Celine and Julie Go Boating has enough material packed into its four hours to fuel any number of critical monographs and probably a few dissertations as well.* It’s part of the movie’s charm, though, and a self-referential nod to its own exploration of the qualities of magic, that it never feels heavy, stuffed, dense, or impenetrable. For almost 40 years the movie has remained open-armed, lighthearted, and glad to have you watch it. It’s even saved a seat for you on the sofa (literally).

Digital Repository @ Iowa State University launched in April 2012, with the deposit of over 2,000 graduate theses and dissertations completed between December 2008 and December 2011. In its full fiscal year of operation (July 2012–June 2013), the repository grew by adding university publications and scholarship of Iowa State’s faculty, students and staff.

The field of library assessment continues to grow. The annual Library Assessment Trends Report provides a brief synopsis of the more important trends in library assessment. It is hoped these brief reports will facilitate the Dean of the Library’s understanding of assessment trends. These reports provide information that supports data driven decisions. Additionally, the reports are an outreach method that supports a greater institutional understanding of library assessment. Library assessment supports strategic planning, improved processes, and a greater understanding of our users’ needs.

This is a compilation of known publication series issued by the Iowa State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Extension Service, as of the last update. The list includes ISU Library call number, location and holdings, wherever possible along with earlier/later title information for each series. In cases where a series is not available in the ISU collections, some entries mention other libraries that have it available. This is an ongoing work in progress. The list is added to as new publications are uncovered.

Providing physical orientation to a library remains a standard function of a bibliographic instruction program. Librarians, faced with diminished resources and increased user demands with diverse needs, have responded in creative ways to provide orientation. One such way is the self-guided audiocassette taped library tour. To assist librarians in developing, planning, and implementing self-guided audiocassette walking tours in a variety of languages, a packet of information representing the development of the multilingual audiocassette taped tour is presented. Included here are: the grant proposal, a Parks Library tour script in English, progress and final reports, tour packet provided to library patrons, and guidelines for planning.

This annual report highlights the growth and usage of Digital Repository @ Iowa State University, Iowa State's institutional repository, between July 1, 2013 and June 30, 2014.

This annual report highlights the growth and usage of Digital Repository @ Iowa State University, Iowa State's institutional repository, between July 1, 2014 and June 30, 2015.

Data management and sharing became a national research concern when the National Science Foundation (NSF) began requiring Data Management Plans (DMPs) as part of their grant proposal process in January of 2011. While NSF is not the only funding agency requiring DMPs they are one of the largest and most diverse. As competition for grant funding has become more competitive, what were once considered sideshow documents to the main proposal may now factor into proposal acceptance or rejection. In 2013, Iowa State University received over 38 million dollars in sponsored funding from the National Science Foundation. In order to maintain this level of research investment Iowa State researchers need to be able to write and implement effective data management plans which meet funder requirements. The Data Management Brownbag/Seminar held on Nov. 5, 2013 was organized by the University Library, the Office of the Vice President for Research, and SP@ISU (Strengthening the Professoriate). It was the first university-wide presentation to address data management on the ISU campus.

Variety testing by U.S. agricultural universities, often in cooperation with experiment stations, and professional crop associations is recognized as an independent, unbiased validation of the viability of commercial crop varieties. In Iowa, variety testing has also been conducted by many private agricultural companies and individual farmers. Records for crop variety evaluations within the state can be traced back to 1871, well before the creation of the Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station in 1888. The Iowa Corn Yield Test (ICYT) is undeniably the most famous of the Iowa variety yield trials; however, corn (Zea mays L.) varieties were being tested long before that program was initiated. Furthermore, Iowa researchers have been conducting variety yield tests on many other field crops. Knowledge of how Iowa variety tests have been organized and published could be helpful to researchers looking for similar, long-term evaluations from other states and around the world. Variety tests from the past also have the potential to help guide new research efforts and may provide an important untapped resource for unique varietal data. As crop scientists and agronomists look to find new sources for biofuels, bio-products, and other industrial uses for various crops, data from historical varieties could be useful. The objective for this review is to provide an historic account with sections on varietal testing in Iowa. It is presented in chronological order followed by sections devoted to specific crops. A Supplemental Information file containing a detailed annotated bibliography is also provided.