Jean And Alexander Heard Libraries

The agreement, signed by university and Canadian officials during a Dec. 3 ceremony at Vanderbilt’s Special Collections and University Archives, marks the second five-year collaboration between the two organizations and reaffirms their shared commitment to advancing academic collaboration and fostering innovative research. The new collaboration establishes the Fulbright Canada Distinguished Chair at Vanderbilt’s College of Arts and Science, with the recipients working closely with the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries.  Read More

From integrating literacy into music education to empowering teens to lead a more balanced digital life, seven innovative projects have been awarded funding through the fall 2024 cycle of the Community Engagement Collaboration Fund. Faculty and staff from 11 of Vanderbilt’s schools, departments and centers have joined forces with local nonprofits, schools and other community stakeholders to bring these initiatives to life.   Read More

A three-year read-and-publish agreement between Oxford University Press and the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries is elevating the visibility and impact of Vanderbilt University research by expanding access to OUP’s broad portfolio of academic journals. Under the agreement, which is effective through 2026, Vanderbilt-affiliated authors can publish open access in hundreds of OUP’s hybrid journals without incurring article processing charges. Read More

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., a global media company that publishes more than 100 peer-reviewed academic journals, today announced a three-year read-and-publish agreement with Vanderbilt University’s Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries. Effective from 2025 through 2027, the open access agreement is the first of its kind that Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. has signed with a North American institution and will enable Vanderbilt-affiliated authors to maximize the discoverability, readership and citations for their research without incurring article processing charges. Articles submitted by Vanderbilt authors Jan. 1, 2025, or later will be eligible. Read More

The Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries will celebrate 2024 Geography Awareness Week and GIS Day with a series of events Nov. 18–21—including hands-on workshops, exhibits and discussions of rare maps, and a campus scavenger hunt—highlighting the significance and artistry of historical maps and map making. Read More

Walter Isaacson, the acclaimed author of the biographies Steve Jobs and Benjamin Franklin: An American Life and professor of history at Tulane, will speak at Vanderbilt University on Thursday, Dec. 5, in conversation with John M. Seigenthaler, former news anchor and correspondent for NBC and MSNBC. The discussion will range from mis/disinformation to the art of historical biography to Isaacson’s 2023 biography of Elon Musk.  Read More

Since her appointment last September as the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries’ first curator of community histories, Sarah Calise has been steadily expanding Vanderbilt’s LGBTQ+ collections. The process has been equal parts nuts-and-bolts archival work—assessing, collecting, organizing and preserving historical items that document the LGBTQ+ experience in Nashville and Middle Tennessee—and dedicated relationship building. Read More

Vanderbilt University secured four National Endowment for the Humanities grants totaling $330,696 to support projects ranging from Yiddish literature to the preservation of Special Collections. The grants highlight Vanderbilt’s leadership in humanities research and were facilitated by the university’s Research Development and Support team. Read More

Roschke, a renowned expert in media literacy and misinformation, has been named the inaugural executive director of the McGee Applied Research Center for Narrative Studies at Vanderbilt University beginning Oct. 15. Roschke will also hold a faculty appointment in the Program in Communication of Science and Technology in the College of Arts and Science. Read More

A new exhibit at the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries celebrates the rich world and colorful characters created by popular 20th-century British writer P.G. Wodehouse. “Blandings, Jeeves, and Psmith: The Worlds of P.G. Wodehouse,” curated by Special Collections and University Archives, commemorates the formal dedication of the P.G. Wodehouse Collection at Vanderbilt University. The exhibit is in the fourth-floor lobby of Central Library in wall cases stretching from the Reading Room to Suzie’s Food for Thought Café. Read More

Studio 608, a creative space located in the Central Library, provides Vanderbilt students, faculty and staff with opportunities to explore new modes of narrative storytelling through audio. The state-of-the-art studio can be used to record interviews, conversations, panel discussions and other formats that capture the diverse perspectives and experiences of the university community. Read More

The Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries announce the 2024–25 McCord Graduate Library Fellowship, an opportunity to work under the mentorship of Vanderbilt professional librarians or archivists. The fellowship is designed to enhance the learning experience for graduate and professional students, providing a unique opportunity to engage in inquiry-based and experiential learning related to a variety of topics in libraries and the information sciences. Read More

Embarking on a new research project often brings unexpected discoveries—some intriguing, some novel, but rarely a find of a lifetime. Such a remarkable discovery occurred when university archivist and associate director Kathy Smith stumbled upon a pile of plaster, hidden away for 60 years in a dim, cluttered closet of the Branscomb Quad basement. This plaster turned out to be the long-lost Crampton’s Plesiosaur Cast from the 1870s, missing for nearly six decades. Read More

What do a Commodore ID Card, a piece of the Bicentennial Oak, a baseball signed by two-time national championship-winning head baseball coach Tim Corbin, and a video of the 2019 Carmichael Tower implosions all have in common? They are among more than 150 items that future generations will discover in a Vanderbilt time capsule to be opened in the year 2174. Read More

Please Continue: Literary Correspondence as Conversation features notes and letters penned by acclaimed writers representing more than a century of English literature, from the mid-1800s to the 1980s. Highlights include correspondence from Mark Twain, Henry James, Arthur Conan Doyle, Zora Neale Hurston, C.S. Lewis, Flannery O’Connor, Langston Hughes, P.G. Wodehouse, Katherine Anne Porter and others. Read More

The Divinity Library has launched a new version of its popular Revised Common Lectionary website. The RCL is a collection of weekly Bible readings centered on the life and ministry of Jesus Christ adopted by numerous church bodies and individual congregations to read concurrently each Sunday throughout the liturgical year. Read More

As classes get underway this fall, the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries are here to support students in a variety of ways. Check out the following 10 tips to make the most of all the libraries have to offer. Read More

As classes and research get underway this fall, the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries are here to support Vanderbilt faculty in a variety of ways. Check out the 10 tips below to make the most of all the libraries have to offer. Read More

The Buchanan Library Fellows program supports hands-on student learning opportunities that build desirable skills and deepen students’ understanding of resources and services in the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries. With a focus on undergraduate instruction, the program connects faculty and professional librarians with students to work on experiential library projects and present their work at the end of their fellowship. Read More

Vanderbilt University Librarian Jon Shaw has been named a 2024 Education Champion by Amazon Web Services (AWS). The prestigious honor was announced during the AWS Imagine conference held July 23–24 in Austin, Texas. Read More