Want to read some Superman? Jonesing for some Archie? UMBC’s Special Collections department holds over 6,500 comic books! Featuring a variety of genres, from superhero comics to underground comix, this collection will have something for every comic book fan.

With so many comic books, navigating the collection can be a bit daunting. But don’t fret! Special Collections now has a new online comics guide to help you sort through the collection. Now it is easy to find a comic book that fits your interests, from superheroes, to romance, and horror.

You can check out the guide at http://lib.guides.umbc.edu/comics

You can also come to Special Collections to read any of these comics. Although the comics do not circulate (you have to read them in our department) the Special Collections staff will do their best to work with your schedule. Special Collections is open 1 to 4 Monday through Friday, with extended hours from 4 to 8 on Thursday nights, or you can request an appointment. To contact Special Collections, visit their website, email us (speccoll@umbc.edu) or call 410-455-2353.

This post was written by Special Collections Graduate Assistant Johanna Schein.

Note: The myUMBC Check My Activity tool still lets you compare your activity with all peers in all courses, but this new BA4L report may provide additional insights.

The Albin O. Kuhn Library Special Collections recently digitized 66 photographs of the Little Rock Nine, the first African American students to attend an integrated school in largely segregated Arkansas. When the students enrolled at Little Rock Central High School in September, 1957, Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus deployed the Arkansas National Guard to deny their admission. Shortly thereafter, President Dwight D. Eisenhower federalized the Guard and required them to facilitate the students’ entry. While attending the school, the Little Rock Nine were subjected to discrimination, harassment, and violence because of their race. Several students wrote books about their experiences, and in 1995, President Bill Clinton awarded the Little Rock Nine with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The Little Rock Nine photographs were taken by Mildred Grossman, a noted teacher, unionist, and civil rights activist. Grossman’s photographs focus on the students' trip to New York City in the summer of 1958, where they accepted the New York Hotel Trades Council’s Better Race Relations Award for their courage and historic achievements. The students also met with elected officials, diplomats, and entertainers, and visited landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty and the Coney Island amusement parks.

View the Little Rock Nine collection via the UMBC's Digital Collections page and in the Special Collections reading room. The Little Rock Nine photographs are a small part of the Mildred Grossman collection, which contains thousands of Grossman’s photographic prints, negatives, and personal papers.

Take a look at the collection when you can and tell us what you think: http://contentdm.ad.umbc.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/p16629coll3 

See also:

Mildred Grossman papers finding aid 

Our PROMISE AGEP is in the “PROMISE Pathways” phase where we have been looking at ways to expand our program and partner with more campuses within the University System of Maryland (USM). On Tuesday, April 16, 2013, a group of PROMISE students left UMBC at 5AM to travel to the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) to serve as moderators for the 2013 Regional Research Symposium which was part of the celebration activities for the new president, Dr. Juliette Bell. Dr. Bell, a biochemist, spent time meeting and greeting the group from UMBC. Dr. Bell’s own mentor from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences/National Institutes of Health (NIEHS/NIH), Dr. Thomas Kunkel, gave a keynote address that discussed innovations in DNA repair.

At the door of opportunity. PROMISE Students from UMBC at the Student Services Center at UMES.

Students also had a chance to talk with Dr. T. Sean Vasaitis, an assistant professor at UMES, and former PROMISE Peer Mentor from UMB. We extend thanks to Dr. Jennifer Keane-Dawes, Dean of the Graduate School at UMES for her invitation and hospitality, and we thank Dr. Lakeisha L. Harris, for her logistics leadership. Congratulations to all of the poster and oral presentation winners, and to the faculty who won special awards.

Luncheon Photo with President Bell. Pictured, L-R (graduate students from UMBC unless otherwise noted): Eric Corbett (Human-Centered Computing), Miguel Nino (Instructional Systems Design), DeLauren McCauley (Chemistry), Nanda Cortes (Biology), Dr. Jennifer Keane-Dawes (Dean of the Graduate School, UMES), DR. JULIETTE BELL (PRESIDENT, UMES), Dr. Renetta Tull (Assoc. Vice Provost/PROMISE Dir.), Lois Oviawe (Economic Policy Analysis), Nebechi Osia (Environmental Engineering), and Kyle Edwards (Applied Sociology). 

Related articles

• Happy 10th Birthday PROMISE! From April 1, 2003 to Today: A Message from the Director (promiseagep.wordpress.com)
• Save these Spring/Summer 2013 dates! May 4: Cookout; July 9-12: Dissertation House; August 16-17: SSI (promiseagep.wordpress.com)
• Dr. Portia Taylor (CMU, QoLT, PROMISE DH Alum) talks @UMBC about motion sensors & rehabilitation: April 10, 2013 (dissertationhouse.wordpress.com)

Our PROMISE AGEP is in the “PROMISE Pathways” phase where we have been looking at ways to expand our program and partner with more campuses within the University System of Maryland (USM). On Tuesday, April 16, 2013, a group of PROMISE students left UMBC at 5AM to travel to the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) to serve as moderators for the 2013 Regional Research Symposium which was part of the celebration activities for the new president, Dr. Juliette Bell. Dr. Bell, a biochemist, spent time meeting and greeting the group from UMBC. Dr. Bell’s own mentor from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences/National Institutes of Health (NIEHS/NIH), Dr. Thomas Kunkel, gave a keynote address that discussed innovations in DNA repair.

At the door of opportunity. PROMISE Students from UMBC at the Student Services Center at UMES.

Students also had a chance to talk with Dr. T. Sean Vasaitis, an assistant professor at UMES, and former PROMISE Peer Mentor from UMB. We extend thanks to Dr. Jennifer Keane-Dawes, Dean of the Graduate School at UMES for her invitation and hospitality, and we thank Dr. Lakeisha L. Harris, for her logistics leadership. Congratulations to all of the poster and oral presentation winners, and to the faculty who won special awards.

Luncheon Photo with President Bell. Pictured, L-R (graduate students from UMBC unless otherwise noted): Eric Corbett (Human-Centered Computing), Miguel Nino (Instructional Systems Design), DeLauren McCauley (Chemistry), Nanda Cortes (Biology), Dr. Jennifer Keane-Dawes (Dean of the Graduate School, UMES), DR. JULIETTE BELL (PRESIDENT, UMES), Dr. Renetta Tull (Assoc. Vice Provost/PROMISE Dir.), Lois Oviawe (Economic Policy Analysis), Nebechi Osia (Environmental Engineering), and Kyle Edwards (Applied Sociology). 

Related articles

• Happy 10th Birthday PROMISE! From April 1, 2003 to Today: A Message from the Director (promiseagep.wordpress.com)
• Save these Spring/Summer 2013 dates! May 4: Cookout; July 9-12: Dissertation House; August 16-17: SSI (promiseagep.wordpress.com)
• Dr. Portia Taylor (CMU, QoLT, PROMISE DH Alum) talks @UMBC about motion sensors & rehabilitation: April 10, 2013 (dissertationhouse.wordpress.com)

Bb course shells for SU2013 were created on April 14, 2013 on the Bb production server at http://blackboard.umbc.edu.  Enrollments for SU2013 courses will continue to be updated daily. Bb shells are available for all courses (designated as lecture, lab, field or discussion) listed in the UMBC Schedule of Classes (SOC), provided that there is an instructor of record listed. The addition of new course sections and/or instructors will result in new Bb shells being automatically generated each morning. Student enrollment in Bb will continue to mirror the official registration in SA, and will update hourly.

If you are an instructor, and your name is not associated with the course you are teaching in the SOC, please see your departmental scheduling coordinator to get that issue resolved. Once you are listed in the SOC, your Bb course shell will be created automatically.

Additionally in situations where one instructor is teaching multiple sections of the same course, by default all sections will be combined into one Bb course shell. This also includes sections of the same course taught in both Summer Session I and II. If you want to have separate shells for different sections, or separate shells for Summer Session I and II, please  submit an RT ticket with your request. If you need a shell for for a research or independent study course, please submit a new course request.

DoIT is offering Blackboard Drop-in Sessions to assist and help faculty prepare for summer courses.

Face to Face Sessions:

The following F2F sessions will be held in ENGR 025.  A DoIT staff member will be available to work one-on-one with users who show up during the designated times.  Please note that this is not a formal Blackboard training class.  Users may show up or leave at any point during these sessions. Additional dates and times may be added as demand warrants.

We are living in a world where people work from multiple devices — phone, laptop, and computer – and need access to their files anywhere and anytime. UMBC’s active directory (AD) system serves the campus well but it doesn’t provide the level of flexibility for mobile devices and off-campus access that people need.

The higher education community, through an initiative by Internet2, has worked with a company named Box.com to provide a service that we believe will meet our needs and is secure. Box is an online file sharing system that you can access from multiple devices. Box also allows you to share your files and folders with others easily.

Students, faculty, and staff will now be allowed to have web-based storage that they can use their myUMBC login to access. Files can be easily shared with others on campus and off-campus. You can even send a user a “URL” that allows someone that doesn’t have the Box.com service to access the file.

One of the nice features of Box.com is that is has great support for collaboration. It integrates well with Google Docs and we feel that faculty research groups will love the flexibility this provides in sharing data with other members of their research team.

DoIT will be rolling out this service with a limited launch to departments, faculty and staff that want to be early adopters, after which we will make this service available to everyone, including students. 

During the spring we will also identify departments that need more flexibility for shared file storage than AD provides and transition them over to the Box.com offering.

You can access Box by going to box.umbc.edu.