News & Blog

The 21^st Century Library continues to evolve with Phase IIA, the renovation of the library’s third floor. Demolition, renovation, and inspections will take place on the third floor until projected completion in spring/summer 2023.   

The third floor will remain closed during this phase of the project. Stairwells and elevators are marked with signs and caution tape as a reminder that the floor is not accessible.  

Most third floor materials have been added to the ARC. Media and microforms have moved to the first floor. Current periodicals have moved to the fourth floor. Newspapers and magazines have moved to the second floor by the Circulation Desk.  

Phase IIA design improvements include a Graduate Student Commons, 30 group study rooms, 520 public seats, 36 desktop PC stations, shelving for 35,000 volumes, and an office suite for subject liaison librarians. For more information regarding the project, please visit our 21^st Century Library page. 

The UCF Libraries presents a Spring 2022 Foundations of Data Management Library Workshop Series starting in February. These workshops are a part of the Research Computing and Data Workshop Series, which is being jointly presented by UCF Library, UCF Graduate and Research IT, and UCF Advanced Research Computing Center (ARCC). The UCF Libraries will hold workshops in February and March 2022 remotely via Zoom. Topics include: managing your data and maximizing the impact of your data post-publication. Come join us!

Join the UCF College of Graduate Studies and UCF Libraries for the Spring 2022 Downtown Campus Information Social that will be hosted virtually on Thursday, January 6, 2022, from 12:00-1:00 PM.  

This information session will highlight services provided by the College of Graduate Studies, the John C. Hitt Library located on UCF’s main campus, and the Downtown Campus library. UCF graduate students enrolled in Downtown Campus programs are invited to attend to meet Graduate Studies staff and UCF Librarians who support Downtown Campus students and programs. Details to attend are available at https://events.ucf.edu/event/2277098/spring-2022-downtown-campus-information-social/ 

For questions, please contact Corinne Bishop, Social Sciences & Graduate Engagement Librarian. 

The UCF Libraries’ Special Collections & University Archives and Digital Initiatives departments are pleased to announce the completion of a project to digitize the University of Central Florida’s student newspaper. The publication ran from 1968 to 2016.   

The newspaper’s first issue appeared on October 7, 1968, to coincide with the first day of classes at the newly opened Florida Technological University (FTU), now the University of Central Florida (UCF). The first five issues of the publication did not have a name. Instead, the paper referred to itself as F.T.U.???. By the fifth issue, it became known as the FuTUre. Despite the university changing names from FTU to UCF in 1978, the newspaper’s name did not change to the Central Florida Future until 1985.  

In the early 1990s, the newspaper became unaffiliated with the university. Over the next two decades, it was bought and sold to multiple different companies. It eventually became an entity of Gannett, the owner of USA Today and Florida Today. Sadly, Gannett shut down the Central Florida Future in 2016. 

Since 2012, the UCF Libraries has been digitizing 48-years’ worth of this publication. Unfortunately, due to copyright, only the issues from 1968 to 2010 are available publicly online at https://stars.library.ucf.edu/centralfloridafuture/. 

The university’s history covered in the Central Florida Future is an amazing resource. We are so happy to have it available and preserved. 

Congratulations to Lee Dotson for being named an Institutional Repository All-Star during the Digital Commons North American Conference 2021! Ms. Dotson is the interim department head for Technology Solutions & Digital Initiatives and has been the Repository Manager for STARS since it launched in 2015.

UCF’s Lee Dotson was one of four 2021 IR All Stars!

Ms. Dotson was introduced by Benjamin Gaunt, Digital Commons customer service representative, who described her as “…perhaps the busiest and most effective IR manager I’ve worked with — her repository contains literally hundreds of collections and has received over 5 MILLION downloads to date. This all-star leads the University of Central Florida’s STARS repository with extraordinary vision and collaboration — her tight-knit team at the library is known for bringing diverse, innovative collections on board and working closely with us here in Consulting Services to meet each collection’s individualized needs. As a result, I believe she may be one of the most knowledgeable and cutting-edge users of Digital Commons to date.”

UCF content creators, authors, and the community are the heart of STARS, UCF’s Showcase of Text, Archives, Research & Scholarship, which exists to collect, share, and provide ready access to works by, for, and about the University of Central Florida. Explore the collections at stars.library.ucf.edu. For more information about how STARS can help you share your work with a worldwide audience, visit our STARS Digital Repository page or contact stars@ucf.edu