Back-to-school News Roundup!

Arash Tadjiki -- Our new Web Developer.

Arash, thinking about web development.

We're excited to welcome Arash to the Mountain West team and back to the Marriott library. Arash worked at the Marriott Library in one of the computer support groups during his undergrad in CS. He recently returned to the University of Utah to start a Masters Degree in Entertainment Arts and Engineering (aka Video Game Design), and will work with us as a web software developer while he completes his program.

Article in Code4Lib Journal

Our very own Teresa Hebron, has published an article in Code4Lib about the MWDL metadata audit tool! In the article, Teresa discusses problems encountered during the successful project to adapt the Metadata Audit tools to work with the configuration of the OAI-PMH provision from Oregon Digital's Samvera repository. You can read it here!

MAP Revision Taskforce

Following the MWDL Summer Conference in July and building on the excellent MWDL Application Profile review done by the Bulk Digitization Task Force, the MWDL Metadata Application Profile (MAP) Revision Taskforce formed and began meeting in early August.

The MWDL MAP was last revised in 2011, so the taskforce has undertaken a comparison of MAPs from other digital libraries as well as DPLA and will be issuing a survey in the coming weeks to assess member needs. Be on the look out! Thanks to all the members of the taskforce:

Members:

Emily Boss (University of Nevada, Reno)
Lisa Chaufty (University of Utah, McKay Music Library)
Marina Georgieva (University of Nevada, Las Vegas)

Teresa Hebron (Mountain West Digital Library)

Becky McKown (Brigham Young University)

Darnelle Melvin (University of Nevada, Las Vegas)

Anna L Neatrour (University of Utah, Marriott Library)

Char Newbold (Utah State Library)

Cory Nimer (Brigham Young University)

Andrea Payant (Utah State University)

Gina Strack (Utah State Archives)

Rachel Jane Wittmann (University of Utah, Marriott Library)

Liz Woolcott (Utah State University)

Hooplaza 

(From Left) Kinza Masood [MWDL Director], Teresa Hebron [MWDL Metadata Librarian], Arash Tadjiki [MWDL Web Developer], Keegan Dohm [MWDL Metadata Assistant]

MWDL staff talked to over 100 participants at Marriott Library's annual fall welcome event. The whole MWDL team attended to represent Mountain West to the University of Utah student body. With candy, a clown game, and the combined charisma of a top-notch team we spoke with more than one hundred participants and saw MWDL alum Rebekah Cummings showcase some outstanding balloon sculpture skills.

Utah History Conference

Call for papers and award nominations for Utah's Annual State History Conference on Sept 27-28, 2018.

MWDL will be on site Sept 28 for the 66th Annual Utah History Conference in West Valley City, UT. We will have a table from 8am-4:30pm. During this year's conference, speakers will explore the ways that transportation and movement of ideas, people and goods has influenced the social and physical landscapes of the state over time. Check it out here.

DPLA

We have completed our August harvest with a total of over 975K records! Congrats all for hard work. Keep an eye out for the big 1000K announcement when we hit a million records. Can digital libraries go platinum? If so, we'll be there soon!

Summer in Central Asia

Hi, I’m the Metadata Assistant here at Mountain West. I returned last week from a long hiatus from work during which I partook in an intensive Russian language program in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan as an awardee of the Foreign Language and Area Studies scholarship (FLAS) grant for the 2018-2019 school year. For those that were interested, here is a short rundown of my experiences this summer and some background about Kyrgyzstan.

A picture of two yurts on a grassy plain against the dramatic backdrop of the Ala-Too mountains.

I spent roughly 11 weeks in Kyrgyzstan. The majority of this time I lived in the capital city of Bishkek (called Frunze during the Soviet period). I studied with a group composed of students from several universities in the U.S. for much of the summer we attended language classes 4 days a week, and traveled to cultural sites the other three. A few of us even took the opportunity to travel on our own to Osh in the south and Almaty in Kazakhstan observe the cultural differences between the different regions of the country. In Osh there are many more people who speak Uzbek than in the north, due both to proximity to Uzbekistan and to the way borders were drawn up by Joseph Stalin in the 20^th century. Kyrgyzia was intentionally drawn to include populations of several rival ethnic groups in order to promote internal conflict. So Osh and Bishkek contain a multitude of cultural variances. Almaty in Kazakhstan is thought to be the origin place of apples and during the 5 days we visited there was experiencing some turmoil regarding the construction of a giant straw squirrel statue. I recommend reading into that. It’s quite entertaining and provides some insight into political discourse under an authoritarian regime.

Issyk-Kul against the mountains.

We also visited and Cholpon-Ata and Barskon on the shores of Issyk-Kul, the second largest high-mountain lake in the world. It has the bluest waters you can imagine set against the backdrop of the Tian Shan branch of the Himalaya range. In fact, we visited here more than once, just to escape the heat.

In this photo, several of us are eating a typical Kyrgyz meal at the home the family hosting us in Talas region. From left, Me, Danar, Farhan, Sultan, and Johnny.  

We rode horses several times throughout the program. Going into this program sans equestrian experience I admit to feeling a bit nervous, but it turns out that I am a natural on horseback. The last few weeks of the program we went on an extensive trek through the mountains around Issyk-Kul with ample opportunity to experience the breathtaking nature of the Kyrgyz landscape and the hospitality of the Kyrgyz people. We regularly stopped at yurts occupied by families following a centuries old nomadic tradition. They consistently invited us to eat with them and we were offered to eat the best of their food. Kyrgyz food uses simple ingredients and spices to create subtly flavored and very filling dishes. If you’re invited to eat in a Kyrgyz home, you might expect to eat more food than you have room for. We also accepted several invitations to try kumis, a dairy beverage made with fermented mare’s milk. While most Kyrgyz people will drink a few glasses in a sitting, I found the desire to continue drinking it entirely absent.

Pictured below is a small sampling of the 3000 photos I took as the de facto photographer on the program. 

Despite all these wondrous experiences, I'm excited to return to regular life and continue working with MWDL. This spring I will finish my degree in Applied Mathematics and I've already met a ranch owner who wants me to come ride her horses each month. So, I look forward to more exciting times in the coming year.

Morning snow on one of the higher peaks in the Tian Shan. We had planned to stay there the previous night, but (luckily) thought better of it.

Crossing a fast moving river on horse back. From left we have Matthew, Syimyk (one of our guides on this trek), and Joseph. Taking a photo from horseback in the middle of the river is no easy feat.

A picture of several of us eating fine treats left over from the first birthday of the little boy on the left. 

July News Round-up

With July coming rapidly to a close, we have lots of milestones and events to celebrate in the MWDL community! July is National Ice Cream Month, so grab a cone and cool off with this news update.

MWDL Summer Conference

J. Willard Marriott Library at University of Utah hosted the MWDL Summer Conference on July 10-11. It was wonderful seeing so many people from members and the general community for two packed days of presentations, updates, bingo, library tours and networking. 

In case you weren't able to join us, the proceedings will be online soon and we look forward to seeing you at the next meeting!

DPLA's Executive Director, John Bracken, gave a live video update on July 11 facilitated by MWDL's Director, Kinza Masood

Taskforces forming

Two MWDL taskforces are forming: Training, with Liz Woolcott of Utah State University as chair, and Metadata Application Profile, with Teresa Hebron of MWDL as chair. 

Thanks to all who volunteered to participate and we're excited to work on these projects!

Collection harvesting

Throughout June and July, we welcomed new collections from several members:

Buffalo Bill Center of the West
Salt Lake Community College
Utah State Archives

Thanks for these contributions! If you have new collections you'd like to have harvested, please let us know by filling out the harvest request form on our website.

Gearing up for fall

Please let us know if you have collections or events you'd like us to help promote in advance of the fall semester. Back to school is right around the corner!

DPLA

The next DPLA harvest of MWDL will be in the week of August 27.

Utah State Library job posting

If you're currently seeking a job or considering a change, head over to the Utah State Jobs page and look up Job No. 16456, Library Resources Manager, at the Utah State Library! 

Complete Job Description and online application at: https://statejobs.utah.gov

Stay cool and we'll see you soon!