Library Notes

The COVID-19 pandemic reminds us of a severe influenza pandemic that spread worldwide in 1918-1920, and researchers often ask about archival materials that document this time period on campus. Missouri State University’s Special Collections and Archives’ staff pull from various collections to provide an idea of how the pandemic impacted campus and the Ozarks, but the campus did not address the pandemic like one would expect. Due to World War I, the student yearbook the Ozarko wasn’t published from 1918 to 1921. The…

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To better support the needs of our Dual Credit students, E-Learning Librarian Jessica Bennett created customized Subject Guides for 134 high schools participating in MSU’s Dual Credit program across the state of Missouri.  Each guide contains a welcome video, a page containing basics for beginning research, pages specific to the courses taught at that high school, a tutorials page, and a faculty resources page.   The Missouri State University Libraries has long supported English Dual Credit students with tailored Information Literacy…

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For years now, the MSU Libraries has provided online access to premium content from The Chronicle of Higher Education (except for the Daily Briefing newsletter) to all MSU users, wherever they are located. For years the Office of the Provost has provided financial support for this service, but currently, during this “Stay at Home” order, this anywhere-anytime access to CHE content and reporting is especially appreciated.  The Libraries’ subscription can be accessed either directly through this link  (suitable for bookmarking)…

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After this global pandemic subsides and Duane G. Meyer Library reopens, books and other items in MSU Libraries’ physical collections will become even easier to find, thanks to a new software tool called StackMap. With StackMap, every study room and every book on the shelf will be precisely physically mapped for users looking for these things in our online and virtual spaces. For example, when a user searches the catalog for an item or books, a map to the exact…

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The Missouri State University Libraries has added two additional trial modules to the Draw It To Know It database, which already covered human Neuroanatomy. The new modules facilitate understanding of Gross Anatomy and Physiology and are on a 30-day trial, which began on March 30. Each module contains detailed tutorials, flashcards, and a question bank. Gross Anatomy and Neuroanatomy also include a muscle/nerve directory. The Neuroanatomy module includes a brain atlas. Students can formulate a customized study plan, and progress at their own pace through the interactive tutorials.   The Gross Anatomy module takes a…

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InterLibrary Loan (ILL) is a service that enables Missouri State University faculty, students, and staff to request items that are not freely available from the MSU Libraries, databases, or general Internet sources. During the current COVID-19 pandemic, while the physical library building is closed, ILL services are ready to provide digital delivery of any item that other information suppliers are willing and able to send us. This may include book chapters, journal articles, and theses. You can make ILL requests…

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The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) provides overall oversight and accreditation for MSU as an institution of higher learning. Quoting from the HLC website: “The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) is an independent corporation that was founded in 1895 as one of six regional institutional accreditors in the United States. HLC accredits degree-granting post-secondary educational institutions in the [19-state] North Central region….” MSU often is providing self-studies and reports to the HLC. Recently, HLC asked this Question: How does MSU  provide students…

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During this “Shelter at Home” period in Greene and Christian Counties, St. Louis, Kansas City, and many other places, two employees of the Missouri State University Libraries are using 3D printers at home to make plastic parts to help protect the personnel of the Springfield Fire Department as they respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Tyler Drenon from the MSU Libraries Innovation Lab, and Shannon Mawhiney, head of the Libraries’ Digitization Lab, are using files and information provided by CoxHealth and JVIC,…

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Just yesterday, the day before the COVID-19 pandemic stay-at-home order went into effect, Special Collections and Archives received a great addition to the Fern Nance Shumate Collection.   Shumate is known as one of the first female journalists in Missouri in the 1920s, writing for the Springfield Press until it merged with the Springfield News Leader. While writing for the paper, she interviewed Amelia Earhart, Will Rogers, and Jack Dempsey. She began to write freelance pieces for the Kansas City Star and the St. Louis Post Dispatch, but also wrote under pseudonyms Nancy Nance, Nancy Clemens,…

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