Karen Durden Accepted into University Staff Ambassador Program

Karen Durden Accepted into University Staff Ambassador Program

Karen Durden, a Library Associate I at the Duane G. Meyer Library, has been accepted into the 2023-2024 cohort of Missouri State’s USA Program. The program is designed to give participants an in-depth look at the university system and facilitate a better understanding of the staff member’s valuable role within the university and their contribution to university’s mission. In addition to professional development, the program seeks to foster interdepartmental communication and bonds among cohort members. USA teams also work together…

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RIS Dept. Seeks to Hire a GA

RIS Dept. Seeks to Hire a GA

The Reference and Instructional Services (RIS) Department of the Missouri State University Libraries, located in Duane G. Meyer Library on the main Springfield campus, seeks a graduate assistant to assist with the Library Media Specialist Certificate and Information Literacy instructional programs. The Library Media Specialist certificate provides secondary certification for Missouri K-12 teachers. In addition, the department is responsible for providing face-to-face research instruction for undergraduate and graduate courses and instructional support for distance learning. Work responsibilities: Assist instructors with…

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White Oak Logs Weave a Trail from the Ozarks to DC

White Oak Logs Weave a Trail from the Ozarks to DC

Greta Cross, the Trending Topics Reporter for the Springfield News-Leader, recently researched and wrote an article about the white oak logs that were transported from the forests of the Missouri Ozarks to the National Mall in DC, to be used for demonstrations of white oak basket making during the Ozarks Program of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival.  In her reporting work, Greta Cross focuses on localizing national trends and highlighting Springfield’s LGBTQIA+ and arts communities. Greta also enjoys long-form feature reporting…

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Amason’s Work Featured on KSMU

Amason’s Work Featured on KSMU

Craig Amason, a special projects librarian at Missouri State University, recently was interviewed on the “Making Democracy Work” weekly program on KSMU, the local public radio station, about his research into the increasing diversity of the population in Noel, Missouri, in McDonald County, located in the extreme southwest corner of the state.   Most of the population change has occurred in the past 30 years. Jobs have driven this diversification, especially the poultry processing plants in McDonald County, but the impact…

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New Map of the Ozarks Region

New Map of the Ozarks Region

Many good things came out of the Ozarks Program recently held on the National Mall in DC as part of the annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival. One of them was a new map of the Ozarks.  The planning committee for the Ozarks Program wanted to create a new map of the region specifically for this Festival program, and we commissioned Curtis Copeland to work with the committee on the design and details. Copeland is a GIS Manager for the City of…

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OSI to pursue new avenues for distribution

OSI to pursue new avenues for distribution

The Ozarks Studies Institute, an ongoing initiative of the Missouri State University Libraries, is actively pursuing new means of publicizing our book series. As interest in the publications grow and authors eagerly seek to get more attention on their books, managing editor Elaina Kersey is submitting applications to nationwide (and international) distributors that are able to get the books onto Amazon.com and into bookstores like Barnes & Noble. This week and next week, Elaina will be in conversation with an…

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Paige Harp to take on new role

Paige Harp to take on new role

Missouri State University Libraries announces a new position in Resource Management & Discovery (RM&D)— the Content Strategist position. This new role will serve alongside the Director of RM&D to form the nucleus of a new content management initiative that Meyer Library is slowly beginning to implement. Director of RM&D, Derek Moser, says “[t]he Content Strategist is the first personnel piece to this larger content management puzzle that we’re trying to put together here. In late May we announced our new Journals Access List—a tool…

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Meyer Library hosts future educators

Meyer Library hosts future educators

Last Wednesday, a group of students from high schools across the state and the nation visited the Duane G. Meyer Library at Missouri State University as part of the #BearsTeach initiative. The program aims to address the statewide teacher shortage by providing an immersion program on campus. “It was focusing on what we have in [the library] and what they can use if they come here and choose to go into the college of Ed,” said Paige Harp, coordinator of…

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OSI publishes book of local children’s folktales

OSI publishes book of local children’s folktales

This week, the Ozarks Studies Institute has published Ozarks Tales for Children: A Storyteller’s Handbook. After many years of hard work, adapter Cherri Jones’ anthology of tall tales, animal tales, trickster tales, folktales, and historical tales (as well as Ozarks jokes and games) is now available! Complete with nearly 80 of the best illustrations done by students in Jennifer Grace-Duran’s art classes at the Greenwood Laboratory School, and family-friendly retellings of stories by legends like Vance Randolph, Douglas Mahnkey, Mary…

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RadiOzark Rides Again

RadiOzark Rides Again

Join us on Friday June 16, 2023 beginning at 10:30 a.m. for coffee and pastries and check out the NEW “Broadcasting the Ozarks” exhibit! Created by the State Historical Society of Missouri-Springfield Research Center, the “Broadcasting the Ozarks: A History of RadiOzark Enterprises” exhibit showcases the history of Springfield’s RadiOzark Enterprises, the company behind nationally-known syndicated radio programs such as “The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show,” “The Red Foley Show,” and Shorty Thompson’s “Saddle Rockin’ Rhythm”.   Learn about Springfield’s legacy…

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