home Resources and Services, Support the Libraries Thank You to Everyone Who Contributed to the Wish List!

Thank You to Everyone Who Contributed to the Wish List!

This past spring, MU librarians created a Wish List of over 400 titles that would enhance teaching and research, but that could not be purchased due to budget limitations. The response from alumni and friends exceeded our highest expectations. Fifty-six donors purchased 105 books and electronic book collections, totaling $22,270 in gifts. The gifts generated a great deal of excitement within our library staff, so please, consider this a collective “thank you” from everyone at the library!

Allowing donors to purchase specific items on topics of interest to them resulted in a broad range of interesting titles that will be heavily used in the years ahead. Here is just a sampling of the items that have been purchased from the Wish List:

  • Dick Toft purchased the Complete and Truly Outstanding Works by Homer for Special Collections & Rare Book
  • Ken Mares in honor of Dr. Ann Johanson purchased the American Academy of Pediatrics 2017 Frontlist E-Book Collection
  • Dedra Earl purchased Margaret Thatcher: A Life and Legacy
  • Suzanne Billhymer purchased Principles of Lightning Physics
  • Carolyn Wenneker purchased Vogue the Shoe
  • Craig Datz purchased Musical Prodigies: Interpretations from Psychology, Education, Musicology, and Ethnomusicology

As of August 1, we have officially brought the 2017 Wish List project to a close.Thankfully, our librarians are beginning to make priority purchases from our collections budget for FY2018. However, significant reductions to the collections budget over the last three years have guaranteed that many faculty requests will go unfulfilled. So, the Wish List will be back next spring, when the collections budget has been exhausted for the current fiscal year. If you just can’t wait to make another gift to support the University Libraries collections, please consider a gift to our Collections Enhancement Fund.

Endowments Support Collections – If you would like to make the University Libraries a significant part of your personal giving, you might consider a collections endowment. In fiscal year 2017, collections endowments accounted for a significant portion of our collections spending. The minimum amount to create an endowment is $25,000. Your gift can be spread over a period of years or you can even fund the endowment through your estate plan. If you would like more information about creating an endowment, contact Matt Gaunt at gauntm@missouri.edu, or 573-884-8645.

 

 

home Events and Exhibits Congratulations to the Class of 2017!

Congratulations to the Class of 2017!

After you graduate, the University Libraries will still be here to serve you. To find out more about the resources available to alumni, visit Library Resources for Alumni.

All of us at the University Libraries, wish you the very best in your future endeavors!

home Events and Exhibits, Special Collections and Archives University Libraries at the Unbound Book Festival

University Libraries at the Unbound Book Festival

Step into the world of Charlotte Brontë’s childhood in this presentation on an original manuscript containing two short stories she wrote at the age of seventeen. Attendees will hear about the history of the manuscript, how it ended up in Missouri, and its relationship to Brontë’s other works. There will also be a rare opportunity to view the manuscript, which is smaller than an index card and written in an almost microscopic script. 

The Brontë manuscript is among the most valuable and culturally significant materials in the collections of the Special Collections and Rare Books department at the University of Missouri Libraries. The department houses rare and unique manuscripts, books, photos, maps, comics, artifacts, and art that span over four thousand years.

Kelli Hansen is a librarian in the Special Collections and Rare Books Department at the University of Missouri Libraries, where she teaches and does reference work, outreach, and web development.  

home Events and Exhibits “Visualizing Abolition” Exhibit on Display in Ellis Library

“Visualizing Abolition” Exhibit on Display in Ellis Library

Visualizing Abolition: A Digital History of the Suppression of the African Slave Trade
This exhibit shares the materials explored for the development of a website on the history of the suppression of the African Slave Trade. It will provide viewers with access to materials such as: maps, letters, images, posters, legislation, books, and other relevant objects that made up part of this project on the largest forced migration in history.

Exhibitors: Honors College and the Office of Undergraduate Research

home Events and Exhibits William Least Heat-Moon Celebrating the Release of his Debut Novel, May 2

William Least Heat-Moon Celebrating the Release of his Debut Novel, May 2

Flat Branch Pub and Friends of the University Libraries present

WILLIAM LEAST HEAT-MOON 

Celebrating the release of his debut novel

CELESTIAL MECHANICS

Tuesday, May 2, 2017, 4:30 pm
Flat Branch Pub
115 S. Fifth Street, Columbia, MO 65201

Renowned Blue Highways author William Least Heat-Moon celebrates the release of his debut novel CELESTIAL MECHANICS: A Tale for a Mid-Winter Night (Three Rooms Press, April 2017) with book signing party at Flat Branch Pub in historic downtown Columbia, MO on Tuesday, May 2 at 4:30 pm.

The fun event will give fans of Heat-Moon’s work a chance to purchase the new book and have it personally signed by the author. Fifty-five percent of the $28 purchase price will be donated to support University of Missouri Libraries’ Special Collections efforts to purchase a rare book. Each person purchasing a book will also receive a page from the original manuscript of CELESTIAL MECHANICS from the author. In addition, those who contribute $50 or more to MU’s Friends of the University Libraries will receive an authentic full chapter of the manuscript from the author.

Heat-Moon’s new book, CELESTIAL MECHANICS, has already received extensive critical praise. American Library Association journal Booklist hailed as “An entrancing journey toward deeper insight into the cosmos, an exploration readers will share and savor with every masterfully crafted sentence.” Foreword Reviews praised it as “imaginative work about a man’s quest for true connection.” Library Journal notes it is “definitely for fans of philosophical novels and Least Heat-Moon’s nonfiction.” 

William Least Heat-Moon, pen name of William Trogdon, is of English, Irish, and Osage ancestry. In addition to CELESTIAL MECHANICS, he is the best-selling author of Blue Highways, PrairyErth, River-Horse, Roads to Quoz, Here, There, Elsewhere, and Writing Blue Highways.

Copies of CELESTIAL MECHANICS will be available for purchase and signing at the event. For additional information, please contact Matt Gaunt, Director of Development, MU Libraries, gauntm@missouri.edu.

home Cycle of Success, Events and Exhibits Congratulations to the Undergraduate Research Contest Winners!

Congratulations to the Undergraduate Research Contest Winners!

The University Librareis Undergraduate Research contest seeks to recognize and reward outstanding research conducted by undergraduate students at the University of Missouri.

In First place, and the recipient of a $500 scholarship, is Victor Topouria, a junior in journalism. His paper is titled, “The fabric road to power: geography of the textiles trade along the new Silk Road and China’s path to geopolitical dominance through the textiles supply chain”. Dr. Joseph Hobbs, professor of Geography, supported his submission saying, “Victor provided exceptional insight into the ways in which China is re-shaping the economics and geopolitics of Asia (and the world) through the medium of textiles.”

The Second place winner and recipient of a $250 scholarship is Samuel Mosher, a sophomore in history. His paper, “The suppression of the African slave trade in The Illustrated London News explored how The Illustrated London News, the world’s first weekly illustrated periodical, reported on Great Britain’s suppression of the African Slave Trade from 1842 to 1869. Dr. Domingues da Silva, Assistant professor of African History, supported his submission saying “Rarely have I seen another freshman student make such a complete use of the libraries’ resources to write a research paper. The paper’s quality and originality are beyond question.”

Special  thanks to the Friends of the University Libraries for their support of this award.

home Events and Exhibits Celebrate National Library Week April 9-15

Celebrate National Library Week April 9-15

This week, the University Libraries joins libraries in schools, campuses and communities nationwide in celebrating the many ways libraries are transforming their communities every day through the services and invaluable expertise they offer.

April 9-15 is National Library Week, a time to highlight the changing role of libraries, librarians and library workers. Libraries aren’t only a place of quiet study, but also creative and engaging community centers where people can collaborate using new technologies.

Libraries of all types are evolving to meet the needs of the communities they serve. Elected officials, small business owners, students and the public at large depend upon libraries and the resources they offer to address the needs of their communities. By providing such resources as e-books and technology classes, materials for English-language learners, programs for job seekers or a safe haven in times of crisis, libraries and librarians transform their communities.

The University Libraries play a crucial role at MU by providing access to core scholarly journals, books and discovery tools that support research. Many students benefit from the knowledge and skills of our librarians who schedule class instructional opportunities and one-on-one consultations with individual and small groups of students conducting research. In addition, our campus libraries are popular locations for study. 

Libraries also offer something unique to their communities, the expertise of individual librarians. Librarians assist patrons in using increasingly complex technology and sorting through the potentially overwhelming mass of information bombarding today’s digital society. This is especially crucial when access to reliable and trustworthy data is more important than ever.

First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April. 

For more information, visit the University of Missouri Libraries website at library.missouri.edu.  .

home Databases & Electronic Resources MERLIN Catalog Unavailable March 30

MERLIN Catalog Unavailable March 30

Due to server maintenance, the MERLIN Catalog will not be available on Thursday, March 30.

Please consult the information page to learn about services affected.

Contact the Ellis Library Circulation Desk with questions.

home Resources and Services Support University Libraries on Mizzou Giving Day

Support University Libraries on Mizzou Giving Day

Give today. Don’t miss your chance!

Please join us!

Mizzou Giving Day is a day for the entire Mizzou family to combine our support and maximize our impact. This first-ever 24-hour online campaign runs from noon on Wednesday, March 15, until noon Thursday, March 16.

On a normal day while class is in session, our campus library system serves over 8,000 students and faculty! Your support for this highly used, critical campus service is greatly appreciated. We need your help to compete for bonus money that is only available to University Libraries on Mizzou Giving Day. Make a gift to impact one of the following strategic priorities or a fund of your choosing:

  • University Libraries Student Advisory Council Fund
  • Friends of University Libraries Fund
  • Collection Enhancement Fund

As friends of University Libraries, let’s come together and show how Tigers can make a difference!

MIZ-ZOU!

#MizzouGivingDay

GIVE NOW

home Budget Collections Budget Update with Cancellation Lists

Collections Budget Update with Cancellation Lists

Thank you to faculty, students, and staff who contributed to the difficult process of reducing our collections spending in FY17. We have completed the process for this fiscal year.

  • You may review lists of journals cancelled.
  • We stopped ordering books on April 1 and will resume after July 1. Please let your subject librarian know of materials you will need for the summer and early fall as soon as you can.
  • Please be aware especially of how these budget cuts may impact your students as they must rely more on interlibrary loan and MOBIUS for materials. These impacts include:
     

    • waiting for delivery of articles and books from other libraries;
    • shorter loan periods; and
    • stricter overdue fines from other libraries.
  • Although it’s tempting to use informal methods (I can haz pdf, SciHub, etc.) to obtain articles, be aware that these often involve violations of copyright and license agreements, can pose online security issues, and prevent us from knowing what you need. We will deliver materials via interlibrary loan as quickly as possible—and use request data to make future budget decisions.
  • Help us be more aware of what materials are used: please link to articles and other online materials rather than reposting pdfs.
  • Please do not reshelve materials used in the libraries. Just leave them on a table or reshelving area, so we can register that they’ve been used.

Our budget for FY18 is not yet final, but we will be reducing our collections spending again. Our first project towards this reduction will be to review the titles in our package of journals published by the University of Chicago Press (Chicago Complete). To contribute your feedback on these titles, please review the list posted on our Collections Review page. Please contribute feedback by May 30th.