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University Libraries Newsletter
March 2023
FamilySearch Digitization Project in the Archives
Wendell and Shirley with their camera workstation.
The McCall Library is hosting FamilySearch digitization team Wendell and Shirley Jorgenson, volunteers from Idaho, who are working to scan Mobile Court records from 1830 to 1917. These records include Circuit Court executions, depositions, and other case materials which are useful to genealogists and other researchers. The final digital products will be available to users in the McCall Library as well as on the FamilySearch website. 
Rodning Gallery Hosts Alan Sealls' Photography Exhibit
On Wednesday, March 16th, 2023, USA Libraries Art Galleries held a reception featuring the photography of WPMI-TV's Chief Meteorologist, Alan Sealls. Guests were able to meet Sealls and ask him questions about his photography, as well as view a selection of prints from his most recent collection. This exhibit is a unique opportunity for guests to experience his work first-hand and gain insight into his creative process. The exhibition runs until April 28th, 2023, and is open to the public.
"Two Points of View" Exhibit in the ArtSpace@BioMed
The Biomedical Library is pleased to be hosting the “Two Points of View” exhibit in the ArtSpace@BioMed on the third floor of the library, March 6th – April 28th. The exhibit consists of acrylic paintings by local artist, Stacey Boyd Howell as well as a large collection of photographs by Bill Dumas, M.D. a graduate of the inaugural class of the Whiddon College of Medicine. This is Dr. Dumas’ first exhibition of his extraordinary photography. Ms. Boyd Howell’s paintings consist of lovely floral images as well as some abstract paintings whose color schemes are complementary. A reception was held on Thursday evening, March 16th with about 75 people in attendance.
JagWorks Off to a Great Start in 2023!
Last month, the JagWorks repository had 2000 full-text downloads and posted 243 new submissions, bringing the total works to 1519. Moreover, the University of South Alabama scholarship was read by 125 institutions across 80 countries.

The most popular papers in the repository were:
  1. Commitment of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Higher Education: Exploring DEI Elements Across Institutions (53 downloads)
  2. Social Media Influencers: An Examination of Influence Throughout the Customer Journey (31 downloads)
  3. Big Data: What Is It and How Can Academic Libraries Use It? (29 downloads)

The most popular publications were:
  1. Theses and Dissertations (756 downloads)
  2. Life Forms Mechanicals (715-2019) (223 downloads)
  3. Art Inventories (120 downloads)
 
In its first year (including October to December 2021), the JagWorks repository had 18,675 full-text downloads and posted 1,045 new works. University of South Alabama scholarship was read by 691 institutions across 142 countries.

In 2023, JagWorks@USA became the new home of the Alabama Library Association's journal, Alabama Libraries. Vol. 60, Issue 2, 2023, is the first issue to be posted on JagWorks, but back issues will be added soon.
 
 
About JagWorks@USA

Implemented in 2021 with funding from USA Libraries, the Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, the Charles Bernard and Mary Elizabeth Rodning Gallery of Art Endowment, and the Marx Family Library Endowment Fund, JagWorks@USA serves as the Institutional Repository for the University of South Alabama and USA Health.
 
Institutional Repositories (IRs) preserve and provide access to content that supports teaching, research, grants, accreditation, and the like. In addition, University divisions, colleges, departments, centers, faculty, and students can showcase their work in JagWorks, make it accessible globally, and track readership and impact. IRs are an excellent vehicle for working papers, copies of published articles, conference papers, presentations, performances, audiovisual materials, capstone projects, senior theses, and other works not published elsewhere.

JagWorks features a publishing platform for journals, conference proceedings, open educational resources, books, newsletters, magazines, and similar publications. JagWorks provides a solution for storing, managing, and sharing data to comply with data-sharing mandates for grants and funders. Licensing and copyright tools, customizable metadata, recommended citations, multiple display options, and persistent URLs allow tailored curation and open discoverability for all data types. Additionally, JagWorks can manage calls for conference papers, archive proceedings, presentation materials, and posters.
 
If you have questions or want to contribute content to JagWorks@USA, email us at jagworks@southalabama.edu or contact the IR coordinator, Jana Herrmann, at 251-460-6645 or jherrmann@southalabama.edu.
Web of Science Adds PrePrint Database
In academic publishing, a preprint is a version of a research paper or project that is publicly available in a repository before it has been peer-reviewed. In order to help make these preprints more visible, Clarivate recently added a new database to Web of Science, the Preprint Citation Index™, a multidisciplinary collection that currently contains preprints from arXiv, bioRxiv, chemRxiv, medRxiv, and Preprints.org.
Access will begin on March 31, 2023, and the index will be integrated into the existing Web of Science interface so researchers can:
  • Save time by searching aggregated preprint content with other content.
  • Simplify the process of evaluating preprint quality and trustworthiness.
  • Connect preprints to versions of record.
  • Link to other scholarly output from a preprint’s authors.

The new Preprint Citation Index™ is a standalone database on the Web of Science platform, and preprints are not included in the Web of Science Core Collection.
Web of Science
When running an ‘All Databases’ search, the default setting excludes preprints, so you will need to ‘opt in’ to include them in your search. This feature can be toggled on and off and saved as a preference. When included in the search, preprints are clearly marked in the search results and full record page with a disclaimer.
Preprint citations are not included in Times Cited counts, the Journal Impact Factor™ (JIF) or any other citation metrics within the Web of Science Core Collection or Journal Citation Reports™.

Clarivate is linking preprints and the scholarly articles they cite, so researchers can find the latest research relating to an article. This link does not display a numerical citation count. Under the Times Cited counts for an article, users can see a link to view citing preprints.

University Libraries Publications & Staff Updates
Muriel Nero - Muriel Nero, Head of Cataloging, agreed to serve as USA Libraries Assistant University Librarian for Collections as of June 1, 2023, after Kathy Wheeler retires.

Paula Webb - Paula Webb, Outreach & Communications Librarian, University Libraries, was invited to speak at the Los Angeles Civil War Roundtable via Zoom on March 21, 2023.
USA Libraries Exhibits & Events
April 2023
Explore Black Food and Memory with Visiting
Oral Historian, March 30 - April 1
Join the Down the Bay project team for a 3-day symposium with visiting Oral Historian Andre Taylor, who will share his research on Memory and Black Foodways. We will have events on campus and in the community. This symposium is supported by the Center for Archaeological Studies and its work for the I-10 Mobile River Bridge and Bayway project, The McCall Library, and the program in African American Studies. 

On Thursday, March 30 at 3.30 pm join Oral Historian Andre Taylor at the Marx Library Rodning Gallery for a presentation titled, “What Momma Passed to Me: Black food as memory and history.” On Friday, March 31, Taylor will interview Down the Bay narrators about their food traditions. On Saturday, April 1 from 10 am-2 pm, visit the community day at the Texas Street Recreation Center (540 Texas Street), where we will share photos from the McCall Library, stories from our oral history interviews, artifacts from the archaeological work, and food! 
 
Questions? Contact mccalllib@southalabama.edu or 251-341-3900.
"Two Points of View" Exhibit in the ArtSpace@BioMed

The Charles M. Baugh Biomedical Library will host a new exhibit in the ArtSpace@BioMed in March and April: "Two Points of View." The exhibit will feature paintings by local artist Stacey Boyd Howell and photography by Dr. Bill Dumas, a graduate of the inaugural class of the USA College of Medicine.  

The exhibit will be on display from March 6th - April 28th in the ArtSpace on the third floor of the Biomedical Library.
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