Library Notes

During the first half of July 2020 the Missouri State University Libraries received quite a bit of coverage in the local media about various initiatives: On July 9, Anne Baker, Head of Special Collections and Archives, was interviewed by Josh Conaway from KSMU, Ozarks public radio, about how materials in Special Collections are being curated and protected during the current pandemic. You can listen to the interview here.  Also on July 9, Ash Garza, a reporter for The Standard, the…

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To keep up with accessibility trends and best practices, Jessica Bennett, a member of the Library Science Faculty at Missouri State University, recently attended the HighEdWeb Accessibility Summit.  Many valuable sessions were offered during the day-long virtual conference, but the keynote stood out as something new and unique to consider as we work towards reworking the library website.  The Keynote: Kickstarting Accessibility with Design Systems presented by Heather Battaglia and Robert Jolly (both with 18F) introduced the United States Web Design…

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Forty years ago the Center for Ozarks Studies at SMS (now the Ozarks Studies Institute, an initiative of the Missouri State University Libraries), and Veriation Films produced two documentary films about life in Shannon County Missouri. “Shannon County: Home” was the first film, released in 1981. The films won several awards. Recently Lynn Morrow, who worked on the films, contacted the MSU Libraries with the information that one of the awards never was formally announced at SMS. The award was…

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As we all work together in this new era to create a university library that continues to be safe, productive, and forward-thinking in pursuit of its mission, this summer several employees of the MSU Libraries are transitioning to new roles and responsibilities. This is an ongoing process. Further reallocation of employee expertise and other resources of the MSU Libraries will be announced as details are finalized.  Andy Lokie has been a member of the Library Science Faculty since coming to…

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In support of lifelong learning and our public affairs mission, the MSU Libraries is pleased to provide alumni* with access to SAGE Journals. These resources include peer-reviewed full-text scholarly content across the academic disciplines, including the humanities, social sciences, and science, technology, and medicine. The SAGE Journals portfolio includes more than 1,000 journals and nearly one million articles.   To access SAGE Journals, choose “BearPass” when prompted for how to authenticate, and log in with your MSU account credentials. Please note that by accessing SAGE…

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The first annual Missouri Association of Testing (MOAT) Conference, originally scheduled to be hosted in May here at Missouri State University, has been tentatively rescheduled as a virtual conference for Thursday and Friday, September 17 and 18, 2020.    Sessions topics include Accuplacer, HISET, RegisterBlast, SB 807 (Missouri’s State-Mandated Civics Exam), informational sessions about the National College Testing Association (NCTA), and transitioning your testing center post-COVID-19.    Sue McCrory, the head of the MSU Testing Center, managed by the Missouri…

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Three employees of the MSU Libraries — Tracy Stout, Shannon Mawhiney, and Sue McCrory — recently completed MSU LEAD (Leadership, Education, and Development), a University program that prepares leaders and supports MSU’s vision of: Being an employer of choice by providing supervisors opportunities to explore their leadership capabilities. Being a responsible and transparent steward of the University’s resources. Working for continuous improvement in programs, policies, and procedures. Being collaborative, to promote meaningful partnerships that further the university’s goals. This series…

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As Missouri State University prepares for the fall semester, many modifications, large and small, are being made to campus. Seated classes will continue to be the predominate way of teaching and learning at MSU, but online courses will play a larger role than heretofore. One technology that was used extensively during the last half of the Spring semester and during the summer session was Zoom. Founded in 2011 by Henry Yuan and launched in 2013, Zoom uses Internet-based communications technology…

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On Monday the three partner organizations — IMLS, OCLC, and Battelle — that had undertaken a large study of the safety of library materials during the COVID-19 pandemic began to release preliminary results.  The preliminary results indicate “that the virus SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 is not detectable on five common library materials after three days.” This seems to lend credence to the practice of the MSU Libraries and many other libraries that the quarantining of returned library materials for three…

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A proposal from Dr. Jim Baumlin from the English Department and Associate Dean of Libraries Rachel Besara has been accepted to present a session on An Open-Access Platform for Student-Faculty Collaboration at the 35th annual Showcase of Teaching and Learning on August 12, 2020.     The session will highlight how BearWorks, MSU’s Institutional Repository, can be used as a platform to facilitate production and dissemination of scholarly collaborations between students and faculty.  Materials from the Ozarks Studies Institute will be…

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