News From U-M
Digitization ushers new era in scholarship
Until recently, scholars who wanted to view any of the 1,100 items in the University of Michigan’s Islamic manuscripts collection had to come to the Special Collections Library where they would likely begin their search with the box of cards that served as the collection’s catalog. But the information on the cards in many instances lacked sufficient detail about the remarkable manuscripts they described, and in other instances was simply incorrect. Now, thanks in part to a grant awarded by the Council on Library and Information Resources and funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, MLibrary has embarked upon a three-year collaborative cataloging project that will, by means of technology, assemble the necessary expertise. [Read more...]
Coleman says U-M ready to help Snyder turn state around
U-M stands ready to leverage its leadership role in economic development to help Gov. Rick Snyder pursue a turnaround in the state's fortunes, President Mary Sue Coleman said Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2011. "Governor Snyder has a powerful vision for our state and its return to prominence. We share his deep commitment to a brighter future for all Michiganders," Coleman said following Snyder's first State of the State address. [Read more...]
Winners in Mobile Apps Challenge announced
It just got easier to find parking space on campus or to harvest power from your mobile phone using applications developed by U-M students and staff. Apps that let people create digital copies of their event tickets, organize task lists, and meet people with shared interests through location-based social networking are among the winners in the 2010 Michigan Mobile Apps Challenge. The competition was sponsored by Apple Inc., Google, Information and Technology Services (ITS), Computer Science and Engineering, and the Office of Technology Transfer. "We were really impressed by the quality of apps and the expertise of applicants this year," said Holly Nielsen, director of enabling technologies and services at ITS. "Creativity and ingenuity is thriving at U-M. This competition serves as an excellent platform for showcasing it." [Read more...]
U-M Library adopts new Creative Commons license
The U-M Library has adopted a new Creative Commons license for its website content. This new license, Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY), allows others to copy, distribute, transmit and adapt MLibrary website content as long as they attribute the library, but not in any way that suggests that MLibrary endorses users or their use of the work. According to Paul Courant, university librarian and dean of libraries, the CC-BY license change “offers the U-M community and the public a rich set of educational resources free from barriers to their use and repurposing.” Among these resources are bibliographies, research guides, lesson plans and technology tutorials. Courant says, “It also demonstrates MLibrary’s ability and willingness to lead the way toward open access in scholarship, on this campus and beyond.” [Read more...]
U-M joins open access publication consortium
The University of Michigan has become a participant in Compact for Open-Access Publishing Equity, a consortium of universities that support open-access publishing by subsidizing publication fees for open-access journals. "The University of Michigan recognizes the value of open access to scholarly works, and we are proud to join other leading universities in this innovative approach to supporting open-access publication," said Phillip Hanlon, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. "Ultimately, it can both reduce our own costs for journal acquisition and can help ensure that the work of our faculty is disseminated as broadly as possible." [Read more...]
14 U-M researchers to speak at World Stem Cell Summit in Detroit
U-M researchers will present updates on groundbreaking clinical trials, new insights into basic stem cell biology and reports on some of the latest technical advances at the 2010 World Stem Cell Summit in Detroit next month. More than 1,000 people from 30 countries are expected to attend the event Oct. 4-6 at the Marriott Renaissance Center. This year’s summit will be the sixth annual conference organized by the non-profit Genetics Policy Institute. GPI recently added two sessions to address last month’s federal court ruling that briefly halted federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research. [Read more...]
Coleman authors Forbes column on ways to aid entrepreneurship
President Mary Sue Coleman wrote an article for Forbes.com in which she describes U-M’s interdisciplinary approach to helping students nurture their entrepreneurial spirit. She writes, “The educational programs designed to draw out these innovative thinkers must be welcoming to all students willing to take a risk on what some might call their ‘crazy ideas.’” [Read more...]
Whistler exhibition opens at the U-M Museum of Art
A comprehensive special exhibition, entitled "On Beauty and the Everyday: The Prints of James McNeill Whistler," will be on view August 21 through November 28, 2010 at the U-M Museum of Art (UMMA). This major exhibition will feature more than 100 works of art from UMMA’s rare and important Whistler collection, which covers the artist’s entire career in Europe, ranging from his student days and exposure to the vanguard artistic movements of the 19th century to the groundbreaking and atmospheric lithographs and etchings of his mature style. [Read more...]
CIRRUS sets the stage for propelling U-M research forward
A new strategic partnership between the Office of Research Cyberinfrastructure and Information and Technology Services has launched an initiative called Computing and Information Resources for Research as a Utility Service (CIRRUS). CIRRUS will provide the foundation for U-M’s research cyberinfrastructure by developing the strategy, demand forecasting, and key technologies required to support high-performance computing. The goal is to provide services for a wide range of needs such as modeling, simulation, prediction, and data mining; data management and visualization; virtual organizations; and educational enhancements. [Read more...]
U-M selects leader for North Campus Research Complex
Exactly one year after purchasing a 174-acre research campus formerly used for advanced pharmaceutical development, the University of Michigan has selected the leader who will steer the site's transformation into a vibrant home for academic and private-sector research. David Canter, a physician, scientist and respected leader, once led the Pfizer pharmaceutical research operation on the site now known as the U-M North Campus Research Complex or NCRC. Now, pending the approval of the U-M Board of Regents, he will be the Executive Director of the NCRC beginning July 19. In that role, Canter will have responsibility for mapping, developing and implementing the university's strategy to make the most of the site's 30 buildings and dozens of acres of open land. [Read more...]