News

January 29, 2026

Stephanie Labou, UC San Diego Data Science Librarian, was elected to a four-year term as USA Member at Large for IASSIST (International Association for Social Science Information Service and Technology), an international organization of professionals who advance information technology and data services to support research and teaching. LAUC members might be interested in some of the free IASSIST webinars on various data-related topics such as analysis tools, visualization, integration of genAI, and curation. Plus, the annual conference will be virtual this year, so if anyone is interested in learning more about data, this would be a good year to attend.

Zemirah Ngow, UC San Diego Life and Health Sciences Collection Strategist, is a co-author of the article “Beyond the Microscope: Integrating Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility Principles in Immunology Education through the IDE-A Rubric,” published in Frontiers in Education. Zemirah was also a panel member for the sessions “Cutting Deep: Two Campuses Navigate Abrupt and Unexpected Collections Budget Reductions” and “Critical Care: UC Libraries and Hospital Mergers & Acquisitions” at the UC Libraries Forum 2025. Zemirah is currently a fellow with the Medical Librarian Association Research Training Institute (RTI) for Health Science Librarians. Log in to read Zemirah's full Featured Member interview. 

Lisa Ngo, who is the Assistant Head, Sciences Division and STEM Research & Instructional Services Lead at the UC Berkeley Sciences Library, has been announced as a winner of the 2025 UC Berkeley Distinguished Librarian Award. Ngo is a passionate problem solver, and has spearheaded efforts to make the Science Library more inclusive and accessible. Ngo is also an alumna of UC Irvine, where she held her first library job. Read more about Ngo at the UC Berkeley Libraries News page.

Ramona Collins, a Law Librarian at UC Berkeley Law Library and UC Berkeley alumna, has been announced as a winner of the 2025 UC Berkeley Distinguished Librarian Award. From ILS migration to invaluable legal research, Collins leaves a remarkable legacy on the Law Library. On June 26th, she will celebrate the final day of her 24-year career on the Law Library. Read more about Collins at the UC Berkeley Libraries News page. 

Biswas, Continuing Resources Metadata Librarian at UCLA Library, was honored for her work leading UCLA Library’s Ethical Description Project Team (EDPT). EDPT supports inclusive access to UCLA collections. EDPT has created resources such as a catalog-wide Ethical Description Statement and a research guide on ethical description work. 

Read more about Biswas' achievements at UCLA's Newsroom. 

The California Digital Library is pleased to announce the publication of a final report from the IMLS-funded “Building a National Finding Aid Network” (NAFAN) research project (2020-2023).

The Mellon Foundation is providing $1.1 million support for Project LEND (Library Expansion of Networked Delivery), a two-year project that the UC Davis Library will lead on behalf of the 10-campus UC system. Read more.

Mellon Foundation awards Library $250,000 to preserve audiovisual items in heavily-used research collection. Read more.

The UC Berkeley Library has launched a new digital exhibit that explores the history of Japanese American incarceration during World War II. The exhibit features rare materials from the library's collections, including photographs, diaries, and letters. Read more.

In June 2020, the University of California (UC) and Springer Nature announced a groundbreaking transformative open access agreement, Springer Nature’s first such agreement in the United States, and the largest transformative open access agreement in North America up to that point. Read more.