The University of North Texas Libraries’ Dean’s Innovation Grant, provides funding to research and projects within the UNT Libraries that promote scholarship and contribute to the gathering of knowledge that helps improve our libraries, our university, and the community.
Dean’s Innovation Grant 2025 Awardees
Live D&D @ UNT
Lindsay Duke, Diane Robson, Steven Guerrero, Dakota Scott, Jenn Washburn
Project Description: The Media Library will host a live performance of Dungeons & Dragons with a student cast lead by Lindsay Duke as Dungeon Master. This will be performed in front of a live audience and streamed via the Media Library Discord server. The event will be held on October 30th in the Lyceum. The objective will be to expand our engagement with the student population, connect with the role-playing community on campus, and showcase the Media Library’s Role-Playing guides and gaming collections.
Texas Historic American Buildings Project: Research and Praxis
Mark Phillips
Project Description: The Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) are administered by the National Park Service to document the historic sites and structures across the United States through the creation of measured drawings, large-format photographs, and historical reports. To better understand the history of the HDP, its role in documenting the built environment in the state of Texas, and to develop greater insight into the technical requirements of these programs to inform future projects, I propose this two-stage project involving a research stage and a praxis stage to assist in documenting the built environment in Texas according to the guidelines of the HDP.
Library on the Go: A Pop-up Library Initiative
Abby Stovall, Briana Knox, Madison Brents, Jo Monahan
Project Description: Create a pop-up library kit that can be reserved and utilized by librarians and staff within the University of North Texas Libraries. This kit will incorporate aspects of a traditional library services desk, but mobile, so that pop-up events are recognizable as a library point-of-service. After researching, purchasing, and assembling the kit, project members would pilot various pop-up events in different places on campus with different purposes and assemble a Library Guide with tips and ideas for library employees to be inspired to host their own Pop-Up Library.
RapidMiner
Karen Harker, Sephra Byrne, Carol Hargis, Jen Rowe, Frank Gosnell, Garrett Rumohr, Deborah Caldwell
Project Description: The objective of this project is to for UNT Libraries staff to gain experience in modeling a variety of data with flatter learning curve than traditional programming languages like Python and R. The purpose of gaining this experience is to improve library resources, services, and processes through the use of data modeling. Key projects include predicting student outcomes in First Year Writing II courses for those who did and did not receive library instruction, predicting users and non-users of library resources and services, and predicting use and non-usage of journals.
Assessment of the Representation of Libraries’ Juvenile Collection
Sephra Byrne, Sian Brannon, Todd Enoch, Stacey Wolf, Jo Monahan, Greg Hardin, Marcia McIntosh, Sarah Lynn Fisher
Project Description: We aim to establish a benchmark of representation of voices and characters within the UNT Libraries’ Juvenile Collection so that pre-service teachers and library science students will assured of access to high-quality literature and books that reflect the communities they will be serving.
LIMIT Digital Streaming
Maristella Feustle, Leah De Leon
Project Description: The proposed project entails connecting directly with rights holders of local music items in UNT’s LIMIT Collection to develop a robust digital streaming catalog. The intended goal is to provide local, independent musicians with an online platform for their music, and the funds would allow the library to provide an incentive of a non-exclusive licensing deal. The primary stakeholders of this project are the rights holders, the UNT Music Library, as well as the broader local/independent music community of Texas and researchers studying music scenes and music collection preservation tactics.
