On Saturday, April 27th from 5am to 1pm Pacific Time, the ASTM Compass platform will be performing systems maintenance which may cause an interruption in accessibility. We apologize for any inconvenience and hope this interruption will create minimal disruption to our users’ research.
The Library is pleased to announce a new module about academic integrity is available in Canvas Commons for CatCourses. The module empowers students to put together the four pieces of academic integrity – the scholarly conversation, academic honesty, attribution & citation, and copyright & fair use – to reflect and make connections to their own lives. The module supports students in understanding their responsibilities in being part of a research university. It includes a final assessment that can be graded. The module, licensed under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, was adapted from a module that Librarian, Bronwen Maxson, helped develop, and tailored for the needs of UC Merced in collaboration with Librarian, Olivia Olivares, the Teaching Commons, and in consultation with the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities.
The Library’s module was designed as a student onboarding module for Spark courses to enrich the first-year experience at UC Merced. To locate this module, log in to Canvas Commons via CatCourses and search for "Bobcats Live With Academic Integrity: Academic Conduct at UC Merced," from there you can download or import the module. Interested Spark instructors can reach the Teaching Commons for more information and for assistance embedding the module into a CatCourses site.
Faculty, library staff and students gathered for an award reception on March 22 to celebrate the accomplishments of Darián Andrade-Diaz and Ashley Ratcliff-Winn, the 2024 recipients of the Abrescy-Kranich Student Award for Library Research Excellence.
Faculty who taught these awardees attended the reception and made remarks about the exceptional work of these students, the relevance of their research, and the role of the Library in supporting their coursework.
Professor David Rouff called attention to the importance of Darián Andrade-Diaz’s essay written in a research-focused history class. In “Assimilating an Indigenous Perspective in Sequoia Kings Canyon National Parks”, Darián “developed an original argument about the legacy of Manifest Destiny … an idea itself not trapped in the past from which it emanated, but something repeated over time, … in the way that Indigenous peoples’ presence at Sequoia Kings Canyon were and were not remembered.”
Professor Rouff also noted that Darián’s work was possible due to the availability of archival materials. The collection is important “to producing innovating and original scholarship for the students, and for nerdy faculty members like me who get excited about getting to touch paper in the Library.” Darián’s work will be available in eScholarship, the Library’s institutional repository.
Nahrin Downey, Lecturer, Merritt Writing Program, taught Ashley Ratcliff-Winn in the course Writing in the Disciplines: Psychology and described her as “a privilege and a pleasure to work with.” Downey challenges her students “to choose something they care about – something that’s interesting, something they want to learn about.” In response to this, Ashley “chose something that was very impactful for her local community. She was really inspired by the people she was surrounded with at home: the migrant workers. She has such an appreciation for them.” Ashley’s award-winning essay, “Prevalence of and Risk Factors for Nervios and other Psychological Disparities in Mexican Migrant Farm Workers” is now available in eScholarship.
The student awardees expressed thanks to the Abrescy-Kranich families for making this award available. They also spoke kind and inspirational words that called attention to the university’s opportunities and the support they received from professors and librarians.
Darián highlighted the research opportunities available to undergraduates and how this research emphasis informed his decision to choose UC Merced. Students can pursue research they are passionate about and this “really does speak to the … cultivation of excellence and intelligence that happens at this university”. Ashley stated: “I know that I …. bugged you [Downey and librarians] throughout this … I just appreciate your mentorship so much.”
Both Darián and Ashley are in their final year of undergraduate studies and are pursuing graduate education. We wish you much success in your future endeavors!
We would also like to acknowledge the work of review committee members who evaluated all student applications received. We appreciate their commitment to and interest in this program.
The Abrescy-Kranich Student Award for Library Research Excellence will begin its next cycle this fall. The award offers $500 awards to recipients. Undergraduate students are encouraged to apply, beginning November 1, 2024.
Award recipients with Arlene Kranich (donor), Breland family members, and University Librarian
L to R: Mark Breland, Arlene Kranich, Darián Andrade-Diaz, Ashley Ratcliff-Winn, Haipeng Li, Kelli Breland, Julie Breland
Arlene Kranich, Darián Andrade-Diaz and Haipeng Li (University Librarian)
Arlene Kranich, Ashley Ratcliff-Winn
On Saturday, April 20th from 5am to 1pm Pacific Time, the ASTM Compass platform will be performing systems maintenance which may cause an interruption in accessibility. We apologize for any inconvenience and hope this interruption will create minimal disruption to our users’ research.
On Sunday, April 7th from midnight to 1am Pacific Time, ExLibris will be performing systems maintenance which may cause an interruption in online catalog services. We apologize for any inconvenience and hope this interruption will create minimal disruption to our users’ research.
Please join us for our next author talk featuring Christina Lux.
Christina Lux, UC Merced’s Center for the Humanities Managing Director, will discuss her recent book War Bonds at the UC Merced Library’s next Faculty Author Series. Lux’s book of poetry inspired by archival materials of Chicago pianist and painter Edna Cookingham expresses themes of survival, conflict, rebuilding, and community.
Event Time: Noon - 1pm
Event Date: Thursday, April 18, 2024
Event Location: Kolligian Library Building, KL 232
Registration is encouraged as seating is limited. Light refreshments provided.
The first 5 registrants who also attend the event will receive a free copy of Christina Lux's book.
On Saturday, March 16th from 6am to 11am Pacific Time, IEEE Xplore will be performing systems maintenance which may cause an interruption in access to the database. We apologize for any inconvenience and hope this interruption will create minimal disruption to our users’ research.
The Library is hiring a Graduate Summer Researcher to compile a reading list for a proposed UC Merced Community & Labor Center reading room during the summer term. This position is up to 50% and can be remote or in-person. More details can be found at the position description. Please apply soon!
Since 2017, the UC Merced Library has offered an award to undergraduate students who demonstrate excellence in library research and use. This year, the Carter Joseph Abrescy and Larry Kranich Library Award for Student Research Excellence was awarded to Ashley Ratcliff-Winn and Darian Andrade-Diaz.
Ashley Ratcliff-Winn is a 4th year psychology major currently in her last semester at UC Merced. During her time at UC Merced, she has spent many hours utilizing the many resources that the University Library has to offer. During her summer as a UROC-Humanities scholar, Ashley spent countless hours scouring library databases as well as using interlibrary loan services to gain access to original works that aided in her research projects focused on the cultural practices of Colombian and Venezuelan cattle herders. Ashley has recently published a literary review, “Prevalence of and Risk Factors for Nervios and other Psychological Disparities in Mexican Migrant Farm Workers” (2023).
Ashley is a member of Sigma Theta Psi Multicultural Sorority and president of the Nicotine and Cannabis Policy Center Club. She also volunteers in the IMPACT Lab and the Kings County Public Health Department while finishing her undergraduate degree.
Ashley is looking forward to continuing her education and has applied to Fresno State’s Masters program and for a PhD program at UC Merced. She plans on becoming a Licensed Marriage and Family Counselor after graduate school.
Darian Andrade-Diaz is a 4th year student, studying History with a minor in Critical Race and Ethnic Studies. He is from East Palo Alto, California. Throughout the course “Topics in Regional or State History: Research” taught by Dr. David Rouff, Darian used the Sequoia and Kings Canyon (SEKI) National Parks archive, housed by the University Library, to create a narrative based on primary source readings. His paper, “Assimilating an Indigenous Perspective in Sequoia Kings Canyon National Parks,” uses historical context and evaluations of institutions to identify the incomplete transmission of information about the native people who inhabited the park. In his paper, Darian argues that the formation of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks occurred in an era when racism and xenophobia informed the perspectives of Americans. The educational materials created by the park administration and the practices of policies in that period reveal a pattern of active whitewashing of indigenous perspectives. Darian is looking forward to exploring the relationships between the National Park Service in California and the transmission of indigenous histories in graduate school.
Darian chose to attend UC Merced because of the unrivaled opportunities for undergraduate research provided at this institution. He is thankful to be able to take advantage of these great opportunities and advance in his pursuit of a Ph.D.
A public reception to honor the achievements of Ashley and Darian will take place on Friday, March 22, 2024, at 1:30pm on the third floor of the Library near the Four Seasons of Yosemite stained glass murals. All are welcome to attend.
On behalf of the University Library and the Abrescy, Breland and Kranich families, many thanks to Award committee members and all in the Library for their hard work and commitment to student success!
Beginning at 2pm Pacific Time on Friday March 1st, the Fulcrum platform will be unavailable due to scheduled maintenance. The outage is expected to last approximately 3 hours and may affect access to ACLS Humanities Ebooks and University of Michigan Ebook collections. We apologize for any inconvenience and hope this interruption will create minimal disruption to our users’ research.
Copyright @ The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
