDL user group will meet for the first time during the two-day session: The TDL Services User Group, led by Mira Green (UTMB) and Sarah Sutton (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi), will meet October 26^th in the afternoon. The mission of the group is to serve as a community for librarians and library staff responsible for implementing TDL scholarly communication services, including Open Journal Systems, Open Conference Systems, WordPress, MediaWiki, and DSpace.  The group will provide guidance to TDL staff regarding needs, changes, and support required for the successful implementation of these services on member campuses, and it will serve as a support network for managers and advocates of TDL services.

TDL Group Meetings Schedule:

Anyone interested in joining the TDL Services User Group, or in attending the other TDL Group meetings, should email the TDL Program Coordinator at info@tdl.org.

For more information about TDL Groups, visit the TDL website.

Vireo is a software system developed at the Texas Digital Library that allows graduate schools and libraries to manage the submission, approval, and publication of electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs). With Vireo, a student can submit his or her thesis through a simple online interface, and graduate schools and libraries use an expert management interface to shepherd the document through the approval process and publish it to an open access institutional repository.

Texas A&M University and the University of Texas at Austin accounted for the majority of the ETD submissions for spring 2011, with UT Austin receiving more than 800 ETDs and Texas A&M receiving approximately 500 (including undergraduate theses). Texas Tech University received nearly 200 ETDs.

Several institutions outside of the TDL consortium, including the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, have also deployed Vireo to manage submission, approval, and publication of electronic theses and dissertations. Illinois received more than 500 ETDS through Vireo this spring.

Other member schools using Vireo to process ETDs this spring were Texas State University and the University of Houston.

For more information about Vireo, please visit the TDL website at http://www.tdl.org/etds/.

Laura Hammons, co-chair of the Vireo Users Group and recipient of a 2011 ETD Leadership Award from NDLTD

Laura Hammons, co-chair of the Vireo Users Group and Thesis Office Director at Texas A&M University, received a 2011 ETD Leadership Award from the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD).

The ETD Leadership Award is one of several awards related to electronic thesis and dissertation (ETD) programs that NDLTD bestows yearly; it recognizes  those “who have made significant contributions to the worldwide ETD movement.”

“Receiving the ETD Leadership award is an incredible honor,” Hammons said, “and it speaks to the tremendous efforts of those around me as much as to my own. If anything, I see this award as a testament to the power of working together toward common goals.”

In addition to overseeing her institution’s ETD program, Hammons has been instrumental in leading statewide and national efforts to facilitate communication and support for ETD programs, including through the TDL’s Vireo Users Group and the statewide Texas ETD Association.

Among her work facilitating professional development among ETD faculty and staff, Hammons co-chairs the Vireo Users Group, which provides a forum for administrative users of the TDL’s ETD submission and management software to share tips, provide mutual support, and assist TDL in prioritizing needs for future development.

Additionally, according to the NDLTD award announcement, Hammons was the “founder of the Texas ETD Association (TXETDA), which provides a network of support for ETD professionals in the state of Texas.”

She is also a founding member of the United States ETD Association, a nationwide professional development organization for ETD program staff and faculty.

“No one is more deserving than Laura of this recognition,” said TDL program coordinator Ryan Steans. “Her work has furthered the development of a true community around ETDs and has helped expand that community at the state and national level.”

While Hammons is pleased to have been recognized, she  is far from seeing her work thus far as a finished product.

“I feel so privileged to have been involved in the development of these organizations, where ETD professionals can grow and learn together,” Hammons said. “But I recognize there is still so much more we can do.”