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Merrill Library Newsletter | |
NEWS
Stay updated on events, resources, and projects at Merrill Library and across UMaine Libraries. Discover what’s new and exciting in our library community!
| | New Web Accessibility Guide for UMaine Machias faculty and staff | | |
UMaine Libraries has launched Library Accessibility, a new online guide to support faculty and staff in creating accessible digital content.
Beginning on April 24, 2026, new federal regulations will require public universities to ensure that digital materials meet recognized accessibility standards. These requirements apply broadly to websites, Brightspace content, course materials, documents, videos, and other online resources used in teaching and communication.
This guide was developed to help the UMaine community understand what these changes mean in practice. It introduces the WCAG 2.1 standards, outlines concrete steps for improving accessibility in course materials, and points to tools, training opportunities, and campus support.
Designed as a living resource, the guide will continue to be updated as new tools, guidance, and best practices emerge.
Digital accessibility is not only a matter of compliance. It is a core component of inclusive teaching. Accessible materials support students with disabilities, as well as multilingual learners, students accessing content on mobile devices, and anyone who benefits from flexible ways of engaging with course materials.
This guide is intended for faculty, instructors, teaching assistants, graduate assistants, and staff who create or share digital content with students.
For questions or support, please contact UMaine Libraries Accessibility Coordinator Lindsay Decker.
| | Update for Digital Commons users: Submission changes and transition to Specto | | |
UMaine Libraries is transitioning from Digital Commons to a new digital asset management system, Specto. As part of this transition, some changes to submission workflows are now in place.
At this time, new uploads to Digital Commons are paused for most content. The only exceptions are journals, electronic theses and dissertations, which will continue to be accepted and processed in Digital Commons as usual.
For non-thesis student work that would typically be submitted to Digital Commons, a temporary submission process has been established. Please visit the Fogler Library website for more information about submitting non-thesis student work and to download the required faculty authorization form. Students may submit materials using the following form: Digital Commons Student Work Submission Form. Submissions received through this form will be held and then added to Specto by UMaine Libraries staff once the new system goes live.
This approach ensures that student work continues to be collected and preserved during the transition, while allowing time to implement the new platform.
If you have questions about submitting non-thesis student work, please contact Digital Commons Curator Kimberly Sawtelle. For questions about the transition to Specto or broader changes to digital asset management, please contact Assistant Dean Meg Colbert.
UMaine Libraries appreciates your patience during this transition and look forward to introducing expanded repository capabilities through Specto.
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ONLINE EVENTS
You are invited to Fogler Library's public events! Stay up-to-date by following our social media accounts listed at the bottom of this email, and check out our website for a complete list of events
| | Introducing Open Publishing platforms: Information sessions with Open Scholarship Librarian Casey Koons | | | |
Maine Open Books
Maine Open Books is the University of Maine Libraries’ open access publishing platform for scholarly books, textbooks, open educational resources (OER), and dynamic digital projects, powered by Manifold.
It supports the creation, publication, and long-term stewardship of openly available monographs and evolving “living documents” that grow through collaboration and engagement.
With annotation tools, rich media support, and interactive features, Manifold transforms scholarly publications into dynamic, living digital works.
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How will UMaine Libraries’ new publishing platforms change the way you share, discover, and engage with research?
Join Casey Koons, Open Scholarship Librarian at UMaine Libraries, for a series of virtual information sessions on our new open publishing and digital asset management platforms.
These sessions will introduce the tools launching in Spring 2026 to support open, data-informed scholarship and publishing. Koons will provide an overview of Specto, the new digital asset management system that will replace our institutional repository Digital Commons, including its AI-driven contextual linking that connects research outputs to related data, people, and collections.
Participants will also learn about Maine Open Journals, UMaine’s new journal publishing platform, and Maine Open Books, which supports Open Educational Resources (OER), “living documents,” and collaborative reading and annotation.
Together, these platforms expand opportunities for sharing, discovering, and engaging with research across the full scholarly lifecycle. These sessions are especially valuable for faculty and staff who currently use Digital Commons and want to learn more about the transition to Specto and UMaine’s new Open Access publishing tools.
Please note: All sessions will cover the same material, so you only need to attend one.
Session Dates (via Zoom):
- April 2, Noon-1 p.m.
- April 2, 3–4 p.m.
- April 8, Noon-1 p.m.
- April 8, 3–4 p.m.;
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FEATURED RESOURCE
Find unique databases and online resources available through the UMaine Catalog to enhance your research, teaching, and learning. Explore something new each week!
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Govinfo provides free public access to official publications from all three branches of the U.S. Federal Government. It is a service of the United States Government Publishing Office (GPO), which is a Federal agency in the legislative branch providing public access to government information submitted by Congress and Federal agencies.
| | | In complying with the letter and spirit of applicable laws and pursuing its own goals of diversity, the University of Maine System does not discriminate on the grounds of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, transgender status, gender, gender identity or expression, ethnicity, national origin, citizenship status, familial status, ancestry, age, disability physical or mental, genetic information, or veterans or military status in employment, education, and all other programs and activities. The University provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities upon request. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding non-discrimination policies: Director of Equal Opportunity, 5703 Alumni Hall, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469-5754, 207.581.1226, TTY 711 (Maine Relay System) |
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