News & Blog

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.

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.”

“Over 5 MILLION downloads from STARS 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

With over 5.3 million downloads since 2015, STARS helps authors reach a worldwide audience by providing an online home for open access content! STARS, UCF’s Showcase of Text, Archives, Research & Scholarship, is the digital institutional repository of content by, for, or about the University of Central Florida. Everyday UCF authors use STARS to manage, share, and increase impact for their full range of scholarship while retaining the rights to their works.

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With almost 3,000,000 downloads in just five years, STARS wants to help you reach a worldwide audience by providing an online home for your digital projects! Faculty and students navigate a world where scholarship is increasingly digital. STARS, UCF’s Showcase of Text, Archives, Research & Scholarship, is the digital institutional repository of content by, for, or about UCF. Through STARS, UCF offers authors a way to manage, share, and increase impact for their full range of scholarship, from open educational resources and podcasts to image galleries and journals.

Did you know you can shine a light on your scholarship by adding your works to the Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works collection? This collection was created specifically to showcase faculty contributions.  View the works and citations currently available and then login or create an account to start adding your materials. Your Author Dashboard will provide access to real-time download activity, alternative metrics, and usage reports on demand. Newly integrated PlumX metrics show you citations, media mentions, tweets, and more.

Need a new collection for your project? Let us know!

Questions about submitting works or your rights as an author? Email us at STARS@ucf.edu

Ready to see how STARS can help you shine a light on your works? Visit stars.library.ucf.edu 

Students at UCF work on all kinds of interesting creative projects and research. UCF Libraries has the privilege of being able to house physical and digital copies of decades of research done by students and faculty.  

STARS is UCF’s Showcase of Text, Archives, Research & Scholarship, and is home to scholarship and creative works done by students and faculty across disciplines. STARS provides an option for contributors to share their work while retaining their copyright. Most items in STARS are freely available to users around the world. Materials can be browsed College, Department, or individual collection: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/communities.html. 

Users can browse all Theses and Dissertations completed at UCF, including everything from a political science paper about the 2020 Presidential primaries and the Democratic Party’s influence to a Communication paper on the effects of social media on mental health. College and Department level collections are also available, as well as a browsable collection of Advisors and Chairs. 

We’ve also curated a list of some of the many interesting works by students in the History Department, Creative Writing program, College of Sciences, and College of Nursing below:  

History 

Pestilence and Poverty: The Great Influenza Pandemic and Underdevelopment in the New South, 1918-1919 by Andrew Kishuni 

Farm Women as Producers & Consumers in the 20th Century U.S. South by Joseph J. Kaminski 

Rebuilt and Remade: The Florida Citrus Industry, 1909-1939 by James Padgett  

Hippieland: Bohemian Space and Countercultural Place in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury Neighborhood by Kevin Mercer 

Mass Media and the Evolution of the Environmental Movement: 1960-1979 by Donald Anguish 

Creative Writing 

Golden Years by Sienna Malik 

Tourist Trap: On Being Raised In Award-winning Sand by Catherine Jane Carson 

According to the Gospel of Haunted Women by Judith Roney  

Assisted Living: Stories by Donovan Swift 

I Have Questions by Lorena Matejowsky 

Migrant Child by Nicholas Shepherd 

College of Sciences 

A Socio-Economic Assessment of Marine Turtle Eco-tourism by Kendra Cope (2015) 

Impact of Increased Green Turtle Nesting on Loggerhead Fitness by Amanda R. Carmichael (2018) 

It’s Just a Bad Period” and Other Ways of Dismissing Women’s Pain: An Ethnographic Look into the Experience of Endometriosis by Seline Hays 

Impact of Work-Life Balance on Health-Related Quality of Life Among College Students by Emily Vernet 

Experiences of Young Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Latinx People in Healthcare by Caleb Hernandez  

Whose Sustainability? An Analysis of a Community Farming Program’s Food Justice and Environmental Sustainability Agenda by Sarah Davenport  

College of Nursing 

Exploring the Different Factors Associated with Burnout by Natassja J. DeBra 

As we continue to share UCF Library’s online resources, we hope that you find new ways to engage with your fellow Knights across disciplines and genres.