The Digital Humanities Core (DHC), a partnership between University of Houston Libraries and the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Data Science Institute, welcomes applications for the summer 2024 Micro-credential in Digital Humanities program. This program allows researchers to apply successful strategies to the planning, implementation, and development of digital humanities projects and funding proposals.

Micro-credential in the Digital Humanities

This summer’s program encompasses two scaffolded tracks:

• Badge I: Foundations of DH Project Development (June 3-14, 2024)
• Badge II: Intermediate DH Project Development (prerequisite: Badge I or equivalent experience) (June 10-14, 2024)

The program is open to all UH faculty, librarians, and doctoral students. Successful completion of one of these badges ensures year-long access to the expertise, infrastructural resources, training, and programming offered by the DHC. The application deadline is May 1.

Application form

For more information, contact dhcf@uh.edu.

In honor of National Library Week and National Student Employment Week, we’re featuring the outstanding and talented student assistants of University of Houston Libraries. Student employees are crucial to what we do, providing vital daily contributions toward the services, collections, and spaces we offer to the UH and scholarly community. As we spotlight a few of our student employees through social media and in this online space, we recognize and appreciate the individual and collective efforts of all Coogs working at the Libraries and the University.

Andrea Tribble. Photo courtesy of Tribble

Andrea Tribble is a junior in African American Studies who works in Special Collections, where she supports university archivist Mary Manning in the organization, description, and accessibility of collections. She also engages with researchers and fulfills reference requests for archival materials.

“I have been working at the Libraries since the fall 2023 semester, when I started as an intern handling a collection of lecture recordings from the early-to-mid 2000s that were facilitated by the African American Studies department,” Tribble said. “One of my favorite things about working in Special Collections is knowing that I’m contributing to the sacred practice of preservation. Ensuring that the intellectual material, university history, and community records that we come into contact with are cared for properly and made accessible has been something I’ve come to take great pride in.”

Kira Giannetti

Kira Giannetti is a sophomore Computer Engineering student who works as a sound engineer in the Hamill Foundation Studio, mixing and mastering sound and voice productions for singers, podcasters, and musicians. When asked what she enjoys about working at UH Libraries, she said “I love getting to know the talents at our school.”

Marisa Espitia

Marisa Espitia is a junior Marketing major who has been working at the Music Library since fall 2023. Some of her duties include organizing library resources, book check-out and shelving, helping other student workers navigate the system, cleaning the library space, and assisting visitors with any library-related questions.

Zach Harper

Zach Harper is a first-year Music Education major who works at the Music Library as a circulation assistant. He has book shelving duties and generally helps maintain a welcoming environment for visitors and employees.

“I love being surrounded by so much music and musical knowledge all of the time,” Harper said. “It makes the nerd in me very excited. I love the staff at the Music Library; all of my coworkers and supervisors support and encourage one another everyday. I love the calmness and environment of the Music Library. And finally, I love the people that come into the Music Library. Helping them find whatever they need or introducing them to something makes my day a lot of the time.”

Nine Abad

Nine Abad is a junior with double majors in Political Science and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies who works in Special Collections. Abad’s duties include processing, organizing, and handling collections primarily in the LGBT History Research Collection, as well as assisting researchers and visitors with requests.

“I love working in Special Collections because there is a litany of individual and intimate stories that people can engage and research using primary resources that are unique and one of a kind,” Abad said. “Working at the Libraries is also incredibly gratifying, especially when helping researchers and talking to donors. I also love the atmosphere of the library, the friendliness of the staff, and the intricacies of the stories that shape the archives themselves.”

Sarah Nguyen

Sarah Nguyen is a student in Management Information Systems who works as a sound engineer at the Hamill Foundation Studio, producing and editing song, vocal, and musical projects.

“I love how comfortable the environment is,” Nguyen said. “Everyone inside and outside of the studio is a blessing to work with.”

University of Houston Libraries Special Collections archivists attended the recent Old, Weird Houston: A Celebration of Our City’s Hidden Histories event to display iconic, regional primary source materials with an unconventional flair. Hosted by Orange Show Center for Visionary Art in collaboration with Archivists of the Houston Area (AHA!) and UH Center for Public History, Old, Weird Houston is “a local alternative history fair and symposium that preserves, interprets, and shares the hidden histories of unusual and creative people, institutions, and events that have made our city one of the most diverse and livable in the country.” The event brought together history scholars and enthusiasts in an accessible and engaging format.

UH Special Collections hosted a display at “Old, Weird Houston.”

The display reflected the work of archivist Katy Allred, who created hand-drawn signs for the table and helped plan and organize the selections, particularly The Art Guys Records. Other materials represented Houston Gorilla Girls Records, Marvin Zindler Papers, Ima Hogg Symphony Programs Collection, and Texas Music Collection. Attendees experienced distinctively Houston-esque items such as a “Slime in the Ice Machine” t-shirt, a vintage photo of Ima Hogg on a horse-drawn float at a No-Tsu-Oh parade, and mail art sent in the 77008. Photos and ephemera related to the Axiom, the epicenter of Houston’s late 80s, early 90s underground music scene, were included, part of the Julie Grob Axiom Records. (Grob is an archivist and coordinator for instruction at UH Special Collections, and was Axiom’s booking agent and publicist).

These and other items of historical and local significance are available for viewing and research at UH Special Collections. Visiting UH Special Collections

In an effort to better align with our mission and focus, University of Houston Libraries will soon decommission a virtual software service following a careful review of cost, usage, and maintenance factors.

By the end of May 2024, VMWare Horizon will be removed, resulting in cost savings. VMWare Horizon gave UH students, faculty, and staff access to a range of virtual desktop applications while on campus or via UH VPN, including Affinity Suite, SolidWorks, and SPSS to name a few, but usage has been low over the past year at 1.77%. Additionally, the virtual software infrastructure requires dedicated, continual technical maintenance and user support at a level which UH Libraries cannot sustain with current resources.

UH Libraries recognizes the potential effects this decommission may have on UH users, and conversations with identified stakeholders have been initiated to empower them in finding alternative solutions for their respective communities. UH Libraries will continue to engage in thoughtful assessment to improve processes, services, and programs for the benefit of the UH community.

Christina H. Gola

Christina H. Gola has been named University of Houston Libraries interim dean. Since 2021, Gola has served as associate dean for Organizational Development, Learning, and Talent (ODLT) with an integral role in strategic planning and fiscal management. She has been with UH Libraries for 15 years and was promoted to full librarian in 2021. She has served on UH Faculty Senate in leadership capacities, has partnered with Faculty Engagement and Development, and has collaborated with colleagues in the Provost’s Cabinet in their shared enterprise-wide roles. During the Libraries’ 2021 organizational restructure, Gola assumed leadership of facilities and information technology Libraries teams in addition to human resources and organizational development. She is also leading the “Reimagined Libraries” endeavor to enhance spaces and leverage campus partnerships for the benefit of our students and scholars. 

Gola is a recognized leader and mentor in the profession on a national scale, having served in numerous influential roles such as the competitive Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Leadership Fellows program and president of the Texas Library Association (TLA). She was named as a University of North Texas Department of Information Science Outstanding Alumni in 2021.  

2023 was a year of partnerships, prioritizing, and paving the way for a reimagined University of Houston Libraries.

The professional and scholarly engagement of our librarians, staff, and student employees contributed to the University’s goal of becoming a top 50 public university. As plans for a robust near future are activated, UH Libraries remains collectively committed to our mission of enhancing student learning, participating in the development of scholarly research and creative output, and promoting discovery of information and knowledge from diverse and relevant resources.

Here are a few of our 2023 highlights:

• In collaboration with the UH department of African American Studies, hosted an exhibit, Forged by Protest: Student Organization Afro Americans for Black Liberation (AABL) and the Genesis of the UH African American Studies Program, which was curated by Research for Aspiring Coogs in the Humanities (REACH) scholar Saron Regassa
• Curated and made accessible new digital collections, including the National Endowment for the Humanities-funded Gulf Coast LGBT Radio and Television Digitization Project, Diana Foundation Oral Histories, Pecan-Shellers’ Strike Documents, and Digitized Theses and Dissertations Project
• In collaboration with faculty member Elizabeth Coen, PhD, planned a reimagined co-curricular experience for 29 theatre students that involved an assessment of playbills and marketing materials from theatre productions of the mid-to-late 20th century
• Received an anonymous gift of $135,000 to support the expansion of co-curricular student success
• In partnership with the Office of Undergraduate Research and Major Awards, hosted Undergraduate Research Day, an annual celebration of undergraduate research and scholarship
• Hosted the 23^rd annual Library Excellence Awards, supported through the generosity of the John P. McGovern Foundation, to celebrate librarians and staff who bring a high level of leadership, collegiality, and care to their roles
• In partnership with UH Hewlett Packard Enterprise Data Science Institute, led the first UH faculty cohort through Badge 1: Foundations of Digital Humanities (DH) Project Development, a component of the inaugural Micro-credential in the DH program
• In collaboration with UH Center for Public History, hosted Agents of Change: Celebrating Innovation at the UH Centennial exhibit opening | photos
• Collaborated with artist and UH graduate student Erica Reed Lee who curated Zine Territory, a pop-up exhibit featuring zines from the Zine Fest Houston Records collection preserved at UH Libraries Special Collections that was on display at Blaffer Art Museum in conjunction with UH Zine Week
• Hosted the National Library of Medicine (NLM) traveling exhibition Confronting Violence: Improving Women’s Lives/Enfrentando La Violencia: mejorando la vida de las mujeres
• For the seventh year, hosted the Banner Project, a pop-up exhibit featuring pivotal moments in Houston’s LGBT history from the 1930s to present day and created by Houston activists Sara Fernandez, JD Doyle, and Kirk Baxter
• Awarded UH instructors who applied to adopt, adapt, or create open educational resources (OER) in the fifth round of the UH Alternative Textbook Incentive Program (ATIP)
• Began the MD Anderson Library collections and space project, signaling the first phase of preparation toward building the Digital Humanities Core facility on floor 7 in partnership with the Division of Research
• In partnership with Houston philanthropist Irma Brindis, hosted Un Brindis por University of Houston, a festive event benefiting the mission of UH Libraries and Public Art of the University of Houston System

Lauren Gottlieb-Miller

University of Houston Libraries is pleased to welcome Lauren Gottlieb-Miller as the associate dean for Special Libraries and Preservation.

Please describe your role. How does your portfolio align with the student success and research priorities of the University? 

My portfolio at UH Libraries includes departments of Special Collections and Preservation and Reformatting housed within MD Anderson Library, the Music Library housed within the Moores School of Music, and the William R. Jenkins Architecture, Design, and Art Library housed within the College of Architecture building.  

My role is to provide strategic oversight and leadership to these units stewarding, preserving, and providing access to some of the richest collections of primary source materials across formats in our campus and across our region. Together with my talented colleagues working within Special Libraries, Special Collections, and Preservation and Reformatting, we work collaboratively across the University and greater region to promote student success through engagement with our collections and to meet the research demands of our high-performing faculty and their students.  

Please share a bit about your background and research interests. How do these inspire and shape your approach as a librarian? 

I received my BA in English Literature with a minor in Studio Art and Printmaking, and received my MA in Library and Information Studies, Art Librarianship Emphasis from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. At Madison I also began a PhD in the History of the Book and Print Culture. Most recently I was the director of the Library and Archives at the Menil Collection, an institution I worked for just under 8 years, prior to joining UH Libraries this November.  

My research interests focus on the history of the book, particularly the book as object in both the historical sense and in our present moment, which informs my approach to both stewardship of special collections and specialized print materials. This also informs my approach to strategically managing these materials within research environments that are well served by open access and e-preferred acquisitions models. I am most interested in the same things that drew me to the profession in the first place: how can we create welcoming and meaningful opportunities to engage our audiences with the stories and histories that special collections materials offer us, regardless of format, while sustainably preserving them for future audiences.   

What are one or two things you’d like faculty and students to know about engaging with special libraries and primary source materials? 

I want faculty and students at the University of Houston to know that these materials are here for them, not as a secondary mission but as the mission of the four units my position oversees. As a first-generation college student, it took me a long time to feel empowered enough to ask for access to special collections and archival materials, as they didn’t feel like they were there for me and the reading rooms they’re often held in can feel very intimidating. What I found back then, and what I want our communities served by UH Libraries to know now, is that these materials are here to support your inquiry regardless of what stage you are in. We are here for you!  

A festive event benefiting the mission of University of Houston Libraries and Public Art of the University of Houston System was held recently at the home of Irma Brindis, a Houston philanthropist and real estate developer. Guests of “Un Brindis por University of Houston” enjoyed an elegant celebration of Día de los Muertos to support cultural archival collections for engagement, research, and learning.

UH Advancement student ambassadors Ida Hailu and Kenya Cardenas, development coordinator Melinda Colmenero, chief development officer Jaha Williams, development officer James Hays, and dean of UH Libraries and Elizabeth D. Rockwell chair Athena Jackson helped to produce the successful “Un Brindis por University of Houston.” Photo credit: Mauricio Lazo.

The Honorable Paula Mendoza and Mexico City-based sculptor Javier Marín were the evening’s honored guests. Venezuelan-born tenor Jonathan Sandoval delivered the evening’s vibrant musical entertainment, while guests enjoyed a sumptuous dinner prepared by renowned chef Beatriz Martines, who hails from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico.

“Un Brindis por University of Houston” came to fruition through the generosity of Irma Brindis, who is active in chairing and hosting fundraising events for a wide range of causes. She began supporting the mission of UH Libraries in 2018, advancing student success and research productivity.

University of Houston Libraries is pleased to announce the 2023 recipient cohort of the UH Alternative Textbook Incentive Program (ATIP).

UH instructors applied for an award ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 that would go toward implementation of an open or alternative textbook in a future course. This program incentivizes faculty members to adopt, adapt, or create open educational resources (OER), or use a combination of freely available or library sponsored resources, to replace required traditional textbook(s) and other high-cost learning materials in their courses.

Awards were granted based on the number of students impacted, projected cost savings for students, the type of alternative textbook, and the feasibility of successful implementation.

In this fifth round of ATIP, the application process prioritized new applicants, as well as proposals involving adoption, adaptation, and authorship of open educational resources.

2023 ATIP winners are:

College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences:

• Jose Angel Hernandez – HIST 2367: History of Mexico
• Lindsey Browne – PSYC 2319: Intro to Social Psychology
• Melissa Markofski, Seth Rinehart, and Justin Crane – KIN 4370: Exercise Testing and Prescription

Cullen College of Engineering:

• Mingjian Wen – CHEE 6397: Data-driven Materials Discovery
• Lu Gao – CNST 6308: Data Analysis in Construction Management

Cullen College of Technology:

• Ricardo Lent – ELET 4309: Object-oriented Applications Programming

College of Education:

• Carrie Cutler – CUIN 7397: Play in Early Childhood Mathematics

Projected savings for students in the first year of implementing alternative textbooks in these courses is $82,000, benefiting an estimated 1,000 students.

ATIP was created in 2017 as part of the University’s initiative to mitigate the high cost of textbooks for students. Since then, more UH faculty have been empowered to provide an inclusive, accessible educational experience for UH students through OER.

Learn more about open educational resources at UH.

Special thanks to the members of the 2023 ATIP Review Committee: Veronica Arellano Douglas, Stacie Louie, Sadegh Kazemi, Kate McNally Carter, and Ariana Santiago.