UL Innovation Microgrants – Midyear update and call for volunteers

Are you curious about progress that has been made on the Innovation Microgrants that were awarded for 2012-13? The four grants are supporting new technologies, a symposium, and a new data parsing workflow:

  • Linda Musser, Earth and Mineral Sciences Library, is testing the feasibility of loaning portable battery packs in lieu of extension cords to students in order to provide power that keeps their tech tools running. She used the grant funds to purchase five battery models that are loaned to students via WorkFlows. Students are asked to complete a brief survey asking users to rate the ease and use of the battery pack. Linda shared preliminary results at Discovery Day, and will be sharing final results in her grant report later this year.
  • Harrell Health Sciences Library faculty were awarded a grant to organize a data management symposium at Hershey. Robyn Reed, principal investigator, has lined up ten panelists for the “Data Management in Biomedical Research: Information Challenges and Practical Strategies” symposium that will take place on March 26, 2013, from noon–4:00 p.m. at Hershey Medical Center and via MediaSite Live. The keynote speaker will be Dr. Michael Conlon, associate director of the Clinical and Transformational Science Institute at the University of Florida and a nationally recognized expert in data management.
  • Students at Fayette Library will be getting a new, collaborative group study area with a Mediascape table later this year that will be partially funded via an Innovation Microgrant. John Riddle will be using his award to purchase monitors for the Mediascape unit.
  • Sandy Stelts and Linda Klimczyk, Rare Books and I-Tech, were awarded a grant to “investigate open source solutions to parse citations into fielded data that can be reformatted in many ways.” Their award supported the hiring of Mark Mattson, whose responsibilities include testing a variety of citation parsing tools, documenting test results and identifying any technologies that we should explore further for parsing bibliographies. Details about Mark’s work to date are on his UL Bibliographies Project Blog.

Take a look at the Microgrant Awards Site for the full text of the grant progress reports.

And here is an opportunity for you to get involved. We are looking for Libraries staff and faculty who want to serve on the 2013-14 Innovation Microgrant Review Committee. The committee is responsible for soliciting grant proposals, evaluating them, and selecting award recipients. Keep your eye out for the call for volunteers and consider volunteering.

Submitted by Dace Freivalds, Chair, 2012-13 Innovation Microgrant Review Committee.