Library Notes

A new issue of the popular general periodical called OzarksWatch Magazine has been published. It explores the depiction of the Ozarks over the years in motion pictures.  Articles in this issue focus on Pearl White, an actress from the silent movie era best remembered for the Perils of Pauline series The series of rube comedies (B-films) made by the Weaver Brothers & Elviry Two articles about the life and legend of Jesse James Ma Barker Winter’s Bone The recent film,…

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The Missouri State University Libraries on the main Springfield campus has undertaken a search for a Director of Resource Management and Discovery. This is a full-time, 12-month, tenure-track position at the initial rank of assistant professor. A minimum of three years of library leadership experience, as well as a minimum of two years of management experience, are required. The first date of consideration is Wednesday, April 20, 2022. Applications will continue to be accepted until the position is filled. The…

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Spring 2022 final exams are quickly approaching, and Meyer Library will extend its hours to best support students during this time. Finals Week Hours: Sunday, May 15:  11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Monday, May 16:  7 a.m. to 2 a.m. Tuesday, May 17:  7 a.m. to 2 a.m. Wednesday, May 18:  7 a.m. to midnight Thursday, May 19:  7 a.m. to midnight Friday, May 20: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Private or group study rooms can be booked in advance…

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The Tweets of Local Interest project, an initiative of the Missouri State University Libraries, involves collecting information on specific Twitter tags using the TAGS (Twitter Archiving Google Sheet) system created by Martin Hawksey. 

A team from the Missouri State University and Ozarks Voices continues working with a team from the Smithsonian Institution, as well as with organizations and individuals throughout the Ozarks, to plan for the Ozarks Program at the June/July 2023 Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the National Mall in DC.  Here are a few progress reports: Gifts from corporate entities and individuals have begun coming in to help fund the contingent of approximately 100 musicians, crafts people, chefs, and others who will…

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LibChat, the online chat service of the Missouri State University Libraries, was incredibly helpful and well used during the state shut down due to Covid in Spring 2020.  And chat statistics continued to increase into 2021. During the busy Fall semester of 2021 chat statistics were higher for August, September, and October than compared to the same three months of 2020. At the end of the year, 2021 had more chat-based service interactions than the previous year — by 355…

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In April and May, Tom Peters, Dean of Library Services at Missouri State University, will be giving two talks that explore and celebrate over one hundred years of “hillbilly variety shows” in the Ozarks and beyond.  The hillbilly variety show as a type of viable commercial entertainment is over one hundred years old now, and it’s still going strong. Every hillbilly variety show combines four basic elements: the playing of music on instruments such as the fiddle, banjo, guitar, bass,…

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For several years the State Historical Society of Missouri has had a Springfield Research Center, located on the Third Level of the Duane G. Meyer Library on the main Springfield campus of Missouri State University. Haley Frizzle-Green is the Archivist and the Springfield Research Center.    During the month of March, a traveling exhibit on Women Investors is available for viewing and study on the north side of the Third Level of Meyer Library. The exhibit is accessible all hours…

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After careful assessment and approval by the Institutional Review Board, the Missouri State University Libraries’ market research and branding plan is underway. The project, spearheaded by the MSU Libraries marketing and communications team, seeks to enhance the ways in which we communicate with the university community and beyond.                    Student-related market research initiatives are wrapping up, with nearly 600 current MSU students providing feedback in an 18-question online survey. Focus groups are…

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We were sorry to learn of the death of Dr. Ralph R. Smith, faculty emeritus, Department of Communication, Missouri State University. Among Dr. Smith’s (1944-2022) accomplishments is one that is particularly pertinent to the MSU Libraries: Dr. Smith helped found the first gay archives in the Ozarks region. In 2003 Dr. Smith and Dr. Holly Baggett (Professor, History department) approached the MSU Libraries about starting an LGBTQ+ archive for the Ozarks region. Their goal was to build a collection of…

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