Announcements

OhioLINK Delivers Textbook Savings to Students via Price Agreements with Four Major Publishers

COLUMBUS, Ohio (March 28, 2018) — Ohio’s efforts to make higher education more affordable for all students include strategies to reduce the cost of textbooks—and a new price agreement with four major textbook publishers has the potential to save students $39.7 million dollars each year. The agreement was announced by OhioLINK, a consortium of 120 academic libraries distributed among 91 Ohio colleges and universities, and part of the Ohio Department of Higher Education’s OH-TECH consortium. 

OhioLINK negotiated and secured statewide wholesale price agreements with major textbook publishers to benefit its member institutions. These agreements will reduce the wholesale price of e-textbooks to participating colleges and retailers by up to 80 percent and courseware by up to 55 percent, with the...

OhioLINK Convenes Panel on College Textbook Affordability During State of the State

COLUMBUS, Ohio (March 8, 2017) – OhioLINK, a statewide consortium of 120 academic libraries distributed among 91 colleges and universities as well as the State Library of Ohio, welcomed a panel of experts, practitioners, and students to Otterbein University on March 6 to discuss the rising price of college textbooks, its role in both the cost of college attendance and the rate of student success, and how the state is addressing the issue through affordable learning initiatives. Included in the activities surrounding Ohio Governor John Kasich’s 2018 State of the State address, the panel was co-hosted by the Ohio Department of Higher Education (ODHE) before a standing-room-only audience.

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Department of Higher Education Chancellor
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Ohio Digital Network brings Ohio to DPLA

COLUMBUS, Ohio (March 5, 2018) – OhioLINK is pleased to announce that more than 50,000 new materials from the Ohio Digital Network are now discoverable in Digital Public Library of America (DPLA). Led by the State Library of Ohio and in partnership with OhioLINK, the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN), and the Ohio History Connection, the Ohio Digital Network builds on strong digital collection efforts across the state, including extensive digital collections at OhioLINK member institutions, Ohio Memory, and the Ohio Digitization Hubs project.

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Gwen Evans, OhioLINK Executive Director 

“OhioLINK and its member libraries are extremely pleased to participate in the initial launch of the Ohio Digital Network collections...

Inaugural OhioLINK Summit gathers Ohio library staff for updates, professional development

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OhioLINK member institution staff gathered in Columbus on Tuesday as OhioLINK held its inaugural OhioLINK Summit at the Greater Columbus Convention Center as part of the Ohio Educational Technology Conference. Recommended by the Reframing OhioLINK Committees Task Force, the Summit provided a platform for participants from around Ohio to share ideas, brainstorm on future initiatives and desired services, and participate in discussions about OhioLINK resources and policies and how they impact member institutions.

OhioLINK selects BiblioBoard for statewide shared e-book collections

COLUMBUS, Ohio (February 9, 2018) – With the objective of creating a modern and simple digital user experience for students, faculty, and researchers, OhioLINK announced today the selection of BiblioBoard as the technology platform for its shared e-book collections.

BiblioBoard, created by BiblioLabs, is an award-winning, e-content delivery platform that delivers all pieces of a digital library in a single user interface (e-books, audio, videos, historical materials, etc.). The platform is built for simplicity and ease of use for the modern user and supports bookmarking, taking notes, storing favorites, and an app for use on Android and iOS.

Gwen Evans
OhioLINK Executive Director Gwen Evans

“This is a much-needed modernization of a legacy e-book platform,” OhioLINK...

ilearnOhio, edWeb.net partner to empower OH teachers

Ohio educators will have access to free online professional development, education focused social networking resources and a community of more than 55,000 educators across the country, thanks to a partnership between ilearnOhio and edWeb.net announced today.

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The comprehensive e-learning platform and award-winning learning network and community have teamed up to deliver the latest tools in social networking, online collaboration and strategic planning to Ohio’s teachers and educators. Thepartnership will allow ilearnOhio participants to engage, network and collaborate with their peers and national education thought leaders, as well as gain access to free professional development resources and training.

“The partnership is a natural fit, combining online learning and social networking to drive innovation and collaboration,”...

Chancellor Carey stresses the value of distance learning at conference for staff of Ohio e-learning initiatives

Chancellor John Carey today acknowledged the important role distance education and online tutoring are playing to increase student access to higher education, as well as to ensure academic success.

Carey spoke to academic professionals who gathered in Columbus for the third annual meeting of staff members of the Ohio eTutoring Collaborative and OhioLearns, initiatives of the eStudent Services unit of the Ohio Technology Consortium (OH-TECH), a division of the Ohio Board of Regents.

“eStudent Services brings 21st-century technology into the classrooms and homes of Ohioans, providing access to knowledge without the barriers of distance and time,” Carey said. “This organization is not just for online students. It can improve the academic and personal experience of all higher education students.”

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Board of Regents Staff Member Named Outstanding Administrator

Karen Boyd, director of the Ohio eTutoring Consortium run by the Ohio Board of Regents, has been named the 2014 Outstanding Administrator as part of the annual Diane J. Goldsmith Excellence in eTutoring Awards.

Under Boyd’s leadership, the number of schools participating in the Ohio eTutoring Consortium has more than doubled. eTutoring is a growing collaborative effort between Ohio’s two-year and four-year institutions that allows undergraduate students to interact with trained tutors in numerous academic areas. The Diane J. Goldsmith awards, named for the executive director, emeritus, of the Connecticut Distance Learning Consortium (CTDLC), provide the eTutoring community with an opportunity to recognize outstanding tutors, administrators, and professionals who have had a significant impact on the development and/or delivery...

Ohio’s eTextbook Pilot program final report released

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In 2013, Ohio schools received an opportunity to pilot digital texts and electronic educational content in the classroom and receive professional development on the implementation of these resources. The Electronic Textbook Pilot Project, funded by a $6 million state grant and administered by the Ohio Department of Higher Education, provided competitive grants to 271 K-12 educational institutions during the 2014-2015 school year. ODHE wanted to learn the benefits of using digital content, the challenges schools faced in the transition to digital content and what needs to happen to successfully implement digital content.

Schools involved in the project could choose any digital content to pilot. The eTextbooks ordered spanned all core content areas, as...

OhioLINK Awards Research Grants to Wright State University, Bowling Green State University

After a competitive application and review process, OhioLINK is pleased to announce the grant recipients of OhioLINK’s first research awards. The two grant recipient groups are Wright State University’s Shu Schiller, Ph.D., and Bowling Green State University’s Andrea Boehme and Katie Mihaly.

The OhioLINK research awards support research projects by members to answer questions or investigate topics of direct interest to OhioLINK and its members. 

“I am extremely excited and thankful for the OhioLINK Research Award,” Schiller said. “The grant will enable us to develop a training plan to develop student workers and optimize resource allocations for virtual reference services. We are confident that our findings will also help the other 119 OhioLINK consortium members improve their reference services offered...

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