UW Libraries April Update 2025

Celebrating Libraries Student Employees

Did you know that more than 250 students work at UW Libraries and UW Press across all campuses? They are the backbone of operations, as well as teachers, mentors, designers, writers and so much more. Read more about their outstanding accomplishments and this year’s celebration of 50 new student employee scholarship recipients.

Inside Dante – New Video Story by UW News

Last month we shared the exciting news about UW Libraries recent acquisition of a rare 1544 edition of Dante’s ‘Divine Comedy’. Now you can get an up close view, and learn more about the fascinating history of this remarkable new addition in this video story featuring  Julie Tanaka, Associate Dean for Distinctive Collections.

UW Tacoma Library’s New Dean

Kaijsa Calkins has been appointed as the Associate Dean of the UW Tacoma Library, bringing with her an extensive background in education and research services.

Farewell, Sheryl Stiefel – UW Libraries Chief Advancement Officer To Retire

After 12 years leading UW Libraries’ advancement team, Sheryl Stiefel is retiring, leaving behind a lifetime’s worth of fundraising achievements that will help to advance the work of UW Libraries for many years to come. On April 1, Sheryl celebrated her UW journey by walking to work (from the Eastside, in the rain!) and enjoying a special celebration in her honor with friends, family, co-workers and donors. We’ll miss you, Sheryl!

At Sheryl’s request,  gift acknowledgements can be directed to the  UW Libraries Student Newspaper Digitization Project which will help to complete the years-long effort to  digitize The Daily!

Architecture of the Pacific Northwest

You don’t have to be studying architecture to appreciate the artful works in this collection! From original drawings of Suzzallo Library, to concepts for the space needle, to mid-century homes and Seattle landmarks past and present, this database contains selected architectural drawings from the Pacific Northwest Architecture Collection representing regionally significant architects and designers spanning the period from the 1880’s into the 1980’s.

MENA (Middle Eastern & North African) Heritage Month

This book group includes many classic novels and titles in the running for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction from various years, with translations.

April 2 - 11: Tours and Crafts @ Tateuchi East Asia Library

If you are visiting the Quad to see the breathtaking cherry blossoms, why not take a short walk up the stairs to Gowen Hall, 3rd floor, and discover another campus treasure—the Tateuchi East Asia Library (TEAL)! TEAL is home to an internationally renowned East Asian collection, a rich history and a stunning space that many consider a hidden gem. You can participate in both self-guided or library-led tours AND create cherry blossom-inspired bookmarks at during DIY sessions throughout the month.

April 5: Asian American Home Movies Screening

Sponsored by UW Libraries, join us for a free, special screening of historic Asian American home movies from the greater Seattle Area. The historic home movies from private collections and the UW Libraries Special Collections feature family events, farms, and scenes from pre-war communities in our region. The event is spearheaded by UW Cinema & Media Studies doctoral candidate Sarah Choi.

April 8 and 10: Humap Mapping Platform Workshop & Trial Run

The Open Scholarship Commons invites you to a virtual onboarding workshop and trial run of Humap, a dynamic digital mapping platform designed for researchers, educators, and storytellers. Humap enables users to create interactive, multimedia-rich maps integrating text, images, videos, and data. It is a powerful tool for research visualization, digital humanities projects, and place-based pedagogy.

April 10: Publish & Protect Your Research: Build a Book Fast with Manifold

Learn how to create the world’s fastest book using the Manifold digital book publishing platform!

April 14: Statistics, Machine Learning and Classical Japanese Orthography

Featuring Prof. Paul Atkins, Doctoral Candidates of Mathematics, Herman Chau, and Michael R. Zeng. In this talk, Professor Atkins and his lab’s students will discuss how they used statistical analysis of classical hiragana usage to determine whether a set of controversial Japanese manuscripts were inscribed by their assumed scribe. This lecture is part of the Tateuchi East Asia Library Digital Scholarship Series.

April 16: Introduction to Data Visualization

This online workshop will provide a basic introduction to data visualization, including a high level overview of tools available at the UW, as well as where to find support when creating visualizations. A basic understanding of data is helpful but not required. This workshop will not be recorded.

April 25 - May 16: Storytelling Fellows Video Storytelling Series

Applications Due April 18. Open to graduate students, faculty, or staff members, this fun, four-week online workshop runs April 25 to May 16. From writing scripts, to organizing digital assets, copyright and more, you’ll learn the fundamentals of digital storytelling and how to create short-form videos to showcase your research work!

April 21 - 24: Research Data Management Workshop

Twice a year, the UW Libraries offers Research Data Management Planning, an asynchronous online workshop for UW community members engaged in research with data. Topics include getting started with data management planning, funder requirements for data sharing, metadata, tips to help keep you organized, sharing, archiving and preservation, and an introduction to tools and on-campus support to aid researchers. The primary audience is graduate students and new staff and faculty, but anyone with a UW NetID can register.