04/28/2022 | News release | Distributed by Public on 04/28/2022 07:07
The Library Collections Enhancement Initiative, funded by nearly $100,000 from the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education, strengthens campus research capacities by providing University of Wisconsin-Madison libraries with flexibility to address critical and emerging collections needs.
The second round of funded projects range from South Asian film and media to Chinese local gazetteers, critical editions of major French and Italian works from the Middle Ages through the 20th century, and German-language works published by or about the Pennsylvania Dutch.
Awardees are chosen by the OVCRGE and are funded for one-time purchases of library titles focused on a specific research area. This initiative is also supported by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.
"Proposals funded this year build on strengths in our staff, faculty and library collections and, in several cases, reflect recent campus investments in faculty hires and research support for graduate students and faculty," says Florence Hsia, associate vice chancellor for research in the arts and humanities. "This is precisely the kind of strategic approach to building research capacity that the Library Collections Enhancement Initiative was meant to foster."
Each proposal in the Library Collections Enhancement Initiative must be led by at least one faculty member in partnership with at least one librarian with relevant subject expertise.
"This initiative recognizes and encourages partnerships between faculty and librarians to identify distinctive resources that are needed for innovative and emerging research now and into the future," says Lisa Carter, vice provost for libraries and university librarian. "These additions to our amazing research collections enhance the libraries' goals to advance discovery, empower scholarship, and increase knowledge-sharing in support of all that happens at this world-class university."
Twelve projects were funded in the pilot round of the initiative, bringing to 20 the total funded projects to enhance library collections in the past two years.
The eight new projects are: