Library Notes

This fall Sarah Mabee, a professional librarian, will be doing some work for the MSU Libraries as an independent contractor. For the past four years, Sarah has served as the Humanities & Fine Arts Librarian at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. She and her family recently relocated to Springfield, where her husband will have a tenure-track position in MSU’s College of Arts and Letters. Sarah’s MLIS is from UIUC, and she has a second Master’s degree from the U. of…

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On Thursday, September 7th, Jenay Lamy, MSU’s Green Dot Program Coordinator, will make a short introductory presentation about the Green Dot program to interested faculty, staff, and student employees. The intro session will begin at 10:30 a.m. in the Library Conference Room.  All employees are welcome to attend. Please coordinate your attendance with your immediate supervisor. Green Dot is a program, funded at the federal level by the CDC, to better enable individuals and communities to reduce instances of power-based…

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This summer Tammy Stewart, our Reference and Government Documents Librarian, has been using a Microsoft Surface Pro 4 tablet computer to make the ongoing project of weeding Government Documents microfiche more efficient. She already is using it for mobile computing in other facets of her professional life, such as conferences, reference service, and meetings. Tammy plans to use her Surface Pro on the next big project, to inventory the U.S. State Department documents. The MSU Libraries is the archival location…

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On Sunday, July 16, the local chapter of PFLAG met in Special Collections and Archives to learn more about the Ozarks Lesbian and Gay Archives (OLGA). After introductory remarks by Anne Baker, interim head of special collections, guests had the opportunity to look through scrapbooks, oral history transcriptions, newsletters, and other items that show the work being done to preserve local LGBT history.  As part of their visit, the organization donated an award the chapter received in 2013 for the “Someone You…

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Nathan Neuschwander, the Graphic Designer at the MSU Libraries, recently developed an easy, online way to purchase copies of the current issue of OzarksWatch Magazine. Please go to http://ozarkswatch.missouristate.edu/current.htm and click on the magazine cover, then follow the on-screen instructions to complete your purchase. The number of copies you purchased will be mailed directly to the mailing address you provide. The cost of a single issue is $12. The cost of an annual subscription — two issues, spring and fall — is…

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The Harry E. Appleby Veterans Oral History Project (M 13) in Special Collections and Archives is a collection of interviews with U.S. veterans and a part of the Veterans History Project of the Library of Congress.  This nationwide project preserves the memories of men and women who served in the U.S. military.  In addition, local interviewers have also spoken with some non-veterans about their experiences during wartime. Missouri State University’s Staff Senate Veterans Recognition Committee, the Springfield-Greene County Public Library, and local VFW chapters have…

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Hololens   After some logistical delays, the Microsoft Hololens has been shipped and is expected to arrive at MSU this week.  The device will be housed, temporarily, in Room 205 on the Second Level of Duane G. Meyer Library, along with an Alienware Area 51 development computer.  The Hololens device is a mixed-reality, wearable computer.  It is designed to display interactive 3D images within a real environment.  Educational and business entities are adopting the technology for many uses.   Robotics…

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Friday, July 28, beginning at 7:00 p.m. in Duane G. Meyer Library: Rare Wine, Rare Books. This is the ninth year of this wonderful annual summer event. This year’s theme is “The Art of Wine; The Art of the Book.” A six-course dinner will be served to guests, including six flights of exquisite wines, with exhibitions and discussions of beautiful rare books, including some recent acquisitions. Our guest speaker will be Mitzi Kirkland-Ives (Associate Professor, Art and Design). David Dain…

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Steven Bell, the associate university librarian at Temple University, recently published an article in College & Research Libraries News about how many universities are implementing Textbook Affordability Projects (TAP), often tied to the general Open Educational Resources (OER) movement. While librarians often are assuming leadership roles in TAP initiatives, the question often is raised, “What about the campus bookstore?” Bell suggests that librarians need to develop a more current and dynamic sense of the relationships (real and desired) between the…

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This fall, when graduating seniors take their standardized exit exam, one question will be added to probe their satisfaction with their experiences in the MSU Libraries. We thank Grace Jackson-Brown for leading the effort to get this question added to the Senior Exit Exam. With input received from MSU library faculty and staff, and the MSU RStats Institute, listed below is the question that was devised for the Senior Exit Exam.     The MSU Libraries provide books, media, databases,…

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