Library Notes

Qualtrics is coming to MSU. It’s an experience management platform. According to their website, “Experience management is software for improving the experiences organizations provide to every stakeholder, whether it’s customers, employees, prospects, users, partners, suppliers, citizens, students, or investors.” Quoting from the Wikipedia article, “Qualtrics software enables users to do many kinds of online data collection and analysis including market research, customer satisfaction and loyalty, product and concept testing, employee evaluations and website feedback.” Some cost centers at MSU have…

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There will be four Sunday evening free carillon concerts again this summer, beginning at 7:00 p.m. CDT each evening. The MSU Music Department organizes this concert series, and the MSU Libraries is the host. Each concert last about an hour. Carolyn Bolden will be the carilloneur at the July 9th concert. Jerry Chesman will play on two of the remaining dates. The complete schedule is still being finalized. Here are the four dates, always the second Sunday of the month:…

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In this time when phrases like “post-truth era” and “false news” have entered the vernacular, the concept of information literacy (one of the programs of the MSU Libraries, as well as most other academic libraries) is gaining increasing attention and scrutiny. On February 27, 2017, the Chronicle of Higher Education published an article on this topic. Najmabadi reports that a research study conducted at Stanford University and released last November found that many college students “had trouble identifying partisan or…

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During the 2016-2017 Academic Year now ending, the MSU Libraries made good progress on several initiatives within the MSU Libraries 2020 Long Range Plan. Here are a few of the many advances: Content New Content Areas: BearWorks, MSU’s Institutional Repository, launched in FY17. Several unusual formats are being digitized, including glass plate negative photos, kinescopes, and a carved walking stick. The MOBIUS consortium agreed to provide access to the Open Textbook Network, which will commence in FY18. Digitization Lab: The…

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As its name implies, this full-text database covers key areas of education and related fields of study. Content areas include educational specialties, administration, funding, and more. Education Full Text is an essential source for education research and is ideal for education students, professionals, and policy makers. Education Full Text provides full-text coverage dating back to 1983 and indexing back to 1969. This database also features in-depth coverage of special education, with 30 full-text journals dedicated to this important topic. All of this content makes Education Full Text…

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The Route 66 Association of Missouri works to preserve the stretch of the “Mother Road” that crossed Missouri.  Among the organization’s efforts is the Route 66 Oral History Collection (M 67), containing stories of individuals who lived and worked along the Route 66 historic corridor. This collection includes oral histories collected by volunteers, as well as photographs and publications shared by the interviewees.  They share stories of Route 66, including businesses, economic changes, personalities, and noteworthy experiences. With support from…

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Last Wednesday morning, May 10th, the Space Committee of the MSU Libraries received permission from the MSU Office of Planning, Design, and Construction (PD&C) to work directly with major furniture vendors, such as Steelcase and KI, to select furnishings, spec them out, bid (if necessary), order, have shipped to MSU, installed, and deployed for use. Prior to this modification of practice by PD&C, the MSU Libraries had had to work through PD&C to select, spec out, and order furnishings, which…

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Feedback forms for Dr. Jan Figa, the first of our two finalists for the position of Associate Dean of Library Services, who interviewed on Tuesday of this week, should be placed in the box on top of the filing cabinets in the Administrative Offices by Friday, May 19th at 5:00 p.m. CDT. Ms. Rachel Besara, the second finalist, will be on campus next Tuesday, May 23rd. The schedule for her visit will be distributed via email. Initial review of the…

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As Finals Week for the Spring Semester winds down, various employees of the MSU Libraries have been receiving glowing reports from student-users, thank us for all our efforts to relieve the stress of studying for finals, to refresh and revitalize, and to provide interesting, quick alternative relaxation activities. The MSU Libraries do all this to improve the process of studying for final exams, and perhaps ultimately to improve students’ final grades. The distribution of treats on Sunday evening was a…

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The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (Ozark Division No. 83) Collection (LA 2) contains material from the very first labor union in Springfield, Missouri. It was awarded a charter in 1871, eight months after the first train arrived on the new extension of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad (which would become the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad, or “Frisco” Line).  The line would have arrived earlier but was delayed by the Civil War.  Because the train depot was built 1.5…

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