Updated: Oct 13th, 2025

Join us Friday, October 24, at 11am to learn about digital scholarship projects and fellowships at University of Idaho Library. Recent graduate student fellows from CDIL and Special Collections will present their projects and experiences with time for audience Q&A, as well as an overview of unique digital scholarship projects completed in 2025.

This session will be in person at the Library’s presentation space and streaming on Zoom. To receive the Zoom link, please register on the session’s Webinar page.

Featured speakers:

• Hannah Green (English), Center for Digital Inquiry and Learning Graduate Fellow - Sedimentation: An Agentic Archive of Glen Canyon.
• Marwa Elsayed (Politics and Philosophy), Gary E. and Carolyn J. Strong Special Collections Fellow - The Kenneth E. Hungerford Collection.
• Shelley Walker-Harmon (History), Center for Digital Inquiry and Learning Undergraduate Fellow - Enriching the U of I Campus Photograph Collection.
• Jack Kredell (PhD Candidate, Environmental Science), Lynn and Dennis Baird Fellow - Unpacking the Concept of a Wilderness Archive.

Updated: Sep 30th, 2025

The Library’s Digital Collections Team is excited to share several new digital scholarship projects that make unique materials accessible on the web:

• The Marylyn Cork Priest River Historical Collection offers a digitized archive of photographs documenting the industries, organizations, and daily life of Priest River and surrounding Bonner County communities.
• The Dr. Richard B. Wells collection offers a glimpse into decades of analog academic inquiry, from college lab notebooks and index cards to the final manuscripts of an intellectual who worked largely without computers.

Updated: Sep 3rd, 2025

Applications are currently open for two library fellowships:

• Berry International Jazz Collections Fellowship. This program funds one student each year to collaborate with the faculty and staff at the University of Idaho Library to increase the visibility and use of the International Jazz Collections (IJC) through work on a specific research project. Apply by Sept 15th.
• CDIL Metadata Fellowship. This program provides a stipend for a student currently enrolled in a university undergraduate or graduate program to work on developing descriptive metadata for a new or existing digital collection. The experience will offer a fellow first-hand experience with foundational skills in digital humanities, preparing them to engaging with self-directed projects in the future. Apply by Sept 5th.

The Library regularly hosts student and faculty fellowships that foster experiential learning and impact, learn more about our Fellowship Programs.

Updated: Sep 2nd, 2025

Navigating the textbook adoption process for your courses is always complicated! Recent “inclusive access” platforms are further muddying the waters.

The Library wants you to know you have choices! We can help lower costs to your students through course reserves, Leganto reading lists, finding OER, or even creating your own custom open textbooks.

Check out our University of Idaho Course Materials Options graphic for a quick visual summary, including student costs, availability, and where to learn more.

Updated: Aug 27th, 2025

With the recent launch of the University’s new website, much of the previous site content has been removed or moved to the intranet. Anticipating this, the Library preserved past versions of the site through our Archive-It subscription, in partnership with the Internet Archive. This means you and your students can continue to access older university content and resources via the Wayback Machine.

Please visit our How to Use Web Archives tutorial to learn about accessing these resources and finding broken links.

Updated: Aug 26th, 2025

As part of the university website redesign, faculty profiles in VERSO, the Library’s Research Information System, are now more prominent, with many departmental and college web pages linking directly to them.

Faculty can edit and update their profiles at any time by logging in with their U of I credentials. If you encounter issues or would like support in making your profile accurate and current, the Library is available to help!

Find out more at our VERSO documentation, email lib-verso@uidaho.edu with question, or use our VERSO contact form.

Updated: Aug 4th, 2025

The Library has adopted all of the laptops previously loaned by the Student Technology Center (STC) and Dean of Students Office, increasing the number of laptops available at the library for semester loan up to 56. Laptops will be available to pick up on a first-come, first-serve basis at the Library Circulation desk starting at 6:00 AM on Monday, August 25. Reservations for laptops will not be considered unless there are extenuating circumstances.

Questions should be directed to libcirc@uidaho.edu.

Updated: Jan 13th, 2025

Previously located in the Janssen Engineering Building (JEB) Room 211, the Computer Science Assistance Center (CSAC) is a community computer science space open to all students taking computer science courses. It is staffed by CS majors who can help with coursework Monday-Friday during fall and spring semester.

Co-locating the CSAC and the Data Hub - which supports data science and programming across the U of I curriculum - will make it easier for students to receive comprehensive support with research and coursework.

For more information, and to view the CSAC tutoring schedule, visit the CS Department Student Services and Data Hub pages.

Updated: Sep 6th, 2024

The University of Idaho Library is excited to announce the launch of VERSO (Vandal Expertise, Research, and Scholarship Online), a cutting-edge research information management (RIM) system and institutional repository (IR) designed to preserve and promote the university’s research and creative output. Built on the powerful Esploro platform by Clarivate, VERSO will serve as the go-to hub for showcasing the expertise of faculty, students, and staff at the University of Idaho.

VERSO offers a seamless way for the University of Idaho community to manage, share, and promote their scholarly and creative works. As a comprehensive RIM system, it collects, preserves, and publishes data on research outputs, honors, grants, and more. By integrating with trusted academic sources and platforms like ORCID and Google Scholar, VERSO ensures that work produced at the University of Idaho reaches a global audience and is easily discoverable.

Key Benefits of VERSO:

• Increased Visibility: VERSO makes research and creative projects more accessible and searchable online, enhancing their visibility.
• Automated Updates: Integrating with external platforms like ORCID and Clarivate’s extensive data index, VERSO automates research output updates and streamlines profile management.
• Departmental Support: VERSO provides analytics to promote department work and preserves research-related products, helping to prevent data loss during faculty or student transitions.

“VERSO represents a major step forward in how we manage and promote the incredible work done at the University of Idaho,” said Ben Hunter, Dean of the University of Idaho Library. “By leveraging the advanced capabilities of the Esploro platform, we are not only preserving our research but also ensuring it has the widest possible impact.”

VERSO replaces the University’s former system, VIVO, which had been maintained and updated by the Library since 2013. Initial funding for the platform was provided by the Library and the Office of Research and Economic Development.

VERSO is now live and available at verso.uidaho.edu. Researchers can log in with their Vandal credentials to access or update their profiles.

To learn more about VERSO or to get started, visit verso.uidaho.edu.

Questions, please contact:
Devin Becker, dbecker@uidaho.edu

Updated: Mar 27th, 2024

Since early 2023, the Open Campus Committee has been focused on an exciting new development that promises to help students make informed choices about their class materials costs. Course materials cost marking is the practice of applying a label or other easily identifiable and searchable facet to classes listed in the class schedule. Starting Summer 2024, students will be able to easily browse Zero and Very Low Cost ($30 or less) classes in the class schedule.

In addition to being an important part of the State Board of Education’s requirements as set forth in 2021’s Instructional Materials Access and Affordability Policy, we are excited for how course marking can help make college costs more affordable and transparent for our Vandals. According to a 2023 study conducted here at the University of Idaho, 60% of undergraduates reported difficulty affording basic living expenses and 47% reported not purchasing a required text because they could not afford it. In national research, open materials have been shown to improve drop, fail, and withdraw rates, with particular benefits noted for Pell Grant and first generation students.

The Library has developed several new digital tools to support faculty in utilizing the new course cost marking system:

• The course cost checking tool is an interactive website that can help you determine if your materials qualify for the Zero or Very Low Cost labels
• The Open at the University of Idaho pressbook lays out on overall view of the open programs and activity supported on campus by the library
• A FAQ with commonly asked questions
• Workflows and guidance for course schedulers

We are very pleased to announce that University of Idaho’s very first Zero and Very Low Cost courses are now marked in the course schedule for summer and fall 2024! If you think your class might be eligible, reach out to your department scheduler or contact Open Education Librarian Marco Seiferle-Valencia at marcsosv@uidaho.edu for more information.