WorldCat UMD Usability Final Report

In April 2015, a subgroup of the University Libraries' Discovery Group began its two phase usability testing, conducting the first phase on WorldCat Local. In July of 2015, the Libraries transitioned from WorldCat Local to WorldCat Discovery. In October-November 2015, the subgroup conducted the second phase of usability testing on WorldCat Discovery. The subgroup presented its first round results at the Libraries Research and Innovative Practice Forum in June 2015, and the overall results at the following year’s forum in June 2016. This report is the formal write-up for the project.University Libraries Library Research Fun

How to Innovate Fearlessly: Community Notes

These are notes compiled by attendees of the Libraries Research & Innovative Practice Forum 2018 session entitled "How to Innovate Fearlessly," a panel featuring Sharon Epps and Kate Dohe, moderated by Rebeca Goldfinger. Session Description: A few barriers to innovation include not having a safe space to experiment, fear of failure, and big egos. Panelists Sharon Epps and Kate Dohe will discuss how to avoid these barriers. A moderated group discussion will follow on how we can promote innovation at the Libraries

E-Resource Info Sharing: Open Access

This presentation was part of an E-Resource Information Sharing series presented by Collection Services staff at UMD University Libraries. This presentation focused on defining Open Access, exploring different funding models of Open Access, and discussing UMD's initiatives to promote Open Access.This presentation was part of an E-Resource Information Sharing series presented by Collection Services staff at UMD University Libraries. This presentation focused on defining Open Access, exploring different funding models of Open Access, and discussing UMD's initiatives to promote Open Access

WorldCat Local Usability at UMD

Describes the first iteration of the WorldCat Local Usability Study conducted by University Libraries during spring of 2015, including study design and preliminary results

WorldCat Usability at UMD: Library Research & Innovative Practice Forum, June 8, 2016

This presentation provided the results of a two-round iterative study of WorldCat UMD usability.Library Research Fun

Localized 4 Integrin Phosphorylation Directs Shear Stress-Induced Endothelial Cell Alignment

Vascular endothelial cells respond to laminar shear stress by aligning in the direction of flow, a process which may contribute to athero-protection. Here we report that localized α4 integrin phosphorylation is a mechanism for establishing the directionality of shear stress-induced alignment in microvascular endothelial cells. Within 5 minutes of exposure to a physiological level of shear stress, endothelial α4 integrins became phosphorylated on Ser988. In wounded monolayers, phosphorylation was enhanced at the downstream edges of cells relative to the source of flow. The shear-induced α4 integrin phosphorylation was blocked by inhibitors of cAMP-dependent protein kinase A (PKA), an enzyme involved in the alignment of endothelial cells under prolonged shear. Moreover, shear-induced localized activation of the small GTPase Rac1, which specifies the directionality of endothelial alignment, was similarly blocked by PKA inhibitors. Furthermore, endothelial cells bearing a non-phosphorylatable α4(S988A) mutation failed to align in response to shear stress, thus establishing α4 as a relevant PKA substrate. We thereby show that shear-induced PKA-dependent α4 integrin phosphorylation at the downstream edge of endothelial cells promotes localized Rac1 activation, which in turn directs cytoskeletal alignment in response to shear stress