News & Blog

Depending on your major, it is possible that you may have to take classes away from the UCF main campus. As a Digital Media student, for example, once you are accepted into the program, most of your degree-classes will be located at the Downtown campus. As students of these alternative campuses, you have access to their respective resources.

I intend to introduce you to each campus library. In this part, we will be discussing UCF’s Rosen campus and the Universal Orlando Foundation Library.

The Universal Orlando Foundation Library, known as the “Rosen Library,” serves the research needs and interests of Rosen College’s students, staff, and faculty. The Library also serves as an information resource center for the hospitality industry in central Florida.

The Rosen Library is a branch of the UCF Libraries and offers the following services:
– Checkout of Books, DVDs, & Course Reserves
– Computers & Technology // Technology Lending
– Printing, Copying, and Scanning Research help
– Study Rooms and Lockers (1-week checkout)
– Exhibits
– Accessibility Services
– Interlibrary Loan

The Rosen Campus Library is closed on the weekends. During the Fall and Spring, the library is open Mondays – Thursdays from 8 am to 9 pm and Fridays from 8 am to 5 pm. During the Summer semester, the library is open Mondays – Thursdays from 8 am to 8 pm and Fridays 8 am to 5 pm. If you have any questions, you can reach library staff by email at rosenlib@ucf.edu or by calling (407) 903-8100.

If you’d like to learn more about the Downtown Campus and Library, please visit “Diamond’s Hidden Gems – Rosen” in STARS!

The UCF Libraries is sponsoring their second “Love your Libraries” sticker contest! UCF Students are invited to submit original design entries no larger than 4” x 3”. Entries should be submitted as an image file (TIFF,JPEG, BMP, PNG, or GIF format).

The library will select one winning design that reflects the library to print and distribute during Finals Week (April 24 30, 2024). A winner will be announced through library social media and digital signs in the library. The winner will receive 25 printed stickers and an LED light displaying their design!

Contest rules:

• The contest is for UCF students only.
• One entry per student.
• If more than one entry is submitted by a student, all the entries by that person will be disqualified from the contest.
• Judges reserve the right to not select a winner due to limited submissions or lack of exceptional submissions.
• Entries with explicit content will not be considered for this contest.
• Images may be subject to approval by UCF Marketing.

Deadline to submit is March 29th at 5pm!

Submit at https://stars.library.ucf.edu/stickercontest/.

Depending on your major, it is possible that you may have to take classes away from the UCF main campus. As a Hospitality Management student, for example, once you are accepted into the program, most of your degree classes will be located at the Rosen campus. As students of these alternative campuses, you have access to their respective resources.

I intend to introduce you to each campus library. In this part, we will be discussing UCF’s Downtown campus and the Addition Financial Downtown Campus Library. Similar to the UCF main library, the Addition Financial Downtown Campus Library provides important services to students, faculty, and staff.

Services include:
– Checkout of books, DVDs, and course reserves
– Access to electronic resources, including databases, journals, and more
– Printing, copying, and scanning // IT support and Tech lending
– Research assistance via consultations, online chat, phone, text or email
– Borrowing from other libraries via Interlibrary Loan
– Library Instruction and access to subject librarians

As always, students must have their ID to make use of these resources!

The Addition Financial Downtown Campus Library is located on the 2nd floor of the Dr. Phillips Academic Commons. The library is closed on the weekends. During the Fall and Spring, the Downtown Library is open Mondays – Thursdays from 8 am to 9 pm and Fridays from 8 am to 5 pm. During the Summer semester, the library is open Mondays – Thursdays from 8 am to 7 pm and Fridays 8 am to 4 pm.

If you have any questions, you can reach library staff by email at downtownlibrary@ucf.edu or by calling 407-235-3720.

If you’d like to learn more about the Downtown Campus and Library, please visit “Diamond’s Hidden Gems – Downtown” in STARS!

As part of its ongoing commitment to providing cutting-edge spaces tailored to the evolving needs of its community, the John C. Hitt Library has unveiled its latest addition: the Hitt Maker Podcast Studio. This innovative space, located on the 2nd floor, is designed to cater to the growing demand for a space for podcast production among UCF students, faculty, and staff, further solidifying the Libraries’ role as a hub for creative exploration and collaboration. 

Equipped with state-of-the-art audio and video recording technology, the Hitt Maker Podcast Studio offers users the opportunity to easily capture both audio and video recordings of their podcasts. With features like the Rodecaster Pro II audio production mixer and the ATEM Mini Pro ISO video mixer, users can effortlessly adjust microphone levels, apply effects, and switch between multiple cameras or HDMI sources for a seamless recording experience. 

The studio can accommodate anywhere from one to four individuals in recordings, and up to seven in the room, making it ideal for group discussions or interviews. Additionally, users can utilize the space for recording voice-overs for video projects, enhancing its versatility. To facilitate smooth operation, the equipment is designed to be controlled by a producer or individual not participating in the podcast, allowing users to focus on their content creation. 

The UCF Libraries is proud to share that Sara Duff was selected as a recipient for the 2024 UCF Research Incentive Award (RIA). This annual award recognizes the outstanding impact of UCF faculty’s research, creative and scholarly output. As part of UCF faculty, many UCF librarians engage in research, creative, or scholarly activities while striving for excellence in supporting the library mission. Two other librarians won the RIA in previous years.

Sara joined UCF Libraries in 2017 as the Acquisitions & Collection Assessment Librarian. She has consistently provided outstanding collection services in investigating and acquiring library resources, such as textbooks and streaming video for classes, to directly support UCF’s academic mission. In 2022, Sara was awarded the Excellence in Librarianship. Sara is an avid reader and passionate about sharing knowledge to the library profession. She conducts research informed by her library work. The research results have been turned into books, articles, and presentations. 

In 2020, Sara co-authored a Routledge book with another librarian Tina Buck, Guidance for Librarians Transitioning to a New Environment. They surveyed librarians from a few countries working at different types of libraries. Their research findings demystify the perceived barriers between various types and environments of librarianship and provide a roadmap for successful transitions across the library types. The book has received international accolades and already been added to over 127 libraries in 19 countries.

Two years later in 2022, Sara co-edited Zines in Libraries: Selecting, Purchasing, and Processing, a book published by the American Library Association. This title becomes one of the only two books sharing best practices in building library zines collections. It earned favorable reviews from Choice, Booklist, Library Resources & Technical Services, and Technicalities.

In addition to authorship in books, Sara has maintained a productive and consistent research record by contributing to articles to peer reviewed journals and presentations to conferences on library collection services. Several examples of her past research include evaluating different electronic acquisition models, acquiring textbooks to enable affordability, open access, analyses of new workflow. All topics represent current trends in libraries and have generated extensive interest.

Congratulations to Sara Duff!