Announcements

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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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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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 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.”

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...

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...

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...

Columbus, Ohio (June 7, 2017) – OhioLINK has selected seven member librarians, faculty, and staff members to become the OhioLINK Open Textbook Network (OTN) System Leaders. As system leaders, they will coordinate OhioLINK OTN awareness and advocacy initiatives regarding open educational resources and open textbooks as part of OhioLINK/Ohio Department of Higher Education affordable learning initiatives for higher education.

OhioLINK recently joined the Open Textbook Network, a high-profile and growing collaboration of schools, universities, and institutions that promotes access, affordability, and student success via open textbooks.

“The OTN community is both inspirational and practical,” said Glenda Thornton, director of Cleveland State University’s Michael Schwartz Library and a leader and member in OTN initiatives in the state of Ohio. “From the...