UMAINE LIBRARIES NEWSLETTER | | |
EVENTS
You are invited to Fogler Library’s public events! Stay up-to-date by following our social media accounts listed at the bottom of this email, and check out our website for a complete list of events
| | Introducing Open Publishing platforms: Information sessions with Open Scholarship Librarian Casey Koons | |
Maine Open Books
Maine Open Books is the University of Maine Libraries’ open access publishing platform for scholarly books, textbooks, Open Educational Resources (OER), and dynamic digital projects, powered by Manifold.
It supports the creation, publication, and long-term stewardship of openly available monographs and evolving “living documents” that grow through collaboration and engagement. With annotation tools, rich media support, and interactive features, Manifold transforms scholarly publications into dynamic, living digital works.
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How will UMaine Libraries’ new publishing platforms change the way you share, discover, and engage with research?
Join Casey Koons, Open Scholarship Librarian at UMaine Libraries, for a series of virtual information sessions on our new open publishing and digital asset management platforms.
These sessions will introduce the tools launching in Spring 2026 to support open, data-informed scholarship and publishing. Casey will provide an overview of Specto, the new digital asset management system that will replace our institutional repository Digital Commons, including its AI-driven contextual linking that connects research outputs to related data, people, and collections.
Participants will also learn about Maine Open Journals, UMaine’s new journal publishing platform, and Maine Open Books, which supports Open Educational Resources (OER), “living documents,” and collaborative reading and annotation.
Together, these platforms expand opportunities for sharing, discovering, and engaging with research across the full scholarly lifecycle. These sessions are especially valuable for faculty and staff who currently use Digital Commons and want to learn more about the transition to Specto and UMaine’s new Open Access publishing tools.
Please note: Both sessions will cover the same material, so you only need to attend one.
Session Dates (via Zoom):
- April 8, Noon-1 p.m.
- April 8, 3–4 p.m.
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NEWS
Stay updated on events, resources and projects at Fogler Library and across UMaine Libraries. Discover what’s new and exciting in our library community!
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OER Training awardees announced
UMaine Libraries is pleased to announce the launch of a new Open Educational Resources (OER) Training Award for instructors, made possible through funding from the Provost’s Office. Awardees for Spring 2026 have now been selected, with each recipient eligible for a stipend of up to $1,500.
As part of this inaugural program, recipients are collaborating with the UMaine Libraries Open Educational Resources team (librarians Tom Hardy and Casey Koons) to develop and implement OER materials in their Fall 2026 courses. Participants will receive training on the Maine Open Books publishing platform and guidance on creating accessible content that supports all learners. The program will also include opportunities for recipients to share their experiences through testimonials and a panel discussion, helping to inform and inspire future OER initiatives.
In partnership with faculty committee collaborators, UMaine Libraries selected four faculty members from across the university for this initiative: Prabuddha Chakraborty (College of Engineering and Computing), Lindsey French (College of Liberal Arts and Sciences), Colleen Marzilli (School of Nursing), and Krystle Merry (College of Education and Human Development). Each is developing new OER materials for their Fall 2026 courses, providing high-quality, openly accessible learning resources for their students and a broader global audience.
To learn more about Open Educational Resources, please visit our OER LibGuide.
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New from Special Collections and Projects: Student Women’s Association
The Special Collections and Projects Department in Fogler Library has added new records to the online archival content management tool ArchivesSpace.
University Archivist Matthew Revitt has recently completed processing and producing a finding aid for a box of records from the Student Women’s Association (SWA). The records include material from the Abortion Access Project; publicity material for events organized by SWA and of interest to the group on campus; SWA zines; and posters and programs for the annual performances of “The Vagina Monologues,” “Beautiful Project,” and “Take Back the Night” events. There are also copies of scripts from short plays from the “Out of Silence: Abortion Stories” from the 1 in 3 Campaign, and pro-choice badges.
The University of Maine’s Student Women’s Association was founded circa 1997 as a progressive, feminist student organization open to all women. The purpose of SWA was to improve the climate on campus for all women. Their programs included rape awareness programs, yoga classes, gay rights activism, pro-choice activism, and “The Beautiful Project 2015” which stressed the inner beauty of women. In 2017, the Student Women’s Association changed its name to the Feminist Collective.
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Open Access Article Processing Charge Waivers for UM/UMM and UMS
UMaine Libraries has a small number of publisher licensing agreements that enable UMaine and University of Maine at Machias faculty, staff, and students to publish their research as open access (OA) journal articles, without the need to pay an article processing charge (APC). The publishers listed here do not charge the library any additional fees for OA publishing on top of the library’s existing subscription cost. As indicated on this page, some are available only to UMaine and UMM authors, while some are available to the entire University of Maine System. Two additional publishers have been added for 2024-2026: Company of Biologists and Royal Society of Chemistry.
| | Support Fogler by funding an item from our staff-curated wishlist, created to highlight the library’s most timely needs and the resources that will make the biggest impact. | |
FEATURED RESOURCE
Find unique databases and online resources available through the UMaine Catalog to enhance your research, teaching and learning. Explore something new each week!
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American Periodical Series Online
American Periodicals Series Online (APS Online) includes digitized images of the pages of American magazines and journals published from colonial days to the dawn of the 20th century. Titles range from Benjamin Franklin’s General Magazine and America’s first scientific journal, Medical Repository; popular magazines such as Vanity Fair and Ladies’ Home Journal; regional and niche publications; and groundbreaking journals like The Dial, Puck, and McClure’s.
Coverage: 1741-1940
| | | | In complying with the letter and spirit of applicable laws and pursuing its own goals of diversity, the University of Maine System does not discriminate on the grounds of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, transgender status, gender, gender identity or expression, ethnicity, national origin, citizenship status, familial status, ancestry, age, disability physical or mental, genetic information, or veterans or military status in employment, education, and all other programs and activities. The University provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities upon request. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding non-discrimination policies: Director of Equal Opportunity, 5703 Alumni Hall, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469-5754, 207.581.1226, TTY 711 (Maine Relay System) |
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Raymond H. Fogler Library
