Library Notes

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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Mohammad AlHamad, e-resources strategist for the Missouri State University Libraries, has been selected to be an IMLS Fellow at the 2022 IDEA (Innovation, Disruption, Enquiry, Access) Institute on Artificial Intelligence to be held at UT-Austin in July. According to the IDEA website: “IDEA (Innovation, Disruption, Enquiry, Access) Institute on AI is a one-week intensive, interactive, evidence based and applications-oriented professional development program for library and information professionals funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Laura Bush 21st Century…

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Alex Primm, author of the recently published book, Ozark Voices: Oral Histories from the Heartland, will give an author talk on Thursday, April 7, 2022 beginning at 4:00 p.m. CDT in the Ozarks Room on the Third Level of Duane G. Meyer Library on the main Springfield campus of Missouri State University. This event is free and open to the general public.  The promotional paragraph for the book reads: “Discover the stories passed down over time from the people of…

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The Ozarks Studies Institute at Missouri State University Libraries invites you to join us for “Giraffe Style Stone Architecture in the Ozarks,” a one-hour virtual panel discussion via Zoom.  Prevalent throughout much of the 20th century, this architectural feature gets its name from colorful mortared stone arranged in web wall construction with patterns resembling a giraffe’s coat. The primary material was sandstone, although builders incorporated limestone and dolomite, all of which are found rising from the ground or close to…

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SFF23OZ is the acronym that the planning team has been using to refer to the Ozarks program being planned for the 2023 Smithsonian Folklife Festival to be held in late June and early July on the National Mall in DC. Missouri State University is serving as the lead organization in the Ozarks on this massive planning effort, and the Ozarks Studies Institute , an ongoing initiative of the MSU Libraries, is leading the program planning effort throughout the region, in collaboration with many…

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The Ozarks Studies Institute, an ongoing initiative of the Missouri State University Libraries, will host Mara W. Cohen Ioannides for an author talk and signing of her newly published book, “Jews of Missouri: An Ornament to Israel.” The discussion will be held Monday, March 7 at 4 p.m. in the Ozarks Room (302) of the Duane G. Meyer Library on the MSU Springfield Campus. The event, which is free and open to the public, will also belivestreamed via Zoom. “Jews…

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A digitized version of the Johnson Library Card Catalog is now available online along with a finding aid. This project was funded through a grant from the Missouri Humanities Council. Missouri State University Associate Professor Andrea Miller, Assistant Professor Raegan Wiechert, Digital Archivist Shannon Mawhiney, and Haley Frizzle-Green (now Archivist with the State Historical Society of Missouri), with the support of Assistant Professor Anne Baker, carried out the grant on behalf of Missouri State University and the Johnson Library and…

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