Library Notes

On the afternoon of Friday, April 30, 1926, while a large Rotary convention was in town, Cyrus Avery and John Page from Oklahoma, along with B. H. Piepmeier and probably John T. Woodruff from Missouri, met in the Colonial Hotel, located in the southwest quadrant of the corner of East St. Louis Street and Jefferson Avenue near the central square in Springfield, Missouri, to try to resolve a months-long disagreement with the federal government and other states concerning what number should be assigned to a proposed federal…

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The end-of-semester “Dead Day” party will be held on Friday, May 11, 2018 from 11:30 a.m. CDT to 1:00 p.m. CDT in LIBR 301 (“Club 301” — newly re-carpeted and refurnished) on the Third Level of Duane G. Meyer Library. Hot pizza and cool, refreshing beverages (non-alcoholic) will be provided by the Libraries using private funds. Attendees are encouraged to bring a side dish and/or dessert to share. Attendees also are encouraged to bring their own non-disposable plates, cups, and…

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The Robert Wallace Collection (M 1) in Meyer Library’s Special Collections and Archives features a large amount of material about author Robert Wallace and his publishing company Bits Press. Robert Wallace (1932-1999) was a Springfield native who started writing poems around the age of ten.  When he was sixteen his humorous poem “Tee Hee,” about his experiences as a golf caddy, was published in The Rotarian magazine.  He graduated from Springfield High (now Central High School) and went on to Harvard (A.B. in English, 1953)…

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A total of 524 people attended Reptile Day at the Fairbanks School last Saturday. Amy Hankins from the MSU Libraries, who coordinated this great event, made 600 buttons to distribute, and she almost ran out! Several media representatives were in attendance. A media student from Drury made a film for a class project. KY3 showed up and interviewed Christopher Scioli who brings his 9.5 foot python, Enoch, every time we host a Reptile Day. Everyone had so much fun. Several…

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As the online version of a two-volume, 2011 edition, the Encyclopedia of Pollution is designed to address all aspects of pollution and the global impact on the environment in a single source. Containing more than 300 entries and essays, it uses the most current scientific data to explain the different types of pollutants, including properties, production, uses, environmental release and fate, adverse health response to exposure, and environmental regulations on human exposure. It provides the scientific background on the water,…

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Even though the Living Ozarks anthology has been out less than two weeks, a second printing already is being planned and prepared. The professors of several courses to be taught later this year have expressed interest in adopting the anthology as a text. Beginning this fall the University of Arkansas Press will handle distribution, sales (including online sales), fulfillment, and related services for the publication of the Ozarks Studies Institute, an initiative of the MSU Libraries. To help prepared for…

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The Marshall Gordon Papers (RG 1/7) in Meyer Library’s Special Collections and Archives come from Dr. Marshall Gordon, who served as the president of Southwest Missouri State University (now Missouri State University) from 1983 to 1992. His presidency resulted in numerous achievements, such as the recruitment of National Merit Scholars, new residence halls, and the AACSB accreditation of the College of Business Administration; but it was also marked with controversies such as the production of The Normal Heart in 1989 and the Juanita K. Hammons Hall for the…

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The MSU Libraries’ Student Employee of the Month for April 2018 is Jacob Hollback. A Geography major, Jacob works in the Circulation area of Duane G. Meyer Library. His favorite book is The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams. When asked what he wished students knew about the MSU Libraries, Jacob noted, “One thing that students may not be very aware of is that the Music and Media Department has a new VR headset and Hololens that you…

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A new microwave has been purchased and installed in the vending machine area in the main lobby of MSU’s Duane G. Meyer Library. The gross old microwave has been relegated to the dustbin of history As soon as word of the new microwave began to spread, the paparazzi quickly congregated (see photo). In honor of the new machine, and National Haiku Poetry Day, Melissa Eiken composed the following haiku:   A New Beginning What once made us cringe Corroded and…

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A researcher and author from Arkansas recently contacted us with a request to use the map of the Ozarks region created by the MSU Maps and GIS area in an upcoming international publication: I am currently writing an article for an edited series entitled Flower World: Music Archaeology of the Americas Vol. 6, edited by Mark Howell and Matthias Stockli, published by Ekho Verlag, Berlin. The title of the article is “A Survey and Analysis of Sound-Making Artifacts from Bluff…

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