News from the Field

David Free

Giant Bible of Mainz digitized by the Library of Congress

The Giant Bible of Mainz, one of the last handwritten giant bibles in Europe, has now been digitized by the Library of Congress, ensuring online access to an important national treasure from the 15th century. The Giant Bible is famous for having been copied by a single scribe, who precisely dated his progress between April 4, 1452, and July 9, 1453. These dates are remarkable because they place the creation of this manuscript bible in proximity to the first printed bible crafted in Europe, the Gutenberg Bible.

While it has never been in question that the Giant Bible and the Gutenberg Bible were created around the same time, scholars were previously less certain about the location of Mainz, Germany, as the birthplace of both bibles. The Giant Bible of Mainz received its name from an inscription on the first leaf of the manuscript, which states that in 1566, Heinrich Stockheim, cantor at the Mainz Cathedral, signed the bible over to the cathedral’s custody. This early evidence of the bible’s presence in Mainz, coupled with the stylistic influence of the Middle Rhine upon certain aspects of its paintings and illuminations, suggested Mainz as a place of origin. In its digital form, the Giant Bible of Mainz can now be accessed by people across the globe and will be preserved for future generations. Learn more at https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/bibles/the-giant-bible-of-mainz.html.

Nominations sought for ACRL Board of Directors

Don’t be shy! Your participation matters and we invite you to be a part of shaping the future of ACRL. The ACRL Leadership Recruitment and Nomination Committee (LRNC) strongly encourages members to nominate themselves or others to run for the position of ACRL vice-president/president-elect and director-at-large in the 2024 elections. We seek Board members who have demonstrated expertise in librarianship or related professional areas, but it is not a requirement to be a library director or dean to be eligible to serve on the Board. The deadline for nominations is February 15, 2023. To nominate an individual or to self-nominate, please submit the nomination form at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/acrlboardnominations.

LRNC will request a curriculum vita and/or a statement of interest from selected individuals prior to developing a slate of candidates. Contact LRNC Chair Marilyn N. Ochoa at mochoa@middlesexcc.edu with questions. Additional information about the ACRL Board of Directors is available on the ACRL website at https://www.ala.org/acrl/resources/policies/chapter2.

Project MUSE adds University of Toronto Press books

Project MUSE recently announced an expansion of its relationship with the University of Toronto Press (UTP) to make the publisher’s academic books available on the MUSE platform. UTP, which has had journals on MUSE for nearly two decades, is expected to contribute more than 100 new book titles annually to the Project MUSE Annual Frontlist books collections beginning in 2023. UTP is also expected to make a significant quantity of backlist books available on the MUSE platform over the next year, and their titles will be available for purchase individually—direct with MUSE or via distribution partners GOBI and OASIS, through MUSE’s Books Custom Collections model, and for inclusion in Evidence-Based Acquisitions programs.

MIT Press joins OpenAthens Federation

The MIT Press has announced that it has joined the OpenAthens Federation. A secure, cloud-based service that provides a fast and reliable connection to digital content, OpenAthens will help extend the reach of MIT Press content to more library customers globally. OpenAthens provides federated single sign-on to library resources from any country or sector. Many libraries are increasingly turning to federated single sign-on because it is secure, stable, and scalable, especially compared to IP recognition. Thanks to the new partnership, 200 mutual MIT Press and OpenAthens library customers now benefit from a more secure and seamless user experience when accessing MIT Press journals. To learn more about OpenAthens federated single sign-on, visit http://openathens.pub/IPvsOpenAthens.

New from ACRL—Academic Librarian Faculty Status

ACRL announces the publication of Academic Librarian Faculty Status, compiled and edited by Edgar Bailey and Melissa Becher, book number 47 in ACRL’s CLIPP series. This book focuses exclusively on tenure, promotion, and appointment at small to mid-sized academic libraries and provides many sample criteria and policies for librarians with and without faculty status.

The College Library Information on Policy and Practice (CLIPP) publishing program, under the auspices of the College Libraries Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries, provides college and small university libraries analysis and examples of library practices and procedures. Academic Librarian Faculty Status contains a thorough literature review and bibliography, analysis and discussion of survey results, and sample criteria, policies, and guidelines for librarian appointment, promotion, and tenure.

No other group of employees in higher education has occupied quite the same ambivalent status on campus as librarians. The debate over granting librarians the same rights and responsibilities as faculty has generated a substantial body of literature over the years. Most of this research has tended to focus on either a mix of institutional sizes or on large universities, with a surprising dearth of studies of smaller institutions. The results of the survey reported in CLIPP #47 fills this gap, as well as offering practical information and sample tenure and promotion documents and policies.

Academic Librarian Faculty Status is available for purchase in print and as an ebook through the ALA Online Store; in print through Amazon.com; and by telephone order at (866) 746-7252 in the United States or (770) 442-8633 for international customers.

NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy report now available

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL), Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), and Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL) have released a new report, Institutional Strategies for the NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy. The report shares infrastructure, services, and policies that institutions have developed to meet the requirements of the forthcoming US National Institutes of Health (NIH) policy. The report, along links to ongoing institutional efforts and other relevant initiatives, is available at https://www.aamc.org/about-us/mission-areas/medical-research/nih-data-management-and-sharing-policy.

Indiana State Library named 2022 Federal Depository Library of the Year

The US Government Publishing Office (GPO) named Indiana State Library as the 2022 Federal Depository Library of the Year. The library was selected for its excellent promotion and preservation of government information and for its programs that improve awareness and literacy of government information. The library began collecting Federal documents when it opened in 1825, and the collection has been growing ever since. The Indiana State Library has one of the largest printed collections of US Government publications in the country and provides instructions on accessing government information to the entire state of Indiana for both school-age children and adults. It hosts a government Information Day, a free biennial conference for librarians interested in learning about government resources and improving information literacy. The Indiana State Library Regional Coordinator runs and maintains the Indiana Federal Documents website, which features several guides, resources, and blogs related to government information. As a Preservation Steward, the library preserves the Official gazette of the United States Patent Office (1872–1965), Public Papers of the Presidents (1984–2012), Acts of Congress (1789–1877), Statutes at Large (1877–1965), and more.