Library Notes

Folklore permeates the everyday lives of people around the world. We inherit a rich tradition of holidays, festivals, language, stories and fairy tales, proverbs, foodways, and folk remedies that define our society and our place within it. World Folklore and Folklife provides an exciting and accessible way to explore this vast and growing treasury of knowledge. Subjects covered in this database include: celebrations and rituals, food and drink, holidays and festivals, music and dance, religion and belief, tales, myths, urban legends, and traditional…

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A group of information science researchers here at the Missouri State University Libraries has undertaken a major study of the information needs and habits of MSU faculty members. As we all know, information technologies, resources, behaviors, needs, and expectations have changed significantly in recent years. The “Meeting Faculty Where They Start” study, begun in January of 2015, is using survey and interviewing methodologies to gain knowledge about the current scholarly information seeking and behavior habits of 24 faculty members from…

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Rachel Besara will be joining the Missouri State University Libraries team as the new Associate Dean of Library Services. Her Bachelor of Science degree, Summa cum Laude, with a concentration in Science Education, is from Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau. Her MLIS is from Florida State University. Most recently, Rachel has served as the Director of STEM Libraries and Research Initiatives at Florida State University. Among her many responsibilities as AD at the MSU Libraries, Rachel will coordinate…

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The Children’s Literature Comprehensive Database (CLCD) is an acquisition, research, and reference service that contains over 2 million MARC fiction and non-fiction records for children’s and young adult media as well as more than 400,000 quality reviews for many of these titles accessed in a single search. Included are 1.2 million value-added elements such as awards, curriculum and author links and reading metrics, plus 90,000 cover images. CLCD has increased the number of foreign languages to 310 of which 100…

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The Dial (Collection M 100), published from August 1941 to December 1951, was essentially a program guide for local Springfield radio stations KWTO and KGBX (though KGBX was dropped midway when the station changed ownership). While it included programming schedules, such as the nationally syndicated Korn’s-A-Krackin’ hillbilly variety show, the precursor of the nationally live TV broadcast, the Ozark Jubilee, The Dial also included biographical sketches and photos of local and national radio personalities (like Chet Atkins, the Carter Sisters…

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This fall two library faculty members from the MSU Libraries will team up with librarians of the Springfield-Greene County Library District to offer a series of short workshops, designed for members of the general public, to help us all to spot, assess, and respond appropriately to “fake news,” which recently has gained national attention. Tracy Stout and Jessica Bennett from MSU will present the workshops at The Library Center on South Campbell on dates and times to be determined. Watch…

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Todd Parnell, retired banker and former President of Drury University, has joined the Advisory Board of the Ozarks Studies Institute. Todd comes from a long-time Ozarks family, and he is a prolific author of fiction with Ozarks themes. He just published the third novel in his first trilogy about the Ozarks, Donny Brook. Current members of the OSI Advisory Board include: Brooks Blevins, History Department, Missouri State University Susan Croce Kelly, Managing Editor of OzarksWatch Magazine Kaitlyn McConnell, Founder and…

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Susan Croce Kelly, a long-time resident of the Ozarks and a prolific journalist and an historian, has agreed to serve as the Managing Editor of OzarksWatch Magazine, which is published twice a year by the Ozarks Studies Institute, now part of the MSU Libraries. She will begin her duties in July as work begins on the Fall 2017 issue of OzarksWatch. Among other works, Susan is the author of Father of Route 66: The Story of Cy Avery (2014) and…

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This summer, the Duane G. Meyer Library hosted sessions for the Springfield Public Schools’ WINGS Explore program coordinated by Gina Wyckoff.  Fourth and fifth graders from the gifted education program worked on the theme of “Castles, Knights, Checkmate” and were encouraged to explore medieval resources at Meyer Library.  At Maps & GIS, Jim Coombs and Emilie Burke helped students to become more familiar with the geographies of medieval times with maps drawn during those times called ‘mappamundi’ and modern maps…

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