On Friday, October 4, 2019, the Board of the Johnson Library & Museum (JLM), located in Osceola, Missouri, held its annual meeting in Springfield. MSU Dean of Library Services Tom Peters is a member of the JLM Board. The Board discussed several matters of interest, including the Thomas M. Johnson Symposium that will be held on Thursday and Friday, November 7 and 8, 2019. The Thursday sessions will be held in Duane G. Meyer Library on the Springfield campus of…
In January of 1957 Crossroads TV Productions of Springfield, Missouri, the same company that already had been producing the weekly live television broadcast of the Ozark Jubilee over ABC-TV, created a pilot program for a proposed country-themed game show. They called it “Pig in a Poke.” Contestants answered questions to earn various cuts of pork, including slabs of bacon and bone-in hams. If any contestant won the whole hog, they won the grand prize. Smiley Burnett was the host, George…
Three members of the Missouri State University Library Science faculty — Jessica Bennett, Grace Jackson-Brown, and Tracy Stout — presented at the second annual Celebrating First-Generation Students Conference. Their presentation, titled “The Library and the First Generation Student: Convocation to Graduation and Beyond!”, was well received. The one-day conference was held on Friday, September 27, 2019 in Plaster Student Center on MSUs Springfield campus. Attendees learned the foundations of information literacy, best practices, high impact learning strategies, and motivational needs…
The Springfield-Greene County Library District and the Missouri State University Libraries collaborated to bring author Laura McHugh to Springfield on Monday, September 30, 2019 to discuss her most recent book, The Wolf Wants In. Over 30 people attended McHugh’s talk, held at the Library Center on South Campbell Avenue. Laura McHugh presented an engaging story of her journey from working as a computer programmer to a full-time fiction writer. She offered examples of how challenging it can be to balance…
Today (Thursday, October 3, 2019) from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. there will be a reception in Special Collections on the Third Level of Duane G. Meyer Library to celebrate and showcase the opening of a new exhibit, Art of the Native Cultures of the Americas. The event is free and open to all. This educational exhibit is the culmination of the best student research from the 2018-2019 Citizenship and Service-Learning (CASL) integrated courses ART 385: Art of the Americas and ART 485: Art…
Here are some points of progress and pride during the first week of the “First FOLIO at MSU” Project: On Tuesday a press release about this major project was distributed. Responses to preliminary planning surveys from both EBSCO and OpenAthens are being completed and returned. Our responses will help these partners to prepare to implement their systems at MSU. Meetings with various libraries in the region and state are being arranged to discuss possible reciprocal borrowing agreements. Because the First…
From FY18 to FY19 the dollar value of gifts to the MSU Libraries increased 190% to a total of over $1.7 million. The number of gifts also increased 14% to over 900 generous gifts. These annual figures from the MSU Foundation do not include gifts for capital improvements. Everyone at the MSU Libraries is very grateful to all the generous sources of funds and in-kind gifts. Your generosity and support helps the MSU Libraries to provide top-notch collections, services, and…
The Missouri State University Libraries, in partnership with EBSCO, one of the leading providers of research databases, e-journals, e-books, and discovery services to libraries, has undertaken a major project to upgrade its fundamental information systems. Because the foundation of this project will be a new open-source software platform called FOLIO (the Future Of Libraries Is Open), and because the MSU Libraries will be one of the first libraries in the world to fully implement FOLIO with EBSCO, the project is…
Over 60 people attended the grand opening on September 24, 2019 of the new Innovation Lab at the MSU Libraries. Dr. Frank Einhellig, Provost at MSU, provided some brief remarks. The MSU Libraries Innovation Lab seeks to provide access to emerging technologies, such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), robotics, 3D printing, and more, to support interdisciplinary research, active learning, workplace readiness, curricular enhancements, entrepreneurship, and regional economic innovation. A team from KOLR10 TV filed this report about the…
In September some outdoor seating was added near the main entrance to Duane G. Meyer Library on the Springfield campus of Missouri State University. It was immediately popular with library users who wanted to enjoy the the late summer/early fall weather while working in the shade with good wi-fi. Funding for the furniture was provided through a Summer Innovation Grant, with Jessica Bennett as the principal investigator. Thanks, Jessica, for bringing a great idea to fruition!