Library Notes

From March 16 through May 26, 2019, the Duane G. Meyer Library on the main Springfield campus of Missouri State University will host a traveling national exhibit from the Smithsonian Institution called “Roots of Wisdom: Native Knowledge. Shared Science.” This exhibit will be free and open to the entire campus community, as well as to the general public. According to the exhibit website: Local ecosystems around the world face serious environmental challenges. Many Native communities have found innovative solutions by…

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Due to Tammy’s Stewart’s retirement, Jan Johnson has volunteered to work on the Libraries’ effort to support Ozarks Food Harvest.     Ozarks Food Harvest sent a thank you note for the donations from the last get together.  The contribution was 177 pounds that will help provide 148 meals to 28 counties across the Ozarks.  One in five children and one in seven adults living in southwest Missouri are considered food insecure.    We have introduced a donation jar in…

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On Tuesday the Provost committed to providing funding for complete replacement of all 66 computers in the MSU Testing Center.  When the MSU Testing Center was moved over to Meyer Library and became part of the MSU Libraries as a cost center, the computers installed were not new. Now they are quite old, but soon they will be replaced with new computers. The Provost also will provide some funding to upgrade the video monitoring capabilities in the Testing Center. We…

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The Encyclopedia of Social Media and Politics is a three-volume, A-to-Z encyclopedia that explores how the rise of social media is altering politics both in the United States and in key moments, movements, and places around the world. Its scope encompasses the disruptive technologies and activities that are changing basic patterns in American politics and the amazing transformations that social media use is rendering in other political systems heretofore resistant to democratization and change. In a time when social media…

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Thanks to ongoing financial support coming in for the Ozark Jubilee Digitization Project, and in response to the strong demand for the episodes already digitized in partnership with the UCLA Film and Television Archive, ten more episodes of the early years of the Ozark Jubilee are being digitized. Several of the already digitized episodes have received 4,000 views or more in their first year of availability. Several scholars are conducting research into the Jubilee as well. All of the next…

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Missouri State University Libraries‘ exclusive “Rare Wine, Rare Books” annual event will be held on Friday evening, July 27, 2018, at 7:00 p.m. CDT in the Duane G. Meyer Library. This unique event is a fundraiser for the Fraley Family Rare Books Endowment. This year’s theme focuses on Drama and Theatre. Over a dinner featuring six flights of wine, guests will learn about Missouri State University’s rare books, as well as efforts to preserve our community’s theatre history. Please plan to…

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Last Friday Don and Ruth Martin formalized their longstanding intention to help the MSU Libraries with its ongoing renovation project by signing paperwork that will lead to a large cash gift. The Martin’s gift will be used specifically for the new furnishings for Room 115 on the First Level of Duane G. Meyer Library. That area is being renovated and repurposed this summer, from a staff work area for Circulation Services to a homey, inviting, and comfortable “living room” or…

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The MSU Libraries recently received a large gift-in-kind from Grace M. Jackson-Brown of slightly over 100 new monographs.  These titles, primarily academic non-fiction, are significant in their relevance to the University’s diversity mission and address subject areas such as African-American culture and history, diversity and inclusion, and other multicultural issues.  Dr. Jackson-Brown received the books through my work as a committee member, over the last two years, for the ALA Black Caucus Literary Awards Committee. These literary awards have been given by…

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Applications are now being received for the new Library Associate III position. The first date of consideration is Friday, June 15, 2018, and review of applications will continue until the position is filled. Principal responsibilities of the successful candidate for this position will include: Assists the Cataloging and Metadata Unit (50%) Assists the Library Information Technologies Unit (25%) Assists the Libraries’ Graphic Designer (25%) Duties will include cataloging and withdrawing library materials, video editing, maintenance of the Library’s online catalog and…

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Dr. Milton D. Rafferty, a native of Kansas, was a professor of Geology at Missouri State University until retiring in 1997.  During his time at Missouri State, he served as head of the Geosciences Department and was also instrumental in establishing the Center for Ozarks Studies in 1976.  He first began his career as an author in 1966, before he finished his doctoral dissertation in 1970.  Dr. Rafferty has authored several books, many of which relate to the Ozarks region. The Rafferty Slide Collection (M 9)…

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