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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!
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Merrill Library's new hours
Please note that Merrill Library's new hours for the Fall 2026 Semester, starting August 31, 2026, are as follows:
Sunday: 2-8 p.m.
Monday-Thursday: 8 a.m.-7 p.m.
Friday: 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
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UMaine Libraries launches new platforms for Open Scholarship and Special Collections
UMaine Libraries has transitioned from the Digital Commons institutional repository to a new suite of purpose-built platforms designed to improve discovery, usability, and long-term support for the University’s scholarly and cultural output.
These new platforms better support a wide range of content, streamline editorial and curatorial workflows, and offer a more intuitive and engaging experience for readers, researchers, and creators across the University of Maine System.
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Special Collections Integration: a new institutional repository
UMaine Libraries' new institutional repository is now live! This release is the culmination of months of work by library staff to migrate content from Digital Commons to Specto. The Institutional Repository features unique digitized material, including UMaine related material like University of Maine at Machias faculty, staff and student research, commencement programs and UMM’s “Washingtonia” yearbook; UMaine's “Maine Campus” and the “Prism” yearbook; faculty and student scholarship, including dissertations and theses; and material from Maine related historical collections, such as the Northeast Archives of Folklore and Oral History and the Sewall Company Aerial Photographs.
Material in Specto will appear alongside the Libraries’ other collections in the library's catalog LibrarySearch. This integration will make it easier to discover and explore distinctive UMaine materials, support a broader range of formats and data types, and enable the creation of new online exhibits that showcase the depth and richness of the libraries’ unique holdings.
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Introducing Maine Open Journals
Maine Open Journals, hosted by University of Maine Libraries, is a modern publishing platform that allows editors connected with the University to seamlessly manage the entire publication process, from initial submission through peer review. Replacing and updating the Digital Commons experience, Maine Open Journals provides entirely Open Access articles while maximizing the global reach and visibility of our researchers' work.
The publications currently available on this platform are Andean Past; Journal of Archaeology and Education; Maine History; Maine Policy Review; New England Journal of Political Science; and Résonance.
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Maine Open Books
A third platform, Maine Open Books, will support the publication of open access books and long-form digital works. It will host Open Educational Resources (OER), scholarly monographs, and evolving “living documents,” creating a sustainable and flexible home for long-form digital scholarship. Maine Open Books is expected to launch in the fall.
Together, these new platforms represent a significant investment in open access, digital preservation, and user-centered design. They will ensure that UMaine’s scholarship and collections remain accessible, discoverable, and adaptable well into the future.
| | University of Maine at Machias receives major art book donation honoring Professor Bernie Vinzani | |
The University of Maine at Machias (UMM) recently received a generous donation of nineteen handmade art books from Rebecca Goodale — a celebrated Maine artist, educator, and former director of the Kate Cheney Chappell ’83 Center for Book Arts at the University of Southern Maine (USM).
The donated books feature artwork spanning the past twenty years of Goodale’s career. She gifted the collection to UMM in recognition of Professor Bernie Vinzani’s significant scholarship in papermaking and book arts. Goodale and Vinzani have known each other for over two decades and have frequently collaborated to closely align the book programs at UMM and USM. Notably, Goodale was a keynote speaker when Vinzani hosted the national Paper and Book Intensive at UMM in 2010, an event that brought 75 book arts professionals to campus.
Vinzani plans to integrate Goodale’s books into his annual courses as prime examples of the craft. “Many of our students taking art courses include Creative Arts majors, but also science students in Marine Biology and Botany," Vinzani reports. "Last semester, Marine Biologist Dr. Kat Anderson had one of her classes present their research projects using a book arts format. They came to the book studio to learn introductory skills, then they took off with great results. Rebecca's books will contribute much to the interdisciplinary work being done by our students at UMM.”
When not being utilized in the classroom, the collection will be housed in secure, climate-controlled conditions used as a curating room for UMM’s art collection on the UMM campus, alongside other rare books held by Merrill Library.
Photo: Art books donated by Rebecca Goodale to the University of Maine at Machias
| | Prints and Photographs Online Catalog | | | The Prints and Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC) contains catalog records and digital images representing a rich cross-section of still pictures held by the Prints & Photographs Division and, in some cases, other units of the Library of Congress. The Library of Congress offers broad public access to these materials as a contribution to education and scholarship.The collections of the Prints & Photographs Division include photographs, fine and popular prints and drawings, posters, and architectural and engineering drawings. While international in scope, the collections are particularly rich in materials produced in, or documenting the history of, the United States and the lives, interests and achievements of the American people. | | | 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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