Library Notes

The MSU Libraries has begun the process of undergoing some organizational changes. We are moving away from a unit-based organization to one that is team-based. Each team will focus on one of the 42 principal activities of the MSU Libraries. Nearly all full-time employees — faculty and staff — will belong to several teams. The target date to begin implementing this new organizational structure is July 1, 2019. All employees will receive training and support for the principal activities with…

Read More Read More

Since being introduced into Duane G. Meyer Library several years ago, diner booths have proven to be very popular with library users, especially students. We currently have clusters of diner booths in the Main Lobby, on the Lower Level near the compact shelving, and on the Second Level under the skylight. An area on the west side of the Second Level is being prepared to accommodate six more diner booths. No installation date has been set, but the work should…

Read More Read More

Anne Baker, head of Special Collections and a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Library Science at Missouri State University, recently was elected to the Board of the Route 66 Association of Missouri. Anne’s interest in the Association is both personal and professional.  She has been a member of the Association for over fifteen years, plus Special Collections has worked with the Association to preserve the oral histories collected by their members. Anne is looking forward to being part of the Association’s efforts to…

Read More Read More

Stephanie Matthews, the Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations at the MSU Foundation, has become the primary communication contact between the MSU Libraries and the Foundation. Stephanie was the lead author of the recent, success grant application to the Sunderland Foundation, which will enable us to renovate Library 101, the large auditorium-style classroom off of the main lobby of Duane G. Meyer Library. Stephanie replaces Karl Schmidt, who has served the Libraries well for several years as communication contact. Karl…

Read More Read More

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,…

Read More Read More

The MSU Libraries has begun a series of visits to other libraries in the region. On each trip, a small group of library faculty and staff members will make a day-trip to another library, museum, archive, or other type of organization of interest to learn more about how they are seizing opportunities and solving problems that are shared by many libraries, including Duane G. Meyer library on the Springfield campus of MSU. On Tuesday, February 26, 2019 Jir Shin Boey,…

Read More Read More

The Grace Palmer Postcard Collection (M 5) in Meyer Library’s Special Collections in Archives is a small collection of almost 1,000 postcards collected by former MSU librarian Grace Palmer.  She worked in the library from 1912 until 1958 and was Head Librarian beginning in 1918.  She enjoyed travelling and collected postcards from the places she visited, including from several countries around the world, with many of the postcards coming from Mexico.  Most of the postcards date between approximately 1930 and 1955. For…

Read More Read More

The Scholarly Information Seeking Habits and Behaviors of MSU Faculty is now included in BearWorks under MSU Libraries Reports.  The report is also linked from the MSU Libraries website under About the Libraries (Homepage>About>Mission).  This report is the combined efforts of the Information Anthropology group, consisting of Jan Johnson, Lynn Cline, Bill Edgar, Scott Fischer, Grace Jackson-Brown, and Andrea Miller. The group conducted an ethnographic study using direct observation and semi-structured interviews of a sample of MSU faculty members to…

Read More Read More

This summer we will be combining three current service points into one, conveniently-located service point. The three services points to be combined are: Circulation Desk on the First Level Research and Instructional Services Desk on the First Level Music & Media Service Counter on the Second Level A transition team soon will form to undertake and complete this consolidation and the related changes. The team will consist of Tom Peters, Rachel Besara, Lindsey Taggart, and one team member each from…

Read More Read More

At the annual conference of MASL (the Missouri Association of School Librarians) to be held at Lake of the Ozarks in March, Dea Borneman, a member of the Library and Information Science faculty here at the MSU Libraries, will be recognized and honored as the recipient of the MASL Special Service Award in recognition of her many years of service dedicated to support professional school librarians.  Professor Borneman was nominated for the award by Teresa Young with the Springfield R-12…

Read More Read More